There are various Runes to slot in your equipment and the best Runes in The Forge are those that are active all the time rather than in specific scenarios. You want runes that give you the best DPS and progression or allow you to stay in the dungeons for longer. Here's my The Forge Rune tier list and guide.
Table of contents
Best Runes in The Forge Ranked
Runes drop from enemies so you can pretty easily farm them once you have a good weapon. Especially the Zombie Brutes for the best runes in The Forge. This rune tier list has a specific ranking criteria where all runes S to B-tier can be effective either as primary runes or supporting runes. That said runes in C and D-Tier are underpowered because they have steep conditions to activate which is not optimal. I'll explain individual ranking reasons for all runes below as well as their effects.
Related: The Forge Race Tier List (Check out for best Rune & Race combinations)
S-Tier Runes
| S-Tier Runes | Why S-Tier | Rune Effects |
|---|---|---|
 Drain Edge |
• The best defensive rune in the game allowing you to stay in dungeons longer farming essence • Goes really well with Golem but also amazing for pretty much any build |
Possible Traits: Life Steal I: Heal ?% of physical damage dealt on-hit. Fracture: ?% extra stun damage on-hit. Drops From: Brute Zombie |
 Blast Edge |
• The best DPS rune in the game because it deals AOE damage allowing you to pull and farm multiple zombies at once |
Possible Traits: Explosion I: Cause explosion at location of victim, dealing ?% of weapon damage as AOE damage. ?% chance on hit. Critical Chance I: Increases the chance of landing a critical hit by ?%. Drops From: Delver Zombie Brute Zombie |
 Miner Shard |
• The best progression rune in the game for faster ore farming |
Possible Traits: Yield I: ?% chance to drop 1 extra ore from mines. Swift Mining I: ?% faster mining. Mining Power I: ?% extra mine damage. Drops From: Delver Zombie |
A-Tier Runes
| A-Tier Runes | Why A-Tier | Rune Effects |
|---|---|---|
 Flaming Spark |
• A good alternative to Blast Edge but it's a single-target damage source • Great for farming Brute Zombies, elite enemies and bosses • Deals the most DPS out of all the elemental damage-over-time runes • Goes really well with Demon |
Possible Traits: Burn I: Deals ?% of weapon damage as fire per second for ? seconds. ?% chance on hit. Fracture: ?% extra stun damage on-hit. Drops From: Elite Zombie |
 Chill Dust |
• Excellent debuff to lower the damage enemies deal • It's a great alternative defensive choice • Amazing support rune |
Possible Traits: Snow I: Applies ?% attack speed and movement speed slow for ? seconds. ?% chance on hit. Drops From: Elite Zombie Brute Zombie |
B-Tier Runes
| B-Tier Runes | Why S-Tier | Rune Effects |
|---|---|---|
 Venom Crumb |
• An alternative to Flaming Spark dealing less damage but can still be a good DPS boost |
Possible Traits: Poison I: Deals ?% of weapon damage as poison per second for "x" seconds. ?% chance on hit. Drops From: Zombie Elite Zombie |
 Forst Speck |
• It's similar to Chill Dust in that it can reduce the damage you take since the enemy is frozen and gives you a DPS window • It's just a bit more awkward to proc since it has a cooldown so I put it lower in B-Tier • It's still pretty good as a support rune |
Possible Traits: Ice I: Freezes enemies for ? seconds with a ?% chance on hit. Has a cooldown of ?. Critical Damage: Increases the damage of critical hits by ?%. Drops From: Elite Zombie |
C-Tier Runes
| C-Tier Runes | Why C-Tier | Rune Effects |
|---|---|---|
 Rage Mark |
• On paper this rune is great but then you realize it's optimal to dodge/parry attacks and stay high HP • This means that this rune doesn't activate • Good for beginner players who are learning dodging/parrying • The Stamina boost is decent but nothing powerful • Note: This is really good for Minotaur builds that want to purposely stay at low HP for a damage increase |
Possible Traits: Berserker I: Boosts physical damage and movement speed by ?% for ? seconds. Has ? seconds cooldown. Activates when health is below ?%. Endurance I: Gives ?% more stamina. Drops From: Elite Zombie Brute Zombie |
 Ward Patch |
• Not only are you looking to take as little damage as possible in this game but this rune even has a proc chance • This means that even if you make a mistake and get hit it's still not guaranteed to proc • Not the best rune to use but can still save you sometimes |
Shield I: Reduce incoming physical damage by ?%. Has ?% chance per hit. Phase I: ?% longer invincibility on dash. Drops From: Zombie Elite Zombie Brute Zombie |
 Rot Stitch |
• Similar to Rage Mark where you're not seeing much use out of this rune if you're not at low HP • Since you're trying to avoid damage and stay high HP this Rune usually doesn't see much use • Also, like Rage Mark, this can be good for a build that wants to stay low HP like the Minotaur race builds |
Toxic Veins I: Deals ?% poison damage around the character for ? seconds. Has ? seconds cooldown. Activates when health is below ?% Endurance I: Gives ?% more stamina. Drops From: Zombie |
D-Tier Runes
| D-Tier Runes | Why D-Tier | Rune Effects |
|---|---|---|
 Briar Notch |
• This rune only sees any real value by constantly taking damage which is not realistic in this game since you want to avoid damage • It's not even good on builds that want to stay low HP since you can't take damage on those builds • IMO, the worst rune in the game |
Thorn I: Reflect ?% physical damage taken. Maximum damage given limits at ?% max health of user. ? seconds cooldown. Drops From: Zombie |
Related: The Forge Weapon Tier List
Best Secondary Rune Traits in The Forge
The best secondary rune traits for weapons are Attack Speed and Lethality for reliable sustained DPS while for armor it's Surge to dash more often (See secondary trait effects below).
Besides their primary powerful traits which I listed above, Runes can also have secondary traits like an attack speed boost or a critical chance increase. Here are all the possible secondary Rune traits:
- Weapon Secondary Traits
- Attack Speed: Increases attack speed by ?%.
- Lethality: Increases the weapon's damage by ?%
- Critical Chance: Increases the chance of landing a critical hit by ?%
- Critical Damage: Increases the damage of critical hits by ?%
- Fracture: Gives extra ?% stun damage
- Armor Secondary Traits
- Endurance: Grants ?% more stamina
- Surge: Reduces dash cooldown by ?%
- Vitality: Grants ?% extra health
- Phase: Increases dash invincibility duration by ?%.
How to Get Runes in The Forge
Runes have a chance to drop from each enemy in the game. I've listed all the rune drops from all enemies above but you can also check this in your Index in the Enemy section. You can then use runes at the Rune Maker to socket them in your items as long as they have available sockets. If your item doesn't have sockets you'll have to upgrade it to a higher level at the Enhancer.
That's it for my The Forge Rune tier list and guide. Check out our The Forge codes for a bunch of free rewards.
The post The Forge Rune Tier List – Best Runes & Traits [RELEASE] appeared first on Destructoid.
