Runes are a brand new mechanic coming to Legends of Runeterra with the release of this week's Spirit Blossom: First Bloom event, and we've got the scoop on what they are, how you obtain them, and a peak at which powers are coming via Runes.
Read on for a first look at Runes in Legends of Runeterra.
The TL;DR on Runes
- Rune Stars are a new form of constellation node slot for Spirit Blossom champions.
- Runes are placed into Rune Stars and give your Champion new powers.
- Runes are obtained from Runic Vessels and can be crafted with Rune Shards.
- Runes are tied to specific regions.
- Each champion can equip a single Rune.
What Are Runes in Legends of Runeterra?
If you are a fan of Riot's League of Legends, Runes were an older mechanic that augmented your champion with stats. They were brutal to obtain via a large grind, and don't even get us started on Rune Pages. Luckily, Runes in Legends of Runeterra are only going to share part of that, let's dive in deeper.
Runes are a form of Champion enhancement that unlock power in adventures. If you are familiar with the Star or Constellations system, Runes are effectively the 4th major star that is available to each champion. Initially, however, Runes will only be available for the new Spirit Blossom champions that are joining the champion roster.
Runes are bound to the region they are created for, so don't think you'll be able to accumulate a ton of this first batch of Runes and apply them to your existing champions. Speaking of, Runes do get bound to a champion once used and thus can no longer be used on another champion which is unlike the Relic system. So, if you want to use the same Rune on multiple champions, you will need to acquire multiple copies.
Riot decided to add runes instead of adding an additional star to the existing constellations, or an extra relic slot, because they wanted to avoid breaking the game.
Quote From Riot Lopeeee Relics are extremely powerful in combination with each other, and each new slot that we add creates exponentially greater combinations that break the game pretty quickly. Since each champ only has one Rune slot, we don't have to worry about two Runes breaking each other, so the Rune effects get to be much more exciting!
How to Obtain Runes in Legends of Runeterra
To kick things off, only 28 Runes are going to be available for you to obtain. Runes come in three different rarities: Common, Rare, and Legendary. Obtaining Runes happens in one of two ways; You can craft them via Rune Shards, or you can open a Runic Vessel to roll your luck.
Rune Shards
Rune Shards are a new currency coming to Runeterra and are available through Runic Vessels. If vessels aren't dropping the Runes you want, then use your Rune Shards to craft them.
Runic Vessels
A brand new type of chest reward, Runic Vessels drop Runes directly (RNG) and Rune Shards.
Now, how about the speed of obtaining Runes? Riot has stated that they want players to engage with them quickly so accumulate them quickly, and that once they add more of them in the future they want to make sure that they are fun to collect while not being completely trivial.
Which Regions Get Runes?
To start off, only Spirit Blossom champions are getting Runes. The eventual goal, however, is to bring them out for all of the different regions in Legends of Runeterra. Dual region champions will be able to equip Runes from both regions.
Which Runes Are Launching With Patch 6.8?
So far we've only seen a few of them. Here's what we know so far:
- Immortality (Common): Game Start: Heal your Nexus 10.
- False Loyalty (Common): Stolen allies have +1|+1.
- Flexible Gameplan (Common): Game Start: Draw 2.
- Gemcrafting (Common): When you play a spell, grant a random ally in hand +1|+1.
- Haunting Call (Common): Allies have Hallowed.
- Infiltrators (Common): Unblocked allies have +2|+0.
Common Runes appear to required 40 Rune Shards to craft.
That wraps up a first look at Runes in Legends of Runeterra. Are you excited to augment the new Spirit Blossom champions?
Comments
New update! Great I haven ot played in a while, but thought the game was abandoned