Rune Dice Complete Guide 2026: Classes, Relics, and Builds

This Rune Dice complete guide covers the physics-based roguelike from Smart Raven Studio. Your dice don't just land: they bounce off walls, collide with each other, and trigger chain reactions depending on how the throw plays out. That physics layer is what separates Rune Dice from dice-based card games where outcomes are purely random. You have throwing skill. Positioning matters. And when a run clicks, it clicks because you made something happen.

This is the complete hub for every Rune Dice guide on the site. Use it to find specific articles or to get an overview of how the core systems connect.

TL;DR: Rune Dice has 8 classes, a physics-based throwing mechanic, relics that dramatically change run trajectories, and a NG+ mode unlocked after your first clear. Warrior is the safest starting class. Necromancer and Archer are the highest ceiling picks. Bomb dice relics are worth prioritizing across most builds. Some classes (Archer) require unlock conditions. NG+ starts fresh at higher difficulty.

What is Rune Dice? (quick answer)

Rune Dice is a physics-based roguelike from Smart Raven Studio, published by Kwalee. It's available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series, and Nintendo Switch.

Each run is a series of encounters where you throw physical dice onto a board. Dice roll, bounce, and interact physically. Where they land and how they collide determines which magical effects trigger. You're not just selecting from a menu: you're throwing and watching chain reactions play out.

Between encounters, you buy relics and upgrade your dice pool at shops. Each run takes 20-45 minutes. The game has 8 classes, each starting with a different set of dice and a class-specific ability. After clearing the main run, New Game Plus unlocks.

Rune Dice launched May 2026 from Smart Raven Studio with a demo available on Steam. The main run is completable in a few hours; relic variety and class unlocks drive replay.

The 8 classes

Each class plays distinctly based on its starting dice type and special ability. Some are unlocked from the start; others require specific in-run conditions.

Warrior is the safest starting class. High HP, blocking dice that absorb damage when they land on a shield face, and no complex resource management. The Warrior teaches the core loop without punishing mistakes as hard as fragile classes.

Mage is spell-focused, with arcane dice that trigger elemental effects on specific landing faces. Higher damage ceiling than the Warrior, lower survivability. Mage runs reward players who understand face probability and throw angles.

Shadow runs stealth and critical hit mechanics. Shadow dice have a backstab face that multiplies damage when landing after a bounce off an obstacle. The class is about setting up bounces deliberately rather than throwing straight.

Ranger/Archer is the game's highest-rated community pick after unlock. Blue dice pool with consistent ranged damage output. The Archer's unlock condition isn't shown in the UI until you meet it. Once unlocked, it's the class most players switch to as a main.

Necromancer builds a skeleton army at scale. Each successful throw that hits the skeleton face adds a skeleton to your army. Army size compounds through long runs. In the later rooms where enemy density is high, a full skeleton army is among the strongest outputs in the game.

Paladin runs heal-on-trigger dice with a holy shield passive. More defensive than the Warrior in sustained fights. The Paladin doesn't kill as fast but is the hardest class to die on, making it the second-best beginner pick after the Warrior.

Cleric is a support-and-burst hybrid. Cleric dice trigger healing on some faces and high damage on others. The class rewards understanding face distribution: you're always managing which side you need to come up.

Rogue is high burst, low HP, and combo-reliant. Rogue dice have specific setup dice that amplify damage when landed in sequence. High ceiling, punishing floor. Not recommended until you understand how throws affect relic interactions.

For a full ranked breakdown, the Rune Dice tier list covers all 8 classes from S to C tier with pick reasoning.

GODEEPER: S-to-C ranking for all 8 classes, best picks by experience level, and which classes scale into NG+. Rune Dice Tier List: All 8 Classes Ranked 2026 →

The relic shop between encounters. Bomb dice relics are consistently high-priority across most classes. Amplify relics pair with them to multiply the output.

The physics dice system

The core mechanic that makes Rune Dice different from other dice-based roguelikes: physics. Dice thrown onto the board don't land in a static grid. They bounce off walls, collide with other dice in play, and land based on your throw angle and force.

This creates three things standard dice games don't have:

Throwing skill. You can aim to hit obstacles for specific face outcomes. Shadow class exploits this: the backstab face multiplies damage when the die reaches its final position after a bounce. Straight throws don't trigger it.

Chain reactions. A die bouncing into another die already on the board can change both outcomes. If you've stacked Bomb dice relics, that second die's explosion triggers off the first die's landing, creating multi-dice chains on a single throw.

Momentum on mistakes. A throw that goes slightly wrong can land in a better position than intended if the bounce geometry works out. The variance isn't pure randomness: it's physics variance, which you can read and adapt to faster than card-probability variance.

The key early skill: learn where your starting dice tend to land at different throw speeds. Most classes have a consistent physics behavior in their base dice. The Warrior's block dice are heavy and don't bounce far. The Mage's arcane dice are lighter and travel further on the same force.

GODEEPER: Full breakdown of class starting dice, best throw angles per class, and relic stacking that works with the physics system. Rune Dice Guide: All 8 Classes, Relics and Dice Synergies →

Relics: the run-defining system

Relics are the core progression layer that makes each Rune Dice run play differently from the last.

Bomb dice relics are consistently the highest-priority pickup in most classes. A bomb die that bounces into a cluster of enemies before exploding outputs more damage than a direct hit on a single enemy. The physics system amplifies bomb relics specifically because you can aim bounces into groups.

Amplify relics multiply the next die's effect after a trigger condition. Stacking 3x Amplify with 1x Gravity is a known late-run combo: Gravity holds dice in position briefly after landing, giving Amplify time to chain. This combination can one-shot bosses if the approach floors have enough Amplify pickups.

Start relics (relics that appear in the first encounter) are worth less than they appear. They're not guaranteed in every run: they appear as rewards from hard fights or specific rooms, not on a fixed schedule. Don't plan a build around a start relic appearing.

Relic priority general rule: take relics that modify your existing dice type first. A Mage who takes Warrior relics gets less value per item than a Mage who stacks arcane-trigger relics. Build coherence matters across a full run.

How to unlock all classes

Not every class is available at game start. The Archer in particular has a non-obvious unlock condition that multiple community members have asked about, and the game doesn't show unlock requirements until you've triggered them.

What the community has confirmed: Warrior, Mage, and Shadow are available from the first time you open the game. No unlock condition required. Paladin and Cleric are similarly available early, though their exact states vary slightly across accounts.

The Archer (listed as Ranger/Archer in the class select) is the one players consistently get stuck on. It's the most searched unlock question in the community. The unlock condition is tied to completing a specific in-run action, not just clearing the dungeon. The exact trigger isn't shown in the UI at all, even after you've met the prerequisite. Many players complete the condition without realizing it and only see the Archer available on their next visit to the class select screen. That's why the question keeps appearing in community threads: the unlock feedback is nearly invisible.

The Rogue and Necromancer have their own conditions. Necromancer's unlock is tied to a specific room interaction rather than a general run milestone. The Rogue's condition is run-based but more obvious once you know what to look for.

The community thread on r/RuneDice has the most complete documentation of every class's unlock condition. It's the best reference until the full unlock guide goes up. A dedicated class unlock guide is coming this week covering every condition with specific requirements and the fastest way to meet each one.

New Game Plus

NG+ unlocks after you clear the main run for the first time. It's the game's replayability layer past the initial clear.

What NG+ changes:

• Enemy HP and damage scale upward
• New encounter modifiers appear that don't exist in base runs
• Boss behavior includes attack patterns not in the standard fights

What NG+ doesn't change:

• Your class's starting dice. NG+ starts fresh, same as a regular run.
• Relic availability. The same pool applies.
• Run structure. It's the same dungeon, harder.

The main community question about NG+: "I unlocked it but have no idea how to use it." You use it by selecting New Game Plus at the class select screen. There's no separate mode menu.

What to expect in your first NG+ run: the HP scaling makes run length matter more. You won't clear rooms as quickly as a practiced base run. The skeleton army advantage for the Necromancer shows up more clearly here because it scales with the number of encounters, and NG+ rooms have more enemies per fight. The Archer's consistent output becomes more valuable when single kills take longer.

The encounter modifiers in NG+ include effects that change how dice interact with the floor and which faces count as crits. Some are beneficial (they amplify your build on the right class) and some are hazards. Reading the modifier before each encounter and planning your throw angle around it is a skill that base runs don't teach. It's one of the things that makes NG+ feel meaningfully different rather than just harder.

For your first NG+ attempt: run Warrior or Paladin if you haven't already. Both are forgiving enough to learn the new encounter patterns without getting eliminated in the first room. The fragile high-ceiling classes like Rogue and Shadow require a more refined throw technique to survive the HP-scaled rooms.

NG+ is intended for players who've cleared the main run and want challenge. The community consensus is that Necromancer and Archer scale best because their output grows with run length. A full NG+ guide covering the specific encounter modifiers and which classes handle the difficulty increase best is coming this week.

How long to beat Rune Dice

A single run takes 20-45 minutes depending on class and playstyle. Warrior runs faster because blocking reduces the number of throws needed to survive tough rooms. Necromancer runs slower in the late dungeon because the skeleton army complicates encounter resolution, but it's also the hardest class to die on once the army is built.

Reaching the credits for the first time typically takes 2-4 hours: one or two failed runs to learn the physics system, one or two more to build understanding of relics and positioning, and then a clear run. Players who pick Warrior or Paladin first tend to clear faster because both classes are forgiving of early mistakes.

After the first clear, NG+ adds the same run time at higher difficulty. Players who want to complete every class or find all unlock conditions typically log 8-12 hours before they've seen everything the base game offers. The game doesn't have a 100% checklist internally, but the community has documented all class unlocks and the full relic pool.

Speed runs are an emerging category. The current fastest clears hover around 18 minutes for optimized Archer builds that chain bomb dice reactions through entire rooms in single throws.

Tips that apply to every class

Bomb dice over everything on pickup. Unless you're mid-build on a specific damage type, bomb dice relics are the most universally applicable pickup in the game. Take them.

Watch the bounce geometry. Your first two runs, throw at different speeds and angles to learn where your starting dice land. That knowledge pays off on every subsequent run.

Don't fill your dice pool with filler. Adding dice that conflict with your relic setup is worse than having fewer dice. A tight 5-die pool where every die triggers at least one relic is stronger than a 10-die pool with dead draws.

The boss weak spot is visible before the fight starts. Each boss room has a brief preview of the boss before combat begins. Use it to read the weak spot position and plan your opening throw.

On the last boss: this encounter plays by different rules than the mid-dungeon bosses. One community thread flagged it as the "least fun mechanic" because it forces normal dice when you've spent the whole run curating specials. Going in expecting this fight to play differently is better than going in expecting another physics combo.

Boss rooms preview the arena before combat. Read the weak spot position and plan your first throw before the encounter starts.

All Rune Dice guides

• Rune Dice Guide: All 8 Classes, Relics and Dice Synergies: full class breakdown, best relic priorities, throw mechanics, and how the physics system works for beginners.
• Rune Dice Tier List: All 8 Classes Ranked 2026: S-to-C ranking for every class with best-pick guidance by playstyle and experience level.
• More guides coming this week: class unlocks, best relics, NG+ breakdown, and tips guide.

References

• Rune Dice on Steam: store page, system requirements, patch notes
• r/RuneDice on Reddit: community tips, build discussions, and class unlock questions
• Smart Raven Studio on Steam: developer page and update history

Frequently asked questions

What is Rune Dice? A physics-based tactical roguelike where you throw real dice that bounce and interact. 8 classes, relic system, 20-45 minute runs, NG+ after first clear. PC, PS5, Xbox Series, Switch.

How many classes are in Rune Dice? 8: Warrior, Mage, Shadow, Ranger/Archer, Necromancer, Paladin, Cleric, Rogue. Some require unlocks. The Archer is the most-asked-about unlock and has a non-obvious condition.

What is the best class in Rune Dice? Necromancer and Archer are S-tier. Warrior is the best beginner pick. Full tier list at the class ranking guide.

What are relics and how do I use them? Passive items found in shops and rewards. They change how your dice behave on trigger conditions. Bomb dice relics and Amplify relics are the strongest general-purpose pickups. Build around relics that match your dice type.

How do you unlock classes? Some unlock from the start, others require specific in-run conditions. The Archer is the most commonly asked about. Class unlock guide coming this week.

What is NG+ in Rune Dice? A harder difficulty mode unlocked after your first clear. Enemies scale up, new modifiers appear, but you start fresh each run. Select it at the class choose screen.

Is Rune Dice worth it? Yes for fans of short-session roguelikes. 79% Mostly Positive on Steam (356 reviews, May 2026). Main critique: runs feel short for players wanting extended content, NG+ is the replayability answer.