Need Advice - Runes

Hey guys,

I just got a Superior curses rune dropped for me, but I currently already have a Major Curses rune equipped on my Norn armour. Is it worth overwriting the Major rune with the Superior, or even trying to salvage the major? (I really don't relish the risk of losing my armour piece though...)

I'm not sure how much a difference 1 attribute would make in the long run...

It depends on what you're doing with that armor set.

Bringing 1 Superior Rune is ok for most of PvE, but you'd probably be better off with a minor should you choose to play around with PvP in that armor set.

As for salvaging, don't bother. If you'd like to use the Superior, simply overwrite the Major since it isn't worth squat. Furthermore, if you ever do need to salvage armor, try using a Perfect Salvage Kit. They can be crafted in EoTN (or purchased from other players for 1kish) and do not break anything ever.

Superior... you do know that will incur some extra lost HP, right? I don't use superior for that reason alone. And ask yourself: do you REALLY need 16 in curses?

If you are unsure, get a perfect salvage kit so no worry of breaking anything. Or make a pvp character so you can test without penalty.

Eh.. it might make a small difference, but not a huge difference. It's all depending on the spells as well. Some spells, it won't matter if you had Major or Superior. Others, it does matter.

It's all a matter of preference really. Always nice to have that extra point just incase, but you will sacrifice an additional 40 health with it seeing as Major is -35 and Superior is -75.

Yes, that was my thinking. I wasn't sure if it was worth losing the extra HP just to get one extra attribute point, especially since the attribute is already boosted by my weapon.

I don't play PvP, so I really don't need the armour for that reason, but testing it out on a PvP character is a good idea.

Thanks for the advice guys.

This is a good point, for some skillbars you may be hitting breakpoints in your skills by having additional ranks. Then again, even if you don't, you might be getting a little more duration from your curses hexes, and a little more damage if you're using something like Spiteful Spirit. Having an extra 2 damage per trigger doesn't seem like much, but it actually adds up for some nice additional DPS.

Curses is one of the skill lines where I find the benefits of the extra ranks from the bigger rune outweigh the 75 hp.

More SS damage>75 Hp

In general, for casters in PvE, +1+3 (for example, a +1 Curses headpiece with a Superior Curses rune for +4 total) is acceptable. Necros and Eles can really benefit from the boost and, in my opinion, if you're gonna give up health, might as well be as effective as you can be. Plus, you're already a squishy because of your low armor, you might as well kill before you get killed .

Physicals should always use minors only in both PvP and PvE. But casters are good to go on one suitable Superior rune in PvE.

Thanks again for the added advice. I think I'll equip it as it's on my SS - Curses armour.

Check out www.wiki.guildwars.com or www.guildwars.wikia.com for your skills' attribute advancement and decide for yourself if the 40 health loss is worth it. The major rune can probably be bought for 100g again, so not worth salvaging.

If you go to the wiki and look up the skills you use, most of them come with a chart showing the effect vs the attribute level. You could use this to help determine if the extra health loss is worth it for your build.

A Major Curses rune only costs 100g to buy and you only get 25g if you sell it (to the rune trader), so it's really not worth trying to salvage it.

You should have your Curses rune on a headpiece. If you don't, you should consider switching things around a bit. If you put it on your headpiece, you can easily (and cheaply) buy an additional headpiece to put a Superior rune on to try it out. Also, you can more easily switch builds from Curses to Death to Blood by simply switching headpieces.

I agree with just about all the posts here sup runes are good in pve when your self healing comes from your attribute or the damage is increased looking at the difference in skill here:

parasitic bond : form 120hp to 126 hp
Spinal Shivers : from 40 seconds to 42 seconds
Reckless Haste : no change
Insidious Parasite : from 39 to 41 hp
Barbs : from 15 to 16 damage
Chilblains : from 44 to 46 seconds

ok not much difference to look at but barbs with 10 minions and a team hitting is uhh +17 hp each time they all hit spiteful spirit has been mentioned. As for the loss incurred myself I find that major runes here have been under rated by many but sup will give you an edge and 75 hp wont matter for sticks if you dont know your agro bubble