Basic Runeword Information
Rune Words are an advanced feature for experienced users. However, anyone can create a Rune Word if they take the time to read/learn enough about them to assemble the Rune Words properly.
Rune Word Rules
- When you create a Rune Word you still receive all of the magical bonuses that were already on each Rune you Socketed.
- Socketed Items must have the exact number of sockets as the Rune Word formula requires. If the Rune Word is a 3 Rune formula then you must use an item with exactly 3 sockets. A 4 socket item will not work with a 3 socket formula.
- The Socketed Item type must be the correct item type for the formula. If the formula requires a sword, the formula will not work if you use an axe or spear.
- Rune Words will only work in Socketed non-magical items. This means that Set Items, Unique Items, or Magic Items with enough Sockets and the proper item type will not allow or convert to Rune Words. Again, they will not work on Magic, Set, Unique or Rare items. So if you have a Mechanic's (or Jewelers item) piece of armor with 2 slots, the Stealth will not work on it because it's magical.
- The correct Runes for a formula must be used. If one of the Runes is wrong you receive the bonuses of the Runes inserted but it does not become a Rune Word.
- The Rune IO looks a lot like LO. Make sure you use the correct one.
- Rune Words will not work in Wirt's Leg
- The Runes must be placed in the correct order. You can have the correct Socketed item, correct runes and still not activate the Rune Word if you do not socket the Runes in the correct order. This is because you're trying to spell the "Rune Word" correctly and you have spelled it incorrectly. Example: "RalOrtTal". You must first place Ral, then Ort, then finally Tal into the Socketed Item.
- You need the right patch for the formulae to work. Make sure you have the latest patch.
Other Info
- If you use superior socketed items, the damage and stats might be higher than shown because you will get the bonus from those items too.
- The Rune Words listed also list the bonuses of the individual Runes with the Rune Word bonuses.
- Q: Can you add the level limits on the Rune Words?
A: Actually these would change depending on what item was used so they were not added.
Required Item Types for Formulae
Make sure you read this so you'll use the right items.
Body Armor = Any armor that is worn on your chest and not any type of other armor such as boots, helms, gloves, etc.Keep in mind when experimenting with unknown Rune Words that you must be prepared to accept the loss of your Runes if the formula does not work. Rune Words must be inserted into the correct item for the formula in the correct order. Blizzard cannot restore lost items for any reason including due to your failure to properly create a Rune Word. Rune Word failures are caused by using the wrong items, Runes, or Rune order. A few times the formula has been listed wrong on the following pages, but most (99%) of reported errors are caused by failure to understand the formula. The following formulae on these pages may contain errors, including listing the wrong formulas. Be sure you read all of this page including the bottom page notes for complete information.
Helms = Any armor that is worn on the head, including helms, Barbarian Helms, Druid Pelts, and Circlets.
Shield = Any armor that can be used to block, including shields, Necromancer Shrunken Heads, and Paladin Shields.
Clubs = Club, Spiked Club, and Exceptional/Elite versions.
Hammers = War Hammer, Maul, Great Maul, and Exceptional/Elite versions. These will not work in mace recipes even though they are listed on the mace page.
Maces = Mace, Morning Star, Flail, and Exceptional/Elite versions. This does not include any other types of Maces. Make sure you read about Hammers above. They are not "maces" in the case of Runewords.
Melee Weapons = Any weapon that isn't ranged such as a Sword or Hammer. A Bow or Crossbow is a ranged weapon. Sorceress Orbs are not considered Melee Weapons.
Missile Weapons = Bows and Crossbows.
Weapons = Melee Weapons, Missile Weapons, Orbs.
Scepters = Scepter, Grand Scepter, War Scepter, and Exceptional/Elite versions.
Basic Rune Information
Runes can be used to create Crafted Items.
Common Runes
Runes are listed from most common to least common: El, Eld, Tir, Nef, Eth, Ith, Tal, Ral, Ort, Amn, Shael, and Thul are pretty common. You receive Ral, Ort and Tal as a quest reward in Act V. You shouldn't trade much for them since you can find them pretty easily with regular play. Don't fall for the "1 Shael or/+ Amn for 1 SOJ" scam. You can find these yourself. If you're thinking of freeing up space, throw those Runes away and save all Runes from Sol through Zod.
Semi-Rare Runes
Listed from most common to most rare: Sol, Dol, Hel, Io, Lum, Ko, Fal, Lem, Pul, Um. Some of these Runes are more valuable than others depending on their stats and how they are used in Rune Words or Crafted Recipes.
Extremely Rare Runes
Listed from most common to most rare: Mal, Ist, Gul, Vex, Ohm, Lo, Sur, Ber, Jah, Cham, Zod. Trade these for good stuff!
Rune Words
If the player puts certain combinations of Runes in the correct order into an item with exactly that number of sockets and of the correct item type, the item's name will change into a "unique" name, displayed in gold, and the item will acquire extra powers, depending on the "rune word" that was used.
Jewels
Jewels can be Magic, Rare, or Unique, but there are no Set Jewels.
Jewels can be used in Horadric Cube Formulae.
The artwork for Jewels are not tied to their stats. You will receive a Jewel that will look like one of these:
Gems
Upgrading Gems
You can upgrade gems by using a Gem Shrine or by using the Horadric Cube. You can use the Horadric Cube to convert gems into higher quality gems. Place 3 Gems of one type into the Horadric Cube and hit the Transmute button.
Vendors do not normally sell Gems
If another player in a multiplayer game sells a Gem to a Vendor you may be able to buy it.
Vendors also will not typically pay you full price for socketed items.
Gem effects Stackable
If you place 3 Gems of the same type in a sword you will receive the bonus of all three.
The first Gem that is placed will determine the color of the weapon. If there are several different types of Gems in a sword, it will randomly display an attack based on those types of Gems in the sword. So one swing will show cold damage, while the next shows poison attack but all of them are working at the same time.
Note: For Emeralds, when calculating the final damage after the gems have been added, the damage (but not the length) is added up.
The real damage of poison internally is held as damage per frame and duration in frames, in many cases (including gems, skills, items and so on), the true poison damage is actually a non integer number and the shown value is truncated, meaning you can, if the fractions add up, see some "bonus" effects which is in fact not a bonus, just fractions adding up and being shown when the game truncates the poison damage.
Once the final damage has been calculated by adding the Emeralds, it does X damage total, over its Y duration.
Sapphires
The Freeze Durations are cumulative.
Skulls
Weapons: Adds Mana and Life Steal to attack
Shields: Adds attacker takes damage
Helms and Armor: Adds Mana and Life regeneration
| Gem | Level | Weapons | Shields | Helms and Armor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Chipped Skull |
1 | Steals 2% life, 1% Mana | Attacker Takes 4 Damage | Replenish Life +2, Regenerate Mana 8% |
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Flawed Skull |
5 | Steals 2% life, 2% Mana | Attacker Takes 8 Damage | Replenish Life +3, Regenerate Mana 8% |
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Skull |
12 | Steals 3% life, 2% Mana | Attacker Takes 12 Damage | Replenish Life +3, Regenerate Mana 12% |
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Flawless Skull |
15 | Steals 3% life, 3% Mana | Attacker Takes 16 Damage | Replenish Life +4, Regenerate Mana 12% |
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Perfect Skull |
18 | Steals 4% life, 3% Mana | Attacker Takes 20 Damage | Replenish Life +5, Regenerate Mana 19% |
Amethyst
Weapons: Adds to Attack Rating
Shields: Adds to Defense
Helms and Armor: Adds to Strength
| Gem | Level | Weapons | Shields | Helms and Armor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Chipped Amethyst |
1 | +40 to Attack Rating | +8 to Defense | +3 to Strength |
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Flawed Amethyst |
5 | +60 to Attack Rating | +12 to Defense | +4 to Strength |
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Amethyst |
12 | +80 to Attack Rating | +18 to Defense | +6 to Strength |
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Flawless Amethyst |
15 | +100 to Attack Rating | +24 to Defense | +8 to Strength |
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Perfect Amethyst |
18 | +150 to Attack Rating | +30 to Defense | +10 to Strength |
Sapphire
Weapons: Adds Cold Damage
Shields: Adds Resistance to Cold
Helms and Armor: Adds Maximum Mana
| Gem | Level | Weapons | Shields | Helms and Armor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Chipped Sapphire |
1 | 1-3 Cold Damage - 1.0 sec Duration | 12% Resist Cold | +10 Max Mana |
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Flawed Sapphire |
5 | 3-5 Cold Damage - 1.4 sec Duration | 16% Resist Cold | +17 Max Mana |
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Sapphire |
12 | 4-7 Cold Damage - 2.0 sec Duration | 22% Resist Cold | +24 Max Mana |
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Flawless Sapphire |
15 | 6-10 Cold Damage - 2.4 sec Duration | 28% Resist Cold | +31 Max Mana |
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Perfect Sapphire |
18 | 10-14 Cold Damage - 3.0 sec Duration | 40% Resist Cold | +38 Max Mana |
Emerald
Weapons: Adds Poison Damage
Shields: Adds to Resistance to Poison
Helms and Armor: Adds to Dexterity
| Gem | Level | Weapons | Shields | Helms and Armor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Chipped Emerald |
1 | +10 Poison Damage over 3 Seconds | 12% Resist Poison | +3 to Dexterity |
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Flawed Emerald |
5 | +20 Poison Damage over 4 Seconds | 16% Resist Poison | +4 to Dexterity |
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Emerald |
12 | +40 Poison Damage over 5 Seconds | 22% Resist Poison | +6 to Dexterity |
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Flawless Emerald |
15 | +60 Poison Damage over 6 Seconds | 28% Resist Poison | +8 to Dexterity |
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Perfect Emerald |
18 | +100 Poison Damage over 7 Seconds | 40% Resist Poison | +10 to Dexterity |
Ruby
Weapons: Adds Fire Damage
Shields: Adds Resistance to Fire
Helms and Armor: Adds to Maximum Life
| Gem | Level | Weapons | Shields | Helms and Armor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Chipped Ruby |
1 | 3-4 Fire Damage | 12% Resist Fire | +10 to Life |
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Flawed Ruby |
5 | 5-8 Fire Damage | 16% Resist Fire | +17 to Life |
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Ruby |
12 | 8-12 Fire Damage | 22% Resist Fire | +24 to Life |
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Flawless Ruby |
15 | 10-16 Fire Damage | 28% Resist Fire | +31 to Life |
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Perfect Ruby |
18 | 15-20 Fire Damage | 40% Resist Fire | +38 to Life |
Diamond
Weapons: Adds to Damage vs. Undead
Shields: Adds to all Resistances
Helms and Armor: Adds to Attack Rating
| Gem | Level | Weapons | Shields | Helms and Armor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Chipped Diamond |
1 | +28% Damage vs. Undead | All Resistances +6% | +20 to attack Rating |
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Flawed Diamond |
5 | +34% Damage vs. Undead | All Resistances +8% | +40 to attack Rating |
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Diamond |
12 | +44% Damage vs. Undead | All Resistances +11% | +60 to attack Rating |
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Flawless Diamond |
15 | +54% Damage vs. Undead | All Resistances +14% | +80 to attack Rating |
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Perfect Diamond |
18 | +68% Damage vs. Undead | All Resistances +19% | +100 to attack Rating |
Topaz
Weapons: Adds Lightning Damage
Shields: Adds to Resistance to Lightning
Helms and Armor: Adds Chance to find Magic Items
| Gem | Level | Weapons | Shields | Helms and Armor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Chipped Topaz |
1 | 1-8 Lightning Damage | 12% Resist Lightning | +9% Chance to Find Magic Items |
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Flawed Topaz |
5 | 1-14 Lightning Damage | 16% Resist Lightning | +13% Chance to Find Magic Items |
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Topaz |
12 | 1-22 Lightning Damage | 22% Resist Lightning | +16% Chance to Find Magic Items |
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Flawless Topaz |
15 | 1-30 Lightning Damage | 28% Resist Lightning | +20% Chance to Find Magic Items |
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Perfect Topaz |
18 | 1-40 Lightning Damage | 40% Resist Lightning | +24% Chance to Find Magic Items |
Socket Information
Socketed items are easy to identify as their names appear in gray text when highlighted. You may insert a gem into a Socketed item by left-clicking on the gem to pick it up, and left-clicking over the Socketed item to fuse the gem and the item together.
Socketed Weapons and Armor allow you to customize your armor and weapons giving it added magical properties such as enhanced statistics, resistances to attacks and more.
Only Helms, Armor, Shields, and Weapons can be socketed. Not all weapon types can be socketed. Throwing Weapons cannot be socketed. The max number of Sockets a Socketed Item will have is 6. Weapons and Armor will have a random number of sockets depending on how many are allowed. Armor can only have 4 sockets. Weapons can have up to 6 sockets. Items with more sockets might be harder to find and may require higher Difficulty Levels.
Item Quality
Socketed Items can be normal quality and superior quality.
Magic, Rare, Crafted, Set and Unique Socketed Items
Magic Items can have up to 4 sockets. Rare items are limited to 2 sockets. Crafted, Set and Unique items are limited to 1 socket in most cases. There are a few Set and Unique Items that have more than one Socket as a default ability.
Socketed Item Quest
The first quest in Act V allows players to socket any item that allows sockets. This quest may not add the maximum number of sockets.
There is also a Horadric Cube formula that allows items to be Socketed.
# of Sockets Gems Jewels Runes
The difficulty level plays into the number of sockets that will show up on an item. If you want the most sockets, you need to be on Hell Difficulty, and in later areas of the game, if possible.
Precious gems embody innate magical abilities. When set into a socketed item these gems can add powerful magic effects.
Jewels are similar to Gems, except that instead of having predetermined magical abilities like a Gem, each Jewel possesses random magic properties, allowing you to bestow a wide variety of magical abilities to your Socketed Item.
Runes are small stones inscribed with magical glyphs that can be inserted into Socketed Items. Runes are different from other Insertable Items: not only do individual Runes have set magical properties, certain combinations (or Rune Words), when inserted into the appropriate item, in the proper order, give that item even more wondrous abilities.
Basic Ring Information
Rings and Amulets are normally found with one or two Magical Attributes. Rings and Amulets can also be found as Set Items, Rare Items, Crafted Items, or Unique Items.
The artwork for rings and amulets are not tied to their stats. You may receive a ring or amulet that will look like these:
Rings
Amulets
Throwing Potions
Throwing Potions
As far back as the Sin War, alchemical mages have studied the properties of the elements and combined them in various ways. Eventually, the mages developed some extremely toxic and volatile liquids. Many of these substances have proven to be effective weapons when placed in glass bottles and lobbed from a distance into groups of enemies. Some of these volatile grenades explode into fireballs when they shatter upon the ground. Others release thick clouds of toxic fumes that quickly poison and weaken the opponents enveloped within them.
To ready a throwing potion for use, equip it as you would a weapon. The Left Action Icon changes to the Throw action. Left-clicking on a target tosses one of your readied potions at it. As you use them up, a potion icon appears in the Play Area to warn you that you are running low. When you run out of potions, your character automatically equips the item that had previously been in your hand. Throwing potions of the same type can be stacked up to 25 potions in a single inventory slot.
You can place Throwing Potions in your alternate Weapon Tab when you find them. You can then save them for backup and use them when you run into trouble.
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Choking Gas Potion This thrown potion causes poison damage to any enemy within a small radius. Throw Damage: 72 Required Level: 16 |
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Rancid Gas Potion This thrown potion deals a large area of damage that lasts a considerable amount of time. Throw Damage: 96 Required Level: 24 |
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Strangling Gas Potion This thrown potion causes poison damage. Throw Damage: 24 Required Level: 6 |
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Exploding Potion This thrown potion causes an explosion that does damage within a small radius. Throw Damage: 16-30 Required Level: 12 |
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Fulminating Potion Throw Damage: 5-15 |
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Oil Potion This thrown potion causes an explosion and lasting fire. Throw Damage: 24-64 Required Level: 20 |
Other Potions
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Antidote Potion This potion cures poison instantly. You also receive +50 Poison Resistance and +10 to Maximum Resistance for 30 seconds. |
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Thawing Potion This potion instantly removes ill effects from cold spells. You also receive +50 Cold Resistance and +10 to Maximum Cold Resistance for 30 seconds. If monsters or other players start using long lasting cold attacks you may want to start using thawing potions. They can be purchased from the Potion Vendors. |
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Stamina Potion This potion restores your stamina instantly. You also receive super Stamina recovery for 30 seconds. Stamina Potions are very useful for running away from monsters in emergency situations. After continual running it's easy to forget how much stamina you have but using a Stamina potion can instantly regain Stamina so that you can run for much longer. When retrieving your body you sometimes have to travel long distances. Keep some Stamina potions around to make body recovery much easier. It's always handy to keep several Stamina Potions around depending on room to save for later.
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Life/Mana/Rejuv Pots
Healing and Mana Potions will refill different amounts based on which class is using the Potions. A Barbarian will receive more Healing from a Healing Potion than a Sorceress. To see how many points will be gained from a Potion, highlight the Potion with your mouse
There is a chance that a Healing and Mana will heal double the stated amount.
Holding down SHIFT and RIGHT-Clicking, when buying Health Potions, auto-fills any empty slots in the belt. This applies to buying scrolls of Town Portal and Identify scrolls too.
Holding down SHIFT and LEFT-Clicking on Health, Mana and Rejuvenation potions in inventory, will auto-move them to the appropriate column in your belt.
Holding down SHIFT and a Hot Key (1-4) or Right-Clicking on Health, Mana and Rejuvenation potions in the Belt, will give the Potion to the player's Hireling if the player has one.
Healing Potions
These potions replenish your Life over time. When using these Healing Potions it's best to run away from combat long enough for them to heal fully. For maximum effectiveness pick Healing Potions based on how many hit points the Potion heals vs how many hit points require healing. Drinking Multiple Healing Potions will cause more life to be replenished but will not cause you to replenish life any faster. It's possible to waste healing potions by using more than is necessary.
| Healing Potions | Necromancer | Sorceress | Druid | Amazon | Paladin | Assassin | Barbarian | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Minor Healing Potion | 30 | 30 | 30 | 45 | 45 | 45 | 60 |
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Light Healing Potion | 60 | 60 | 60 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 120 |
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Healing Potion | 100 | 100 | 100 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 200 |
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Greater Healing Potion | 180 | 180 | 180 | 270 | 270 | 270 | 360 |
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Super Healing Potion | 320 | 320 | 320 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 640 |
Mana Potions
Mana potions replenish your Mana over time. Mana Potions regenerate mana much faster than Health Potions regenerate Life.
| Mana Potions | Barbarian | Assassin | Amazon | Paladin | Druid | Necromancer | Sorceress | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Minor Mana Potion | 20 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 40 | 40 | 40 |
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Light Mana Potion | 40 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 80 | 80 | 80 |
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Mana Potion | 80 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 160 | 160 | 160 |
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Greater Mana Potion | 150 | 225 | 225 | 225 | 300 | 300 | 300 |
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Super Mana Potion | 250 | 375 | 375 | 375 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
Rejuvenation Potions
Rejuvenation Potions work instantly unlike Health and Mana Potions. Keep some Rejuvenation Potions around for desperate situations where you need instant healing.
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Rejuvenation Potions - Heals 35% Life and Mana Instantly Regain Life and Mana |
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Full Rejuvenation Potions - Heals 100% Life and Mana Instantly Regain Life and Mana |