The 3 major Precision keystones are Conqueror, Lethal Tempo, and Press the Attack. Each of them has its strengths and weaknesses, and it can be hard to know which one to pick.
I will go over how each of them works, how they compare, and which champions are best for each one. This will make it easy for you to make the right call regarding runes in your games.
Runes Explained
Conqueror
Conqueror is a rune that grants bonus AD or AP depending on which stat you have the most of. It is stacked up to 12 times, and it gives 1 stack per AA for ranged champions and 2 stacks for melee champions.
You can also stack it with abilities, spells, and item actives which give 2 stacks per hit. Conqueror also grants bonus healing at 12 stacks.
Lethal Tempo
Lethal Tempo is a rune that grants bonus attack speed that increases with stacks. It also grants a bonus attack range at max stacks (6).
Stacks work the same way for melee and ranged champions, with 1 stack per auto attack.
Press The Attack
Press the attack is a rune that marks the enemy and increases the damage they take. It works by having you auto-attack an enemy 3 times consecutively.
You have 4 seconds to apply each stack and attacking a different enemy removes all the previous stacks on the first one.
The third stack will deal 40-180 damage (based on level) and have the enemy take 8-12% more damage, from all sources.
Read Also: First Strike Rune – How it Works & How Much Gold it Gives?
Conqueror vs. Lethal Tempo vs. Press the Attack – Which is The Strongest?
After learning all the stats from these runes and having experience with them in the game, it can be hard to determine which one is the strongest.
The thing is, neither of them is, and if there are some differences in strength, they would be negligible.
Riot closely monitors all the stats and ensures all runes have relatively equal power.
Despite failing at balancing champions sometimes, they are usually pretty spot on when it comes to runes since there are fewer runes which makes them easy to balance.
All runes are equal, but not all runes work equally well on every champion. Each rune has specific attributes that synergize well with certain champions. Also, each champion can run multiple runes depending on the situation.
I will try to illustrate this relationship with a few examples.
The Best Champions for Lethal Tempo
- Yasuo is one of the champions that highly benefits from having this rune. It transforms his early game and makes him viable in early 1v1 fights. It also scales well into the late game, allowing him to dish out insane damage since it also reduces his Q cooldown.
- Much like Yasuo, Yone will benefit the same way from Lethal Tempo. There is not really much to add, but he had to be on the list.
- Jax can be an absolute monster running Lethal Tempo. Jax players will usually want to take it into matchups where they do not have trouble getting close to the enemy. The attack speed combined with Jax’s most common itemization and high base damage is ridiculously OP.
Read Also: How to Carry as a Top Laner?
The Best Champions for Conqueror
- Aatrox is a great example of a champion where the only reasonable rune he can pick is the conqueror. He does not benefit from having extra attack speed since he relies on dealing physical damage with his abilities, meaning we can rule out Lethal Tempo. Press the Attack is also bad because you would have to die before stacking it on him. Conqueror, on the other side, is perfect. It greatly enhances his damage and gives bonus healing which is always nice.
- Fiora is much like Aatrox, she is a little bit more flexible, but Conqueror is still the best choice for her. She does a lot of true damage, and the thing she benefits the most from is extra damage and healing. Other runes would work on her, but Conqueror is simply the best.
- Hecarim is the third example of a Conqueror champion. We see the same pattern as in Aatrox and Fiora. He mostly deals damage with abilities and having extra damage from Conqueror just plays into his kit. This is not something that can be said about Lethal Tempo and Press the Attack.
Read Also: Rift Herald – A Complete Guide for Junglers
The Best Champions for Press the Attack
- Ashe is the champion you will see most with Press the Attack. Her kit mainly revolves around auto-attacking well and kitting the enemy. This means Press The Attack can be stacked fast and used to its full potential. Like most users of this keystone, Ashe can also comfortably run other keystones from the Precision tree.
- Master Yi is my favorite champ to play with Press the Attack. The rune is strong in the early game and greatly increases Yi’s damage. I usually pick it in combination with ignite. This allows me to invade the enemy jungler, attack them 3 times to stack the passive, and then Q them once they are marked to deal extra damage. Igniting the just finishes them off.
- Ezreal is also one of the top champions for Press the Attack. His Q is registered as a basic attack which means it stacks the rune. Hitting Q’s well and inputting basic attacks between Q’s makes the rune stack extremely fast. It is clear how this makes the rune optimal for Ezreal.
Conclusion
All the runes from the Precision tree are equally powerful. The only difference comes in when you add the champions and situation to the equation.
Some champions naturally synergize well with specific runes, while others will want to run something based on the game they are playing.
Sometimes it can be a combination of both of these factors.
