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In addition to choosing your character and your weapon, Runes are another way to customize your runs in the indie roguelite20 Minutes Till Dawn. Though their effects are more granular than that of weapons or characters, they are nonetheless game-changing, especially if you tune them to specific builds.
Related:Things You Need To Know Before Starting 20 Minutes Till Dawn
Runes are available from the start of the game, but like most things in the game, require Souls to unlock. Souls are earned by killing enemies in the game and are rewarded at the end of a run whether you successfully survive or not.
Buying And Equipping Runes
Runes come in the Sword and Shield variety, both available on the Runes page, which is accessiblefrom the characterand weapon selection menus. You buy each of them one rank at a time, and each rank you buy increases that Rune’s effectiveness.
There are four tiers of Runes for both Sword and Shield, which you may unlock by buying five ranks of Runes directly above it. Once bought, unlocked ranks are permanent and non-refundable. You can equip one Rune per tier in Sword, and the same in Shield, for a total of eight Runes active, max. You can also deactivate Runes by clicking on an equipped Rune.
Related:20 Minutes Till Dawn - Weapons, Ranked
Sword Runes
Sword Runes improve your damage output in a variety of ways, directly and indirectly. This includes increasing firing rates and reload speeds or increasing the chance of elemental procs. Some of them require playing a specific way to take full advantage of their benefits.
Rune Effect
Power
Gain 2% Bullet Damage and Summon Damage per rank. (10% max)
Gain 2% Firing and Reloads Rates per rank. (10% max)
Mysticism
Bullets have a 2% chance per rank to apply the Burn or Freeze effect. (10% Max)
Aftershock
After firing your last shot, damage all nearby enemies for 20% of your Bullet Damage per rank. (max 100%)
Elemental Barrage
After applying Burn or Freeze 50 times, gain 50% more Fire and Reload Rates for one second per rank. (max 5 seconds)
Close Combat
Enemies within your Vision Range (the bright circle around your character) take three percent more damage per rank. (max 15%)
Glass Cannon
Start the game with half your max HP (rounded up). Increase your Bullet Damage and Fire Rate by five percent per rank (max 25%)
Wild Magic
Enemies that die under the effect of the Burn or Freeze status effect have a five percent chance per rank to spread it to nearby enemies. (max 25% chance)
Gun Glyph
Summon a glyph every 10 seconds that explodes into six bullets that deal 10% bullet damage after a delay. Recharge is reduced by one second per rank. (5 seconds at max rank)
Cadence
Every third shot Pierces infinitely and is double sized. The shot also deals 20% more damage per rank. (max 100%)
Ethereal
Every 50 kills, your gun becomes Ethereal and doesn’t consume ammo. This state lasts two seconds per rank. (max 10 secs.)
Dedication
If you have exactly one summon, increase your Summon Damage and Summon Attack Speed by 10%. (max 50%)
Shield Runes
Shield Runes have a wide array of abilities, generally focused on keeping you alive longer. Some are more direct than others, like how some abilities give you extra hearts or a shield. Others are dependent on how you use them, like movement speed and knockback increase.
Vigilance
Increases Vision and Pickup Ranges by three percent per rank (max 15%)
Tenacity
If you are at half or less of your max HP, gain three percent Fire Rate and Knockback per rank. (max 15%)
Courage
Nearby enemies are knocked back after you finish reloading. Increase your Reload Rate by two percent per rank. (10% max)
Momentum
After picking up XP, gain seven percent Move Speed (max 35%) per rank for one second.
Agility
Gain two percent Dodge Chance per rank (max 10%). Dodge Chance caps at 60%.
Seismic Ward
Two Seismic Wards orbit you and knock back nearby enemies every 10 seconds. Reduce time between activations by one second per rank. (min. 5 secs. at max rank)
Blessing
Start the game with the Holy Shield upgrade. Holy Shield regenerates five seconds faster per rank. (95 secs to regenerate by default/35 secs. with Stalwart Shield)
Healing
Every 1500th enemy killed drops a heart. Reduces number of kills by 100 per rank. (1000 enemies at max rank)
Premonition
Increase Dodge Chance cap by three percent per rank. (max 75%)
Growth
Heal one HP every five levels. Increases XP gain by four percent per rank (max 20%)
Body and Soul
Gain a Soul Heart at the start and every 300 seconds, max 3. Increase the max amount of Soul Hearts by one per rank (max 8 Soul Hearts)
Wind Shield
Gain a Wind Shield that blocks enemy projectiles, dissipating when hit and recharges after 10 seconds. Reduce recharge time by one second per rank (min. 5 secs. At max rank)
If you want tobeat Darkness 15with every character, you’ll need totake full advantage of the Rune system. It’s highly adaptable, since you can change your Rune build on the fly, customizing it to your weapon and character combination.
For example,Diamondhas seven Hearts, so taking theGlass Cannon Sword Runewould bring her down to four hearts, the same or more than every other character has by default. Since she would be starting with half her health, she would benefit from theShield Rune Tenacity.
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