Definitive Guide to Rune Weapons and their Upgrades.

Got a similar story to the one above.  I was a lord of the empire, we had just finished our war with sarelon (in which I got my castle) and were readying to strike back at the D'shar, who we were also at war with (Pendor has a fetish for multiple front wars I swear).  Would it be luck that I was made the marshal.  We gather our host and march off towards Ishkoman.  I want to say our combined force of 1500 took the city after a rough siege (Blademasters, oh god the masters).  I disband the host and they travel off when I notice a tiny problem; They didn't leave a single man for garrison.  So there I was sitting in the conquered city with my elite force of ~100 men majority being adventurers and their heroes.  Then I notice a single d'shar lord come into view, not too worried. probably the former lord trying to get back to his home.  I toy with the idea of riding out and fighting the lord in a open field engagement when I notice who it was; It was the D'shar marshal...with a whole bunch of friends.  It ended being 1500 of them with their marshal and king included Vs my 100.  It was an epic fight, one they sung songs of... the d'shar that is I got whopped after a brutal stand.

BUT BACK ON TOPIC RUNE WEAPONS.  My two cents on them.
    Glaive: I usually get this one later and keep it as an anti-cav weapon (for horseback can't beat couching).  As for color either blue for mass cav and quick killing or Ruby for stronger warhorses or snake cult.
    Sword: Considering that the axe has better range I never really bothered with this one.  I hope in a gameplay update they increase it to make it more viable.
    Axe: Amazing for sieges or hacking shielded units I grab this right after a bow unless I already have a noldor bow or duskfall.  As for color I usually go blue for the swing bonus (lotta people to chop-chop in a siege) but I could see someone going red to just wreck face.
    Two Hander: Decent allrounder in terms of rune weapons.  I usually get this (guaranteed if I play on foot).  As for color I usually go with blue and let it's already good damage do the rest with furious speed.  I have to admit though red is just as good and manages to reck face regardless of whose or whether it's even human or not.
    Bow: Unless I manage to beat a noldor lord somehow this is a first and must.  I always grab the blue, between the firing speed and almost pin-point accuracy this thing is the psychical incarnation of death itself.  I could see someone argue ruby, but that extra base 14 dmg won't do anything if you miss (not to mention less volleys).  If I was a better archer I might go ruby to one shot demons but as for now blue is just fine for me.

Sheogorath25 said:

    Sword: Considering that the axe has better range I never really bothered with this one.  I hope in a gameplay update they increase it to make it more viable.

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God yes.

When I heard the phrase 'rune sword' I was thinking 'Havathang 2.0'? 'A badass longsword that will kill my foes from proximity'?

Then they come out with some ****ty looking rusty piece of scrap metal. Yay.

fidoman1272 said:

Sheogorath25 said:

    Sword: Considering that the axe has better range I never really bothered with this one.  I hope in a gameplay update they increase it to make it more viable.

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God yes.

When I heard the phrase 'rune sword' I was thinking 'Havathang 2.0'? 'A badass longsword that will kill my foes from proximity'?

Then they come out with some ****ty looking rusty piece of scrap metal. Yay.

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Exactly how I feel about the Rusty Raider's Axe...Dragonspine skin looked way better for it, even if it was shorter...

I love the Ruby 2hander. It's the best weapon for taking out the occasional knight that passes through your infantry line and threatens to lure a chunk of your troops on a wild goose chase. The reach of the weapon is amazing, considering that unlike a polearm or a lance it can actually be swung around, and on top of that it looks absolutely wicked! Definitely one of the first weapons I'd recommend going after - even without a high PS, you can one-hit most enemies in the game.

Generally speaking I'm not too interested in the 1 handers. I find that getting a decent 1h isn't that big of a deal in PoP, and the benefits that a runed weapon provides over a noldor or even an ebony longsword don't seem that great to me. I mean if you have a fast swinging weapon, you could usually kill almost any enemy in 1 or 2 hits whether on foot or horseback, when  factoring in the speed bonus. In any case it isn't that hard get faction unique 1-handers from Marius or King Gregory which are only a tad inferior anyway.

I hope this will all be relative to the possible, not confirmed or unconfirmed redone Rune items that may or not be posted ever in the history of ever 

MitchyMatt said:

I hope this will all be relative to the possible, not confirmed or unconfirmed redone Rune items that may or not be posted ever in the history of ever 

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...
I feel like a horse with a carrot dangling in front of my face. 
Excuse me as I head to a corner

MitchyMatt said:

I hope this will all be relative to the possible, not confirmed or unconfirmed redone Rune items that may or not be posted ever in the history of ever 

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This sounds all too familiar... 

Filou said:

You might want to move out the suggestions then. They are subject to personal taste.

My take on bows:
Damage of the Ruby bow is overrated if you can't hit your target. Not shown in the ingame stats is the missile speed, which has a big impact on how flat the trajectory is, which in turn impacts accuracy.

The Ruby has the same accuracy and missile speed as the Strange version, and that bow is not good enough on siege offense where you need to hit targets at medium to long range which are elevated. Basically you're stuck to hitting close range targets because at longer range no 2 shots go to the same place and you need to factor in a bigger drop.
Hitting a target on the move is also a pain with those stats.
Although I'm sure that killing a Netherworld Charger with a single shot to the head must be fun in itself, it's overkill for the vast majority of targets.

Instead I prefer the perfect accuracy of the Saphire due to it's combined accuracy stat and its very high missile speed.
This is with a PD of 10 where you will 1shot pretty much anything anyways. I guess with lower PD it might make sense to have higher base damage, but then I would still favor the Emerald over the Ruby.

The one situation where I can see the usefulness of the Ruby is in sieges defense. Enemies are stuck on a ladder and you can be fairly close to them so accuracy is less critical. But again, the extra damage is only needed on a very few targets, which can be headshot when you have perfect accuracy of the Saphire.

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Agree 100%. With bows, go for sapphire.

MitchyMatt said:

I hope this will all be relative to the possible, not confirmed or unconfirmed redone Rune items that may or not be posted ever in the history of ever 

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I love the discussion this topic has created Let's hope we do get some new Rune items sometime soon

As far as the fluff is concerned, are these weapons better due to improved materials or does the Dragons Tear magically enhance the weapons. 

I wonder could there ever be Rune Armour pieces 

palewarrior said:

As far as the fluff is concerned, are these weapons better due to improved materials or does the Dragons Tear magically enhance the weapons. 

I wonder could there ever be Rune Armour pieces 

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There are Noldor Rune Armours, but paying a few Qualis Gems for (more or less) invincibility that would come with a rune plate armour would be a little unbalanced IMO.

fidoman1272 said:

palewarrior said:

As far as the fluff is concerned, are these weapons better due to improved materials or does the Dragons Tear magically enhance the weapons. 

I wonder could there ever be Rune Armour pieces 

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There are Noldor Rune Armours, but paying a few Qualis Gems for (more or less) invincibility that would come with a rune plate armour would be a little unbalanced IMO.

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I wonder at times why anyone bothers with the noldor armor. Ebony Plate may be heavy, but it's cheaper and just as effective.

Rpground said:

fidoman1272 said:

palewarrior said:

As far as the fluff is concerned, are these weapons better due to improved materials or does the Dragons Tear magically enhance the weapons. 

I wonder could there ever be Rune Armour pieces 

Click to expand...

There are Noldor Rune Armours, but paying a few Qualis Gems for (more or less) invincibility that would come with a rune plate armour would be a little unbalanced IMO.

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I wonder at times why anyone bothers with the noldor armor. Ebony Plate may be heavy, but it's cheaper and just as effective.

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I get to a point where I just do it for aesthetic value; a complete lordly set of Armour, regardless of what it is, is usually going to be pretty good, so I just choose the armour that looks the best.

Rpground said:

I wonder at times why anyone bothers with the noldor armor. Ebony Plate may be heavy, but it's cheaper and just as effective.

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Yeah in my game, the blacksmith guy is working on making Lordly Ebony Plate.

It's good stuff.

Rpground said:

I wonder at times why anyone bothers with the noldor armor. Ebony Plate may be heavy, but it's cheaper and just as effective.

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Aren't the noldor armors much lighter, and therefore better for a footsoldier (esp during sally out/siege)?

Also on that note... after you get the first rune weapon (bow from Wulfbode spawn, upgraded to sapphire), what's the best weapon to get second? It seems to me like people favor a two-hander, but I don't know if it's better to go for a sword or a glaive. I'm looking for the weapon that will get me the most kills in a siege, either offensive or defensive.

thermocline said:

I'm looking for the weapon that will get me the most kills in a siege, either offensive or defensive.

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Balanced Empire Halberd: one vertical swing - one kill. Offensive siege without a shield is a suicide.

Defensivework definetly something like that, a long 2h weapon. Though it matters little what the pick of your choice is. Just somthing that can be easily aimed as you´ll do mostly overhead swings.

I usually stick with the Pendor 2h Sword, a glaive or whatever else can be picked up after I emptied three quivers of bolts into the opposition.

For offense purposes I usually use a crossbow and quiver, a sturdy shield and either the Pendor 2h Sword or a Knights War Axe - depending on the amount of defenders and  health left.

sher, I've been using your Great Long Axe on my new playthrough. Love that thing, with 127 reach it's a terrific weapon on horseback in axe mode and very good for circling and killing horses in small encounters. Damage is 54c and I can usually get 1-shot kills if I have decent speed (currently only 4 power strike). It's even a decent weapon in siege defense with overhand chops, but I can't 1-shot strong units with it.

Going to try out your Empire Halberd next.

thermocline said:

sher, I've been using your Great Long Axe on my new playthrough. Love that thing, with 127 reach it's a terrific weapon on horseback in axe mode and very good for circling and killing horses in small encounters. Damage is 54c and I can usually get 1-shot kills if I have decent speed (currently only 4 power strike). It's even a decent weapon in siege defense with overhand chops, but I can't 1-shot strong units with it.

Going to try out your Empire Halberd next.

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They're not mine
As for 1-shots: it's all the matter of Power Strike and proficiency - in time they'll come. Great Long Axe has Masterwork version (~22000 gold) that deals 59c. Sarleon Halberd (in comparison with Empire Halberd) is slightly longer (only 2 additional reach) and faster but deals 2 less damage that can rob you of 1-shot kill but it all depends on current Power Strike and pro.

Great Long Axe is very slow (though in polearm mode it's fast enough for dangerous encounters on ground) but it really gives the feeling of accomplishment (headshot swing from horseback is priceless ) while rune weapons only deal insane overkill damage (good for fast developing of pros though) or have insane speed - they're not so fun to use, unfortunately.

                  Cool and interesting thread.
The conclusions I've arrived to is despite deftly listing the pros and cons of a weapon,people still  limit themselves to 1 weapon only -1 bow, 1 2hdr.Why?

              As a Horse-Archer I use the Ruby Rune Bow in the battlefiled and siege defense and Duskfall(stronger and  more accurate than both the sapphire and emerald) for siege attack.

                I concede the Ruby Rune Bow takes skill to use but its relatively lower accuracy is negligible on horseback and its power a boon.
The "accuracy for headshots" argument is rendered moot on horseback where distance can be adjusted,accuracy is lessen(depending on Horse-Archery). For me,I find it hard to make a headshot against shielded enemies or against group of javelin(spear) throwers but I can shoot the shielded enemies on the exposed leg and javeliners on the shoulder and kill them with 1 shot with the Ruby Rune Bow.Sure,you can do the same with the sapphire or emerald but not with 1 shot which counts for a lot because taking that 2nd,3rd,4th shot to kill an Empire,Guardian,Anaconda Knights,or Serpent Priestesses or Valkyries can often mean death.Ten PD(I don't need 30 STR) is still insufficient against hardier opponents like a Demonic Magus.Yes,even with the damage bonus a sapphire rune bow gets from the +3PD requirement with 10PD it still cannot 1 shot a Demonic Magus who can wreak havok on your troops or crack a shield wall in 2 or 3 shots or bring down a Jatu Lancer horse with 1 shot.