How Much Gold Does First Strike Give & How Does It Work

First Strike is one of the best runes for burst champions to generate leads and carry games with. The base amount of gold it gives is 5, and it does give additional gold based on the damage dealt to an enemy.

This article will guide you through everything you need to know about this rune page, and that will help you make the most out of it in the game.

We will cover:

1. How to calculate how much gold the first strike gives?
2. How to get the most amount of gold with the first strike.
3. Best rune page for the first strike.
4. List of champions that can run the first strike rune.

How Much Gold Does First Strike Give? (How to Calculate)

As already said, the base amount of gold the first strike will give is 5 gold. Additional gold you will be receiving gets calculated by the amount of damage you have done within 3 seconds of attacking the enemy champion.

These 3 seconds are a window in which you will deal 9% extra true damage, the final amount of damage within this frame will be converted to gold within a 1/1 ratio. To spare you thinking, this usually equals 20-50 gold in the early game, 60-130 gold in the mid-game, and around 150+ gold in the late game.

It is important to note that this keystone has a 20 seconds cooldown, so it would be wise to keep track of its availability in order to time combos properly and get the most amount of gold.

How To Get the Most Amount of Gold Using First Strike

The last section has ended with a small tip, but there are a few other tips that require a section of their own. These are some small gameplay tweaks you can implement, in order to squeeze the most out of this rune.

The first thing I always like to do in the early game is to poke the enemies before minions spawn, this can be done with most ranged picks, and it gives a nice little gold boost. If you are playing something like Xerath, you will also get a stack of runes such as manaflow band.

Now, the other thing I do to optimize my gains is look for burst opportunities. Since there is a 3-second window that calculates the amount of gold you will get based on your damage, I try to do as much damage as possible.

So for example, if you are playing Zed with the first strike, and you have the keystone up, you should not waste it on landing 1 Q. Instead, it is always better to wait for the opportunity to land a full combo. This means waiting out for spells to return off cooldown, and similar factors.

Best Rune Page For First Strike

There are plenty of setups that can be run with the first strike, and the ideal choice will depend on the situation. This is not to say that there is no setup that will run well most of the time and that you can use without worrying too much.

Here is the rune page in question:

1. First Strike
2. Magical Footwear
3. Biscuit Delivery
4. Cosmic Insight
5. Sudden Impact
6. Treasure Hunter
7. X2 Adaptive Force + Health

Notes

This is the first strike rune page you can run on every champion without touching anything. I would however like to share a couple of tips so you can tweak it a little depending on what you play.

1. Magical Footwear can be exchanged for Stopwatch in matchups where the latter is more beneficial.
2. Sudden Impact can be exchanged for Cheap Shot if you are playing champions with CC.
3. I take Treasure Hunter to generate most gold, but if the champion I play is ultimate-reliant, I opt for Ultimate Hunter, since the rune provides cooldown reduction on R.
4. I would advise swapping out the HP mini rune with AD or AP resistance, depending on your lane matchup.

Champions That Can Run First Strike

Every champion that has the ability to output a great amount of damage within 3 seconds timeframe is a great candidate for the first strike. As you can imagine, this makes the list of champions that can run the first strike quite extensive.

If you are interested in the list of strongest champions for the first strike, as well as some extra guidance, I recommend reading this article written by yours truly. 

If you are only looking for inspiration though, here is a list of all champions that can run the first strike with varying degrees of success:

1. Zed
2. Lux
3. Evelynn
4. Gangplank
5. Kha’Zix
6. Garen (Played Full-Crit)
7. Annie
8. Akali
9. Ammumu (Full AP)
10. Dianna
11. Ezreal
12. Ekko
13. Fizz
14. Gragas (Full AP)
15. Graves (Damage Build)
16. Jarvan (Damage Build)
17. Karthus
18. Kayn (Assassin Form)
19. Kennen
20. Morgana (Full AP)
21. Nidalee
22. Orianna
23. Renekton
24. Rengar
25. Shaco
26. Talon
27. Veigar

You can pretty much see the pattern, all these champions have the ability to deal a lot of damage quickly. These champions can all viably run the first strike, but you should definitely consider other rune options too. Very few champions have the first strike as their go-to rune.

Conclusion

The first strike is a great rune for enhancing damage, and generating extra gold. It should be taken on champions that have burst damage, and it should be taken where you are confident about your snowball and carry skills.

The amount of gold the first strike gives is relative. It gives 5 gold + bonus gold depending on the amount of damage you have done within 3 seconds. This usually translates to around 50 gold in the early game, 100 gold in the mid-game, and around 200 gold in the late game.