Guide to Finding Runes in Diablo II Resurrected

There are many sources of Runes in Diablo 2:

• Random drops from monsters
• Random drops from containers such as chests, barrels, and loose rocks
• Rewards for destroying Mephisto's Soulstone as part of the Hell's Forge quest in Act 4
• Rewards for completing the Rescue on Mount Arreat quest in Act 5
• Upgrading Runes by combining lesser Runes through the Horadric Cube
• Trading with other players

For a full list of Runes and general information, refer to our Runes guide.

Most monsters have a very slight chance of dropping a single Rune when killed. The chance for a drop as well as the type of Rune dropped depends on a number of factors, including the level of the area, the rarity of the Rune, the type and rank of monster killed, as well as the number of players in the game. The same factors also apply to containers. Magic Find does not improve the chance of finding Runes as they are not treated as Magic items.

Much like other items, more powerful high-level Runes may begin to drop as you progress through the various Acts and difficulties of the game. There are a few exceptions to this however, which will be discussed below. The following table shows where the different Runes may begin to drop. Note that the list is cumulative; where Zod may drop, so may every other Rune.

The first exception to the above table relates to the Countess, an Act 1 boss ruling from the depths of the Forgotten Tower located in the Black Marsh. Whereas Runes do not normally appear so early in the game, the Countess has a unique drop table that causes her to always drop at least one Rune. In the Nightmare difficulty, she may also drop Runes that are otherwise inaccessible at this point in the game, although only rarely. This makes her a popular boss to farm.

The following table shows the Runes which may drop from the Countess in each of the difficulties. Note that each Rune does not have an equal chance of dropping; higher Runes are significantly more rare.

Starting in the Hell difficulty, each Act features a number of level 85 areas where any item, including Zod, has a chance to drop. These areas are the second exception to the normal Rune dropping rules. Many of these areas are regularly farmed by players for this reason.

Here is a list of level 85 areas in Diablo 2:

• The Mausoleum
• The Pit 1 and 2

• The Maggot Lair 1, 2 and 3
• The Ancient Tunnels

• The Forgotten Temple
• The Ruined Fane
• The Disused Reliquary
• The Sewers 2

• The River of Flame
• The Chaos Sanctuary

• The Worldstone Keep 1, 2, and 3
• The Throne of Destruction

Further, Hell Bovines in the Secret Cow Level/Moo Moo Farm may also drop any Rune despite being only level 81.

The following table shows the approximate drop rate for mid- to high-level Runes in one-player games for different categories of normal "white" monsters. The Ghost column includes ghost-like monsters such as Wraiths, Willow Wisps, and Finger Mages. The Desert column includes Swarms and Vultures only. Each additional player in the party increases the listed chance by about 10%.

The following table shows the same information for containers, champions, and various unique and boss types.

Two quests yield Runes as a reward: the Hell's Forge in Act 4 and the Rescue on Mount Arreat in Act 5.

Upon destroying Mephisto's Soulstone, a Rune randomly selected from a small pool of Runes will drop depending on the difficulty. Each Rune from the pool has an equal 1 in 11 chance of dropping; rarity has no incidence here. The following table shows the pool of Runes that can drop in each difficulty.

Upon talking to Qual-Kehk after completing the Rescue on Mount Arreat, three Runes will appear in your inventory as a reward (or drop nearby if your inventory is full): Tal Rune, Ral Rune, and Ort Rune. These Runes can be used in a 3-socket shield of inferior, normal, or superior quality to create the Ancient's Pledge Rune Word. The same Runes are rewarded in each of the difficulties.

Runes can be upgraded into Runes of a higher tier using the Horadric Cube. The following table shows the input required to transmute a given Rune into the following Rune.