See, I'm playing a hunter type character, archery, sneaking, smithing so I can make money with my hides, etc, skills that allow me to kill deers and all that jazz !

Something most hunters use are traps, and since there are no physical traps in this game (none that you can carry anyway) I have to use magic if I want to use traps, problem is that I don't know if they're worth it. The damage does seem to be pretty low, at 50 (75 with perks) and since I'm playing on Master I doubt it can dent most enemies.

What I'm mostly wondering about is the dual casting effect of runes, if they get much deadlier when dual cast.

Thanks in advance !

As a mage, I play on Expert mostly, and yes, the Runes can be quite effective. They're of course not your bread-and-butter attack, but with perks, a free AoE doing up to 150 damage at the beginning of combat is nothing to scoff at, and frequently one-shots weaker enemies in a group.

I say free because, as a trap/rune/landmine, it's best placed before combat, while your mana can recharge back to full faster. Runes are not very effective or efficient to be placed during combat, even for mages.

Unfortunately, if you're not a mage, you probably won't have any of the Fire/Shock/Ice perks (the ones you can put 2 points into), that increase its explosion radius by a few yards (only once both levels are bought).

You probably know already, but for other's benefit, do note that you need the dual-casting perk to get the supercharged rune.

I play an Archer/Mage and CONSTANTLY use Rune Spells as traps to guard myself from melee combat in case my familiar or companion, whom takes most of the melee-heat, dies.. I suggest that if you play a Range character, you should invest in rune spells.. they are great traps imo.. and the duel damage is good..