Season 3: Utility Masteries

In Season 2 the Utility tree was much maligned and generally avoided, save for the first nine points. Nothing it offered was particularly compelling, with some supports opting to ignore it in favor of the Defense tree. Season 3's revisions make it significantly more competitive.

Obligatory mastery calculator links:

Season 2: http://leaguecraft.com/masteries
Season 3: http://www.finalesfunkeln.com/s3/

Unlike the Defense tree, which was almost completely uprooted, the Utility looks very similar to its previous incarnation. However, plenty of masteries have been shuffled around and altered, and the results are generally very good.

The first tier now features Wanderer, once known as Swiftness. The frequently taken 2% Movement Speed mastery now only works out of combat, cementing its place as a tool for roaming, clearing wards, and traveling back to the lane. Meditation, the Mana Regen mastery, has also been moved to the first tier, but is otherwise unchanged. These simple changes belie the larger ones coming in the remaining tiers.

Mastermind, once the final mastery in the Utility tree, has been moved all the way to the second tier. It now costs three points and only reduces summoner spell cooldowns by 10%, but the change in accessibility is notable. Scout still appears to be something of a throwaway mastery despite its buffs, but will at least be useful in specific situations. Expanded Mind is now in this tier without any other alteration. Also of note is a new mastery, Artifacer, which reduces the cooldowns on item active abilities by 15%. Overall this tier presents some interesting choices, especially given the increased importance of item actives.

The third tier still sports Runic Affinity and Greed without change. Transmutation, however, has moved and in its place are Biscuiteer and Strength of Spirit. The latter of these two was moved down from the penultimate tier, and received a notable nerf to compensate. Seeing as how it was practically never taken in Season 2, and the addition of new mana items in Season 3, this seems a fair trade. Biscuiteer is a one point mastery which grants the player a one off item at the start of the game. The Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation heals 80 Health and 50 Mana over 10 seconds, roughly adding up to one potion's worth of restoration. This is a new and interesting precedent for masteries, and makes another appearance in the next tier.

Explorer is a one point mastery which grants the player a special ward at the start of a game. It only lasts 60 seconds, but nevertheless represents an opportunity to detect invasions, avoid face checking, and control brush. Vampirism combines the old Life Steal and Spell Vamp masteries into one, forcing carries who wish to load up on sustain to make sacrifices in the Offense tree. Wealth has received a slight buff, granting 25-50 gold, which opens up new starting item possibilities such as Cloth Armor + Crystalline Flask. Only Awareness is unchanged.

The only notable change to the penultimate tier is the new Pickpocket mastery. This mastery grants 3g (5g if you're melee) every time you auto-attack an enemy champion (on a 5 second cooldown). Theoretically one could gain 3.6-6gp10 from this mastery alone, if your opponents were accommodating. In practice it will be worth far, far less, but as Greed is commonly taken for a mere 0.5gp10 per point, one would only need to auto-attack a champion once or twice per minute to match that value. Unless you're jungling, you should definitely grab this mastery if you're this deep already.

The final Utility mastery is Nimble, which increases Movement Speed by 3%. That's a significant boost for one point, considering that in Season 2 it cost four points for 2% Movement Speed. Placing this mastery so deep in the Utility tree is clearly Riot's answer to the Movement Speed stacking that was rampant in Season 2. If a champion wishes to zoom around with 400+ Movement Speed at level 1, they now have to sacrifice significant offensive and defensive potential.

The Utility tree is true to its name in Season 3. Every mastery in the tree somehow enhances player choices and actions. Whether it's reaching a location sooner, using abilities or items more frequently, getting items faster, or leveling more quickly, the Utility tree clearly enhances a champion in very different ways than the other mastery trees. Compared to Season 2, the new Utility tree is a compelling place to invest points even for non-Supports.