Runes

Runes provide passive stat bonuses that scale with level. There are three categories — Offensive, Defensive, and Relic & Specialty — each containing multiple rune types. Runes level from 1 to 12 and the stat growth between levels varies significantly by type, making some runes far more efficient to invest in early than others.

Offensive Runes

Offensive runes boost hero attack power, soldier attack, and march size. The Attack All Soldiers percentage rune scales 10x from level 1 to 12, making it one of the highest-growth investments in the game.

Level	Hero Attack	Hero Attack Rune	Soldier Attack	Attack All Soldiers	March Size
1	16	16	4	3%	10
2	20	20	6	5%	15
3	24	24	8	7%	20
4	28	28	10	9%	25
5	33	33	12	11%	30
6	38	38	14	13%	40
7	44	44	16	16%	50
8	50	50	18	19%	60
9	57	57	20	22%	70
10	64	64	22	25%	80
11	72	72	24	27%	90
12	80	80	26	30%	100

Defensive Runes

Defensive runes boost hero HP, soldier HP, and march size. Like their offensive counterparts, the percentage-based HP All Soldiers rune has 10x growth.

Level	Hero HP	Hero HP Rune	Soldier HP	HP All Soldiers	March Size
1	650	650	15	3%	10
2	800	800	20	5%	15
3	960	960	26	7%	20
4	1,130	1,130	32	9%	25
5	1,310	1,310	39	11%	30
6	1,500	1,500	46	13%	40
7	1,700	1,700	54	16%	50
8	1,910	1,910	62	19%	60
9	2,130	2,130	71	22%	70
10	2,360	2,360	80	25%	80
11	2,600	2,600	86	27%	90
12	2,850	2,850	92	30%	100

Relic & Specialty Runes

These runes provide more niche bonuses — relic HP, defense, and defense break. Defense Break is particularly valuable in PvP matchups where enemy damage reduction stacks up.

Level	Relic HP	Relic HP Rune	Defense	Defense Break
1	850	850	600	769
2	1,050	1,050	750	960
3	1,260	1,260	910	1,165
4	1,480	1,480	1,080	1,383
5	1,710	1,710	1,260	1,614
6	1,950	1,950	1,450	1,858
7	2,200	2,200	1,650	2,115
8	2,460	2,460	1,860	2,385
9	2,730	2,730	2,080	2,668
10	3,010	3,010	2,310	2,964
11	3,300	3,300	2,550	3,273
12	3,600	3,600	2,800	3,595

Growth Comparison

Not all rune types grow equally. The percentage-based runes (All Soldiers %, March Size) scale 10x from level 1 to 12, while flat stat runes scale 4-6.5x. This means:

Stat Type	Lv 1	Lv 6	Lv 12	Growth
Hero Attack	16	38	80	5x
Hero HP	650	1,500	2,850	4.4x
Soldier Attack	4	14	26	6.5x
Soldier HP	15	46	92	6.1x
All Soldiers %	3%	13%	30%	10x
March Size	10	40	100	10x
Relic HP	850	1,950	3,600	4.2x
Defense	600	1,450	2,800	4.7x
Defense Break	769	1,858	3,595	4.7x

Which Runes to Prioritise

Early game (Castle 1–30): Focus on Hero Attack and Hero HP runes. These directly power your core heroes and have the most noticeable impact on campaign progress and event performance.

Mid game (Castle 30–50): Start investing in All Soldiers percentage runes. Their 10x growth scaling means they become the highest-value investment as your troop counts grow. March Size runes also become important for KvK and guild battles.

Late game (Castle 50+): Defense Break runes become critical for PvP — as enemies stack damage reduction from hero skills and relics, Defense Break is the primary counter. Relic HP runes also gain value once your relic tier is high enough to benefit from the flat HP bonus.

Event timing

Rune upgrades count as hero upgrade actions in Guild Arms Race and KvK preparation stages. Save your rune upgrades for these events when possible.

Data verified from community spreadsheet, 2026-02-27.