Which Runes To Keep in Summoners War (Full Guide)

This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy something we may get a small commission at no extra cost to you. (Learn more).

While Monsters are the most sought-after resource in Summoners War, without high-quality runes, they’ll have trouble doing their job.

Runes grant effects and stats based on how many are equipped to a monster.

You’ll get a lot of runes, and you only have so much space – so it helps to know which ones you should keep. There’s a lot of things to consider though, so here’s some things to keep in mind.

  • Speed is the most important stat in the game
  • Only slot 2 runes can have a speed main stat
  • This means that even “bad” slot 2 runes should be considered if they have speed
  • Only slots 2/4/6 can give % stats
  • This means that flat stats (non %) 2/4/6 runes can usually be discarded
  • Even if a 2/4/6 is a flat stat, if it has speed, it’s worth upgrading a few times
 

Only Keep Purple & Gold 6* Runes

 
Blue runes aren’t worth keeping / Summoners War
Blue runes aren’t worth keeping
 

Even if you’re a new player, the game gives you enough runes to clear Giants B12, so there’s not a real need to keep every rune that might be good.

Blue runes only have two substats to start off with, and they gain another at +9 and +12. This means you’re missing out on stat upgrades.

Purple runes start off with 3 substats, and gold/legendary runes will have all 4 right off the bat, so they’ll generally yield more stats.

The same goes for 5* runes.

You can use them, but you’ll want to replace then with 6* runes later.

 

How To Determine if the Substats Are Worth It

Once you’ve got a high-rarity rune, you’ll want to figure out whether or not the substats are good.

As a rule of thumb, these are the most desirable substats:

  • Speed
  • % Crit Damage
  • % Crit Rate
  • % Atk
  • % HP
 
This purple rune has one desirable substat on it / Summoners War
This purple rune has one desirable substat on it
 

For example, the rune above fits the criteria.

It’s purple, and it’s a 6* rune. The good ends there.

A flat HP substat is subpar at best (until the endgame), and accuracy and % Atk don’t really go well together. So despite this being a high-rarity rune, I’m going to sell this one.

 
Consider what Monsters you have when looking at substats / Summoners War
Consider what Monsters you have when looking at substats
 

On the other hand, despite the substats not looking great, I’m going to keep this rune. This is because I have Feng Yan (Wind Panda Warrior) who deals damage based on how much defense he has.

While you might not have a Monster capable of using a % Def rune, I do. You should consider what Monsters you have, and what Monsters you’re trying to build when looking at runes.

Everything else that I got from this auto battle was either 5*, or low-rarity, so I ended up selling pretty much everything.

 

Sell Flat Stat 2/4/6 Runes

I mentioned before that 2/4/6 slot Runes can be % stat runes. This means that they will ALWAYS give more stats than flat stat runes.

Not all 2/4/6 slot Runes will give % stats, though.

 
This Rune is only a 5*, but has good substats / Summoners War
This Rune is only a 5*, but has good substats
 

For example, even though this Rune is a 5*, it has decent substats.

If the main stat wasn’t flat, I’d consider upgrading it.

Generally, it’s safe to sell flat-stat runes. There is an exception, though:

If you get a 6* Legendary flat stat Rune that has a speed substat, it’s worth rolling.

 
20 Speed means this rune is automatically useful / Summoners War
20 Speed means this rune is automatically useful
 

For example, while this slot 6 Rune has a flat stat, all the substat upgrades went into speed. A twenty speed substat means this rune is incredibly useful, even if it has a flat main stat.

The runes (and rune quality) you need will change as you progress through the game.

Although by the time you need to start changing out runes, you should have a good idea of what you need.

Browse: Video Games

Robert Brandon

Robert has been playing games since he was a teen, and has been building and selling computers as a hobby for a little over 3 years now. When he's not busy following internet trends and game news, he spends his time reading, writing, and duking it out with others in a wide variety of multiplayer games.