The First Descendant is an RPG where a lot of elements combine to make your character. Some integral mechanics and systems that will govern your gameplay are your descendants, guns, gear, and runes. However, these Runes are by far the most integral items players should know about, as they are linked with all your skills and powers.
What are Runes?
Runes can enhance your gun’s damage, abilities’ damage, and the longevity of your skills, give you bonuses, grant you new passive abilities, influence your survival, and so much more. Nearly everything in the game is tied to the Runes system.
There are three types of runes:
- Gold
- Purple
- Blue
How to Upgrade or Enhance Runes?
You need to go to Silion the Rune Master and talk to him. There he will give you the option to Enhance Runes. Selecting this option will allow you to choose which Rune you want to upgrade. Silion also offers other Rune related services and options which I’ll cover below.
Rune Capacity Overview
On the top right corner of your Rune, you will see a number that dictates the amount of space it will take out of your Rune Capacity. Some will have a symbol alongside the Rune Capacity number which is known as Rune Socket in the game. Rune Sockets and the complete overview is listed below.
Rune Enhancement
You can only upgrade your Runes to your current Mastery Level in The First Descendant. Sometimes they will have an enhancement limit after which you will no longer be able to upgrade them any further.
Runes cost resources to upgrade. The primary resources to Enhance Runes are Gold and Qulipothium.
You can get Gold from missions, dismantling junk gear, or selling guns. You can get Qulipothium by dismantling duplicate Runes or the ones you will not plan to use.
Rune Socketing
Rune Socketing gives you more space to add Runes by reducing the space current Runes take by aligning the slot and Rune Socket type. Every time you apply a socket type to a Rune slot it will cost you an Arche Crystal.
You can use the Rune Socketing by going to Silion and selecting the Apply Rune Socket Type option. Before applying a random socket type make sure that you are not applying the wrong one as obtaining an Arche Crystal is not an easy task. Once you have selected which Rune Socket suits you the best go-to Rune Socketing option, choose a slot, choose the Socket Type and then click on Apply Socket Type.
You can get Arche Crystal at the cost of 100 Caliber from Deslin the Weapons Dealer. Alternatively, you can level up your descendant to level 40, obtain a Crystallization Catalyst, and then head over to The Ageless Reach and choose the Descendant Reset option.
How to Dismantle Runes?
You need to go to Silion the Rune Master and talk to him. There he will give you the option to Dismantle Runes. When dismantled each Rune will give you Qulipothium based on their rarity. You can see more about Rune Rarity below.
Before dismantling all your duplicate or unused Runes remember that you can also combine them. Read more about Combining Runes below.
The best way to dismantle Runes in The First Descendant is by sorting the Rune list by quantity which will sort out all your duplicates.
Combining Runes
In The First Descendant, you can combine your Runes to get a better or a different Rune. Head over to Silion and there you will find an option to Combine Runes. You can combine four Runes to get a single or a set of Runes. Combining Runes costs Gold depending on the rarity of Runes combined like Purple costs 15,000 and Blue costs 5,000.
Types of Runes
Gold Runes
Gold Runes are the rarest Runes in The First Descendant. Gold Runes generally reduce their cost when upgraded but they also do not increase their buffs. In rare cases, this is vice versa. When dismantled, Gold Runes give you around 1000 Qulipothium.
Purple Runes
Gold Runes are medium rare Runes in The First Descendant. Purple Runes when upgraded increase in cost and their stats. It is important to note that both negative and positive stats are increased when Purple Runes are enhanced. When dismantled, Purple Runes give you around 500 Qulipothium.
Blue Runes
Blue Runes are the most common Runes in The First Descendant. Blue Runes increase in cost and provide a single focused bonus when enhanced. When dismantled, Blue Runes give you around 100 Qulipothium.
Rune Capacity Upgrade
Rune Capacity dictates the number of Runes a player can equip. You can increase your Rune Capacity by increasing your mastery rank. You can also head over to Silion and select the option Max Rune Capacity Increase in which you will be able to buy more Rune Capacity for each of your Rune types.
To increase Max Rune Capacity you will require Energy Activators. You will need one Energy Activator per increase of Rune Capacity. You can obtain Energy Activators from Consecutive Survival and Consecutive Defense World Miss
