Runewords in Diablo 4

Runewords are making a comeback in Diablo 4, following their success in Diablo 2. This system builds upon the traditional Gem mechanics of the game, allowing you to craft your own spells for even more build customization. Runewords are only available to players who have purchased the Vessel of Hatred expansion.

What are Runewords?

Runewords consist of two types of runes: the Rune of Ritual and the Rune of Invocation.

• Rune of Ritual: This rune represents the action or condition your character needs to fulfill.
• Rune of Invocation: This is the power or ability triggered once the conditions of the Rune of Ritual are met.

With a wide variety of runes available, you can create numerous combinations to complement your build. Runewords even offer access to skills from other classes, such as:

• Sorcerer’s Teleport
• Barbarian’s War Cry
• Spiritborn’s Vortex
• Necromancer’s Horrid Decrepify
• Rogue’s Countering Concealment
• Druid’s Petrify

Every class shares two skills and one aspect in the Runewords system. You can find the different runes in the list below. Some runes even cast the improved version of the skill if you use a Rune that relates to your class, for example, the Enhanced War Cry for Barbarians. If you equip your own class skill, you will always cast the best possible version in case you have skilled more points in your own talent tree. 

Offering and Overflow Mechanics

When you perform the action required by the Rune of Ritual, it generates Offering, which is used by the Rune of Invocation to trigger its effect. The amount of Offering generated depends on the difficulty of the action. The more powerful the Rune of Invocation, the more Offering it will consume.

Example:

• The Rune of Ritual Bac generates 50 Offering every time your character moves 5 meters.
• The Rune of Invocation Jah consumes 500 Offering and replaces your next Evade with the Sorcerer‘s Teleport.
• Combining them into BacJah means every time you move 50 meters (10x Bac), your next Evade will turn into Teleport (Jah).

You can monitor Offering generation in your buff bar located above your skills. The icon itself will change in function of the Runeword you equipped. The purple hue on top of the icon indicates how much Offering has been generated so far.

There is also the Overflow mechanic, which occurs when more Offering is generated than needed to trigger the Rune of Invocation. This can apply a bonus, increasing the power of your Runeword.

Example:

• The Rune of Ritual Xol generates 150 Offering whenever you use a power from another class.
• The Rune of Invocation Qax requires 400 Offering and uses all your Primary Resource to deal up to 100% increased damage.
• With a 50 Offering Overflow (3x Xol = 450 Offering generated), Qax‘s Overflow bonus kicks in, further increasing damage output.

How to Equip Runewords

You can simply drag and drop the runes in sockets on a piece of gear in order to equip them. There are a few key things to remember when equipping Runewords:

• Two Sockets Required: Only gear with two sockets can hold Runewords – this includes Helms, Chests, Pants, and 2-Handed Weapons.
• Replaces Gems: Runewords cannot coexist with gems on the same item.
• Equip Limit: You can only equip two Runewords at a time, so choose wisely to complement your build.
• No Duplicate Runes: You cannot equip the same rune twice on your gear.

How to Obtain Runes

Runes come in three rarities: Magic, Rare, and Legendary. The rarity affects the strength of both the trigger and the effect, as well as the Offering generation or requirements.

They will be unlocked with a quest in the Vessel of Hatred campaign, and can then be obtained through a variety of endgame activities. However, completing Kurast Undercity can reward you with more runes. Additionally, they can be crafted or traded with other players.

In terms of storage, runes conveniently stack in your inventory or stash, and they will automatically be added to the “Socketables” tab of your inventory.

Runewords List

Runes of Ritual

Rune	Rarity	Offering Gain	Trigger
Cem	Magic	75 Offering	Cast Evade.
Cir	Magic	50 Offering	Cast the same non-Channeled Skill 3 times in a row.
Moni	Magic	25 Offering	Cast a Skill after moving. (Cooldown: 0.25 seconds).
Yax	Magic	200 Offering	Drink a Healing Potion.
Zan	Magic	150 Offering	Cast an Ultimate Skill.
Feo	Rare	1000 Offering	Become Injured or Crowd Controlled (Cooldown: 10 seconds).
Neo	Rare	200 Offering	Deal damage after not taking any within 2 seconds. (Resets if Invulnerable.)
Noc	Rare	10 Offering	Inflict a Crowd Control that isn’t Slow or Chill.
Poc	Rare	5 Offering	Spend 5% of your Maximum Resource.
Ahu	Legendary	10 Offering	Up to a 100% chance against Injured enemies.
Bac	Legendary	50 Offering	Travel 5 meters.
Lith	Legendary	25 Offering	Stand still while fighting for 0.3 seconds.
Tam	Legendary	25 Offering	Cast a non-Channeled Core Skill.
Xol	Legendary	150 Offering	Evoke power from another Class.
Yul	Legendary	50 Offering	Cast a Skill with a Cooldown.

Runes of Invocation

Rune	Rarity	Offering Requirement	Cooldown	Power	Overflow
Ceh	Magic	100 Offering	1 Second	Summon a Spirit Wolf to attack enemies for 8 seconds.	Summon Multiple Wolves
Gar	Magic	25 Offering	1 Second	Gain 2.5% Critical Strike Chance for 5 seconds, up to 25%.	Gain Multiple Stacks
Lum	Magic	5 Offering	1 Second	Restore 1 Primary Resource.	Increased Resource Restored
Tal	Magic	100 Offering	1 Second	Evoke the Spiritborn‘s Pestilent Swarm, dealing damage to enemies.	Increased Swarms Spawned
Teb	Magic	100 Offering	1 Second	Evoke the Necromancer‘s Abhorrent Iron Maiden, counterattacking damage from enemies and Healing you when they die.	None
Tec	Magic	100 Offering	1 Second	Evoke the Barbarian’s Earthquake, dealing damage to enemies within.	Increased Size
Ton	Magic	20 Offering	1 Second	Evoke the Sorcerer’s Meteorites, dealing damage to enemies.	Increased Meteorites Spawned
Tun	Magic	100 Offering	1 Second	Evoke the Rogue’s Stun Grenades, Stunning and dealing damage to enemies.	Increased Grenades Spawned
Kry	Rare	300 Offering	3 Seconds	Evoke the Spiritborn’s Vortex, dealing damage and Pulling In enemies.	None
Lac	Rare	400 Offering	1 Second	Evoke the Barbarian’s Challenging Shout, reducing your damage taken.	Increased Duration
Mot	Rare	150 Offering	1 Second	Gain a shadow from the Rogue’s Dark Shroud (duration 3 seconds), reducing damage taken per shadow.	Gain Multiple Shadows
Ner	Rare	600 Offering	6 Seconds	Evoke the Rogue’s Countering Concealment, gaining Dodge Chance, Movement Speed, Unstoppable, and Stealth.	Increased Duration
Qax	Rare	400 Offering	1 second	Your next non-Basic Skill cast spends all of your Primary Resource to deal up to 100% increased damage.	Further Increased Damage
Que	Rare	300 Offering	1 second	Evoke the Druid’s Base Earthen Bulwark, granting yourself a Barrier.	Increased Duration
Qua	Rare	50 Offering	1 Second	Gain 7% Movement Speed for 5 seconds, up to 35%.	Increased Duration
Thul	Rare	400 Offering	1 Second	Evoke the Sorcerer’s Mystical Frost Nova, inflicting Freeze and Vulnerable onto enemies.	Increased Size
Tzic	Rare	250 Offering	1 Second	Evoke the Spiritborn’s Concussive Stomp, dealing damage and Knocking Down enemies.	None
Wat	Rare	100 Offering	1 Second	Evoke the Necromancer’s Horrid Decrepify, Slowing enemies, reducing their damage, and letting you Execute them.	None
Xal	Rare	200 Offering	1 Second	Gain 20% Maximum Life for 6 seconds.	Increased Duration
Zec	Rare	200 Offering	2 Seconds	Reduce your active Ultimate Cooldown by 2 seconds.	Further Reduced Cooldown
Eom	Legendary	100 Offering	1 Second	Reduce your active Cooldowns by 0.1 seconds.	Further Reduced Cooldowns
Jah	Legendary	400 Offering	2 Seconds	Replace your next Evade with the Sorcerer’s Teleport, blinking further, dealing damage, and becoming Unstoppable.	None
Ohm	Legendary	600 Offering	2 Seconds	Evoke the Barbarian’s War Cry, increasing your Movement Speed and damage dealt.	Increased Duration
Vex	Legendary	1000 Offering	1 Second	Gain +3 to all Skills for 7 seconds.	Increased Duration
Xan	Legendary	800 Offering	1 Second	Your next Skill cast will be a guaranteed Critical Strike and Overpower.	None
Yom	Legendary	500 Offering	5 Seconds	Evoke the Druid’s Petrify, Stunning enemies and grants 100 Resource.	None

Best Runes and Runewords for Season 6

Here are some runes that are considered quite powerful in regard to their powers and offerings for Season 6.

Rune	Power
Lith	Gain 25 Offering. Stand still while fighting for 0.3 seconds.
Xol	Gain 150 Offering. Evoke power from another Class.
Ohm	Requires: 600 Offering. Cooldown 2 sec. Evoke the Barbarian’s War Cry, increasing your Movement Speed and damage dealt.
Wat	Requires: 100 Offering. Cooldown 1 sec. Evoke the Necromancer’s Horrid Decrepify, Slowing enemies, reducing their damage, and letting you Execute them.
Tam	Gain 25 Offering. Cast a non-Channeled Core Skill.
Bac	Gain 50 Offering. Travel 5 meters.

Below you can find some of the most popular Runewords used in class builds for Season 6.

Runewords	Power
Lith Wat	Gain 25 Offering. Stand still while fighting for 0.3 seconds. Requires: 100 Offering. Cooldown 1 sec. Evoke the Necromancer’s Horrid Decrepify, Slowing enemies, reducing their damage, and letting you Execute them.
Lith Ohm	Gain 25 Offering. Stand still while fighting for 0.3 seconds. Requires: 600 Offering. Cooldown 2 sec. Evoke the Barbarian’s War Cry, increasing your Movement Speed and damage dealt.
Xol Ohm	Gain 150 Offering. Evoke power from another Class. Requires: 600 Offering. Cooldown 2 sec. Evoke the Barbarian’s War Cry, increasing your Movement Speed and damage dealt.
Tam Ohm	Gain 25 Offering. Cast a non-Channeled Core Skill. Requires: 600 Offering. Cooldown 2 sec. Evoke the Barbarian’s War Cry, increasing your Movement Speed and damage dealt.
Tam Gar	Gain 25 Offering. Cast a non-Channeled Core Skill. Requires: 25 Offering. Cooldown 1 sec. Gain 2.5% Critical Strike Chance for 5 seconds, up to 25%.
Xol Kry	Gain 150 Offering. Evoke power from another Class. Requires: 300 Offering. Cooldown 3 sec. Evoke the Spiritborn’s Vortex, dealing damage and Pulling In enemies.

Runecrafting

At the Jeweler, you can combine three of the same runes to create a new one. The new rune will always be different from the ones you traded off, and when using Magic or Rare runes, you might even obtain a rune of a higher rarity.

Mythic Unique Crafting

In addition to rune crafting, you can craft Mythic Uniques with runes. Each Mythic Unique requires 10 runes of three different types, along with a Resplendent Spark. This is an additional layer to the existing Mythic Unique crafting system. However, it is worth noting that farming Legendary Runes for this purpose may prove to be quite challenging.

Item	Ingredients
Ring of Starless Skies	Resplendent Spark x1, Ohm x10, Tzic x10, Cem x10
Heir of Perdition	Resplendent Spark x1, Jah x10, Que x10, Gar x10
Harlequin Crest	Resplendent Spark x1, Eom x10, Lac x10, Ton x10
Andariel’s Visage	Resplendent Spark x1, Tam x10, Qax x10, Zan x10
Tyrael’s Might	Resplendent Spark x1, Lith x10, Feo x10, Met x10
Shroud of False Death	Resplendent Spark x1, Bac x10, Kry x10, Ur x10
Melted Heart of Selig	Resplendent Spark x1, Vex x10, Thul x10, Tun x10
The Grandfather	Resplendent Spark x1, Xol x10, Kaa x10, Yax x10
Ahavarion, Spear of Lycander	Resplendent Spark x1, Yom x10, Poc x10, Cir x10
Shattered Vow	Resplendent Spark x1, Xan x10, Ner x10, Teb x10
Doombringer	Resplendent Spark x1, Ahu x10, Neo x10, Lum x10

The Runeword system in Diablo 4 gives players the ability to mix and match powerful effects across different classes. Ever since Diablo 2, players have been asking for the return of Runewords. Now, the time has finally come!