A starter Guide for League of Legends (Part V)

When you are about to start a game of League of Legends, you'll be able to pick your champion in the pick/ban phase. We talked about what champions there are in our last guide: https://handleveled.net/blog/a-starter-guide-for-league-of-legends-part-iv
But to be effective in your role, you don't only have to have the right champion; you need to have the right runes aswell. Here you'll be able to read about the runes in the game.

You have 5 different trees of runes in the game:
- Precision - Improved attacks and sustained damage
- Domination - Burst damage and target access
- Sorcery - Empowered abilities and resource manipulation
- Resolve - Durability and crowd control
- Inspiration - Creative tools and rule bending

These all have 3 or 4 keystones, which are very powerful runes, and 3 more slots with slightly less powerful runes. You can choose 1 main tree, which you can select 1 keystone and 3 slots, and a secondary tree, with only 2 slots (no keystones). Some keystones are really good for a role or a champion class, and some are unique and only powerful with a few champions. Here are their stats.

PRECISION:
Keystones:
- Press the Attack: Attacking the same champion grants endlessly stacking attack damage.
- Lethal Tempo: 1.5 seconds after damaging a champion gain a large amount of attack speed. Lethal Tempo allows you to temporarily exceed the attack speed limit.
- Fleet Footwork: Attacking and moving builds energy stacks. At 100 stacks, your next attack heals you and grants increased movement speed.
Slot 1:
- Overheal: Excess healing becomes a decaying shield for up to 30 + 8% of your total health.
- Triumph: Takedowns restore health and grant bonus gold.
- Presence of Mind: When low on mana, attacking champions will generate Focus which is converted into mana upon exiting combat. 
Slot 2:
- Legend: Alacrity: Kill enemies to gain permanent Attack Speed.
- Legend: Bloodline: Kill enemies to earn permanent Lifesteal.
- Legend: Tenacity: Kill enemies to gain permanent Tenacity.
Slot 3:
- Coup de Grace: Deal 5% more damage to low health champions.
- Cut Down: Deal up to 8% more damage to all champions with more health than you.
- Last Stand: Deal more damage to champions while you are low on health.

DOMINATION:
Keystones:
- Electrocute: Hitting a champion with 3 unique attacks or abilities in 2 seconds deals bonus magic damage.
- Predator: Add an active effect to your boots that grants a large boost of movement speed and causes your next attack or spell to deal bonus damage.
- Dark Harvest: Champions, large minions, and large monsters drop soul essence on death. Touch souls to absorb them and deal bonus damage on your next attack based on total soul essence collected.
Slot 1:
- Zombie Ward: After killing an enemy ward, a friendly Zombie Ward is raised in its place.
- Ghost Poro: When you enter brush, a poro appears. It will stay behind to give you vision.
- Eyeball Collection: Gain +2 Ability Power or +1.4 Attack Damage, Adaptive permanently on champion takedown, and half of that on ward takedowns.
Slot 2:
- Cheap Shot: Deal bonus true damage to enemies with impaired movement or actions.
- Taste of Blood: Recover health when you damage an enemy champion.
- Sudden Impact: Deal additional damage after using a dash, leap, blink, or teleport.
Slot 3:
- Ravenous Hunter: Heal for a percentage of damage dealt with your abilities. Increases with each unique takedown. 
- Ingenious Hunter: Unique takedowns grant permanent Active Item CDR (includes Trinkets).
- Relentless Hunter: Unique takedowns grant permanent out of combat Movement Speed.

SORCERY:
Keystones:
- Summon Aerie: Your attacks and abilities send Aerie to a target, damaging enemies or shielding allies.
- Arcane Comet: Hitting a champion with a spell hurls a damaging comet at them.
- Phase Rush: Hitting an enemy champion with 3 unique attacks or abilities grants a burst of Movement Speed.
Slot 1:
- Nullifying Orb: Gain a magic damage shield when low on health.
- Manaflow Band: Periodically your next ability used has its mana or energy cost refunded and restores some of your missing mana or energy.
- The Ultimate Hat: Gain cooldown reduction and max cooldown reduction on your ultimate. This is increased further each time you use your ultimate, up to a maximum. 
Slot 2:
- Transcendence: Gain 10% CDR when you reach level 10. Excess CDR becomes AP or AD (Adaptive).
- Celerity: Gain 3% extra MS. Gain extra AP or AD based on your bonus Movement Speed.
- Absolute Focus: While above 70% health, gain up to +40 Ability Power or +28.0 Attack Damage, Adaptive (based on level).
Slot 3:
- Scorch: Your first ability hit every 20 seconds burns champions.
- Waterwalking: Gain Movement Speed and AP or AD (Adaptive) in the river.
- Gathering Storm: Gain increasing amounts of AD or AP (Adaptive) over the course of the game.

RESOLVE:
Keystones:
- Grasp of the Undying: Every 4 seconds your next attack on a champion deals bonus damage, heals you, and permanently increases your health.
- Guardian: Shield nearby allies when they take damage.
- Aftershock: After immobilizing an enemy champion gain defenses and later deal a burst of damage around you.
Slot 1:
- Perseverance: After casting a Summoner Spell, gain Tenacity and Slow Resistance for a moderate duration. Then, increase your bonus Armor and Magic Resist for each Summoner Spell on cooldown.
- Demolish: Charge up a powerful attack against a tower while near it.
- Font of Life: Impairing the movement of an enemy champion marks them. You and your allies heal when attacking champions you’ve marked. 
Slot 2:
- Iron Skin: Gain 3 Armor. Whenever you heal for at least 20 health or from a consumable’s effect, increase your Armor by five percent for three seconds. 
- Mirror Shell: Gain 3 Magic Resist. Whenever you heal for at least 20 health or from a consumable’s effect, increase your Magic Resist by five percent for three seconds. 
- Conditioning: After 10 minutes gain 6 Armor and 6 Magic Resist and increase your total Armor and Magic Resist by five percent. 
Slot 3:
- Overgrowth: Every 10 monsters or enemy minions that die near you permanently increase your health by 0.2 percent. 
- Revitalize: Heals and shields are 5% stronger and increased by an additional 10 percent on targets below 40 percent health.
- Second Wind: Restore health over time based on your missing health.

INSPIRATION:
Keystones:
- Glacial Augment: Your first attack against an enemy champion slows them (per unit cooldown). Slowing champions with active items shoots a freeze ray at them, creating a lingering slow zone.
- Kleptomancy: Your first 2 attacks after using an ability is enchanted. If it hits a champion, you get extra gold and a chance to get a consumable item.
- Unsealed Spellbook: Get Summoner Shards and exchange them at the shop to change your Summoner Spells.
Slot 1:
- Hextech Flashtraption: While Flash is on cooldown it is replaced by Hexflash. Hexflash: Channel then blink to a new location. 
- Biscuit Delivery: Get a free Biscuit every 3 minutes, until 12 minutes. Biscuits heal and permanently increase your max mana. 
- Perfect Timing: Gain a free Stopwatch. Stopwatch has a one time use Stasis active.
Slot 2:
- Magical Footwear: You get free boots at 10 minutes but you cannot buy boots before then. These boots give additional Movement Speed.
- Future’s Market: You can enter debt to buy items.
- Minion Dematerializer: Start the game with 6 Minion Sojourners. Killing minions with the item gives permanent bonus damage vs. that minion type. 
Slot 3:
- Cosmic Insight :+5% Cooldown Reduction, +5% Max Cooldown Reduction, +5% Summoner Spell Cooldown Reduction, +5% Item Cooldown Reduction.
- Approach Velocity: Bonus Movement Speed towards nearby allies that are CC'ed or enemies that you CC.
- Celestial Body: +100 permanent Health at the cost of early champion damage.

In our next guides we will talk about all the different rune trees in detail.