Runes

Talion collecting epic rune — Talion collecting an epic rune

Runes are items in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor that add powerful buffs to Celebrimbor's bow Azkâr, Talion's dagger Acharn, and Talion's sword Urfael. These runes can be obtained by vanquishing enemy Nemeses. Exploiting the weaknesses of an enemy will influence the type of runes that drop, and combining different runes will increase the power of Talion's weapons in different ways.

Obtaining Runes[]

Whenever Talion slays an enemy Uruk Nemesis, it may drop a rune which Talion can use to upgrade his weapons. Every Nemesis has certain weaknesses, such as a vulnerability to attacks from mounts or stealth takedowns, that can be exploited to obtain specific runes. For instance, if the player kills an enemy captain using a stealth takedown, the player will receive a stealth related rune.

Epic Runes[]

Epic runes are extremely powerful runes that can only be obtained from Uruk warchiefs or captains who have been threatened. To obtain these epic runes from captains, Talion must first dominate a bodyguard, who must then be forced to deliver a death threat to their captain. This captain will learn that Talion is coming after him, and will prepare himself accordingly by surrounding himself with bodyguards. Once the captain and his bodyguards are defeated, the captain will drop the epic rune.

Applying Runes[]

The player is able to add runes to Talion's weapons through the weapon upgrade menu. Every weapon can be upgraded with several runes, and these runes can be combined to make Talion's weapons even more legendary.

List of Runes[]

Acharn[]

Name	Effect	Level
Favor of the Lady	Recovers 15% Health when completing a Drain or Brand.	5
Heart of Mearas	Increases Elven Swiftness speed burst duation by 50%.	Epic
Lure of Power	33% Chance that any enemy near a Stealth Brand target will also be branded.	Epic
Power of the Earth	Recovers 100% Focus on Ground Execution.	0
Worm's Tooth	A Stealth Kill recharges the Shadow of Acharn at double the normal rate.	Epic

Azkâr[]

Icon	Name	Effect	Level
?	Aura of Dismay	Upon landing a headshot on an Uruk that is unaware of Talion's location, others around him will flee in fear.	?
	Bow Master	Increases bow damage by 50%.	Epic
?	Broken Mind	Whenever Talion Brands a foe and initiates them into his army, Talion has a 50% chance to regain 1 arrow.	?
	Explosive Demise	20% Chance that an area blast will happen around a charged bow kill.	Epic
	Fire Storm	Adds a powerful blast to Fire Arrows.	Epic
	Keen Eyed	Recovers 43% Focus for killing with the bow.	6
	Will of the West	29% Chance to recover +10 Health on a head shot kill.	4

Urfael[]

Icon	Name	Effect	Level
	Betrayer	Increases all weapon damage by 35% when hitting an enemy from behind.	0
?	Blade Master	Talion will regain 50 health when his hit streak reaches 30.	?
	Smite	Recovers 100% Focus on Combat Flurry kills.	0
	Storm of Battle	Boosts all sword damage by 50%.	Epic
	Strength from Courage	Recovers 25% Health on a Combat Flurry kill.	0

Exclusive Runes[]

Name	Effect	For Weapon	How to Obtain
Deadly Archer	Talion will deal extra damage when executing ranged headshots against Sauron's Captains.	Azkâr	Pre-order the game from Amazon.
Flame of Anor	Talion can ignite his blade by achieving a high combo count and incinerate his enemies.	Urfael	Pre-order the game from Best Buy.
Gravewalker	Talion's enemies will flee after you strike down Sauron's Captains.	Urfael	Sign into your WBID account through Palantir.
Hidden Blade	Talion can deal extra damage when executing stealth attacks against Sauron's Captains.	Acharn	Pre-order the game from GameStop.
Orc Hunter	Spread terror amongst Sauron's forces with brutal stealth attacks.	Acharn	Sign up for a WBID for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.
Orc Slayer	Talion will decimate Sauron's Captains with increased damage from special attacks.	Urfael	Pre-order the game from Steam.