Runes

Talion collecting epic rune — Talion collecting an epic rune

Runes are items in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor that add powerful buffs to Celebrimbor's bow Azkâr, Talion's dagger Acharn, and Talion's sword Urfael. These runes can be obtained by vanquishing enemy Nemeses. Exploiting the weaknesses of an enemy will influence the type of runes they drop, and combining different runes will increase the power of Talion's weapons in different ways.

Obtaining Runes

Whenever Talion slays an enemy Uruk Nemesis, it may drop a rune which Talion can use to upgrade his weapons. Every Nemesis has certain weaknesses, such as a vulnerability to attacks from mounts or stealth takedowns, that can be exploited to obtain specific runes. For instance, if the player kills an enemy captain that has a weakness to stealth using a stealth takedown, the player will receive a stealth related rune.

Rune levels are based on the level of the mob plus the following:

+2 for War Chief

+1 for Knowing Weakness/Strengths (Intel)

+1 for Death Threat (Issue a Death Threat - Tier 3) *EPIC rune is NOT guaranteed for War Chief (though is a high percentage)... or this could be when one kills a Chief and having his living/ present bodyguard gets promoted to Chief.. who is then killed before he escapes!

+1 for Exploiting Fear / Hatred (Use fire, flies, beasts, whatever when listed)

+1 for Revenge (having been killed by them before)

Example of MAX Level 26 rune: Level 20 (+20) + Chief (+2) + Threat (+1) + Knowing (+1) + Exploiting (+1) + Revenge (+1)

It should be noted however that a level 26 rune is no different from a level 25 rune.

Epic Runes

Epic runes are extremely powerful runes that can be obtained from Uruk warchiefs or captains who have been threatened. To obtain these epic runes from captains, Talion must first dominate a Uruk, who must then be forced to deliver a death threat to a captain. This captain will learn that Talion is coming after him, and will prepare himself accordingly by surrounding himself with bodyguards. The captain will drop an epic rune by chance upon death. This also applies for Warchiefs, the only difference is that to threaten them you have to use a captain and no normal Uruk. it is also likely but rare to obtain epic runes without using death threats, the higher level an Uruk captain or warchief is then the more chance they have to drop an epic rune, however warchiefs are more likely to drop an epic rune then a captain, getting vengeance a captain or warchief that has previously killed Talion also increases the odds. Story mode is also known to give Talion epic runes on certain occasions. There are also some exclusive epic runes are which are only obtained through pre ordering the game, completing DLC Orc warband missions or through having a WBID account (see below for exclusive runes).

Applying Runes

The player is able to add runes to Talion's weapons through the weapon upgrade menu. Every weapon can be upgraded with several runes, and these runes can be combined to make Talion's weapons even more legendary.

List of Runes

The following list is not complete.

Acharn (Dagger runes)

Icon	Name	Effect
	Balefire	Recover +2 Elf-shot for a head explosion kill.
	Bane of Mordor	Increases the duration of the Shadow of Acharn by +10 seconds.
	Bare as Bones	x% Chance to get an automatic Critical Strike on the first hit in a Hit Streak chain.
	Breath of Light	Recover x% Health on a stealth kill.
	Bright Fury	10% Chance to stun enemies near a Throwning Daggers or Brace of Daggers hit.
	Chill Soul	x% Chance to recover +50 Focus on a head explosion kill.
	Choking Horror	x% Chance to terrify more than two Uruks on a Brutalize kill.
	Favor of the Lady	Recover x% Health when completing a Drain or Brand.
	Fell Voices	Recover all Focus and all Health for killing a Captain or Warchief.
	Forge of War	Recover +4 Elf-shot for each Drain or Brand.
	Harbinger of Doom	x% Chance to recover +50 Health for each Drain from above or Brand from above.
	Heart of the Mearas	Doubles Elven Swiftness speed burst duration
	Hunter's Instinct	Increases the range of Attract.
	Light of the Valar	15% Chance Uruks, Ghûls or Caragors can ignite when hit by Throwing Daggers or Brace of Daggers.
	Lure of Power	33% Chance that any enemy near a Stealth Brand target will also be branded.
	One with Nature	Immune to Poison.
	Reckless Hate	Recover +4 Elf-shot for Combat Brand.
	Rule Through Fear	Recover x% Focus on stealth kill.
	Spell of Ruin	Recover +1 Elf-shot on Wraith Burn or Dispatch kills.
	Stinging Blade	Recover +50 Health on stealth kill.
	Sylvan Doom	x% Chance to recover +5 Elf-shot from a Brutalize kill.
	The Wolf's Head	Increased knockdown chance on Throwing Daggers or Brace of Daggers.
	To the Death	Recover x% Focus for grab shank kills.
	Voice of Power	Recover +10 Health when you Stealth Drain or Stealth Brand.
	Worm's Tooth	x% Chance to recover +25 Health on a head explosion kill.
	Oathbreaker	A Stealth Kill recharges the Shadow of Acharn at double the normal rate.

Azkâr (Bow runes)

Icon	Name	Effect
	Ascendant	Reduces the Focus depletion rate by 50%.
	Aura of Dismay	x% Chance unaware Uruks near a headshot kill will flee.
	Black Arrow	Recover +5 health on headshot kills.
	Bow Master	Increases bow damage by 50%.
	Broken Mind	x% Chance to recover +4 Elf-shot on a Drain or Brand.
	Explosive Demise	20% Chance an area blast will happen around a charged bow headshot on Uruks or Ghûls.
	Fell Handed	A headshot kill recharges the flame of Azkâr at double the normal rate.
	Fire Storm	Adds a powerful blast to Fire Arrows.
	Foresight	Increases the bow distract range by 50%.
	Howling Storm	All weapon damage increased by x% while riding a monster.
	Keen Eyed	Recover x% Focus for killing with the bow from stealth.
	Knight of Eregion	Recover +1 Elf-shot on Shadow Strike kills.
	Nature's Wrath	x% Chance to recover +2 Elf-shot on any kill while riding a monster.
	Renewed	x% Chance to recover +5 Health on bow kills.
	River of Arrows	(level)% Chance to recover one Elf-shot after firing the bow.
	Sylvan Arrow	x% Chance to recover +30 Focus for a headshot kill.
	Unbreakable Bond	Recover x% Focus after immobilizing an enemy with Pin in Place ability.
	Wrath of Eldar	Increases the duration of the Flame of Azkâr by +10 seconds.
	Will of the West	x% Chance to recover +10 Health on a headshot kill.
	Wind Rider	Recover x% Focus on any Shadow Strike move.
	Stand Fast	Increases all bow damage by 100% when Talion's Health is below 25%.

Urfael (Sword runes)

Icon	Name	Effect
	Betrayer	Increases all weapon damage by (10+level)% when hitting an enemy from behind.
	Blade Master (Rune)	(25+level*3)% Chance to recover full Health when Hit Streak reaches 30.
	Blade of Gondolin	Combat finisher recharge the Storm of Urfael at double the normal rate.
	Bones of the Earth	Recover +3 Elf-shot on a Flurry Kill.
	Burning Pitch	15% Chance to ignite enemies on a Counter.
	Cold as Stone	Increases stun and knockdown durations on Countered enemies by 50%
	Dread Visage	33% Chance to cause an Uruk's Head to explode when they are killed by Wraith Flash or Wraith Burn.
	Drive them Back	Countering enemies restores +3 Health.
?	Elven Grace	50% Chance to reduce melee damage by 50%.
	Evenstar	Recover full focus when Hit Streak becomes charged.
	Foe Hammer	Recover +2 Elf-shot on combat Execution kills.
	For Vengeance	Increases melee damage by (10+level)% at high Hit Streak range (30+).
	Gnawing Fear	Increases the terror caused by execution kills
	Glorious Charge	20% Chance to deal 10x damage on a Shoulder Charge.
	Grim Reslove	(level)% defense versus ranged attacks.
	Know No Pain	(10+level)% Chance to recover + 5 Health on any kill.
	Hidden Power	Increases duration of Last Chance.
	Life for Death	Recover +10 Health on combat Execution kills.
	Mighty Rage	Increases the stun and knockdown durations on melee attacks.
	Power of the Earth	Recovers (25+level*3)% Focus on a ground execution.
	Quick to Anger	(25+level*3)% chance to recover +5 Health on each Critical Strike.
	Ruination	Increases the Storm of Urfael duration by +10 seconds.
	Rising Storm	Grant access to the Storm of Urfeal legendary weapon power.
	Savage Onslaught	Increases melee damage by (10+level)% at mid Hit Streak ranges (15 to 29).
	Smite	Recovers (25+level*3)% Focus on Combat Flurry kills.
	Stand and Fight	Increases all sword damage by 100% when Talion's Health is below 25%.
	Storm of Battle	Boosts all sword damage by 50%.
	Strength from Courage	Recovers (level)% Health on a Flurry kill.
	The Bright Host	Recover +1 Elf-shot for each Wraith Flash kill.
	The End Comes	Uruks' Heads will explode on Wraith Blast kills.
	The Undying	Recover all Focus and Elf-shot on any Last Chance success.
	Tower of Defense	Increases Hit Streak Reset Time +10 Seconds.
	Wrath and Ruin	Increases the stun and knockdown durations on Wraith Flash.

Exclusive Runes

Name	Effect	For Weapon	How to Obtain
Deadly Archer	Talion will deal extra damage when executing ranged headshots against Sauron's Captains.	Azkâr	Pre-order the game from Amazon.
Flame of Anor	Talion can ignite his blade by achieving a high combo count and incinerate his enemies.	Urfael	Pre-order the game from Best Buy.
Gravewalker	Talion's enemies will flee after you strike down Sauron's Captains.	Acharn	Sign into your WBID account through Palantir.
Hidden Blade	Talion can deal extra damage when executing stealth attacks against Sauron's Captains.	Acharn	Pre-order the game from GameStop.
Orc Hunter	Brutalize kills cause additional terror.	Acharn	Sign up for a WBID for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.
Orc Slayer	Combat finishers do extra damage against Captains.	Urfael	Pre-order the game from Steam.