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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nibelung" data-source="post: 6709450" data-attributes="member: 74499">Originally posted by RayjeEliwan:Lexicon of the Perfected Map: Daily PowersLevel 1: Let's be blunt: Runepriest dailies are pretty bland until Epic. In many cases, they're only interesting because of the targeting; they're your main source of bursts and blasts, if you feel like having such things is important. Also, they never have rune state riders, so be mindful of that. Note that this means that if you need to enter or change a rune state, your daily powers will not do the job. Here at level 1, Rune of Endless Fire and Rune of the Undeniable Dawn are both decent, though neither ages especially well.Show[sblock]Rune of Endless Fire:No stat, AC, single target. There's nothing amazing about this power (though blinded is a good condition to hand out), but it's a nice pile of small bonuses that adds up to an acceptable package. The bonuses themselves aren't amazing by late Heroic or early Paragon, but it's still worth having in your back pocket for when you need to deal fire or radiant damage (if you're ever surprised by a pack of trolls, you will be SO happy you have this it's not even funny).Rune of Iron's Rebuke:No stat, AC, single target. It'll be rare for this to turn the tide of battle, but it's not outright shameful, I suppose. STR mod damage is noticeable at level 1, so this is great to throw on a solo or elite to make misses actually matter. The fact that it disallows shifting can give you a semi-defendery trick for a turn or so, but I wouldn't take the power for that alone.Rune of the Undeniable Dawn:No stat, AC, enemies in friendly burst 3. This is great at low levels. A bonus to defenses that covers most of the battlefield is pretty snazzy, and it's pretty much the biggest burst you're going to find on a Runepriest. That said, the sustain minor becomes more and more of an issue as you level up, so you probably won't keep this for long after you have the chance to retrain.Rune of Twilight's Beacon:No stat, Fort, single target. Basically, it's hard to make the extra damage from this attack trigger more than once. Relatively few allies will have ways of making enemies want to run away, particularly if they're OK ending their own turns next to the target. I guess it makes your defender stickier, but that's awfully situational for your daily power . . . and if your defender isn't sticky on their own, I'm not convinced that this will make the difference.[/sblock]Level 5: Runepriests just don't get game-changing daily powers, at least not before Epic. Rune of Arrow's Flight is acceptable in the correct party, Rune of the Ember of Wrath is finicky but fun when it works, and Rune of the Final Act is good for now, though it scales poorly.Show[sblock]Cage of Light:No stat, Will, enemies in friendly blast 3. There's kind of a controllery effect at work here, but I'm having a hard time thinking of when it'll really be a great choice. It'd make more sense if enemies were punished for attacking allies OUTSIDE the zone, but oh well. The sustain minor is acceptable for now, but hurts later.Rune of Arrow's Flight:No stat, Will, single target. Do you have ranged party members? Pop this on something nasty. It's possibly blue or sky blue in the right party. Do you mostly have melee party members? Look elsewhere. Simple as that.Rune of the Ember of Wrath:No stat, AC, two targets. The fact that burst and blast attacks won't trigger the ember kinda sucks, but if you happen to be fighting, say, a pair of elites, this is an acceptable way of spreading some damage around. It's not amazing, but it's fun when it works.Rune of the Final Act:No stat, Fort, single target. Delay until right after your target goes, then smack them with this and tell everyone to AP right friggin' now. It's a power bonus, so it doesn't stack with Rune of Mending, making this pretty much worthless once Paragon hits (you have to hit six times to make it beat Rune of Mending at Paragon, or four times if Rune of Mending is already active). For now, though, it's probably the best you've got.[/sblock]Level 9: Rune of Boundless Fury is as good as it gets here, though it takes some setup and coordination. Everything else is unremarkable, mostly useful for the targeting. If you have no allies (or not enough allies) who can benefit from the enabling of Rune of Boundless Fury, I'd lean towards Unconquered Redoubt just because it's a good-sized blast, though some other choices are passable.Show[sblock]Rune of Boundless Fury:No stat, AC, single target. It's Hail of Steel, as a daily power, and with more difficult timing. But hey, you get it 8 levels before you get Rune of the Astral Phalanx, so why not? At least it doesn't rely on you hitting, though it does rely really heavily on positioning. If the target can run away, it can spoil the whole thing. Still, if you can set up the positioning and prevent the target from running, it's as damaging an attack as you're going to get in Heroic. Lots of work, but very nice payoff.Rune of Death's Verge:No stat, Fort, mostly single target. The timing on this power is all wrong. You don't really get to determine when the daze will go off, which pretty much ruins any value it has. Notice also that the daze takes an opportunity action, so you can't do it on your own turn . . . which means that you can't just target a minion with this to lay down a big old daze. Way too unreliable to use. You're not very likely to land the killing blow on things, but if you do, you'll also lose the daze here.Rune of Divine Providence (DSG):No stat, AC, single target. An aura of +2 to defenses is . . . probably not the worst possible use of your actions at this level, but the tiny size of the aura and the fact that it requires a sustain minor really makes me skeptical that this will ever be your best choice.Rune of Shielding:No stat, AC, single target. Do you have a Sorcerer or other party-unfriendly AoE specialist? If so, you can make the party not hate them for one encounter per day, or at least until your target dies. If not, skip this. It does work on unfriendly enemy bursts and blasts as well, but it's hard to rely on those. Note that it causes the bursts and blasts to miss you, rather than to not target you, so if there's a miss effect, you're still going to be unhappy. (Compare this with Rune of Allied Effort at 25.) I can actually envision a scenario where it might be an idea to target an ally with this, but that's going to be extremely niche.Unconquered Redoubt:No stat, Fort, enemies in friendly blast 5. Poor wording strikes again! If the bonus to AC only applies to close and area attacks, it's way too situational to be worthwhile. If it's unconditional, it's acceptable, though that sustain minor makes me wary. At least it's a good-sized blast with some forced movement. That can come in handy.Words of Reflected Karma (D404):No stat, Will, enemies in friendly blast 3. It's accurate, it's moderately damaging, it hits in a blast, and it applies some weak soft control. Overall, I don't see the point, but the field's not especially full of contenders, so I guess it's OK if your party can't take proper advantage of Rune of Boundless Fury.[/sblock]Level 15: Once again, nothing stands out as must-have, though most of them are passable. Rune of Judgment's Levy is great for those Runepriests who really wanted to be defenders, and Words of Ancestral Bravery is decent just because it's one of the only ways you have to give out bonuses to saving throws, but whatever works.Show[sblock]Brand of Arcing Lightning:No stat, AC, single target. This can be fun when it works, either cooking all the minions around someone or just beating up another target while you bash on the boss, but I don't often see it being the best use of your action. Still, it's not embarrassing.Rune of Judgment's Levy:No stat, Reflex/Will, single target. You wanna pretend to be a defender? Ta-da, you're a pretend defender (“prefender”?). It's decent damage if you can keep the target corralled and away from you, though there's no way it actually makes you a better leader.Rune of the First Fortress:No stat, AC, enemies in friendly burst 3. Sustain minor is starting to get pretty annoying by this level, and I don't like the fact that enemies in the burst aren't going to be affected by the immobilization effect (unless your allies kick 'em out, of course). Resist 5 is a lot less shiny than it used to be, too, but I can at least imagine some times when this would be useful. In a ranged-heavy party, this will definitely give you a leg up against a melee-heavy encounter, assuming some forced movement on your allies' parts.Rune of the Flanking Wind:No stat, Reflex, single target. Why is this a daily power? I barely didn't give it a red rating because I can imagine a situation in which you'll want to be able to pop in an ally once per day (and there isn't a whole lot of competition at this level), but other than that, the attack doesn't do much.Words of Ancestral Bravery (D404):No stat, Will, single target. Prone on a daily power at 15 just seems kinda weaksauce, but the effect is why you're really here. Being a battery of THP isn't useless, and it's not like you're overflowing with ways to help out with saving throws, so every bonus helps. That said, be careful not to clump up so much that enemies will have an easy time catching you in bursts.[/sblock]Level 19: This level is all about your party. Do you have an ally with amazing save-ends effects? Rune of the Threshold. Do you have a lot of folks who attack AC? Rune of Rust. None of the above? Rune of Warding Light.Show[sblock]Mark of Ill Luck:No stat, AC, single target. Don't optimize for missing. That's really all there is to it. It does affect enemy attacks as well, which is what saves this from a red rating, but I remain unimpressed. Each ping of damage is, at least, a separate ping, so at least it combines nicely with Word of Diminishment.Rune of Rust:No stat, Ref, single target. Dealing with a friggin' annoying soldier who's just a couple levels too high? Lock and load, boys. If you don't have too many people who target AC by now, obviously, this becomes proportionately less useful.Rune of the Threshold:No stat, Will, single target. This is 100% ally-dependent, especially since Runepriest save-ends effects aren't very exciting more often than not. If you have a friend with a great save-ends effect (most likely your party controller, though you never know), coordinate with them and ruin something's day. If not, eh, look elsewhere.Rune of Warding Light:No stat, Will, enemies in friendly burst 2 (mostly). Sustain minor hurts by now. That's the only thing keeping this power from being a lot better, since its effects are actually pretty cool. It's just really hard on your actions.[/sblock]Level 25: Hey, when did we start getting good daily powers? Rune of the Penultimate Step is awesome, Rune of the Conquering Sign is perfectly acceptable as a backup after your encounter enabling powers have run out, and Rune of Allied Effort is pretty nice when you're fighting enemies with unfriendly bursts with miss effects. (Situational, yes, but hey.) Sylarian Sign is even pretty cool, though I feel like it's less likely to be useful than the others. Still, all of these have a lot of potential.Show[sblock]Rune of Allied Effort:No stat, AC, single target. Did you like Rune of Shielding back at level 9? If so, you'll like this. If not, well, it's got 6[W], though you and I both know that lots of [W] dice aren't going to measure up in the long run.Rune of the Conquering Sign:No stat, AC, single target. It's like Rune of Boundless Fury, only somewhat better. Of course, I don't trust ANYTHING save-ends to stick around at level 25, but it'll probably trigger at least once. Use your enabling encounter powers first, then bust this out if you need more.Rune of the Penultimate Step:No stat, Fort, single target. Save-ends stun, hit or miss? Sign me up! Most things you care about stunning at this level will have ways of getting rid of it before failing a saving throw, but if you get lucky enough to have them fail just one, they're outta there.Sylarian Sign:No stat, Ref, enemies in friendly burst 5. This power's cute, and it can turn a tricky encounter into an easy one. It's kinda situational, but it's nothing to be ashamed of. Remember that immunities include things like fear and charm, not just fire and thunder. A –10 to damage rolls won't totally neuter something at level 25, but doing it to the whole encounter will definitely take the edge off.[/sblock]Level 29: Two gems, one pile of fail. Either Rune of Awakening or Rune of Pacifism will serve you well. Brand of Death's Gate is an embarrassment.Show[sblock]Brand of Death's Gate:No stat, AC, single target. This only does damage, doesn't do a lot of damage (no, 7[W] is NOT a lot), and it encourages you to wait and probably waste some of the damage by attacking something that's nearly dead. Just say no.Rune of Awakening:No stat, Reflex, single target. Now THAT'S a surgeless healing power! Even the miss effect is nice. Sure, healing isn't really your biggest concern (especially at level 29), but dang, that's a heck of a comeback. It's also cinematic as all hell, if you have a taste for that sort of thing.Rune of Pacifism:No stat, Will, single target. It's a weird condition, so most things won't be able to just shrug it off. You might even be better off missing, just because save-ends is kind of a liability at level 29. Still, this will definitely change the face of an encounter, and that's what you really want from a daily.[/sblock]Lexicon of the Crafted Tool: Utility PowersRunepriest utilities are pretty good, and they're relatively varied. Lots of them sling around truly massive defense bonuses, a few involve healing, and there's a surprisingly large number of good skill boosters, if you're in the kind of campaign where that sort of thing matters.Level 2: Rune of the Final Effort and Shield of Sacrifice are the clear standouts at this level, though Mark of Skilled Effort is very valuable in certain campaigns. Go with Rune of the Final Effort if you like solid and reliable encounter powers, and go with Shield of Sacrifice if you like huge dramatic daily powers.Show[sblock]Icon of Victory:Daily. A +2 to attack rolls doesn't completely suck, though it's heavy on your actions, and the zone is kinda small. Still, it's good once you've got a melee furball around a solo, for instance. Note that the zone does not move with you, which kinda hurts.Mark of Skilled Effort:Encounter. Runepriests can be surprisingly good at helping with skill checks. If that's a concern in your game, this is actually a pretty hefty bonus, effectively faking training for the untrained or just giving a solid +2 for the trained. Amusingly, if you have a Bard with Bard of All Trades in the party, this power will make their untrained checks better than their trained checks.Rune of the Final Effort:Encounter. Hi, I'm a Runepriest. I like throwing around giant numbers. That ally's going to be just fine. The close range and limit on targeting only bloodied allies is a slight drag, but totally worth it for such a massive bonus as an encounter power, especially at such a low level. Edging on sky blue, honestly.Shield of Sacrifice:Daily. This is the kind of thing dramatic comebacks are made of. Semi-surgeless healing for two people and a massive boost to AC for up to three? Rally your forces, strike up the dramatic music, and turn that fight around![/sblock]Level 6: Plenty to choose from here. Compact of Peace will let your party crush certain skill challenges on an encounter basis, Rune of Meritorious Alacrity is a daily “nope, we win initiative” button, and there's surely something good at level 2 that you didn't get. All in all, this is probably the weakest level for in-class utility powers, and it's still pretty sweet. That said, if there's a theme power or skill power you're really interested in, this is probably the best level to skip.Show[sblock]Compact of Peace:Encounter. Do you have lots of skill challenges? If so, this is pretty awesome. If not, go with something more combat-oriented.Banner of Alliance:Daily. If you like pretending to be a defender, this will help. It won't do much for your Artistry, but it's not like you have too many in-class uses for your immediates. You don't have that much that makes you inherently sturdier than average, but you know your party, and you know who the best target of this will be.Rune of Meritorious Alacrity:Daily. Winning initiative matters. Sure, a Warlord can hand out bonuses encounter after encounter, but this is a great back-pocket trick to just say “no, we go first” when you need it most. Depending on your party makeup, this could edge into sky blue.Rune of Unyielding Steel:Encounter. A standard action? Are you joking? You'd be better off just using the aid defense action.Words of Compassion (D404):Daily. If this weren't a standard action, it'd be passable, but I expect more from a daily utility that takes a standard action. Honestly, I'd be more likely to just use this out of combat to effectively give someone a free surge every day . . . but you'll be better off with a better power.[/sblock]Level 10: This level is all about Rune of the Astral Winds and Protective Scroll. Either is likely to totally change the way you play. Rune of Shared Lore is quite strong and is perhaps worth getting later, but Rune of the Astral Winds and Protective Scroll are head and shoulders above everything else.Show[sblock]Banner of Resolution:Daily. Since THP don't stack, this relies on your ally getting reliably hit in order to actually have much effect. I expect better from a daily, really.Rune of Daunting Light:Encounter. CA isn't usually a huge concern. I guess it could be nice against certain lurkers or skirmishers, but you have far better choices at this level.Rune of Shared Lore:Daily. See what I mean about Runepriests being surprisingly good at helping with skills, if you'll let them? Now we're all able to sneak into the castle without Sir Clanksalot blowing our cover, or all able to lie to the king without the boorish Ranger ruining everything, or all able to activate the different aspects of the arcane engine instead of making Merlan McWizzo do all the work, or all able to see that hidden guy instead of just hoping that the Shaman can give us good enough directions, or whatever. If you use skills at all in your campaign, this is actually really powerful, and you might consider getting it at 16 (though Rune of the Astral Winds and Protective Scroll edge it out at level 10, because they're just that good).Rune of the Astral Winds:At-will. Hellllooooo, ally mobility. This options this open up for ally positioning are hard to overstate. Naturally, if your allies take Agile Opportunist in Paragon, this becomes unbelievably good (what other leader can effectively grant an attack as a move action, at-will?). You might want to invest in some ways to move yourself as a minor action, if you can find any. Even without Agile Opportunist (though really, why any melee character in a party with Rune of the Astral Winds WOULDN'T take Agile Opportunist is beyond me), this is a great power that you'll find yourself using with great regularity. It's especially nice for those who take the Enlightened Word PP, since they have an at-will minor action movement option, but it's great on anyone.Protective Scroll (D404):Encounter. This is pretty huge. Some GMs might let you take a bunch of short rests at the start of the day and just make a ton of these things (usually with the help of Comrades' Succor); I say that's edging on abusive unless it's a really tough campaign, but even without it, this power is awesome, especially for a CON build. Spreading around semi-surgeless healing is very good times, and the huge bonus to defenses this gives out is not to be ignored. If you have Comrades' Succor available, use this at every opportunity. If you don't, it's still very powerful. Do note that this is based on your healing surge value, so if you plan on using this power, it very well may be worth investing in ways to increase that, such as Toughness, Dwarven Durability, Amulet of Vigor, Armor of Durability, maybe the Belt of Blood, Belt of Vigor, and so on.[/sblock]Level 16: The temptation to take the other one of Rune of the Astral Winds and Protective Scroll is powerful, but if you resist their lure, you'll find a couple nice things here, including an improved version of Shield of Sacrifice or yet more encounter healing.Show[sblock]Rune of Preservation:Encounter. If your party wants healing, give them healing! Notice that the resist all is not contingent on spending a surge, so there's some flexibility there. Of course, you'll have three uses of Rune of Mending by 16, so you might not need this. Either way, it's probably overkill to have both this and Protective Scroll in all but the most banged-up parties.Rune of Reinvigoration:Daily. Did you like Shield of Sacrifice? Meet its big brother. Lots of surgeless healing in a good-sized burst that targets you and all your friends is nice to begin with, and a hefty bonus to defenses makes it go from good to great.Rune of the Unblinking Eye:Daily. More skill boosts, this one somewhat remarkably specific. I'm less fond of this than of the other skill-boosting powers, but it can be useful in the right campaign. It's got a heck of a lot of competition for the slot, though. I'd probably rather take Rune of Shared Lore.Rune of the Warded Path:Encounter. It's passable mobility, I suppose, but it'll be relatively rare for it to be really amazing. It's not embarrassingly bad, but there's way too much competition at this level and at level 10 to really think that this will ever be the best choice.[/sblock]Level 22: Remember the choice you made back at level 2, where you had to choose between the reliable defensive spike of Rune of the Final Effort and the flashy daily surge forward offered by Shield of Sacrifice? That's not entirely dissimilar to what you'll be seeing here, at least for WIS builds—Rune of the Hero's Resolve is a great addition to any nova, and Symbol of Defiance offers a powerful shot of mobility and defense boosts for bloodied friends. CON builds don't get as many choices, but what they do get is still pretty sweet. I find it worth mentioning that this is the first level without a skill boost.Show[sblock]Banner of the Undefeated:Daily. I feel like this is more likely to get your allies killed (since enemies will keep attacking them, possibly hitting negative bloodied) than to really help you out, but it can turn a close loss into a close win. Me, I like powers that are more generally applicable.Banner of Victory:Daily. Regen for bloodied friends, vuln all for enemies. This will definitely help, but the sustain minor is holding it back from being excellent, and it's got some competition.Rune of the Hero's Resolve:Daily. That's a pretty big pile of temps, and granting a standard as a minor is nothing to be ashamed of. It's sometimes hard to figure out exactly when best to use this, but it's all good.Symbol of Defiance:Encounter. If you've had fun with Rune of the Final Effort, you'll have fun with this, at least as long as you've got good WIS. It takes some finesse to learn when it's best to wait until maybe one more ally is bloodied and when it's best to just pop it, but it's a strong power that definitely helps the Runepriest's reputation for slinging around huge bonuses. If you're CON-based, it's acceptable just for the mobility (and you probably have at least a +1 or +2 WIS by now), but it's not stellar.[/sblock]</blockquote>

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