Runes & Runewords

Runes are stones you set into a gear socket to add stats. Each rune is useful on its own, but placing the right three runes correctly completes a runeword with powerful effects. This page explains how to get sockets, how to collect and upgrade runes, and how to plan and complete runewords. The full lists live in the Rune Codex and the Runeword Codex.

Sockets

Gear has zero to three sockets. Without sockets you cannot set runes, and a runeword only forms on gear with exactly three sockets.

• Drops: higher-grade gear tends to roll more sockets.
• Transmute: at the smithy, the result never has fewer sockets than the anchor item and may gain more.
• Carve: add an empty socket yourself at the smithy. See The Smithy.
• Shops: Roger’s Veiled Gear shows its socket count before you buy, and Roger’s Sockets focus and Jeff’s Custom Order favor gear with more sockets. See Shops.

Rune types

There are 19 runes, in three grades: Lesser, Greater and Mythic. Each rune raises one stat, and higher grades raise it more. A rune has the same effect in any slot.

Strengthens	Runes and effects
Minions	Bone (health), Grave (damage), Shade (attack speed)
Command	Ossuary (lower summon Command cost), Crypt (max Command)
Corpse Explosion	Rot (damage), Plague (radius), Blight (on-hit regen)
Teleport	Sigil (lower cooldown), Rite (crit window), Vessel (shield), Soul (chance to leave a corpse)
Hero	Marrow (attack damage), Ash (attack speed), Umbral (critical damage), Ghoul (less damage taken)
Targets and elements	Wraith (damage vs bosses), Hex (damage vs structures such as seals), Lich (dark skill damage)

See the Rune Codex for each grade’s effect.

Getting runes

• Kills: enemies drop rune fragments of a specific rune. Some enemies drop a complete rune.
• Battle chests: hold rune fragments or complete runes. A chest whose Mimic you defeat gives better runes.
• Shops: Jeff sells bundles of rune fragments and Roger sells complete runes. With high Trust, Roger may even stock Mythic runes. In the back room you can name a rune and buy its fragments from Jeff or a Greater rune from Roger.
• Runes found in the labyrinth arrive when you return to the village, just like gear.

Synthesizing and merging

Runes are managed in the inventory’s Rune Inventory. Tap a rune to open its info window.

• Fragment synthesis: gather enough fragments of one rune and Synthesize them into a Lesser rune of that type.
• Grade merge: Merge three of the same rune at the same grade into one of the next grade. Lesser becomes Greater, Greater becomes Mythic, and Mythic is the top grade.
• Bulk Synthesis: synthesizes and merges everything that is currently possible in one go.
• Runes and fragments that can be combined are marked Synthesis ready, and ready fragments are listed first among fragments. Complete runes are sorted from highest grade down.
• Use the All / Complete runes / Rune fragments filters to split the list. Fragments cannot be socketed.

Socketing and removing runes

1. Tap an item in your inventory to open its info window, then tap a socket. The Rune Inventory opens.

2. Pick a rune and tap Equip. Runes go into the first empty socket, filling sockets in order.

3. To remove a rune, tap the socketed rune and choose Unequip. Removing is free, and the rune goes straight back to your Rune Inventory.

• Runes only work while the gear is equipped.
• If you Break an item or hand it over to Jeff’s Ledger, its socketed runes are lost with it. Remove them first.
• When you place a runed item in the smithy, a Recover Runes window appears. Recover & Register safely returns the runes to your Rune Inventory.

Runewords

Requirements

• The gear must have exactly three sockets.
• All three sockets must hold the three required runes.
• Most runewords must be socketed in the order shown. Some say Rune order does not matter.
• Each runeword can only go into certain slots. If the runes match but the slot does not, Wrong Item Type appears and the runeword has no effect.

Tiers and effects

A runeword’s tier is set by the lowest grade among its runes.

Lowest rune grade	Runeword tier
Lesser	Tier 1
Greater	Tier 2
Mythic	Tier 3

• A completed runeword shows its name and effects in the item window. The three runes keep their own stats, and the runeword’s effects are added on top.
• If you build the same runeword on two items, only one takes effect. The other gives only its runes’ own stats.
• Activating several different runewords at once lights the stars of the Runic Constellation. There are three stars, which in turn raise all damage, minion attack and health, and max Command.
• The first time you complete a runeword it is recorded in the Book of the Dead. Until then its name stays hidden there.

The Runeword Grimoire

Open the Runeword Grimoire from the inventory screen or the Rune Inventory.

• All 10 runewords in the game are shown from the start. No recipe is hidden.
• Cards are sorted READY first, then NEEDS 3-SOCKET (runes collected but no gear to hold them), then Collecting runes, then Not collected. The dots on a card show which runes you have and which you still need.
• Tap a card to see the recipe with order arrows, the allowed slots, and the Words of Power table of effects per tier. The tier you would get with your current runes is highlighted.
• The Runic Constellation at the top shows how many runewords are active and how many more you need for the next star.

Planning a runeword

1. In the Runeword Grimoire, choose a runeword that suits your build and check which slots it allows.

2. Get three-socket gear in one of those slots. Use drops, Transmute, Carve and the shops.

3. Collect the three runes you need. If fragments have piled up, synthesize them into Lesser runes.

4. Raise the three runes’ grades evenly. Even if one rune is Mythic, the lowest grade decides the tier.

5. Socket them in the order shown in the Grimoire and check that the runeword’s name appears in the item window. If the order is wrong, just remove the runes and set them again.

Tips

• Aim for good options and three sockets on runeword gear. Removing runes is free, so you can move them to better gear later.
• You cannot Carve gear with an active runeword. Recover its runes first.
• Spread different runewords across several slots. The same runeword does not stack, and more kinds light up the Runic Constellation.
• Runes on gear in your bag do nothing. Always equip your runeword gear.

Common mistakes

1. Trying to make a runeword on two-socket gear. Runewords need exactly three sockets.
2. Ignoring the order. An ordered runeword only forms in the order shown.
3. Not checking the slot restriction. Matching runes in a disallowed slot give no runeword effect.
4. Raising only one rune to Mythic. The tier follows the lowest rune grade.
5. Breaking gear with runes in it. The runes are lost too.