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Armor Runes - Guide

Just like weapons, armor can be carved to gain passive options and powers. Every carve resolves as a success, fail, or ruined — and the effects you get are random. Here's the whole loop at a glance:

1Take an armor to a Rune Carver NPC (hero level c30 required) and pay the gold + materials to carve.
2Each carve adds a random effect — or amplifies one you already have. Your armor holds up to 3 effects, each up to level 6.
3Every 3rd carve can roll a Rune Power instead (max 2 per armor) — the special defensive procs shown at the bottom.
Shared mechanics

Armor runes work exactly like Weapon Runes — same carving NPCs, same success/fail/ruin system. The difference: armor holds 3 effects (weapons hold 5) and has its own effect and power lists, shown below.

Where to Carve

To carve a rune you need hero level c30. Head to one of the Rune Carvers below. If you don't like the effects you rolled, a skill-icon Rune Removal Hammer lets you wipe them and start over.

Martas
Rune Carver
Martas
Olorun Village
Olorun VillageOlorun Village minimap
Quartermaster Marto
Rune Carver
Quartermaster Marto
Dragonveil — left side of the map
DragonveilDragonveil minimap
🛡️ Safety net — protect your gear
  • skill-icon Rune of Fortune Scroll — pre-apply it for a 1,000,000 Gold buffer against a ruined rune. Sold by Logotor & Quartermaster Marto.
  • skill-icon Repair Rune Anvil — repairs gear whose rune was ruined so you can keep carving, for 10,000,000 Gold. Sold by Logotor & Quartermaster Marto.
  • skill-icon Rune Removal Hammer — wipes the current effects if you don't like the roll, letting you start the rune over.

Rune Effects

The mechanics of armor rune effects follow the same path as weapons: every effect is added randomly — you can't choose it. Rolling the same effect again amplifies it, up to level 6.

Rune Effects
Gear can hold up to 3 different effects. Pick one to see how it scales from level 1 to 6.
13 Effects
Defense
Survivability
Evasion
All Defence Powers
Defense
Raises every defence power (melee, ranged & magic) by a flat amount.
Value at level 6
+300All Defence Powers · Lv 6
Scaling by level

Effects are added at random when carving. Rolling the same effect again amplifies it — up to level 6.

Carving Odds & Cost

Every carve resolves as success, fail (nothing happens) or ruined. A ruin doesn't cost you any rune levels — it flags the armor and blocks further carving until one skill-icon Repair Rune Anvil clears it. Set your current and target level below and the simulator replays the real odds to work out what the run costs.

Protection
Rate event
Current
+0
Target
+9
≥90% success≥50%≥20%≥5%<5%
Best case
every attempt first try
9
attempts
10.59kk gold
Typical
median of 3,000 runs
33
attempts
43.15kk gold
Unlucky
90th percentile
56
attempts
77.1kk gold
Shopping list for +0 → +9Best caseTypicalUnlucky
Upgrade gold1.59kk9.96kk20.98kk
Consumable gold9kk33kk56kk
Total gold10.59kk43.15kk77.1kk
skill-icon Loa Runic Powder270×skill-icon 990×skill-icon 1680×skill-icon
skill-icon Dragon Gem105×skill-icon 445×skill-icon 785×skill-icon
skill-icon Dratanium36×skill-icon 204×skill-icon 524×skill-icon
skill-icon Ancient Dragon Runestone4×skill-icon 25×skill-icon 71×skill-icon
skill-icon Rune of Fortune Scroll1kk ea.9×skill-icon 33×skill-icon 56×skill-icon

Best case assumes every attempt succeeds first try. Typical and Unlucky replay the real odds — pity counter included — over 3,000 simulated runs. Gold and materials are spent on every attempt, win or lose, and so is the skill-icon Rune of Fortune Scroll. Total gold prices the scrolls and anvils at their NPC cost, because over a long run those outweigh what the window charges — the crafting materials aren't priced, since you farm rather than buy them.

Per-level breakdown (+0 → +9)
StepSuccessFailRuinPityCost / attempt
+0 → +1100%
30×skill-icon 10×skill-icon 1×skill-icon 3k
+1 → +290%10%1
30×skill-icon 10×skill-icon 1×skill-icon 16k
+2 → +379%17%4%2
30×skill-icon 10×skill-icon 10×skill-icon 1×skill-icon 1×skill-icon 99k
+3 → +465%30%5%3
30×skill-icon 10×skill-icon 1×skill-icon 55k
+4 → +545%49%6%5
30×skill-icon 10×skill-icon 1×skill-icon 110k
+5 → +625%68%7%11
30×skill-icon 10×skill-icon 12×skill-icon 1×skill-icon 1×skill-icon 280k
+6 → +720%72%8%14
30×skill-icon 15×skill-icon 1×skill-icon 220k
+7 → +815%76%9%20
30×skill-icon 15×skill-icon 1×skill-icon 310k
+8 → +97%83%10%40
30×skill-icon 15×skill-icon 14×skill-icon 2×skill-icon 1×skill-icon 500k

Rows marked ★ need a rarer milestone material. A pity of n means the (n + 1)-th consecutive miss at that level is a guaranteed success — and it rescues a ruin too, since the forced result overwrites the roll.

Do you actually need a protection scroll?

Because a ruin only costs you a repair — never carve levels — this is pure arithmetic, not a gamble. A skill-icon Rune of Fortune Scroll is spent on every carve; an skill-icon Repair Rune Anvil is only spent when you ruin, and it costs 10× as much. So protection pays off once the ruin chance passes roughly 1 in 10:

  • Up to +8 the ruin chance is under 10% — carving unprotected is cheaper.
  • From +8 onward ruins are frequent enough that scrolls come out ahead, and the gap widens fast.

Flip the Protection control above to compare the totals for your own range.

Rune Powers

Rune Powers are special effects obtained — instead of a normal effect — randomly every 3 carves. Like effects, powers stack when rolled again; an armor can hold a maximum of 2 powers. They activate on defence:

Armor Rune Powers
Pick a power, then step through its levels to see how each effect scales.
10 Powers
Power of Cleansing Armour
Buff5.0s
Effect at level 1

Blocks 1 bad effects up to level 4.

100% resistance to the effect: card-iconPower of Cleansing Armour (Level 1) and lower.

Scaling by level
EffectL1L2L3L4L5L6
Blocks × bad effects up to level 4112223

× marks the value that grows as you level this power.