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How Do Runes Work in UNDECEMBER

By Michel Z2022-10-13

In the world of UNDECEMBER, there are no class restrictions, no skills bound to specific characters, and no limits on skill use. In other words, you, the Rune Hunter, are free to combine over 300 different runes to create a build that is unique only to you.


How do you create your unique build? First, builds in UNDECEMBER are comprised of three main parts: Runes, Zodiacs, and Gear

 

Skill Runes allow you to choose the skills you are going to use. Link Runes determine how you will improve the skills you have selected. Zodiacs offer passive trees to complement your Skill Runes and the overall direction of your build. Finally, Gear is a way for you to maximize all these aspects or make up for your weaknesses. In this guide, the UNDECEMBER official Youtube channel shows you how the Skill Runes and Link Runes work.

 

Skill Runes and Link Runes are the most fundamental parts of completing your build. You can obtain basic Skill Runes through quests, town NPCs, and monster drops. Key runes can be obtained through the Synthesis feature from Alchemy. 


Skill Runes

Select a Skill Rune you would like to use and equip it in the Rune Cast. Once you have equipped the rune, you can use the skill immediately. Once you have equipped your Skill Runes in the Rune Cast, the next step is to link them with the appropriate Link Runes. 

Equipe Rune Cast in UNDECEMBER

 


Link Runes

 

Link Runes Must Match the Skill Rune's Tags

Link Runes can enhance the power of Skill Runes with their unique effects. However, just because you have a Link Rune doesn't mean you can link them wherever you want: You can only link them if the Skill and the Link Rune's color and tags match each other. 

UNDECEMBER Skill Rune and Link Runes

 

For example, there are three Line Runes in the picture: "Multishot", "Quick Cast", and "Additional Fire DMG". You can see that the "Multishot Link Rune" has the [Projectile] tag, the "Quick Cast" Link Rune has the [Spell] tag, and the "Additional Fire DMG" Link Rune has the [Fire] tag. The three Link Runes match the [Projectile], [Fire], and [Spell] tags of the "Fire Ball" skill, which means you can link them to the Skill Rune on the Rune Cast. But there is one final condition remaining – the color of the Link Rune and the Skill Rune. 

 

Skill Rune Slot's Color Must Match the Link Rune's Color

Every Skill Rune in UNDECEMBER is shaped like a hexagon, featuring six sides. Each side is called a slot. You can activate up to 1-6 slots by chance through the Mystic Pauline NPC, who can be found in any town. Activated slots are randomly given one color out of Red, Green, and Blue. Likewise, Link Rune has its unique color of either Red, Green, or Blue. If the color of the Skill Rune slot matches the color of the Link Rune, you can finally link the two Runes together.

 

Therefore, the "Multishot", "Quick Cast", and "Additional Fire DMG" Link Runes are Green, Blue, and Red, respectively, so they can be linked to any Green, Blue, and Red slots on the "Fire Ball" Skill Rune.

 

Now, you must be wondering. How do you open up more slots? What happens if the color you want shows up in the wrong location? That can all be solved using the three basic Essences regarding Runes. 

 

First, to grow or enchant Runes, you must visit the NPC Pauline in town. Select the Skill Rune you would like to enchant, and you will see the Rune Birth Essence, Rune Color Essence, and Rune Link Essence on the left side of the screen. 

 

•    The Rune Birth Essence allows you to open up 1-6 Skill Rune slots. 

•    The Rune Color Essence changes the colors of your activated slots. 

•    The Rune Link Essence changes the location of the activated slots without changing their color. 

 

How to Get Rune Birth/Rune Color/Rune Link Essences?

You can buy Rune Birth/Rune Color/Rune Link Essences with UNDECEMBER Rubies at the Paid Shop, or you get them from drops, disassembling, or Ore.

 

You can use those three basic Essences to strategically connect your Link Rune and create a powerful Skill Rune with the right combinations. Once you have chosen your Skill and Link Runes, it's time to make your Runes even more powerful. 

 

Rune Growth

The Rune growth is divided into two areas: Rune Level and Rune Grade.

 

Rune Level

You can level up your Rune at the Rune Growth menu from the NPC, Pauline, in town. Use the Elements you gathered from quests and drops to increase the level of your Runes. The max level of Rune depends on your character level. The higher your character level is, the higher the max Rune level you can get. So leveling up your Runes up to your max level will allow you to clear the Acts more easily.

 

Rune Grade

Aside from Rune levels, Runes also have their grade between Normal, Magic, Rare, and Legendary. You can upgrade Rune Grade using the Rune Enchant menu from the NPC Pauline in town.

 

To upgrade a Normal Rune into a Magic Rune, you must use a Skill or Link Rune Magic Upgrade Essence. You can use the same method to continue upgrading Runes to an even higher grade. 

 

Skill and Link Rune Magic Upgrade Essences

 

The most important part of Essences is how to obtain them. You can always hunt monsters in the field for a chance of picking up an Essence, but the most reliable way of finding Essences is to disassemble grown Runes. The level of your Runes will affect the grade of any Essences you find from disassembling. Collecting 10 pieces of the same grade Upgrade Essence will allow you to make 1 Rune Upgrade Essence. 

 

UNDECEMBER Skill Rune Levels and Link Rune Levels

 

Rune grades are unique to each Rune. With a higher grade, Runes will give you options such as increased Area of Effect and amplified damage. These effects will make visual changes, so it is recommended to upgrade your Runes at every opportunity. You can refer to the disassembly formula on the screen or the game guide for more details. 

 

Rune Transfer

Finally, if you wish to replace one of the Runes you selected, you can use the Transfer Rune ability through Alchemy for free before clearing Episode 2 (Act 10). Once you clear Episode 2, you can continue using the Transfer Rune feature for a price. 

 

That is how to complete the Rune section of creating your build in UNDECEMBER. You can visit the official Youtube channel of UNDECEMBER for more information regarding each category to help you understand the game. 




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UNDECEMBER Beginner's Guide 2022

 


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