Runemaster

Norse
You don't see many norse runies running around. With lower starting dex/qui matching the dwarf and lower than kobold and frostalf - a norse will cast slower. With lower con than the dwarf, there isn't an attribute advantage to selecting norse. However, if you really want to play a humanoid looking runie, you can do it for the look, but don't plan on being the fastest glass canon or utility caster in Midgard.

Dwarf
Dwarfs look cool, but still cast slower than the kobold and frostalf. They are tempting due to the higher base con than all other runie eligible race choices, so you do eek out some more hit points. Overall, that tends to matter less with the runie's role as ranged DPS or utility caster.

Kobold
Kobolds are a popular choice for runemasters and the suggested race on the Official DAOC Discord #spec-help bot due to their small size and high dexterity and quickness. Their high dex/qui results in higher base casting speed. Their small size also makes them more easily overlooked in realm vs realm combat. They are easier to template and do not require the extra spend of realm ability points for the fastest casting speed achieved at the 392 dex break point. Kobold is the natural choice for ranged DPS and utility caster.

Frostalf
Frostalfs are probably the second most commonly seen runie. With the highest piety of the 4 races, the frostalf is a temping choice but you will need to make up for the loss of Dexterity in your template or with the Aug Dex realm ability.

Distribution of starting attribute points
When you create a character, you can distribute 30 points amongst your attributes. The following distributions are often used:

Option 1: 10 Piety, 15 Dexterity When you click the optimize button on the Adjust Attributes screen, this is what it selects. This is also the default for a newly created Runemaster if no adjustments are made.
 * Strength, Intelligence, Empathy, and Charisma have no influence in this class.
 * Quickness only helps this class tertiarily and should not be of any concern.
 * Constitution is tempting for the additional hit points, but most say casting faster, hitting harder and having a larger power pool is better.
 * Piety and Dexterity are the two main attributes of the class.
 * Piety is your base damage and power pool attribute.
 * Dexterity is your casting speed attribute.

Option 2: 15 Piety, 10 Dexterity

Option 3: 10 Piety, 10 Dexterity and 10 Constitution

Specialization
Notes about Darkness spec:

Runemaster Spec Suggestions no longer include a high darkness spec since the addition of the energy debuff on the runecarving direct damage line. Dark-Carver is split spec between Darkness and Runecarving to get the cold debuff in RC to debuff your target and then use the darkness direct damage baseline spell to nuke them down isn't recommended until high Realm Rank, if at all.

Group : 50 Suppression, 20 Runecarving
50 Suppression - This is a popular group spec for a number of reasons: red nearsight (65%), Fastest Pulsing Blade Turn, bolt range AoE Root, and it synergises well with a Spiritmaster debuffing as the caster Main Assist (MA).

20 Runecarving - This helps decrease the variance on your baseline Sovereign Runebolt.

Zerg/AoE : 47 Runecarving, 24 Darkness, 11 Suppression
47 Runecarving - This gives you the highest tier bolt, the highest tier direct damage spell with a 10% energy debuff and AoE spears (one of the coolest spell effects in the game too).

24 Darkness - This gives you the 4th tier 5.8 damage add 10 minute duration buff for your melee DPS group members.

11 Suppression - This gives you the lowest tier nearsight spell which is a 25% decrease for magic and archery damage for those you land it on.

Solo or Group with Cold/Energy Train: 47 Runecarving, 26 Suppression
47 Runecarving - This gives you the highest tier bolt and the highest tier direct damage spell with a 10% energy debuff and AoE spears (one of the coolest spell effects in the game too).

26 Suppression - This gives you the lowest tier pulsing blade turn and the 3rd tier nearsight (45%), mid tier DD/Snare (35%).

Master Levels
The Runemaster has access to the Convoker and Stormlord master level lines.

Convoker gives the runemaster some nice tools friendly to multiple styles of gameplay.

Stormlord give the runemaster an array of tools friendly to multiple styles of gameplay.
 * Prescience Node is a ground targeted ward that makes enemy stealthers visible without removing their stealth.
 * Speed Warp is a ward that negates the effects of speed boosts for enemies who pass through it.
 * Battle Warder is a ground targeted summon which has great power, but neither it nor you can move for the duration. This spell works only against enemy players, pets and guards and requires LOS to the ground target to use.
 * Dissonance Trap is a rune that does essence damage to the enemy when it detonates.


 * Dazzling Array casts a stun feedback buff to allies in its radius. Only works versus casted, non-realm ability stuns, melee style stuns will still land
 * Inebriating Fumes is a storm that reduces all stats of enemies while they are inside it.
 * Fearsome Surge is a pet scare causes enemy monsters to fee in terror.
 * Blinding Cloud is a cloud storm that causes enemies to fumble melee attacks while inside the storm.
 * Arcing Power is a self buff that grants the next non-area effect direct damage spell cast a radius, or increases the radius of an area effect damage spell

PVE
How should I PvE solo as a Dark-specced RM?

Darkness runemasters don't have quite the range of runecarving specced runemasters, but have spells that cast faster. The general pattern for soloing a darkness-specced Runemaster is

DD-DD-DD-quickcast DD if needed

That will take care of just about any blue or yellow CON creature. If there are resists or the create is orange/red CON, you may need to

DD-DD-Root-back off-DD-DD-quickcast DD

or some variant thereof. The damage add that dark specced RMs get even makes it viable to finish a creature with your staff in some cases. But this is risky, and is not advised.

How should I PvE solo as a Suppression-specced RM?

Suppression spec runemasters rely on their DD/Snare spell line for PvE soloing. The snare component of the spell lets them "kite" targets a bit, but be aware that snare doesn’t show an appreciable effect until the target is at or below 50% health. There are a couple of common soloing patterns for supp-specced RMs:

DD-DD-DD- -DD-DD....

Bolt-DD-DD-DD- -DD-DD...

When starting with a Bolt, suppression RMs will want to be at maximum DD range -- NOT maximum bolt range. The reason for this is that you want to use the time that the bolt is in the air to start casting your DD/snare spell. If you are at maximum bolt range, you will be out of DD/snare range, and the MOB will be running at you full bore by the time you start casting your DD/Snare.

How should I solo as a Runecarving-specced RM?

Runecarving-specced RMs are, in my opinion, the best solo class in the game. A fully RC-specced runemaster can consistently take down orange con targets (but this is not advised, because it is not efficient in terms of mana usage and downtime).

The pattern for PvE soloing a runecarving RM is usually the same:

Spec Bolt-Base Bolt-DD-DD if needed That will kill 90+% of all yellow con targets before they reach melee range. If they stop to cast, so much the better. If you get a resist, or a missed bolt, then stick a root in there after the first DD spell.

Why do I keep dying when I group in PvE (aggro management 101)?

In a group, you generally want the tanks to get the attention of the target before you start nuking. This is because, in a group, you are usually fighting higher level creatures that can squash you like a bug if they get into melee range. It therefore is vital that a runemaster not nuke a target too early or too much.

Depending on the makeup of the group, debuffs are another great option. These will generate less aggro, and will help the tanks keep aggro by letting them hit the target harder (in the case of a DEX debuff) or have to be healed less (STR debuff). If you are specced in runecarving and are grouped with a darkness-specced RM or a spiritmaster, pulling with a cold debuff is a good option. You can still go for the kill shot with a couple of nukes at the end.

Another note about nearsight: this is a great spell for pulling because it has a very long range, generates very little aggro, and consumes very little power. Plus, if you are pulling casters (such as Fenrir Prophets, Icestriders, Blodfelag Windcallers or Haxas, Svartalf Enchanters, and many more) it cripples their ability to damage you before your group can get aggro.

What do I need to change in a group versus soloing in PvE?

Unless you are pulling for the group, you should just forget about using bolts -- and even when pulling, it's usually better to pull with a debuff or nearsight spell, so that you don’t generate huge aggro or even a Call for Help by doing lots of damage with your first cast.

Other than that, it's all about aggro management and mana management. You don't want the monsters attacking you, and you don’t want to be the one everybody is waiting for between pulls. Mana regenerates much slower than does the endurance that melee classes use for styles, so nuke just enough and not too much.

RVR
A runemaster is a powerful glass canon as ranged DPS or and utility are their bread and butter. Stay towards the back of the fight for your group, but don't stand on top of your support. Nearsight the heal archetypes before you worry about doing your own DPS. Especially if you are high suppression spec, this can make or break a small man or 8vX fight by essentially extending a group too far from their heals without them even moving. Snares are better than roots for RvR on tanks.

What's the most important thing to know about RvR for a Runemaster?

Keep moving!

If you stand still, you become a target, especially for assassins. You stay in range of archers and other casters. You can be rushed by melee types. You can be watched by the corpses of your victims.

Keep moving!

When you are in a big battle, move (or at least turn a bit) between each spell you cast. When you complete a battle, resurrect your dead and move out of sight of the enemy corpses. When you run down a road, go serpentine and vary your path. Never stand still.

One other thing: KEEP MOVING!

What's the second most important thing to know about RvR for a Runemaster?

Assist your group mates. Unless you are the main assist (MA) calling targets for the group, you should be assist training down your targets so they die quickly. Failure to assist frequently results in getting WTFPWNT instead of earning realm points.

What can a Runemaster do in a keep attack?

Runemasters have the versatility to fill several rules in a keep attack. First, it is a huge help to have pulsing blade turn for the group. Keep archers can cause a lot of damage and keep healers busy if you don't have pulsing blade turn. This is a godsend for keep attacks.

Second, you can use nearsight on archers and enemy defenders. This really helps the attackers at the doors. Third, you can nuke nuke nuke. Keep archers make great AoE targets, because they are stationary. Use an AoE on them to hit any enemy defenders hiding near them behind the walls. Help handle the guards when they pop. And nuke any defenders who show their faces.

A favorite technique for killing defenders is to nearsight/bolt/quickcast bolt. The nearsight is a fast spell that eliminates their ability to attack you from a distance. The bolt and quickcast bolt will usually land if you don’t fat-finger a cast.

The ground target area effect can also be useful in keep attack, though you will likely have yourself in harm's way when you use it. When those pesky defenders are resting up inside the keep, you can fish around with your GTAE and hope to get lucky. You can plant the GTAE on the usual archer and caster spots. Once inside, you can GTAE the Lord room and weaken any defenders inside.

What can a Runemaster do in a keep defense?

Keep defense is a place where runemasters shine. Let the AoE spells fly and cause havoc among any attackers in range. Nearsight enemy casters and healers. Use GTAE to hit the people attacking your keep doors. A runemaster can get a great deal of realm points in a keep defense.

There are a couple of things to watch out for in a keep defense, though. Don't stand too close to the keep archers (see the note in keep attacks, about using archers for AoE targets). Be aware of climb points in keeps, too. It's helpful to have a runemaster with GTAE to keep climb points clear (it will unstealth assassins, so they will have to run or die). Never stay visible for longer than it takes to cast a spell.

Even better, cast only when you can quickcast, once every 30 seconds. Hide behind the ramparts until quickcast is available. Hit your quickcast key, then move and cast your spell, and hide again. A dead runemaster gains no RP.

What can a Runemaster do in group versus group battles?

In small group battles you can deal damage with DD spells. You can root enemy tanks, and debuff them as well. You can nearsight enemy casters, healers and archers. You should probably NOT use your AE spells.

The reason for this is that non-keep RvR battles are a place where single-target and AoE mesmerize spells can make all the difference. If one group gets all or part of the other group mesmerized, they will win. If you break an AoE mez with your AoE damage, you will likely lose the battle for your group.

What can a Runemaster do in large scale battles?

This is the same as with group versus group battles. You generally will never want to be the first to cast and AoE spell, because you may break a LOT of mezzes with it. It may look great to have a stream of 12 lines saying that you did damage to an enemy. However, that doesn't compare to having the enemy out of the fight for potentially a minute or more.

It's best to focus on one target at a time and nuke them until they are dead, preferably with your group's assist train. Just don’t get such tunnel vision that you forget to move!

Useful Artifacts
Weapon

Armor

Jewelry Bracer of Zo

Other Useful Items
Weapons

Jewelry

Mythirian