Liquipedia Dota 2 needs more help, are you able to? You just have to register an account and then log in to edit our pages. If you have any questions you can join the #dota2 channel on Discord.
Download the Liquipedia App here!Download the Liquipedia App on Android or iOS!Want to be updated on everything you love in esports? Download the Liquipedia app on iOS or Android and never miss a beat of your favorite tournaments, teams, players, and matches!

Runes

From Liquipedia Dota 2 Wiki
This article may be outdated due to metagame or patch changes. Help us by revising it.
I cast the runes.
Rune spawn locations on the map. Click to enlarge image.

Runes are special powerups that spawn at one of two locations in the river. Powerup Runes spawn every two minutes, but do not spawn for the first four minutes of the game, only starting at the 6:00 minute mark. If a Powerup Rune is not picked up after two minutes, it will disappear and be replaced by a different rune. At the 2:00 and 4:00 minute marks, two Water Runes spawn at the locations where Powerup Runes normally spawn.

In the jungle, there are two locations which spawn Bounty Runes every three minutes. In addition to the jungle locations, two additional Bounty Runes spawn in the river (where Powerup Runes normally spawn) at the at 0:00 game time (first creep spawn).

Bottling[edit]

  • When a hero is carrying a  Bottle, taking the rune will cause it to be stored in the bottle instead of being used.
  • The rune can be used at any time by activating the bottle.
  • Bottling a rune will not prevent a new one from spawning.
  • If the rune is not consumed in 90 seconds from picking it up, it will activate automatically.
  • After spending a stored Powerup Rune, the bottle is refilled to max charges. Bottling a bounty rune or a water rune only replenishes to 2 bottle charges, leaving it unmaxed. If the bottle is at max charges, the bounty rune will be used instead of stored.
  • The Courier Courier cannot bottle runes, and bottles with a stored rune are unshareable and undroppable.

Powerup Runes[edit]

There are several types of Powerup Runes, each giving you a different and powerful effect for a short duration. The buffs granted by runes can be dispelled.

Double Damage Rune[edit]

Double Damage
Targeting
No Target
Affects
Self
When activated, the Rune of Double Damage increases base attack damage.
Bonus Damage100%
Duration45

Dispellable.

The buff is applied to the user's controlled illusions within 500 range upon activation.
Notes
  • Only affects base damage.
  • The electric blue visual effect is visible to enemies.

Haste Rune[edit]

Haste
Targeting
No Target
Affects
Self
When activated, the Rune of Haste increases movement speed to maximum and applies haste, making the user immune to slows.
Movement Speed550
Duration22

Dispellable.

Notes
  • The red trailing visual effect is also visible to enemies.

Illusion Rune[edit]

Illusion
Targeting
No Target
Affects
Self
When activated, the Rune of Illusion creates controllable illusions of your hero.
Illusions Summoned2
Illusion Damage Dealt35%
Melee Illusion Damage Taken200%
Ranged Illusion Damage Taken300%
Duration75

Regeneration Rune[edit]

Regeneration
Targeting
No Target
Affects
Self
When activated, the Rune of Regeneration grants hp and mana regeneration based a percentage of the user's maximum values.
Max HP Regen Per Second6%
Max Mana Regen Per Second6%
Duration30

Dispellable.

Notes
  • The effect ends if the hero replenishes all health and mana or receives damage from an enemy player or Roshan.

Invisibility Rune[edit]

Invisibility
Targeting
No Target
Affects
Self
When activated, the Rune of Invisibility turns the user invisible after a short fade time.
Fade Time2
Duration45

Dispellable.

Arcane Rune[edit]

Arcane
Targeting
No Target
Affects
Self
When activated, the Arcane Rune will cause all spell and item cooldowns, as well as mana costs, to be reduced.
Cooldown Reduction30%
Mana Cost/Loss Reduction30%
Duration50

Dispellable.

Notes
  • Stacks with  Octarine Core.
  • The purple visual effect is visible to enemies.

Bounty Runes[edit]

There is one in each of the safe lane jungles throughout the map, granting a gold bonus for all allied heroes when picked up.

Bounty Rune[edit]

Bounty
Targeting
No Target
Affects
Self
When activated, the Rune of Bounty will grant gold to each player on the user's team.
Base Gold40
Bonus Gold Per Interval9
Interval3 minutes

Notes
  • A bottled Bounty Rune grants gold upon activation, not when it is bottled.
  • A Bounty Rune will not disappear even if it is not picked up before a new one spawns.
  • Gold provided by a Bountry Rune is Reliable gold.

Bounty Stats[edit]

Below is a table of Bounty Rune gold values when collected at various times during a game:

Minute 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60
Gold 40 40 45 45 54 63 63 72 72 81 90 90 99 99 108 117 117 126 126 135 144

Water Runes[edit]

Water Rune[edit]

Water
Targeting
No Target
Affects
Self
When activated, the Rune of Water instantly restores a small amount of health and mana.
Health Restored40
Mana Restored80

Version History[edit]

Version Balance Changes
7.31
  • Bounty rune:
    • Rework Moved the bounty runes from the triangle to the primary jungle
7.30
  • Nerf Water Rune healing reduced from 80HP to 40HP
7.29c
  • Nerf Water Rune restore reduced from 100/80 HP/Mana to 80/80
7.29
  • New Added Water Power Rune. Spawns at both Power Rune locations only at minute 2 and 4. Instantly restores 100 health and 80 mana when used. Can be used to fill bottles. Starting at 6 minutes, Power Runes spawn as usual on one side.
  • Bounty rune:
    • Nerf Bounty Runes after the initial set are reduced by 10%
    • Rework Bounty Runes no longer spawn in the river. The amount these runes gave is now provided automatically over time through GPM.
    • Rework Bounty Runes now spawn every 3 minutes in the respective jungle area (total rune count reduced from 4 to 2)
    • Buff Bounty Runes no longer disappear when new ones spawn, they now spawn alongside the previous one if it isn't picked up
    • Rework At minute 0, Bounty Runes spawn in the jungle and at the power rune locations (4 total at the start of the game)
7.27
  • Bounty rune:
    • Rework Bounty Runes are now reliable gold
7.25
  • Rework Power Runes initially spawn at 4 minutes now (subsequent spawns are still every 2 minutes)
    • Nerf Power Runes no longer spawn on both sides of the map at 40 minutes
7.24
  • Bounty rune:
    • Rework Lane bounty runes have been moved to the secondary jungles
7.23c

2019/12/09 Update

  • Bounty Runes are now locked to 5 minute intervals in terms of their gold values
    • (So getting a 6 minute bounty isn't higher than a 5 minute one)
7.16
  • Bounty rune:
    • Nerf team gold reduced from 40 + 3/min to 40 + 2/min
    • Bug Fix Fixed Bounty Runes not being storable when the Bottle is full
7.15
  • Bounty rune:
    • Rework Now spawn every 5 minutes
    • Rework Now grants gold to each player (40 + 3/min)
    • Buff Now fully fills bottles
7.10
  • Buff Bounty rune base gold bounty increased from 50 to 60 (affects runes after the first one)
  • Nerf Bounty rune no longer gives XP
    • Previously gave 0 at the start and increased by 7 per minute
7.09
  • Rework Initial Bounty rune now gives +40 gold to all heroes instead of 100 to the hero that picks it up (those Bounty runes look slightly different)
7.08
  • Bounty rune:
    • Nerf Base XP reduced from 25 to 0
    • Buff Gold Growth increased from 2/min to 4/min
7.07d
  • Nerf Arcane rune mana cost reduction reduced from 40% to 30% (same as the cooldown reduction)
7.07c
  • Nerf Bounty runes base XP reduced from 50 to 25
  • Buff Bounty runes XP Growth increased from 5/min to 7/Min
7.07
  • Rework Regeneration Rune changed from 100/67 HP/MP to 6% Max HP/MP
7.06
  • Buff Powerup Runes now spawn different runes on both sides of the river after 40 minutes
7.02
  • Buff Regeneration rune now has the same damage dispel rules as Healing Salve
7.00
  • Rework Runes are now two different categories: Powerup Runes (Haste, Double Damage, etc.) and Bounty Runes
  • Rework Bounty runes are no longer located in the River
  • Rework Powerup Rune spawns now occur at only one river location at a time (they do not spawn at the start of the game)
  • Rework Each of the four jungles now spawns a Bounty rune every 2 minutes (including the start of the game)
  • Rework Bottle now only replenishes 2 charges when filled with a Bounty rune (hero will auto-consume Bounty runes if Bottle already has full charges)
  • Buff Haste rune movement speed increased from 522 to 550
  • Nerf Haste rune duration reduced from 25 to 22 seconds
6.87
6.86b
  • Nerf Arcane rune mana reduction reduced from 50% to 40%
6.86
6.84c
  • Nerf Haste rune duration reduced from 30 to 25
6.83
  • Rework First rune spawns are now both Bounty runes that are twice as effective (50/50 gold/xp to 100/100)
6.82
  • New Added Bounty rune
  • Buff Two runes now spawn in the river every two minutes. One of them will always be a Bounty rune
  • Rework Runes are replaced every two minutes if they are not picked up
6.81
  • Buff Melee illusions created by a Illusion rune take 200% instead of 300% damage

See also[edit]