Runes in Dota 2 let you play your games in a variety of ways to make your matches fun. The best times to use runes like Shield and Haste in the strategy game are while fighting enemy heroes, giving you a number of advantages in battles.
New players beginning to play Dota 2 might find it hard to figure out how runes work. Heroes like Lone Druid have emphasized Double Damage in Dota Dreams to instill the importance of activating runes during their gaming sessions. These ancient runes have existed in Dota 2 for several years, allowing players to capture them in a Bottle for immediate use.
Runes tend to pop up on either side of the river near the Mid lane. Placing an Observer Ward in the river will give you visibility of runes as soon as they appear on the map. You can expect runes to become available every 2 minutes in Dota 2, making them an integral aspect of your core tactics to achieve victory.
Here’s a closer look at the best times to use runes in Dota 2.
Runes can help you regenerate health after lethal blows
Your health in Dota 2 can dictate the pace of your game. Many beginners teleport to their base after losing much of their health in battles, taking you away from the action. Once you’re safe behind a tower, you can move towards the river near the Mid lane to locate a Regeneration rune to regain health.
A Regeneration rune restores health and mana to a hero. It provides the best time to launch a counterattack on enemy heroes, leaving your opponents bewildered in battles. Players must stay hidden while the Regeneration rune is active, as any damage taken from enemy heroes can interrupt the restoration, requiring people to wait for their couriers to deliver items.
Intelligence heroes like Zeus can take charge of lanes by activating a Regeneration rune. You can watch this clip of Zeus killing Phantom Assassin with Thundergod’s Wrath and retreating to heal from an Assassinate shot from Sniper. Zeus heals from the lethal attacks and pushes Sniper back, despite taking heavy damage from multiple enemy heroes in his lane due to the Regeneration rune stored in his Bottle.
Deal more damage
The Double Damage rune can be an amazing asset during battles. You can activate the Double Damage to deal 2x your attack damage to enemy units. Physical attacks can eliminate enemy heroes within a few hits with the Double Damage rune.
Agility heroes like Shadow Fiend can mitigate their opponents by using Shadowraze. Passive abilities like Necromastery and Presence of the Dark Lord have a devastating impact on enemy heroes with Double Damage. Shadow Fiend can use multiple instances of Shadowraze and hit his enemies with his ranged attacks to get quick kills in combat.
Melee heroes like Abaddon have the potential to destroy enemies with Double Damage. You can level up Curse of Avernus to slow enemies, gain bonus attack speed, and deal more damage while playing Abaddon. Fans of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne might remember King Arthas roaming the frozen lands with his friends to reclaim dominion of his old kingdom. The Double Damage rune adds a nice touch of fear to his sword.
Surprise enemies with runes during team fights
An Invisibility rune can be activated to make heroes undetectable for a few seconds. You can get into battles without alerting the enemy team by using Invisibility runes in Dota 2. Finding these runes early in the game lets heroes scout the jungle for enemy heroes with low health. Mid lane heroes can signal their allies to be prepared for kills right after activating Invisibility runes.
Dragon Knight can use an Invisibility rune to easily stun enemy heroes. The Elder Dragon Form prevents enemies from escaping and the Breathe Fire spell can give you an instant kill with Dragon Knight in the game. Support heroes like Vengeful Spirit can activate Invisibility runes to swap enemy heroes into an ambush. She can cast Nether Swap, Wave of Terror, and Magic Missile to annihilate her enemies with her team.
Cast spells faster with an Arcane rune
Arcane runes are best suited for nukers. You can message your allies to take Arcane runes to deal enormous amounts of damage with their spells. Arcane runes can significantly decrease the cooldown of spells and items, making it a lot more fun to play support heroes in Dota 2.
Earth Spirit can roll into battles and silence enemies with Geomagnetic Grip. The cooldown of his spells can be reduced to less than 10 seconds with Arcane runes found in the river. Venomancer can place up to 4 Plague Wards to hit enemy units in a single wave of creeps using Arcane runes. You can also cast Venomous Gale several times after activating Arcane runes in battles with Venomancer. Enemy heroes affected by Venomous Gale and Plague Ward have their attack speed and movement speed slowed during battles.
Puck is an Intelligence hero with unbelievable compatibility for an Arcane rune. She can storm into team fights with her Illusory Orbs and use her ulti to restrain the movement of her enemies. Puck can deal over 500 damage for every 5 seconds with an Arcane rune in her grasp. Skywrath Mage can almost cast Arcane Bolts without cooldowns by activating an Arcane rune in matches. You can purchase items like Aether Lens and Eul’s Scepter of Divinity to have plenty of mana to cast these spells after using Arcane runes for Intelligence heroes.
Destroy towers with Illusions
Illusion runes give you control of 2 images that deal loads of damage to enemy units. These images can’t cast spells but can be effective in destroying enemy towers. It can also be used to distract enemy heroes in lanes. An Illusion rune is ideal for Agility heroes since they can deal physical damage to enemy creeps, neutrals, and towers.
Ember Spirit can root enemies with Searing Chains and attack them with illusions for a Double Kill. Flame Guard can absorb magical damage from enemies, allowing Ember Spirit to fight his opponents with images created with Illusion runes. Mirana can Bottle an Illusion rune and leap into battles to stun enemies. She can attack stunned enemies with her illusions for fast kills in Dota 2.
Runes are available throughout the game
Runes are reliable sources of replenishment. You can use runes like throughout the game to regain health, turn invisible, and earn gold. Besides the runes at the river, you can also collect the Bounty runes in the forest to increase your gold per minute (GPM). Learning to use these runes in Dota 2 matches can help you beat your rivals in upcoming tournaments.