Dota 2 Rune Guide: When do Bounty and Power-Up Runes spawn?

Dota 2 has two types of runes: Bounty Runes and Power-up Runes.In total, Dota 2 has 7 different runes: 1 Bounty Rune and 6 Power-up Runes. The Rune names are:
Bounty, Double Damage, Haste, Regeneration, Invisibility, Illusion & Arcane.

Dota 2 Rune Spawn Times:

• Dota 2 Bounty Runes spawn at 0:00 according to the ingame clock for the first time and then every five minutes on all 4 spawn spots.
• Dota 2 Power-up Runes spawn at 2:00 for the first time and then every two minutes. Important: Power-up Runes only spawn randomly on one of the two spawn positions.

How much Team Gold gives
the Dota 2 Bounty Rune?

Now my friends comes the most extreme fact about Dota 2 Runes: The bounty gold split has jaw-dropping tremendously mind-blowing effects! 😀 Wait for it – here it comes! 😀

Picking up the bounty Runes can sky-rocket your team to a possible gold-lead and swing around the balance even if your team is far behind: Picking up bounty Runes is much more effective and game-changing than 90% of the Dota 2 players think. To clarifiy the gold impact, checkout this table with the detailed Dota 2 bounty Rune gold amount:

Knowing this, the Bounty Rune late game pickup will unleash unknown power for your Dota 2 teamplay: Picking up together with your mate all four “minute 30” runes, will swing over an amount of 2600 gold over to your team.
Extra Tip: Check the Dota 2 gold game-graph at the end of a match, to see the graph breaking out and keep track of your successful manipulation of the gold balance! 😉
Current Meta when I created the table:
Bounty Runes have an increase rate of 15 gold every 5 minutes (that’s 3 gold per minute). Support heroes can easily increase their impact by taking care of bounty runes!
Valve is adjusting the Dota 2 balancing from time to time as well as the Bounty Rune gold amount, but the importance and game impact will stay.

First of all: What exactly
are Dota 2 Runes?

Important information for Dota 2 beginners: Every MOBA game has temporary boosters in it, to enhance the abilities of a hero for a specific time. Just like that runes in Dota 2 are unique temporary boosters that spawn in specific areas to benefit from. The runes in Dota 2 are divided into two categories: Power-up Runes, and Bounty Runes.Power-up Runes have six types of runes: The Invisibility Rune, Illusion Rune, Double Damage Rune, Arcane Rune, Haste Rune, and Regeneration Rune.
Runes can be activated instantly by just right-clicking them or if you have a bottle they are getting added to the bottle while filling the bottle up at the same time! To find out more about the exact effects, timeframe and advantages read on I will show you everything you need to know as a high-class Dota 2 player.

Rune Location: Where do the Runes spawn on the Dota 2 Map?

First of all, make sure you are a 100% safe about the rune spawning areas on the Dota 2 map: On the image you can see the yellow points which show the bounty rune spawn location, while the red marks indicate the Power-up runes location. The Power-up runes only have a 50% chance to spawn, that means only on one of the two spots there will be a rune generated.
Tactical Locations:
If you look at the spawning points you will realize how they are spread on the map: The Power-up Runes are directly in the middle, that means both teams have the same chance to benefit from that and they allow quite offensive plays.

The Bounty Runes, in contrast, spawn two times on each side of the map. The river splits the two teams Radiant and Dire and each side has two Bounty Rune spawning points. That means that in general on 0:00 and then after every five minutes each team should gather it’s two Bounty Runes and if not one team will create a passive tactical advantage! Due to the amount of taken Bounty Runes, roamers, gankers and support heroes can have a direct impact to the gold-lead and therefore to the victory or defeat in Dota 2!

5 Pro Tips & Tricks for
Dota 2 Rune Usage:

• How to get Dominance trough Vision and Rune Control?

  Vision is one part of Dota 2 that is tremendously life-changing. Wether you have ward vision or not it will have a direct impact to the whole performance of the team and the outcoming result of the early game! Vision can give you rune-control and also the same-weight benefit to having the information if the enemy picked up a Rune!
  For the mid lane player as well as for the supports, keeping an eye on runes is mandatory. A regeneration, arcane or double damage Rune can give early game advantages for farming the lane! Haste and invisibility Runes lead into a possible kill and illusion runes can give further temporary vision on the map.

  Getting Map Vision:
  Support players should care about placing wards to get rune vision in the river:
  With vision you should reach dominance on the Dota 2 map, like shown on the image, the team that makes it possible to get a bigger part of vision can profit extremely and it’s easy to keep up.
  The vision also keeps track of the enemy warding behavior and if you react fast it’s easy to deward the enemy. Like that you will be able to ward across the river and allow active rune control for the whole team!

• How Pro Players claim the early Bounty Runes?

  In an average game, each team picks up two of the first four runes and there is a ridiculous demand to get 3 instead of 2. But the rune at minute 5:00 and 10:00 is often ignored at all and out of the scope of the average player.

  Simple Rule to Learn:
  Start adopting this simple rule: Accept that it’s okay to get only two of the starting bounty runes, getting 3 is not worth in most cases. Instead of that put more attention to the runes in minute 5, 10 and 15, these will have a bigger impact on to the gameplan and it’s more likely to obtain all 4 bounty Runes if done right!

  The first bounty gives around 40 gold for every player in the team, the second 50, 60 and 70 multiplied by 4 bounty runes. If you make it happen to get all 12 runes of minute 5, 10 and 15 it would be a gold advantage of 4200 gold, this can change an entire game and increase your Dota 2 rank.

  So, how to practically create such a Bounty Rune Dominance?
  The key is to put momentum into this and to have the right timing. Getting Bounty Runes in Dota 2 is all about anticipating and zoning: If you know that in 30 seconds there is the next rune spawn, prepare for it. Do not get into fights, even call it, that the team should stay back, make a shoutout to the team that you need to pick all 4 bounties – force them to do it! Call your lane-mate and write him that you urgently need him to cover the bounty! Tip: To automate this add a suitable command to your chat-wheel. 😉

  To anticipate the enemies to do the same thing, force them back 20 seconds before the rune spawns. To prepare for this, heal up to full hp and have enough mana to be able to create a dominance together. Zone them into the desired area where it’s too late for them to grab the Bounty even if they would start running now. Like that they have no chances to reach the Bounty before you.
  Your mission here is, to force the enemy back trough pressure but cancel it immediately when it’s time to start running to the Bounty to be there 1 second before! Rightclick on it like a madman to even prevent invisible pickups! 😉

  Make it even easier through Warding:
  If you invest into early wards on areas where it’s unusual for that game phase, you can get even more control onto the bounty runes and what’s even more important: You will know what’s happening and how hard the enemy is focused on the bounties! 😉 Tip: Place the wards 2 minutes before the next spawn, it’s a time where the enemy is not thinking about the bounty Rune yet.

• Which are the strongest Runes in Dota 2?

  All Dota 2 Runes can be great, for the maximum output check the next tip: It’s all about who is picking it up! 😉
  To get an answer on this in general, the most kills are getting done with the invisibility rune in the early game, for hard damagers the haste rune is glorious!

• Who should pick up the Dota 2 Rune?

  Decide smart which teammate should pickup the Rune!
  As support check if the mid player or even carry or offline player nearby got a bottle, so that he can benefit from the healing as well and not just only gets the rune effect. It’s not always smart to just pick it, but if an enemy is near, you better take it or destroy it, before he can grab it! 😉

  How to make the most out of the Haste Rune?

  Haste runes are perfect for the heroes that can go irreversible and nearly unavoidable for the kill due to their attack damage like Huskar, Wraithking, Naix or Slardar.

  What is the perfect usage of an Invisibility Rune?

  Invisibility runes should be picked up by stunners and support players who can initiate a deadly gank.

  How to use Reg Runes optimally?

  A regeneration rune can be picked up by the player who needs it the most and is nearby.

  How to profit from Arcane Runes the right way?

  Arcanes can be picked up by roamers, or the mid player as well if he has spells that are suitable for spamming.

  Illusionary Runes are not useless: Use them Tactical!

  Illusions can be picked up by anyone and should be used to simply be placed on high ground and give vision for a temporary time or to fake presence on a lane, while the hero is ganking somewhere else, blindfolding the enemy team.

  What is the best way to use the Double Damage Rune in Dota 2?

  Double damage runes are the perfect invitation to do Roshan, especially if the rune is next to his pit! For strong damage push heroes like Sniper or Medusa, or for a straight forward carries with a fast attack speed like Ursa, Sven, Phantom Assasin or Alchemist.

  Tip: Runes in Dota 2 are pretty much situational and can have a huge variety of possible executions!

• Indepth Details & Facts for Dota 2 Rune Spawns:

  1. You know that Power-up Runes spawn 50% randomly, so on one of the spots: But here are even more details: Before the 40 minute mark of the game, the same Power-up Rune can not spawn twice or thrice in a row.

  2. What happens after the 40-minute mark? The Runes can spawn at both locations, and both can be the same Runes.

  3. In the late game, players usually forget to pick runes, after every two minutes the Power-up Runes will replace by new random Runes.

  4. Since Dota 2 patch 7.22, Arc Warden can create its own rune: If Arc Warden holds/consumes an Aghanim Sceptre then by using its new ability Rune Forge he can create a random Rune!

  5. If a bottled rune is not used, it will be automatically activated after two minutes! If you pick up a new rune while having one inside the bottle, it will replace the old one.

1. Bounty Rune (The Dota 2 Money Rune)

• The primary purpose of the Bounty Rune is that it provides bonus Gold to every player of the team that picks it up.
• Bounty rune spawns at 0:00, and after every 5 minutes, it generates again.
• The Starting gold of Bounty is 40 per hero and increases by 3 after every minute.
• The growth rate of bounty rune is 1.5 every 30 seconds.
• After picking the bounty, your whole team will see an addition in total gold.
• Just like other runes, you can also bottle the Bounty Rune and use it whenever you want.

  Note: The gold does not depend on the time when you bottled the run, and it depends when you activated it if you wait it gives more gold, but later! 😉
  When a player from a team picks up a bounty rune, a golden sparkle effect bursts from every hero of the team.

2. Dota 2 Arcane Rune

• Arcane Runes provides 30% cooldown and mana cost reduction to its consumer. Super useful for Storm Spirit, Zeus, and SkyWraith Mage.
• After consumption, it lasts for 50 seconds. It great to use it for harassing and ganks.
• Arcane Runes acts same like Octarine Core. Acquiring both at a time will reduce a tremendous amount of mana cost and cooldown.
• Consuming two arcane runes at a time will not increase the effect. It will only reset the duration.
• The buff of arcane rune can be applied in any situation, for example when beeing invisible, invulnerable, etc.

Dota 2 Double Damage Rune

• Just by hearing this rune name, it is easily understandable that it will Double the Damage. However, to be exact it increases the base damage of the consumer by 100%.
• The time duration of Double Damage Rune is lower than Arcane rune. It lasts for 45 seconds.
• Double Damage does not increase the Raw or modified damage of the hero it only affects the base damage.
• Same like Arcane Rune two Double Damage buff at the same time will not double the effect by 200%.
• Double Damage is most efficient for core and carry heroes.

Haste Rune in Dota 2

• The most efficient rune for ganks in Haste Rune.
• It increases the movement speed of the consumer to the maximum (550).
• However, it only lasts for 22 seconds.
• The buff of Haste cannot be stacked.
• Haste rune is efficient for heroes like Pudge, Razor, Leshrac, etc.

Illusion Rune

• After consuming illusion rune, the rune will create 2 illusions of the consumer.
• Illusions are not as strong as the original hero, because they have 35% damage. Meele illusions can take 200% damage, and Range illusions can take 300% damage.
• Illusion Rune lasts longer than any other rune. Its lasting time is 75 seconds.
• You can stack illusion rune, for example, use Illusion rune once and then use it again. It would not replace the previous illusions, and now you have four illusions.
• Only you and teammates know which is the real hero and which is a copy. Your enemy will see all three of you as real heroes.
• Illusion runes are incredibly beneficial in bait, confusing enemy, and for sight.

Invisibility Rune

• Invisibility rune makes the consumer invisible for 45 seconds.
• After consuming invisibility rune, it takes two seconds to hide the hero entirely.
• You cannot cast abilities or items while being invisible. It will break the buff
• An enemy can see invisible heroes by using Observer Wards, Dust, and Gem.
• The invisibility buff cannot be multiplied because you are already invisible, it will only increase the duration.
• You can block a path or units while being invisible.

Regeneration Rune

• The purpose of the regeneration rune is to regenerate the mana and health of the consumer.
• It regenerates 6% mana and 6% health per second.
• Regeneration rune lasts for 30 seconds.
• You can use abilities and items while using regeneration. Regeneration rune will regenerate it again.
• If an enemy hero or controlled unit hits you, the buff will break.
• Attack by Roshan can also break the Regeneration buff.
• The buff cannot be stacked it will just reset the duration of the buff.

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Fun Fact about the Dota 2 Runes:

Here is a fun fact, did you know that the Dota TI colors are defined by the rune colors? Checkout the image to see the art style for each tournament:

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