Rogue Legacy 2 fully launched in 2022 on Xbox and PC and continues to be an indie hit that gamers can't get enough of. The platforming roguelike managed to outdo its predecessor and lived up to be the critically-acclaimed sequel everyone hoped it would be. The game has many ways to customize and cater the experience to specific play styles and interests.

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Runes are an unlockable and equippable part of the player's loadout, and range in usefulness and ability. There are over two dozen different runes in Rogue Legacy 2, so it's important to know which ones are worth investing gold in as the game can become quite difficult for the ill-prepared.

8 Vault

Rogue Legacy 2 Runes Vault

It's hard to find a mechanic as tied to video games as the double jump. Most people who have played games for an extended period of time know that the double jump is always one of the first unlocked abilities in platformers.

Rogue Legacy 2 is no different, and for players who want to gain an additional advantage via more jumps, simply invest 150 gold into getting the Vault rune. This provides the player with additional uses of the Double Jump for every Vault rune purchased.

7 Amplification

Rogue Legacy 2 Runes Amplification

Status effects play a large role in Rogue Legacy 2's combat as burning or poisoning a powerful enemy can quickly make work of difficult situations. The Amplification rune increases status effect durations by seven and a half percent per rune. Sadly, it doesn't apply universally as the class talents Obscura and Comet Form are unaffected by the rune.

For what it does, Amplification is rather reasonably priced at 500 gold. Just make sure that it's only equipped on classes that can take full advantage, as it's useless if the player can't actually apply a status effect to enemies.

6 Sharpened

Rogue Legacy 2 Runes Sharpened

Landing critical weapon strikes known as Weapon Crits in Rogue Legacy 2 comes down to a number of factors. Some weapons have automatic critical strikes depending on how the player damages the enemy, while classes like Barbarian make it so any ground attack registers as a Skill Crit.

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The Sharpened Rune, which costs 800 gold to unlock, simply increases Weapon Crit Chance, and it scales by 2.5 percent with every additional equipped Sharpened rune. Pairing it with other runes that increase Weapon Crit creates a cumulative power that can be devastating.

5 Magnesis

Rogue Legacy 2 Runes Magnesis

The Magnesis rune is a bit of a privilege in Rogue Legacy 2, but when players are trying to get to end-game bosses and content, any time saved is appreciated. Magnesis makes it so coins fly to the player from greater distances, in a magnetic kind of way. It doesn't stop just at gold coins as this benefit also applies to both ore deposit drops and red aether.

When it comes to potions and health drops, though, players will need to go out of their way to acquire them. Gold is of the utmost importance during the early-to-mid game, so having an internal vacuum that accumulates gold passively makes runs go a lot smoother, and at a much brisker pace.

4 Retaliation

Rogue Legacy 2 Runes Retaliation

Getting hit in video games can become frustrating when it feels like the enemy has little to no risk involved when attacked. With the Retaliation rune, combat dynamics drastically shift as any enemy that lands a hit will take damage back in the form of one plus 75 percent of the player's Vitality stat.

The one drawback with this rune is if the affected enemy is killed as a result of retaliation, the player won't see returns for the Lifesteal rune or Relic kill counters they currently have attached to them. A small price to pay for a bit of well-deserved retaliation one might argue.

3 Reinforced

Rogue Legacy 2 Runes Reinforced

A game like Rogue Legacy 2 often has the player focusing on health management and weapon proficiency. Part of the experience that gets lost is armor, and upgrading one's defenses can go a long way in making progress and defeating the numerous Estuary bosses scattered throughout the world map.

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The Reinforced rune is the armorer's rune of choice as it increases the total armor of the player by eight percent for each activation of the rune. For just 1000 gold, players can make themselves much more formidable in the face of the uncertain.

2 Dash

Rogue Legacy 2 Runes Dash

Dashing in Rogue Legacy 2 can become quite addictive as the movement changes the feel of combat and opens up traversal in a neat and engaging way. The Dash rune takes things to another level as each rune activation, at a cost of 1300 gold, provides the player with an additional dash.

Sure the Dash can be reset by doing a Spin Kick, but having additional uses without needing to hit an activation feels invigorating. This rune also makes boss fights much easier as many of the encounters rely on the player having to intelligently decide when and where to use their limited Dash attempts.

1 Lifesteal

Rogue Legacy 2 Runes Lifesteal

Runes in Rogue Legacy 2 offer a number of perks and benefits, but it's hard to contend with the Lifesteal rune. Costing 800 gold, Lifesteal restores health to the player for every enemy they defeat in battle and scales with the strength rating of the player. The formula conversion is that health is restored equal to one plus four percent of the player's strength.

This percentage grows by an additional four percent for every Lifesteal rune equipped. Killing enemies is required to garner any sort of progress in the world of Rogue Legacy 2, so being able to benefit from it in an additional manner makes this rune a must equip.

Rogue Legacy 2 is available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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