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Heroes of Newerth Rune Guide

By ToRtUr3 - 11th November 2009 - 15:37 PM

Runes are power-ups that can be used in many different ways. They are quite powerful and can really get you an advantage in a game. Runes play an important role in games because both sides will try to avoid the enemy team getting one, so a lot of action happens at those locations.

1. Rune Explanation


Runes only spawn at one location randomly each time (two rune locations total) and only at every two minute mark (0:00, 2:00, 4:00, etc...).

Warding Rune Locations
Keeping rune control is important throughout a game, so always ward the rune locations.


Double Damage



The Double Damage rune is probably the best for late game purposes. It doubles the damage of all physical attacks. This is especially useful on carries for the extra something when going into battle. Your enemies will usually shy back when they see you glowing blue. A very useful way for late game is if someone from your team captures this rune in a Bottle and then hands it to the carry before you initiate a battle, can be a game changing factor.

Illusions



Tablet of Illusions is usually used to confuse your enemy, scout the map or add a little extra damage to your early game last hitting/denying. While your illusions only deal minor damage, they are also very squishy and drop in a few hits. A good trick is to use these early on to bait your enemies into a trap or use up mana and cooldowns because they see an opportunity to kill you, then it turns out that all they killed was an illusion. If you feel like you can micro both illusions as well as your character, you can also cause confusion during a battle. When you rune check, the enemy will call you as miss, so just use one of your illusions and send it back to mid, he will then call that you returned allowing you to surprise the enemy at one of the dual lanes without them expecting it. Another way to use Illusions is to scout the rune locations at, or before, the two minute mark so you don't have to leave mid, or leaving them behind as wards at choke points to see incoming ganks.

Invisibility



One of the better runes to get for early game. It will turn you into a stealth mode for 45 seconds or until you use an ability/attack the enemy. The best use is with a nuking hero that has hard hitting spells, Pyromancer for example. Towers will still be able to see and shoot you, so this rune won't give you the right to tower dive safely. While in stealth mode you won't automatically attack a unit when close to it, so it doesn't unstealth you. Following your enemies early on is no problem as the chances that they have anti-stealth is extremely low, so it's a great way to gank a lane since the enemy won't be expecting you.

Regeneration



Regeneration is a blessing for any solo mid Hero, especially if that Hero is carrying a bottle. It refreshes your mana and health back to maximum, once reached or attacked by an enemy, the effect will stop. Using this with a damage over time effect on you will also cancel this effect. Best way to use this is behind your wave of creeps with the enemy hero out of range. When you apply this, you can basically cast a free nuke on your enemy or the creep since it won't interrupt the regeneration, only do that if your mana or health isn't full though, since the regeneration stops when your health and mana pools reach their max.

Haste



This rune heavily increases your speed for a short duration which allows you to run across the map in no time. Very useful for roaming or hard hitting heroes as your enemy won't be able to run away from you. When you see your enemy having this rune, the best thing you can do is get safe near tower, especially if that hero has a slow and hits hard such as Arachna or Slither. For mid/late game it is useful to scout the enemy jungle quickly to see if there are any lone heroes farming or moving from one lane to the other to push some creep waves. If you get this rune as a mid hero, return to mid before you use it because the miss call will already be out and the enemies move back. So let your enemy call you as returned and then use it for a quick gank strike. Your enemy won't be able to miss call quick enough as you will already be on a dual lane to gank.

2. How and when to Bottle Runes


2.1 How to Bottle a rune


Your first step will be purchasing a Bottle for 600 gold from your Fountain. You can either get the Bottle by going back or having your Monkey/Winged Courier bring it to you. Using the Courier is better because you won't have to leave the lane and still earn experience/gold. Once you have your Bottle, go to one of the rune locations and empty your Bottle (three charges per Bottle). Click on the empty Bottle which should trigger a crossfire, target the rune and left click it. If done correctly you will have captured a rune in your bottle. Clicking the Bottle again will then apply the rune effect to your Hero and fill your Bottle with three charges again.

2.2 When to Bottle/Use a Rune


There are a few different situations in which you should use or Bottle a rune. As a solo mid Hero you should always wait for your Bottle to be at one charge left or empty, if you have full mana, do a quick nuke and drink the last charge then run to the rune location. Your opponent is not dumb though, so he will see if you leave your spot to check the runes and usually he will either follow you and call a teammate to gank or run the other way if he feels lucky enough to have the rune spawned there (not recommended). A ward at the rune locations usually helps to control them and keep your opponent with an empty Bottle forcing him to either go back or he becomes an easy gank target. Later into the game you won't have much time to rune check all the time, so when you see a rune, just empty your Bottle and capture the rune before the enemy does, especially if it's a good one like Double Damage or Haste. Laning heroes shouldn't get a Bottle as they only have a short way to one rune location and can't really rely on their luck, so it's smarter to get other supplies with them.

3. Rune Ganking


Rune ganking is very popular in high tier games and already starts before the first rune spawns. You move to a rune location right at the begin with teams of 2-3 (mid joining in on one side) and gank the enemy if they intend to do the same. This can get an early Bloodlust with a good combination of heroes like Electrician and Swiftblade. Rune ganking happens throughout the whole game, so always keep the rune locations warded to not miss such a moment. Runes are powerful, so letting your enemy collect one isn't a smart move. Solo mid heroes tend to rune check when their Bottles are getting empty or at every two minute mark, so if your mid player calls a miss, there is an opportunity to gank the enemy mid player at the rune location he ran to.

4. Compatibility of Runes with Heroes


Double Damage: Any carry, but especially useful for Chronos (using this during Chronosfield with Elder Parasite is deadly), Swiftblade and Puppet Master.

Illusions: Initiators and gankers for the surprise and trap effects. Any hero can or should use this though as it only allows minor support.

Invisibility: Nukers that have a long cast time with spells or initiators with an Area of Effect ability, such as Tempest. Pyromancer is probably one of the best to use this rune with as his stun ability usually takes 1-2 seconds to cast. So when you are invisible your enemy won't expect it and doesn't hectically move, making it an easy target for him.

Regeneration: Mostly intelligence and solo mid heroes. Especially useful on heroes that have a big mana pool and/or mana intensive spells.

Haste: Roamers, Carries and Pushers. Pushers can use this to get from one lane to another in no time and get some creep waves down.

5. Rune Locations


You have two rune locations on the map Forest of Caldavar. One of them is located near Kongor in the small gap that leads to the bottom lane and the other is close to the top lane between the two entrances into the Hellbourne jungle and Legion Secret Shop.

Here are the screenshots to give you a more detailed view of the rune locations for each of three currently available maps:

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This is the rune location near Kongor on Forest of Caldavar

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This is the other rune location on Forest of Caldavar

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First Rune location on Darkwood Vale

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Second Rune location on Darkwood Vale

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Here is the rune on the left of Watchtower

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To the right is the other rune on Watchtower


6. Changelog


11/11/09 First release