Difference between revisions of "Skill Runes"

Latest revision as of 05:07, 3 July 2012

Runestones is the old name for Skill Runes, which provide five different functions for every skill in Diablo III. All rune forms offer some sort of upgrade over the original skill, and there are virtually no scenarios when a character is better off using the base skill than one of the rune effects.

The five Runes.

The rune effects become available gradually, as a character levels up. All of the basic skills are available by level 30, but a character must reach level 60 to gain access to all of the rune effects, with at least 1, and usually 2 or 3 added each level up from 6 to 60. There is no set pattern or regular system to when the rune effects become available. Characters do not get another rune effect in a skill every 6 or 8 levels, for instance.

The name "runes" is something of a remnant, as there's no real reason the final game system should use that term at all, since the different "runes" are simply graphical icons attached to each of the five different forms of each skill. Originally, the skill runes were called "runestones" which were small items that characters found and socketed into their skills to grant the bonus effects. The item style of runes evolved repeatedly during development, and was eventually removed in early 2012, when skill runes lost their random effects and rune levels, and were integrated completely into the skill interface.

See all news related to runestones in Diablo III.
Rune Archive -- Runes evolved greatly during the development of Diablo III. See the archive page for a detailed history lesson.

Players once assumed that a sixth rune would be added in the Diablo III expansion, but with the final game system this seems unlikely, as all the rune effects are now customized to each skill, rather than each runestome type adding a semi-predictable effect to any skill it was added to.

Rune Basics[edit | edit source]

The final game rune system was introduced in early 2012 in Beta Patch 13, where players were first able to try them out for themselves^[1]. Runes are now effects in skills, can be switched between freely, and are entirely divorced in organization from the old runestone items system.

Socketing a rune.

Runes are now a component of the skill system that allows a player to alter a skill. Some runes, such as the Bash rune Unleashed, do not change the basic functionality of the skill, simply increasing the damage or duration, or lowering the resource cost. Other rune effects do much more, entirely changing the function of skills from offensive to defensive, or changing the function greatly, such as the Witch Doctor's Rain of Toads rune for Plague of Toads. That rune takes a short range, slow, erratically-moving projectile attack and changes it to a ranged attack with almost full screen range that deals heavy damage to a targeted location.

The five rune effects lost their individual, unifying names during development, and there is no longer any way for players to refer to something like, "the Crimson Rune effect in Cleave." All the rune effects are simply referred to by their own names now, such as Cleave's rune effects, Broad Sweep, Gathering Storm, Scattering Blast, Reaping Swing, and Rupture.

Attaining Runes[edit | edit source]

Runes are automatically unlocked at predetermined levels. Each skill lists what levels each rune unlocks at, and players receive notification of the new runes that have become available each time they level up. Runes can be changed at any time, but changing a skill or rune while not in town will trigger a 10-second cooldown, during which time the skill or spell will not be available for use or further modification.

Skill Rune Videos[edit | edit source]

In May 2011 Blizzard released a set of five videos, one for each of the classes, demonstrating various runestones in a single skill each. These show early versions of teh rune effects, and do not correspond exactly to what we see in the final game.

The Barbarian's Whirlwind.

The Demon Hunter's Cluster Arrow

The Monk's Sweeping Wind

The Witch Doctor's Acid Cloud

The Wizard's Ray of Frost

D3 Runestones vs. D2 Runes[edit | edit source]

Diablo III's Runes are nothing like the 'runes' found in Diablo II. In D2 there are thirty-three kinds of runes, which are small items that have no use on their own, but can be placed in item sockets to add various bonuses to those items, and in certain combinations produce RuneWords, which add powerful, predetermined sets of bonuses, provided that the item has precisely the right number of sockets.

Diablo III's runes are "socketed" into skills, not items. See the Gems and Sockets articles for more details about item socketing in Diablo III.

Media[edit | edit source]

Various images of Runestones and Rune Effects.

Rune Socket]
The since-renamed Hydra Rune.
Crimson rune, August 2010 design.
The old rune stones.
Level-up rune unlock notification.
A socketed rune.

References[edit | edit source]

↑ New Skill Interface and Rune System -Diablo.incgamers, 20/2/2012

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer primary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer secondary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer corpses

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer bloodandbone

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer reanimation

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer curses

[1] New Skill Interface and Rune System -Diablo.incgamers, 20/2/2012

[1]

Fan-made Classes			Fan-made Skills [e]
• Alchemist • Arcane Warrior • Artisan • Aurian Mage • Bard • Channeller • Dragon Warrior	• Flagellant • Giant (U) • Hollow Man • Nomad • Onaga Manji • Phase Knight	• Ranger • Slayer (U) • Techpriest (U) • Telepath • Untainted (U) • Zealot	Dragon Warrior Skills • Bow and Throwing Skill Tree • Dragon Disciplines Skill Tree • Martial Arts Skill Tree	Untainted Skills • Divine Skill Tree	Aurian Mage Skill • Holy Power Skill Tree • Shadow Spells Skill Tree • Nature Forces Skill Tree
(U) = Unfinished				Untainted Skills • Divine Skill Tree

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Runestones''' are small items that can be socketed - one each - into any [[skill]], but not into [[traits]] or into [[item]]s, as were runes in Diablo II. Diablo III's skill runes grant special bonuses to the skills with which they are used, altering their effects and generally enhancing them, although the changes that a rune makes to a skill may dramatically alter its utility.
+'''Runestones''' is the old name for [[Skill Runes]], which provide five different functions for every skill in Diablo III. All rune forms offer some sort of upgrade over the original skill, and there are virtually no scenarios when a character is better off using the base skill than one of the rune effects.
+[[File:New_runes.jpg|thumb|125px|The five Runes.]]
+The rune effects become available gradually, as a character levels up. All of the basic skills are available by level 30, but a character must reach level 60 to gain access to all of the rune effects, with at least 1, and usually 2 or 3 added each level up from 6 to 60. There is no set pattern or regular system to when the rune effects become available. Characters do not get another rune effect in a skill every 6 or 8 levels, for instance.
+The name "runes" is something of a remnant, as there's no real reason the final game system should use that term at all, since the different "runes" are simply graphical icons attached to each of the five different forms of each skill. Originally, the skill runes were called "runestones" which were small items that characters found and socketed into their skills to grant the bonus effects. The item style of runes evolved repeatedly during development, and was eventually removed in early 2012, when skill runes lost their random effects and rune levels, and were integrated completely into the skill interface.
 * See all [http://diablo.incgamers.com/categories/category/runestones/ news related to runestones in Diablo III].
-* [[Rune Archive]] -- Runes evolved greatly during the development of Diablo III. See the archive page for a history lesson.
+* [[Rune Archive]] -- Runes evolved greatly during the development of Diablo III. See the archive page for a detailed history lesson.
-<div style="float:right; clear:right; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px;"><br><br>
+Players once assumed that a sixth rune would be added in the [[Diablo III expansion]], but with the final game system this seems unlikely, as all the rune effects are now customized to each skill, rather than each runestome type adding a semi-predictable effect to any skill it was added to.
-__TOC__
-</div>
 ==Rune Basics==
-[[File:Runes5.jpg|left|thumb|115px|The five Runes.]]
+The final game rune system was introduced in early 2012 in [[Beta Patch 13]], where players were first able to try them out for themselves<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/video-journal-3-new-skill-interface-rune-system New Skill Interface and Rune System] -Diablo.incgamers, 20/2/2012</ref>. Runes are now effects in skills, can be switched between freely, and are entirely divorced in organization from the old runestone items system.
-Runestones come in five types, and a particular kind of bonus or alteration is typical of each. For instance, the [[Crimson Rune]] generally adds damage or a fire effect. However the effects that runestones have vary greatly with the skills themselves - a skill that doesn't deal damage may not gain a damaging effect from a Crimson Rune, but rather be altered in some other way.
-In addition to the five types, Runestones also occur in seven levels of quality, with increasingly potent effects. A Runestone of one level always has a more dramatic effect than a Runestone of a lower level, usually in the sense that it affects a given skill in the same way, but to a greater extent. It is not generally known whether or not it will be possible to combine Runestones of one quality level to generate higher-level Runestones, however all seven quality levels are dropped by [[monsters]]<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/runestone-info-galore/ Bashiok forum post] - Blue Tracker, January 2011</ref>.
+[[File:Rune_ui.jpg|left|thumb|400px|Socketing a rune.]]
+Runes are now a component of the [[skill]] system that allows a player to alter a skill. Some runes, such as the [[Bash]] rune [[Unleashed (rune effect)|Unleashed]], do not change the basic functionality of the skill, simply increasing the damage or duration, or lowering the resource cost. Other rune effects do much more, entirely changing the function of skills from offensive to defensive, or changing the function greatly, such as the [[Witch Doctor]]'s [[Rain of Toads]] rune for [[Plague of Toads]]. That rune takes a short range, slow, erratically-moving projectile attack and changes it to a ranged attack with almost full screen range that deals heavy damage to a targeted location.
-The Runestone naming scheme has changed several times during development. The current iteration was devised in early 2010 and made public in May of that year when [[Bashiok]] <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/new-skill-rune-names-revealed/ Bashiok forum post] - Blue Tracker, May 2010</ref> revealed the names to be [[Crimson]], [[Indigo]], [[Obsidian]], [[Golden]] and [[Alabaster]]. This change coincided with considerable changes to their effects.
+The five rune effects lost their individual, unifying names during development, and there is no longer any way for players to refer to something like, "the [[Crimson Rune]] effect in [[Cleave]]." All the rune effects are simply referred to by their own names now, such as Cleave's rune effects, [[Broad Sweep]], [[Gathering Storm]], [[Scattering Blast]], [[Reaping Swing]], and [[Rupture]].
+===Attaining Runes===
-===D3 Runestones vs. D2 Runes===
+Runes are automatically unlocked at predetermined levels. Each skill lists what levels each rune unlocks at, and players receive notification of the new runes that have become available each time they level up. Runes can be changed at any time, but changing a skill or rune while not in [[town]] will trigger a 10-second [[cooldown]], during which time the skill or spell will not be available for use or further modification.
-[[Diablo III]]'s Runestones are nothing like the '{{iw|runes runes}}' found in [[Diablo II]]. In D2 there are thirty-three kinds of runes, which are small items that have no use on their own, but can be placed in item sockets to add various bonuses to those items, and in certain combinations produce {{iw|Runeword RuneWords}}, which add powerful, predetermined sets of bonuses, provided that the item has precisely the right number of sockets.
+{{Clear|left}}
-Diablo III's runes are socketed into [[skills]], not item. See the [[Gem]]s and [[Socket]]s articles for more details about [[item]] socketing in Diablo III.
+==Skill Rune Videos==
+In May 2011 Blizzard released a set of five videos, one for each of the classes, demonstrating various runestones in a single skill each.  These show early versions of teh rune effects, and do not correspond exactly to what we see in the final game.
-===Rune Tool Tips===
-[[File:Indigo-rank1-2.jpg|thumb|Nondescript description.]]
+<center>
-The tool tip that displays when a rune is hovered over is not informative. It simply says, "socket in skills for a special bonus." To obtain information about what a rune actually does, players need to click on the rune to pick it up, then hover it over their available skills. The tool tip will then briefly describe what effect the rune will grant that skill.
+{|
+| <youtube>uASjbyfo3eo</youtube><br>
+The Barbarian's [[Whirlwind]].
+| <youtube>V0C_15IzneY</youtube><br>
+The Demon Hunter's [[Cluster Arrow]]
+|}
+</center>
-Since just the word descriptions aren't that informative, most players will want seek out additional information from a wiki or video of the skill in action. Or simply plan on testing out a lot of rune functions before deciding on what they want to use long term.
+<center>
+{|
+| <youtube>R8gfPFuWs6g</youtube><br>
+The Monk's [[Sweeping Wind]]
+| <youtube>rWJhV31TY8U</youtube><br>
+The Witch Doctor's [[Acid Cloud]]
+|}
+</center>
-==Runestone Functions==
-Runes have no function on their own, other than beautifying your inventory. They are only useful once they're [[socket]]ed into a skill, where they alter the skill's function. All runes improve the base skill effect, and in every known case any rune is better than no rune at all.
+The Wizard's [[Ray of Frost]]
-That said, a rune'd skill may not be an improvement over the base skill in every situation -- using a rune to change a [[fire]] attack to a [[cold]] attack (as the [[Crimson]] rune does to the [[Hydra]] skill) would obviously be a poor choice against cold resistant monsters.
+<youtube>k2Uo2X8iF0U</youtube>
-The functions of each type of rune in each skill vary widely. While the early runestone system had fairly predictable bonuses -- certain runes added +damage, or multishot, or lowered the resource cost in almost every skill -- the complexity and variety of rune effects grew steadily over the course of game development.
-Devising and implementing the effects of the Runestones was a tremendous amount of work for Diablo III's developers and artists; there are nearly 120 skills in the game, each with a basic function which is modified in at least four or five totally different ways by each runestone.
-===Proposed Changes to Rune Functionality===
-The following portion is still theory for the development team, revealed on August 1st, 2011, after a press event.
+===D3 Runestones vs. D2 Runes===
-Jay Wilson described a slightly changed rune system from what fans are accustomed to.
-Note that this system is still theory, it has not be implemented or tested yet, and there is no way to tell whether it will make it into the release of the game in any form.
-The proposed change does not fundementally alter the function of a rune whatsoever. The core function of socketing a rune into a skill to change how the skill works is still very much present.
-However, the "color" system of the runes would be dropped in favor of runes that are "Unattuned". The player would "attune" the rune by socketing it into a skill. Whatever effect the rune would have on the skill would not be known beforehand, making runes sort of similar to [[Jewel]]s in Diablo II.
-In addition to this, each rune, once attuned (or identified to follow Diablo parlance) would also have another passive benefit on it, such as an increase to [[Attack]] or another [[stat]]. This is perhaps an attempt by the development team to add in more customisation after the loss of [[Charms]] and the [[Talisman]]. Once the rune is socketed and attuned, it would then be permanently fixed, unless they chose to add in a crafting recipe to "wipe" the rune back to a blank slate.
-==Early Functions==
-Prior to Blizzcon 2010, the Runestones (which had different names at the time) were generally accepted to do the following:
-* [[Alabaster rune]]: Wild card functions.
-* [[Crimson rune]]: Generally provides +damage and/or fire damage.
-* [[Golden rune]]: Generally reduces the resource cost.
-* [[Indigo rune]]: Generally provides multishot in some form.
-* [[Obsidian rune]]: Wild card functions.
-At Blizzcon it was revealed that this simple, predictable approach, had largely been discarded.
-===Higher-Level Runestone Functions===
-A Runestone's function tends to vary in a quantitative way with its level of quality, rather than in a qualitative way. For example, an Indigo Rune adds multishot to Magic Missile; higher level Indigo Runes don't change that function, but rather increase the number of projectiles generated. However Runestones of some quality levels also have qualitative advantages over lower-level Runestones of the same type.
-<blue><font color="#FFFFFF">Will the increase in rank continue the change that the first rank made to the skill? For example, with the WD blow dart skill, the alabaster runes turn the dart into a snake. What does a higher ranking alabaster rune do?</font><br>
-<b>Bashiok:</b> Yes, the mechanic stays the same for the rune type in all ranks (more or less). It simply increases in power. For the Alabaster-in-Poison Dart example I’m actually not sure the increase in effect, but it likely plays off of the stun effect (higher ranks stun the target for longer). Runes that reduce cost reduce even more cost as the rank increases. A rune that would cause multiple projectiles would fire even more projectiles as the rank increases, etc.
-It’s not necessarily a hard and fast rule though that the increase must only be one thing. Maybe it means more projectiles AND ups the damage a little to make sure it remains competitive with other runes or skills. It has to be a somewhat fluid system.</blue>
-==Runestone Scarcity==
-[[File:Runeprogression.jpg|thumb|300px|Runestone levels as of August, 2011.]]
-There are seven Runestone quality levels, roughly distributed so that levels one and two are found as a character progresses through Normal, three and four are found in Nightmare, six is found in Hell, and the final seventh rank is found exclusively in [[Inferno]] (each Runestone's quality can be determined by the number of points around its edge). It's not known how common or rare Runestones will be, or whether or not all five types will be equally difficult to find. The most recent information about the subject came from a forum post by Bashiok in January 2011.<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/runestone-info-galore/ Bashiok forum post] - Blue Tracker, January 12, 2011</ref>
-<blue><font color="#FFFFFF">Are all five runes equally as rare or is one or more types rarer than others?</font><br>
-<b>Bashiok:</b> 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.</blue>
-===Rune Crafting/Upgrading===
-The D3 Team has confirmed that the [[Mystic]] will have some [[crafting]] [[recipes]] to create new Runestones, though there are no details yet, other than that they will use old Runestones in the process. It will also be possible to [[salvage]] unneeded Runestones for magical materials, and even make new ones from scratch.
-It's not known if the Mystic can upgrade the quality of runestones though, as the [[jeweler]] can by combining three [[gems]] of the same type/level to create one of the next higher level.
-==Easy Socketing==
-[[Image:Runestone_ui.jpg|frame|The [[interface]] for runestone socketing.]]
-Socketed runestones will be freely swappable. Players will be able to replace runestones at any time, at no cost and without risk of losing the runestone.  The [[D3 Team]] has committed to easy runestone swapping in the final game, but they have said there will be some sort of limitation, purely to prevent macro-switching exploits. They want swapping to be easy and forgiving, but not something that can be done automatically by a third party program, which could lead to constant, effortless switching, which they think of as contrary to their intended style of play.
-The team has not yet revealed what form this limitation will take, but it could be something as simple as requiring players to return to town, or to use one of the [[Artisans]] to switch out runes.
-==Confirmed Runestone Examples==
-While one or two rune properties are known (or can be easily guessed) for most skills, Blizzard has only revealed all five runestone effects for a few skills. There may yet be additional changes to these effects, as development continues up to and even after release.
-===Plague of Toads===
-[[File:Runes-plague-of-toads-all.jpg|thumb|400px|Plague of Toads rune options.]]
-The rune functions for [[Plague of Toads]], a [[Witch Doctor skill]] were revealed during a panel discussion at Blizzcon 2010. The basic skill has the Witch Doctor throwing out several toads, which hop forwards in erratic, [[Charged Bolt]]-esque fashion.
-* [[Alabaster rune]]: The toads also blind enemies.
-* [[Crimson rune]]: Flaming toads add fire damage to their attack.
-* [[Golden rune]]: Reduced cost per cast.
-* [[Indigo rune]]: Changes the skill to a rain of toads, which fall down on the targeted location.
-* [[Obsidian rune]]: Summons a single, huge, stationary frog that uses a sticky tongue to capture and consume monsters in one gulp. It spits out the treasure and items. The mega-toad can eat [[Champions]] (possibly only at higher/highest rune level?), but not [[bosses]] or (presumably) bigger enemies.
-===Poison Dart===
-The rune functions for [[Poison Dart]], a [[Witch Doctor skill]], were revealed during a panel discussion at [[BlizzCon 2010]]. The basic skill is a fairly slow-working spell that fires a single poison dart that deals poison damage and some [[DoT]].
-* [[Alabaster rune]]:  Blows out a face-biting snake that stuns the target
-* [[Crimson rune]]: Adds fire damage to the poison dart.
-* [[Golden rune]]:  Steals [[mana]] with each dart hit.
-* [[Indigo rune]]: Fires multiple darts.
-** Level One: Two darts.
-** Level Two: Four darts.
-* [[Obsidian rune]]: Slows the poisoned target.
-===Hydra===
-[[File:Runes-hydra-all.jpg|thumb|400px|Hydra skill rune effects.]]
-The rune functions for [[Hydra]], a [[Wizard skill]] were revealed during a panel discussion at Blizzcon 2010. The basic skill summons a fiery dragon that breaks through the earth and spits firebolts at nearby enemies.
-* [[Alabaster rune]]: Turns the Hydra purple and the damage type to Arcane.
-* [[Crimson rune]]: Turns the Hydra blue and the damage type to a short-range chilling frost spray.
-* [[Golden rune]]: Creates a giant hydra that deals higher damage via AoE Firewalls.
-* [[Indigo rune]]: Turns the hydra blue and the projectiles to lightning balls that never miss.
-* [[Obsidian rune]]: Turns the hydra green and the damage to a splashing poison acid.
-This Hydra information was revealed at Blizzcon in October 2010. It shows changes even since August, when one of Hydra's rune effects was a faster/multishot, instead of the Acid element.
-These bonuses also show how unpredictable the effects are. By previous knowledge and logic, Crimson should be the +damage/firewalls effect, since it generally adds damage and/or fire effects. Possibly the developers are shuffling rune bonuses around randomly, in order to make the runes equivalently useful. Rather than, for instance, allowing Crimson to be the most useful and Golden the least, on the whole.
-===Throw Weapon===
-The rune functions for [[Throw Weapon]], a [[Barbarian skill]], were revealed during a panel discussion at Blizzcon 2010. The basic skill is a ranged attack in which the Barbarian is able to hurl his weapon with distance and accuracy. The weapon magically reappears in his hands after each toss.
-* [[Alabaster rune]]: Enemies struck by the weapon grow confused.
-* [[Crimson rune]]: Adds damage to the thrown weapon.
-* [[Golden rune]]: Throws a monster corpse rather than the weapon. Less range, but bigger damage.
-* [[Indigo rune]]: Adds ricochet, allowing the weapon to strike multiple targets.
-* [[Obsidian rune]]: Throws a stunning hammer, rather than the equipped weapon.
-==Runestone Videos==
-In May 2011 Blizzard released a set of five videos, one for each of the classes, demonstrating various runestones in a single skill each.
-===Barbarian's [[Whirlwind]]===
+[[Diablo III]]'s Runes are nothing like the '{{iw|runes runes}}' found in [[Diablo II]]. In D2 there are thirty-three kinds of runes, which are small items that have no use on their own, but can be placed in item sockets to add various bonuses to those items, and in certain combinations produce {{iw|Runeword RuneWords}}, which add powerful, predetermined sets of bonuses, provided that the item has precisely the right number of sockets.
+Diablo III's runes are "socketed" into [[skills]], not items. See the [[Gem]]s and [[Socket]]s articles for more details about [[item]] socketing in Diablo III.
-<youtube>uASjbyfo3eo</youtube>
-===Demon Hunter's [[Cluster Arrow]]===
-<youtube>V0C_15IzneY</youtube>
-===Monk's [[Sweeping Wind]]===
-<youtube>R8gfPFuWs6g</youtube>
-===Witch Doctor's [[Acid Cloud]]===
-<youtube>rWJhV31TY8U</youtube>
-===Wizard's [[Ray of Frost]]===
-<youtube>k2Uo2X8iF0U</youtube>
@@ Line 202: / Line 77: @@
 Image:Rune-minor-hydra1.jpg|The since-renamed Hydra Rune.
 File:Runestone1.jpg|Crimson rune, August 2010 design.
+File:Runes5.jpg|The old rune stones.
+File:Rune notification.jpg|Level-up rune unlock notification.
+File:Rune_socketed.jpg|A socketed rune.
 </gallery>
@@ Line 212: / Line 90: @@
 {{Template:Items navbox}}
-[[Category:Runes]]
+[[Category:Skill runes]]
-[[Category:Items]]
+[[Category:Classes]]
 [[Category:Featured articles]]
 [[Category:Lore]]