Runic shielding is a powerful protective system, where certain equipment gives a magical shield which absorbs damage of all sorts before it affects the player. Several items are dedicated to providing runic shields, and others can be enhanced to contribute to it.
Behavior[]
Each item which provides shielding has a specific strength which it contributes to a common pool, which becomes the maximum strength of the shield. The shield strength is reduced as it absorbs damage, but can then recover over time. However, this recovery costs vis, from carried wands or worn vis-storage amulets. If no vis is available, the shields will not recharge. The shields consume Aer and Terra vis, and running out of either aspect will stop shield recovery.
In the player display, shielding is indicated by a glowing overlay over the health bar, which shrinks as the shield is depleted. Regardless of the number or strength of items in use, a "full runic bar" (covering the entire health bar) indicates the shield is at maximum strength for the current equipment.
Sources[]
The primary source of runic shielding is several dedicated objects which are worn in the Baubles slots. Each provides a characteristic strength toward the shield, and some also provide other special behaviors. Aside from one "trinket" found in treasure chests, all these items are fairly advanced infusions. Note that there are also non-runic baubles, which "compete" for their slots with the runic items. The runic baubles cannot be enchanted, but:
It is possible to apply "Runic Augumentation" to baubles or armor pieces to give or increase their runic strength. This is another advanced infusion; it adds one level of shielding per infusion, but the costs increase rapidly depending on the current strength of the item (so while the standard runic baubles can be further augumented, this will be very expensive):
- Each infusion requires a diamond, and one Salis Mundus for each target level (that is, 1 for the first infusion, 2 for the second...).
- The first level of runic shielding costs 32 Potentia, 16 Praecantatio and 16 Tutamen essentia. The amounts needed double for each runic level the item already has.
- The infusion's instability starts at 4 (Moderate), and increases by 1 for each level of current strength.
Examples:
- Giving +3 Runic shelding to some previously non-runic items (say, a Thaumostatic Girdle or an armor piece) will take 3 infusions, costing a total of 3 diamonds and 6 Salis Mundus. The total cost will be at least 224 Potentia (32 + 64 + 128), and 112 (16 + 32 + 64) each Praecantatio and Tutamen.
- Restoring a Charged or Revitalizing Ring's 5th shielding level will cost one diamond and 5 Salis Mundus. The infusion will have 9 instability, and will require 512 Potentia (8 jars), and 256 (4 jars) of the other two aspects.
- Attempting to restore a Kinetic Girdle's 10th level of shielding would cost the usual diamond, plus 10 Salis Mundus, for an infusion with instability 13 (Dangerous and then some). The infusion would take 128 jars apiece of Praecantio and Tutamen essentia, and 256 jars of Potentia. (This would certainly require use of essentia mirrors.)
Research[]
Runic Shielding Research for TC 4.2.3.5
Runic Augumentation Research for TC 4.2.3.5
Equipment List[]
| Item |
Str. |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ring of Protection | +1 | A "trinket" found in loot chests |
| Ring of Runic Shielding | +5 | Can wear two rings of any type |
| Amulet of Runic Shielding | +8 | Competes with vis-storage amulets |
| Girdle of Runic Shielding | +10 | Competes with Thaumostatic Girdle |
| Amulet of Emergency Shielding | +7 | Recovers partial strength on breach |
| Charged Ring of Shielding | +4 | Faster shield recovery, +25% per ring |
| Revitalizing Ring of Shielding | +4 | Regeneration on breach |
| Kinetic Girdle of Runic Shielding | +9 | On breach, a blast knocks mobs away and damages them |
Generally, the first runic item a player will encounter will be the "trinket" Ring of Protection +1. This provides only a single point of shielding, but two can be worn at once. They cannot be crafted. The trinket ring, along with the three "mundane baubles", are found in various loot chests and treasure bags.
When the "basic" topic for Runic Baubles is researched, three more items can be created: a ring, amulet, and belt which each provide much stronger runic shielding.
With various secondary researches, these can be modified to grant additional abilities (at slight cost to runic strength). Most of these take effect when the shield is reduced to 0, a.k.a. "breached"; when a breach effect is triggered, there will be a time delay before it can be triggered again.
None of the baubles can receive Enchantments.
Crafting[]
Mundane Items:[]
These are the base items which are enchanted to produce runic baubles. All are made on the crafting table (or found in loot chests). In order, the Mundane Amulet, Mundane Ring, and Mundane Belt.
Mundane Amulet:
Mundane Ring:
Mundane Belt:
Runic Items:[]
All of these are done by Infusion.
Ring of Runic Shielding[]
- Target: Mundane Ring
- Add: Nitor, Enchanted fabric, Amber, Primal charm, Scribing tools
- Essentia: 25 Potentia, 25 Praecantatio, 10 Tutamen.
Amulet of Runic Shielding[]
- Target: Mundane Amulet.
- Add: 2x Nitor, Enchanted fabric, Amber, Primal charm, Scribing tools.
- Essentia: 35 Potentia, 35 Praecantatio, 20 Tutamen.
Girdle of Runic Shielding[]
- Target: Mundane Girdle.
- Add: 3x Nitor, Enchanted fabric, Amber, Primal charm, Scribing tools.
- Essentia: 50 Potentia, 50 Praecantatio, 30 Tutamen.
Advanced Runic Items:[]
Charged Ring of Shielding[]
- Target: Ring of Runic Shielding
- Add: Potion of Swiftness II (1:30), 4x Fire shard, Balanced shard.
- Essentia: 64 Potentia, 16 Praecantatio, 16 Tutamen.
Revitalizing Ring of Shielding[]
- Target: Ring of Runic Shielding
- Add: Potion of Regeneration (2:00), 4x Water shard, Balanced shard.
- Essentia: 32 Aqua, 32 Sano, 16 Praecantatio, 16 Tutamen.
Amulet of Emergency Shielding[]
- Target: Amulet of Runic Shielding
- Add: Potion of Strength II (1:30), 4x Earth shard, Balanced shard.
- Essentia: 32 Terra, 32 Vacuos, 35 Praecantatio, 20 Tutamen.
Kinetic Girdle of Shielding[]
- Target: Girdle of Runic Shielding
- Add: Splash Potion of Harming II, 4x Air shard, Balanced shard.
- Essentia: 64 Aer, 55 Praecantatio, 38 Tutamen.