Runes

Runes are special boosters that spawn on the game map. Picking up a non-bounty rune grants heroes a powerful effect for a short period of time.

Spawn time
Runes spawn at two points in the river. Two Bounty Runes spawn on at the beginning of the game, which are twice as effective as Bounty Runes that spawn afterwards. After this first spawn, one Bounty Rune and one random non-bounty rune spawn every two minutes. If a rune is not picked up, it is replaced by a new rune at the next spawn time. Other than Bounty Runes, runes of the same type cannot spawn at consecutive spawning intervals. This means that if a Haste Rune spawns at 2:00, the non-bounty rune that spawns at 4:00 cannot be a Haste Rune.

Bottling runes
Runes can be stored inside a, which allows them to be used later by activating the bottle. Using a bottled rune refills the Bottle to full, with 3/3 charges, except in the case of Bounty Runes, where the bottle is refilled by 2 charges. Runes can be bottled for up to two minutes, after which they are automatically activated. Bottles containing runes cannot be dropped or shared. When picking up a rune while already having one bottled, the just picked up rune is activated right away instead of being stored in the bottle.

Selection box
The runes' selection boxes have a higher priority over units. This means that if a unit is standing over a rune, the mouse cursor highlights and selects the rune first. This only goes for actions which can actually target the rune. So if the action is the targeting of a unit-targeted spell which cannot target runes, it still targets the unit. Currently, the only ability in the game that can directly target runes is Tiny's.

Destroying runes
Runes can be destroyed by normal attacks. In order to do so, a forced attack command is required. Since runes do not count as units, destroying or denying a rune neither counts as a last hit, nor interacts with any abilities in the game.