Part 102

Explore Strength, Vitality, and Windblast upgrades in Dishonored 2. Learn about rune costs and effects.

Strength (3 runes)

Used by Corvo and Emily, Strength has two upgrades. The base upgrade (3 runes) increases throwing distance, useful for luring enemies or dealing damage with thrown objects. Hitting unaware foes in the head with objects can lead to knockouts. The second upgrade (also 3 runes) allows sword swings to smash certain breakable doors, bypassing the need to find keys. While useful for new players as a time-saver, runes may be better spent elsewhere.

Vitality (2 runes)

Available for Corvo and Emily, Vitality offers two upgrades, both costing 2 runes. The base Vitality upgrade increases health, while Greater Vitality improves health regeneration. These offer simple, health-sustaining effects at a low cost, potentially appealing for high chaos playthroughs, though less crucial for stealth-oriented players given the commonality of health potions.

Windblast (4 runes)

Used by Corvo, Windblast has three upgrades. The base upgrade (4 runes) creates a gust of wind that breaks doors and reflects projectiles. Greater Windblast (3 runes) allows the wind to kill enemies it throws into walls. Shockwave (3 runes) adds a secondary shockwave around the caster during use. Windblast can be used to knock enemies off ledges or into walls with lethal force, and its ability to destroy breakable doors is expedient for players who find keys difficult to locate.

Runes

Runes are whalebone trinkets used as currency to upgrade supernatural powers. They can be found in each mission or crafted using the "Craft Runes" skill. On no-powers runs, collected runes count as 200 coins each. Runes can be detected by the Heart, with their locations and distance superimposed on the screen. Note that the Heart only displays runes within the current indoor or outdoor segment of a mission.

Mission 2: The Edge of the World (9 runes)

Runes are not available in Mission 1.

• Two runes are found in the Void event where the Outsider can bestow powers.
• One rune is in a small shipwreck near the Dreadful Wale, which contains hagfish.
• After landing in Karnaca, one rune is in the mouth of a whale carcass at the docks.
• The black market at the docks sells a rune for 400 coins. This can be bypassed by robbing the store using a key from an apartment upstairs, but this will alert the shopkeep and prevent future sales.
• Near the first wall of light, an apartment being searched by overseers contains two runes in the 2F bathroom shrine.
• In Canal Square, one rune is inside a blocked drain. Break the wooden beam with a projectile to access it.
• In Canal Square, next to the Karnaca Enclave building, a rune is on a table next to an overseer giving a sermon.
• Inside the Karnaca Enclave (Overseer Ou... (text truncated in source)