Rune Word

Basics

Rune Words can be a very important and useful part of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. There are many different varieties of runewords to choose from that can benefit your character, depending upon the class and play style. Some runewords are very easy to create, while others use runes that are extremely rare. Some also require very specific item types, or even class-specific items. It is important to note that the bonuses from the runes themselves are always included in the final runeword, as well as several other modifiers, some of which can be very powerful indeed.

The level requirement of the highest rune used in the runeword is usually the level requirement which your character must meet in order to use the item, but if the level requirement of the base item used is higher than the level requirement of the highest rune, then that level is used instead. This means that the level requirement of a runeword is dynamic, possibly changing with the base item used, and is therefore usually not listed in any runeword listing. Use caution in creating lower end runewords in elite items, as the level requirement of the base item may be pretty high.

In order to create a Rune Word, you must have an item of an appropriate type (as required by the Rune Word), quality (Cracked, Crude, Damaged, Low Quality, normal quality, or Superior) and with the correct amount of sockets (equal to the number of runes required by the Rune Word), and you must insert the required runes in exactly the right order. This is needed in order to "spell" the runeword correctly in the item. You cannot use an item with more sockets than the number of runes required, and you cannot use magic, rare, set, unique, or crafted quality items.

In many cases, the use of an ethereal base item for a runeword is not encouraged, as its use on your character will usually lead to the item permanently breaking. However, since items equipped on mercenaries do not experience durability loss, ethereal items can be very useful and highly sought-after. For example, elite ethereal body armor with 3 or 4 sockets, and elite ethereal polearms with 3, 4, or 5 sockets. Ethereal Bone Visage and Diadem are also sometimes desired, for certain mercenary setups.

It should also be mentioned that the costs for repairing the base item will generally skyrocket the moment you insert the full runeword into the item, therefore you WILL want to ensure that the base item is repaired prior to creating the runeword (ethereal items being exempt from this rule, of course). An ethereal runeword cannot be repaired, nor can any spell charges on an ethereal item be recharged.

Item Defense Bug (Ethereal)

The creation of "bugged" ethereal elite armors is considered to be bad manners by some players, and ok by others. The Amazon Basin is split on this particular game glitch, though it seems that the game creators do not intend to fix this issue. You will have to decide for yourself whether you want to take advantage of this bug or not. The glitch takes place when sockets are added to normal quality ethereal armor (helm, body armor, or shield) with the use of a Horadric Cube recipe. The recipe adds 1 to 6 sockets randomly (depending on internal item level, which is equal to the level of the source that dropped the base item). The number of sockets is also limited by the max possible sockets the item type can attain, so for a 4-socket max armor, you have a 1 in 6 chance each of a 1, 2, or 3-socket armor as a result, and a 1 in 2 (50%) chance of a 4-socket armor as a result.

The glitch that takes place for ethereal armors is that the ethereal +50% armor bonus ends up being applied twice, before whatever runeword bonus you wish to apply. As you may expect, the possible armor bonuses available from using this glitch are phenomenal. Again, it is up to the players to decide for themselves whether to use this glitch or not, and if not, this information can assist you in NOT replicating this game bug accidentally. Items of this nature are commonly referred to as "bugged" or "eth glitched" armors.

List

All 78 complete Rune Words are listed alphabetically in the table below, although they can also be sorted by number of sockets, minimum required level, Ladder and patch. More detailed information about specific Rune Words will be found in the following sections:

Helm Body armor Shield Paladin Shield

Weapon Melee weapon Missile weapon

Blade weapon Axe Claw Polearm Sword

Blunt weapon Club Mace Hammer Scepter Staff Wand

• Rlvl is the minimum required level based on the highest required level of the runes used: the final Required Level of a Rune Word is the higher value (maximum) of base item and runes used.
• Holy Thunder has a minimum Rlvl of 24 due to the +3 Holy Shock (Paladin Only) skill bonus: Holy Shock is a reqlevel 24 skill and thus higher than the required level of the highest rune (21).
• Ladder Rune Words can only be made in Ladder games on the realms (closed Battle.net]): they are not available in unmodified Single Player and Other Multiplayer games.
• Once a Ladder season finishes, any Ladder Rune Words made during that season can still be used by normal realm characters (off-Ladder).
• Rune Words introduced to Battle.net in 1.07 were not introduced to Single Player and Other Multiplayer until 1.09.
• Duress, Prudence, Splendor and Wind were realm-only assigned (closed Battle.net) in 1.10 [1] and hence not available in Single Player and Other Multiplayer until 1.11.

Rune Word	Rune 1	Rune 2	Rune 3	Rune 4	Rune 5	Rune 6	Item 1	Item 2	Item 3	Socket	Rlvl	Ladder	Patch
Ancients' Pledge	Ral	Ort	Tal				Shield			3	21	No	1.07/9
Beast	Ber	Tir	Um	Mal	Lum		Axe	Scepter	Hammer	5	63	No	1.10/0
Black	Thul	Io	Nef				Club	Hammer	Mace	3	35	No	1.07/9
Bone	Sol	Um	Um				Body armor			3	47	No	1.11/0
Bramble	Ral	Ohm	Sur	Eth			Body armor			4	61	No	1.10/0
Brand	Jah	Lo	Mal	Gul			Missile			4	65	Yes	1.10/0
Breath of the Dying	Vex	Hel	El	Eld	Zod	Eth	Weapon			6	69	No	1.10/0
Call to Arms	Amn	Ral	Mal	Ist	Ohm		Weapon			5	57	No	1.10/0
Chains of Honor	Dol	Um	Ber	Ist			Body armor			4	63	No	1.10/0
Chaos	Fal	Ohm	Um				Claw			3	57	No	1.10/0
Crescent Moon	Shael	Um	Tir				Axe	Sword	Polearm	3	47	No	1.10/0
Death	Hel	El	Vex	Ort	Gul		Sword	Axe		5	55	Yes	1.10/0
Delirium	Lem	Ist	Io				Helm			3	51	No	1.10/0
Destruction	Vex	Lo	Ber	Jah	Ko		Polearm	Sword		5	65	Yes	1.10/0
Doom	Hel	Ohm	Um	Lo	Cham		Axe	Polearm	Hammer	5	67	No	1.10/0
Dragon	Sur	Lo	Sol				Body armor	Shield		3	61	Yes	1.10/0
Dream	Io	Jah	Pul				Helm	Shield		3	65	Yes	1.10/0
Duress	Shael	Um	Thul				Body armor			3	47	No	1.10/0
Edge	Tir	Tal	Amn				Missile			3	25	Yes	1.10/0
Enigma	Jah	Ith	Ber				Body armor			3	65	No	1.10/0
Enlightenment	Pul	Ral	Sol				Body armor			3	45	No	1.11/0
Eternity	Amn	Ber	Ist	Sol	Sur		Melee			5	63	No	1.10/0
Exile	Vex	Ohm	Ist	Dol			Pal shield			4	57	No	1.10/0
Faith	Ohm	Jah	Lem	Eld			Missile			4	65	Yes	1.10/0
Famine	Fal	Ohm	Ort	Jah			Axe	Hammer		4	65	No	1.10/0
Fortitude	El	Sol	Dol	Lo			Weapon	Body armor		4	59	Yes	1.10/0
Fury	Jah	Gul	Eth				Melee			3	65	No	1.07/9
Gloom	Fal	Um	Pul				Body armor			3	47	No	1.10/0
Grief	Eth	Tir	Lo	Mal	Ral		Sword	Axe		5	59	Yes	1.10/0
Hand of Justice	Sur	Cham	Amn	Lo			Weapon			4	67	No	1.10/0
Harmony	Tir	Ith	Sol	Ko			Missile			4	39	Yes	1.10/0
Heart of the Oak	Ko	Vex	Pul	Thul			Staff	Mace		4	55	No	1.10/0
Holy Thunder	Eth	Ral	Ort	Tal			Scepter			4	24	No	1.07/9
Honor	Amn	El	Ith	Tir	Sol		Melee			5	27	No	1.07/9
Ice	Amn	Shael	Jah	Lo			Missile			4	65	Yes	1.10/0
Infinity	Ber	Mal	Ber	Ist			Polearm			4	63	Yes	1.10/0
Insight	Ral	Tir	Tal	Sol			Polearm	Staff		4	27	Yes	1.10/0
King's Grace	Amn	Ral	Thul				Sword	Scepter		3	25	No	1.07/9
Kingslayer	Mal	Um	Gul	Fal			Sword	Axe		4	53	No	1.10/0
Last Wish	Jah	Mal	Jah	Sur	Jah	Ber	Sword	Hammer	Axe	6	65	Yes	1.10/0
Lawbringer	Amn	Lem	Ko				Sword	Hammer	Scepter	3	43	Yes	1.10/0
Leaf	Tir	Ral					Staff			2	19	No	1.07/9
Lionheart	Hel	Lum	Fal				Body armor			3	41	No	1.07/9
Lore	Ort	Sol					Helm			2	27	No	1.07/9
Malice	Ith	El	Eth				Melee			3	15	No	1.07/9
Melody	Shael	Ko	Nef				Missile			3	39	No	1.07/9
Memory	Lum	Io	Sol	Eth			Staff			4	37	No	1.07/9
Myth	Hel	Amn	Nef				Body armor			3	25	No	1.11/0
Nadir	Nef	Tir					Helm			2	13	No	1.07/9
Oath	Shael	Pul	Mal	Lum			Sword	Axe	Mace	4	49	Yes	1.10/0
Obedience	Hel	Ko	Thul	Eth	Fal		Polearm			5	41	Yes	1.10/0
Passion	Dol	Ort	Eld	Lem			Weapon			4	43	No	1.10/0
Peace	Shael	Thul	Amn				Body armor			3	29	No	1.11/0
Phoenix	Vex	Vex	Lo	Jah			Weapon	Shield		4	65	Yes	1.10/0
Pride	Cham	Sur	Io	Lo			Polearm			4	67	Yes	1.10/0
Principle	Ral	Gul	Eld				Body armor			3	53	No	1.11/0
Prudence	Mal	Tir					Body armor			2	49	No	1.10/0
Radiance	Nef	Sol	Ith				Helm			3	27	No	1.07/9
Rain	Ort	Mal	Ith				Body armor			3	49	No	1.11/0
Rhyme	Shael	Eth					Shield			2	29	No	1.07/9
Rift	Hel	Ko	Lem	Gul			Polearm	Scepter		4	53	Yes	1.10/0
Sanctuary	Ko	Ko	Mal				Shield			3	49	No	1.10/0
Silence	Dol	Eld	Hel	Ist	Tir	Vex	Weapon			6	55	No	1.07/9
Smoke	Nef	Lum					Body armor			2	37	No	1.07/9
Spirit	Tal	Thul	Ort	Amn			Sword	Shield		4	25	Yes	1.10/0
Splendor	Eth	Lum					Shield			2	37	No	1.10/0
Stealth	Tal	Eth					Body armor			2	17	No	1.07/9
Steel	Tir	El					Sword	Axe	Mace	2	13	No	1.07/9
Stone	Shael	Um	Pul	Lum			Body armor			4	47	No	1.10/0
Strength	Amn	Tir					Melee			2	25	No	1.07/9
Treachery	Shael	Thul	Lem				Body armor			3	43	No	1.11/0
Venom	Tal	Dol	Mal				Weapon			3	49	No	1.07/9
Voice of Reason	Lem	Ko	El	Eld			Sword	Mace		4	43	Yes	1.10/0
Wealth	Lem	Ko	Tir				Body armor			3	43	No	1.07/9
White	Dol	Io					Wand			2	35	No	1.07/9
Wind	Sur	El					Melee			2	61	No	1.10/0
Wrath	Pul	Lum	Ber	Mal			Missile			4	63	Yes	1.10/0
Zephyr	Ort	Eth					Missile			2	21	No	1.07/9

References

• Runenwörter: Übersicht (D2Wissen.de)
• Rune Words (Arreat Summit)
• Original Rune Words (Arreat Summit)
• 1.10 Rune Words (Arreat Summit)
• 1.11 Rune Words (Arreat Summit)