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Stats | Runes | Skills & Powers | Equipment | Classes & Professions
Raising your stats is not the only thing you can do with your stat points. Both during character creation and ongoing gameplay, you have the opportunity to spend stat points to apply runestones instead; note that you can only apply a total of 8 runestones plus your required race, class, and professions runes. Also, just because you can take runes doesn't necessarily mean you should; in a large number of cases, using those points to raise your stats will provide more benefit than buying the runestone does. Runes have a wide variety of possible effects, falling into several broad categories:
You can use runestones to raise your stat cap in one or more attributes. During creation, you can apply either a +5 current/ +5 max rune for 6 points (requires you already have 40 in the stat), or a +10 current/ +10 max rune for 12 points (requires 50). If you can get your key stat to 50 and have 12 points left, a +10 rune is probably one of the best stones you can take during character creation. Then, during gameplay, you have the option to apply another +cap stone ranging from +5 to +40 (with the stronger stones requiring a greater stat-point cost, of course); you can easily end up with a capped stat 50 points higher than your natural cap if you build your character toward that end. Note again, though, that you don't have anywhere near enough stat points to cap all your attributes, even less so once you've applied runestones; don't waste a Legendary or Godly stone if you're never going to be able to fill it up.
In addition to the simple +cap runes, during character creation you can purchase reduced-cost runes that raise one stat and its cap by 10 each, at the cost of -5 to two other stats and their caps. In each case except one, you're losing points from either Int or Con which you'd end up buying back later, making these runes a suboptimal investment in most cases; however, Warlord's Page is an excellent rune for a heavy-armor melee class, boosting Con at the expense of Dex and Spirit you have no use for anyway.
You can buy stones during character creation to raise any weapon skill, most armor and defensive skills, and the basic magical skills of mages or healers. These runes were a good purchase in the past; however, with the new lower gold cost of training skills, it's probably better to spend points into your Intelligence (or other attributes) than to use them purchasing skill runes.
For 10 points, you can wield a weapon not normally allowed to your class. If you have a strong roleplay character concept requiring out-of-class weapons, this is the only way to go, but from a game mechanics standpoint, there are very few builds which demand the use of an extra proficiency... especially since you'll generally have to purchase a mastery rune later to get maximum effect from your new weapon.
There are runestones which boost magical resistances to various elements, as well as one which will boost your physical resistances by 5 points each. Irekei start with heightened resistance to fire but a weakness against cold; Blood of the North (that's "North Kharduun", of course =) isn't a bad choice if you have 4 points to spare, and some melee characters may think Tough Hide worth its 12 points.
Stamina, Health, and Mana each have a runestone which provides a flat bonus to the attribute pool as well as boosting your regen rate for that pool. While these may look tempting, the bonuses they currently provide are trivial at higher levels; pass them by.
You can buy an 8-point rune which will add +5% to your ATR or DEF. This will only boost a 1000 ATR to 1050; these points might be better spent in Intelligence or another stat which will provide a broader benefit in multiple areas.
Ambidexterity, increased run speed, and see invisible round out the starting runestone list. The ambidexterity rune is the only way for a Warrior to wield 2 weapons, but is costly; the other two of these stones may be more or less useful depending on your character concept, but always remember that every point you spend buying runes is coming directly out of your stats, and that either of these abilities can be acquired by class or discipline abilities or magical equipment.
Once you reach 20th level, you'll have the opportunity to apply up to 3 discipline runestones, gaining access to additional skills and powers not normally available to your profession. The merits and details of specific disciplines are discussed elsewhere; be aware that in order to fully exploit most disciplines will require a substantial diversion of training points away from your profession's core abilities, which may or may not be to your character's advantage. Don't feel obligated to take three disciplines, or even one, just because you can.
Stats | Runes | Skills & Powers | Equipment | Classes & Professions
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During creation, you can apply either a +5 current/ +5 max rune for 6 points (requires you already have 40 in the stat), or a +10 current/ +10 max rune for 12 points (requires 50). If you can get your key stat to 50 and have 12 points left, a +10 rune is probably one of the best stones you can take during character creation.