Diablo II: Runes Guide
Runes, together with Runewords, are among the best innovations of Diablo II in its loot game mechanics. They were added to the game during the release of the expansion Lord of Destruction. Until today, there are no similar mechanics or as interesting that you can find in other loot-based action RPG.
Runes are items that you can socket on armor or weapons, to which they add a special bonus attribute. However, when you place a certain set of runes based on a recipe, that is when the magic happens. In addition to giving each rune's bonus attribute, they transform the socketable item into something else more powerful than the sum of each rune. They produce a synergy and create a new item, called a runeword.
Runes Game Mechanics
- Each rune can be socketed on weapons, body armor, shields, and helms
- Each rune has a special bonus effect that varies depending on the socketable item. It differentiates between a weapon vs. an armor/shield/helm.
- Each rune has a tier and can be upgraded using the Horadric Cube. Hence, each rune has a recipe on how it can be crafted using the Cube.
- Each rune has a level requirement
- Each rune has a probability of dropping in various game modes. Hence you need to know if you should be hunting for a specific rune in Normal, Nightmare, or Hell mode.
- Each rune has a probability of dropping in various areas. Hence you need to know the optimal monsters or locations where to farm.
- When combined based on a specific recipe, runes can produce runewords.
Unsocketing Runes
A common question asked is, can I unsocket my runes from a runeword after it has been created? Let's say that you found a better base weapon for your already existing runeword. Can you take out your runes and use them again?
The official answer is - there is no existing Horadric recipe for gaining back the runes. However, there is a recipe for removing the runes to claim back the base weapon or armor. The runes will be lost, though, and this is not what you want to achieve.
Upgrading and Downgrading Runes
All the runes can be upgraded to their next tier version. You will use the Horadric Cube and the corresponding recipe to make the transmutation. In the table below, we included the recipe needed to craft each rune, using its lower-level version.
A common question is - if I can upgrade a rune to its higher version, can I also downgrade a rune to its lower versions? The official answer is - there is no existing Horadric Recipe for downgrading runes. However, if you get lucky and if this is what you want, you might find a mod or plugin that will allow you to do so.
Runes and Runewords
The game mechanics for creating runewords with the help of runes are as follows:
- The runeword recipe must be known on the play mode you are doing. There are recipes that are available only online through Battle.net. Even if you have the correct recipe ingredients, it will not work if you do it offline. However, a plugin called Pluggy makes all known official runeword recipes available offline.
- The runeword recipe ingredients must be correct for the transmutation to succeed.
- Determine the correct item type - whether the runeword requires a weapon or an armor. And if it's a weapon, what specific type of weapon.
- The correct number of sockets for the weapon or armor must be present.
- The correct sequence of insertion must be done for the transmutation to succeed.
Guaranteed Runes
The game has a way of giving your guaranteed runes either through quests or farmable monsters. Though the runes are guaranteed, the specific rune types you will get are still random.
Rescue on Mount Arreat
After completing this quest, Qual-Kehk will give you exact and guaranteed runes:
The Hellforge
In this quest, your goal is to break Mephisto's Soulstone in the Hellforge. It will always reward you with one rune. However, it is random. It can be one of the following:
The Forgotten Tower
You will soon realize that this is the most repeatable and predictable way of farming runes of various tiers. The rune is not guaranteed, but it has a very high chance, to the point that sometimes more than one can drop. She can even drop up to six runes if you get lucky.
Grouping of Runes
There are 33 runes in total, and they are typically grouped based on their rarity. All of the runes can drop in Hell mode. However, some runes are almost impossible to be found in Normal or Nightmare.
Common Runes (Low Runes)
There are 11 runes in this group, starting from El to Amn. They all drop in Normal mode and can easily be farmed with the Countess.
| Id | Name | Details |
|---|---|---|
1  |
El | Weapons: +50 To Attack Rating +1 Light Radius Armor: +15 Defense +1 To Light Radius Lvl Required: 11 Recipe: None |
2  |
Eld | Weapons: +75% Damage To Undead +50 Attack Rating Against Undead Armor: 15% Slower Stamina Drain 7% Increased Chance of Blocking(Shields) Lvl Required: 11 Recipe: 3 El |
3  |
Tir | Weapons: +2 To Mana After Each Kill Armor: +2 To Mana After Each Kill Lvl Required: 13 Recipe: 3 Eld |
4  |
Nef | Weapons: Knockback Armor: +30 Defense Vs. Missile Lvl Required: 13 Recipe: 3 Tir |
5  |
Eth | Weapons: -25% To Target Defense Armor: Regenerate Mana 15% Lvl Required: 15 Recipe: 3 Nef |
6  |
Ith | Weapons: +9 To Maximum Damage Armor: 15% Damage Taken Goes to Mana Lvl Required: 15 Recipe: 3 Eth |
7  |
Tal | Weapons: +75 Poison Damage Over 5 Seconds Armor: Poison Resist 30% Poison Resist 35%(Shields) Lvl Required: 17 Recipe: 3 Ith |
8  |
Ral | Weapons: Adds 5-30 Fire Damage Armor: Fire Resist 30% Fire Resist 35%(Shields) Lvl Required: 19 Recipe: 3 Tal |
9  |
Ort | Weapons: Adds 1-50 Lightning Damage Armor: Lightning Resist 30% Lightning Resist 35%(Shields) Lvl Required: 21 Recipe: 3 Ral |
10  |
Thul | Weapons: +3-14 Cold Damage for 3 seconds Armor: Cold Resist 30% Cold Resist 35%(Shields) Lvl Required: 23 Recipe: 3 Ort |
11  |
Amn | Weapons: 7% Life Stolen Per Hit Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14 Lvl Required: 25 Recipe: 3 Thul |
Semi-Rare Runes (Medium Runes)
There are 11 runes as well in this group, starting from Sol to Um. They will only start appearing in Nightmare mode.
| Id | Name | Details |
|---|---|---|
12  |
Sol | Weapons: +9 To Minimum Damage Armor: Damage Reduced By 7 Lvl Required: 27 Recipe: 3 Amn + 1 Chipped Amethyst |
13  |
Shael | Weapons: 20% Increased Attack Speed Armor: 20% Faster Hit Recovery 20% Faster Block Rate(Shields) Lvl Required: 29 Recipe: 3 Sol + 1 Chipped Sapphire |
14  |
Dol | Weapons: Hit Causes Monster To Flee 25% Armor: Replenish Life +7 Lvl Required: 31 Recipe: 3 Shael + 1 Chipped Ruby |
15  |
Hel | Weapons: Requirements -20% Armor: Requirements -15% Lvl Required: None Recipe: 3 Dol + 1 Chipped Emerald |
16  |
Io | Weapons: +10 To Vitality Armor: +10 To Vitality Lvl Required: 35 Recipe: 3 Hel + 1 Diamond |
17  |
Lum | Weapons: +10 To Energy Armor: +10 To Energy Lvl Required: 37 Recipe: 3 Io + 1 Flawed Topaz |
18  |
Ko | Weapons: +10 To Dexterity Armor: +10 To Dexterity Lvl Required: 39 Recipe: 3 Lum + 1 Flawed Amethyst |
19  |
Fal | Weapons: +10 To Strength Armor: +10 To Strength Lvl Required: 41 Recipe: 3 Ko + 1 Flawed Sapphire |
20  |
Lem | Weapons: 75% Extra Gold From Monsters Armor: 50% Extra Gold From Monsters Lvl Required: 43 Recipe: 3 Fal + 1 Flawed Ruby |
21  |
Pul | Weapons: +75% Damage To Demons +100 Attack Rating Against Demons Armor: +30% Enhanced Defense Lvl Required: 45 Recipe: 3 Lem + 1 Flawed Emerald |
22  |
Um | Weapons: 25% Chance of Open Wounds Armor: All Resistances +15 All Resistances +22(Shields) Lvl Required: 47 Recipe: 2 Pul + 1 Flawed Diamond |
Extremely Rare Runes (High Runes)
These are the 11 rarest runes in the game, starting from Mal to Zod. As expected, they will only drop in Hell mode. They are needed to craft the most powerful and versatile runewords known in the game.
| Id | Name | Details |
|---|---|---|
23  |
Mal | Weapons: Prevent Monster Heal Armor: Magic Damage Reduced By 7 Lvl Required: 49 Recipe: 2 Um + 1 Topaz |
24  |
Ist | Weapons: 30% Magic Find Armor: 25% Magic Find Lvl Required: 51 Recipe: 2 Mal + 1 Amethyst |
25  |
Gul | Weapons: 20% Bonus To Attack Rating Armor: 5% To Maximum Poison Resist Lvl Required: 53 Recipe: 2 Ist + 1 Sapphire |
26  |
Vex | Weapons: 7% Mana Stolen Per Hit Armor: 5% To Maximum Fire Resist Lvl Required: 55 Recipe: 2 Gul + 1 Ruby |
27  |
Ohm | Weapons: +50% Enhanced Damage Armor: 5% To Maximum Cold Resist Lvl Required: 57 Recipe: 2 Vex + 1 Emerald |
28  |
Lo | Weapons: 20% Deadly Strike Armor: 5% To Maximum Lightning Resist Lvl Required: 59 Recipe: 2 Ohm + 1 Diamond |
29  |
Sur | Weapons: Hit Blinds Target Armor: +Maximum Mana 5% +50 To Mana (Shields) Lvl Required: 61 Recipe: 2 Lo + 1 Flawless Topaz |
30  |
Ber | Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow Armor: Damage Reduced by 8% Lvl Required: 63 Recipe: 2 Sur + 1 Flawless Amethyst |
31  |
Jah | Weapons: Ignore Target's Defense Armor: Increase Maximum Life 5% +50 Life (Shields) Lvl Required: 65 Recipe: 2 Ber + 1 Flawless Sapphire |
32  |
Cham | Weapons: Freeze Target +3 Armor: Cannot Be Frozen Lvl Required: 67 Recipe: 2 Jah + 1 Flawless Ruby |
33  |
Zod | Weapons: Indestructible Armor: Indestructible Lvl Required: 69 Recipe: 2 Cham + 1 Flawless Emerald |
