Runes add flat amount to all weapon stats, six per level. So yes, they should affect balance time, since smite speed is apparently(?) dependent on mace speed.
If you intend to PK, pick up Alertness in Vision and trans survival. Some horsemanship. Unlock 2 extra slots in Tattoos. Parrying in Weaponry. Arti pipes. Spirit anchor. Try and get iron coins and the stuff like 's…
This might make you cringe a bit, but we've had classleads on improving Luminary PvE smite damage since 2008. Luminary is not what we'd call a class that hunts quickly. I've actually seen Luminaries pick up Shapeshifter (since you can pick that up w…
1) I'd hardly say it's stripped down. You missed the biggest difference, which I'd say would be in Spirituality -- hitting things with your shield repeatedly. Instead of smite/chasten/disrupt, you do shield hit/chasten. Offensively speaking, you lac…
Auras and blessings are basically more portable (and somewhat weaker) rites and blade charge is essentially ferocity from SnB that builds slower and has a somewhat more expansive feature set (instead of just smashing for sensi, you can vorpal for an…