Runecrafting
Ten Olympian runes on a ladder from Aeolus at level 1 to Zeus at 140, all crafted from Aetheric Essence at the floating altar hub.
The ten runes are the whole skill
Runecrafting on Olympus has exactly ten runes, one per god, and they are the Divinity spellbook's ammunition. There are no stock runes to craft - the ladder runs from level 1 to the 150 cap on these alone.
| Rune | Level | Xp per rune | Element |
|---|---|---|---|
 Aeolus Rune | 1 | 200 | Wind |
 Boreas Rune | 20 | 385 | Frost |
 Selene Rune | 40 | 740 | Moon |
 Helios Rune | 60 | 1,415 | Sun |
 Demeter Rune | 75 | 2,720 | Growth |
 Hephaestus Rune | 90 | 5,200 | Fire |
 Ares Rune | 99 | 7,500 | War |
 Hades Rune | 110 | 14,450 | Void |
 Poseidon Rune | 125 | 27,700 | Tide |
| Zeus Rune | 140 | 53,200 | Lightning |
XP is the base on-screen drop before your multipliers.
Essence
Every altar takes 
Aetheric Essence only - rune essence is refused. Mine it at the essence quarry (::ess, 17 Mining) - the rocks are bottomless.
Yield and the xp curve
Each rune starts at one per essence at its level and gains one more per essence for every 10 levels above its requirement: Aeolus reaches x15 at 150, Ares x6, Zeus x2.
Extra runes pay diminishing xp: the first rune 100%, then +80%, +60%, +40%, +20%, then nothing - so a single essence caps at 3x its base xp. That is deliberate: the newest rune you can craft is always the best xp at 150, and never falls below 80% of a lower rune at any level in between. In practice you switch to each new altar within about ten levels of unlocking it.
At base rates the ladder is roughly 2.5 hours from 1 to 99 and 36 hours from 99 to 150 (the last ten levels are 16 of them).
Bonus yield
| Source | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Donator rank | Extra runes per essence - Hoplite 3%, Spartan 5%, Myrmidon 8%, Argonaut 11%, Champion 14%, Hero 17%, Legend 21%, Demigod 25%, Immortal 30%, Olympian 36% (Chthonian 43%, Underlord 52%). Exact in expectation: whole runes guaranteed, the remainder rolled. |
| Donator zone | An extra set of runes per essence 10 / 25 / 50% of the time (Void Sanctum / Inferno / Elysium). |
| Olympian Favour (Harvest talent) | Every altar yields more, 15% per rank. |
The altar hub
::rc (or the Runecrafting teleport in the Skills tab) takes you to the floating altar hub - ten god-themed altars on one island in the sky, each dressed for its god: Zeus' eagle and braziers, Selene's crystals and obelisks, Hephaestus' furnace and anvils, Poseidon's fountain and stepping stones, Hades' dead trees and Stygian cypress, and so on. No talismans, no tiaras, no abyss - walk to the altar and craft.
- 1The hubYou arrive on the central platform; every altar is one straight walkway away.
- 2PortalBack to the mainland.
- 3Aeolus altarLevel 1 - wind. Start here.
- 4Boreas altarLevel 20 - frost.
- 5Selene altarLevel 40 - moon.
- 6Helios altarLevel 60 - sun.
- 7Demeter altarLevel 75 - growth.
- 8Hephaestus altarLevel 90 - fire. A furnace and anvils stand on the platform.
- 9Ares altarLevel 99 - war.
- 10Hades altarLevel 110 - void.
- 11Poseidon altarLevel 125 - tide.
- 12Zeus altarLevel 140 - lightning. The top of the ladder.
Skilling Points
A runecrafting run pays up to 300 Skilling Points, scaled by the essence used out of a full inventory of 28 - one of the highest ceilings of any skill, sized on how hands-on the run is.
What the runes are for
Every Divinity spell costs Olympian runes, and a spell never costs a rune above its own level: early spells are Aeolus-only, the Thunderbolt of Zeus wants Zeus runes. Casting pays Divinity xp based on the runes' own craft xp, so the two skills feed each other. See Divinity.