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 base item's level will be pretty high.
In order to create a Rune Word, you must have an appropriate non-magical weapon with the correct number of sockets, and insert all the required runes in the correct order. This is needed in order to "spell" the runeword correctly in the item. You cannot use an item with the incorrect number of sockets, nor can magical, rare, set, or unique items be used.
In many cases, the use of an ethereal base item for a runeword is not encouraged, as it's use on your character will usually lead to the item permanently breaking, but since items equipped to mercenaries do not experience durability loss, those such items can be very useful and highly sought after. For example, elite ethereal torso armors with 3 or 4 sockets, and elite ethereal polearms with3, 4, or 5 sockets. Elite ethereal bone helms and diadems are also sometimes desired, for certain mercinary 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.
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 on whether you want to take advantage of this issue or not. This glitch takes place when a non-superior ethereal armor (any type of armor, including shields, gloves, boots, helms, belts, and chest) is cubed with the horadric cube recipe that adds sockets to the item. This recipe is only usable on non-superior items. When cubed, the item will gain 1 to 6 sockets randomly (depending on internal item level, which will be equal to the monster's level 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 of a 1, 2, or 3-socket armor as a result, and a 1 in 2 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 player to decide for themselves concerning 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 can be found in the following sections:
- Rlvl is minimum required level based on the highest rlvl of any rune used: rlvl will be higher if the base item used has higher rlvl.
- Ladder Rune Words can only be made in Ladder games: they are not available in unmodified Single Player and Other Multiplayer games. However, once a Ladder season finishes any Ladder Rune Words made and equipped by previous Ladder characters can still be used off-Ladder.
- Rune Words introduced to Battle.net in 1.07 were not introduced to Single Player and Other Multiplayer until 1.09.