Usefulness of runes - Guild Wars Forums

Lone · Aug 12, 2005, 08:50 PM // 20:50

Hi, fairly new Guild Wars player here. I was questing recently and I nice guy gave me a Ranger rune of Major Expertise, which improves expertise, but also subtracts 50 health. So, can I use this rune on any weapon or armor? Does the 'improves Expertise' mean I gain 1 rank in Expertise?

Also, the -50 health mod seems to really drag down the usefulness of the rune. My level 12 R/Me has 300 health, so the -50 would be a significant loss. Are these runes actually useful, in PvE or PvP?

Chillin-N-Killin · Aug 12, 2005, 08:59 PM // 20:59

you can put it on armor only and it works like this
minor rune +1
major rune +2 - 50 health
sup rune +3 - 75 health

and as far as the health issue that is up to you if you can do without the extra 50 health

ps: welcome to GW

also you can salvage your runes from your armor use an expert salvage kit to get the rune back. but that does not always work i seem to get 4 of the 5 runes back most of the time

cgobelman · Aug 12, 2005, 09:15 PM // 21:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lone

Hi, fairly new Guild Wars player here. I was questing recently and I nice guy gave me a Ranger rune of Major Expertise, which improves expertise, but also subtracts 50 health. So, can I use this rune on any weapon or armor? Does the 'improves Expertise' mean I gain 1 rank in Expertise?

Also, the -50 health mod seems to really drag down the usefulness of the rune. My level 12 R/Me has 300 health, so the -50 would be a significant loss. Are these runes actually useful, in PvE or PvP?

Here's the rundown on runes:

You can only use runes of your primary class, so since you're a Ranger, you can only use Ranger runes not Mesmer runes.

Runes are applied to your armor. You can equip five runes at one time, one for each piece of armor.

Runes come in three different flavors: Minor, Major and Superior. The benefits are as follows: Minor adds +1 to that attribute (e.g., Expertise); Major adds +2 to that attribute and subtracts 50 from your max health; Superior adds +3 to that attribute and subtracts 75 from your max health.

There are a set of runes that are universal to all classes: Runes of Vigor (Minor adds 30 to max health; Major adds 40 to max health; Superior adds 50 to max health).

Runes don't stack. You can't add a major rune of expertise to your chest piece and a major rune of expertise to your leggings and expect to get +4 to expertise. You can mix and match as long as the runes are for different attributes. For example, you can equip a minor rune of marksmanship, a minor rune of expertise, a major rune of wilderness survival, and a superior rune of beast mastery.

At level 12, I wouldn't worry too much about equipping major runes; the benefit added to the attribute is balanced against the health loss. For sure I wouldn't equip more than one major or superior rune at a time. When you get to be 20th level and you have an attribute maxed out at level 12, then runes come in handy because they can boost your attributes past the max. A superior rune plus a Ranger's mask modifier can give you a 16 in any one attribute.

As always, you have to balance cost and benefits. There are people who never use major or superior runes. PERIOD. Then there is the current solo Monk build that equips all superior runes for special farming runs. Personally, I have two major runes equipped, and I'm seriously considering going only minor runes.

Hope this helps.

Elena · Aug 12, 2005, 09:28 PM // 21:28

let me correct you good man major vigor gves 41 health :P welcome to Guild Wars i hope you have a fun time playing this game

Arvydas · Aug 12, 2005, 09:32 PM // 21:32

nice rundown cgobelman...

one more thing to add is that you probably focus on no more than 3 attributes from your primary class. Say you have all 3 of the runes, occupying 3 armor pieces. You then have 2 slots to use rune of vigor to compensate for the health losses caused by major/superior runes. hope this helps.

baalzamonbarnes · Aug 12, 2005, 10:07 PM // 22:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arvydas

nice rundown cgobelman...

one more thing to add is that you probably focus on no more than 3 attributes from your primary class. Say you have all 3 of the runes, occupying 3 armor pieces. You then have 2 slots to use rune of vigor to compensate for the health losses caused by major/superior runes. hope this helps.

Runes don't stack, so 2 spots for vigor wont help you any more than 1 spot.

Arvydas · Aug 12, 2005, 11:03 PM // 23:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by baalzamonbarnes

Runes don't stack, so 2 spots for vigor wont help you any more than 1 spot.

/doh
how silly i was...

Lone · Aug 12, 2005, 11:10 PM // 23:10

Excellent, I understand much the whole rune system much better now. I appreciate the answers and welcomes guys, thank you much!

Aug 12, 2005, 08:50 PM // 20:50	#1
Lone Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Aug 2005 Profession: R/Me	Usefulness of runes Hi, fairly new Guild Wars player here. I was questing recently and I nice guy gave me a Ranger rune of Major Expertise, which improves expertise, but also subtracts 50 health. So, can I use this rune on any weapon or armor? Does the 'improves Expertise' mean I gain 1 rank in Expertise? Also, the -50 health mod seems to really drag down the usefulness of the rune. My level 12 R/Me has 300 health, so the -50 would be a significant loss. Are these runes actually useful, in PvE or PvP?

Aug 12, 2005, 08:59 PM // 20:59	#2
Chillin-N-Killin Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Colorado Guild: The Adult Guild Profession: R/Mo	you can put it on armor only and it works like this minor rune +1 major rune +2 - 50 health sup rune +3 - 75 health and as far as the health issue that is up to you if you can do without the extra 50 health ps: welcome to GW also you can salvage your runes from your armor use an expert salvage kit to get the rune back. but that does not always work i seem to get 4 of the 5 runes back most of the time Last edited by Chillin-N-Killin; Aug 12, 2005 at 09:20 PM // 21:20..

Aug 12, 2005, 09:28 PM // 21:28	#4
Elena Desert Nomad Join Date: May 2005 Location: Belgium	let me correct you good man major vigor gves 41 health :P welcome to Guild Wars i hope you have a fun time playing this game

Aug 12, 2005, 09:32 PM // 21:32	#5
Arvydas Krytan Explorer Join Date: May 2005 Guild: Soul Devourers Profession: W/Mo	nice rundown cgobelman... one more thing to add is that you probably focus on no more than 3 attributes from your primary class. Say you have all 3 of the runes, occupying 3 armor pieces. You then have 2 slots to use rune of vigor to compensate for the health losses caused by major/superior runes. hope this helps.

Aug 12, 2005, 11:10 PM // 23:10	#8
Lone Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Aug 2005 Profession: R/Me	Excellent, I understand much the whole rune system much better now. I appreciate the answers and welcomes guys, thank you much!