World of Warcraft: Season of Discovery has changed much about the Classic version of Azeroth that so many hold dear. Chief among these is the addition of Rune Engravings, and there’s a lot to know.
For those who are unaware, Runes can be discovered in the open world, and players can earn them by completing unspecified challenges, from simple fights to puzzles. Once they are unlocked, the Runes will unlock buffs and additional abilities.
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The importance of these in Season of Discovery is difficult to overstate, with some even allowing certain classes to operate in previously impossible roles. The locations and methods for earning these Runes has now largely been revealed since launch, and this guide has been further updated to include this information.
With all that in mind, here is a complete list of the effects of all Hunter Runes in Season of Discovery.
Full Hunter Rune list and effects in Season of Discovery
Thus far, there are twelve confirmed Runes that Hunters can track down when the game launches. Beyond that, four other Runes have been datamined, though their status within Season of Discovery on release is currently unknown. We will list the confirmed Runes first, but fair spoiler warning that this article will also detail the datamined Runes in a subsequent section.
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Confirmed Hunter Runes
Glove Runes
- Aspect of the Lion
- Instant
- The Hunter takes on the aspects of a lion, increasing total stats by 10% for all nearby allies and increasing total stats for the Hunter by an additional 10%. Only one Aspect can be active at a time.
- Instant
- Lone Wolf
- Instant
- You deal 25% increased damage with all attacks while you do not have an active pet.
- Instant
- Master Marksman
- Instant
- Increases your critical strike chance by 5%, and reduces the Mana cost of all your Shot abilities by 25%.
- Instant
- Cobra Strikes
- Instant
- Your critical hits with Shot abilities cause your pet’s next 2 special attacks to hit critically.
- Instant
Leg Runes
- Kill Command
- Instant
- Give the command to kill, increasing your pet’s damage done from special attacks by 60% for 30 sec. Each special attack done by the pet reduces the damage bonus by 20%.
- Instant
- Serpent Spread
- Passive
- Targets hit by your Multi-Shot are also afflicted by your Serpent Sting for 6 sec.
- Passive
- Sniper Training
- Passive
- Your Shot abilities gain 10% increased critical strike chance while you have not moved for the last 6 sec.
- Passive
- Flanking Strikes
- Instant
- You and your pet deal simultaneous instant 100% melee damage. Afterward, your Mongoose Bite and Raptor Strike deal 10% increased damage for 10 sec, stacking up to 3 times. Raptor Strike has a 20% chance to reset the cooldown on Flanking Strike.
- Instant
Chest Runes
- Carve
- Instant
- A sweeping attack that strikes all enemies in front of you for 50% weapon damage.
- Instant
- Explosive Shot
- Instant
- You fire an explosive charge into the enemy target, dealing 81-98 Fire damage. The charge will blast the target every second for an additional 2 sec. Cooldown shared with Arcane Shot.
- Instant
- Chimera Shot
- Instant
- You deal 125% weapon damage, refreshing the current Sting on your target and triggering an effect:
- Serpent Sting – Instantly deals 40% of the damage done by your Serpent Sting.
- Viper Sting – Instantly restores mana to you equal to 60% of the total amount drained by your Viper Sting.
- Scorpid Sting – Attempts to Disarm the target for 10 sec. This effect cannot occur more than once per 1 minute.
- You deal 125% weapon damage, refreshing the current Sting on your target and triggering an effect:
- Instant
- Beast Mastery
- Instant
- Your pet’s damage and health increase by 30%, and its Focus regeneration by 80%. In addition, your pet’s Growl now also Taunts the target to attack it for 3 sec.
- Instant
Datamined Hunter Runes
- Deer Musk
- Instant
- Your Tame Beast ability also works on Deer (as companion pet)
- Instant
- Prairie Dog Musk
- Instant
- Your Tame Beast ability also works on Prairie Dogs (as companion pet)
- Instant
- Rabbit Musk
- Instant
- Your Tame Beast ability also works on Rabbits (as companion pet)
- Instant
- Adder Pheromone
- Instant
- Your Tame Beast ability also works on Adders (as companion pet)
- Instant
Known Hunter Rune locations for all races
Glove Runes
- Beast Mastery
- Alliance (Westfall): Collect Goretusk Haunches from Goretusk mobs. Use this bait at a Coyote Dwelling near the coast to attract Silverspur. Kill the spawn.
- Alliance (Darkshore): Collect Crab Treats from Furlbog mobs. Feed it to a Young Reef Crawler to get the Rune.
- Horde (The Barrens): Find the Patrolling Cheetah North of Camp Taraujo. Drop a trap in its path to slow it down. Kill it and loot the Rune.
- Horde (Silverpine Forest): Kill Ferocious Grizzled Bear in Silverpine Forest until the Grizzled Protector is summoned. Kill it and loot the Rune.
- Explosive Shot
- Dwarf – Kill Fyodi at 32, 37 in Dun Morogh.
- Night Elf – Kill Rageclaw at 45.6, 59.6 in Ban’ethil Burrow in Teldrassil.
- Orc & Troll – Kill Sarkoth at 40.6, 67.6 in the Barrens.
- Tauren – Kill Arra’Chea at 50, 15 in Mulgore.
- Chimera Shot
- This is the starting Rune for Hunters and the quest for each is easily found in the opening area at Level 2.
- Carve
- Dwarf: Tame a Rabbit with Rabbit Musk, then speak to Toby at Amberstill Ranch.
- Night Elf: Tame a Deer with Deer Musk, then speak to the NPC beside the Hunter trainer in Darnassus.
- Tauren: Tame a Prairie Dog with Prairie Dog Musk, then speak to Takoda Sunmane in Bloodhoof Village.
- Orc/Troll: Tame an Adder with Adder Pheromone, then speak to the Snake Charmer in Razor Hill.
Chest Runes
- Cobra Strikes
- This is the same for both factions. Purchase Freshwater Snapper bait from Zixil, who can be found wandering across the Hillsbrad Foothills. Head to the lake South-East of Tarren Mill and use the bait to spawn the rare mob Koartul. The Rune can be looted after killing the mob.
- Master Marksman
- Dwarf – Find the Rustling Bush in Dun Morogh (29, 49). Use Hunter’s Mark on the bush, and it will spawn a mob. Loot the mob for Rune of Marksmanship.
- Night Elf – Find the Rustling Bush in Teldrassil (46.6, 46.3). Use Hunter’s Mark on the bush, and it will spawn a mob. Loot the mob for Rune of Marksmanship.
- Orc/Troll – Find the Rustling Bush near Razor Hill (38, 52). Use Hunter’s Mark on the bush, and it will spawn a mob. Loot the mob for Rune of Marksmanship.
- Tauren – Find the Rustling Bush in Mulgore (59.02, 54.38). Use Hunter’s Mark on the bush, and it will spawn a mob. Loot the mob for Rune of Marksmanship.
- Lone Wolf
- Sold by Grizzly in Ratchet. To buy the Rune, it is a requirement to complete the following pre-quests:
- Fish Oil
- Shredder Turbochargers
- Dark Iron Ordinance
- Sold by Grizzly in Ratchet. To buy the Rune, it is a requirement to complete the following pre-quests:
- Aspect of the Lion
- Kill the level 25 Elite Carrodin (42.2, 64.1) in the spider cave in the Wetlands.
Leg Runes
- Sniper Training
- Alliance in Westfall can loot the Rune after killing the Elite level 17 Defias Scout.
- Dwarves – Kill Kackle and loot the Rune at 54, 54 in Loch Modan.
- Night Elf – Collect a harpoon from along the coast in Darkshore. Use it on Paxnozz at 48, 15 then kill him and loot the Rune.
- Horde – Talk to Kilxx in Ratchet and buy a Fishing Harpoon. Use it on Bruuz at 65.2, 39.6 before killing him and looting the Rune.
- Kill Command
- One of the trickiest Runes to get, it is the same for all races. First, go to Stonetalon Mountains and collect the Wild Wyvern Wrangling quest from Jixo Madrocket at 59.20, 62.41. Collect the Hypnotic Crystal as a drop from Mutanus in Wailing Caverns. Collect Wild Magic Essence from Furbolgs in Ashenvale and combine it with a Greater Magic Wand. Turn in the quest to Jixo. Collect Wrangling a Wild Wyvern quest from the same place. Watch Jixo tame a Wyrvern and collect the Rune.
- Flanking Strike
- Dwarf: Kill the elite bear Jorul in Dun Morogh. To summon it, place Dun Morogh Pig Meat inside the cave at 38.5, 43.4.
- Orc & Troll: Kill and loot Raluk in Durotar. To summon it, find and use Durotar Pig Meat around 68.7, 71.4.
- Night Elf: Kill and loot Mowgh. To summon it, use Teldrassil Bird Meat found near 48.3, 31.4.
- Tauren: Kill and loot Mokwa in Mulgore. To summon it, use Mulgore Bird Meat found on Swoops around 36, 57.
- Serpent Spread
- Achieve Honored reputation with the Supply Factions. These are Durotar Supply and Logistics for Horde and Azeroth Commerce Authority for Alliance. The Rune can then be purchased for 4g 50s.
Be sure to check back in, as this and all of Dexerto’s other Season of Discovery guides.