Guide to Rune Words in Diablo II Resurrected

A Rune Word (often spelled Runeword) is the collective name for the different special combinations of Runes that add powerful, predetermined sets of modifiers to the items into which they are inserted. 89 Rune Words exist, each requiring between two to six Runes to complete.

Due to their power and the rarity of high-level Runes, many Rune Words can be completed to yield some of the most sought-after items in Diablo 2.

For a full list of Runes and general information, refer to our Runes guide. For more information about finding and farming Runes, refer to our Rune Finding guide.

The following table lists each of the 89 different Rune Words in Diablo 2. The Item Type column represents the type(s) of item(s) into which the correct Runes must be socketed to complete the Rune Word. Rlvl column represents the minimum level required to equip an item into which the Rune Word has been created. The Ladder column shows whether the Rune Word can only be created by Ladder characters; this column is not relevant for Diablo II: Resurrected however, as Ladder-exclusive Rune Words have been made available to non-Ladder characters as well.

To create a given Rune Word, each of the following conditions — which will be discussed individually below — must be met:

• The appropriate Runes must be used;
• The Runes must be inserted in the right order;
• The quality of the item used to create the Rune Word must be Low, Normal, or Superior;
• The type of item used must be appropriate for the Rune Word in question;
• The number of sockets in the base item used must be exactly equal to the number of Runes required for the desired Rune Word;
• Rune Words enabled for Ladder characters may only be created by Ladder characters (does not apply to Resurrected characters).
• Rune Words enabled in a given Patch must be created using that Patch or a later Patch (does not apply to Resurrected characters);

Failing to meet any of the conditions will generally make the item unusable to complete the desired Rune Word as well as waste any of the Runes inserted so far. However, the item can be salvaged by placing it as well as a Hel Rune into the Horadric Cube. This process consumes the Hel Rune to destroy any Rune currently in the item in question.

No Rune can be replaced by a different Rune. For example, the Insight Rune Word can only be completed using the exact combination of Ral Rune, Tir Rune, Tal Rune, and Sol Rune.

Rune Words can only be completed if the appropriate Runes are inserted in the exact order listed. For example, the following order must be followed to create Insight: Ral Rune (1), Tir Rune (2), Tal Rune (3), Sol Rune (4). Ordering mistakes are common with shorter Rune Words such as White, where distracted players may insert Io Rune followed by Dol Rune instead of Dol followed by Io into their Bone Wand.

While sockets may appear on items of any quality, only Low, Normal, and Superior items may be used as a base to create Rune Words. The names of such items will be shown in grey. This excludes Magic (blue), Rare (yellow), Set (green), Unique (gold), and Crafted (orange) items from being used to create Rune Words, even if they have the right number of sockets.

Each Rune Word can only be created using the specified type of base item. This type may be broad (such as "body armor") or specific (such as "polearm", as opposed to "weapon"). For example, Insight may only be created using polearm-class weapons; using a spear-class weapon would not work.

The number of sockets in the base item used must be exactly equal to the number of Runes required for the desired Rune Word. For example, Insight may only be created in a polearm with exactly 4 sockets — one for each Rune.

In order to entice players into creating new Ladder characters, several Ladder-exclusive Rune Words were introduced over the years. Such Rune Words may not be created by Single-Player characters as well as by non-Ladder characters on Battle.net in Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. These restrictions were removed for Expansion characters created on Diablo II: Resurrected, where all Rune Words are currently enabled.

Patches 1.09, 1.10, and 1.11 enabled and introduced a number of new Rune Words for offline and online characters. Certain Rune Words may therefore be disabled for players using an outdated version of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. All Rune Words are currently enabled for Expansion characters created on Diablo II: Resurrected, whether online or offline.