Rune Crafting

See also: Munster Crusher, List of Runes with sink values

 is an activity whereby characters with crafting professions transform raw materials into runes (by crafting gear and crushing it using a Munster Crusher). They typically want the maximal return on their raw materials, and often specific runes. Reasons:
 * To mage their own gear.
 * To buy inexpensive gear from markets, mage them up, and resell them.
 * To level a magus profession.
 * To sell the runes (does not require a magus profession).

There are three strengths of runes for many attributes and there is not a direct way to convert from one level to another. The stronger runes are sought after because it is easy to improve very powerful gear with them. The weaker runes are commonly used to make low-level gear or to level magus professions. In order to get stronger runes, one must smash equipment that has a lot of whatever attribute is desired - there is a chance that this equipment will still yield larger numbers of weaker runes, but it may instead yield powerful runes. Those who need stronger runes will ignore recipes for equipment that provides only small amounts of a stat.

Table with minimum stats of an item to crush to 100% get the appropriate power rune (see this JoL thread for other tables):

Basis
Fields:
 * Profession: What profession is needed to actually craft the item. Professions needed to craft or collect the resources for an item are not listed here.
 * Ingredients: How many ingredients are needed for the item. For two-stage recipes within a single craft, only the last stage is listed - this is primarily meant to make it clear whether the craftsman is high-enough-level to craft the item reasonably reliably.
 * Item name: Generally a linked name for the item. Some items are part of a family of related items (e.g. Small Bow of X, Medium Bow of X, etc.).
 * Ingredient summary: A brief summary of what resources are needed. When there's space, proper mat names are used, otherwise less specifics are given.
 * Mass craft/efficiency: A numeric and descriptive tag indicating how simple and efficient it is to get a lot of the desired rune from crafting multiples of the item.
 * Stat per item: Raw per-item yield per item. This is a range (not an average) because that would not indicate the possibility of getting more powerful runes.
 * Other runes: Other runes the item can yield. For the five central stats (and occasionally vitality), when a decent amount of the other runes can be yielded, the amounts are described.
 * Notes: Various specifics of the item.

In construction of this list, we assume:
 * That large numbers of the particular rune are desired.
 * That all resources must be gathered through fights or gathering professions (no items in the bank, no guild assistance, no buying things in markets).
 * That resources from gathering professions are generally faster than those dropped in fights.
 * That high-level Alchemist/Farmer/Lumberjack/Miner professions are supporting the relevant professions.
 * That low-level harvestable resources and high frequency drops from weak monsters are preferred.
 * That there is a secondary interest in other runes.
 * That tailor magic dyes, gemstones, and alloys are very time-inefficient.
 * That for runes that have stronger and weaker forms, stronger forms are preferred.
 * That the character is equally skilled in each profession (note: tailor recipes will usually have a poorer efficiency than other recipes, because tailor recipes are more difficult on average than those for most other professions).

Like with all crafting, we assume that harvestable resources are more easily acquired than resources that can only be dropped from monsters. We generally avoid recipes that involve polished gems or slow fights, and are reluctant to use resources that are also used to trade for Characteristic Scrolls. When there are enough easier recipes, we omit more difficult recipes we might otherwise consider.

Level-linked Runes
These types of runes drop more frequently from items that have a higher level (or more power - the specifics are not fully understood).

AP
AP runes are difficult to acquire - they do not commonly appear from smashed AP equipment, and many of the recipes are difficult.

MP
MP runes are also difficult to acquire, with many of the same issues as AP runes.

Range
Range runes are moderately difficult to acquire, although not as much so as AP/MP runes.

Hunting Weapon
A reasonably rare trait that is smashable into a rune (with a moderately low yield per hunting weapon). Higher level weapons yield hunting runes more readily than lower level ones, when smashed.

Other Runes
For these, the rune yield is entirely dependent on the amount of stat the smashed items have.

Prospecting
Prospecting is not difficult to get in theory, most high level items provide it. Low level, easy-to-craft items tend not to provide any. The majority of prospecting items are made with polished gemstones. Prosp Runes come in two varieties.

Pods
Pod runes come in three varieties.

Trap Damage
Equipment that provides this stat is fairly scarce. The difficulty of materials permitted is loosened for this category.

Summons
As with most stats with a low number, a number of these must be smashed to yield appreciable numbers of runes.

Critical Hits
Critical Hits are not particularly uncommon - there are a lot of ways to get them.

Reflect
Reflect is a very rare characteristic, being present on only 3 items in the game.

Heals
Heals is not a particularly rare characteristic, but most gear that provides it is difficult to mass-craft. Hea Runes come in one variety.

Damage
Damage is a very common stat. Dam Runes come in one variety.

Percent Damage
Percent Damage is not a rare stat, but there are not many efficient recipes for rune production. %Dam Runes come in three varieties.

Initiative
Initiative is a fairly common stat, more common in high-level items. Ini Runes come in three varieties.

Vitality
Almost all gear upwards of Level 70 provides some vitality. Vit Runes come in three varieties (stating that something provides a stronger type of rune indicates it can also provide the weaker).

Wisdom
Wisdom is a basic stat, present on a very large number of items. Wis Runes come in three varieties.

Strength
Strength is a basic stat, present on a very large number of items. Str Runes come in three varieties.

Intelligence
Intelligence is a basic stat, present on a very large number of items. Int Runes come in three varieties.

Chance
Chance is a basic stat, present on a very large number of items. Cha Runes come in three varieties.

Agility
Agility is a basic stat, present on a very large number of items. Agi Runes come in three varieties.

Neutral Resistance
Neutral Resistance is available in linear and percent forms, with separate runes for each. Each of those has a single rune strength. Neutral resistance is more common with stronger gear. Neutral resistance is more scarce than the 4 elemental resistances.

Earth Resistance
Earth Resistance is available in linear and percent forms, with separate runes for each. Each of those has a single rune strength. Earth resistance is more common with stronger gear.

Fire Resistance
Fire Resistance is available in linear and percent forms, with separate runes for each. Each of those has a single rune strength. Fire resistance is more common with stronger gear.

Water Resistance
Water Resistance is available in linear and percent forms, with separate runes for each. Each of those has a single rune strength. Water resistance is more common with stronger gear.

Air Resistance
Air Resistance is available in linear and percent forms, with separate runes for each. Each of those has a single rune variety. Air resistance is more common with stronger gear.

Other Conclusions
There are some other things people may want than the basic analyses above. We consider alternatives below - being more complex, they are more likely to change as new needs and new strategies are discovered.

Bulk Runes
Those wishing to level a magus profession may not care too much about the type of runes they get so much as how they can efficiently get runes in bulk. For this category, we consider efficient ways to get runes, still preferring the possibility of strong runes (as they can yield more experience). A rune crafter may also use these recipes to build a diverse stock of runes.