A Guide to Inspiration Runes in League of Legends
Image Credit: Riot Games, League of Legends
Inspiration runes in League of Legends are able to give you a mix of utility, sustain, and cooldown benefits, making them the perfect match for champions who rely on adaptability or out-of-the-box thinking. Inspiration runes work well for support champions, poke champions, and specific junglers or solo laners who want some more unusual tools to shape the course of the game. Here’s a complete breakdown of the Inspiration rune path, with details on each rune and tips for using them effectively.
Note: If you want to check out our other rune guides you can find them here.
Inspiration Runes: What They Are and How They Work
The Inspiration rune path is focused on utility and unconventional playstyles, with bonuses that allow champions to adapt to different situations in creative ways. Inspiration runes give champions access to unique abilities like summoner spell boosts and item cooldown reduction which allows for greater flexibility and ways to impact the game outside of raw damage. Champions who benefit the most from Inspiration are often supports, poke champions, and junglers who rely on utility over raw power, although it can be helpful for that as well in a roundabout way given the benefits to Haste.
Choosing a Keystone: The Backbone of Inspiration Runes
Inspiration has three keystone runes with each geared towards different aspects of gameplay. Here’s a look at each keystone and when it’s best used.
Glacial Augment
Effect: Slows enemies when you hit them with a basic attack, with additional slow zones created by immobilizing effects.
Best For: Support champions with crowd control abilities, such as Leona, Thresh, and Ashe.
Tip: Glacial Augment is effective for champions who want to slow enemies and control their movement, allowing for more successful engages or disengages.
Unsealed Spellbook
Effect: Allows you to swap summoner spells throughout the game, providing access to new spells every five minutes.
Best For: Champions who benefit from a variety of summoner spells, like Twisted Fate, Shen, and Elise.
Tip: Unsealed Spellbook adds flexibility in changing situations. You can switch to spells like Teleport or Exhaust as needed, helping you adapt your strategy mid-game.
First Strike
Effect: Grants bonus gold and extra damage if you attack an enemy champion first in an encounter.
Best For: Champions who poke or burst enemies frequently, such as Gangplank, Jayce, and Zoe.
Tip: First Strike rewards champions who initiate trades, especially in lanes where you’re looking to poke for small advantages.
Inspiration’s Secondary Runes: Building on Your Foundation
Inspiration’s secondary runes provide additional utility and adaptability, including cooldown reduction, resource management, and movement bonuses. Choose two secondary runes to complete your setup based on your champion’s playstyle.
Tier 1: Contraptions (Resource and Cooldown Management)
Hextech Flashtraption
Effect: Replaces Flash with a slower version of Flash (Hexflash) when Flash is on cooldown, allowing you to surprise enemies.
Best For: Champions who use Flash to initiate, such as Alistar, Zac, and Jarvan IV.
Tip: Hexflash provides a second chance to use a Flash-like ability, perfect for setting up unexpected engages or positioning creatively.
Magical Footwear
Effect: Grants free boots at 12 minutes, reducing the time by 45 seconds per takedown, and adds bonus movement speed.
Best For: Champions who want to save gold early on, like ADCs or supports such as Jhin or Yuumi.
Tip: Magical Footwear helps you scale faster by saving gold on boots, while providing a slight movement boost once you get them.
Perfect Timing
Effect: Grants a free Stopwatch that can be used for a one-time stasis effect.
Best For: Champions who rely on risky dives or stasis timing, such as Fizz, Zed, and Kayle.
Tip: Perfect Timing is helpful for champions who plan to build Guardian Angel or Zhonya’s Hourglass, allowing you to use stasis early and potentially survive tough situations.
Tier 2: Tomorrow’s Market (Gold and Item Management)
Future’s Market
Effect: Allows you to enter debt to buy items when you’re slightly short on gold.
Best For: Champions who rely on early item power spikes, like Lucian, LeBlanc, and Draven.
Tip: Future’s Market helps champions hit power spikes faster by enabling you to buy key items earlier, giving you an edge in close trades.
Minion Dematerializer
Effect: Grants three charges to instantly kill minions, dealing bonus damage to that minion type afterward.
Best For: Champions with low wave-clear or poke champions like Veigar, Xerath, and Ziggs.
Tip: Minion Dematerializer helps you manage waves better, especially if you struggle with minion clearing early on. Use it on siege minions to control lane pressure.
Biscuit Delivery
Effect: Grants a Total Biscuit of Everlasting Will every 2 minutes up to 6 minutes, restoring health and mana.
Best For: Champions who need sustain in lane, like Twisted Fate, Ahri, and Caitlyn.
Tip: Biscuit Delivery provides crucial sustain in lane, helping you recover health and mana and stay in lane longer.
Tier 3: Beyond (Utility and Mobility)
Cosmic Insight
Effect: Grants cooldown reduction for summoner spells and items.
Best For: Champions who rely on summoner spells and active items, such as supports and tanky initiators like Leona, Braum, and Shen.
Tip: Cosmic Insight allows you to use summoner spells more frequently, making it ideal for champions who depend on spells like Flash or Ignite to engage or escape.
Approach Velocity
Effect: Grants bonus movement speed toward nearby enemies that are movement-impaired.
Best For: Champions with crowd control who want to engage quickly, such as Nunu, Thresh, and Ashe.
Tip: Approach Velocity helps champions close the gap on slowed or rooted enemies, making it easier to secure kills or start fights.
Time Warp Tonic
Effect: Boosts healing from potions and biscuits and grants a short burst of movement speed while consuming them.
Best For: Champions who need sustain and mobility in lane, like Singed, Rumble, and Cassiopeia.
Tip: Time Warp Tonic gives you quick healing and movement speed when using potions, providing a small but significant advantage in trades or when escaping.
Using Inspiration as a Secondary Path
Inspiration can also work as a secondary path, adding flexibility and utility to champions in other primary paths like Sorcery, Precision, or Resolve. Here’s how Inspiration complements these paths:
Sorcery + Inspiration: Champions like Ziggs or Lux benefit from Inspiration’s cooldown reduction and sustain options, enhancing their poke and spell uptime.
Precision + Inspiration: ADCs like Jhin or Ezreal can gain both attack power and creative utility, enabling faster item purchases or spell flexibility with Future’s Market or Magical Footwear.
Using Inspiration as a secondary path adds valuable tools for champions who want to adapt to different situations and gain extra sustain or utility.
Tips for Using Inspiration Runes Effectively
Play to Your Champion’s Strengths: Inspiration runes enhance champions with unique playstyles. Pick runes that add flexibility, cooldown reduction, or sustain to help you in specific situations.
Maximize Utility in Lane and Roams: Many Inspiration runes are designed to help with lane sustain, item timing, or movement. Choose runes that fit your strategy, whether it’s poking, roaming, or scaling for the late game.
Be Strategic with Summoner Spells and Items: Keystone runes like Unsealed Spellbook and Cosmic Insight allow for creative summoner spell usage. Leverage these to adapt your game plan based on changing needs.
Inspiration runes provide champions with versatile options for handling various situations. By selecting the right Inspiration runes, you’ll gain unique tools to stay adaptive, control the pace of fights, and support your team’s overall strategy.
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