8 Best Runes For Assassins in League of Legends

League of Legends features a massive variety of champions, each with unique playstyles, abilities, and strategies. Among them, assassins are some of the most exciting and fast-paced to play. These high-damage, mobility-driven champions are built to eliminate key targets before disappearing back into the shadows. But to make the most out of them, choosing the right runes is absolutely crucial.

Runes can make or break an assassin’s performance — boosting burst damage, enhancing survivability, or improving mobility to secure kills and escape cleanly. Whether you prefer a methodical setup or all-in burst plays, understanding how each rune interacts with your champion can dramatically change your impact in fights. In this article, we’ll go over the best runes for assassins in League of Legends, explaining how they work and when to use them for maximum efficiency.

#8: Relentless Hunter

Passive: Gain 8 bonus movement speed while out of combat per Bounty Hunter stack, up to 40 at 5 stacks.
Effect: Earn a Bounty Hunter stack for each unique enemy champion takedown.

For assassins, speed is everything — the faster you can move across the map, the more pressure you can create. Relentless Hunter is perfect for that. It gives assassins a noticeable boost in out-of-combat movement speed, making rotations and roams much faster. Whether you’re playing a mid-lane Zed looking to gank bot or a jungle Kha’Zix hunting your next target, this rune helps you stay one step ahead of the enemy.

Once you start stacking kills, you’ll move across lanes like lightning, setting up plays before your opponents can even react. The only limitation is that the movement speed bonus fades during combat, but for assassins who rely on striking fast and moving before enemies respond, that trade-off is more than worth it.

#7: Sudden Impact

Passive: After using a dash, blink, or exiting stealth, your next attack or ability within 4 seconds deals 20–80 bonus true damage.
Cooldown: 10 seconds

Sudden Impact is one of those runes that feels tailor-made for assassins. Almost every assassin in League of Legends has some kind of dash, blink, or stealth mechanic — and this rune rewards you every time you use it to strike. It adds a burst of true damage right after you engage, giving your combo a sharper edge and helping you finish targets before they can react.

The best part is how effortless it is to trigger. You don’t need to think about timing or setups — simply dash in and hit your target, and Sudden Impact does the rest. Because of its short cooldown, it activates multiple times in longer fights, making it perfect for assassins like Zed, Qiyana, or Akali who weave in and out of combat. It’s not flashy, but that consistent burst boost can be the difference between a clean kill and a target escaping with a sliver of health.

#6: Ultimate Hunter

Effect: Gain 6 (+5 per Bounty Hunter stack) ultimate haste, up to a total of 31 at 5 stacks.
How to stack: Earn a Bounty Hunter stack by scoring a takedown on a unique enemy champion.

For assassins, their ultimate ability is often the centerpiece of their entire kit — the button that decides fights. Ultimate Hunter takes that strength and amplifies it by reducing your ultimate’s cooldown, letting you use it more often to secure kills and control the tempo of the match.

Champions like Pyke, Evelynn, and Qiyana benefit immensely from this rune, as their ultimates are game-changing and often have long cooldowns. With enough stacks, you’ll find yourself ulting in nearly every skirmish or objective fight. Since the bonus scales with takedowns, the rune naturally rewards aggressive, snowball-heavy playstyles that assassins thrive on. Once fully stacked, Ultimate Hunter turns your champion into a relentless predator, always ready to strike again before the enemy team can even breathe.

#5: First Strike

Passive: Hitting an enemy champion first grants a 3-second window where you deal 7% bonus true damage and earn gold equal to a percentage of that bonus damage. If the enemy hits you first, the rune goes on cooldown.
Cooldown: 25–15 seconds (based on level).

First Strike is perfect for assassins who rely on quick burst trades and scaling gold advantages. It rewards precise timing — strike first, deal more damage, and walk away with extra gold for your efforts. For champions like Qiyana, Akshan, or Evelynn, this rune fits like a glove, since they can dictate the fight’s initiation and instantly capitalize on the bonus damage and income.

The gold generation aspect helps snowball assassins even faster, letting them complete key items earlier and gain a sharp mid-game spike. And once that happens, the true damage bonus becomes even more lethal, often turning a single combo into a guaranteed kill. The only catch is that you need to engage first — if your enemy lands a poke before you do, it goes on cooldown. But in skilled hands, First Strike feels like a constant reward loop, paying you in gold and kills every time you outplay your opponent.

#4: Treasure Hunter

Effect: Gain 50 gold plus 20 for every unique champion takedown, up to 450 total at five stacks. Each unique enemy kill grants one Bounty Hunter stack.

Treasure Hunter might look like a rune for greedy players, but in truth, it’s one of the best choices for assassins who thrive on snowballing. Extra gold equals faster power spikes — and that’s exactly what assassins need to dominate early and mid-game fights. For champions like Qiyana, Zed, or Talon, getting ahead by even a single item can completely shift the tempo of the match.

What makes this rune so rewarding is how naturally it fits into the assassin playstyle. Every successful roam or kill on a new target brings in more gold, stacking your advantage without requiring constant farming. Before your opponents realize it, you’ll have completed a full item while they’re still saving up for components. Treasure Hunter doesn’t just feed your economy — it fuels your momentum, turning early aggression into unstoppable dominance before the late game even begins.

#3: Hail of Blades

Passive: After beginning an attack on an enemy champion, gain a massive boost of bonus attack speed (140% / 80%) for up to three attacks within 3 seconds. The effect refreshes on hit and ignores the standard attack speed cap.
Cooldown: 10 seconds.

Hail of Blades is one of the most aggressive runes an assassin can take, giving champions the ability to unleash lightning-fast attacks before their opponents can even react. For champions that rely on quick combos or empowered autos—like Pyke, Briar, or Twitch—this rune transforms their early trades into explosive kill opportunities. Those first few attacks come out so quickly that even tankier enemies can find themselves losing half their HP in seconds.

The rune also opens new doors for creative assassins, allowing unconventional picks to burst down targets that would normally survive their engages. It’s a pure snowball tool—get in fast, strike first, and erase the enemy before they can respond. With such a short cooldown, Hail of Blades keeps the pressure up all game long, rewarding fearless aggression and punishing hesitation. It’s the go-to pick for assassins who want to dominate their lane from the very first minute.

#2: Dark Harvest

Passive: Damaging an enemy champion below 50% HP triggers bonus adaptive damage (30 + scaling with Souls, AD, and AP) and harvests a Soul after a short delay. Each Soul increases your future damage, and the cooldown resets to 1 second after a takedown.
Cooldown: 35 seconds.

Dark Harvest is every assassin’s dream when it comes to scaling burst power. It rewards precision, snowballing, and calculated aggression — everything an assassin thrives on. Whenever you finish off a low-health opponent, you gain a Soul that permanently boosts your damage. In long games or teamfights where kills keep rolling in, Dark Harvest turns assassins into unstoppable predators, capable of deleting squishies in one combo.

Champions like Evelynn, Katarina, and Kha’Zix excel with this rune, using it to chain kills and keep the snowball rolling. The reset mechanic ensures that once a fight starts going your way, it quickly spirals out of control for the enemy. The only catch is consistency — if you fall behind, it’s hard to keep stacking Souls. But when ahead, the rune’s scaling damage and reset potential make it one of the most lethal tools in any assassin’s kit, especially during chaotic 5v5 skirmishes.

#1: Electrocute

Passive: Hitting an enemy LoL champion with three separate attacks or abilities within three seconds triggers a lightning strike, dealing 70–240 bonus adaptive damage plus scaling with bonus AD and AP.
Cooldown: 20 seconds.

Electrocute is the ultimate rune for assassins — simple, reliable, and brutally effective. It perfectly complements the burst-heavy playstyle these champions thrive on, rewarding fast, clean combos with devastating extra damage. Almost every assassin combo naturally procs Electrocute, whether it’s Zed’s triple shuriken, Talon’s leap, or Katarina’s quick spin of daggers. It fits seamlessly into their gameplay without requiring any adjustment or setup.

From early trades to late-game all-ins, Electrocute’s scaling damage keeps it relevant throughout every stage of a match. It delivers immediate kill pressure in lane and scales into a monster finisher later on. With its short cooldown and easy activation, this rune is pure value — providing consistent burst potential every time an assassin goes in. In short, Electrocute is the most reliable and explosive rune for assassins, giving them everything they need to dominate skirmishes and erase carries before they can even react.

Conclusion

Assassins in League of Legends thrive on precision, burst damage, and timing — and the right rune setup can make all the difference. Whether you prefer the raw kill power of Electrocute, the scaling chaos of Dark Harvest, or the roaming potential of Relentless Hunter, each rune offers unique advantages that enhance your playstyle. Picking the right combination can turn your champion into an unstoppable force capable of deleting squishy targets and carrying fights with ease. Experiment with different setups, learn your matchups, and you’ll quickly discover which rune setup helps you dominate the Rift every League of Legends game.