Runes
Runes are the items that spells use up when you cast them. Every combat spell on the Standard spellbook and Ancient Magicks costs a few runes per cast, and so does Vengeance on the Lunar spellbook. On Roat Pkz almost every rune is free: the Magic Shop at ::shops gives them out at no cost, ::runes gives you 2,500 of each, and you can spawn them. Only wrath runes, which Surge spells need, and sunfire runes cost PK points. A Rune pouch carries three types of rune in a single inventory slot, and many staves and tomes give you unlimited runes of their element.
List of runes
All runes except wrath and sunfire runes are free (see Getting runes). The Runecraft level and XP are for crafting the rune with Runecrafting.
| Rune |  level |
XP per essence | Used for | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elemental runes | ||||
 Air rune |
1 | 36 | Every elemental spell from Wind Strike to Fire Surge, Smoke and Shadow spells, god spells, Charge, Telekinetic Grab | Free |
 Water rune |
5 | 44 | Water spells, Ice spells, Bind, Snare and Entangle | Free |
 Earth rune |
9 | 48 | Earth spells, Bind, Snare and Entangle, Vengeance | Free |
 Fire rune |
14 | 52 | Fire spells, Smoke spells, god spells, Charge | Free |
| Catalytic runes | ||||
 Mind rune |
2 | 40 | Strike spells | Free |
 Body rune |
20 | 56 | Crafted for Runecraft experience | Free |
 Cosmic rune |
27 | 62 | Crafted for Runecraft experience | Free |
 Chaos rune |
35 | 70 | Bolt spells, Rush and Burst spells, Tele Block, Teleport to Target | Free |
 Astral rune |
40 | 75 |  Vengeance |
Free |
 Nature rune |
44 | 80 |  Bind, Snare and Entangle |
Free |
 Law rune |
54 | 85 | Telekinetic Grab, Teleport to Target | Free |
| Death rune |
65 | 100 | Blast spells, every Ancient Magicks combat spell, Tele Block, Vengeance, Teleport to Target | Free |
 Blood rune |
77 | 130 | Wave spells, Blitz and Barrage spells, Blood spells, god spells, Charge | Free |
 Soul rune |
90 | 170 | Shadow spells,  Blood Barrage |
Free |
 Wrath rune |
95 | 250 |  Surge spells (one wrath rune per cast) |
1 PKP PK Point Shop |
 Sunfire rune |
– | – | Used in place of fire runes, with a minimum hit for fire spells (see below); 100 of them make a Searing page | 1 PKP PK Point Shop |
| Combination runes | ||||
 Mist rune |
– | – | Counts as an air rune and a water rune | Free |
 Dust rune |
– | – | Counts as an air rune and an earth rune | Free |
 Mud rune |
– | – | Counts as a water rune and an earth rune | Free |
 Smoke rune |
– | – | Counts as an air rune and a fire rune | Free |
 Steam rune |
– | – | Counts as a water rune and a fire rune | Free |
 Lava rune |
– | – | Counts as an earth rune and a fire rune | Free |
PKP = PK points. XP is per essence with Daeyalt essence; pure essence gives half (see Runecrafting). The exact number of runes each spell needs is on the Standard spellbook, Ancient Magicks and Lunar spellbook pages.
How spells use runes
- Staves and tomes first: if your weapon or a charged tome gives unlimited runes of an element (see below), your spells never use up that rune.
- Inventory before pouch: the runes in your inventory are used before the runes in your Rune pouch or Divine rune pouch.
- Combination runes count as one of each of their two elements, so a stack of mist runes covers both the air and the water runes of a spell. They also fit in the rune pouch as a single type.
- Spell sacks let you cast a spell with no runes at all; they are only used when you do not have the runes (see Spell sacks).
- Wrath and sunfire runes are the only runes worth PK points. If you die where you lose items, such as the Wilderness, the wrath and sunfire runes in your rune pouch drop for the player who killed you, even though the pouch itself is kept (see Rune pouch).
Sunfire runes
A sunfire rune can be used in place of a fire rune. When you carry sunfire runes, a spell that needs fire runes uses the sunfire runes first, even if your staff or Tome of fire would give you the fire runes for free. Fire Strike, Fire Bolt, Fire Blast, Fire Wave and Fire Surge cast with sunfire runes always deal at least 10% of their max hit (at least 1) when they hit. Use 100 sunfire runes on a burnt page to make a Searing page, which gives the Tome of fire the same minimum hit. Sunfire runes cost 1 PK point each in the PK Point Shop and can be traded.
Staves and tomes
These items count as an unlimited supply of runes while you wield them; tomes must be worn in the shield slot and charged with pages.
| Item | Unlimited runes | Where to get it |
|---|---|---|
 Staff of air,  Air battlestaff,  Mystic air staff |
Air |
The plain elemental staves are free in the Magic Shop at ::shops. All battlestaves and mystic staves on this list can be spawned.
|
 Staff of water,  Water battlestaff,  Mystic water staff |
Water
| |
 Staff of earth,  Earth battlestaff,  Mystic earth staff |
Earth
| |
 Staff of fire,  Fire battlestaff,  Mystic fire staff |
Fire
| |
 Mist battlestaff,  Mystic mist staff |
Air and water |
Can be spawned. The Mud battlestaff is also free in the Magic Shop. |
 Dust battlestaff,  Mystic dust staff |
Air and earth
| |
 Mud battlestaff,  Mystic mud staff |
Water and earth
| |
 Smoke battlestaff,  Mystic smoke staff |
Air and fire
| |
 Steam battlestaff,  Mystic steam staff |
Water and fire
| |
 Lava battlestaff,  Mystic lava staff |
Earth and fire
| |
 Kodai wand,  Holy kodai wand |
Water |
See Kodai wand |
 Bryophyta's staff |
Nature |
Hard clue scroll reward caskets |
 Tome of fire (charged) |
Fire |
The empty tomes and the pages come from the Mage Arena shop |
 Tome of water (charged) |
Water
| |
 Tome of earth (charged) |
Earth
|
Wearing a staff and a tome together covers both elements, for example a Staff of air with a charged Tome of fire for Fire Surge. Only the wrath rune is then left to pay for.
Spell sacks
A spell sack replaces all the runes of one cast. Keep it in your inventory: each cast uses one sack, but only when you do not carry the runes for that spell, so the runes are always used first.
| Sack | Replaces the runes of | Where to get it | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
 Blighted ancient ice sack |
Ice Rush, Ice Burst, Ice Blitz and Ice Barrage | 5 BHP: Magic Shop and Bounty Hunter shop | 20 PKP |
 Blighted entangle sack |
Bind, Snare and Entangle | 1 BHP: Magic Shop | 4 PKP |
 Blighted teleport spell sack |
Tele Block and Teleport to Target | 5 BHP: Magic Shop and Bounty Hunter shop | 20 PKP |
 Blighted vengeance sack |
Vengeance | 1 BHP: Magic Shop | 4 PKP |
 Blighted surge sack |
Every Wave and Surge spell | 5 BHP: Bounty Hunter shop | 20 PKP |
BHP = Bounty Hunter points. The sacks are stackable. All of them can be traded except the Blighted surge sack. While you carry Blighted ancient ice sacks, Ice Barrage can also hit several monsters at once in multi-combat areas, using one sack per cast (see Multi-target spells).
Getting runes
Shops
| Shop | Where | Runes and prices | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Magic Accessories | Trade the Magic Shop at ::shops |
Every rune on this page except wrath and sunfire runes, free and in any amount. It also gives out the plain elemental staves and the Mud battlestaff, and sells the Blighted ancient ice, teleport spell, entangle and vengeance sacks for Bounty Hunter points. |
 |
PK Point Shop | Mazchna at ::shops |
Wrath runes and sunfire runes, 1 PK point each. They cannot be sold back to the shop. The Rune pouch costs 1,000 PK points. |
 |
Bounty Hunter shop | Emblem Trader at ::shops |
The Blighted ancient ice, surge and teleport spell sacks, 5 Bounty Hunter points each. |
| F2P Items | Talk to Other Shops at ::shops |
Air, water, earth, fire, chaos, nature and death runes, free. | |
| Voting Shop | ::shops |
The Divine rune pouch, 100 vote points. | |
 |
Mage Arena Shop | Kolodion at ::mb |
The empty tomes and their pages for Mage Arena points: Tome of fire 100 and burnt pages 3 each, Tome of water and Tome of earth 50 each and their soaked and soiled pages 1 each. |
 |
Runecrafting Shop | Trade the Runecrafting Tutor at ::runecrafting |
Pure essence (500 skilling points) and Daeyalt essence (1,000) for Runecrafting. |
Commands
These commands give you runes for free. They work in safe zones, the same places where you can spawn items, as long as you are not under attack:
| Command | You get | Then |
|---|---|---|
::runes |
2,500 of every rune except wrath and sunfire runes, as many types as fit in your inventory | – |
::veng |
5,000 death, astral and earth runes | Offers to switch you to the Lunar spellbook |
::barrage, ::blitz, ::icebarrage, ::iceblitz |
5,000 water, death and blood runes | Offers to switch you to Ancient Magicks |
::bloodbarrage, ::bloodblitz |
5,000 soul, death and blood runes | |
::tb, ::teleblock |
5,000 law, chaos and death runes | Offers to switch you to the Standard spellbook |
::bind, ::entangle |
5,000 earth, water and nature runes |
You can also spawn any rune except wrath and sunfire runes outside PvP areas, for example ::item 560 10000 for 10,000 death runes (see Commands). Rune item IDs: air 556, water 555, earth 557, fire 554, mind 558, body 559, cosmic 564, chaos 562, astral 9075, nature 561, law 563, death 560, blood 565, soul 566, steam 4694, mist 4695, dust 4696, smoke 4697, mud 4698 and lava 4699.
Rune pouch pre-sets
The Pre-Set option of the Rune pouch fills it with 16,000 each of the runes for Ice Barrage, Vengeance, Tele Block or Bind in one click, free of charge. See Rune pouch for the details.
Runecrafting
Runecrafting turns essence into Runecraft experience and skilling points. Because the other runes are free, the only crafted runes you keep are wrath runes. The altar in the Divine Skilling Zone is the exception: it always gives you the runes it makes.
| Altar | Where | Needs | Makes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
The Abyss | The Mage of Zamorak in level 5 Wilderness, just north of Edgeville, teleports you in | Combat level 126, and the Runecraft level of the rune to use its rift | Air, mind, water, earth, fire, body, cosmic, chaos, nature, law, death and soul runes, each at its own altar |
|
ZMI altar | Next to the Runecrafting Tutor at the Skilling Zone (::runecrafting) |
Pure essence only | The highest-level rune your Runecraft level allows, apart from wrath runes |
|
Wrath altar | Level 9 Wilderness, north-west of Edgeville | 95 |
Wrath runes |
| Royal Donator Zone dungeon | 95 |
Wrath runes | ||
| Divine Skilling Zone | Any level | The highest-level rune your Runecraft level allows, wrath runes included | ||
- Essence: the Runecrafting Tutor sells pure essence for 500 skilling points and Daeyalt essence for 1,000. Daeyalt essence gives the full XP in the table above and pure essence half of it, and the ZMI altar only takes pure essence.
- See Runecraft training for training methods, XP rates and the outfit that boosts Runecraft XP.