League of Legends preseason 12 rune update: First Strike will be the new budget Kleptomancy

With League of Legends preseason 12 on the horizon, Riot Games have opened up some of the changes players can expect in the next major update.

Some keystone runes will be brought into focus. While Lethal Tempo and Glacial Augment are reworked, developers will introduce an entirely new League of Legends rune called First Strike.

First Strike will allow gold generation for aggressive play. It’s a lot like Kleptomancy but not as powerful or as potent. However, it does not facilitate abuse during laning and mid-to-late game team fights.

That being said, it can enable a lot of lane bullies. Adequately harassing the enemies during the early stages helps players get item leads and gold advantages in just the first 10 minutes of the game.

First Strike will revive some of the Kleptomancy mechani in League of Legends

To those unaware, Kleptomancy used to be a keystone rune in the Inspiration tree line. Riot Games discontinued it after it went through several patches and was still unbalanced.

Kleptomancy offered passive gold generation and free consumable items if a champion auto-attacked an enemy after using an ability. Hence, this paved the way for picks like Ezreal and Gankplank to abuse the rune and 'flame horizon' their opponents in just under 20 minutes.

League of Legends developers had nightmares trying to balance Kleptomancy. Hence, they eventually decided to remove it from the game altogether, putting Omnistone in its place.

With First Strike, preseason 12 will try and bring back some of the Kleptomancy mechanics and reward aggressive play and well-time harassment. The developers have cited the following stats for the keystone:

It’s quite a mellowed-down version of the original Kleptomancy, but players who have a more aggressive playstyle in the lane will be happy with this rune. Picks like Ezreal and Caitlyn might make First Strike the keystone of choice.

First Strike will unfortunately not arrive in the League of Legends PBE test environment for a bit. It will be released with the official 11.24 patch on November 17, which also brings with it the preseason 12 update

About the author

Armed with his Master's degree in English Literature, Abhishek Mallick ventured into journalism propelled by his simple love for video games. Over four years, Abhishek has made significant contributions to Sportskeeda Esports & Gaming as a content manager and writer and holds particular expertise and influence within the competitive gaming landscape. Inspired by gaming legends like T1 Faker, Abhishek closely follows the professional League of Legends scene, finding fascination in the strategic depth and skillful plays showcased by top players and teams.

After his first childhood favorite, the 1997 platformer Claw, Abhishek's gaming pursuits evolved to encompass titles like Monster Hunter World, where he finds thrill in the exhilarating hunt for formidable monsters. These days, Abhishek's genre of choice is JRPG, where he enjoys confronting deities in epic battles.

In his reporting endeavors, Abhishek stays up-to-date with current news and trends to ensure his articles provide readers with accurate and timely information. Beyond gaming, Abhishek dives into fiction through his love for reading.

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