"With this blade, killing demons grants you a Powerful Rampage for 3 seconds which allows you to instantly kill most demons."
| Gold Cost | Loadout Cost |
|---|---|
| 30,000 gold | 24 points |
Overview
The Greater Runeblade is the successor of the PROC upgrade from the earlier versions of DvZ, with very few differences from how weapons used to exist in-game. The Greater Runeblade is used by the default Warrior class. It deals 15 damage per hit, and costs 24 points to put into a custom class. The Greater Runeblade is incompatible with any other weapon of its class.
Damage value:Even though you do 15 damaged, zombies have 60% resistance so you will only deal 6 dmg (3 hearts). To kill an AI you will need to hit it 7 times.
Abilities
The Greater Runeblade functions similarly to the PROC upgrade from old versions of DvZ: Scoring a kill on any mob with this weapon will give you a PROC for 3 seconds. If another kill is attained using this weapon within that 3 second span of time, the PROC will be refreshed and you will have another 3 seconds of PROC time to work with. This cycle will keep going on until you have gone longer than 3 seconds without getting a single kill with this weapon. The right-click function is called rune-dash which gives the user a short lunge and a 0.5 second strength buff allowing to get away or roll PROCs easier, it has a cooldown of 20 secs. You are invunerable when lunging. The cooldown is reduced by 1 second each time the player takes damage.
Strategy
Using the Greater Runeblade
With the Greater Runeblade, always attempt to kill monsters with less health, for example, rats and spiderlings. Even skeletons may work well if you are able to take one by surprise. In the absence of such monsters, you may opt to use your Dragonskin Bow if you have it in your loadout. If not, simply back yourself into a corner and try to attack one AI zombie. If possible, refrain from attempting to start a PROC on a human zombie, unless you are sure it has low health or is not upgraded too much. This is because at the late game, some player zombies would have acquired Fury of the Night, making them virtually invincible and remarkably difficult to kill without a PROC.
It may also be wise to work with a Warhammer user. Since the Warhammer does so much damage to groups of AI zombies, a Warhammer user can weaken an AI just enough so a Greater Runeblade can finish off the AI and get a PROC to kill other more dangerous threats. However, communication is vital, as the Warhammer user needs to know when to stop swinging, or he may end up killing the AIs.
In the event of Ogre Magi, rolling a PROC will be impossible, because the Curse of Weakness inhibits all weapon effects, including proccing. As a result, when Ogre Magi is released, try to focus on surviving through the weakness effect. Once the effect wears off, you can proceed to PROC as you normally would. The rune-dash is a good ability to use when trying to get out of sticky situations and in close quarters can be used to deal with an up close monster, remember you have 1 sec of strengths so you have to hit them fast.
Note that you cannot kill the following monsters with a single hit while on a PROC from a Greater Runeblade:
Once you see these monsters in the battlefield, note that your killing potential will be greatly diminished. Swammies, although not listed, give out a nausea effect for 5 seconds when they attack, which will inhibit the weapon’s ability to refresh a proc, although they are still proccable.
While proccing with this weapon, it is important to avoid tunnel vision. For instance, if you see a special monster running away from you, don't just blindly run after it while madly flailing your sword around, because you will risk losing your proc, then becoming an easy target because there is nothing to restart your proc with. Instead, when you see a special running away, try to give chase, but also take note of other monsters that you can kill to prolong your proc long enough to kill the special.
When proccing, avoid overextending. Always keep an eye on your mana, your armour and anything else that keeps you alive. If your armour is at 5 bars, don't try to tackle a pack of wolves. Experienced mobs will simply wait until you run out of proc, then attack you while you are vulnerable. This would likely force you to use a wrench, or even kill you should there be no gold or wrenches available.
If you do not employ the use of Jimmy Juice, keep an eye on your health: proccing does not heal you, and it is still entirely possible for you to die while you are proccing.
Against the Greater Runeblade
Against the Greater Runeblade, use the AI zombies around the user as an indicator. With the removal of the green sparkles that appear while proccing, identifying when a Greater Runeblade user acquires a proc becomes slightly trickier. Generally, once the AI zombies around the target rapidly die for no apparent reason, it's a pretty good sign that the target has acquired a proc, and that it's time to back away. Since the proc only lasts for 3 seconds, you may run from the dwarf for 3 seconds, wait till the proc runs out, then attack the dwarf while he is vulnerable.
When fighting a Greater Runenlade user, AI zombies become more of a liability, as they can be killed by the dwarf for an easy proc. Hence, once you see a cloud of AIs start to form around the dwarf, to the point where you can no longer hit the dwarf without getting uncomfortably close to the dwarf, it's best to back away for the time being and let the dwarf kill off his meat shield, then waiting out his proc before attacking again.
Pros
- Able to trim down even the largest of hordes in a matter of seconds
- Can instantly kill dangerous monsters like wolves and venomburners
- A proc can easily save you from tricky situations
- Able to runedash to safety
Cons
- Still weak against golems, ogres and other mob events
- A proc may not always be easy to get
- Loses effectiveness when there is nothing to kill