The Math

The algorithm for essentia cost of runic augmentation is simple:

32 x 2^N (Where N is the level of runic augmentation you have) for the primary cost(Potentia), then divide that by two for the secondary cost(Precantatio and Tutamen). Or multiply the primary cost by two for total essentia cost(Needed to calculate time easily).

Example: 32 x 2^10 = 32758

32768 / 2 = 16384

Now then, you have another problem to solve: A rough estimation of time it will take. Heed my warning, high levels of runic augmentation will take hours, days, weeks, and even months to complete.

Example: 32768 x 2 = 65536

65536 / 128(The rough amount of essentia an infusion altar can take in a minute) = 512 minutes or 8.53 hours. You double this time for the next level of augmentation.

So, in theary, you can have level 99 or higher runic augmentation on a single piece of armor(Or Bauble). Let's do the math to see how long this will take to apply the ninety ninth layer(This isn't counting essentia cost or time needed for all 98 other layers.

32 x 2^98 = 316912650057057350374175801344. Times two for time, so 633825300114114700748351602688 for our calculations.

633825300114114700748351602688 / 128 = 4951760157141521099596496896 minutes, or 82529335952358684993274948.26 hours, 3438722331348278541386456.17 days, 491246047335468363055208.02 weeks, 9421157072187064496949.19 years. Rough estimations, mind you, but you can see the point.

Exponential growth is powerful, as you can see.