I've heard that Dishonored features "RPG-lite" elements, but I haven't really heard a clear explanation of these features yet.

Am I correct in assuming that skills/skill upgrades are either found or learned through the story, while bone charms are found in the environment?

I've heard that 'not all skills can be upgraded in one playthrough' and 'only 12 charms can be found per playthrough.' I've also heard that there is a mission/chapter select option to replay past missions. How do these elements work together? Does replaying the Lady Boyle mission offer different bone charms than one would find the first time through, for example?

Finally, how permanent is this progress? Can Corvo continue to be upgraded by replaying missions, or will we need to create new games/profiles from scratch in order to spec his skills differently?

Thanks in advance.

Runes are used to upgrade Supernatural Abilities and Enhancements (passive abilities). You find around 36 in the game and there are 58 in total. They are also found in the environment but you can use The Heart to find them. It shows you where they are and beats faster the closer you are to them. (same goes for bone charms)

Bone Charms are randomized each time and you can get a limited amount in one playthrough. The initial Bone Charm slots are 3 but can be upgraded to more and they act as small passive perks.

Upgrades are available for weapons and some gear. You need Coin which you can gain by scavenging for it, stealing items or completing objectives for NPCs. You also need to find a blueprint before you upgrade something, so it requires exploration as well. Apart from the weapons (Crossbow, Swords, Gun, Spring Razors and Grenades) your Boots can be upgraded to reduce sound, your Cloth can be upgraded in order to reduce upcoming damage and your Mask can be upgraded to zoom in and listen on conversations.

The mission replay works by putting you from the first save of that mission, so yes, you do need to start from scratch. The game isn't RPG heavy, nor does it have a lot of variety or depth, it's just there to spice up things a little and help out certain playstyles.

as you play the game you will find runes spread throughout the levels. These are spent to buy and upgrade your supernatural abilities (you will not find enough runes to max everything so choose wisely).

As to bone charms there are 45 total. You will find around 12 of them in a playthrough and like the runes they are spread throughout the environment. These work as buffs and you can equip a limited number of them at one time.

Yes you can replay missions although you can't get new stuff from them. From what I have heard the levels either use whatever your current set up is or revert you to the set up you had when you did that mission. You can't get new items, charms, or runes from replays.

You can't respec. You make your choices of what to level and that is permanent. As said you will never max everything. To use a new build you will need to start a new play through.

These numbers are not accurate because the guide and various other sources claim otherwise. At this point what we CAN be certain about Bone Charms is that you can carry a limited about (like you said) and that they are always randomized.


This one is tricky to be honest. We didn't get a detailed explanation as to what we would be gaining from replaying a mission. I guess we will have to find out soon when the game comes out.


Absolutely correct. You make a choice and you stick with it. For upgrades it would make sense since Piero can take it apart (I believe upgrades are permanent as well) but skills are permanent, you can't take it back.

Huh? does that mean that there are 58 totalt but only 36 of them are relatively easy to find, or???

What he meant to say is that it takes 58 to max all powers and abilities and you only get around 36 in the game

Correct. You can find only 36 (or w/e number they finally decide on, this was the one in the guide) and distribute them however you like.

Oh sorry about that, but imo Strife made it sound like, that there were 58 runes.

Possibly a language barrier though.

Yeah, I wasn't entirely clear, apologies.

Hmm... so logically most abilities will cost more than one rune to upgrade, given that they have only two levels.

Makes me wonder just how many level two abilities/enhancements Corvo can have with all 36 runes.

Quite a few, I made out my list last night and I chose Blink Lvl 2, Possession lvl 1 and 2, Rat swarm level 1 and 2, agility lvl 1 and 2, shadow kill level 1, dark vision level 1 and 2 and came out with like 28 runes I believe so I still had a few I could spend

Well, my understanding of the english language is lacking a bit.

And in the end, i understood what you meant, so everyone is a winner

Does the power menu list all the powers and how many runes they cost for each ?

Depends on what powers you choose. Time bend is expensive and takes 10 runes total to fully upgrade. That's more than 1/4 of all the runes you can find. And it's not a given that you will find every rune, so choose wisely

The second levels are very expensive on some spells. Time Bend has a Level 1 cost of 2 runes but its Level 2 is 8. So there are some choices involved but some powers have a questionable second level and you might be a jack of all trades and still have a solid build. Time Bend's second level is essential for stealth though so the cost is definitely worth it.

I posted a detail list of all the powers so you could check for yourself, but apparently writing off the guide is illegal here on the forums.


Yes, it does.

Unless you know something that we don't (which is raher likely), i really doubt that it is essential.

Thanks Strife

But do you know how many runes should I have to upgrade the following :

Blink
Dark vision 1& 2
Possession 1&2
Bend time 1&2
Agility 1&2 ?

I don't think that I can upgrade these ?

It is because security devices like Walls of Light and Arc Pylons are still active in the first level of Time Bend. Guards can get suspicious as well on the first level so it isn't optimal for stealth. The second level stops those cons and gives you the perfect getaway and setup spell.



I will go by the numbers supported by the guide so I am not 100% certain they are accurate (even though technically they are supposed to be).

Blink Level 2 - 3 Runes

Dark Vision Level 1 - 1 Rune; Level 2 - 2 Runes

Possession Level 1 - 3 Runes; Level 2 - 5 Runes

Bend Time Level 1 - 2 Runes; Level 2 - 8 Runes

Agility Level 1 - 2 Runes; Level 2 - 3 Runes

So it is a brilliant power for a stealh playthrough, but not essential.

Yeah, I guess my wording was wrong...again. It's really helpful, there we go.

Blink seems essential, as does either Possession or Bend Time as easy methods of entry/escape.

Swarm and Windblast don't seem as useful as the other skills.

At least level one of Shadow Kill seems fantastic, and both levels of Agility and Health seem very useful.

With no knowledge of how much some of these skills cost, I'd go with:

Blink 2 -3 runes
Agility 2 - 5 runes
Shadow Kill 1 -? runes
Health 2 - ? runes
Bend Time 2 -10 runes
Dark Vision 2 -3 runes

It is cheap to use, plus, like blink, its free to use. if you wait for the bar to refill, that is

Then I'll throw that in too. The rune cost is really low and, unless Health and Shadow Kill are immensely expensive to upgrade, I should have plenty of runes left over for it.

And again, as long as we understand each other, everything is good

Helpful is more like it but you can do those things by just climbing and being stealthy.


Swarm summons a rat for you if there isn't one near that you may need to possess. But personally it's my least favorite spell. Windblast actually can help with clearing some obstacles out of the way and taking out a huge group of guards, and knocking back projectiles.


Depends on your playstyle. I will get Shadow Kill because I like how it looks and it will make the stealth more fast paced. Agility and Vitality are not very useful to me because I will avoid fighting altogether and I will try not to run too often. But for traversing a large amount of area really fast Agility does help.


Shadow Kill Level 1 - 2 Runes; Level 2 - 4 Runes
Vitality Level 1 - 1 Rune; Level 2 - 3 Runes
Agility Level 1 - 2 Runes; Level 2 - 3 Runes



Quite true.