how do runes work exactly

Hey guys,

I was quickly looking through the forums and didnt see a thread on this (although i probably missed it). I found this stalker armor that was light blue. When I unidentified it some skill or something unlocked for swordsmanship of minor. The stats say improve swordsmanship. My question is that how do I use this? Does it sit in my inventory like a diablo 2 item and gives me a boost? because my swordsmanship is still the same skill level when i found this item.

Thanks.

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/rune-listing-id29.php

thx for the link.

Can runes be removed after being added to an item? Is it like the gems in diablo, except that gems of the same color, regardless of quality, cannot bring benefits from each piece of armor?

Hmm....I knew about the list, but is unlocking the same as obtaining the rune? I unlocked one, then salvaged the armor with an expert kit and didn't get anything special.

That would lead to question 2, how common is it to get rare crafting materials and upgrades when using the salvage kit, especially on purple items?

Even though you unlock the item, you have a *chance* of actually pulling the item out of the salvageable item. I pulled a Fire +1 rune out of an unlocked item and didn't get squat out of the other 3 I had in my inventory. So it's just the luck of the draw. I kind of like that, as I like the element of surprise.

To try to answer the several questions here I will say:

There is a chance to extract an armor piece equipped with a rune with an expert salvage kit.

Rare crafting materials can be extracted with both a regular and expert kit by chance. It is not worth using an expert kit IMHO until more empirical evidence of the added chance benefit is presented.

I printed a list of the salvage materials from each item to avoid wasting salvage kit charges. For example, I play a warrior and a cane always gives me an iron ingot, which I need, but other items can give iron + wood+ whatever.

So, I would use a regular salvage kit on the cane, and sell the other item.

I only use expert kits on blue/purple/gold items after identifying them and discover that they possess a rune or a weapon upgrade.

As a final note, I always use the expert kit in my inventory to extract from the item in my storage in town. I seem to have better luck this way, but the likelihood that it matters is low and I am just being silly.

Cheers