Synthesis Runes

Overview

Runes are special abilities that can be found on weapons or shields.

There are 3 ways to add runes to equipment:

• The weapon or shield has an innate rune. (Example: Gold Shield comes with "Rustproof")
• The weapon or shield gains a rune by leveling up. (Example: Katana gains "Rustproof" at Lv8)
• Synthesize items together. (Example: Katana + Hatchet = Katana with "Critical")

Generally runes make your adventure easier, but some are a double-edged sword
or have an outright negative effect, so some care is needed.

Unwanted runes can be removed at the Hermit's Hermitage Blacksmith.

Non-innate runes always have the Lv1 multiplier, regardless of equipment level.

• Rune List
  • Weapon
    • New Item (Weapon)
  • Shield
    • New Item (Shield)
• Multipliers
• Rune Details

Rune List

Weapon

New Item (Weapon)

Shield

New Item (Shield)

Multipliers

Rune Details

This section provides commentary about runes for dungeons that don't allow carry-in items.

If a rune isn't listed:
The rune doesn't apply to dungeons that don't allow carry-in items,
or the rune is a New Item weapon or shield exclusive.

• Priority (Weapon)
• Priority (Shield)
• Runes (Weapon)
• Runes (Shield)

Priority (Weapon)

Priority (Shield)

Runes (Weapon)

Confusing

Priority: High

Confused monsters don't use special attacks, and move in random directions.
If Shiren or another monster is in the way, the confused monster will use a direct attack.
Drawbacks include risk of getting hit, the monster leveling up, and tricky to chase in large rooms.
Still, 20 turns is very long and Confusion Grass is easy to obtain, so it's worth synthesizing.
Confused monsters are less likely to attack other monsters in Shiren 5.

Paralyzing

Priority: Top

Paralysis doesn't wear off from turns elapsing, so you can leave the paralyzed enemy alone.
However, the paralysis wears off if the paralyzed enemy is hit by an effect or attack,
so Flame Shot and Blue Flame runes are incompatible.
It's not as effective as runes like Sedating for defeating enemies since you only gain 1 extra hit,
but is unmatched when it comes to run-away play and cycling time of day.
Harder to synthesize compared to other status runes since it requires a Paralysis Staff
instead of grass, and it's also a bit wasteful to synthesize a staff that has 1 or more uses left.

Sealing

Priority: Low

Seals the target's ability and special attack, but doesn't prevent the use of direct attacks.
Runes like Blinding and Confusing also prevent the use of special attacks and additionally
often stops the target from attacking you, so this rune doesn't have much value.
The only advantage is that it erases auras and lets you easily defeat Cave Mamel and Gitan Mamel,
but neither of those are worth taking up a valuable rune slot.

Sedating

Priority: Top

Prevents the target from performing any actions for 6 turns.
Lets you safely defeat most monsters, except for swift ones with high defense like Maneater.
Sleepy Grass is easy to obtain from early game Grass Kid monsters, so always synthesize it.

Blinding

Priority: High

Prevents the enemy from using special attacks, and also makes them walk in a straight line.
It'll perform a direct attack if a creature is blocking its path, and will change directions if it hits a wall.
You're less likely to be attacked by the target compared to the Confusing rune,
but it's half the duration and there's greater risk of the monster leveling up.
Blinding Grass is pretty common, so it's easy to synthesize.

Bored

Priority: Top

Prevents the target from performing any actions for 6 turns.
Similar to Sedating, but also works against Naptapirs, and Apathetic Mixers will still eat items.
The only negative is that Lost Scroll is rare, so you don't get the chance to synthesize it much.

Anti-Explode

Priority: Low

Exploding type monsters have other type-effective weaknesses besides this rune,
and there isn't a Mixer recipe to easily synthesize it, so it's overshadowed by other runes.
It's basically just for Pop Tank monsters, so save synthesizing it for later or skip it altogether.

Anti-Aquatic

Priority: Top

Effective against a wide range of families, including Gyaza and Hopodile.
Aquatic types don't have run-ending special attacks when adjacent, but can be annoying,
so being able to one-shot them with a direct attack is nice.

Anti-Floating

Priority: Top

Effective against a wide range of families, including Dagger Bee for early game equipment leveling.
Similar to aquatic types, floating types don't have run-ending special attacks when adjacent,
but can be annoying, so being able to one-shot them with a direct attack is nice.
Warp Grass is common, so it's easy to synthesize.

Anti-Cyclops

Priority: Low

There aren't many cyclopean types, and Metalheads were nerfed, so it's not very important.
It's nice that it's effective against Gazers, but you generally want to deal with Gazers
from a distance instead of risking missing a direct attack.

Anti-Drain

Priority: High

Being able to one-shot Absorbiphants usually comes down to whether or not you have this rune.
Scorpions and Polygon Spinnas are also troublesome, so it's on the valuable side.

Anti-Dragon

Priority: Mid

Dragon types may be few in number, but they tend to have high offensive and defensive stats.
It's better to synthesize Anti-Fire onto a shield early game if you find Dragon Grass,
since the tougher dragon types don't appear until mid game.

Anti-Metal

Priority: Mid

So-so range of effectiveness, but nice against Pop Tanks.
You may be tempted to use direct attacks against Scoopie when you have this rune,
but similar to Gazers, it's generally a bad idea since your attack can miss.
Incredibly easy to synthesize, since you only need 1 Iron Arrow.

Anti-Plant

Priority: High

Pretty wide range of effectiveness, similar to Anti-Floating and Anti-Aquatic.
It's usually better to use items against higher level Mutaikons even if you have this rune.
Great to have early game when hunting Grass Kids for grass items.
Hard to synthesize since it requires Weeds - one method is to intentionally collapse
when you have Revival Grass or Undo Grass.

Anti-Magic

Priority: Low

It might look nice at first since it targets troublesome monsters,
but you want to avoid using direct attacks against Gazers and DJ Mages, so it's not that great.
You might be able to one-shot Polygon Spinnas if you also have the Anti-Drain rune.

Tri-direction

Priority: Top

Lets you hit 3 enemies with 1 attack, and strike first around hallway corners and room entrances.
Wall Clip Bracelet is rare in this game, so this is basically your only option for attacking through corners.
It's not chance-based, it's effective against all monsters, and type-effective and status runes
both benefit from the free hit, so it's among the strongest weapon runes in the game.

Critical

Priority: High

Higher activation rate than status inflicting runes.
Especially powerful when used in combination with type-effective runes,
and also plays well with runes like Healing and Dispersing.

Redeeming

Priority: Low

Creates situations where it's safe to use a direct attack instead of an item.
Redeeming is ignored if Focusing is synthesized on the same weapon.
It's not a bad rune, but it's not worth taking up a rune slot.

Flame Shot

Priority: Low (Early game: Mid)

Rune typically obtained from maining a Red Blade, rather than synthesizing Burning Blade.
The flame acts as a projectile that deals fixed damage, and has unlimited ammo and range.
Damage is nullified if Zen Pot is active, and the flame still hits if Dodger Pot is active.
Plays well with Monster Detector and the Quick Hitting rune.

Check for enemies in hallways, easily defeat stationary monsters like Froggo and Bored Kappa,
finish off enemies that have 1 HP remaining due to Cheer-Ham's cheering, deal meaningful
damage against Cave Mamel and Gitan Mamel, conserve arrows, and so on.

Excels early game, but becomes less effective as max HP increases and stronger enemies appear.
Drawbacks include making checking for traps tedious, accidentally hitting shopkeepers and NPCs,
waking up napping enemies or canceling paralysis, so think carefully before synthesizing it.

Quick Hitting

Priority: High

So-so activation rate, but 2 attacks means twice the chance of status runes activating,
and you'll shoot flames twice if you have Flame Shot or Blue Flame.
Ingredients are easy to obtain, but it requires a Mixer + Stomach Expander or Mixermon.

Costly

Priority: Top

Essentially a type-effective rune that works on all monsters, at the cost of 30 Gitan per hit.
If you're worried about not having enough Gitan, wait until mid game to synthesize it.
The only reason not to synthesize it is if you plan on maining Dirk of Debts instead.
Don't read unidentified scrolls if Bankruptcy Scroll is in the dungeon's item table
and hasn't been identified yet.

Blue Flame

Priority: Mid

Same pros and cons as Flame Shot, but deals 20 damage instead of 8.
The Quick Hitting rune lets you shoot flames twice in a row when it activates.
It's powerful, but Explosion Bracelet should be used to synthesize Anti-Blast+ instead.
If you already have Anti-Blast+ or have a way to heal lots HP, go ahead and synthesize it.

Dispersing

Priority: Mid

Defeating multiple enemies with direct attacks helps conserve items, so it's quite powerful.
It's most effective when your attack power is high, so don't synthesize it early game,
but instead wait until you have runes like Tri-direction, Critical, and type-effective ones.
Dispersed damage deals full damage to enemies that resist direct attacks like Gitan Mamel,
and can hit Pumphantasms inside walls.

Focusing

Priority: Avoid

50% chance to deal a critical hit means your damage output is mostly unchanged,
and the drawback is you can no longer estimate how many attacks you need to defeat monsters.
Accurate and Redeeming runes are nullified, so there's no way to make up for the reduced accuracy.
Do not synthesize this rune.

Lively, Uplifting, Vitalizing, Energizing

Priority: Low

Natural HP regeneration slows down as your max HP increases in this game,
so unless you have other ways to heal, sometimes it's better not to extend max HP too much.
That said, HP regeneration remains at 1 HP per 2 turns once you reach 200 max HP,
so go ahead and synthesize it if you're close to that value and have ∞ rune slots.

It's a waste of a rune slot to synthesize any of these early on, since you want to prioritize
status, type-effective, and other powerful runes that actually help with encounters instead.
If you still want to synthesize it, it's better to synthesize it onto a shield instead,
and only Energizing since Life Grass isn't a healing item and +20 is pretty decent.

Can be used alongside Bit (Binary Shield) to adjust current HP so the rune takes effect.
It gains value in Pitfall of Life, but it's still usually better to increase max HP on the spot
instead of waiting to encounter a Mixer monster.

Enhancing

Priority: Low

In terms of damage calculation, +3 attack is around +2 damage.
This helps bring early game monsters into one-shot range, but quickly becomes lackluster.
If you only have 1 Cheery Grass and want to synthesize it, do so onto a shield instead.

Augmenting

Priority: Mid

In terms of damage calculation, +8 attack is around +5 damage.
Its effect is more noticeable than Enhancing, but still falls off from around mid game.
If you only have 1 Angel Seed, synthesize it onto a shield early to mid game, or weapon late game.

Max Wall Dig

Priority: N/A

Technically possible to synthesize in Onigiri Hollow which doesn't allow carry-in items,
but by the time you reach 90F, you're likely capable of clearing the dungeon without it.

Wall Dig

Priority: Avoid

Being able to dig through walls is nice, but the weapon can break if used for that purpose.
You could lose your main weapon due to a missed input or Gazer hypnotizing you.
Don't synthesize this rune.

Rustproof

Priority: Low (If your shield doesn't have Rustproof: Mid)

Protects upgrade value from decreasing due to Rust Trap and Mudkin's special attack.
However, it doesn't protect against Mudster and Mudder's rune erasing special attack.
Losing 1~2 upgrade value during a run isn't a big deal, and you can use other items
to stop Mudkins from using their special.

Mudkins don't appear much in most dungeons, and many weapons gain Rustproof as an added rune,
so you can often get by without synthesizing it. However, being adjacent to Mudkins becomes
dangerous if both your weapon and shield lack Rustproof, so there's more value
in synthesizing it - though your shield should be prioritized if it's a Plating Scroll.

Priority increases to Top in Pitfall of Life, since punching Mudkins results in duplication.
Priority also increases once your weapon reaches Lv8 and gains ∞ rune slots.

Stupefying

Priority: Avoid

Decreasing a Lv3~4 enemy's level might sound good at first, but the target's HP and status
get fully reset when they level down, so it often results in a disadvantage.
Some enemies like Nigiri Boss and MC Wizard can become more troublesome as well.

Perilous

Priority: Low

Only useful when it would otherwise take 3 hits to defeat an enemy.
Unlike Shiren 4, it only activates when you weren't able to defeat an enemy in a single hit.
Can be effective against Cave Mamel, Gitan Mamel, and night monsters.
The main drawback is that it guarantees an Explochin explodes.

Expendable

Priority: Avoid

Shoddy Dirk can be used as a high stat weapon when sealed, but its rune serves no purpose.
Don't synthesize this rune.

Unsound

Priority: Avoid

Glass Dirk can be used as a high stat weapon when sealed, but its rune serves no purpose.
Don't synthesize this rune.

Obsessive

Priority: Avoid

Turns you into a sitting duck when you step into a Monster House, and often results in wasted turns.
Can be beneficial on rare occasions such as not letting a Cheer-Ham run away,
but the negatives far outweigh any positives.

Refining

Priority: Low

No downside, but upgrade value typically only increases by 1 every 5 floors or so.
It's better to use the Upgrade Pot like normal rather than synthesizing it.

Healing

Priority: High

Restoring HP without consuming items is powerful, but both ingredients are extremely valuable.
Heal Bracelet in particular shouldn't be synthesized unless you happen to obtain a second one.
It's most effective when your attack power is high, so don't synthesize it early game,
but instead wait until you have runes like Tri-direction, Critical, status and type-effective ones.
Keep in mind that this rune makes it difficult to manage Bit (Binary Shield)'s effect.

Trap Busting

Priority: Avoid

Rune that often results in weapon loss while checking for traps.
Don't synthesize this rune.

Runes (Shield)

Anti-Fire

Priority: Top

The amount of damage dealt by Dragon's fire breath is lower than previous games,
but it's definitely still worth synthesizing, especially since Archdragons appears earlier
and Abyss Dragons can appear for a long stretch of floors in some dungeons.

Anti-Blast

Priority: Top

Explochins, Explosion Traps, and Pop Tank monsters are all extremely dangerous,
so synthesize it as soon as possible.

Diurnal

Priority: Top

It's best to use Day Shield as a main shield instead of synthesizing it.
If you don't want to do so for whatever reason, it should always be synthesized.

Nocturnal

Priority: Avoid (Shield for night: High)

Only 1 rune can be synthesized between Diurnal and Nocturnal.
Night monsters still deal a ridiculous amount of damage when they level up,
so it doesn't offer as much protection as it might appear at first.
The ideal shield to synthesize it onto is Blazing Shield.

Costly

Priority: High

Easy way to boost your defense, but introduces some risk to your adventure.
Gitan tends to last longer than on a weapon if you have enough attack to one-shot enemies.
Don't read unidentified scrolls if Bankruptcy Scroll is in the dungeon's item table
and hasn't been identified yet.

Bit

Priority: Top

Extremely powerful, but you need to manage your current HP to get the most out of it.
Binary Shield gains Magi-Twister at Lv6, so consider leveling it before synthesizing it.

Anti-Blast+

Priority: Top

Stronger version of Anti-Blast, and makes Explosion Trap, Explochin, and Pop Tank a non-issue.
Lowers the difficulty of late game a decent amount, and Cranky Tank can be used as a weapon.
Lets you destroy walls an unlimited amount if you have a second Explosion Bracelet.
Requires 4 items if you include a shield, so you'll need to level up a Mixer
or throw Stomach Expanders to synthesize it early.

Agile

Priority: Top

It's a chance-based effect, but still worth it to reduce the amount of damage you take overall.
It gains value the deeper you go, since more power monsters appear from around mid game.

Redirecting

Priority: Situational

Not bad if viewed as 30% chance to avoid damage from limit broken enemies in PS Vita dungeons.
Drawbacks include attacking monsters leveling up, canceling paralysis, having to be adjacent
to 2 or more monsters which you want to avoid to begin with, etc.
If you decide to synthesize it, it's best to do so late game.

Rustproof

Priority: High

Protects upgrade value from decreasing due to Rust Trap and Mudkin's special attack.
However, it doesn't protect against Mudster and Mudder's rune erasing special attack.
Shields have more leeway in terms of rune slots, so it's fine to synthesize it right away,
especially if you're the type that gets discouraged seeing upgrade value decrease.

It's best to have this rune on either your weapon or shield so that you only need to
unequip 1 item if you end up being adjacent to a Mudkin monster.

Priority increases to Top in Pitfall of Life, since you never want to unequip your shield.

Unmoving

Priority: Situational

Counters Fearabbits, Tiger Tossers, Yanpii, and Strong Cart.
Synthesizing it onto a main shield instead of using the Steady Shield as a secondary shield
on higher level Fearabbit floors means you can walk around with higher defense.
However, you won't be able to use items like Warp Grass, Swap Staff, and Pinning Staff,
so it's usually a bad idea to synthesize it onto a main shield.

Anti-Hypno

Priority: High

Gazers have the potential to cause costly accidents, so it's great to have this rune.
Especially useful against Ultra Gazers near the end of a dungeon.

Magi-Twister

Priority: Top

DJ Mage monsters use special attacks often, and their magic bullets have infinite range.
MC Mage, MC Wizard, and MC Sorceror are especially dangerous and can cancel Super status.
It's ideal to synthesize it on Mixer floors instead of waiting until Mixermon floors,
since that grants protection against MC Mages.

Magi-Twister takes priority when a Reflection Pot is active, so you'll receive 10 damage.
The new item rune Redirecting+ takes priority over Magi-Twister and will reflect magic bullets.
(The rune's description is "Reflects magic bullets, hypnosis, dances")

Anti-Theft

Priority: High

Zalokleftist King is extremely troublesome, so synthesize it before you reach their floor range.
Avoid fullness depletion caused by chasing Zaloklefts around after they steal items,
and hunt Zaloklefts for item drops risk-free. However, Zalokleft drops are selected from
a unique item table which usually doesn't include anything too powerful.

Anti-Burgle

Priority: Low

Obtain Gitan from Froggo monsters risk-free, which can then be used as a powerful projectile.
Having Gitan stolen from you is far less worrisome compared to having items stolen,
so only go for it if you're maining Dirk of Debts / Pauper's Plank or if you're using the Costly rune.

Anti-Peck

Priority: Mid

It's possible to protect items against Gyadon and Gyairas by inserting them into pots,
but you need this rune to protect items against Gyandora and Gyandoron.
It's usually fine to wait until mid game to synthesize it, but if you're unlucky,
you might not find a Preservation Pot before running into Gyadon or Gyairas,
so some players like to synthesize it early just to be safe.

Red Shield gains this rune as an added rune once it reaches Lv8, so you'll likely
end up with it by the time you need it if you main that shield.

Anti-Onigiri

Priority: Mid (PS Vita dungeons: High)

Protects both items and Shiren from being transformed into onigiri.
The only downside is that you won't be able to perform Nigiri Morph Factory.
Sleep Trap and Onigiri Trap are the 2 traps that disable opening the menu and leave you
extremely vulnerable, so having this rune and equipping an Alert Bracelet significantly
decreases your odds of collapsing due to stepping on a trap.

Onigiri Shield gains CR Diet at Lv6, so it's worth leveling it before synthesizing it.
It can only be found starting on 48F in Primordial Chasm in the base game, but appears
as a regular floor item in some PS Vita and Switch/Steam dungeons.

Anti-Trap

Priority: N/A

Hidden trap activation rate goes from 84% → 62%, and visible traps 62% → 40%.
Trapper Bracelet can only be obtained in Gen's Turf and Trapper's Sandbox which are both
Trapper status dungeons, so it's not a rune you'd consider synthesizing.

Retribution

Priority: Low

Counter damage is based on portion of damage received, so it's not too noticeable early on.
The amount of damage is decent late game, but you want to avoid damage to begin with,
so it's not really a rune that actually helps you take on high level monsters with the
exception of Gitan Mamel and monsters being cheered for by Cheer-Hams.

Also, synthesizing it means you won't be able to perform Nigiri Morph Factory,
so keep that in mind if you're considering doing so early game.

Stupefying

Priority: Low

Nice for when you're afflicted with a status condition, or when fighting Absorbiphants.
You end up in an advantageous situation more often than when synthesized onto a weapon,
but the attacker's HP and status get fully reset when they level down, and it can get in the way
of synthesizing using Mixers and performing Nigiri Morph Factory, so it's still a bit questionable.

Perilous

Priority: Low

You end up in an advantageous situation more often than when synthesized onto a weapon.
However, this rune ensures that Explochin monsters explode when it takes effect,
making it extremely risky if you don't have Anti-Blast+ synthesized alongside it.
Can be helpful against Absorbiphants and night monsters on rare occasions.

Lively, Uplifting, Vitalizing, Energizing

Priority: Low

Natural HP regeneration slows down as your max HP increases in this game,
so unless you have other ways to heal, sometimes it's better not to extend max HP too much.
That said, HP regeneration remains at 1 HP per 2 turns once you reach 200 max HP,
so go ahead and synthesize it if you're close to that value and have ∞ rune slots.

It's not as bad of an idea to synthesize it onto a shield, since shields typically have
more leeway for rune slots than weapons. That said, healing items are still valuable,
so it's recommended to only go for Energizing since Life Grass isn't a healing item.

Can be used alongside Bit (Binary Shield) to adjust current HP so the rune takes effect.
It gains value in Pitfall of Life, but it's still usually better to increase max HP on the spot
instead of waiting to encounter a Mixer monster.

Enhancing

Priority: Mid

In terms of damage calculation, +3 defense is around -2 damage received.
Nice when performing Nigiri Morph Factory or when you want Karakuroids to create traps.
You tend to get hit by enemies more often than you hitting them with direct attacks,
so it's more impactful than synthesizing it onto a weapon.

Augmenting

Priority: High

In terms of damage calculation, +8 defense is around -5 damage received.
Extremely effective early game, so synthesize it right away if you find an Angel Seed.

CR Diet

Priority: Top

Doubles the number of actions you can take before you starve, making it easier to grind
equipment levels, hunt monsters for item drops, and recover HP by stepping in place.
You don't need to carry as much food when you have this rune, so it can be said that it
increases your inventory size, and it also makes it easier to maintain Super status.
Synthesize it right away if you find it, and consider leveling a Plain Targe to Lv8 for it.

Hungry

Priority: Avoid

Absolutely no advantage to synthesizing this rune.

Unfamished

Priority: N/A

Extremely powerful effect that makes hunger a non-issue.
However, losing your shield due to a Swordsman or Gazer can end your run.
Technically possible to synthesize in Old Road which doesn't allow carry-in items,
but by the time you reach 90F, you're capable of clearing the dungeon without it.

Tiger Mom

Priority: Low

Only useful at the very beginning of a run, and otherwise is a waste of a rune slot.

Pain Fueled

Priority: Low

Extremely low chance to take effect, and only replenishes fullness by 1.
It's not a negative rune, but it's a waste of a rune slot since you can't even intentionally
get hit by a weak monster to replenish fullness with such a low activation rate.

Expendable

Priority: Avoid

Absolutely no advantage to synthesizing this rune.

Unsound

Priority: Avoid

Absolutely no advantage to synthesizing this rune.

Refining

Priority: Low

No downside, but upgrade value typically only increases by 1 every 5 floors or so.
It's better to use the Upgrade Pot like normal rather than synthesizing it.

Offensive

Priority: Situational

Unique effect where shield strength is added to weapon strength instead of raising defense.
It can be advantageous if it lets you one-shot all enemies, but it introduces a lot of risk,
so it's best to use it when you're maining a shield with innate damage reduction such as
Day Shield, Binary Shield, or Pauper's Plank - and it still depends on your playstyle.

Ability Regen

Priority: Low (If you use Onigiri Bonanza: Mid)

You don't want to get hit by night monsters, and abilities can be replenished by eating peaches,
so this rune doesn't have many opportunities to take effect unless you use Onigiri Bonanza.

The only dungeons where you'd care to refresh abilities to collect items is Old Road,
but synthesizing this rune would cost a valuable Blank Scroll, so it's usually not worth it.