Runes Reforged

Starting from Pre-Season 2018, Runes and Masteries are being combined into a single system, which combines elements of both.

Summoners may choose two from a selection of 5 Paths, which are thematically similar to the three Mastery Trees from previous seasons. Each Path is structured like a Mastery Tree, with a number of slots that each have a selection of unique and mutually exclusive Rune options, with the player's Primary Path choice having additional slots, including a Keystone slot.

The new system is available to summoners of all levels at no cost and can be customized in champion select, similar to Masteries. However, players may only have a limited number of saved pages but may purchase additional pages for convenience.

Lore
In his youth, thousands of years ago, witnessed the discovery of the first World Rune, as well as many more in the decades that followed. Believed to be a font of The Makers's might, conflict soon erupted over their control. This conflict escalated into the great Rune Wars, which erased Ryze's boyhood village of Khom, Shurima, from reality.

Sobered by the threat of annihilation, Ryze and his mentor manage to convince many of the World Rune's holders into sealing their World Runes beyond the reach of man. But many refused. After the death of his mentor, it fell to Ryze to continue the quest with only an ancient scroll for guidance.

Forward to the present day, the World Runes have begun to emerge once more, and the world has forgotten the price of wielding them.

Overview
Summoners may choose two Paths: one Primary and one Secondary. You may not pick the same path twice. There are five paths to choose from:
 * Precision icon.png Precision (Improved attacks and sustained damage)
 * Domination icon.png Domination (Burst damage and target access)
 * Sorcery icon.png Sorcery (Empowered abilities and resource manipulation)
 * Resolve icon.png Resolve (Durability and crowd control)
 * Inspiration icon.png Inspiration (Creative tools and rule bending)

The Primary Path has one Keystone slot and 3 Lesser slots, while the the Secondary Path has a choice of 2 of the 3 Lesser slots. Each individual slot provides a unique selection of runes, similar to the branches of the former Mastery trees. Your Primary Path also provides a Trait that grants bonus stats, whose Title is based the combination of your paths.

Set Title
The set Title is currently only used within the game client as the name for the player's Trait, although the lack of visibility within the out-of-game Rune Inventory may be a bug. As Traits are currently not distinct beyond the player's Primary Path selection: these titles are purely cosmetic.

Rune Pages
As with the previous system, accounts begin with 2 editable rune pages and may purchase the of additional pages in the store, up to a total of 20. Unlike the previous system, Rune Pages will only be available to purchase with. Any Rune Pages the player currently owns will be transferred across to the new system, in addition to the compensation received.

In addition to those 20, there are also 5 Preset Pages that cannot be edited. Note that on the PBE, there is currently a bug where the Presets are being included in the limit.


 * Presets and Example

Compensation For Past Purchases

 * Note that and  are being merged into a single currency in Season 2018.

There is a substanial Sale to spend all that compensation on as part of the End of Season Event.

Trivia

 * During development, Precision and Sorcery were originally going to be Primary-only.
 * Runes and their surrounding areas have distinct visual appearances similar to Runeterran factions, which may be intentional and reflect the real-world location of the World Runes:
 * Precision icon.png Precision - Golden cityscape of Demacia_Crest_icon.png Demacia or Shurima Crest icon.png Shurima
 * Domination icon.png Domination - Noxus_Crest_icon.png Noxian fortification
 * Sorcery icon.png Sorcery - Mountains of Freljord_Crest_icon.png The Freljord, Mount_Targon_Crest_icon.png Mount Targon or Void_Crest_icon.png Icathia
 * Resolve icon.png Resolve - Riverlands of Demacia_Crest_icon.png Demacia, Ionia_Crest_icon.png Ionia or Freljord_Crest_icon.png southern Freljord
 * Inspiration icon.png Inspiration - Beneath the heavens atop Mount_Targon_Crest_icon.png Mount Targon
 * The following statements generalize the changes made to compensate the loss of AD from Marks and Health/Armor from Seals, which were almost unanimously used due to the lack of options (and thus the game has been balanced, for example, around most champions having +9 Armor from Seals). The exact values may vary for specific cases, as Riot also took this opportunity to better distinguish classes (e.g. tanks from non-tanks; ranged from melee), as well as buff/nerf specific champions.
 * AD champions had the base damage on their abilities increased by 5.
 * Ranged AD champions also had their increased by 8.
 * Most champions had their increased by 9.
 * Most mages had their increased by 12 (+12), instead. Primarily excepting junglers.
 * Melee supports had their increased by 20, instead.
 * Riot has stated that they already have a number of additional runes in the works that will not be finished before the initial release.
 * Players may also see additional paths in the future, although none are currently in development and they would not be added outside of the mid- or pre-season patch.