Talk:Rune

Stacking

Should there be an explanation/definition of stacking? I've had to explain to new players that it doesn't mean multiple runes on the same armor piece, e.g., Rune of Vitae x 3 on footwear.65.7.211.83 16:00, 8 March 2007 (EST)

Agreed, I've been playing 2 Months; and really just figured this out in the last day or two; It is a confusing use of language.

Instead of having seperate pages for each tier of rune (as the empty links would suggest) let's just have 1 page for each rune type? Morrock 17:20, 15 April 2007 (EDT)

Yes, there should be an explanation of stacking and non stacking. As well as a few examples of an item with stacking, with non-stacking, and with a combination of stacking and non-stacking.

How many runes per piece of armor?

One Rune and one Bonus (Inscription) if applicable - MSorglos 07:09, 21 May 2007 (EDT)

I have added a small example at the bottom of the table as to how Vigor runes stack. Please feel free to remove it if it is deemed unnecissary or a section is created for how runes stack.86.153.255.42 21:52, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

Tiers

what should an article on a tiered rune be named? would the vigors be named: rune of vigor, w/ redirects for minor, maj, and sup? it's kinda problematic as there really isn't just a "rune of vigor." --VVong|BA 12:41, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Don't understand you. -- ab.er.rant 07:35, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

doesn't matter now anyways. this was before i had decided to make separate articles on each rune. --VVong|BA 03:47, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

Please add a section about stacking.

Disambiguation HELL!

Oh dear lord, so I just looked at Special:Disambiguations, seriously, there must be a better way to structure the rune articles than having an infobox leading to many disambiguations. And classing each runes overall name as a disambiguation. --Lemming 19:03, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

See Template talk:Item infobox and User:Anja Astor/Projects/Runes for the proposed restructuring of the rune articles. - anja 19:09, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

categorization

moved to Category_talk:Armor bonus --VVong|BA 17:10, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Origination

Does anyone know if the runes in Guild Wars are completely novel, or did they originate or have basis in other rune sets? None of the runes bear resemblance to the germanic futhark, but they do have the same stroke pattern (vertical stroke with horizontal or slanted lines) with the exception of the 4 campaign specific classes. It would be interesting information for the "Notes" section, if they did have a basis. Mohnzh 17:59, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

Rare Runes?

I saw some guy trying to sell some runes for really high prices, they were just normal superior and major runes, but they had blue text instead of purple and gold text. Are these really that rare?

Yes and No on the rarity. I've found it depends on where you are. Nightfall nets me a lot of runes of vitae whereas the rest of the campaigns and EotN provide me with an equal mix of major runes. As to the asking price the player was wanting depends on where he was. In pre-searing, players ask for insane prices for cheap runes because there are no rune traders in pre-searing for new players to compare with. This also tends to happen in between the towns and outposts that have rune traders especially between Ascalon and Lion's Arch. Ravion Hawk 17:28, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Rune of Superior Vigor

→ moved from Help:Ask a game question 1164998

Hi, i was just wondering before i blow out alot of gold and fine out its all wasted lol, can i put a Rune of Superior Vigor in all of my Armor pieces and get the effects off of them? --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:80.194.30.129 (talk).

no, you cannot. If you look at one of those runes, it says "non-stacking" meaning only the single largest source (minor,major,sup) will count. So, if you want the most health you'd use a single Superior Vigor and fill the rest with Rune of Vitae's --JonTheMon 17:29, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

ok thx alot, glad i asked before doing it :D

hmm, one more thing.. does this affect another rune like for Fire Damage for example ? can i have both Health and Fire damage runes?

I'm not quite sure what you're asking. If you're asking if you can have a rune of Vigor and a rune of Fire Magic, yes, you can have both. But the fire magic is like the vigor: if you have more than one rune of fire magic, it'll only count the largest. --JonTheMon 17:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

ok, that was what i meant, thx :)

However, keep in mind that runes of vitae and attunement do stack, so if you have a rune of superior vigor and two runes of vitae, you'll have a total of +70 health. ¬ Wizårdbõÿ777(talk) 17:40, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

yes they are rare

Bonus?

Ok I'm starting to understand that "non-stacking" means you can only have ONE rune attached to ONE piece of armor for your WHOLE armor set. So meaning if you have a Superior Rune of Vigor on the headgear and a Minor Rune of Vigor on the chest, only the SUPERIOR will count and equipping the minor one is useless. Am I right?

And if I am right, "stacking" means you can have ONE of the SAME rune PER piece of armor. Meaning if you have 5 Rune of Vitae, you can use one per piece armor to equal + 50hp. Right?

Ok, So what does this Bonus mean? Or is the bonus meaning someone equipped the Superior Rune of Vigor to a piece and then the Rune of Vitae to another? I'm confused. There is NO WAY someone can equip the Superior Rune of Vigor and the Rune of Vitae to ONE peice of armor.

Stacking means that if you put the mod on multiple pieces of armour/weapons, the effects will stack on top of each other. Non-stacking means only the highest effect will work. With Vigor runes, the health bonus is non-stacking, so only the highest bonus works. So yes, you are right about Superior and Vigor runes, and about Vitae runes.

Bonus just refers to the positive effect of the mod, as opposed to the negative effect, which is the penalty. E.g. Most superior runes come with a +3 attribute bonus, and a -75 health penalty. Biscuits 12:56, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

Non-Level 20 characters

If your not lvl 20, lets say lvl 10, you have, with no runes, a total health of 280, you use 5 superior runes (-375 health) you would have minus health right? My real question is, what happens? 86.80.183.215 15:18, 26 March 2009 (UTC)

u will always have a minimum of 1 hp no matter what runes u wear. --VVong|BA 15:22, 26 March 2009 (UTC)

Hmm... Protective Spirit + 1hp... Tiberium 07:19, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

Protective spirit is most effective when you have 19 health. ~Shard 07:45, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

Stacking on Headpiece

If I was an Ele and had a headpiece that gives me +1 Earth Magic (As Standard) and add a Superior Rune of Earth Magic, will it give me a total of +4 Earth Magic???

Thanks in Advance 81.132.131.233 01:07, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

Yes. Vili >8< 01:12, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

It's the only way to get a 16 in an attribute, even. (Meaning you can only have one 16). Runes also stack with the morphable headpiece bonuses on heroes and EOTN headwear: you put a Minor Rune of Swashbuckling in one of these, and the item will provide a total of +2 Swashbuckling. --Star Weaver 18:44, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

Note (on template)

The note says runes aren't included in a PvP equipment template, but they are, it's the skill template they're not included in. 82.20.26.198 11:46, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

EDIT: I've fixed it, just announcing that I have and why. 82.20.26.198 11:51, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Stackable?

shouldn't Insignias and Runes be stackable...they use up alot of space...i'm sure most of you agree this is the way forward Zachariah Zuan. 22:52, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, considering the fact that unless you hoard them (In which case, you should have a mule anyway) most people generally only get runes when they need them (when you're going to rune up some armor, be that of a character or a hero). Generally speaking, (unless you're hording them) you sell runes and insignias when you get them but don't need them, and you buy them when you do. Of course I can understand holding onto a Sup. vigor because of the difference between how much you can buy and sell them for, I generally don't see the couple of gold difference worth holding onto a rune or insignia until I need it, and that's coming from a person with an account with at least 8 mules. Yeah, I suppose it would be a nice feature for some, but I really don't see the need for it. ~Ryuu[ Talk|Contributions ] 23:00, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Definitely! They should stack in inventory and storage.84.92.169.252 11:29, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

I stand by what I said earlier, tbh. Ryuu - talk 11:37, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

I agree they should be stackable we should do something about it

Lack of Attractiveness of Major and Superior Runes?

I've noticed recently the growing prevalence of minor runes over major and superior ones (runes such as Superior Vigour and Absorption excepted of course). This is especially the case with many of the "throwaway-but-useful" primary attribute minor runes such as Strength, Energy Storage and Soul Reaping (the latter of which currently stands at a ridiculous 3k). Personally, I think it's time ANet took a look at the HP penalties incurred by major and superior runes and perhaps even changed the mechanics completely, because players are quickly realising that a few extra points of damage/effect provided by the +2 attribute of a superior rune compared to a minor one isn't worth losing 75HP over (in either PvE or PvP). The only exceptions to this rule are the superior runes whose HP loss is mitigated by some sort of HP gain (Healing Prayers, Protection Prayers, Blood Magic) or ones where the effect of +2 on the attribute has a major effect (Death Magic, most notably minions). Most major runes on the other hand are conceptually flawed in their current state and either need to be reworked into a new rune system or just ditched altogether. - Well this is just my two-pence on the current rune scenario as of August 2009. I'm aware that with Guild Wars 2 coming out soon this would probably be at the bottom of ANet's priority list, but I think a discussion would still be good for the player base. Astralphoenix777 15:39, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

I run primarily major runes, and I have no problems with the hp cost. I don't see this as being as serious an issue as to require a total rework of the system. I've never figured out why people feel that high HP is necessary in pve at least. If you have proper monk builds anything in the range of 450-500 should be more than adequate for play. Plus with the easy availability of consumables, the lower HP is really a non-issue in PvE. -- Wyn talk 16:09, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Fisrt of all, you are correct to point out that this isn't really a massive issue gameplay-wise, but I still think it's not the way runes should be handled and could do with a change. To counter your argument I'll point out that higher HP is always better, in PvE or otherwise, since it prevents you from dying and incurring DP a lot more often than it would if you had lower HP (you'd be surprised at how often I avoid party-wipes on hard mode because of my party's high HP). You point out the "easy availability of consumables", but the cost of a crafting a Powerstone of Courage from scratch is currently 6.1k and a single Essence of Celerity 3.6k. At the end of the day, why have 450-500HP and waste all that money on consumables when you can have 600HP for greater survivability at almost no loss of effectiveness? It's all about efficiency. Finally, the price of minor runes at the rune trader shows that my points are valid, since their high price indicates a greater demand for them compared to major/superior runes, and this is despite the fact that they're common drops relative to major/superior runes. Astralphoenix777 17:03, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

The fact that consumables cost gold means what? I mean, what is game gold good for other than to spend? I personally have completed all my vanquisher and guardian titles, running 450-500 hp, and with only candy canes (I completed most prior to EotN). Again, DP should not be a game stopping issue if you have good builds and have properly equipped your team whether they are heroes (all of my heroes run 2 major runes btw) or real players, or even if you are using henchies. The rune system has worked as is for 4+ years, I don't see a pressing need to change it now, however, when the new feedback namespace is opened up, I encourage you to post it as a suggestion if you feel strongly about it. -- Wyn talk 17:27, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

His point is that it's cheaper and more effective to just go with minor runes. Since trading prices show this to be true, the system is by definition broken since "major" and "superior" both imply "better", which has been shown to not be the case. With that said, it would be useful to look at what is used in the really hard areas of the games like the elite missions and slaver's exile. If minor (or even major) are favored there over superior then I think that makes a very strong case for a broken system. As a side note, the game has changed a lot over 4 years. It's possible the system worked well 3-4 years ago or even 2 years ago, and just hasn't been revisited. And it's only broken in the sense that the majority of major and superior runes could just be removed from the game. 75.120.253.103 15:48, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Actually, my point is that is isn't cheaper: minor runes are currently the most expensive in the game to buy from the rune trader. My point is that the system is silly, since at the moment there's nothing worse than breaking a lockpick on a high-end chest, only for your heart to sink as you get a purple armour drop containing an utterly worthless major rune. If they just took HP penalties off runes altogether, the value of major and superior runes would go up to where they should be, IMO. Taking a look at the scaling cost of minor/major/superior vigour runes gives us an indication of what prices would be like if this happened. Considering that Superior Vigour Runes are some of the hardest to find, and demand is high due to them being useful to all professions, I would predict most superior runes of desirable attributes being somwhere in the 5-12k mark, depending on the popularity of the profession. Primary attribute superior runes might be a little higher due to their ubiquity (10-15k), but isn't this fine for rewarding high-end PvE players with money to burn? As long as the Balthazar Faction unlocking cost doesn't change for the PvP-only players, I think this would actually be a very simple, yet fair solution. Astralphoenix777 22:22, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

I actually think that the rune system is fine as it is. The decision to sacrifice health for extra attribute points is an important one for any character build and the author needs to decide for themselves whether they wish to do so. Some skills gain inordinate benefits from having the extra attribute points and people may wish to incorporate this into skill combinations or build concepts. I haven't played for a long time, so I'm not exactly up-to-date with skill descriptions and thus I may just have no idea what I'm talking about, in which case you can disregard anything I say and dismiss me as mad. I'm sure any alterations to the health deficits 'granted' by superior runes may upset a large proportion of players who rely on their 55HP Monks. Not that I condone farming, but such an action could see a radical knock-on effect on the in-game economy - for better or worse,however, is a subject open to debate. --Tr33zon ಠ_ಠ (Talk - Contribs) 19:14, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Why would you want them to remove an interesting choice from the game in favor of a mindless equipment curve? Besides, the naming convention is already not misleading. It isn't a "Superior Rune of Marksmanship", it is a "Rune of Superior Marksmanship", which implies that the marksmanship you get from the rune is superior, not that the rune is superior. 66.68.141.47 02:11, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Though if you look here, Botwatch, You will note that the primary profession used in bot farming is the Monk likely utilizing the 55 Monk build. Removing the health loss from the Major/Superior runes will break the 55 Monk bot build. I would say it is a fair trade off since it looks like the 55 Monk is basically the only build that would suffer and it would give us PvE players a bit more edge in PvE. And before anyone says it will unbalance PvP, keep the current Major/Superior rune setup as PvP like they do with skills that the PvE version is too powerful for use in PvP. Ravion Hawk 18:34, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

I totally dislike the fact that superior runes are usually less valuable to minor runes. But the demand is determined by the people playing the game. And the difference from a minion master with superior vs a minor rune is definitely distinguishable. I am sure that ANET came up with the health loss values in relations to the game mechanics. If I had my choice I would change the health penalty to make it more valuable but at least the current prices are more reasonable. 100k for Superior Absorption was ridiculous. And since the market determines the price; much like an armor bonus on your armor which is more effective than a health bonus from a survivor insignia should be more valuable, is not. The survivor insignia is more universal in the fact that the health bonus helps you regardless of the type of damage received. And for a player like me, who probably benefits more from the health gain than the bonus to an attribute allows me to be sloppier in a fight and withstand a little more than suffer the death. I am still amazed that players who max out in the survivor title. --Gungraave 08:11, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

"Well this is just my two-pence on the current rune scenario as of August 2009. I'm aware that with Guild Wars 2 coming out soon..."

This just made my day. Vald [Citation Needed] 06:36, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Localization of Enhancements?

Are rune enhancements localized? If a Rune of Restoration, for example, is attached to boots, are the calculations for bleeding condition and the enhancement for reduced duration only considered when an attack hits the boots? Or, is the enhancement global? 98.74.7.186 16:08, 4 March 2010 (UTC)

Global. — piper doesn't talk 16:14, 4 March 2010 (UTC)

What should I do with this old rune???

I have a super old rune before they changed it. It is a major rune with blue text and it has +2 domination -50hp. http://i.imgur.com/K5lUJ.jpg --The preceding unsigned comment was added by Dreki (talk) at 07:26, 21 March 2011 (UTC).

I had many of those before too, and was speculating to keep them in hope that they gain any special value. Well, that was more than three years ago, and I don't remember hearing anything about any special value. So it is safe to just deal with it as if it was a normal major rune (i.e. with violet color). poke | talk 08:47, 21 March 2011 (UTC)

Best Superior Runes

As the prices are currently showing, Sup Vigor will obviously remain king. But after Vigor, Death magic and Channeling seem to be the only other superior rune worth investing. Just curious if anyone else has found success using superior runes on their heros?--Gungraave 08:11, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

I use only superiors on my eles, despite the draw backs. The faster I can kill my foe via damage the less of chance I'll be dead with low health. I counter it with superior vigor and vitae/survivor of course. If you have the room, invest in cheap max armor ele headpieces with runes in both minor and superior.Yumiko ^,~ 02:11, 18 November 2011 (UTC)

I used to use superior energy storage on my ER prot hero. then I stopped using it :p I find I notice the -75hp when heroes drop dead too quickly in Hm etc. (I certainly noticed when I added health to heroes they could suddenly beat urgoz) File:User Chieftain Alex Chieftain Signature.pngChieftain Alex 02:26, 19 November 2011 (UTC)

Odd?

does anyone know what this is? don't know how to upload images straight to the wiki, so these are DROPBOX links: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/21199702/gw008.jpg http://dl.dropbox.com/u/21199702/gw009.jpg why is the rune unidentified at first? confused 86.160.132.82 21:44, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

My guess is it was salvaged from an unidentified item. 76.164.65.219 04:32, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Prior to an update several years back, it was possible to expert salvage runes from unidentified salvage items. You could tell from the synbol which proffession these were, but otherwise they were unidentified, making it considerably easier to unlock runes your account needed, and allow you to trade those which you had no use for. Gwynna Vive 09:23, 15 December 2012 (UTC)

Energy reg runes

Wouldn't a rune that adds a +1 energy regenation be interesting and fun? All in all it must be possible to add new runes to the list - all with unique valeues that effect and benefit a characters performance in certain situations or just in general. --81.234.129.54 15:39, 18 May 2012 (UTC)

-20% time reduction question

I was thinking to put the Runes of Purity/Recovery/Restoration in my armor but I don't know if it would be worth it. After reading the info in the page, I'm still not sure regarding the % and the time duration. I was doing calculations with a calculator but I don't know if my results are the same results hardcoded in the game system, I need a real time skill counter inside the game to know the total minimum and maximum, but I can't find this option in GWToolbox and without a number table I'm a bit lost. This test is without shield or without stacking, I mean, I want to know only the -20% of the rune alone or how to calculate each minimum and maximum time duration. I will probably test it making a table of the amount of damage after the skill finishes, but if anyone knows any other way, please, would be good. Scribeton (talk) 04:36, 17 October 2021 (UTC)

Sure, here you go. I just made a quick table in OpenOffice (function used: "=ROUND(B1/5)") Cealdor (talk) 11:37, 19 October 2021 (UTC)

Thank you very much, that helps a lot!!! Most duration of those conditions is always 10 seconds minimum ore more in PvE, so it will apparently work very well when I'm running or farming with SoS. -Scribeton (talk) 14:08, 20 October 2021 (UTC)

Prices

I don't really agree with the recent changes to rune prices. The value of an unidenfied rune/insignia is always 25 gold, but a rune/insignia bought from a rune trader will come pre-identified, with a value of 25 gold if blue/magical, 50 gold if purple/uncommon, 100 gold if gold/rare. I don't think we can take these identified values as the base/standard value of these runes. I'm not sure where else to say this, I haven't found a discussion about this change. SabSparrow (talk) 15:52, 15 January 2024 (UTC)

Which prices would you take as base/standard prices then? The unid-ed 25 gold for all three types? Why that instead of the differentiation? Steve1 (talk) 21:47, 15 January 2024 (UTC)

Basically everything you ID adds a random gold value, from inscriptions (25g base, up to 100g+ for igv insc), to items (+random x, 1g inc blue, 2g inc purp, 4g inc gold). Even greens go from 35g to up to 70g. If runes are *always* a set value after ID, i can see using those IDed values instead.Durp da durp (talk) 17:49, 16 January 2024 (UTC)

Runes aren't always a set value after identifying. When unidentified, they're worth 25 gold. When bought from a Rune Trader, they're identified and worth 25 gold, 50 gold or 100 gold depending on rarity. When identified with an identification kit, they're worth 26+ gold, 51+ gold or 101+ gold depending on rarity and randomness. Applying it to equipment and salvaging it again will revert it to being unidentified with a value of 25 gold. I don't think it makes sense to single out the value when bought from a Rune Trader, it's not like you'll resell it at that value. We also don't use the identified value as the listed value for types of items other than runes, why do it differently for those? SabSparrow (talk) 18:34, 22 January 2024 (UTC)

I think if only one value is listed, especially without explanation, it should be the unidentified value, though I think it'd be preferable if all possible values were listed in some way. SabSparrow (talk) 18:47, 22 January 2024 (UTC)

How would you do that?

WHat I did is looked at the rune trader and noted down the prices shown. Didn't buy any runes and certainly didn't ID any. :D

https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Common_crafting_material

Here we also list the shown prices while selling some of the mats at the mat trader might wield much higher returns. Do you wanna change the infot here as well? Or is that another matter in your mind?

I'm all for improving hte wiki, so if you have a cool suggestion, fire away! Steve1 (talk) 20:31, 22 January 2024 (UTC)