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→Rune Functions
* [[Obsidian rune]]: Wild card functions.
==Runestone Scarcity==
The issue of runestone scarcity is still up in the air. The most recent info about it came from a [[Bashiok]] forum post in January 2011.<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/runestone-info-galore/ Bashiok forum post] - Blue Tracker, January 12, 2011</ref>
::'''Question: '''Are all five runes equally as rare or is one or more types rarer than others?
::'''Bashiok:''' That’s a good question, I can see how that could be justified. I don’t know what the plan is there, I’ll have to ask. My gut is that it would be too much to keep some type of rune ‘power rating’ in mind when altering drop rates, especially post-release where patches could jumble them around a fair bit. “This rune sucks now but it’s still the rarest!” Also, ideally, each rune type will be equally viable to different people and builds. Saying one is more powerful than another would mean we’re probably balancing them to be, and that’s not the case.
Prior to the early-2010 reworking, when runes changed from strict functions to the more varied color/substance names, it was clear that some runes would be much more sought after than others. For instance, Power runes were obviously going to be more desirable and useful than Energy runes.
This is not necessarily the case, now that rune functions are so varied. Furthermore, the devs seem to have scrambled around the bonuses for each type. Crimson runes are usually +damage and/or fire, but not always, (see the example of Crimson in Hydra below). The developers can easily use server stats to see which runes are being used the most, and in which skills, and either nerf some of those bonuses, buff other bonuses to make other runes more popular, or just switch around where the bonuses come from.
For example, if the Alabaster rune has 5 really popular uses, and the Golden rune has only 2, they could simply switch 2 of those very popular Alabaster bonuses to Golden, instantly changing the rune values. This would not be a good hotfix, since it would ruin the rune bonus in their skill for thousands of players. If a change this drastic were planned, it would have to be done with a patch/ladder reset, so that only newly-found runes after the patch would have the change, while older ones in the non-ladder economy would continue to work as they always had.
==Easy Socketing==
