Runes?

[PurplePax]

I have noticed that you get runes when you finish side dungeons like core or crypt, but i cant find out what they do. It says you can sell them for 25 gold, but i can't sell it to the merchant. What's the point of them? Are there something i am missing about them?

[Dusk_Army]

The rune are for opening the door that leads to the Vault of Yendor. You need at least two of them to do so, and so it's one of the requirements to win the game.

[Scar]

It is possible to win without getting any runes, but it requires a specific tier 3 floor 6 (with a pit).

[dms_choice]

I'm not so sure how I feel about the runes as a requirement to enter the Vault. I think, the side dungeons should be purely optional, a chance to gain additional XP and equipment, but with due risk.
The runes, however, could be really cool as a set of special enchantment items to be "socketed" into weapons and armor. Dependent on the item the rune is used to enchant, the rune could grant specific powers. So, for example, the Rune of Fire socketed into a weapon could add an amount of fire damage to the weapon's damage, into a piece of armor it could increase fire resistance, or into a shield it could grant a fire retaliation or something. That way the runes would still be extremely valuable and possibly worth the risk to hunt for them.
But if you'd rather prefer to NOT enter the Core with a Troll hero, you can still enter the Vault.

[Scar]

You only need 2 out of the 3 runes so you can skip 1 SD.

[dms_choice]

Sure, but my main point is that the SDs should be purely optional. Because, if you have to go there anyway, why should they be side dungeons at all?!
The side dungeons originally nicely broke up the games linearity. But with the necessity of runes the side dungeons become reintegrated into the linearity. Needing only 2 runes just allows to skip a segment in the line.

[Scar]

Just wasn't sure if you knew only two were required, as you can skip the core as a troll and still get to VoY.

I would prefer SD to be optional, as they make the character too strong for the rest of the game.

[fodderdan]

i think there are usually 3 side dungeons, since you only need two runes you could go to the ones you are best prepared for

[dms_choice]

No, there are only two side dungeons. There's always one rune in the last level before the Vault.