Runes are a specific type of power-up in Dota 2 that gives the hero who picked them up one of the short-term bonuses that depend on the type of rune. The appearance of these runes is tied to specific places and times, which is why players often have to control them to gain an advantage over their opponents and use them to their advantage. In this Dota 2 rune guide, we will tell you about the types of runes, their effects, how to use them to your advantage, and where to find them.
Dota 2 rune spawn locations
Runes in Dota 2 have their spawn locations on the map where they appear. There are 4 points of rune appearance, two of them are located on the riverbed that runs diagonally across the map, dividing the forces of Light and Darkness — two opposing teams. One of the runes is above the center line, and the other is symmetrically below. At the beginning of the game, they always contain bounty runes, which give gold to both teams and later on, other types of runes will appear in these places, except for bounty runes.
The other two rune points are for the appearance of purely abundance runes. On the side of the Radiant forces, the rune appears above the light line (the bottom line on the map). On the side of Dire, the location of the rune of abundance is on the high ground, above the center line and the river.
Bounty runes
The first runes that appear at the beginning of the match are the bounty runes, which give the entire team that picked them up some reliable type of gold. That is, if one of the team members picks up this rune, all other allies will also receive an equal share of gold, even if they are dead.
When the match begins, namely at 00:00 of the game timer, 4 bounty runes appear on the map: two in the riverbed area, and one in the forest of each of the two teams. After that, runes of gold appear every 3 minutes (3:00, 6:00, 9:00, and so on) and only at two points, namely in the forest of the forces of Radiant and Dire. Bounty runes will no longer appear on the river. If the previous rune is not picked up, and the time comes for a new rune to appear, there will be two runes at the location of the rune's appearance. There may be more, depending on how many runes have not been picked up so far.
Bounty runes are one of the main sources of gold for support staff, who have a limited amount of farm. They are also valuable for all other team members, as they help speed up the purchase of a new item or buyback. Often, at the beginning of the game or even during the game, players fight for bounty runes to gain an advantage over their opponent and put their opponent in a less favorable position. And if you are lucky, the first blood may be shed in the battle for the first runes, which will also benefit one of the parties.
The first bounty runes in the match are guaranteed to give 40 gold per rune to each team, meaning that your team will receive a total of 200 gold for one rune, or 400 for two. Subsequent bounty runes give 36 gold plus 9 gold for every 5 minutes of elapsed game time. In Turbo mode, the amount of gold per rune is doubled. When using the Bottle item, the bounty runes can be sealed, which will give the item two charges if the Bottle was previously empty.
In addition to the usual points of appearance of bounty runes, they can be obtained in another way. To do this, you will need a neutral item called Trusty Shovel, which is not guaranteed to dig up a bounty rune. Another neutral item, the Pirate Hat, creates a rune after the owner of the artifact has used its active ability.
Water runes
After the bounty runes, water runes appear on the riverbed. When picked up, they instantly restore 40 health and 80 mana to the owner. Water runes appear only twice during the game. The first time is in the second minute (2:00) of the game time, on both sides of the river, that is, in the places where the runes of abundance appeared earlier. Their next appearance occurs two minutes later at 4:00 of the game time. It is also worth adding that the water runes appear in pairs, that is, simultaneously from the top and bottom of the riverbed, unlike the following runes that we will discuss.
If none of the players picked up these runes, then until the next time they appear, they will simply be replaced by the next pair. After the fourth minute, or rather starting from the 6th minute, they will simply disappear and will not appear again. Like the bounty runes, if you put a water rune in a Bottle, it will replenish by two charges, which is quite beneficial for a midlaner.
Dota 2 water runes are one of the most important elements for players who play on the center line. These runes can restore the hero's resources if he has low health and mana. Thanks to them, the hero can stay on the line longer without having to buy an additional consumable, survive in a critical situation, or go to the enemy hero's rune to kill him together with an ally.
These runes, as well as the next ones we will discuss, are important to control. To do this, you should have a ward set up on the line, which will give you an overview of one part of the river to see where the enemy or his allies are moving. This is so that you do not get caught if you want to pick it up.
When playing ranged heroes or having heroes with controlled units, runes can be destroyed to prevent an enemy hero from picking them up. Melee heroes can also do this, but it will take them longer to get to the rune and is generally not practical. Some midlaners who buy a Bottle find it very important to control these runes, which allows them to have additional charges for resource regeneration.
Wisdom rune
The game also features wisdom runes. They work in the same way as bounty runes, but they give experience points, not gold. They have appeared in Dota 2 not so long ago, if we consider Dota 2 from a global perspective. These runes appear on both sides of the map — the far right and left sides, one on each part of the opposing territories. They are located near the Tormentor and appear every 7 minutes, that is, the first pair of runes appears at 7:00, the next at 14:00, and so on, that’s their Dota 2 rune spawn time.
When picking up a Wisdom rune Dota 2, the effect of it, namely experience, is received not only by the person who picked up this rune but also by the player with the lowest level and experience points. In other words, regardless of who picked up the rune, the player with the biggest level problems in the team will get the same effect. The first rune of wisdom is guaranteed to give 280 points of basic experience, and each subsequent rune that appears will give 280 points more. like the runes of wealth, they do not disappear from the map if they are not picked up.
Rune of damage amplification
After the water runes, other types of runes will appear on the riverbed — boosts that give short-term Dota 2 rune effects only to the owner for a limited time. They appear only on the riverbed, every two minutes, starting at six, and only one rune, not a pair. They can also be sealed in a Bottle and used later, but after a certain period, they will automatically be used up.
One of the enhancement runes is the damage enhancement rune, formerly called the double damage rune Dota 2. This type of rune increases the physical damage of the hero by 80%. However, the effect of additional damage is based only on the basic damage of the hero, i.e. does not include the so-called "green" damage from the attack. The rune's duration is 45 seconds.
It is a useful rune for both midlaners and any other corp hero that can deal high damage. Under the influence of this rune, the midlaner can try to kill the enemy hero on the center line or implement it on another line, helping his allies to kill opponents.
Arcane Rune
The effect of the arcane runes Dota 2 reduces the recharge of the hero's abilities by 25%, and the mana cost of using magic abilities is reduced by 30%. This makes this type of rune very useful for heroes who are mana dependent and have strong abilities with long recharge times. It is useful for midlaners with procast abilities such as Invoker, Storm Spirit, Tinker, Queen of Pain, and others. It is often appropriate for heroes who have powerful ultimates to implement this rune and speed up the time until the next time the ability recovers, such as Enigma, Sand King, Tidehunter, Phoenix, and Earthshaker.
Invisibility rune
As its name suggests, this rune makes the character who cast it invisible. In addition, in the state of invisibility, the character takes 25% less incoming damage, and this effect increases by 5% with each rune cycle. The duration of the invisibility rune Dota 2 is 45 seconds. It is also a good rune for initiating a gang or entering someone else's forest territory and killing a hero if you have enough strength. However, you should be careful, as the invisibility from the rune can be dispelled by Sentry Ward, Gem of True Sigh, Dusts, and other sources of invisibility dispelling, so you should be careful when approaching enemies.
Regeneration rune
By picking up the Dota 2 Regeneration Rune, the hero will receive a gradual but rapid recovery of health and mana. The regeneration rate is 6% of the hero's total resources, however, if the hero is damaged by an enemy hero, the healing, and mana recovery rate will decrease to 1%. The duration of the rune is 30 seconds, or until it is fully healed.
During the game on the center line, it is one of the best runes, especially in difficult situations when you need to quickly restore resources instead of returning to the base or spending gold on consumables. During the game, it can also be useful after a difficult battle or even during.
Shield rune
This rune is not one of the strongest, but it is also quite useful. The owner of the Dota 2 shield rune who picks it up will receive the effect of protection. This protection is 50% of your maximum health, lasts for 75 seconds, and disappears as soon as your protection is destroyed. It is good for heroes with already high health and armor to absorb more damage. You can also use it when you are sure that you can kill an enemy midlaner if you go directly under an enemy T-1 tower.
Haste rune
Dota 2 haste rune gives the wearer the maximum possible movement speed of 550. It has a duration of 22 seconds, but each time a new rune appears, the duration of this rune increases by 3 seconds. This is a very good rune for heroes that depend on movement speed, such as Spirit Breaker, who receives attack bonuses from movement speed. And also for heroes who do not have very high speed. It is best used by midlaners to gank to another line or to catch up with an enemy hero if they have low health.
Illusion rune
The last rune in Dota 2 that we haven't mentioned yet is the illusion rune. By raising it, the owner will receive two additional copies of their hero that are controlled by them, which cannot use abilities but can attack. The damage of the caused illusions is 35% of the hero's attack power. The illusions themselves take more damage, if it is a melee hero, the incoming damage will be 200%, and ranged heroes — 300%. The principle of operation of the illusion rune is the same as that of the Manta Style item. Using the rune gives a basic dispel, i.e., removes some negative effects. The duration of the illusion is 75 seconds. Great for characters with illusion-based abilities, such as Naga Siren, Phantom Lancer, or Chaos Knight.
If you are new to Dota 2, we recommend checking out other articles that will help you learn more about the game's basic mechanics and important map mechanics:
Comments