Rune System Guide

By Monkey King: Arena of Heroes strategy guide team

Note: This article is for reference only and is not an official gameplay guide.

Runes are treasures in Monkey King: Arena of Heroes that can be embedded on Legendary [Cosmos] and Mythical [Ancient] and [Primal] equipment. Different Runes provide different bonus effects. Rune effects depend on the tier, Mythical > Legendary > Epic. Mythical Runes are divided into [Oracle] Runes and Ordinary [Golden] Runes. [Oracle] Runes come with special rune effects. Mythical [Golden] Runes, just like other Legendary and Epic Runes, only provide an attribute boost and do not come with any special effects.

1. Rune Power

Mythical Rune Power +1.25 million

Legendary Rune Power +500,000

Epic Rune Power +200,000

2. Four Main Rune Categories

Runes can be classified into four main types based on the equipment they can be embedded on: Weapon, Armor, Helmet and Shoes.

3. Rune Effects

Runes of the same type and tier have different Rune effects. For example, there are four types of Mythical [Weapon] Runes: Combat, Healing, Damage, Attack (Combat is only found in Mythical Runes).

Combat: Increases PvP damage

Healing: Increases healing

Damage: Increases damage

Attack: Increases ATK

This is the same for the other three main rune types of Armor, Helmet and Shoes. They enhance the effects of the equipment itself. For example, Armor increases Defense, especially physical defense; Helmet also increases Defense, but focuses more on spell defense; while Shoes provide a boost to a wider range of attributes, such as Hit Rate, HP and DMG Reduction. When you obtain a Rune, take a look at its effects first before deciding which hero to give it to.

4. Requirements

Runes unlock at Lv.83 and are only applicable to Legendary [Cosmos] and Mythical [Ancient] and [Primal] equipment. Cosmos equipment has 1 Rune slot, Ancient equipment has 2 Rune slots and Primal equipment has 3 Rune slots. [Oracle] Runes have their exclusive slots and do not take up a normal Rune slot space. Legendary [Cosmos] equipment can be awakened into Mythical [Ancient] equipment. Similarly, [Ancient] equipment can be awakened into [Primal] equipment.

5. Sources

1) Rune Shop: Runes can be purchased using Rune Stones, which can be obtained by placing bets on the winners of Cross-server Contest.

2) Popular Packs: Rune Packs are available for sale every week. Sometimes, Daily Special Offers may include Rune Packs as well, so remember to check that out.

3) Faction Compete: At the end of Faction Compete, you can bid for Rune Chests at the auction.

4) Cross-server Contest: Take part in Cross-server Contest to get Rune Stones as rewards. You can then use the Rune Stones to purchase Runes at the Rune Shop. You can also bid for Rune Chests at the Cross-server Contest Auction.

6. Rune Combinations

Mythical [Oracle] Weapon Runes:

Divine Punishment: When releasing the skill for the first time in each round, 20% chance to increase Damage by 100%.

This is suitable for Assaulters. Although the 20% chance is not that high, but the effect is quite devastating once it is triggered.

Rampage: After releasing the skill, increases the Damage of other friendly heroes of the same faction by 8% for 1 turn (up to 5 stacks).

Suitable for the Faction's Tanks and Supports. The idea is not to pump up the damage output, but to survive in battle and get stronger as it progresses.

Quietus: For the first 3 attacks in each round, deals indirect damage of 12%/10%/8%/6%/4%/2% of the wielder's Max HP based on the number of targets.

Suitable for main carries other than Guanyin and Lady White Bone because their skills target all enemies, which would lower the effect.

Mythical [Oracle] Armor Runes:

Benevolence: When a teammate releases a skill, increases the wielder's Damage Reduction by 8% for 2 turns (up 5 stacks).

Suitable for back-row heroes so that they can gain damage reduction as the front-row heroes attack. That way, by the time the back-row is under attack, the heroes would already have many stacks of damage reduction buffs.

Samsara: When a friendly hero is defeated, 25% chance of gaining 1 stack of [Mantra], with 1 stack removed for each attack suffered. [Mantra]: When attacked, negates the damage and converts it into HP.

Very suitable for Yama. It can be equipped on other Mythical heroes as well. Generally, we should give the best equipment, spells and Fortunes to our Mythical heroes so that they can survive longer in battle. The effect of this Rune gets better the longer the hero remains in battle.

Commandment: When attacked, increases Damage Reduction by 5% for each Rage point.

This Rune is suitable for all heroes, especially those equipped with Mengpo Fortune or Xtreme: Mengpo Fortune.

Mythical [Oracle] Helmet Runes:

Enigma: Changes the amount of Rage points needed to release the skill to 3.

Suitable for all heroes.

Transcendence When releasing the skill, 25% chance of not consuming any Rage point.

This is simply insane and a godsend for main carries. If the effect is triggered in the first round, then the battle would be a breeze.

Regression: At the end of the turn, restores 1 Rage point.

Streamlined version of [Song of the Fish], but without any positioning restriction. Suitable for Supports, Tanks and Healers, but Assaulters can do better.

Mythical [Oracle] Shoes Runes:

Yin and Yang: At the start of battle, changes faction to the one where most friendly heroes are in. If more than 1 faction has the most number of friendly heroes, faction remains unchanged.

This Rune is a bit special and more suited for special squad configurations. For example, if most of the heroes in your squad are from the Demon Faction (non-Celestial Realm), but you are using Celestial Realm hero Matchmaker as a Support for damage bonus, you can equip Matchmaker with this Rune so that he is recognized as part of the Demon Faction and get a boost from the Demon Faction's aura.

Salvation: At the start of the turn, 25% chance to remove all debuffs.

Give this to your Assaulters.

Barrenland: After defeating a target with a direct attack, transfers all debuffs on the target to the next enemy hero and recalculates the number of turns.

The Emperor: Just say my name!

Suitable for The Emperor and other Controls.

I will also briefly touch on other runes that give an overall attribute boost.

Weapon

Give "Healing" ones to Healers, and "Combat" ones to Assaulters.

Armor

Give "Protect", "Guard" and "Defend" ones to Assaulters, Healers and heroes that can provide a buff to the entire squad. You can also give them to heroes that you want to keep alive in battle.

Helmet

Similarly, give "Protect", "Dodge" and "Spell" ones to heroes you want to protect.

Shoes

Give "Combat" ones to Assaulters and "Accuracy" ones to Controls.