All you need to know about Treasure Hunter and healing nerfs

Sustain has been reduced in League of Legends through patch 12.6, with one of the best healing runes replaced by a new rune called Treasure Hunter.

Treasure Hunter has replaced Ravenous Hunter in the Domination tree, eschewing one of the most popular rune choices in the entire game. At the same time, nerfs to runes and items that heal have meant less and less healing for champions who thrive on alternative ways to heal themselves.

LoL Treasure Hunter rune means more money, less healing

Treasure Hunter is the new rune that is replacing Ravenous Hunter in the Hunter node of the Domination rune tree. Like all the Hunter runes, the new option gives a scaling reward each time the user gets a unique champion takedown.

Previously, Ravenous Hunter gave a percentage of damage dealt back as health through added Omnivamp, but the new Treasure Hunter option grants extra gold for unique takedowns, scaling up in value from 70 to 140 gold from start to finish.

Ravenous Hunter was one of many problematic systems that allowed champions without built-in healing to recover health while out on the map. Fleet Footwork and Legends: Bloodline were also tuned down, while items like Vampiric Scepter and its completed options Immortal Shieldbow and Blade of the Ruined King also saw nerfs.

Treasure Hunter is meant to work best with champions who have early item spikes, rewarding them for finding early advantages even more than usual. Gold is most impactful in the early game, so doubling down on the income from kills incentivizes aggressive playstyles, especially in tandem with the First Strike rune.

Riot had talked about doing wholesale changes to healing in League of Legends, and these recent changes seem to be shifting away from sustain and towards high-impact early-game plays and aggression.