League of Legends Patch 9.23 breakdown: Items and Runes

Runes

Removed: Kleptomancy

Klepto has plagued the balance team ever since its release due to how overpowered it was on certain champions, while being completely useless on others. When in a ranged vs. melee match-up, or with a strong counter-pick, Klepto was the obvious choice and often led to what should have been a small gold lead being increased to a huge gold lead.

Much like Banner of Command, the balance team has completely given up on trying to balance Kleptomancy and have instead chosen to remove it from the game. Will it be missed? Not really. Good riddance!

Prototype: Omnistone

"Periodically gain a single use of another random keystone. Once a keystone is rolled, it can’t be rolled again until only three options are left, at which point the table resets (you won’t get the keystone you just used though). Gain a new keystone 8-4 seconds (melee, lv 1-18) or 12-8 seconds (ranged, lv 1-18) after using the last. Scaling is weighted toward later levels. Gain a new keystone while out of combat after 40 seconds of not using a keystone Your current keystone shows up to the right of your health bar. All ten players can see it. Dark Harvest souls persist after you get a different keystone and affect all your other keystones. Grasp of the Undying’s health persists after you get a different keystone, too."

Keystone roulette! Kleptomancy’s replacement in the Inspiration tree is one of the most interesting runes of all time and could lead to huge outplays thanks to random keystones having an impact in a skirmish.

Ultimately, it’s hard to believe that this keystone will be more beneficial to take over the other options as it’s very RNG-based and very unlikely to produce a net gain. But, if you are struggling to pick a keystone in champion select, why not try Omnistone out, maybe it will work in your favor!

Conqueror

"Removed: Conqueror no longer converts 8% of damage against champions to true damage at full stacks. Healing: At full stacks, Conqueror heals for 8% of pre-mitigation damage against champions -> 15% of post-mitigation damage against champions Maximum Stacks: 5 -> 10 Stacks: 1 per ability hit or basic attack -> 2 per ability hit or melee basic attack, 1 per ranged basic attack Stack Duration: 8 seconds for melee, 3 seconds for ranged -> 8 seconds Adaptive Force per Stack: 2-6 (lvl 1-18) -> 2-5 (lvl 1-18) Max Adaptive Force: 10-30 (lvl 1-18) -> 20-50 (lvl 1-18)"

Conqueror was initially added to the game to give AD bruisers an option over the likes of Press the Attack and Electrocute but has since been nerfed over and over due to its release damage being too high. Even now, Conqueror seems slightly too overpowered and is forcing tanks completely out of the top lane due to the insane amount of damage AD champions gain from just their keystone. So, it’s about time the rune got a nerf.

In order to deal with the fact that tanks have been pushed out of the top lane, the true damage aspect of Conq has been removed. Adaptive Force has also been lowered, but max stacks have been increased to compensate. Overall, Conqueror should feel weaker, but if used correctly can be a stronger option depending on the match-up.

Aftershock

"Resistances: 70 (+50% bonus resists) -> 35 (+80% bonus resists) Damage: 10-120 (+4% maximum health) -> 25-120 (+8% bonus health) Cooldown: 35 seconds -> 20 seconds"

Aftershock is the bane of every mage and every marksman on Summoner’s Rift. At its peak, this keystone made any damage inflicted disappear due to the insanely strong resistances provided when CC was applied. Now, the resistances are much smaller initially, which is where its impact was felt most, however late it will be stronger.

The perfect nerf for one of the most annoying keystones in the game.

Presence of Mind

"Takedown Bonus: Restore 20% of your maximum mana and refund 10% of your ultimate’s cooldown -> Restore 20% of maximum mana or energy and increase your maximum mana by 100 (up to 500) or your maximum energy by 10 (up to 50)"

Presence of Mind’s presence has been shifted from ultimate cooldown to MORE mana and (more importantly) MORE energy.

Due to the clash with Cloud Dragon’s new buff, Presence of Mind needed to be adjusted, but that’s all fine because the balance team has finally included energy users in the rune! The new Presence of Mind is ideal for those that struggle with mana or who thrive with an endless pool of mana (like Ryze).

Nimbus Cloak

"Proc: On ult cast -> On Summoner Spell cast Speed Boost: 100 bonus movement speed for 2.5 seconds, decaying over the last second -> 15-35% movement speed for 2.5 seconds depending on Summoner Spell cooldown Long Cooldown: 35% movement speed (Flash, Teleport) Medium Cooldown: 25% movement speed (Heal, Ignite, Cleanse, Exhaust, Ghost, Barrier) Short Cooldown: 15% movement speed (Hexflash, Smite, Zoe’s W – Spell Thief, ARAM’s Mark)"

Pretty simple this one. The Cloud Soul now has bonus movement speed whenever you cast your ultimate, so obviously, Nimbus Cloak needed to have a more unique reason to remain in the rune tree. As a result, you’ll now get a small movement speed boost whenever you cast a summoner spell, and the longer the cooldown, the stronger the movement speed buff.

And that’s that! It was a long patch but that means preseason will be all the more exciting for the next few weeks as we figure out what’s strong and what’s not! Head into solo queue and try out any of the new items and runes, and if you feed, just blame lag!