any place to buy/trade for runes?

[loreangelicus]

I know I'm getting ahead of myself here, but I'm thinking of putting my paladin game on hold and trying a warrior. I have a phenomenal start with the paladin game, first 4 islands and I have 4 Ancient Knowledge scroll, 2 Call of Death, Eviln, Gladiator Sword and Ancient Amulet at Debir, Black Helmet somewhere, guaranteed Call of Colossus at Scarlet, Magic Spring. Overall a very good game save. But what had me thinking to just start a warrior game were two things:

1) I just found out from forum posts that the ultimate ability of the paladin DOES NOT support my no-loss game. And I thought this was supposed to balance out the lack of Resurrection scroll like the paladin had in KBTL.

2) I also read somewhere that there is a place to buy/trade for runes, making the already powerful warrior even more powerful; the only reason I didn't take the warrior at the start was because I wanted a lot of skills from ALL three skill trees. But if there was a place to buy/trade for runes...

The warrior also has a more useful ultimate in keeping rage between island hops, and generating more rage. More leadership is also great.

Could someone please tell me in what island you could buy/trade for runes, and what the exact mechanics for it are (how gold much per rune if buying, and the conversion cost if trading)?

Much thanks in advance.

[TemjinGold]

You can do it on Montero. Runes cost 100k gold at first and the price climbs with each one of a certain type you buy (Think it's 100k->200k->300k, etc. but I can't remember at the moment.) Trading depends on the amount you trade but at it's best you get back about half of what you trade in. There's also no mixing or matching (each trade is one type of rune for one type of rune.)

Warrior's main downfall is difficulty in getting spell talents early. She doesn't need it but that was the main reason I stopped playing mine (got bored.)

Considering the fact that the paladin no longer gets Runic Stone, I'm not sure why she would suit you better over a warrior if you are looking to get a lot of skills.

[Zechnophobe]

Runes are 100k, 150k, 200k etc.

Magic crystals are 10k, 15k etc.

[loreangelicus]

I wanted to max Learning asap to hopefully get the highest level possible. It should be noted that even with max Learning and a couple of other items to boots XP gain by around +50% per battle it would not be enough to reach level 60; thus my obsession over Ancient Knowledge scrolls (via extra navi maps, sold at shops, pet dragon digging for chests).

Rune progression also differ:

Per each 4 levels the classes get:
Warrior - 24 Might, 16 Mind, 8 Magic runes
Paladin - 12 Might, 24 Mind, 12 Magic Runes
Mage - 8 Might, 16 Mind, 24 Magic runes

If the Warrior had 24 Might, 12 Mind, 12 Magic runes every 4 levels, then I would have chosen her from the start.

Thanks for the reply, I may look into putting my paladin on hold if I could generate a good game save with an impossible warrior. I did the math on the mage skills that I wanted (order 3, distortion 3, chaos 3, summoner 3, all prerequisite skills to get these skills at level 1) and I need around 118 magic runes; the warrior could get exactly 118 magic runes by level 59 (I'm targeting level 60 anyways). Other warrior and paladin skills need minimal magic runes as well, but you get a chance to get more magic runes while playing the game, and any deficit could be bought/traded for.

You are correct, it would be very slow going magic-wise for a warrior. But I like having a full lineup and large armies, so I'll just have to see if I get bored with the warrior.

EDIT: (2010-01-10)

Started a game with an impossible warrior, first thing I noticed (and something I forgot since I never played warrior) is that the warrior generates more rage per hit in battle than the paladin. This is big indeed, since that means I could forgo using Inquisitors and just use Demonologists (for even more rage from summoned demons) instead.

Ancient Amulet at Debir, Gladiator Sword at Debir after getting some stones, Black Helmet at Nameless, Black Knights as early as Scarlet and Verona, Eviln at Verona, Hand of Necropolis at Rusty, 1 Ancient Knowledge scroll sold at a shop (Rusty), etc. And to top it off, I checked the duplicate Bolo wanderer scroll in Scarlet, and it always gives Song of the Wind. :) It's not Call Colossus like in my paladin game, but it looks like Red Dragons again as early as Scarlet. :)

[Nitelite]

Does anyone use the guy that will change 15 of one rune for 8 of another? I am currently level 31 mage on normal and have like 30 might and almost 40 mind runes. (Both these trees are pretty barren for me). I was going to do the exchange but I hate the exchange rate. What do you guys do?

[DGDobrev]

I do, if I have an enormous surplus (which happened in only 1 out of like 10 games) :)

Looking at the things in KBAP, I'd rather get lvl 3 Neatness, buy every item in the game (since money is more than plentiful, even on impossible) and then start breaking them up. In the end, you may end up giving 50k for a lvl 4-5 item that will yield 1-2 runes, while if you decide to buy them, that'll be 100-250k, and if you decide to exchange for them, you are always close to 2:1...

Thanks to my last few play-throughs, I'm really starting to appreciate the Neatness skill, which in general is considered worthless. A serious money-saver and a really good source for crystals and runes, hands down.

[Nitelite]

I do, if I have an enormous surplus (which happened in only 1 out of like 10 games) :)

Looking at the things in KBAP, I'd rather get lvl 3 Neatness, buy every item in the game (since money is more than plentiful, even on impossible) and then start breaking them up. In the end, you may end up giving 50k for a lvl 4-5 item that will yield 1-2 runes, while if you decide to buy them, that'll be 100-250k, and if you decide to exchange for them, you are always close to 2:1...

Thanks to my last few play-throughs, I'm really starting to appreciate the Neatness skill, which in general is considered worthless. A serious money-saver and a really good source for crystals and runes, hands down.

I have one point in Neatness because I wasn't sure if it was worth it to upgrade it beyond that. I didn't want to spend the points for Alchemy either, so have been very tight on my spellbook. What are the advantages of upgrading neatness to level 2 and 3?

[oody]

neatness level 2 and 3 just let you get more crystals when destroying higher level items.

As a mage who uses many different spells, I recommend Alchemy before upgrading neatness. If you learn Alchemy before scribing and upgrading most of your spells, you will have plenty of crystals.

[travelingoz]

No not correct. Neatness level 2 and 3 not only give you more crystals for level 4-5 items, it also gives you a chance to get Runes when breaking items too!

[Starranger]

Yes. You need definetly Neatness 3 to destroy artefacts of level 5 and to get runes.
An other point: Dig, Digg, Digg. Sometimes you got runes instead of money or scrolls.

[DGDobrev]

Well, the basic idea is, that you waste a bunch of runes to save some and get more.

lvl 3 neatness costs around 27 mind runes and 6 magic (if I recall correctly). Lvl 3 alchemy costs 3 Mind and 15 magic. For a mage, who needs to keep her magic runes intact to level up almost every skill in the magic tree to be versatile, Neatness might just do the trick for her. Since money is plentiful, buying every item you come across later in the game will not hurt at all. Then simply break it. This way get the extra crystals you would "obtain" through leveling up alchemy to suit your ever growing crystal needs.

For the price of 27 Mind and 6 magic runes you save up 3 mind and 15 magic, and you get a ton of crystals through breaking items and some more runes from breaking 4-5 lvl item that you don't need. It is a very good tradeoff... Sadly, I'm only realizing it in this game, where I already pumped up Alchemy to lvl 3. So I'm expencting to end up with a ton of crystals and a poorly built magic tree in terms of Order Magic, Magic Light, and probably summoning. If I had gone to neatness lvl 3 straight away, things would have been different.

To sum it up: Lots of money equals lots of unnecessary items. Lots of Unnecessary items + Neatness lvl 3 equals lots of crystals, that you will barely manage to spend. Lots of Unnecessary items of lvl 4-5 + Neatness lvl 3 equals even more crystals and extra runes.

In the end, it's a great trade-off for lvl 3 alchemy.

[TemjinGold]

I've actually gotten runes from L4 artifacts too with Neatness 3 (so don't break those too early!) You get 3 of one type of runes from L5 and 2 of that type w/ L4. Getting runes w/ L4 is much rarer than getting it with L5 though (neither is every time.)

[DGDobrev]

Thanks for the extra info, Temjin. I really needed that clarification to confirm the game experience I posted above. So it is true then, and lvl 3 neatness outweighs the usefulness of Alchemy lvl 3 big time.

I'll have to fix that poor judgment error in the next game with the mage hero :)

[TemjinGold]

Thanks for the extra info, Temjin. I really needed that clarification to confirm the game experience I posted above. So it is true then, and lvl 3 neatness outweighs the usefulness of Alchemy lvl 3 big time.

I'll have to fix that poor judgment error in the next game with the mage hero :)

Sorry, you actually beat me to posting that. It was meant to reply to the guy before you, not rehash what you said.

[DGDobrev]

But I'm really glad you did. I like to have a second opinion on a matter I'm researching to either corroborate my experiences, or get a different point of view. It helps a lot and it is a win-win situation :)