Runes Reforged is probably the biggest change coming into League's Season 8 preseason. These changes aim to simplify and combine both the runes and masteries found in the older seasons, while allowing Riot to give new life to champions that might've been falling behind. Quite a giant change excites many, but then comes the challenge: learning how to use these new-fangled rune thingies in the first place! Understanding them, however, is a lot easier than you think. Welcome to Runes Reforged, simplified.

1. PRECISION

The Precision branch is one of the most commonly used rune branches throughout the game. Precision's goal is based all around auto attacking your enemy in succession, giving you buffs if you complete the requirements of the keystone. As with any rune branch, there are three keystones to choose from: Press the Attack, Fleet Footwork, and Lethal Tempo, each with its own special properties and buffs to your champion.

Press the Attack - After hitting an enemy champion 3 times within 4 seconds of each hit, the enemy champion takes extra damage from all sources for a few seconds.

Fleet Footwork - After charging up a stack, your auto attacks deal some extra damage and your champion gains a burst of movement speed.

Lethal Tempo - After attacking an enemy champion, your champion gains extra attack speed for a few seconds. You're also able to exceed the 2.5 per second auto attack limit for a short time.

Precision splash art from Riot Games.

In summary, Precision is hit or miss for most people. There are other options in branches such as Resolve or Domination that might work better, but if you need to dish out damage and gain a limited buff from it, precision is most likely the way to go for you.

2. Domination

Domination is the main rune branch for AD champions. Domination allows you to do deal extra damage in bursts, rather than consecutively like the Precision branch, by either collecting souls or hunting down unique enemy targets. Domination also gives you extra AD or AP (it depends on whether you build AD or AP items, aka adaptive damage) when you select your secondary rune. Domination houses Electrocute, Dark Harvest, and Predator.

Electrocute - Electrocute is similar to the now-removed Thunderlord's from season 7's masteries. After hitting an enemy champion 3 times with any attack or ability, they're shocked for adaptive damage, depending on if you have more AD items or more AP items.

Dark Harvest - Dark Harvest is my favorite rune in the entire Domination set. Large minions, champion kills, and epic monsters drop stacks of Dark Harvest. For 20-300 seconds depending on how many stacks you have, your next auto attack will deal extra adaptive damage on a champion, tower, or epic monster. Dark Harvest is kind of cool because come late game, your damage will be insane. There are some YouTube videos out about one shot Dark Harvest too, so check those out when you can.

Predator - Your boots get an extra burst of movement speed, and your attacks will deal extra adaptive damage.

Domination splash art from Riot Games.

In all, if you're trying to deal as much damage as you can, AP or AD, and want it to scale into mid and late game, Domination offers plenty of options to help you snowball your lane.

3. Sorcery

Sorcery is probably the go-to rune tree for AP casters. Sorcery allows you to manipulate mana, as well as add some extra poke damage (similar to the now-retired Thunderlord's) to spice up your midlane play. Sorcery includes the following three keystone runes: Summon: Aery, Phase Rush, and Arcane Comet.

Summon: Aery - After damaging a champion, your champion sends out an aery to damage a champion, and this damage also scales with level. This is great for champions like Sona or Karma that deal damage from afar, and allow them to pick off some extra health at the same time.

Phase Rush - Hitting an enemy champion with 3 unique attacks (abilities or auto attacks) gives your champion a burst of movement speed. Need to close the gap with your favorite AP midlane caster? Look no further. Champions like Ryze or Vel'Koz benefit from this, as it allows them to get closer and land their abilities in greater succession than from afar.

Arcane Comet - Similar to Summon: Aery, damaging a champion with an ability sends a damaging comet towards that champion. Arcane Comet is kind of the well rounded keystone rune in this tree, meaning that it can be used on a wide variety of champions. Just know that the Comet itself is dodgeable, just not easily at early levels.

Sorcery splash art from Riot Games.

Sorcery is the go-to tree for AP casters. If you're looking for a new way to spice up your AP caster gameplay, you can't go wrong with sorcery.

4. Resolve

Resolve is the main branch for tanky champions and junglers. It's not necessarily focused on damage, but instead on getting your champion full on as much health and armor as possible. The Resolve branch brings along a familiar keystone, Grasp of the Undying, as well as Aftershock and Guardian, each with its own special way of enhancing your health/armor, or helping teammates.

Grasp of the Undying - The reworked Grasp makes its way back in from the old masteries system. Attacking an enemy champion heals you for a percent amount and increases your health for the rest of the game. Pretty good for dueling tank champs.

Aftershock - CC-ing a champion increases your defenses, then deals a damaging aftershock afterwards in an AoE area. Champions like Zac and Rammus can benefit from this greatly, due to it needing to be proc'd by crowd controlling abilities.

Guardian - Allies near you are shielded when they take damage. The shield is in an AoE area. This is pretty good with just about any tank, and allows your teammates to gain extra defenses.

Resolve splash art from Riot Games.

Resolve is the go-to for tanky champions. Resolve gives tanky champions and junglers the ability to live forever, increase health and defenses, while also helping your teammates survive with extra durability. If you're looking to break another health record, or just be unkillable in general, Resolve offers you the tools to do so.

5. Last but not least, Inspiration

Inspiration is the most creative rune branch of the five. Inspiration takes some of the conventional mechanics of League, and puts a very different twist, allowing you to change how you play the game in general. While mostly used on supports, Inspiration has keystone runes that allow it to be taken on almost any role, and and any champion in the game. Inspiration has Glacial Augment, Summoner Specialist, and Kleptomancy.

Glacial Augment - The first attack against an enemy champion slows them, with a lazer shooting at them, creating an even longer slow zone for anything that passes over it.

Summoner Specialist - Probably the second most fun out of the 3 keystones, your champion collects summoner shards, and allows you to change one of your summoner spells after all the shards have been collected.

Kleptomancy - Damaging an enemy champion grants extra gold, with a chance of getting any consumable alongside the gold. Yes, that means you can play a champion with Kleptomancy, get the forever-retired mana potion, as well as other retired items that you can't buy in game anymore. Kleptomancy is the most fun keystone rune, mostly because of the RNG that takes place. If you wanna tilt the enemy team with your inventory of retired consumables, Kleptomancy gives you that extra gold buff, and item buff.

Inspiration splash art from Riot Games.

Inspiration gives you new and fresh ways to play League. From changing summoner spells, to getting all the mana potions you could possibly want, Inspiration bends the rules of the game, and allows you to win in new ways.

Conclusion

All in all, that's Runes Reforged simplified. The new runes seem a little confusing and daunting at first, but after looking into it just a little bit closer, and in simple terms, the new runes don't seem all that scary. It's definitely a learning curve, with the old rune system and old mastery system forever gone, but it's a solid new upgrade that's bound to keep League fresh and innovative for the next few seasons to come.