Rune & Runic Guide

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Edens_Fall
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Rune & Runic Guide

Post by Edens_Fall » Thu Sep 02, 2021 4:24 pm

Article Author: Unknown
Document Creation Date: July 11th, 2019
(Information up to this date, and may not reflect future patch changes or notes on the server)

On Arelith, the term "Runes" and "Runic" refers to a few things. Here I'll explain what they mean, how they're used, and give some suggestions on how to utilize them on your characters.


First, we'll start with "Runic":

Runic Items (rare loot with blue name) works differently to normal items or Magical Items. They have a special property that can be exploited by enchanters that know and can read the specific languages the runes are written in. The next single enchantment that is added to that item will have an added success chance relative to the Dweomercraft Tier of the caster, and the runic property will not be able to be used again, even if the enchanter didn't have the matching requirements and enchanted the item as normal.

Dweomercraft Tier 1: +33%

Dweomercraft Tier 2: +66%

Dweomercraft Tier 3: 100% (0 failure chance, eliminates the 95% success cap non-runic items have) The Runes may be, and organized by their rarity. Using a rune does not require being that particular race.

It only requires being 100% Fluent in the language:

Basic (No requirement - called 'Arcane Runes' in game. Can be used at full power by any enchanter, no languages needed)

Elven (Elven, Xanalress)
Dwarven (Dwarven)
Arcane (Draconic)
Planar/Outsider (Celestial, Abyssal, Infernal)

Now, onto "Runes":

Runes, when applies to an item, add the "Runic" property as above. Only one "Artifact Rune", that is, crafted Runes, can be added to an item. However, if an item begins Runic, the item can have a second Rune added to it via crafting, allowing for very powerful items. At the most powerful, someone could use an item's rune, be lucky at a 5% enchantment for a second added property, and then item craft a final Rune onto the item for a third property. Obviously, this is very expensive and very time consuming, so is often seen as long-term goals, if it's even something the character or player want to consider doing at all.

Runes follow a few general rules, common to all of them.

They are organized into three "Tiers", often referred to as "T1, T2, and T3" in the order of weakest to most powerful.

T1 Runes work on items with up to 2 beneficial properties.

T2 Runes work on items with up to 3 beneficial properties.

T3 Runes work on items with up to 4 beneficial properties.

There are exceptions to the above, which will be discussed later in full, but in short:

Negative properties do not count as properties when counting for Runes.
Alignment, class and race restrictions do not count as properties when counting for Runes.
Spell-cast properties do not count as properties when counting for Runes, such as Remove Fear 1x/day.
Weight Reduction properties do not count as properties when counting for Runes.
Specific save bonus properties do not count as properties when counting for Runes, such as +1 fort, +1 reflex, +1 will, or +3 saves vs fear.
Light properties do not count as properties when counting for Runes.
Defensive Essences do not count as properties when counting for runes.
Offensive Permanent Weapon Essences DO NOT count as properties when counting for Runes.

The actual items used in Runecrafting are as follows. Parentheses indicate the T1 / T2 / T3 of the rune item in game:

Euklian Clay - Used in crafting to create T2 and T3 runes. T1 runes do not require Euklian Clay.

Blueleaf - (Sample / Vial / Bottle of Blueleaf) - Used in 'Wooden Items'.

Specifically: Shields (of any sort, even metal Tower), Quarterstaves, Magic Staves, Spears, Bows, Crossbows.

Djinn Uther - (Sample / Flask / Bottle of Djinn Uther) - Used in 'Cloth Items'. Specifically: Light Armor, Cloaks, Belts, Boots, Gloves

Theurglass - (Rough Fragments / Shards / Intact Theurglass) - Used in 'Jeweled Items'. Specifically: Rings, Amulets, Helms (or any sort)

Chardalyn - (Flawed / [no prefix] / Perfect Chardalyn Stone) - Used in 'Metal Armor Items'. Specifically: Medium and Heavy Armor, All Shields, All Helms, Gauntlets.

Zardazik - (Impure / Chunk / Pure Zardazik) - Used solely for 'Metal Weapons'.

Specifically, weapons that are not listed under Blueleaf.

To craft a Rune requires 1 of the type of item for the rune you are making. If it is a T2 or T3 rune, it also requires an Abeyant Template, (made from 1 Euklian Clay and 5 Dragon's Blood) made by the Alchemy or Herbalist trades.

Once the Rune is complete, you may add it to the item by using the Rune's unique Power on the item. If the Rune works, you will get a confirmation dialog of the type of rune that will be added upon success. Using the power again on the item will consume the rune and add Runic to the chosen item.

The language you are currently speaking will be added as the type of Rune, and the confirmation dialog will mention this, allowing you to choose which type of rune is added, if you like.

For most players, speaking in Common to add Arcane runes will be the most useful and convenient, since it will allow any Enchanter to craft the item for you. The language type of the Rune added has no bearing on its end effect or what can be crafted with it.

Once the Rune is on the item, it can be crafted and used like any other Runic property, and will be consumed by the next craft, no matter what sort it is.

This means you want to craft as much as possible on the item before Runing it, while ensuring that the Rune can still be used on the item.

You can add offensive and defensive essences in any order when doing enchanting. 1d4 elemental damages added via dweomercraft will not be removed, when adding a weapon essence. All other sources will be, however. This means you can safely use the innate rune of a Moonblade, for example, to add 1d4 elemental damage, use a T3 Artefact rune for another 1d4

damage, then have a weapon essence applied on top without losing any of the previous dweomer-added damage.

In general, any aspiring Runecrafter should seek to get themselves an "Assayer's Lens" item, from the Artcrafting discipline.

As of writing this post, there are many, many items that have either been newly released, or have been changed in their original rune-ability from when the item was originally released. An Assayer’s Lens will give the 100% correct answer on what the item can be runed with, if any, and the size of the rune that is needed. It is the definitive answer for any rune-making and will easily tell the player if they'll be able to do extra modifying, or 5%ing, before applying the runes, in order to make the strongest items possible.


Now, onto "Advanced Runecrafting":

From here on out we will be going into "Advanced Runecrafting", and we will discuss what sort of runes excel, and even give examples of common ways to use runes that will result in generally powerful items. Other specific ways to use Runes exist, that will be more tailored to the specific needs of your character.

As we can see above, there are several properties that do not count for Runic items. However, there are also some types of items that, despite being under or over the allowable number of properties for an item, require a different Rune than you might expect. This (incomplete) list is as follows:

Normal Damask Weapon require a T2 Rune.
Masterly Damask Weapons require a T3 rune.
All Adamantine Armors/Shields/Helms require a T2 Rune.
Enchanted Silk Shirts (+3 AC/adamantine cloth armor) only requires a T2 rune.
Enchanted Elven Boots (+2 dex/+5 listen/+5 hide/+5 move silent) only requires a T1 rune.
Enchanted Wooden Weapons require a T3 rune.


Many more of these items exist. There is no longer any real rhyme or reason to an item's rune-properties, and the in-game IC findable documentation is under-explained at best, due to recent updates adding many new weapons or items that break the general rules of Runing property counting, but with no documented reason why. The above advice of getting an Assayer's Lens continues to hold true.

Beyond this, some items are uniquely suited to being Runed, or even in some cases double runed (base item, then Runecraft), or 5%'d and then runed, or so on.

Next, we'll discuss some of these combinations, as well as good items to seek to Rune in general, and why they're helpful.

If you ever have curiosities about what sort of Rune an item will need specifically, Artcrafters can create an Assayer's Lens. When used on an item, the Lens will tell you exactly what sort of Rune it needs material-wise, and exactly how strong of a Rune it will need to work. This can be helpful for deducing items with increased or decreased properties and save you money down the line.

All Greensteel Equipment, weapons, and armors: A Greensteel Weapon takes a T1 rune, and armors and shields take a T2 rune. The weapon serves as a solid choice for anyone, but especially for weapon masters, who want Keen before base damage. It also needs a less powerful, more easily found and made Rune than Damask, and with an essence, gives a +3 AB, +4 damage, +1d4 extra damage, keen weapon. Spellswords can make exceptional use of the armor to add stats or saves or discipline to the armor and shield, allowing for even more gearing freedom than the class already has by virtue of arcane spellcasting and Epic Mage Armor.

Damask and Masterly Damask weapons can also be Runed, but it is the opinion of the author that the Zardazik needed for the runes is very expensive and very rare, and so players are generally better off attempting to 5% these weapons if they want them Keened. It is a considerable time investment, but so is hunting for high end Zardazik, which almost never enters the PC market due to its inherent value to almost all non-casting melee characters.

Contrary to the above, Enchanted Wooden Weapons also require a T3 Rune, like Masterly Damask, but the process of making them is so complicated and convoluted that 5%ing them is a massive time sink, more than double the time of equivalent Masterly Damask. T3 Blueleaf is also generally the cheapest Rune material on the PC market, and can be found on the market relatively readily, making runing it much simpler than 5%ing it.

Lesser Moonblades can no longer be T3 runed after spending the innate rune on the item - the item has inherent invisible properties that no longer allow it to be T3 runed after spending the weapon's original rune.

The Dead Man's Cross and Black Sceptres come with physical damage and are base Runic. However, they can no longer be T3 runed after spending the innate rune on the item - the item has inherent invisible properties that no longer allow it to be T3 runed after spending the weapon's original rune.

The Scorching Scimitar is a scimitar with +3 enhancement and 1d10 fire. It requires a T3 rune to rune, which can add Keen or another 1d4 elemental damage. The weapon unfortunately can't be elemental essenced, but the physical damage helps make up for this, and while overall the damage will be on average less than a Keened MD scimitar, the elemental damage can be taken advantage of with things like Elemental Rime poisons, or just by fighting fire-weak monsters.

The Blade of Roses +3 is a longsword choice for charisma characters and can even be easily used by mages due to Arelith's proficiency changes. It can be runed with a T1 to add Keen, more damage, a stat, or whatever else you might like. As a loot only item, the author doesn't recommend trying to 5% this, but it's your grinding.

The Rapier of Luck is a Rapier with +2 universal saves, that can be easily T1 Blade Runed for a stat, skill, or whatever else the wearer might like. As a loot only item, 5%ing these is generally not recommended, but will not increase the power of the Rune needed for the weapon.

Bronze, 0 property equipment can often be enchanted to 2-3-4 properties and then Runed with the necessary Runes. This option is mostly used by Rangers, Paladins, Clerics, and Mages, who would prefer to wear, for example, +1 CON, +1 INT, +2 discipline, +2 spellcraft, +1 fort [remember, specific saves do not count for runes] clothes and then Rune them for another property. Similar is done for weapons, for example, keen, Essence, then 1d4 damage, and T2 runed for a simple, easy to make weapon for Paladins or Rangers, who can use Bless Weapon and Blade Thirst to enhance magical gear.

Similarly, generically enchanted gear can be useful for high end runes, such as a +1 STR, +1 CON, +2 discipline, +2 Spellcraft, +1 reflex ring being T3 runed to add an extra enchantment or removing a cheap skill to replace with a more expensive property such as Uni-saves. Keep in mind specific saves don't stack with Uni-saves, so doing +1 reflex and +1 uni-saves does not result in +2 reflex.

Generic +4 weapons, though they often only come in subpar weapon variants, can be 5%'d and t1 Runed for a basic weapon (such as clubs, light flails, tridents, spears) that is +4 enhancement, keen, 1d4 elemental, and +4 of a second element after an essence. While these weapons are often outside a character's area of focus, a second 'sidearm' of specifically bludgeoning damage can be useful for characters who have a slashing or piercing weapon focus.

All Adamantine Gear requires a T2 rune to start, but for characters who don't have ready spell access, don't rely on charisma, and don't have miles of shield potions to drink, can be powerful choices to rune out, and gain saves or stats. Adding saves makes the gear essentially mithril+, and adding stats can give the versatility a STR/CON character needs to wear some other specific trinket they might like to wear, without sacrificing maxing STR or CON. On the end-game level, 5%ing adamantine, then adding a T3 rune can result in 2-stat Adamantine, or +1 uni-saves and +1 stat adamantine, a distinctly powerful choice for any character.

Fine Elven Boots are strong choices for any DEX character or stealth character and only require a T1 rune to upgrade, making 5%ing and T2 runing a palatable if long term process for an even more powerful item.

Fencing Bucklers can be runed with a T1 Carpentry or Armor rune, and are cheap to make and spam 5% for, in order to get an even better version to T2 Rune. The Fencing Buckler is as much AC as a Mithral Tower Shield and can be a choice for smaller characters or low strength characters, or simply PCs looking for a particular aesthetic.

Enchanted Wooden Large Shields can also be runed with a T1 Carpentry or Armor Rune but are extremely expensive and time consuming to make. 5%ing them is almost entirely out of the question due to requiring 4 disciplines and thousands of craft points per shield. However, they can be easily runed, and since they have the same AC as an Adamantine Tower Shield, but with much less weight, and a different aesthetic, the loss of 10% damage immunity can be worth it, especially for small PCs who can't use Tower Shields, or low strength characters.

Enchanted Silk Shirts can be Runed with a T2 Cloth rune, and 5%'d with a T3, making it a strong choice for almost any DEX based character who wants to stay in clothing, with universal appeal to most DEX builds due to its skill bonuses.

Templar Armor is powerful armor for any Charisma based melee class like Paladins and Blackguards and can be Runed with a T2 rune to add CON or even more saves, or whatever else you'd like. Also 5%'able into a T3 rune for endgame goals that allow armor that gives, for example, +3 AC, +3 CHA, +1 CON, +1 uni-saves, 10% slash immunity, and a defensive essence.

Headbands of Protection can be easily runed with a T1 rune and provide 2 AC and 26 SR. Adding saves or a stat is a strong choice and allows for a helm that trades the 10% damage immunity of adamantine, for 26 SR that, while not very useful in PvP, is a useful buffer to have for PVE, and will blunt a reasonable amount of spells. 5%ing headbands takes a potentially very long time due to the crafting point investment, but only needs a T2 rune to accomplish.

Sergeant's Cloaks, despite their many properties, can be runed with a T2 Rune, as the saves vs fear and Remove Fear spellcast do not count for using Runes. This allows for a cloak that gives STR, CON, Discipline, and universal saves. for Spellswords, Clerics, or Charisma Melee Classes, this can also be a best in slot tri-stat (STR/CON [INT/WIS/CHA]) item that makes no sacrifices for its gains. Again, like Adamantine, 5%ing these items is very possible, and a T3 rune gives you an incredibly powerful item for your investment.

Displacer Beast Cloaks can fill the same niche for dex characters, and can be runed with a T1 to add, mostly commonly, +1 CON, but can also be used for anything else. 5%ing and T2 runing is, like sergeant cloaks, in the realm of viability, and cheaper to boot than the Sergeant's Cloak.

Rings and Scarabs of Protection +2 require 5%ing to add a single stat to, but are easily bought en masse and spammed out, the only obstacle being time and XP for 5%ing. Once 5%'d, a T1 rune can rune them, allowing for combinations like STR/CON/+2 uni-saves, or CON/disc/+2 unisaves. Because they start with only one property, you have the freedom to add any two properties to these rings and amulets, making them very flexible for any character's needs. +2 CON amulets, as well as +2 CHA amulets can also be bought or crafted and serve the same purpose, 5%ing then T1 runing for 2 flexible additions. +2 STR gauntlets can do the same work for the hand slot.

Lantanese Rings +1 offer Regeneration and Charisma and can be T1 runed to add a second stat, or a skill, or saves. A relatively niche, unorthodox choice, the rings are also rare, loot only, and can be expensive in player shops. 5% at your own peril. Whether or not these items are truly useful depends on your build, but Warlocks, for example, will get great use out of a pair of +1 regen, +1 CHA, +1 CON rings, doubling down on their tanking ability. Paladins can often afford to use the rings since they can get STR and CHA in large amounts off their spells.

Piker's Rings are a niche choice to T2 rune, as they offer what is primarily +1 CON and +4 discipline, meaning a pair of these rings can be worn for +8 discipline. It can be a niche option for low STR builds very concerned about their discipline score. As a loot only item, 5%ing these items in order to use a T3 Rune is not recommended, but is more reasonable than other items, due to their relative commonness compared to other loot only high tier items like Blades of Elements, or Lantanese Rings.

Rings of the Ram, while very rare and difficult to find, can be runed with a T1 rune. They can also be used so much so that there's only 1 charge of Knock left, and enchanted at the Basin by a T3 Dweomercrafter, for a low (<50%) but reasonable chance of success when adding a stat, save, or skill. The end result can still be T1 Bejeweled Runed for a 2 stat KD item, or saves, or whatever the wearer might want. 5%ing these items is an exercise in insanity, like most rare loot items.

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Vyrandil Rivorndir
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Re: Rune & Runic Guide

Post by Vyrandil Rivorndir » Tue Sep 07, 2021 10:45 am

Thought I recognized the pastebin guide, though there are a few important things to note:
Edens_Fall wrote:
Thu Sep 02, 2021 4:24 pm
Now, onto "Runes":

Runes, when applies to an item, add the "Runic" property as above. Only one "Artifact Rune", that is, crafted Runes, can be added to an item. However, if an item begins Runic, the item can have a second Rune added to it via crafting, allowing for very powerful items. At the most powerful, someone could use an item's rune, be lucky at a 5% enchantment for a second added property, and then item craft a final Rune onto the item for a third property. Obviously, this is very expensive and very time consuming, so is often seen as long-term goals, if it's even something the character or player want to consider doing at all.

Runes follow a few general rules, common to all of them.

They are organized into three "Tiers", often referred to as "T1, T2, and T3" in the order of weakest to most powerful.

T1 Runes work on items with up to 2 beneficial properties.

T2 Runes work on items with up to 3 beneficial properties.

T3 Runes work on items with up to 4 beneficial properties.

There are exceptions to the above, which will be discussed later in full, but in short:

Negative properties do not count as properties when counting for Runes.
Alignment, class and race restrictions do not count as properties when counting for Runes.
Spell-cast properties do not count as properties when counting for Runes, such as Remove Fear 1x/day.
Weight Reduction properties do not count as properties when counting for Runes.
Specific save bonus properties do not count as properties when counting for Runes, such as +1 fort, +1 reflex, +1 will, or +3 saves vs fear.
Light properties do not count as properties when counting for Runes.
Defensive Essences do not count as properties when counting for runes.
Offensive Permanent Weapon Essences DO NOT count as properties when counting for Runes.

[...]

You can add offensive and defensive essences in any order when doing enchanting. 1d4 elemental damages added via dweomercraft will not be removed, when adding a weapon essence. All other sources will be, however. This means you can safely use the innate rune of a Moonblade, for example, to add 1d4 elemental damage, use a T3 Artefact rune for another 1d4 damage, then have a weapon essence applied on top without losing any of the previous dweomer-added damage.
The contributions to the Beneficial Properties for +1d4 Damage is a somewhat obscure thing that is overlooked frequently on the server when cheatsheets, references and similar are made, so best to have it included and offer some help to polish up the guide:

Damage Property (+1d4 Damage) adds a +3 Value to the Beneficial Properties.

I will run some tests on the Moonblade claim later, but I am fairly convinced that once the innate has been spent on a 1d4 it is no longer viable to apply another rune, and you would have to transition to a hard 5%. Will edit and update later.

Documentation Pictures


4 x +1 Property Value enchants (+2 Skill) on a blank template item. 4 Properties = T3 Rune only.

Image



1 x +3 Property Value enchant (+1d4 Damage) on a blank template item. 3 Properties = T2+ Rune.

Image
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Retired Characters: Gabriel Orland - Scarlet Sons

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Re: Rune & Runic Guide

Post by Edens_Fall » Tue Sep 07, 2021 1:23 pm

Is that who made the guide? Pastebin?

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Re: Rune & Runic Guide

Post by Vyrandil Rivorndir » Tue Sep 07, 2021 1:52 pm

Ah, no it was posted in Pastebin (the website, for raw text dump) and pinned in the 3.0 discord by Tormak back in 2019.

I'm not sure if he is the original author or not - worth reaching out if it is.
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Re: Rune & Runic Guide

Post by Edens_Fall » Wed Sep 08, 2021 2:07 pm

Hmm OK thanks! Also thank you for the update! I'll get it corrected soon.

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