The latest preview this week for the upcoming Runes Reforged initiative sees the developer switching over to the defensive keystones in League of Legends.
“Guardian Soul” is designed for support champions to aid their allies in the time of need. It is meant to effectively replace Courage of the Colossus by granting a small shield to both the rune-wielder and ally.
The new defensive keystone was originally designed to be triggered as soon as the player walked into an ally. While the basic goal of granting instant shields was met, it did result in a few problems as the rune would sometimes get triggered accidentally by bumping into allies.
Several different iterations were tested and tried by the developer before the final version was locked in for League of Legends. Guardian Soul requires the player to briefly mark an ally by simply right-clicking. The shield will only trigger (and the keystone only go on cooldown) if they take damage while marked.
“This version dramatically improved the usability for click-happy wardens and enchanter players without hurting the experience of the more selective clickers, but it’s still not completely perfect,” explained the developer on the official forums. “Sometimes it creates the drive to constantly keep the mark on allies just in case they might be damaged, which could become a chore and reduce the skill expression involved it.”
The Runes Reforged initiative is expected to go live somewhere around the pre-season period this year. Any runes revealed so far are subject to change. Guardian Soul in particular looks like it will be evolved further by the time is scheduled to be released for League of Legends.
Earlier this month, we were given a glimpse into the new “Inspiration” runic path for the game. Three new runes were revealed, aimed at outwitting opponents during the early-phase.
