Rune

Contents [hide]

1 Availability

2 Types

3 Use

4 Stacking

5 Recovery

This article is only about rune as applied to armor. Information on the rune for
bags is in the Rune of Holding article.

A rune is a kind of upgrade item that is applied to a character's armor.
[edit]

Availability

Runes can be obtained by using an Expert Salvage Kit or Superior Salvage Kit on
Salvage Items such as Ettin's Pauldrons or Seeker's Vests. Only a non-white
salvage item can have a rune. A blue salvage item will always have a minor rune.
A purple salvage item will always* have a major rune. A gold salvage item will
always* have a superior rune. Salvage items containing runes for campaign-specific
professions can only be obtained in their respective campaigns. If you salvage
the salvage item before identifying it, you will receive an unidentified rune.

Runes are also available for purchase from rune traders in cities. Since you are
not identifying the rune if you buy it from a trader, you do not unlock the rune
for PvP. Rune traders will not always have high demand runes in stock.

You can also unlock runes at a Priest of Balthazar. This only unlocks the rune
for PvP and does not put one into your inventory.

*Prior to the April 26, 2006 Update, purple and gold dropped salvage armor did
not indicate the magnitude of the rune (Superior/Major/Minor) they contained.
Because of this, be aware that purple and gold salvage armor created before this
date does not necesarily contain a major or superior rune. To protect yourself
from this when trading, insist upon trading for the expert salvaged rune instead.
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Types
Prof. Minor Major Superior
All

Runes come in four classes:

Attribute runes provide a bonus to a single attribute such as Fire Magic or
Strength. You can only use attribute runes for attributes of your primary
profession. Runes for core professions are core items, runes for campaign-specific
professions are exclusive to their respective campaigns.

Absorption runes provide damage reduction against physical damage. Only primary
Warriors may use these. Absorption runes are core items.

Stat-bonus runes include the Vigor, Vitae, and Attunement runes, which provide a
bonus to Health or Energy. They are not linked to any profession and thus can be
equipped by everyone. All stat-bonus runes are core items.

Condition-reducing runes include the Recovery, Restoration, Clarity, and Purity
runes, which reduce the duration of conditions suffered by your character. These
are also not linked to any profession. Condition-reducing runes are Nightfall
campaign items.

For most types, there are three degrees of potency (Minor, Major and Superior).
They affect each type as follows:

Attribute runes:

Minor provide +1 to an attribute.

Major provide +2 to an attribute and -35 health.*

Superior provide +3 to an attribute and -75 health.

Absorption runes:

Minor provide 1 damage reduction against physical damage.

Major provide 2 damage reduction against physical damage.

Superior provide 3 damage reduction against physical damage.

Vigor runes:

Minor provide +30 health.

Major provide +41 health.

Superior provide +50 health.

The remaining runes do not have multiple levels. Their effects are as follows:

Vitae provides +10 health

Attunement provides +2 energy

Recovery1 reduces duration of Dazed & Deep Wound by 20% (non-stacking)

Restoration1 reduces duration of Bleeding & Crippled by 20% (non-stacking)

Clarity1 reduces duration of Blind & Weakness by 20% (non-stacking)

Purity1 reduces duration of Disease & Poison by 20% (non-stacking)

Runes of Recovery, Restoration, Clarity and Purity are considered major runes.

A rune's icon is a piece of parchment with a symbol on it. Runes linked to the
same profession have the same symbol, while common runes have a different symbol.
The shape of the parchment varies with the potency of the rune (single-valued
runes all have the shape for a Minor rune). Linked runes have their profession
noted in their name, even if not identified. For example, an identified "Mesmer
Major Rune of Fast Casting" or unidentified "Necromancer Rune." So, if a rune is
not identified, you can still tell which profession it is for (or if it is a
common rune) and its potency.

* Prior to the June 1, 2006 Update, Major attribute runes had a -50 health
penalty. Runes that existed before this date keep the higher penalty, and cannot
be sold to Rune Traders.
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Use

To use a rune, double-click it and then click on the piece of armor you want to
apply it to. Only one rune can be placed on a single piece of armor at a time.
If you apply a rune to a piece of armor that already has one, it will replace
the old rune (after asking you to confirm the replacement). You can only use
runes linked to your primary profession (Vigor, Vitae, and Attunement runes are
linked to all professions). For example, a Monk/Ranger could not use a rune of
Minor Marksmanship, while a Ranger/Monk could.
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Stacking

Vitae and Attunement runes are stackable, while all other runes (Vigor,
Absorption, and runes affecting attributes) are non-stackable within their own
type. You can only receive the benefit of the highest potency rune from each.
However, health penalties from all attached runes will stack.

Stacking Example: A Rune of Vitae adds +10 health. If you attach one to your
chest armor and another to your head armor, you will receive +20 health. If you
then attach another to your hand armor, the bonus will increase to +30 health.
If you then attach a Rune of Minor Vigor (+30 health) to your leg armor, the
total bonus will be +60 health.

Non-Stacking Example: A Rune of Minor Vigor adds +30 health. If you attach one
to your chest armor and another to your head armor, you will only gain a bonus
of +30 health. If you then attach a Rune of Major Vigor to your hand armor, you
will only gain a bonus of +41 health; the two minor runes will effectively be
overridden by the higher-potency rune.

Headgear that provides +1 to attributes does stack with runes. For example, a
Wicked Scar Pattern (+1 Curses) with a Superior Rune of Curses applied to it
would add a total of +4 to your Curses attribute. Note that absorption runes
stack with the effects of Knight's Armor or Ascalon Armor.
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Recovery

You can use an Expert Salvage Kit or a Superior Salvage Kit on armor that you
have attached a rune to in order to attempt to recover the rune. This will
destroy the armor and either recover the rune or salvage materials.

Note: As of the October 25, 2006 Update update, you can now choose to salvage a
rune from your existing armor without destroying it. There is a stated chance of
failing to preserve the armor. With a stated chance of failure at 20%, eight of
eight runes were removed from five characters' armor without losing anything (ended
up with runes and armor). If the armor was preserved, you can then apply a
different rune to it, salvage it, or sell it.

Note: As with all other items obtained from character creation, starter armor
cannot be salvaged to recover runes. However, collector's armor can be salvaged
to recover runes.

If you want to keep the armor but change the rune currently on it, simply apply
a new rune to the armor. The new rune will replace the old one, with no chance
of destroying the armor.