Runes

(information + video demonstration)

General Information

Runes are special small items that enhance skills rather than items. Each of these items provides a specific bonus to skills. There are many types of runes, each varying in quality. Runes work after being bound to skills. It is planned that each rune will interact with every skill, providing some effect related to the skill itself.

Since the BlizzCon 2008, the appearance of runes has changed (this was demonstrated in the eighth episode of BlizzCast). The Lesser Hydra Rune has appeared. The only thing known about this item is that it increases the quantitative measure of the skill. Previously, it was known to us as the Multiple Strike Rune. Therefore, in fact, the changes only concern the name, as the principle of operation has remained the same. In Diablo II and I, there was a skill with the same name, and its application resulted in a multi-headed dragon. Perhaps this rune is also named after its historical ancestor from ancient Greek mythology—the Lernaean Hydra, which grew two more heads when one was cut off.

The Hydra Rune affects the number of Fire Skull (formerly known as Fire Bomb) thrown by the Witch Doctor as well as the chains created when the Sorceress uses the Electrocute skill. As far as it is known, this rune should work with all active abilities and will mainly add additional hits.

Comparison of Runes in Diablo 3 and Diablo 2

Runes in Diablo 3 are not the same as runes in Diablo 2. In the second part of the game, there were 33 types. These were small-sized items that had no practical value on their own. However, these runes could be imbued into armor or weapons, after which they gained new properties determined by the type of imbued runes. Also, certain combinations of runes could create Rune Words by placing them in specific arrangements, adding new and even more useful properties (predefined) to items.

In Diablo 3, runes are also small items that need to be added for additional effects. But now they need to be placed not in items, but in skills. Items might have slots, but even if they do, runes cannot be added to them. Active skills in the skill tree will have slots for adding runes. After placing suitable runes in these slots, skills will have additional bonuses determined by the type and quality of the rune used. It is promised that the bonuses will be very diverse: for example, additional hits, extra damage, or increased spell duration.

Using Runes

In Diablo 3, runes enhance the active abilities of characters in specific ways. They don’t just increase damage; they change the skill itself, increasing its effectiveness, making it more interesting, and providing more opportunities for character creation that differ from others. Choosing runes will require thought, as different runes added to the same skill will produce different effects. Theoretically, the effects for a wizard spell like Blizzard could include: more projectiles, longer spell duration, increased damage for each projectile, extended freeze time, higher chance to hit, increased critical damage chance, and so on.

Currently, slots for inserting runes exist only for active skills. It is still unknown if there will be slots for these items added to passive skills, or if everything will remain as it is. It is also unknown whether the limitation of one slot per skill will remain.

Runes can be easily removed from the slots. The Rune remains intact. Theoretically, a player may continuously swap runes, for example, using a surge damage rune in combat against a horde of weak monsters, and a damage enhancement rune for fighting strong single enemies. There is a possibility that developers will take steps to prevent such free swapping of runes. For instance, they might force players to return to town to work with them, introduce time limits on reworking the same skill, limit the number of uses of the same rune, introduce a quality loss when extracting it, or come up with something else.

Since the BlizzCon in October 2008, the appearance of rune pockets has changed as well. Now, as seen in the picture to the left, it has become a horizontal rectangle.

Examples of Rune Actions

Examples are taken from BlizzCon 2008, where runes were first introduced.

Sorceress skill Mirror Image

* Without using runes: When using this skill, a duplicate of the sorceress is created, which can move independently and cast combat spells.

* Hydra Rune: increases the number of duplicates. Presumably, the quality of the rune affects the number of additional duplicates.

* Strength Rune: increases the health points (HP) of duplicates and the spell duration.

Sorceress skill Teleport

* Without using runes: Using this ability, the sorceress teleports to a designated location. Now this skill does not work as quickly as in the first or second parts of the game. Upon using it, the sorceress first rises into the air, then teleports, and then descends back to the ground.

* Striking Rune: all enemies around the point to which the mage teleports take damage (it functions similarly to the Barbarian's Leap Attack).

* Hydra Rune: when teleporting, a duplicate is created that fights alongside the mage, dealing damage to enemies and distracting them (very similar to the ability to freely cast Mirror Image when teleporting).

Witch Doctor skill Skull of Flame:

* Without using runes: The Witch Doctor throws a burning skull that explodes upon impact, dealing damage to nearby targets.

* Hydra Rune: the skull begins to bounce off the ground, exploding with each bounce. Higher quality runes will provide more bounces.

* Strength Rune: after the skull explodes, flames will continue to burn on the ground for some time, damaging enemies that pass through it.

Sorceress skill Electrocute:

* Without using runes: The sorceress creates an electrical arc that links to the opponent, dealing continuous electrical damage. If another enemy is nearby, the arc jumps to it, dealing damage to both targets.

* Hydra Rune: the maximum number of targets that can be hit simultaneously by this skill is increased.

* Viper Rune: monsters killed by the electrical arc may explode upon death, dealing damage to nearby monsters.

Types of Runes

Currently, the following types of runes are known:

Energy Rune

Viper Rune (formerly the Rune of Mortality)

Hydra Rune (formerly the Multiple Strike Rune)

Strength Rune (formerly the Rune of Might)

Striking Rune

It is almost certain that there will be more types of runes in the game, as the developers are currently seeking ideas for new types. However, D3 Team members will not introduce many unusual types of runes. Diablo 3's lead designer Jay Wilson noted that such items should only add useful effects to each of the skills. The developers want any character to benefit from any rune, so there won’t be runes that only boost one type of skill or abilities of one particular character. They will have to come up with bonuses that work effectively with all skills, so the number of runes will probably not be large. However, as different runes will give different effects to different skills, certain types may prove more useful for some characters than others.

Quality Levels of Runes

It is known that runes will have various quality levels, similar to how gems had five quality levels in Diablo 2. At BlizzCon 2008, Jay Wilson mentioned that there are 5 or 6 quality levels; however, this number may change in any direction before the game’s release. Naturally, higher quality runes will drop from higher level monsters, and therefore will occur less frequently. The type of effect that runes will provide will not depend on their quality. Only the bonuses provided by them will depend on quality.

The developers have not provided much information about item systems in Diablo 3, similar to how we created items using the Horadric Cube in Diablo 2. The only thing known is that there will be no Cube for conversion or similar items. Therefore, it is still unclear whether it will be possible to improve the quality of found runes; perhaps some mechanism will still exist in the game.

Rune Storage

In the demo version presented at BlizzCon 2008, runes were stored in a special inventory section accessible in the skills menu, not in the standard inventory. There stood 10 slots available for rune storage under the skill tree. It is still unknown whether this rune storage system will apply to the final version of the game, whether there will be a way to increase the number of slots for rune storage, and whether they can also be stored in a regular inventory. However, in the eighth episode of BlizzCast, a new storage system with a separate compartment for small items was presented, but whether it will also apply to runes is still unknown.

History of Runes

What do we really know about runes? In the real world, this word comes from the ancient Viking "futhark", their equivalent of an alphabet. The word "rune" itself denoted a general name for symbols (letters). Even then, it was believed that they possessed magical power, and there are still people who practice rune magic, which, after falling out of popularity in the first millennium, experienced a renaissance in the 19th-20th centuries. The father of modern rune magic is the German runologist and occultist Guido von List.

In the world of Sanctuary, runes are special symbols created through magic and carry magic within them. Over the last 20 years, the use of runes has changed somewhat. They used to bestow special prepared items with the magical properties contained within them. Wise ones composed Rune Words from runes, which, when applied to an item, granted it powerful properties comparable to the powers of ancient artifacts.

Aside from the fact that runes carry powerful magic, little else is known about them. Who created them and how remains a mystery. However, it seems they attract demons of all kinds, as runes can often be found on their corpses. It is also unknown whether runes have a demonic origin or not. It is even possible that they were simply used for writing by the first beings who were mightier than Angels and Demons. But regardless of their origin, they can still provide significant assistance to heroes who have challenged Diablo or Baal.