In League of Legends Classic, Runes and Masteries play a huge part in the outcome of your game. Many lanes can be won or lost depending on your Masteries setup, so taking the correct Masteries page is crucial if you want to win.
There are so many options when it comes to the Masteries system in League of Legends, and it can be quite daunting if you’re not used to it. Compared to the current system we have in League of Legends, the Mastery system is a lot different, and in this guide, we will break down all the Masteries coming to League of Legends Classic.
You can find all the best Runes, Builds, and Masteries for each champion in League of Legends Classic by heading over to our LoL Classic Guides Page!
What are Masteries in League of Legends Classic?
Masteries are bonuses that can help you throughout the game. Unlocked at level 3, you can create custom Mastery pages that will help you in-game and buff up your champion. There are 3 Mastery Trees: Offense, Defense and Utility.
Most characters will take 21 points in 1 tree, and 9 in the other, but many Supports, especially aggressive ones, might take points in all 3 trees. Generally speaking, you should always go 21 in 1 tree and 9 in the other rather than splitting points across all 3 (such as 10,10 and 10) as the more points the better the buffs are.
The Offense Tree
The Offense tree consists of Masteries that increase your damage output and make it easier for you to get kills. There are a variety of different stats in there, such as additional AD or AP, which help increase your damage output and make last hitting easier. Magic Pen or Armor Pen, which is a very valuable tool, especially on AD or AP Assassins, such as Evelynn and Shaco.
One of the strongest Masteries is the final Mastery, Executioner, which makes killing enemies a lot easier. This is a reason why players take 21 points in this tree.
The Defense Tree
The Defense tree gives you a variety of defensive stats to help keep you alive and make you tankier as the game develops. In League of Legends, there are a lot of squishy and immobile champions, and taking the Defensive tree either as your main or secondary tree is the norm, as it can give you extra stats to keep you alive.
Generally speaking, champions who are not actual tanks will take this as a secondary tree to help keep them alive in lane. The extra armor, health and magic resist this tree can give you can make laning a lot easier.
The Utility Tree
The Utility tree is a favourite for many Support champions as it can provide you with stats that make your laning phase and your role as the Support a lot easier. In this tree, you will find things like additional mana regen, which is useful on Supports like Lulu, who will be using her abilities often.
There are other Masteries in this tree that include things like increasing your starting gold, which could help you get a different starting item, additional XP so you do not fall behind, and many Supports favour taking the Explorer’s Ward Mastery, as it gives you a free ward. Supports tend not to get as much gold as other roles, as they do not last hit minions. This is why taking Masteries in this tree that give gold is highly valuable for them.
While the Utility tree is great for Supports, many other champions take the Utility tree as well, such as Sion and Anivia.
Example Masteries for Different Champions
We will now go over 5 different champions in League of Legends and break down why we take each page for them. You can find information, including Runes, Masteries and Builds for other champions by heading over to our League of Legends Classic Hub.
Teemo
Teemo deals a mix of physical and magic damage through his basic attacks, making the Offense tree the obvious choice. The bonus AD and AP penetration, attack speed, and increased damage will allow him to trade more effectively during the laning phase.
For your secondary tree, taking the Defense tree is the best option as Teemo is notoriously squishy and easy to kill. The additional defensive stats and health will help him stay alive for longer in the lane.
Jarvan IV
Jarvan is a strong, skirmish-heavy Jungler, so taking the Offense tree is the obvious choice for him. He wants to prioritise AD, armor pen and anything and everything that will increase his damage output as it makes him stronger in those 1v1 situations. This also makes his clears much faster.
While J4 deals tons of damage, he does need to take the Defense tree second because he can be quite vulnerable without additional health, armor and reduced damage from monster camps to make him less vulnerable and increase his survivability.
Zilean
Zilean’s laning phase revolves around you playing safe and dealing damage from afar with your Q to clear waves. By putting 21 points in the Offense tree, you can spam your Q more often and clear waves more effectively as you’ll be gaining things like CDR, AP and magic pen. This tree is really good on Zilean and will help you to push and poke more often.
As you’re going to be playing safe and spamming abilities, the Utility tree is a good option by taking things that increase your mana regen to spam more bombs and clear those waves!
Ashe
As Ashe's primary role is dealing damage, you'll want to invest 21 points into the Offense tree and 9 points into Defense. The Offense tree provides extra AD, attack speed, and other stats to make last-hitting minions easier and make your auto-attacks and W deal more damage.
The remaining points in Defense grant extra defensive stats to help you survive the enemy Support engage, the enemy Mid Laner sitting your lane, and the enemy ADCs' auto-attacks.
Lulu
As an enchanter support, Lulu should invest 21 points into the Utility tree and 9 points into Defense. The Utility tree provides mana regeneration, bonus gold generation, and additional utility, all of which are incredibly valuable for a Support champ.
The remaining points should be placed into Defence, focusing on extra health, armor, and magic resist. These defensive stats will help her to stay alive against strong all-in Supports and enemy ADC damage and auto-attacks.
