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League of Legends is a MOBA where you can choose different champions to defeat the enemy by destroying their Nexus. Claiming victory against the opponent requires using various tactics from you and your teammates. Part of that tactics section is choosing the best Rune Keystone for your champion. Various roles can be played in Summoner’s Rift that requires different Rune Keystones.
Lethal Tempo gives you a burst of attack speed as you apply basic attacks to the enemy champion. It’s perfect if you play the ADC role or a champion that relies primarily on their auto-attacks for dealing damage. However, many players think that Lethal Tempo can be used on every occasion, on every champion. Therefore, I have written this guide to help you navigate through the Lethal Tempo keystone.
Bottom Line Up Front
In short terms, Lethal Tempo belongs to the Precision keystone. The Rune itself provides your champion with a bonus attack speed that could vary depending on your champion level. This guide will discuss the possibilities of champions using Lethal Tempo, where Lethal Tempo fits the most, and which items utilize the Keystone best.
What is Lethal Tempo?
Lethal Tempo belongs in the offensive category of Runes. It’s mainly used on champions like Twitch, Tristana, Jinx, etc. The Rune scales great early because of the instant attack speed you gain.
Of course, it will be better if the game lasts longer since you will have the money to purchase items that increase attack speed. The Rune itself becomes unbelievably powerful late-game as you can auto-attack much faster. This lets take over the game by kiting and dealing significant damage.
The Lethal Tempo provides the attack speed in percentage, not fixed ratio numbers. Also, it lasts for 3 seconds, but it can prolong itself if you deal additional basic attacks. This feature allows ultra-kiting possibilities if you are in a team fight or pursue kills in 1v1 or 2v2 skirmishes.
- How it works: After spending 1.5 seconds attacking a champion, you will receive a massive attack speed buff (30-90% depending on champion level). Attacking the enemy champion will grant you the possibility to extend this buff to 6s. Moreover, Lethal Tempo allows you to exceed the attack speed limit temporarily.
- Cooldown: The Rune has a cooldown of 6 seconds.
When to use Lethal Tempo?
As mentioned above, Lethal Tempo is a rune that cannot be utilized by every champion available in the Rift. However, you can incorporate the keystone into your build for fun since it allows players to create some weird builds. Let’s go over when it’s the best time to use Lethal Tempo.
- Marksman: It was probably clear that the prioritization of the Rune belongs to the ADC role, or more specifically, the Marksman role. The Marksman relies primarily on their basic attack to deal damage in team fights. Lethal Tempo grants them the much-needed attack speed to deal burst damage or kite behind their tanks.
- Junglers: The Rune itself is not so good for the Jungler role simply because they need to be ready to protect the ADC and provide good peel. But, some junglers like Kindred (a Marksman) can make good usage of this Rune. Xin Zhao can also make good use of the Rune because of his ability to do a knock-up on enemy champions, allowing the rest of the team to get easy kills.
- Mages: There are not many mages that could use this Rune successfully. Maybe in some experimental builds that we will discuss below.
- Assassins: Champions like Yasuo, Yone, Akali, or Zed can make good usage of Lethal Tempo. Especially Yasuo, because it allows him to build stacks for his Ultimate quicker. Yet, Conqueror or Dark Harvest is the Rune that will probably suit these assassins better.
- ARAM: It’s always fun when you play ARAM due to the constant 5v5 battles. And why should you not pick a champion that will be an “automatic rifle” from behind the front? The Rune is a much-needed fun provider on the map, so you should choose it freely on the champion you feel will utilize it the most.
- URF: The constant fights that the Ultra Rapid Fire map provides are excellent for champions like Twitch or Tristana.. The map gives an 80% cooldown reduction, so the procs on Lethal Tempo will be around 2-3 seconds from the original 6 second cooldown period.
What Runes Synergize with Lethal Tempo?
The choice of Lethal Tempo itself is not enough for your champion to be good. As you know, there are other rules you need to select to make the Rune page complete. The choice of other Runes should revolve around extra attack speed or extra Attack Damage.
This will make Lethal Tempo even more robust and coherent for your champion. Below you’ll find the best Runes that synergize with Lethal Tempo.
Precision
- Triumph: Takedowns restore health and grant bonus gold. Triumph heals you for 12% of your missing health and grants you extra 20 gold for the kill. This Rune is more utilized in the late game, as the income will be more than applicable when you approach the full-build stage of the game.
- Legend: Alacrity: This keystone increases your attack speed and raises the cap. This ability means that you will not be able to waste the Rune by capping your attack speed through items. If your champion already benefits from using attack speed, the Alacrity will make you utilize the Lethal Tempo even better.
- Cut Down: This Rune deals 5-15% damage to champions depending on their maximum health. The Rune itself is fantastic for the Marksman role, let alone for Lethal Tempo. The extra damage combined with the boost of attack speed you already have will grant you tremendous kiting possibilities.
Domination
- Cheap Shot: Cheap Shot allows you to do some extra damage to impaired champions. The Rune becomes powerful during team fights, especially when your teammates CC’s the enemies. Thanks to Lethal Tempo, you will be able to hit them multiple times per second.
- Eyeball Collection: This particular ability will offer you extra damage if you manage to kill ten champions. After the first ten kills, it will offer some lethality that will be more than useful in your Marksman role.
Resolve
- Bone Plating: After receiving damage from an enemy champion for 1.5 seconds their next three attacks or spells deal 30-60 less damage.. This feature will benefit champions who use Lethal Tempo on top, such as Kayle.
- Overgrowth: Every eight minions or monsters that die near you permanently grants you a stack of 3 maximum health. After gaining 15 stacks you will gain an additional 3.5% maximum health.
How to use Lethal Tempo?
As mentioned above, Lethal Tempo automatically procs when you deal damage to enemy champions. However, for you to utilize this Rune more successfully, you need to know how and when to engage in team fights.
As a Marksman, you will be the first target in many team fights, so you will have to rely on your team to protect you. On the other hand, you will be the main damage-dealer in your team, so your teammates will rely on you to kill the opposing champions.
- In team fights – Kiting: Kiting is a process where you mechanically do as much attack damage as possible with your basic attacks without being interrupted by CC. To do so, you will need attack damage and attack speed. Once you position yourself at a safe distance (which can vary depending on the range of the Marksman), make sure you deal lots of damage by moving fast and attacking the champions that are closest to you.
- Solo duels: Many times, you may face a 1v1 or 1v2 situation in the game. This is where Lethal Tempo will be more than worthwhile to you. Make sure you stay at a safe distance (if you fight vs. melee champs) and move left and right quickly before dealing your basic attack. This way, basic attacks reset more rapidly, and it will be harder for melee champions to hit you. Lethal Tempo will be more than helpful in this situation since it will grant you lots of attack speed, a much-needed booster to your attack damage.
Which Champions Synergize with Lethal Tempo
Not all of the Marksman champions synergize with this Rune. Many champions used for the ADC role rely on burst damage, not on attack speed. However, there are a few hyper-carries that scale amazingly off Lethal Tempo. Here is our choice of the best champions that utilize this Rune.
Jinx
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Jinx is an ADC champion that relies primarily on her attack speed. Even her passive brings her extra attack and movement speed when she kills/assists an enemy champion. Jinx can change her weapon by using Q which turns her auto-attacks into AoE rockets. Also, using her zap W can hit a single target, granting her 3 passive stacks.
As a champion that can deal AoE damage, Jinx must utilize her attack speed as much as possible. Therefore, Lethal Tempo will only enable her kiting to be quicker and more efficient. However, Jinx will rely on the protection of her support too. Although her W grants a decrease in the enemy’s movement speed it’s not enough to resist enemies jumping on her.
Tristana
Tristana’s Q – Rapid Fire provides an unbelievable amount of attack speed for a short duration. Add the Attack speed that Lethal Tempo will proc and you will receive a machine gun Yordle that is challenging to kill.
Tristana is a little easier to navigate on the map since she has an escape ability in her W. She can use this ability to leap towards or away from an enemy. Her E allows her to pop a bomb on an enemy target. With Lethal Tempo, the stacks will be implemented quickly, and the damage would be incredible!
Kalista
In the previous patches, Kalista was more neglected than other ADCs. However, her skill to stack spears on enemy champions (or a monster objective such as Baron or Dragon) is truly underappreciated. It’s like having Smite on your champion, making it effortless to secure objectives.
More importantly, Kalista can move towards you with every basic attack dealt. This means you can chase down targets easily and the extra attack speed helps tremendously.
Lethal Tempo allows Kalista to pile up the spears quicker and grants her the ability to pop them off in a shorter amount of time. On the other hand, it allows her to dodge abilities with her “side-dash” when she attacks an enemy champion. If you plan on playing Kalista, Lethal Tempo is a must for you!
Sivir
Apart from her Q, Sivir’s damage comes from her basic attacks. That’s why Sivir needs to utilize attack speed apart from AD. It will enable her to press the attack more frequently and efficiently, which is why Lethal Tempo is the best rune choice for this champion.
Sivir’s W damages the surrounding enemy structures, such as champions and minions. With Lethal Tempo, Sivir will let out her W faster, and with her Ultimate that grants her movement and attack speed, Sivir will be almost an automatic machine with her basic attacks.
Twitch
Twitch is a champion who relies on AoE damage with his ultimate and passive. His passive applies poison to enemies, which can be proc’d if he uses his E. Combining Runaan’s Hurricane, Twitch’s attack speed, and AoE damage allows him to have a comfortable position in a team fight.
One of the reasons Twitch relies heavily on the Lethal Tempo is that it enables him to overcome the attack speed cap quickly. Using Ambush (Twitch’s Q) and Lethal Tempo allows him to do a significant amount of damage in a short time.
Kog’ Maw
Although considered a low-agility champion, Kog’ Maw can annihilate you with his fast attack speed. His Q Bio Arcane Barrage allows him to increase the range of his basic attacks. Combining the enlargement of the attack speed, he will receive from the Lethal Tempo and Kog’ will be impossible to kill.
But the lack of speed forces Kog’ Maw to rely deeply on his support or his other teammates’ protection. In addition, his ability to kite almost perfectly when his Q synchronizes with Lethal Tempo makes Kog’ maw so dangerous in team fights and during lanning phase.
Champions that should avoid using Lethal Tempo
Jhin
Although considered an ADC, Jhin is one of the marksmen that will have zero to no benefit from using this Rune. Jhin is an ADC that relies heavily on dealing burst damage, not on persistent damage like the champions mentioned above. Therefore, Jhin is most likely to use Domination as his keystone along with Dark Harvest or Hail of Blades.
Another flaw in the combination of Lethal Tempo and Jhin is his passive. After every fourth basic attack, Jhin needs to recharge his gun. This process takes some time (2-3 seconds). Comparing the maximum attack speed of the other ADCs (2.5 per second) would be around six basic attacks dealt from them while Jhin reloads.
Kai’Sa
Kai’Sa builds Domination, similar to Jhin. Although she is agile and can rely on her attack speed to destroy enemies, Kai’Sa uses Hail of Blades as her main keystone. The boost from Hail of Blades is also attack speed (110% with increased cap), but the cooldown is double that of Lethal Tempo (12s).
Another thing is that Kai’Sa also relies on AP more compared to other ADCs. This situation means that the itemization of Kai’Sa may not be the same as Tristana, Jinx, or Twitch. Therefore, Lethal Tempo is not the right choice for Kai’Sa since she doesn’t heavily build attack speed.
Experimental Usages of Lethal Tempo
Illaoi
Although considered a tank champion, Illaoi can make one good usage of Lethal Tempo. When her ultimate is casted, Illaoi spawns tentacles depending on how many enemy champions are nearby. These tentacles deal damage whenever Illaoi casts an ability towards an enemy champion while also giving her lifesteal.
If Illaoi uses Lethal Tempo, the attack speed of the tentacles is boosted, and she will practically be immortal due to the incoming health. Here is the complete rune build for Illaoi Lethal Tempo:
Primary Rune Page: Precision
-
- Lethal Tempo
- Triumph
- Legend: Tenacity
- Last Stand
Secondary Rune Page: Inspiration
-
- Biscuit Delivery
- Time Warp Tonic
Shards:
-
- Adaptive Force (+9 AD or 5.6 AP)
- Adaptive Force (+9 AD or 5.6 AP)
- Defense (+6 armor)
Garen
You would have laughed at me if I said Garen would use attack speed to obliterate his enemies a couple of seasons ago. But now that his primary ability (E- Judgement) scales with attack speed, some of the summoners have tried out Lethal Tempo on him. Surprisingly, it works! But it’s not the main choice for Garen as he relies heavily on the tank-built components in the game. However, here is our proposal if you want to try out this build on the Summoner’s Rift!
Primary Rune Page: Precision
- Lethal Tempo
- Triumph
- Legend: Tenacity
- Last Stand
Secondary Rune Page: Resolve
- Conditioning
- Overgrowth
Shards Selection:
-
- Adaptive Force (+5.4 AD or 9 AP)
- Adaptive Force (+5.4 AD or 9 AP)
- Defense (+6 armor)
LeBlanc
Before you skip this part of the guide just because you saw a mage, hear us out! LeBlanc has been widely played in the mid-lane.
Therefore, her potential in the bot lane has been zero to none. But many Summoners have tried AD LeBlanc with the Lethal Tempo Keystone and gained huge success thanks to her mobility! This build relies on her W to roam around the map and farm kills to get attack speed items. If you want to try out LB on the bot lane, here is our proposal!
Primary Rune Page: Precision
- Lethal Tempo
- Triumph
- Legend: Alacrity
- Coup de Grace
Secondary Rune Page: Inspiration
- Perfect timing
- Magical Footwear
Shards Selection:
- Adaptive Force (+5.4 AD or 9 AP)
- Adaptive Force (+5.4 AD or 9 AP)
- Defense (+6 armor)
Items that Utilize Lethal Tempo
Galeforce
Apart from giving your champion 60 Attack Damage and +20% attack speed, along with a 20% critical chance, Galeforce enables you to launch in the direction of your cursor. While you charge towards your enemy with Galeforce, the item will launch three rockets that deal damage to the lowest HP enemy champions.
With Lethal Tempo, you could use Galeforce to quickly outburst the enemy champion if you catch him solo on the lane or if he tries to charge at you (Galeforce can be used to dash in the opposite direction of the enemy too).
Runyan’s Hurricane
This item grants you 45% attack speed, 20% critical chance, and 7% movement speed. Although many ADCs utilize this item to give themselves AoE damage in a team fight, nobody does it better than Twitch.
Combined with the stacks of Lethal Tempo and the ability to overcome the attack speed cap, Twitch is simply automatic from behind. If you manage to stay well protected in the team fight, this item and Lethal Tempo will make your ADC unbeatable!
Phantom Dancer
Phantom Dancer grants you 20 Attack Damage, 25% Attack Speed, 20% Critical Chance, and 7% Movement Speed. Also, it’s passive (Spectral Waltz) grants you 30% attack speed if you make four consecutive attacks on an enemy champion.
This ability, along with the Lethal Tempo proc, will make the burst of your attack speed immeasurable. Combined with the AD and critical chance you will have in your build, there is a high possibility you could one-shot champions.
Rapid Firecannon
The item grants you 35% attack speed, 20% critical chance, and 7% movement speed. In addition, Rapid Firecannon generates an Energized Attack while you are moving and farming. This Energized Attack grants a 35% bonus Attack Range and 120 magic damage. The bonus Attack Range blends well with Lethal Tempo because you could do significant damage while staying within a safe range from the enemy.
Lethal Tempo Guide: FAQs
Question: What is a Lethal Tempo?
Answer: Lethal Tempo is a Rune that belongs to the Precision Keystone. It allows your champion to gain more attack speed when attacking other champions in the game.
Lethal Tempo also allows your champion to overcome the cap on attack speed for a brief amount of time, thus enabling your champion to deal more damage in a shorter period. The Keystone works best when it synergizes with attack speed runes and items.
Question: Which champions use Lethal Tempo?
Answer: Theoretically, every champion can use Lethal Tempo. But not everyone can maximize the utilization of the same Rune. The Marksman role is most efficient with the rune because they rely on auto-attacks to deal damage to enemies. However, you can use Lethal Tempo on any champion and experiment with multiple builds. We’ve mentioned a few like AD Leblanc, Garen, and Illaoi.
Question: How do I use Lethal Tempo?
Answer: If you choose Lethal Tempo on your champion, you need to know how to utilize it properly. The Rune has a short cooldown period of 6 seconds, so you need to be careful not to engage in a team fight during the reset. Depending on the situation (if you are in a team fight or a 2v2 situation on the bot lane), you need to know how to stay safe.
Team fights: The most important thing for you in team fights is to stay protected safely behind your teammates. The most crucial teammate in a fight is your support. Make sure you apply basic attacks from a distance to proc Lethal Tempo. If you peel the enemy low enough to kill him, you should move towards him and finish the last blow. This situation will proc the other Runes (such as Triumph), and you will gain extra advantages.
Always stay behind an ally because they will grant you the “human-factor shield” you’ll need to not get one-shotted.
Bot lane fights: The philosophy is the same with the difference that you don’t have to be as aggressive as in team fights. Your main goal should be to proc Lethal Tempo and do as much damage as possible without getting caught.
Summary
Lethal Tempo is considered an offensive Keystone. Therefore, if you plan on adjusting and improving your offensive skillset as an ADC, this is the perfect rune for you! We have discussed Lethal Tempo’s many benefits to your champion and the items you should prioritize to be the most efficient. Also, we’ve gone over a few champions that utilize the rune best.
So what are you waiting for? Head over to the Rift and see how great Lethal Tempo is! If there’s anything else you’d like to know, please comment below.