With the recent release of WoW Classic’s Season of Discovery, players are scrambling to find new seasonal items called Runes. Much of the runes are skills from different expansions, now brought into Classic WoW, and their power cannot be understated. However, these runes are hidden in many zones, requiring extensive searching throughout Azeroth and completing specific questlines to receive a rune. Phase 1 for the season has just begun, and players have discovered the first set of runes and what they can do for each class. This guide will list the best runes and explain why they’ve been chosen.
Paladin
Paladins are one of the best tanks in the game, with a lot of damage mitigation skills and decent offensive options. They also provide a lot of team utility with buffs, and emergency heals. This rune setup provides a few extra damage options for your kit and bonus healing for a chosen player.
- Divine Storm: Instantly deal 110% damage up to 4 enemies while healing up to 3 allies with 25% of the damage you dealt
- Avenger’s Shield: Deals Holy damage, and inflicts Daze for 10 seconds
- Exorcism: Can be cast on any target and has a 100% increased critical strike chance against Undead and Demons.
- Beacon of Light: Any heals you cast also heals the assigned Beacon for 100% of the amount for 1 minute. Only one target can be the Beacon of Light at a time.
- Crusader Strikes: Instantly strike a target for 75% weapon damage and regenerate 2% of your maximum mana.
Priest
This rune build passively augments Priests' healing output, providing far more coverage within groups and debuffing enemies so players can focus more on their main rotations.
- Homunculi: Break off splinters of your soul to animate 3 miniature copies of yourself that attempt to attack your current target with a mace, sword, and axe, reducing the attack speed, attack power, and armor of any target they hit.
- Penance: Deals Holy damage to an enemy or healing an ally instantly for 2 seconds
- Strength of Soul: Lesser Heal, Heal, Greater Heal, and Flash Heal reduce the remaining duration of Weakened Soul on targets they heal by 4 sec. In addition, targets of your Power Word: Shield will gain Rage from taking damage despite the damage being absorbed, and Righteous Fury will trigger from damage absorbed by your Power Word: Shield as if it were a heal.
- Prayer of Mending: Places a spell on an ally that heals them for the next time they take damage or receive healing. Prayer of Mending spreads to nearby party members when the healing occurs.
- Shadow Word: Death: Inflicts Shadow damage to the target. The spell will deal the same damage to the caster if the cast does not kill the target.
Shaman
These runes increase your spell casting uptime through mana regen and damage mitigation and add extra burst damage without expending much mana, keeping your DPS high and consistent throughout an encounter.
- Shamanistic Rage: Reduces all damage you take by 20%, and you regenerate mana every second for 15 sec. Mana regenerated per second is equal to 15% of your Attack Power, 10% of your spell power, or 6% of your healing power, whichever value is the highest. Your party members within 40 yards will also receive 10% of the mana you receive.
- Earth Shield: Reduces a target’s cast time by 30% when damaged and causes incoming attacks to heal the shielded target by 100 for 10 minutes.
- Overload: Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Chain Heal, Healing Wave, and Lava Burst spells have a 33% chance to cast a similar spell on the same target for additional cost and causes half damage or healing.
- Water Shield: Places 3 globes of water on the caster that provides 1% mana every 5 minutes. Whenever the caster is hit, they receive 4% max mana, which expends a globe.
- Lava Burst: Deals a heavy amount of Fire damage. The spell becomes a guaranteed critical hit if the target is debuffed with Flame Shock.
Warrior
Warriors are always the first to pull a mob with their mobility skills, and this rune list encourages players to be as aggressive as possible. These skills are simple yet complement the frontline playstyle that Warrior extols.
- Blood Frenzy: When Bleed damage is inflicted, gain 3 Rage
- Warbringer: Charge, Intercept, and Intervene abilities can now be used during combat and in any stance, removing crowd control effects when cast.
- Quick Strike:Instantly attack with your two-handed weapon, dealing Physical damage. This ability synergizes well with Heroic Strike.
- Consumed by Rage: Grants a 20% melee damage bonus for 12 sec or up to a maximum of 12 swings after you exceed 80 Rage.
- Single Minded Fury: Your Physical damage and movement speed are increased by 10% when dual-wielding weapons.
Rogue
This build involves stacking as many DoTs as possible with the Deadly Poison mechanic and following up with burst damage stacking from the DoTs. It will enhance the existing DPS rotation that Rogue is known for.
- Slaughter from the Shadows: Reduces Backstab and Ambush ability costs by 20
- Saber Slash: slash an enemy for 130% weapon damage and cause the target to bleed every 2 sec for 12 sec, stacking up to 3 times and awarding a combo point.
- Deadly Brew: When any poison is inflicted on a target, it may also inflict Deadly Poison. If the weapon does not have a poison applied, it has a chance to trigger Instant Poison as if Instant Poison were applied. Deadly Poison and Instant Poison now gain increased damage from Attack Power.
- Envenom: Deals instant poison damage based on your Deadly Poison doses on the target. Attacks after Envenomhave 75% increased frequency of applying Instant Poison for 1 sec plus an additional 1 sec per combo point.
- Mutilate: Instantly attacks with both weapons for 100% weapon damage plus additional damage with each weapon. Deals 20% bonus damage against Poisoned targets and awards 2 combo points.
Mage
Mage’s famous burst damage options can be expanded with an extra layer of active and DoT spells. Should
- Living Flame: Summons a spellfire flame that moves toward the target for 20 seconds, leaving a trail of spellfire. This trail deals Spellfire damage every second to nearby enemies.
- Arcane Burst: Blasts the target with energy, dealing Arcane damage. With every cast, the damage and healing of all other Arcane spells is increased by 15% and while increasing the mana cost of Arcane Blast. The spell stacks 4 times. Lasts for 6 sec. or until casting any other spell.
- Burnout: Increases spell critical strike chance with all spells by 15%, but spell criticals will cost an extra 1% of base mana.
- Living Bomb: The target is ignited and takes Fire damage over 12 seconds. Upon the end of the spell, the target explodes for additional fire damage over an area.
- Icy Veins: Deals Frost damage to a target and triples it against Frozen targets.
Druid
This rune build involves utilizing Druid’s Feral and Balance trees and becoming a versatile class offering good offensive melee and ranged options to Druid’s kit.
- Fury of Stormrage: Reduces Wrath’s mana cost by 100%, and each time damage is dealt with Wrath, gain a 12% chance for the next cast of Healing Touch within 15 sec to be instant.
- Savage Roar: Increases physical damage done by 30% while in Cat Form. Lasts 14 seconds at base and adds a bonus 5 sec. per combo point.
- Sunfire: Burns the enemy with Nature damage along with damage over time for 12 seconds
- Mangle: Gain the Mangle (Bear) ability and replace the Claw ability with Mangle (Cat)
- Wild Strikes: While in Cat Form, Bear Form, or Dire Bear Form, party members within 20 yards gain 20% chance of granting the attacker an extra attack with 20% additional Attack Power on any melee hit.
Warlock
These runes combine Demonology and Destruction Warlock to allow for high pet damage and personal DPS.
- Haunt: Deals damage and increases all Shadow damage over time dealt to a target by 20%. When Haunt ends or is dispelled, it heals for all the damage it dealt to the target.
- Lake of Fire: Rain of Fire also leaves a Lake of Fire on the ground, increasing all Fire damage you and your Demon pet deal to affected enemies by 40% for 15 sec.
- Metamorphosis: Transform into a Demon, increasing Armor by 500%, reducing the chance of being critically hit by 6%, increasing threat by 50%, and increasing mana gained from Life Tap by 100%. Also grants additional functionalities to Searing Pain, Shadow Bolt and Fear, and adding new abilities like Demon Charge and Demonic Howl.
- Master Channeler: Drain Life is no longer channeled, lasts 15 sec with a 15 sec cooldown, costs 100% more mana, and heals for 50% more each time it deals damage.
- Demonic Pact: Pet critical strikes apply the Demonic Pact effect to party members for 45 sec. Demonic Pact increases spell damage and healing by 10% of your spell damage or your level divided by 2, whichever is higher.
Hunter
These runes boost the ranged performance for Hunters while providing insurance that their ranged remains unchallenged with the assistance of their personal pets.
- Aspect of the Lion: Provides a buff by increasing total stats by 10% for all nearby party members and 20% for the Hunter
- Sniper Training: Shot abilities gain 10% increased critical strike chance while you have not moved for the last 6 sec.
- Beast Mastery: Pet's damage and health increase by 30%, and its Focus regeneration by 80%. The pet’s Growl ability also draws aggro from enemies.
- Master Marksman: Increases critical strike chance by 5%, and reduces the mana cost of all Shot abilities by 25%.
- Explosive Shot: Deals Fire damage and causes the charge to explode on an enemy for additional damage within 2 sec.
