Diablo 2 runewords: What they are and the best to get
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Looking for an exhaustive Diablo 2 runewords list? Everyone’s favorite demon is back with Diablo 2: Resurrected, which rolls the original game and Lord of Destruction expansion into one brimstone-fresh package. This also means that the powerful runes and runewords that the expansion introduced are now available everywhere, ready for you to stash them away, or barter them with other players.
You can also bet that they’ll be the main component in the new online economy for Diablo 2: Resurrected, so let’s go over the Diablo 2 runes themselves, what they provide, and how to make runewords.
How runes work
Diablo 2 runes: How they work
Runes function similarly to gems, allowing you to stick them into socketed equipment to get their bonus—which differs based on whether it’s in a weapon or armor. They’re not bad in a pinch, though usually worse than a gem in the socket. Also similar to gems, runes can be combined to upgrade them to rarer and rarer runes in your Horadric Cube. There are also some Horadric Cube recipes that use runes to repair equipment, reroll and upgrade weapons, or even unsocket an item.
But runes really shine when they’re used to create powerful runewords, and because they have a well-defined rarity (with El being the most common and Zod the most rare) they’re also a common currency for trading with other players.
Rune farming
The best Diablo 2 rune-farming spots
While they can drop anywhere you open containers or kill monsters, there are some hot spots.
The first is todrop into Act 1’s Black Marsh and search the towers. While all the towers are good, the real winner is the Forgotten Tower, on Nightmare or Hell difficulty. Here you can take down the boss in the 5th level—the Countess—for a chance at up to six runes at once.
Two other great spots are theAct 4 Hellforge, where once you defeat Hephasto and break Mephisto’s Soulstone you’ll get a good amount of runes, and theAct 5 quest Rescue on Mount Arreatthat sees you freeing barbarians in return for three runes.
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How runewords work
What Diablo 2 runewords are, and how to make them
When you place runes into the right type of socketed item in the correct combination and order, the item will gain a massive stack of bonuses on top of its base stats. These runewords make for some of the most powerful gear in the game, leapfrogging even uniques and rare set items. It’s important to note that runewords can only work with plain (white) items, so it’s important to use your rare runes on high level plain items and not lower-level ones.
While each runeword will always give the same bonuses, some of their bonuses are within a variable range, randomized at creation. For example, while the ‘Call to Arms’ runeword will always give a bonus to Battle Command, it could be as low as 2 or as high as 6. However, you can always rely on its static 40% increased attack speed bonus.
All runes
All Diablo 2 runes
Check out this handy table, listed from most common to rarest:
All runewords
Diablo 2 runewords list
Previously, in the original Lord of Destruction, some runewords were limited to ladder play. However, they’re available to all characters now in Diablo 2: Resurrected. Here they all are:
Ancient’s Pledge ‘Ral-Ort-Tal’ - 3 sockets, shield
Beast ‘Ber-Tir-Um-Mal-Lum’ - 5 sockets, axe, sceptre, or hammer
Black ‘Thul-Io-Nef - 3 sockets, club, hammer, or mace
Bone ‘Sol-Um-Um’ - 3 sockets, body armor
Bramble ‘Ral-Ohm-Sur-Eth - 4 sockets, body armor
Breath of the Dying ‘Vex-Hel-El-Eld-Zod-Eth - 6 sockets, weapon
Call to Arms ‘Amn-Ral-Mal-Ist-Ohm’ - 5 sockets, weapon
Chains of Honor ‘Dol-Um-Ber-Ist’ 4 sockets, body armor
Chaos ‘Fal-Ohm-Um’ - 3 sockets, claws
Crescent Moon ‘Shael-Um-Tir’ - 3 sockets, axe, sword or polearm
Delirium ‘Lem-Ist-Io - 3 sockets, helm
Doom ‘Hel-Ohm-Um-Lo-Cham’ - 5 sockets, axe, polearm, or hammer
Duress ‘Shael-Um-Thul’ - 3 sockets, body armor
Enigma ‘Jah-Ith-Ber’ - 3 sockets, body armor
Enlightenment ‘Pul-Ral-Sol’ - 3 sockets, body armor
Eternity ‘Amn-Ber-Ist-Sol-Sur’ - 5 sockets, melee weapon
Exile ‘Vex-Ohm-Ist-Dol’ - 4 sockets, Paladin shield
Famine ‘Fal-Ohm-Ort-Jah’ - 4 sockets, axe or hammer
Fury ‘Jah-Gul-Eth’ - 3 sockets, melee weapon
Gloom ‘Fal-Um-Pul’ - 3 sockets, body armor
Hand of Justice ‘Sur-Cham-Amn-Lo - 4 sockets, weapon
Heart of the Oak ‘Ko-Vex-Pul-Thul’ - staff, mace
Holy Thunder ‘Eth-Ral-Ort-Tal’ - 4 sockets, scepter
Honor ‘Amn-El-Ith-Tir-Sol’ - 5 sockets, melee weapon
King’s Grace ‘Amn-Ral-Thul’ - 3 sockets, sword or scepter
Kingslayer ‘Mal-Um-Gul-Fal’ - 4 sockets, sword or axe
Leaf ‘Tir-Ral’ - 2 sockets, staff
Lionheart ‘Hel-Lum-Fal’ - 3 sockets, body armor
Lore ‘Ort-Sol’ - 2 sockets, helm
Malice ‘Ith-El-Eth’ - 3 sockets, melee weapon
Melody ‘Shael-Ko-Nef’ - 3 sockets, missile weapon
Memory ‘Lum-Io-Sol-Eth’ - 4 sockets, staff
Myth ‘Hel-Amn-Nef’ - 3 sockets, body armor
Nadir ‘Nef-Tir’ - 2 sockets, helm
Passion ‘Dol-Ort-Eld-Lem’ - 4 sockets, weapon
Peace ‘Shael-Thul-Amn’ - 3 sockets, body armor
Principle ‘Ral-Gul-Eld’ - 3 sockets, body armor
Prudence ‘Mal-Tir’ - 2 sockets, body armor
Radiance ‘Nef-Sol-Ith’ - 3 sockets, helm
Rain ‘Ort-Mal-Ith’ - 3 sockets, body armor
Rhyme ‘Shael-Eth’ - 2 sockets, shield
Sanctuary ‘Ko-Ko-Mal’ - 3 sockets, shield
Silence ‘Dol-Eld-Hel-Ist-Tir-Vex’ - 6 sockets, weapon
Smoke ‘Nef-Lum’ - 2 sockets, body armor
Splendor ‘Eth-Lum’ - 2 sockets, shield
Stealth ‘Tal-Eth’ - 2 sockets, body armor
Steel ‘Tir-El’ - 2 sockets, sword, axe or mace
Stone ‘Shael-Um-Pul-Lum’ - 4 sockets, body armor
Strength ‘Amn-Tir’ - 2 sockets, melee weapon
Treachery ‘Shael-Thul-Lem’ - 3 sockets, body armor
Venom ‘Tal-Dol-Mal’ - 3 sockets, weapon
Wealth ‘Lem-Ko-Tir’ - 3 sockets, body armor
White ‘Dol-Io’ - 2 sockets, wand
Wind ‘Sur-El’ - 2 sockets, melee weapons
Zephyr ‘Ort-Eth’ - 2 sockets, missile weapon
Brand ‘Jah-Lo-Mal-Gul’ - 4 sockets, missile weapon
Death ‘Hel-El-Vex-Ort-Gul’ - 5 sockets, sword and axe
Destruction ‘Vex-Lo-Ber-Jah-Ko’ - 5 sockets, polearm or sword
Dragon ‘Sur-Lo-Sol’ - 3 sockets, body armor or shield
Dream ‘Io-Jah-Pul’ - 3 sockets, helm or shield
Edge ‘Tir-Tal-Amn’ - 3 sockets, missile weapon
Faith ‘Ohm, Jah, Lem, Eld’ - 4 sockets, missile weapon
Fortitude ‘El-Sol-Dol-Lo’ - 4 sockets, weapon
Fortitude ‘El-Sol-Dol-Lo’ - 4 sockets, body armor
Grief ‘Eth-Tir-Lo-Mal-Ral’ - 5 sockets, sword or axe
Harmony ‘Tir-Ith-Sol-Ko’ - 4 sockets, missile weapon
Ice ‘Amn-Shael-Jah-Lo’ - 4 sockets, missile weapon
Infinity ‘Ber-Mal-Ber-Ist’ - 4 sockets, polearm
Insight ‘Ral-Tir-Tal-Sol’ - 4 sockets, polearm or staff
Last Wish ‘Jah-Mal-Jah-Sur-Jah-Ber’ - 6 sockets, sword, hammer or axe
Lawbringer ‘Amn-Lem-Ko’ - 3 sockets, sword, hammer or scepter
Oath ‘Shael-Pul-Mal-Lum’ - 4 sockets, sword, mace or axe
Obedience ‘Hel-Ko-Thul-Eth-Fal’ - 5 sockets, polearm
Phoenix ‘Vex-Vex-Lo-Jah’ - weapon
Pheonix ‘Vex-Vex-Lo-Jah’ - shield
Pride ‘Cham-Sur-Io-Lo’ - 4 sockets, polearm
Rift ‘Hel-Ko-Lem-Gul’ - 4 sockets, polearm or scepter
Spirit ‘Tal-Thul-Ort-Amn’ - 4 sockets, sword
Spirit ‘Tal-Thul-Ort-Amn’ - 4 sockets, shield
Voice of Reason ‘Lem-Ko-El-Eld’ - 4 sockets, sword or mace
Wrath ‘Pul-Lum-Ber-Mal’ - 4 sockets, missile weapon
Best runewords
The best Diablo 2 runewords
In such a big list of options, there are sure to be some stinkers, winners, and some oddballs, so here’s a few I think are worth highlighting:
EnigmaAny time runewords are discussed, Enigma comes up. Expensive to make, difficult to trade for, and sometimes dangerous to use in PvE (the lack of resistances really hurts, especially in Hell mode), giving the Teleport skill to any class is very valuable.
StealthAffordable, accessible, and invaluable for early spellcasters of all stripes, Stealth is a reliable favorite that I never feel right without equipping for leveling. It doesn’t break the bank, and will carry you for far longer than it probably should thanks to the cast rate and mana-regeneration bonuses.
BeastAs an unabashed skeleton fan my love for Beast is easy to explain: Level 9 Fanaticism aura on your Necromancer minions. Oh, and you can both turn into a bear and summon bears no matter what class you are. I can’t express enough how silly (and useful) this runeword is.
Sarah is a contributor for PC Gamer, formerly of TechRadar Gaming. With five years of experience writing freelance for several publications, she’s covered every genre imaginable and probably a few she made up. She has a passion for diversity and the way different genres can be sandboxes for creativity and emergent storytelling, and loves worldbuilding. With thousands of hours in League of Legends, Overwatch, Minecraft, and countless survival, strategy, roguelike, and RPG entries, she still finds time for offline hobbies like tabletop RPGs, wargaming, miniatures painting, and hockey.
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