Laios's Guide to Runists


Many players are, unfortunately, awful at playing runists. They are a very
powerful class if done right, and if played skillfully, but a very bad class
if played badly - they are far less forgiving than, say, a cleric or a
warrior. They are definately not for newbies, but a moderately skilled
player can learn to play a runist very well.

I've been playing runists ever since they came out, and have had over a
dozen runist alts since then. I've played nearly every runist combo
possible, and played both a zealot and a psion. Quite likely I'm probably
the most skilled runist in the game, and I'd like to see more runists out
there. Therefore I'll touch upon a few things I've learned, and hopefully
people will start playing them more often.



Step One: Choosing a compatible race

Your race as a runist is very important. Runists are very unpredictable and
there are a ton of different strategies you can employ. I'll go over each
race and their potentials as a runist.

Human: Mediocre at best. Runists are a heavily race-oriented class (ie. they
require a very good race in order to play effectively). Humans as a whole
are generally an fairly bad race unless you really have the urge to spam
level.

Dwarf: Moderately good. Their horrible int and dex are balanced nicely by
their magic resistance and berserk, both of which will help immensely since
a tattoo slot is taken up with torso and thus you can't wear an achillean
armor. The problem is that you will have very low mana, and the dwarf
penalty will be nasty on the low-lasting benedict spells. Grey dwarf is much
better than mountain for a runist. The new change to enlarge, making it add
a size, is excellent for runists as it allows you to wear a twohand weapon
with a shield.

Elf: Moderately/highly effective. Rather than damroll, the elf runist
focuses instead on spells - though it's possible to play with a
damage-dealer instead. Get max intelligence (an easy task), add the maladict
group of spells, and a good weapon with runes -- with +4 spell levels, a
drow runist can land maladicts very easy (caster level 47!) and flee almost
instantly from attacks. One +casting level tattoo means you cast at 51.
Nobody will suspect a runist coming up and cursing, blinding, and weakening
in three rounds.

Giant: Moderately/very good as a runist. The main benefit of playing a giant
is having bash, easily the best skill in the game. However, their stats are
mediocre at best, with absolutely awful intelligence and fairly low
dexterity, and they get few other good skills other than bash. A hill runist
is good, but a cave runist can get cave bears, and can help considerably
with leveling or pkilling. Also, painting is horrible with low int and takes
forever to spam.

Troll: Moderately good. A troll's worst penalty is their vulnerability to
fire, which EVERYONE (except other runists) can get. Expect to take a ton of
damage. Being bashed also sucks. However, two-headed trolls get two heads,
and you can put a second tattoo on that head as well. Trolls have generally
good stats all around, and having axe as a bonus skill is always nice. Axes
rock. Spectral trolls suck as runists, mainly because the new oculary does
not really do anything if you don't have hide.

Gargoyle: An excellent runist race. Gargoyle remorts get mass protect, which
adds a huge amount of damage resistance, and gargoyles get living stone,
which also is amazingly strong. With some damage resist tattoos and damage
resist equipment, you will take next to no damage while dishing out
tremendous hits. However, be wary of invokers and mages with blast of rot.
They'll still hurt pretty badly. Gargs make probably the best runist race.

Dragon: An excellent runist race, but with severe penalties. Losing three eq
slots on remort is harsher on a runist, since 5 other slots are taken up
with tattoos most of the time, so maxing out stats becomes harder. A dragon
is the most versatile of all races for playing as a runist, since with max
stats and excellent skills and abilities, you become a real powerhouse by
remort/reclass 51. A dragon runist should go for all damroll equipment and
just dish out so much damage the enemy can't handle it.

Sliver: Excellent runist race. Max stats makes for a very powerful
character. Both stinging and abyssal are excellent remorts for a runist,
since one way you get a very strong mutiny or pduel spell (rain of tears)
and the other you get web to keep people in combat and corpse drain, which
lets you level much easier. A savage or shielded sliver grouped with other
slivers can be a devastating force. Just watch out for disarm.

Kirre: Excellent runist race. They get disarm for free, which runists are
sorely lacking. Their lack of con and wisdom will be a liability however, as
runists need all the HP they can get. Kirre also get a racial bonus on
tattoos, which means you get way better tattoos when you paint. A moderately
bad penalty (blinded in sunlight) can be a real annoyance. Dark and Sabre
are both excellent remorts- dark if you want to heal in combat, and sabre if
you want to deal a tremendous amount of damage the first few rounds.

Marid: Laughably bad race. The only redeeming feature a marid runist has is
their natural damage resistance and their elemental-strike will do a second
flag. Otherwise, horrible xp/level, qp/remort, and abominable strength make
for easily the worst race for a runist. With such low strength, anyone can
walk up and disarm you.


Step Two: Building Up

A runist needs a few certain skills to be effective. Add: Runist default,
sneak, lore, protective, enhancement, parry/dodge/shield block, and a weapon
of choice. I tend to go with axe or sword. If you have all these, or gain
them later, that's all you need. Elf runists will want the maladict spell
group. If you have lots of time on your hands, feel free to add more skills-
more weapons mean much greater choice.

Runists are generally awful until about level 30, when you get runes. When
leveling, get a level 51 runist friend to burst and blade rune your weapon
so you can strike much harder - they can do it even if you're level one.
Getting trip and dirt kick to high percentages is very important, since you
will use these two skills more than anything else.

Remort and reclass as quick as possible, as an unremorted/unreclassed runist
will be easy pickings for just about anyone.


Step Three: Reclassing

There are two reclasses for a runist - zealot and psion. I'll touch on each
and list the pros and cons, and how generally effective they are.

Zealot: I played a zealot for nearly two years or so, and was voted "best
runist" several times in a row. Zealots used to be a formidable force, even
if their penalty was easily the harshest in the game. Zeal was very strong
back then. Now, however, zealots are pitifully weak and uneffective. Their
penalty is still awful - can't flee at all, can't recall at all, if below
50% hp - and zeal has been toned down to nothing. You only get a bonus if
you're tanking 5+ monsters or players maximum, and getting damage for low HP
is negligible now, almost nonexistant. Ignore wounds is their only saving
grace, but it's still nowhere near enough to make up for their horrible,
horrible penalty. I deleted my runist because of frustration over their
penalty. Not being able to flee from a single caster will ruin your day.
However, zealots may get raised fair soon in effectiveness, making them
a little easier to play. Still, definitely not recommended for inexperienced
players. A huge benefit zealots have over psions is that they can use their
mana up without penalty. Go for phantom force and wear bandaids for wisdom.


Psion: Psions are clearly the reclass of choice for a runist. It's almost
laughable how unbalanced the two reclasses are - zealots are a joke reclass.
If you pick zealot, I will laugh at you. And then kill you with trips, or
phantom force. Or a shocking weapon. The psion penalty is next to nothing if
you have a high enough damroll to start out. I barely notice a difference
going from 100% mana to 0% mana. So feel free to use it up on phantom forces
or soulblades. Soul blades are excellent, but they don't last very long. I
tend to use a soul blade if I have a few minutes before a fight to make one,
but always keep a handful of good weapons on you in case of emergencies.
Stay furied at all times, it makes a massive amount of difference. Trance is
very effective now against casters, as it raises spelldamage resistance
quite a bit when maxed. The other reclass skills aren't terribly useful.


A reclass runist should always have spear specialized. Get the new
sloth spear and have it mutated sharp, then imm enchanted to 6/4. Easily
the most effective runist weapon in the game, excepting int weapons.

Step Four: Equipment

Damroll! At remort reclass level 51, there is a ton of quest equipment you
can wear for damage. Gold run until you can buy quest equipment, or quest
for it yourself, or borrow it- you want both hitroll and damroll. If you
find you're getting maladicted too easy, switch a tattoo on torso for an
achillean armor.

Here's probably the perfect runist kit for 51 if you want to do tremendous
amounts of damage: Selina's Fire, 2 Diamond Rings/bandaids,
Oath of Vengeance, Bosco Cloak, Achillean Armor/+damroll tattoo,
Mask of Horus, Swirling Mist (or dragon scales), Selina's Boots,
+2 Selina's Mitts (if you can find them)- if not, use white kid gloves,
Kukymon tattoo, Bosco Shield, Nimiss Garb of Quickness (+2 max dex if you
can find one!), Woven Leather Bracelet, Golden Dragon Leash/Sphere of
Power/Petrified Bonnet (switch to max stats as necessary), 2 Ivory Stones/
healing balls/auras of time.


If you are really hurting for Hit Points, switch the nimiss garb for a
Shadow of Night (+50hp), a woven for an Ivory Bracelet, and the ivory stones
for either bosco stones or healing balls. Just make sure you have strength
and dex maxed with giant strength and haste. All the other stats are
unimportant unless you're an elf, in which case you'll want an ivory scales,
crown of command, and possibly a hoseki gem to get a very high intelligence
so you can land maladicts. Bone rings also help for HP.

You also might want to consider using a Gnomish Clockwork Armor if you find
that people flee from you too easily. The +5 hitroll on it is excellent for
landing burst rune, and the charges of bash can be surprisingly effective if
you have a lot of rafts or are a large size race. Just beware of casters
with maladicts, as they'll land way easier.

As for weapons, a twohanded weapon with a large race used to be excellent,
but now they drastically lowered the damage on them so they're useless. Use
one of the following weapons: Old-school gigantic war axe (sharp, flooding
are both excellent), old-school big shiny polearm, old-school farslayer, axe
of desolation/selina's might (vs dragons), super-enchanted shocking cold
irons (+8, vs elves), super-enchanted rotting green blades (+8, vs
gargoyles, also very good to add int), or any decent intelligence weapon.
Get weapons. Get LOTS of weapons. My runist used to carry about 20 of all
sorts at all times. Most recently, the sloth spear is the most effective
weapon on a runist. If it's mutated sharp it does less damage than a
twohander but you can use it one-handed. Very, very good weapon when
imm enchanted.


Step Five: Tattoos

Tattoos are a vital component of all runists. Without them you'll be just a
horrible, hideless, stealless, backstabless thief. There are two potentials
you want-- either to get as high a damroll as possible, or get as high a
defense as possible. For damroll, if you're patient, use all Power tattoos.
You'll have less of a chance of getting damroll on each one, but damroll AND
a Power effect is very, very strong. Greater tattoos have a better chance of
getting damroll, but you won't get the neat effects that power tattoos
bring. Golem tattoos make phenominal charmies - type 'alias j order golem
bash', and then you can just type 'j <person>' to get your charmies to bash
them. Order is only one round of lag, so feel free to walk up and trip them
if they flee.

Damage reduction tattoos are only effective in mass numbers. 4-5 Barriers
will reduce your physical damage by 32-40%, and the same with tower tattoos
but for magical damage. If you're a dragon, phys damage reduction is vital,
or else those heavy dslaying weapons will destroy you in no time. Spellbook
tattoos are fun. You can get any sort of spell from them - I've had heal,
call creature, spirit link. They are very rare, however. The other types of
tattoos are only good for leveling or gold running.

Making tattoos is easy. First off, gold run until you have about 4-5000 in
gold on hand. Wear the following equipment: 2 Rings of the Untaught, 2
Pendants of Power (from zebes), Swirling mist, Selina's Belt, warlock
painting, rotting green blade, and 2 Nightingale Songs. This should easily
max out your intelligence while reducing your wisdom to 3. If you can get a
high-level curse, all the better. Set an alias to 'alias 3 c 'destroy
tattoo''. Saves having to type it out a lot - you can just type 3 dragon, or
3 tower. Make a macro to heal mana; 'macro define healer heal mana;healer',
and 'alias x macro kill all'. Destroy all your tattoos (remember sanc and
your own align protection, or they'll HURT! Remember that they are FIRE
damage, so trolls get really hurt), and start painting on each slot. When
you get a good one (I personally NEVER save one if it's +2 damroll or less,
except in special cases), keep it and work on the next one. With high int,
they'll fry very easily; rarely more than 2 or 3 tries each. Never, ever
paint if you don't yet have the destroy tattoo spell.

Tattoos last about 15 RL hours before they crumble. If you're patient, you
can get +3 or +4 dam on every tattoo (or +7/8 on one if you're lucky!) and
very easily have a 90+ damroll with full eq and an enchanted weapon. Hitroll
is important too, keep it above 50 so your burst runes won't miss. You'll
want at *least* -25 saves at all times - replace a diamond ring with a
quartz embedded, or use an achillean armor instead of a torso tattoo slot.
Keep a ton of cure blind potions in your inventory, they're cheap to replace
if fused, and a bunch of black inks, mist figurines, and other potions with
you at all times too.



That's about it. The most important factor in pkilling with a runist is
keeping them dirt kicked and tripped, and keeping a hold on your weapon. If
trip isn't landing, use phantom force - it does a very good amount of damage
with high wisdom and can occasionally stun, and works very well on elves,
red dragons, or kirre especially. If you can max out strength and dex
without a bosco shield, consider using a twohanded weapon (a +8 gigantic war
axe or big shiny polearm particularly), it'll do immense damage but at the
cost of losing shield block. Fighting casters this way is very effective,
since their hits are usually pathetic anyway, or if your damage reduction is
huge (ie. garg runist!) feel free to dump the shield in favor of a twohanded
weapon. With an 80 damroll and a twohanded weapon, it's easy, easy
dismembers and disembowels through sanctuary.


Laios @ Redemptionmud, Nov. 2004, fixed Oct. 2005