Runes
Runes are reactors in Level 30+ hunting fields that give various short-term effects and an EXP buff of +100%p. They can appear in any hunting field (except Job Tutorial fields, Mirror World, FriendStory, Grand Athenaeum, and some others) at a random location after killing a random number of mobs that are within 20 levels of the player.
Runes can be activated by using the Interact/Harvest keybind while near them, then inputting the correct arrow keys in sequence as indicated by a pop-up display; the arrow keys input has a time limit of 10 seconds. Once used, the Rune disappears and grants its effects to the player. There is a 15-minute cooldown after a Rune is used until the next Rune can spawn, which is tracked by a debuff. The time between successive Rune spawns is known as the Rune cycle.
Most Runes' effects aid in hunting and last a fixed duration, usually under 1 minute, which is tracked by a buff. The EXP buff (which is tracked separately) has a base duration of 3 minutes that can be extended with Rune Persistence. Certain events (Sunny Sundays) will change Runes' EXP buff amount, duration, and/or cooldown. One common event, colloquially known as Rune Haste, increases the EXP buff to a total of +200%p and lowers the Rune cycle to 10 minutes.
Failing to correctly input the arrow keys when activating a Rune will place a short debuff (lasting ~3 seconds) on the player which temporarily prevents attempts to activate the Rune again. Leaving a Rune un-activated on a field will eventually cause the Rune to curse the field, reducing the player's EXP % and item drop rate. The curse will not apply to players carrying the Rune cooldown debuff, and it is immediately lifted upon activating the Rune.
For worlds except GMS Non-Reboot Worlds, Runes and cursed fields are entirely instanced in maps with enemies of Lv. 60 or higher; each player has an individual and independent Rune cycle. These instanced Runes will despawn from the field once the player leaves, and will respawn with the exact same conditions (i.e. type and curse level) on any map once the player kills any mob (even if outside the 20 level range).
Types of Runes
| Rune | Appearance | Description | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rune of Destruction Rune of Akhlys |
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Nearby enemies take damage over time, and damage increases by 100%. | ||||||||||||||
| Rune of Thunder Rune of Zeus |
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Attacks enemies with lightning strikes for a short time. | ||||||||||||||
| Rune of Giants Rune of Titan |
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Temporarily creates a Giants' Potion that makes you grow massive when used. | ||||||||||||||
| Rune of Darkness Rune of Asteria |
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Summons powerful enemies filled with released darkness. | ||||||||||||||
| Rune of Skill Rune of Mujib |
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Skills with a cooldown longer than 5 seconds are shorten to 2 seconds for a short time. | ||||||||||||||
| Rune of Purification Rune of Februus |
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A Purifying Prism will appear, charge for a set time, and then deal damage to nearby enemies. | ||||||||||||||
| Rune of Contact Rune of Hyperion |
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Divine beams periodically erupt around the character to attack enemies in range. | ||||||||||||||
| Rune of Ignition Rune of Janus |
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A flame is created upon attacking monsters, damaging them, and spreads to nearby enemies to deal bonus damage. | ||||||||||||||
| Rune of Blessing |  |
Summons an Ancient Rune in the center of the screen, periodically attacking nearby monsters, and grants a 200% EXP buff.
The Rune of Blessing only has a chance to appear after 4 normal Runes have been used, and unlike other Runes will always appear near the center of the map. The chance for this specific Rune to appear increases for every "normal" Rune that continues to appear, up to the 7th normal Rune, after which the next Rune is guaranteed to be the Rune of Blessing, resetting the count. Therefore, the player is guaranteed at least 1 Rune of Blessing for every 8 Runes used.
There is a rare chance for a Rune of Blessing to appear twice in a row. This second Rune of Blessing counts as a normal Rune toward the number of normal Runes needed for the next typical Rune of Blessing to appear. |
Removed Runes
| Rune | Appearance | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Rune of Recovery Rune of Yggdrasil |
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Maximizes HP and MP recovery and reduces received damage. You will resist being knocked back. |
| Rune of Riches Rune of Njord |
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Summons a mysterious monster hoarding treasures. |
| Rune of Might |  |
Removed in GMS v.237 / KMS 1.2.367: Rune of Swiftness 
Removed in GMS v.214 / KMS 1.2.330: Rune of Greed 
Removed in GMS v.188 / KMS 1.2.274: Rune of Hordes 
Removed in GMS v.188 / KMS 1.2.253: Rune of Barrage / Bombardment 
Removed in GMS v.172 / KMS 1.2.247: Rune of Decay 
Elite Boss Curse
Runes will generate the Elite Boss Curse on a field if they are not activated within a certain time since appearing. This curse applies a debuff to affected players, which multiplicatively reduces their EXP % and item drop rate stats. However, the curse will not apply to players carrying the Rune cooldown debuff (only possible in non-instanced fields), and it is immediately lifted upon activating the Rune.
The Elite Boss Curse does not prevent filling up the Soul Gauge when killing mobs, nor does it prevent registering mobs in Monster Collection.
| Time elapsed since Rune appearance | EXP and Item Drop Rate Multiplier |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 0.5x |
| 10 minutes | 0.35x |
| 15 minutes | 0.2x |
| 20 minutes | 0x |
Update History
- update GMS 251 12 June 2024 (GO WEST!):
- The effect for the following Runes were changed:
- Rune of Thunder: The number of lightning has been increased from 1 to 3.
- Rune of Contact: Rune has been changed to an effect that shoots 5 beams at the monster based on the character's location.
- Rune of Skill: The cooldown reduction effect for skills affected has been reduced from 5 to 2 seconds.
- Rune of Purification: The time required to fill up the prism has been removed, and the rune has been changed to periodically attack nearby monsters.
- Rune of Destruction: The duration and damage of the poison cloud has been increased, and the rune has been changed to attack the monster at a faster interval.
- Rune of Giants: Renamed from Rune of Might and updated appearance. It now creates a Giants' Potion for a set period and allows the character to choose to become a giant.
- Rune of Recovery and Rune of Riches were removed.
- Runes are instanced in Sacred Power fields.
- The effect for the following Runes were changed:
Trivia
- Rune of Darkness is essential for collecting specific Elite Monsters for Monster Collection.
- Rune of Skill can be useful to reset some cooldowns before an important boss battle.
- In Chu Chu Island's Torrent Zones, instead of runes, lures used to spawn underwater, adding difficulty with the water's forced movement.
- According to developers, runes are designed to prevent macros.[1]