Core Keeper: How to Get a Broken Handle for the Rune Song

You’ll need a Broken Handle to craft the Rune Song, one of the best weapons in Core Keeper. The steps for getting this weapon are rather extensive, and ultimately require a lot of luck.

To craft the Rune Song, you’ll first need to have the Caveling Merchant NPC move into your base to sell you Rune Parchment. This requires you to defeat Ghorm the Devourer and create a habitable room for NPCs, then place a Mysterious Idol in the room to entice the Caveling Merchant to move in.

The full requirements to craft the Rune Song are:

• 1 Broken Handle
• 1 Chipped Blade
• 1 Clear Gemstone
• 10 Ancient Gemstone
• 50 Iron Bar

Except for the Ancient Gemstones, these are all a bit troublesome to find.

How to Get a Broken Handle in Core Keeper

There are not a ton of methods to getting this item. Luckily, you’ll only need one unless you’re helping your friends get their Rune Songs, too.

Both the Hive Mother and Azeos the Sky Titan have a small chance of dropping it. These options may seem the most cumbersome initially, but they are actually the most reliable — Azeos in particular can be a decent source.

The bosses are more reliable because the only other methods to get a Broken Handle are through finding them in chests in the Clay Caves, the Forgotten Ruins, or Azeos’ Wilderness; or by finding them in mazes in the Forgotten Ruins or Azeos’ Wilderness.

The trouble of finding all the pieces you need for the Rune Song is well-worth it despite everything else, since it heals you on-hit and has a 15% chance to kill any enemy that has lower HP than you do. That’s not even getting into its damage, which spans between 204 and 248 damage per hit.

That’s all you need to know about getting a Broken Handle for the Rune Song in Core Keeper and why you definitely want to do so. Take a gander at some of our other Core Keeper guides, such as how to get Scarlet Ore or where to find Giant Mushrooms.