Top 5 weapon runes (levels 1-10) in Pathfinder 2e

[@besteger]

+1 for paying attention to a rune’s actual experience at the table.

[@drunemeton]

Great video! Nice touch to add the artists’ name to the artwork shown.

[@PsiPrimeProductions1]

Thanks. They deserve credit.

[@duncbot9000]

These are great choices, and they are good enough to have been in pop-culture before: Xenk, the paladin in the Pathfinder I mean D&D movie, has a Shifting Rune on his sword that turns into a dagger. Goku / the Monkey King has an Extending staff, it's always wonderfully hilarious to witness bonking something 60ft away

[@PsiPrimeProductions1]

Xenk's sword is a bit weird, as it flies off and leaves him with a dagger, and he has to go retrieve the sword part. I think it would be best represented by a unique weapon, but yeah, there are some examples out there of different types of weapons. Heck, there was an entire (very short lived) TV series about the flaming rune: Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire

[@ranty_fugue]

Very nice. I love this series as there’s always a gem (or five) I missed!

[@PsiPrimeProductions1]

Glad I could help.

[@shabadabadabada5133]

So glad I found this channel! Thank you for the fun video :)

[@JonBarton19]

One of my Go To runes when I have a bludgeoning weapon is the Crushing rune. On crit, give the target clumsy and enfeebled until my next turn. So, if I crit, I give a -1 to all physical attacks the target is making as well as lowering their AC by 1 (and nerfing reflex and fort saves) . It stacks with weapon mastery, and if you're a fighter or other class who is expected to crit often, you can really ruin your target's day.

[@SkarmoryThePG]

AND it has a greater version that doubles the conditions.

[@Zedrinbot]

Alternative idea for the Ashen rune that could work as a houserule if you wanna keep the rune as an option: just make the confusion an automatic effect (or just with a higher DC), but only apply on a crit. PF2 as a whole does sometimes have a problem with compounding dice rolls, and it's one thing I'm not a fan of, so I'm all for cutting that down where it's acceptable to. Also, these vids have been very nice ways to get ideas and suggestions for items. Lists appeal to my lizard brain.

[@reyvagabond3344]

In the honorable mention I also have a wounding rune sure not everyone bleeds but bleeding is nasty at lower levels specially up yo level 6.

[@PsiPrimeProductions1]

Unfortunately, I couldn't put in every single rune as an honorable mention. Agreed though, wounding is nice.

[@TheLocalDisasterTourGuide]

Hadn't noticed the Astral Rune before! Thanks for pointing that one out!

[@PsiPrimeProductions1]

Glad to help!

[@HenshinFanatic]

New in the remaster as far as I can tell.

[@jediprotector216]

Number 4 is a must for blade ally champions, so much so after using it at level 3 I applied it permanently to my character at level 6.

[@TriMarkC]

Gained a new subscriber after watching. Solid list of top 5 runes, w good use cases for each. I’m definitely getting the Extending Tune for my char’s Meteor Hammer as soon as I can! Only thing I’d add is to note the level & cost for each. I think you noted level for most, but I don’t recall you noting the cost for each. Money is always a resource limiter as you get to the middle levels, and the pros/cons of these runes need to be balanced w what else you may need to make your char really hit your vision. Thanks!

[@zander92]

I agree that these are top of the list runes to add in general. I do think a shout-out should have been made to the classic "returning rune" though. Several builds are entirely reliant on its existence to function. And when combined with the throwers bandolier, or some class feats, can make for wildly fun/effective times.

[@PsiPrimeProductions1]

@@zander92 true, though there are some new abilities coming out that make characters less reliant on the returning rune. Swashbuckler has a finisher that bounces back a weapon to your hand.

[@zander92]

@@PsiPrimeProductions1 and I believe there is a stance from fighter (?) that lets you bounce things back as well, iirc. Plus, if you have a lot of a thrown weapon and it's reload 0 (Shuriken) the thrower's bandolier also works similarly.

[@Atrianpaul]

Nice Video... About the shifting rune... I do think is so so..... yeah it can shift into an other weapon, if you don't have a town close sure is great.. but if you had a town and 4 day of downtime and some gold you can remove any rune from a weapon or an armor and place it in the one your are using or want to use.... but is "good" if you want to have any type of physical damage (B/P/S) in one weapon instead of 2

[@KaiHouston-m6j]

"All shall fear, my Hammer/Sword/Spear!!!".

[@Centinull]

Enjoying the content. Any ideas for top magic items for an Alchemist?

[@PsiPrimeProductions1]

I haven't deep dived into alchemist, I'll have to look at that. Might want to wait until the Player Core 2 comes out before I make an alchemist-specific video though.

[@TheInfamousBertman]

Great video, keep up the good work

[@PappaTrond]

I really like the Rooting rune. This level 7 rune immobilizes the target for 1 round (escape DC 23) on a crit, and the enemy is Clumsy 1 as long as the immobilization lasts. So - if you crit with it, and the enemy afterwards has to move towards you to attack, then they first have to Escape, which they may not manage to do, _and_ they take -5 in MAP, as Escape has the Attack trait. (The Immobilize from Bow critical specialization says to do an Interact action to get rid of the immobilize, and Interact doesn't affect MAP.) Consider being Level 9 and having a +2 Long Hammer with a Grievous rune and a Rooting rune. It has Reach, and if you crit an enemy adjacent to you, then the enemy will be Shoved 5ft away (Grievous), Immobilized and be Clumsy 1 until it gets rid of the Immobilize (Rooting), and it must perform a Fortitude save against your class DC or be knocked prone (Hammer crit spec). If you crit and the enemy is knocked prone, then it will have -3 AC against further attacks against it until its turn (-2 from prone off guard, -1 clumsy), and on its turn it will have to spend one action to stand up, one action to get rid of immobilize, and one action to step adjacent to you again - *and* have a -5 MAP. And if you have Reactive Strike, then you can because of the reach attack it when it is trying to stand up again. This combo is simply awesome! And I completely agree regarding the Ashen rune - it is way too powerful, just like the all-powerful lvl 6 Cassisian Helmet, that gives you a +1 to AC and saves against evil creatures and effects. *Way* too powerful.

[@SkarmoryThePG]

My vote goes to the Crushing rune. Level 3 uncommon, gives enfeebled and clumsy 1 on a crit. 2 with the lvl 9 version. It's honestly good enough on its own to make choosing a bludgeoning over another kind of weapon important.

[@yellowbeard1]

At around 0:08 that sound effect sounds exactly like my alarm sound lol.

[@nathanstruble2177]

I thought you said "Goose-Bane Rune" I was super interested

[@KyouTGD]

The Extending rune is fun. Greater Extending is, of course, better. And then there's the Impossible rune. It doesn't have a max range. If you can see it, you can hit it.

[@PsiPrimeProductions1]

Great if you don't have another ranged option.

[@lincr.1988]

The only problem with the Extending Rune imho is that you can only use simple Strikes with it :/

[@astrid2432]

at the moment I have 1 pc I use it's an ganzi dwarf vanguard gunslinger with a dwarfen scattergun the gun has a disrupting run on it, what is quite useful for AV then my dwarf has handwraps of mighty blow and thanks to a spare rune has ghost touch on it sure it may not happen so often, but a ghost touch rune is quite useful for athelic stuff and to add something: the crit effect for the shock rune let you choose who you target, so it isn't gm or random who gets the effect aswell so technical shock is the more dmg dealing rune for a burst about the frost: it scales up to lvl 15 with the greater version and a dc of 34, not too bad and corrosive, well it sure damages the armor or the shield, but the chance to completly destroy it, is quite low leather type armor has 16hp, so it is possible to destroy it in one hit, but the chance to deal 8hp or more isn't so bad, breaking the armor and so preventing the enemy to get any use out of it metal type armor can even tank a whole blow of it, with 36hp, so it is good possible to crit it 2 times and still salvage the armor and the bonus for doing it is: -1AC penalty for light armor up to -3AC penalty for heavy armor shifting rune is quite useful for resistance, as with it, the fighter can easily change is longsword into a warhammer to fight the skeletons

[@lyracian]

I do not have the new GM Core, only Player, had not heard of the Astral Rune. I shall be taking that one PF Society since it is core. I love Ghost Touch for being able to deal with stuff and like to have it on a backup weapon so adding to a main weapon with a damage bonus is just awesome. Someone was using the Ashen rune in a game I was running and we switched to just rolling once at the end of the round to try and speed things up. The one thing you did not mention was the limit on the number of property runes you can have on a weapon. While I like Shifting and Extending it is hard to justify situational runes over one you will use all the time. My personal favourite for enhanced damage is Frost or Shock over Fire but I agree some DM's could make a negative ruling on "up to two other creatures" of Shock. The fact the Frost save does not scale means it does drop off in usefulness. The weakness of Fire is, of course, being the most commonly resisted element. Also I am impressed you mention who the art is from. Not something I usually see in a KZbin Video.

[@PsiPrimeProductions1]

I try! The astral rune is pretty great.

[@rlwrgh]

good stuff hope you decide to make the 11-20 list.

[@PsiPrimeProductions1]

I'll look into it!

[@linus4d1]

I had extending rune on my ancestor oracle's sword. I freaking loved it!

[@lincr.1988]

Oh please tell me more about this character! How did you play it (in more mechanical terms)?

[@linus4d1]

@@lincr.1988 idk what more to say. The extending rune gave me flexibility to stay in the back to cast spells or attack with melee. So that covered over half my ancestors. I was high STR. Unfortunately many of my useful Skills in combat (grapple, trip, shove with Athletics) required me to be in melee. Probably was not the perfect build, but it was fun.

[@dart3903]

My campain has alot of demons and Devils, so I run a Fiend bane bow. I have 2 other bows, so I was gonna go Astral and Flaming, but I might drop 1 bow, so should I go with Astral or Flaming? Flaming is useless for demons and devils, but probably really good for general use when I'm not fighting them. Should I go Astral or Flaming? I can only get up to a level 8 Rune btw.

[@JacksonOwex]

6:47 Shock Rune LITERALLY says "On a critical hit, electricity arcs out to deal an equal amount of electricity damage to up to two other creatures of YOUR CHOICE within 10 feet of the target." How the heck are GMs misinterpreting that?! It's UP TO TWO more targets that the PLAYER WHOSE WEAPON has the rune gets to choose! 8:09 Why are we handing off weapons?! Just hand off the Rune!!! This Rune is nice but I would say this is at best Honorable Mention worthy! It's a nice tool to have but not something that's going to change the life of a character! 12:00 I'm not completely up on my Remaster rules but I thought the "deals damage only to the creature that is possessing another" was just a Spirit Damage thing!

[@PsiPrimeProductions1]

1) Yeah, it's a lot of semantics and people don't always read very clearly. You are correct though. 2)Transferring runes takes time, and (if you don't have the magical crafting skill) a skilled tradesmen to do it. If you are in the middle of the wilderness, it could be a real problem if no one in your party took magical crafting (and few people do.) It also takes a full day to do.

[@Iceblade269]

Question. I’m running ABP. i’m guessing these runes aren’t affected and are treated as normal treasure?

[@PsiPrimeProductions1]

Yeah, In that case, magic weapons are just weapons with property runes. Weapons found up to player level 9 can have one property rune, and up to player level 15 can hold two property runes, at player level 16 they can hold three. And ignore the 'must have a fundamental rune to hold a property rune' rule.

[@JacksonOwex]

0:50(ish) Don't you have to have a Fundamental Rune in order to have a Property Rune(s) as well? Considering I am going to be running a game in a few weeks I should probably get on figuring that out!!!

[@PsiPrimeProductions1]

Yes, you need to have a potency rune to have a property rune, and you can have a number of property runes on an item equal to it's potency rune (up to 1 property for +1, up to 2 properties for +2, etc.) What I was saying was, fundamental runes were a no-brainer, so they aren't worth talking about. You should be getting them. The property runes are where choice comes in, and that's worth talking about.

[@JacksonOwex]

4:23 How is this a PROBLEM, from a PCs PoV at least?! 5:25 Ok, THAT makes some sense, though it's not quite as bad as people want it to be! The GM just needs to be aware and ready when people who have this rune are attacking, kind of like the players should be ready when their turn is coming up.

[@PsiPrimeProductions1]

To answer your first question, tell me, would it be fun to go into EVERY fight with the guarantee that you are going to gimp the enemy and make the fight a joke? The game's no fun without a little risk, plus the GM is a player too, and if he knows that any enemy he sends against the party is just going to end up confused and die, then it's really no fun for him, and you are going to loose your GM fast. The fun of the game is making tactical decisions and pitting your tactics and abilities up against the enemy. If you take decision making away from half of the side (along with a large amount of their abilities) for every fight, all of the sudden, the game looses a lot of its fun.

[@alexeltio6598]

While I agree with the other runes, i don't think called is a good rune. The amount of situation where you don't have weapon in hand in my experience are very rare, and if you play official AP these situations directly doesnt exist. Even when those situation where for history purpose would make sense to go to a public place without a weapon, you have the ring of discretion for that, which is cheaper and doesn't take a rune slot. There are also other runes like Wounding, Fearsome or Crushing who are not situation specific and very good

[@PsiPrimeProductions1]

That story I mentioned was from an officially published PAIZO adventure (It was actually Starfinder, but the called rune works the same there). Anyway, this is all opinion, so you are certainly entitled to yours!

[@mikelundun]

At table I ruled that shifting rune applied to handwraps-of-mighty-blows allows a monk witb monaatic weapons feat to apply the handwraps fundamental and striking runes to any melee weapon with the monk trait they are holding.

[@tonydilucente2342]

Heh, Nonat1 is just fat and bald now.

[@PsiPrimeProductions1]

Hey man, don’t do that. There are real people behind those videos. You may not like what he did, and that’s fine, but being mean and hurtful doesn’t serve anyone.