Diablo 2 Expansion - Lord of Destruction Rune and Runeword FAQ Version 3.2, 09/11/2001 by Brian Kern ______________________________________________________________________________ This FAQ is copyrighted material. LIMITED REPRODUCTION LICENSE: This FAQ may be posted, emailed, or saved to a disk without express permission, provided that the FAQ remains unaltered, and the full copyright notice is in place. Removing the copyright notice and rights disclaimer voids any rights assigned. Exclusions: This FAQ may not be used for promotional purposes, nor may it be incorporated in guides, magazines, secured websites, or in any state or place where a fee is charged in order to obtain the information contained within. All professional use rights are retained by the author. All copyrights and trademarks are held by their respective owners, when not specifically mentioned. Diablo 2 is (c) 2000 Blizzard Entertainment. Future revisions of this FAQ may be found at http://www.gamefaqs.com . ______________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents 1. Revision History 2. Introduction 3. Rune listing, by rarity 4. Runeword listing 4.1. Single Player vs Open TCP/IP mode 4.2. How to make a Runeworded Item 4.3. Confirmed Runewords 5. Credits and Contact Info ______________________________________________________________________________ 1. Revision History ______________________________________________________________________________ v3.2, 09/11/2001, 2:20pm Minor update on the Runeword formulas. I pray for the families involved in the terrorist attack yesterday. No cause and no reason can be worth the destruction leveled against our civillians. v3.1, 09/02/2001, 10:00pm Minor updates for Eld and Pul. They were decremented from +175% stats to +75% against the critters of choice. Also fixed some spelling errors. :) Also fixed an error with White's effects. v3.0, 08/28/2001, 11:00am Updating for the 1.09 patch. Sorry on the delay, I've been working 100 hour weeks and haven't had time to play D2 inside the last month and more. :( Fixed the Tal Rune's stats. Fixed the names of Shael, Io, and Jah. Fixed Jah's effect. Updated recipes where names/effects have changed. Inactive runewords have been removed; I didn't feel they were helping the FAQ. The `speculative` section was pulled for the same reason. v2.1, 07/22/2001, 12:10pm Ripped out the old inaccurate unconfirmed Fury recipie. I can't believe I missed that! v2.0, 07/21/2001, 8:30pm Added Venom and Fury, and finalized all of the listings of what works in what. v1.9, 07/11/2001, 7:00pm Added Terror (inactive), White. v1.8, 07/11/2001, 11:30a Added Black, Blood (unconfirmed). v1.7, 07/10/2001, 12:30pm Added Lionheart, Myth (inactive). v1.6, 07/09/2001, 7:00pm Added Melody and Wealth. v1.5.1, 07/09/2001, 1:30pm Fixed the stats on the Ancient's Pledge. woo! v1.5, 07/08/2001, 11:40pm A couple of "required level" corrections. Added the How-To section. Added recipes for Memory and Silence. Fixed the Io/Po rune conspiracy. yeesh, Silence is powerful.. v1.4, 07/06/2001, 12:30pm Remind me not to make changes after midnight. Added information about what the rune levels mean, and a note about single player mode. v1.3.3, 07/06/2001, 2:45pm More "this doesn't work" fixes.. should be current now. v1.3.2, 07/06/2001, 1:45pm Several different rune recipie problems have been submitted and are now corrected. Yeesh. More testing needed! :) I went through and corrected all of the known problems with rune recipes and double-checked all my rune stats against my info. List restructured alphabetically. v1.3.1, 07/06/2001, 7:00a There's a problem with Rhyme.. someone send me screenshot confirmation of the new theory please! v1.3, 07/04/2001, 8:20pm Experienced the Runeword Bug first-hand, adding it to the FAQ. Two more Runewords: Rhyme and Smoke. v1.2, 07/04/2001, 6:00pm Picked up some more Runewords: Added stats on Honor, Holy Thunder, King's Grace, Lore, Nadir, Radiance, and Zephyr. v1.1, 07/04/2001, 3:00pm Formatted everything for posting and submitted to GameFAQs. v1.0, 07/04/2001, 2:30pm I was going through my collected information on the D2 expansion and noted that GameFAQs seemed to be lacking content.. so I codified a mess of it that I wanted to print out anyway, and here we are. ______________________________________________________________________________ 2. Introduction ______________________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the D2 Expansion Runeword FAQ. I'm going to list every Runeword I find, read about, or hear about. Contributions and corrections from players are encouraged -- Skip on down to "Credits and Contact Info" to find me. The FAQ consists of two major parts - a rune section, showing you what all the runes in the game are and how rare they are in comparison to one another, and a runeword section, detailing all the known runewords at the time I last updated. Hopefully this will give everyone a little something to do with all those runes, instead of just loading up mules to the point of collapse.. :) - Brian ______________________________________________________________________________ 3. Rune listing, by rarity ______________________________________________________________________________ Rarity increases: #1 is the most common (as I'm sure you've seen already..) and #33 is the most rare. :: Key :: Rune name - Rarity Item: bonuses Item2: bonuses .. Level required Runes do different things in different types of items, so the bonuses are split up. "Level required" refers to the level that a monster has to be before there's a chance that it will drop the rune. The existing Diablo 2 Experience FAQ can serve as a baseline until information is available for me to update for the Expansion's levels. The level required is also the level you have to be to use an item with that rune socketed in it - with Hel (#15) being the only exception. That rune can be used at Level 1. El - #1 Weapon : +50 Attack Rating, +1 Light Radius Armor/Helm/Shield: +15 Defense, +1 Light Radius Level Required : 11 Eld - #2 Weapon : +75% Damage vs. Undead, +50 Attack Rating vs. Undead Armor/Helm : Lowers Stamina drain by 15% Shield : +15% Increased Blocking Level Required : 11 Tir - #3 Weapon : +2 Mana Per Kill Armor/Helm/Shield: +2 Mana Per Kill Level Required : 13 Nef - #4 Weapon : Knockback Armor/Helm/Shield: +30 Defense vs. Missile Level Required : 13 Eth - #5 Weapon : -25% Target Defense Armor/Helm/Shield: Regenerate Mana 15% Level Required : 15 Ith - #6 Weapon : +9 to Maximum Damage Armor/Helm/Shield: 15% Damage Taken Goes to Mana Level Required : 15 Tal - #7 Weapon : +75 poison damage over 5 seconds Armor/Helm : +30% Poison Resistance Shield : +35% Poison Resistance Level Required : 17 Ral - #8 Weapon : +5-30 Fire Damage Armor/Helm : +30% Fire Resistance Shield : +35% Fire Resistance Level Required : 19 Ort - #9 Weapon : +1-50 Lightning Damage Armor/Helm : +30% Lightning Resistance Shield : +35% Lightning Resistance Level Required : 21 Thul - #10 Weapon : +3-14 Cold Damage (3 seconds) Armor/Helm : +30% Cold Resistance Shield : +35% Cold Resistance Level Required : 23 Amn - #11 Weapon : 7% Life Stolen Per Hit Armor/Helm/Shield: Attacker takes 14 damage Level Required : 25 Sol - #12 Weapon : +9 to Minimum Damage Armor/Helm/Shield: Damaged Reduced by 7 Level Required : 27 Shael - #13 Weapon : 20% Increased Attack Speed Armor/Helm : 20% Faster Hit Recovery Shields : 20% Faster Block Rate Level Required : 29 Dol - #14 Weapon : 25% Chance that Hit Causes Monster to Flee Armor/Helm/Shield: Replenish Life +7 Level Required : 31 Hel - #15 Weapon : Requirements -20% Armor/Helm/Shield: Requirements -15% Level required : 33 * Note: Requires Lvl 1 to use. Io - #16 Weapon : +10 Vitality Armor/Helm/Shield: +10 Vitality Level Required : 35 Lum - #17 Weapon : +10 Energy Armor/Helm/Shield: +10 Energy Level Required : 37 Ko - #18 Weapon : +10 Dexterity Armor/Helm/Shield: +10 Dexterity Level Required : 39 Fal - #19 Weapon : +10 Strength Armor/Helm/Shield: +10 Strength Level Required : 41 Lem - #20 Weapon : +75% Extra Gold from Monsters Armor/Helm/Shield: +50% Extra Gold from Monsters Level Required : 43 Pul - #21 Weapon : +75% Damage vs Demons, +100 Attack Rating vs Demons Armor/Helm/Shield: +30% Enhanced Defense Level Required : 45 Um - #22 Weapon : 25% Chance of Open Wounds Armor/Helm : +15 Resist All Shields : +22 Resist All Level Required : 47 Mal - #23 Weapon : Prevent Monster Heal Armor/Helm/Shield: Magic Damage Reduced by 7 Level Required : 49 Ist - #24 Weapon : +30% Better Chance of Finding Magical Items Armor/Helm/Shield: +25% Better Chance of Finding Magical Items Level Required : 51 Gul - #25 Weapon : +20% Attack Rating Armor/Helm/Shield: +5 to Max Poison Resist Level Required : 53 Vex - #26 Weapon : 7% Mana Steal Armor/Helm/Shield: +5 to Max Fire Resist Level Required : 55 Ohm - #27 Weapon : +50% Enhanced Damage Armor/Helm/Shield: +5 to Max Cold Resist Level Required : 57 Lo - #28 Weapon : 20% Chance of Deadly Strike Armor/Helm/Shield: +5 to Max Lightning Resist Level Required : 59 Sur - #29 Weapon : Hit Blinds Target Armor/Helm : +5% Max Mana Shields : +50 Mana Level Required : 61 Ber - #30 Weapon : 20% Chance of Crushing Blow Armor/Helm/Shield: Damage Reduced by 8% Level Required : 63 Jah - #31 Weapon : Ignores Target's Defense Armor/Helm : +5% Max Life Shields : +50 Life Level Required : 65 Cham - #32 Weapon : Freezes Target Armor/Helm/Shield: Cannot be Frozen. Level Required : 67 Zod - #33 Weapon : Indestructible Armor/Helm/Shield: Indestructible Level Required : 69 This rune prevents items from losing durability. It can be socketed in Ethereal items, effectively preserving them forever. ______________________________________________________________________________ 4. Runeword Listing ______________________________________________________________________________ Herein lies all the Runewords I know of.. please update me on any other runewords you know, or other configurations you test. I've listed what's known to work, and what's known to not work, but there's a lot left to test out there. .----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | 4.1: Single Player vs Open TCP/IP mode | '----------------------------------------------------------------------------' Prior to the 1.09 patch, you had to be playing on Battle.net in order to get any benefit from Runewords. The only Runeword that worked in Single Player or Open TCP/IP was Ancient's Pledge. With the 1.09 patch, however, Runewords are now active in Open TCP/IP mode. .----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | 4.2: How to make a Runeworded Item | '----------------------------------------------------------------------------' To make a Runeword Item, do the following. 1. Find yourself a socketed item. It doesn't matter if the item is Normal, Exceptional, or Elite. It doesn't matter if it's standard or superior. Just don't use a Magical item that's been socketed. Rares and Uniques will only pick up a single socket, and thus cannot be Runeworded. 2. Set the runes in the item in the exact order listed below. Be sure to check to see if that particular item type is allowed for that Runeword before proceeding. 3. The item must have the *exact* number of sockets for that Runeword. If you go to socket Ral Ort Tal in a shield with four sockets, you will not get the Ancient's Pledge. .----------------------------------------------------------------------------. | 4.3: Confirmed Runewords | '----------------------------------------------------------------------------' Ancient's Pledge 10% Damage Taken Goes to Mana Ral (8) + Ort (9) + Tal (7) +50% Enhanced Defense Shields Only +43% Resist Cold Level Required: 21 +48% Resist Fire, Poison, and Lightning * This Runeword works in * Single Player Mode. Black Level 4 Corpse Explosion [12 Charges] Thul (10) + Io (16) + Nef (4) 40% Chance of Crushing Blow Level Required: 35 Magic Damage Reduced by 2 Club, Hammer, Mace Only +120% Enhanced Damage +200 to Attack Rating +15% Increased Attack Speed Adds 3-14 Cold Damage +10 Vitality Knockback Fury +209% Enhanced Damage Jah (31) + Gul (25) + Eth (5) 40% Increased Attack Speed Melee Weapons Only Prevent Monster Heal Level Required: 65 66% Chance of Open Wounds NOT: Scepters 33% Chance of Deadly Strike Ignores Target's Defense -25% Target Defense +20% to Attack Rating 6% Life Stolen per hit +5 to Frenzy (Barbarian Only) Holy Thunder Level 7 Chain Lightning [60 Charges] Eth (5) + Ral (8) + Ort (9) -25% Target Defense + Tal (7) +60% Enhanced Damage Scepters Only +75 Poison damage / 5 seconds Level Required: 21 +5% Maximum Lightning Resistance +60% Lightning Resistance +21-110 Lightning Damage +5-30 Fire Damage +10 Maximum Damage +3 to Holy Shock (Paladin Only) Honor +160% Enhanced Damage Amn (11) + El (1) + Ith (6) +250 Attack Rating + Tir (3) + Sol (12) +9 Minimum Damage Melee Weapons Only +9 Maximum Damage Level Required: 27 25% Deadly Strike 7% Life Stolen Per Hit +1 to All Skill Levels +2 Mana per kill +1 Light Radius Replenish Life +10 +10 Strength King's Grace +100% Enhanced Damage Amn (11) + Ral (8) + Thul (10) +150 Attack Rating Sword, Scepter Only +100 Attack Rating vs Undead Level Required: 25 150% Damage vs Undead +100 Attack Rating vs Demons 200% Damage vs Demons 7% Life Steal +3-14 Cold Damage (3 seconds) +5-30 Fire Damage Leaf +5-30 Fire Damage Tir (3) + Ral (8) +2 Mana per kill Staves Only +3 to Fire Skills Level Required: 19 +33% Cold Resistance +3 Inferno +3 Fire Bolt +3 Warmth Lionheart -15% Requirements Hel (15) + Lum (17) + Fal (19) +20% Enhanced Damage Body Armor Only +30% to All Resistances Level Required: 41 +50 Life +10 Energy +20 Vitality +15 Dexterity +25 Strength Lore +1 to All Skill Levels Ort (9) + Sol (12) +2 Mana per kill Helms Only Reduced Damage by 7 Level Required: 27 +30% Lightning Resistance +10 Energy +2 Light Radius Malice Ith (6) + El (1) + Eth (5) +33% enhanced damage Melee Weapons Only +9 max damage Level Required: 15 +50 Attack Rating 100% chance of open wounds -100 monster defense/hit Prevents Monster Heal -25% target defense Drain Life -5 Melody 400% Damage vs Undead Shael (12) + Ko (18) + Nef (4) +50% Enhanced Damage Missile Weapons Only +3 to Bow and Crossbow Skills Level Required: 39 +3 to Slow Missiles +3 to Dodge * Pretty Amazon specific +3 to Critical Strike +10 Dexterity 20% Increased Attack Speed Knockback Memory 33% Faster Cast Rate Lum (17) + Io (16) + Sol (12) +50% Enhanced Defense + Eth (5) +3 to Sorceress Skill Levels Staves Only Magic Damage Reduced By 7 Level Required: 37 +20% Max Mana -25% Target Defense +9 Minimum Damage +10 Energy +10 Vitality Nadir Level 13 Cloak of Shadows [9 charges] Nef (3) + Tir (4) +50% Enhanced Defense Helms Only +2 Mana per kill Level Required: 13 -3 Light Radius +30 Defense vs Missle +10 Defense +5 Strength -33% Gold from monsters Radiance 15% Damage Taken to Mana Nef (3) + Sol (12) + Ith (6) +75% Enhanced Defense Helms Only Magical Damage Reduced by 3 Level Required: 27 Physical Damage Reduced by 7 +30 Defense vs Missles +33 Mana +10 Energy +10 Vitality +5 Light Radius Rhyme Cannot be Frozen Shael (12) + Eth (5) 40% Faster Block Rate Shields Only 20% Increased Blocking Level Required: 29 +15% Mana Regeneration Rate +25 to All Resistances +25% Chance to find Magic Items +50% Gold from Monsters Silence 175% Damage vs Undead Dol (14) + Eld (2) + Hel (15) Hit Blinds Target + Ist (24) + Tir (3) + Vex (26) 20% Faster Hit Recovery Weapons Only +2 All Skill Levels Level Required: 55 +200% Enhanced Damage 11% Mana Steal * The only restriction on +75 Resist All * the weapon is that it must 20% Increased Attack Speed * pack 6 sockets.. so you'll +2 Mana after each kill * never see this on a Claw. +50 Attack Rating vs Undead 25% Hit Causes Monster to Flee Requirements -20% +30% Chance to find Magic Items Smoke Level 6 Weaken [18 charges] Nef (4) + Lum (17) 20% Faster Hit Recovery Body Armor Only -1 Light Radius Level Required: 37 +75% Enhanced Defense +50 Resist All +280 Defense vs Missile +10 Energy Stealth 25% Faster Casting Rate Tal (8) + Eth (7) 25% Faster Hit Recovery Body Armor Only 25% Faster run/walk speed Level Required: 17 Magical Damage Reduced By 3 +15% Mana Regeneration Rate +30% Poison Resistance +15 Maximum Stamina +6 Dexterity Steel +20% Enhanced Damage Tir (3) + El (1) +3 Minimum Damage Axe, Mace, Sword Only +3 Maximum Damage Level Required: 13 +50 Attack Rating 50% Chance of Open Wounds +1 Light Radius +2 Mana per kill 25% Increased Attack Speed Strength +35% Enhanced Damage Amn (11) + Tir (3) 25% Chance of Crushing Blow Melee Weapons Only 7% life steal Level Required: 25 +2 Mana per kill +10 Vitality +20 Strength Venom Level 13 Poison Nova [11 charges] Tal (8) + Dol (14) + Mal (23) Level 15 Poison Explosion [27 charges] Weapons Only Ignore Target's Defense Level Required: 49 7% Mana Stolen per hit +400 Poison Damage Over 8 seconds [50/sec] * Tailored for claw-fighting Prevent Monster Heal * Assassins. +25% Hit Causes Monster to Flee Wealth +100% Chance to find Magic Items Lem (20) + Ko (18) + Tir (3) 300% Extra Gold from Monsters Body Armor Only +2 Mana after each kill Level Required: 43 +10 Dexterity White +25% Hit causes Monster to Flee Dol (14) + Io (16) 20% Faster Cast Rate Wands Only Magic Damage Reduced By 4 Level Required: 35 +13 Mana +10 Vitality * Nice Necro bonuses on +3 to Bone and Poison Spells (no curses) * this one. +4 to Skeletal Mastery +2 to Bone Spear +3 to Bone Armor Zephyr 7% chance of Lvl1 Twister when hit Ort (9) + Eth (5) +33% Enhanced Damage Missile Weapons Only +1-50 Lightning Damage Level Required: 21 25% Increased Attack Speed -25% Target Defense 25% Faster Run +25 Defense +66 Attack Rating ______________________________________________________________________________ 5. Credits and Contact Info ______________________________________________________________________________ - Credits Blizzard Entertainment, for some of the finest games around. A good part of my life has been devoted to Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo. GameFAQs.com, for providing the best online gaming resource that we have in this troubled day and age. :) ILJ, for sending in a screenshot of Rhyme not functioning in Body Armor.. remind me to smack the guy who gave me that recipie.. :) Hanzo, for letting me know that Holy Thunder didn't work out in swords. Rich, for catching the Steel / Claw problem. Derek, for catching the mlvl/ilvl/clvl difference that I didn't explain correctly. Nyren, for pointing out the lack of Runeword support in single-player mode. Darkone, for socketing up a helm with too many slots for a two-rune Runeword, thus leading to the How-To section. Lokust, for proving that Ancient's Pledge works in single-player mode. wiz_kamikaz, for letting me know that Steel works with Maces. Wicked Mouse, for giving me more accurate stats on his Ancient's Pledge. :) Nik, for letting me know that Memory couldn't work in Orbs. Gordon Fruman, for the unconfirmed `Blood` runeword. Scott Anderson, for the `Lionheart` runeword. furyentity, for catching my mistake on the unconfirmed Fury recipie. SuperLuigi, for catching my mistake on the Strength recipie. - Contact Info Do you have additions or corrections for this FAQ? Send an email over to . Due to the kind of item listings we're dealing with, please submit a screenshot of the item in question, clear enough that I can read the values off of it to update the FAQ. It's the only way to maintain good info. :) Don't know how to take a screenshot? Hit Print Screen while in D2, and you'll find it saved as Screenshot001.jpg in your Diablo 2 game directory. Try to have the /users or /time command showing, as it helps prove that you're in a realm game. Mail the resulting JPG to me, and corrections will happen ASAP. Full credit will be given to the person responsible for the contributions or corrections. One note of warning: Please make sure that you've read the latest version of the FAQ. Updates can be found at www.gamefaqs.com -- check there *first*. If this FAQ winds up elsewhere, they might not have the current version. (c) 2001, by Brian Kern Limited reproduction rights as assigned.