Which RUNES AND RELICS Are Best For Your Build?

Secrets of the Obscure brought with it a pretty huge revamp of the Runes system, removing 6-set bonuses and replacing them with a separate piece of equipment called a Relic. This has had a pretty big impact on how builds can be put together - take a look at this handy guide to see what's best for you!
00:00 - Intro
00:34 - Power Runes
00:59 - Power Relics
02:11 - Condi Runes
02:56 - Condi Relics
04:39 - Support Runes
04:58 - Support Relics
06:10 - Bonus Relics to Consider
11:23 - Conclusions
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[@badarchitect]

This style of well edited content with a more casual commentary is really really great & I hope to see more of it, big gaming!

[@authene]

💯

[@lucialaufey1302]

I love Relic of Lyhr! I have been playing with it on my qheal herald in mainly open world and it is a really fun 'mini game' trying to anticipate when people will take big hits and countering it with your glint heal. ...Also it is a really handy excuse for justifying myself when dying, even it is was my fault. Just spam ping the relic and imagine how everyone starts clapping and saluting you as you heroically teleport back to the waypoint.

[@bobnoggets5114]

Relic of fireworks is so satisfying on reaper shroud. Suddenly its worth using the whole tool kit to keep up the relic buff. 👍

[@Bunstonious]

As a casual player I love the relic change. I look forward to more possibilities.

[@Nebarus]

I am out of coffee here Sunday, but a bit of tea in a pot will do too :)

[@Mister5597]

I use Relic of Dwayna on Heal Mechanist for the interaction between regeneration and Medical Dispersion Field, every healing I'm applying to myself is fueling MDF so we can get a little bit more passive healing not just from the regen itself but also from the extra MDF we get. I would also consider Relic of Zephyrite on Heal Scrapper to top up protection uptime, until anet buffs heal scrapper prot uptime I think this relic will remain the BiS for this build.

[@Moosetapheles]

I love running around as a scrapper with no boon duration and capped quickness with chronomancer runes. pretty cool stuff.

[@MD-ee2fq]

Great video format. Relic of the fireworks also procs of stuff like the warclaw lance. I think the relic of dwayna might be good on a healer like a druid. If you have priority on your regeneration because its stronger than anybody else's then your CA is faster up again

[@yvesgingras1475]

Mech as a trait that already buff regen, do dwayna buff apply before or after the trait buff?

[@MD-ee2fq]

@@yvesgingras1475 I have no idea how these two things interact. One thing i need to add is that the priority thing only matters for huge meta- or wvw-squads, where you have multiple healer in one subgroup. It shouldnt matter for instanced pve because every subgroup has one healer that only heals its own group

[@TiroDvD]

Second. From Vallun, Dwayna is very good for Druid to shove itself in the boon queue to upkeep up CA.

[@dasKeks28]

Worth to mention regarding the relic of speed is that there's a speed cap of 400 units per second. So our of combat that's a maximum of +36%, which is slightly over the 33% of base increase of swiftness. You only really benefit from it in combat or with speed reduction.

[@bunnypandahai8467]

Really fun video Teapot! What a gamer, relic enjoyer, Cerus admirer.

[@ulrichvonstomp6031]

I've been using Relic of the Sunless on my Reaper and I really enjoy it!

[@CrusaderKnight]

I like the energy and the video editing!!! pog

[@nnarcus]

Amazing artist renditions - funny and enjoyable guide content!!!! ❤

[@pizzatonno3361]

was waiting for this vid. ty

[@CaffyPvP]

ANet's brilliant new idea for power relics is "Force Sigil with extra steps." Brilliant.

[@thiendainguyenle5759]

Meh, personally i like utility relics more than those extra 5% or 10% dmg relics. I hope anet adds more of those.

[@irispounsberry7917]

Definitely going to try to get some of the ones you mentioned to experiment - I've been just running the ones given at the start of the expansion. Won't really get around to real experimentation until I can craft the legendary Relic.

[@SaphireDragon89]

Rune of the Sunless is certainly an accessible poor man's substitute for Rune of the Trapper or Thief

[@fredericbrasseur7399]

I use relic of the Wizard's tower on my Bladesworn. Getting that reflective shield, every 30sec, when using tactical reload just before you charge your Dragontrigger is a great utility to have on your warrior.

[@enferian6055]

I wanted to test this, but didn't have time. Any idea how long the reflect duration is? Does it occur instantly or after a short delay?

[@fredericbrasseur7399]

@@enferian6055 I would say about 4sec and the pull happens in a very short radius (basically melee range) I would say about 2sec after you generate the shield.

[@enferian6055]

@@fredericbrasseur7399 thank you very much for the reply!

[@TheUnode]

I would use a relic of custard, for sure.

[@alexmarvin3093]

thanks Mighty

[@Zaxeras]

I like the message at the end. Experiment, that is the purpose of the relic system.

[@Jmvars]

Didn't know Relic of Speed existed, I think I'll use that on my WvW roamer.

[@DevoShreds]

it's VERY strong in wvw right now, I run it on my harbinger

[@mortalux]

Tried it in open world on my Druid and I couldn’t even feel the difference with it and without

[@Jmvars]

@@mortalux Movement speed with swiftness out of combat is 391 u/s and it caps at 400 u/s. So effectively you'll be 9 u/s faster with a Relic of Speed. However, it's enough that it adds up over time, like in WvW roaming situations or open world map exploration. In combat is where the difference should be noticeable as the difference is 69.3 u/s.

[@rgentry9]

I love the artist's impressions.

[@qontroL]

Homeboy made the video a week before everything gets nerfed into the fkn floor, I dig it

[@Vaxtin]

His 'empty space' is probably my entire 120 total inventory on my 'main character'.

[@Makr0ss]

I was waiting to get the effect of the old rune of radiance as a relic, to replace the boring relic of the monk on heal tempest, buf it never came out :/

[@emilyblanche2449]

Relic of the Warrior is my favourite on my Mirage, mostly because I have a sigil of Energy on both my weapon swaps and an unheathy obsesion with spamming the dodge button 😂

[@1sparrow]

My favourite is relic of custard

[@gb9289]

What's the consensus between eagle vs infiltration rune if one needs the precision to crit cap? It comes down to the old "at what threshold is ferocity better than power at 100%crit", but some traits make it even more difficult (e.g. the new death perception in necros applies directly to critical damage bypassing the ferocity stat)

[@SuperNekoTin]

Need more relics! Too few . like twic more 😮‍💨

[@drauskam]

Dwayna relic is good on alac Healscourge in general if you do not expect a lot of downstates. You gonna be able to grant permanent regen and keep burst heal like desert shroud(combined with the trait), well of blood, sigil of reneval/water, warhorn 5 for and emergency. Also only mentioning this because healing power as a % value do not affect barrier, only flat healing stats via scalings.

[@rainbowturtle]

2:48 Condi Druid is currently running Trapper! You focus on bleed and poison. Condi soulbeast is using Afflicted.

[@EliMD]

I use Relic of the Flock on HFB, every time I try to go back to Relic of the Monk, I'm feel like meh and I just switch back to Flock. It's amazing on HFB. I find it baffling it wasn't mentioned.

[@thamiordragonheart8682]

most heal skills don't have a 10-second cooldown to maximize it, so firebrand uses relic of the flock the best, and overhealing isn't a problem with barrier. I also think the internal cooldown on relic of the monk is odd, the description as I read it on the wiki implies you can't actually get more than 3 stacks, which isn't very good.

[@kreevey33]

Ditto. I think FB is the only spec that can effectively use. Ive been enjoying as well. 👍🏿

[@thamiordragonheart8682]

I found a Reddit post where someone did the math, and basically, unless you are running mace/shield without much overhealing, flock beats monk for healing to allies in your normal rotation, and adds extra self-healing. I think monk wins on burst heal to your allies, but Firebrand relies more on damage mitigation and aegis than burst heal anyway

[@canadians1982]

Gr8 vid

[@nico5186]

What greatsword skin is used at 9:45?

[@NecroViolator]

Nice thanks :) Can you use Valkyrie Amulet in PvE ?

[@Somebody374-bv8cd]

I run ceres relic in open world. When I see people doing rifts I pop my elite skill after the boss spawns to scare people into thinking its a mechanic from the boss.

[@TheFayt2005]

Relic of Cerus on my Willbender in pvp using heavenly strike is my go to for decap

[@Relhio]

I really wished weapon swap cooldown reduction would work with traits... It would make my Let Loose/Quick Draw build so much more fun.

[@TwelveTables]

Doesn't Relic of the Cavileer also apply on every tick of the Skyscale's engage? Thought that might come up for casual open world content.

[@Evo__]

My favourite is relic of solo lupicus aka isgarren.

[@yvesgingras1475]

Lyhr could be a fun alternative to monk for tankHealSupport build. Does anyone know if the redirected damage is lower by toughness?

[@RoronoaDPuneeth]

People really need to talk about eagle rune…it’s super cheap and has insane amount of precision and ferocity😊

[@bestbun]

Sunless Relic is op too, imo better than the eye relic.

[@bigbrainslug8323]

nice tiger name

[@goldmagistrate5732]

I can finally boonstrip as a guardian without sacrificing my sigils using the Cerus relic!!

[@pega7550]

I‘d imagine the lyhr relic to work really well for a druid in pvp. They put prot on their team, heal them to activate lyhr relic and use signet of stone to not take any strike damage. Huge value if the enemy team is mainly strike damage focused

[@pega7550]

but considering how strong condis are atm, I don‘t expect any usage in the near future

[@Kronosxviii1]

I've been enjoying chronomancer on my chrono/specter for solo play cuz i can have 100% uptime on alac and quickness. It's nice. :3

[@Jmvars]

Not to be an asshole but how does that relate to runes and relics?

[@TwelveTables]

​@@Jmvarschronomancer relic... The problem is its only for you and doesn't apply to the group.

[@Jmvars]

@@TwelveTables oh right. kinda confusing when he just said "chronomancer", thought he was talking about the elite spec.

[@animewanderer41]

The greatest casualty was the rune of the privateer used to summon a parrot and now it doesn’t. RIP pirate RP

[@1980Shadowwolf]

Untamed main and mechanist alt i hope they release a relic of the ranger that each crit me and the pet/mech does we get a damage bonus. For the time being though i use the thief relic given i dont like wasting my hammer 5 unless a breakbar.

[@CaitB-sc1ui]

How can I get a relic of the fractal. I have the expansion. Wiki doesn't say that I can find

[@marthdaeglin]

Have you tried the relic vendors? It looks like there's no unlock requirements.

[@user-up3gc5hd8t]

At Herald heal build if u take relic of Lyhr u can take connection PERMA i guess its a bug but its OP at Herald cz also toughness reduce this damage

[@ronioksanen3183]

Eh I condition relic I could think about with different more of new style like maboon would be like working like maboon 1 but maybe little lower for example after 5 stack of bleed you get xxx buff rising bleed damage let's say now 10% and after buff end's it will cleanse bleed stack's away from target done by you though I am not sure how would they implement that, but also all bleed effect when ended by this buff does it DOT damage instantly when ended via this relic so you won't lose damage though I would see it needing prop some internal cd to migitate how strong this would be if constant procced.

[@Dr.Death8520]

I was kind of excited for warrior relic on alac mirage (weapon swap with sigil of energy for more ambush), but sigil is 9s and w/ warrior is 7.5 :( Adventure relic is as good, but using heal off cooldown instead of whenever is best in priority is eh. Nice on mob waves to keep alac up without as many clones

[@adarg2]

Not even bothering with Akeem even though I have it. My philosophy is never chase these fotm builds, they will get nerfed and then there's no disappointment.

[@yvindvego9404]

i have been wondering about this today, but wouldnt condi alac mech be pretty decent now that trapper rune is so good? im running cele mech in open world and it does pretty good dmg while giving perma alac without grandmaster 3 on mechanist. i think it could at least be a viable choice in fractals to add some survivability to the team with mace 2 when playing as boon support.

[@M0ssFr0g]

The major problem is mace is FAR outclassed by pistol damage wise. Mechanist lacks a confusion duration trait, and sacrifices too much to bump it in line with bleeds and burns. There also does not exist a sigil of confusion duration +20% like there is with bleeds, burns, and torment. (It's pvp only). Mace struggles to compete with pistol since the pistol rework, and chemical rounds makes the gap even larger. The build is nice as a cele build though, where the regen from mace two is value.

[@yvindvego9404]

@@M0ssFr0g flamethrower or granades can be used instead of mace auto attack. meaty rice bowl bumps confusion duration up to 100% with aristocracy relic, bleed and fire is already at 99% without it, so something else can be used instead. with 2 kits you might barely even get to use aa at all. i believe cele mech can very much have a place in end game as boon dps. i played cele mech as condi alac around 6+ months ago and it worked fine, i did around 2-3k less dps in group content than i do now as pam. this new cele mech build is even stronger than cele mech was before.

[@BigChilla420]

Relic of the Gamer: Plus 10% Gamin

[@manslaughterinc.9135]

I use Lhyr with... Heal Vindicator. DUN DUN DUN! Salvation, Retribution build for massive damage reduction. Very easy to activate the effect. Anet should make Tree Song apply quickness to allies so Heal Vindicator can actually slot in organized groups. It plays like a paladin.

[@calvinchao05]

Any thoughts on Relic of Peitha? Where everytime you shadowstep or use deception you throw a blade at enemies.

[@n1cemaiden879]

I played around a bit with it, and I think once akeem is nerfed it could definitely pop up more! It's certainly not a bad relic

[@reson8]

It's too niche outside of thief class.

[@Wolfntee]

I heard some people dismissing the Antitoxin relic after the nerf, but in WvW that relic is still ridiculously good.

[@CallieAdair-pm6iw]

As a roamer i pretty much stopped using it after the nerf. I can see how it would still be good in a zerg situation tho

[@Wolfntee]

@CallieAdair-pm6iw Oh yea I never use it in roaming. Only if I'm in a group of 5 or more. I've actually found some success with Centaur relic for roaming on some builds that lack Stab.

[@drauskam]

It is fun to toy around and test relics, but why did anet decided to make them soulbound on use, this makes everyone so much for cautious on commiting to bind it permanently.

[@andreasgw2ele]

Relict of Trooper is very strong on Tempest.

[@Mad_Peasant_King]

I am currently using the brawler relic on guardian, and it's basically up constantly, but I would love to use something else that doesn't require much button pressing for a 100% uptime

[@commandershepard1284]

doesn't that one have 8 sec internal cooldown? or just after it runs out? I'm thinking about switching to this

[@Mad_Peasant_King]

It does, unfortunately, but it is great on willbender

[@TiroDvD]

way back, I soloed a lot of Bandit Champs on my Reaper with the Death traitline. I wonder how much easier it'll be with Brawler. It might make Eliza the Quick dodable with her stupid poison aoe spam.

[@n1cemaiden879]

I was hoping with the relic system they would take the opportunity to remove the overly dominant bonuses and get more creative. They got rid of scholar which we got 2 'replacements' for. I'd like to see more power options in the future. It's a shame they didn't do the same with monk relic. As Tpot says, dwayna is good, but monk is just better

[@ArkangelSPS]

Genuinely curious about relic of lyhr and toughness reducing the damage you redirect to yourself for some serious subgroup survivability, and actually make more prominent tank builds outside just certain encounters

[@YouTubeChillZone]

This relic automatically kills the person using it worst in the whole game

[@ArkangelSPS]

@@KZbinChillZone unless youre talking about a bug, it is obvious, i have pressed bulwark gyro on my full harrier scrapper haha, but damage can be blocked and i think evaded when using gyro, the whole idea is that i find interesting to both test it out and that Anet is exploring new stuff But yeah everyone running full zerk/viper/harrier if it doesnt work there its a useless relic :)

[@thiendainguyenle5759]

​@@KZbinChillZonedid you use a full harrier build with this relic?

[@TheRaydiation]

Is hardstuck going to update their website to reflect the recent patches and relics?

[@aquapendulum]

Relic of the Daredevil sounds like it was tailor-made specifically for DPS Bladesworn.

[@HeyHyena]

It would have been an excellent choice BUT the mandatory strength trait, Reckless Dodge, makes it difficult to use because it damages foes at the end of a dodge roll and using the critical bonus.

[@reson8]

Or gs vindicator.

[@RedRushMedia]

Relic of custard 🫡

[@TheRadiiantDawn]

Of course I get caught griefing as an example for tpot xddd 5:36 I have no idea how i ended up dead there

[@3Tomatoess]

wow i love all this "variety" the new system has brought us!!!!

[@YouTubeChillZone]

A great change where only 5 relics have any value ... 💀 I hope they completely change this system in the next balance patch because the current implementation is terrible

[@KnotSavage]

i wish more were cool damage effects and not just like... "%damage buff... apply condi... your effect +1" a good example would be ESO monster sets

[@Toglos]

Relics

[@user-ot6zh8lv1p]

Cerus is wasted on revenants because of the way the elite skill is used. The implementation of many of these so they only proc on elite skills is incredibly annoying for some builds, in wvw.

[@marthdaeglin]

Yeah, I feel like elite skills were always meant to be saved for "the right moment" instead of spammed. A relic procing on the elite skill can make a stronger burst, but it also feels like you either waste the relic slot by holding the elite for "the right moment" or you waste the skill in order to use the relic more.

[@Muqqwidat]

Relic of Mabon is not bugged. It works as intended, exactly like it’s stated in the tooltip.

[@mortalux]

Anet devs wrote about it now being the intended design idea they had for it.

[@Photoloss]

You must be new here. If a skill is working _exactly_ as stated in a tooltip it's almost certainly bugged.

[@MightyTeapot]

One of the skills team confirmed to me (in twitch chat) that the current functionality is unintentional.

[@tracephage]

I haven't counted how many there are but I kind of dislike that these changes to Runes caused some of them to become copies of each other.

[@egoboost13]

Dwayna is much better for Druid than Monk by a long shot since most of the healing is regen. It isn't comparable at all when you look at the actual healing stats. Maybe it's different in PvE but in WvW I've been testing this for the past week or so, was actually glad Antitoxin got nerfed so it was an easy choice to switch.

[@gmmg8734]

I like relic of the meme

[@MrPhyxsyus]

Dragonhunter is absurdly priced

[@montanawhite5699]

How do you join a guild? I’ve been trying for 2 days. Not 1 msg or invite. This is why I like gw1 so much more. Community is way more helpful.

[@reson8]

Have you tried looking in lfg and the official forums?

[@TheGreenDeath8914]

Relic of the Firebrand is so sad...

[@Patsoor]

Best relic? The legendary one.

[@AJ_v0]

I know it's much more work, but I really like this more 'edited,' 'scripted' style of video from you

[@titans77]

No mention of Isgarren? You failed us :(

[@MightyTeapot]

It's good in WvW but I don't find the relic that interesting tbh

[@titans77]

Its the only way to extend condi duration past the 100% "cap" @@MightyTeapot

[@TwelveTables]

Stacks in duration up to 1 minute and has no internal cooldown. Anything with built in dodge like Vindicator or Daredevil can make good use of this. Or just PvP in general.

[@titans77]

@@TwelveTables correct, its incredibly strong and might see more play when akeem takes a nerf

[@tomwillymyrvang2806]

Relics are lacking almost all fun/build altering ones , so dissapointed with those we got.

[@val7287]

I totally agree about playing with relics and builds but you forgot that the relics are soulbound and not account-bound as they should be. I other words do you have hundreds and hundreds of free gold to pay for the relics which you are not gonna be able to pass to other characters if they do not work as intended?

[@beneteus3833]

Step 1: watch video step 2: like video step 3: write comment step 4: Video success?

[@chrebetcrunch]

They screwed players by taking away the bonuses of runes. No relics match what players could do with runes of the past. They could have added relics without destroying rune sets. Many of my theme builds were destroyed.

[@thiendainguyenle5759]

And new builds are formed. New way to play.

[@aka-47k]

this vid took so long.....

[@dragonfaith9080]

Not a of relics

[@navarone4031]

as always my dude too scared to critizice the problems with this systems.

[@darwinmabazza6314]

Nerf war 2 nothing new. Go spending all your good so nerf war 2. They have no respect to players and nerf war 2. Please let the MMO community this is nerf war 2. Not guild war 2. Nerf war 2 Please. 😢