As the overhaul of the League of Legends rune system continues, Wednesday’s Runes Corner post by Jordan “RiotWrekz” Anton described a rune named Ultimore that will allow player to use their champion’s ultimate more frequently as the game progresses.
The rune will give the player 5 percent cooldown reduction and maximum cooldown reduction on a champion’s ultimate. The cooldown reduction is increased by 1.5 percent each time the player uses an ultimate, which stacks up to 10 times.
Unlike some more utility-heavy choices of overall cooldown reduction on champion abilities, Ultimore is designed to reduce the cooldown time of the ultimate ability and nothing else. The rune will likely be useful for those champions who can make game-changing plays but have long cooldown times — like Amumu or Karthus — or champions who can use their ultimate twice during a drawn-out team fight.
There was a brief period when Ultimore was a keystone mastery — which players can only take one at a time — but making it worthwhile under those circumstances was difficult to the team, as it was “too pattern warping.” By moving it out of the keystone slot, the rune no longer competes with other powerful runes and can be utilized well.
Another rune, Gathering Storm, is designed to give a boost to champions in the late game. This rune allows players to gain eight ability power or six attack damage — based on the itemization — per 10 minutes of the game time that has elapsed. That means by 40 minutes, a champion will have an extra 80 ability power and 60 attack damage.
The rune will likely be popular for late game carry champions who are near impossible to hold down, such as Tristana or Kog’maw. It’s important to note the bonus damage isn’t gradual, but all at once per 10 minutes. Scaling runes such as these can absolutely impact the game in a scary way, and the balancing team will likely keep a close eye on the rune once it goes live.
Riot Games has been in the process of overhauling the runes system in League of Legends by combining them with masteries and making them free. News about some of the new runes have tricked out in recent weeks. One will affect flash, while another allows players to go into gold debt to buy items. Another rune enhances a player’s attacking ability, while one lets players throw a meteor at the opponent’s head. Another one, Guardian Soul, allows players to shield allies by right-clicking them.