Diablo 2 Resurrected Rune Words Guide– D2RBest Starter Runewords
After the excellent start of Diablo 2: Ressurected, many players are now coming to a point of desperation. Quite a few players have not yet found the right items to use their starter rune words and are stuck in the air. In this post we explain which items you have to use and where you can find them.
D2R Runeword System
The further you progress in the story of the game, the more difficult the opponents become – logically. But it’s not that easy to find upgrades that make your life easier. Unlike modern games, which give you a lot of useful items on the way to your goal, in Diablo 2 you have to have a little background knowledge to become stronger.
Because of this, Diablo 2 Resurrected runewords are a very powerful part of the game. There are early variants that can be made from the lower runes and, of course, endgame variants, for which we first have to go very far. However, at some point the path becomes very difficult if you don’t use runic words at all.
In the forums and on social media we have seen the same questions about runes over and over again and therefore with this post we want to help everyone to understand which runes are useful and which items are needed for them.
What are runes and rune words in Diablo 2 Resurrected?
Runic words are confused-sounding words from individual runes. For example, there are runes with the name Tir, Ral or Sol. These are dropped by monsters or, depending on the degree of difficulty, by the Countess in Act 1. Runes can then be placed in free slots on equipment. There are two different effects.
The bonus of the rune itself is active if no rune word is found. The Sol rune, for example, has the effect that it adds +9 to the minimum damage when socked in weapons. However, the Sol rune does not necessarily do this when used in conjunction with a rune word.
The bonus of a rune word is activated as soon as the last rune of a word is used. You can understand runic words like a recipe. If you have followed the recipe exactly, a unique item is created that has special bonuses. There is, for example, the rune word RalOrtTal, which, when mounted in a suitable shield, creates the unique item Oath of the Ancestors. This is an extremely powerful item for anyone who can and wants to wear a shield because it increases resistance to fire, poison and lightning by 48% each and resistance to cold by 43%.
Basic rules when using runic words
Before you put your runes in an item, make sure that all conditions are met. Once socketed into the item, a rune cannot be removed again. You can only completely remove runes and thereby destroy them in order to free up the socket again.
The right number of socket locations
Each rune word consists of a certain number of runes. If we take the example of the ancestral oath again, we have three runes – ral, place, and valley. There must necessarily be exactly as many socket places on the item as runes are part of the word. So in this case three. If there are more than three and one or more socket locations remain free when the pedestal is made, the recipe is not converted and a unique item is not created.
The right item base
The base of the item must also absolutely meet the requirements. The base must be a gray or white item, otherwise, the rune word cannot be changed. So it cannot be a magical, rare, unique or set item.
It also has to be the right type of equipment. In the case of our ancestral oath, the item type must be a shield. More precisely, a gray or white sign with exactly three bases. So keep an eye out for such a shield when killing monsters or at the vendors.
Observe the correct order
Furthermore, it is imperative that you now socket the rune word into the item in the correct order. Rune words including the D2R Ladder Only Runewords, like all other words in our language, are read from left to right. The rune word RalOrtTal always begins with Ral, followed by place and ends with valley. The runes must be inserted into the shield in precisely this order.
Best starter rune words
Name: Ancient’s Pledge
Runeword: RalOrtTal
Suitable for: sign bearers
Basic item: gray or white shields with exactly 3 socket locations
Tip: You get exactly these three runes as a quest reward in Act 5 for Quest 2.
Name: Stealth
Runeword: TelEth
Suitable for: Everyone
Basic item: White or gray chest armor with exactly two socket places.
Tip: These runes can be farmed directly from the Countess on the Normal difficulty in Act 1.
Name: Leaf
Runeword: TirRal
Suitable for: Sorceress
Basic item: gray or white wand or short wand with exactly two bases. Ideally, someone who already has + X in important skills.
Tip: These runes can be farmed directly from the Countess on the Normal difficulty in Act 1.
Name: Spirit
Runeword: TalThulOrtAmn
Suitable for: All casters with swords
Basic item: gray or white swords with exactly four sockets. Ideally a crystal sword.
Tip: You can farm the perfect crystal sword on the normal difficulty in the secret cow level. If it doesn’t have any plinths, you can have them conjured up in act 5 with the help of Larzuk. Important: It must be a crystal sword from the secret level of difficulty normal, otherwise it may be more or less than four socket places and thus not usable.
Name: Lore
Runeword: OrtSol
Suitable for: Everyone
Basic item: gray or white head with exactly two base positions.
Tip: These runes can be farmed directly from the Countess on the Nightmare difficulty in Act 1.
Name: Insight
Runeword: RalTirTalSol
Suitable for: An act 2 companion – ideally with a prayer aura.
Basic item: Gray or white colossus, thresher, giant thresher with exactly four socket locations.
Tip: This aura that your companion then radiates helps to passively regenerate mana. A huge improvement in the feel of the game for all casters.
The pedestal trick with Larzuks Quest
As always, knowledge is power. And if you have unlocked your reward at Larzuk in Act 5 and haven’t used it yet, you’re in luck. With this reward you can conjure up sockets on equipment. So if you now have a good item base, you can ideally have the perfect item base for a rune word created.
How many sockets Larzuk forges on the item depends on the item itself. Depending on the level of the monsters that dropped the item, decides on the item level. If you kill monsters with a level of 38, the item that the monster drops is also at item level 38.
In the case of the crystal sword for the rune word spirit, it is advisable to open the secret cow level on the difficulty normal and look for a crystal sword there. If you have found one and let Larzuk enchant it with socket places in act 5, there will be exactly four socket places and therefore perfect for your rune word.
