What you need to know
- On August 29 Blizzard held a 'Campfire Chat' to discuss huge changes coming to Diablo 4 in Patch 2.0.
- Patch 2.0, which drops with the Vessel of Hatred expansion on October 8, will add Runewords to the game, a feature returning from the classic Diablo 2.
- Fans have been celebrating the announcement. Based on the patch notes, they have already figured out all of the possible combinations of Runewords.
Diablo 4 is about to get its first-ever expansion, Vessel of Hatred, on October 8, but it's not simply expanding the game with a new story campaign. Yesterday, the developers dropped a metric ton of new information onto the community, with news of a new level cap, new difficulty levels, and Runewords making a comeback to the franchise. Patch 2.0, which drops at the same time as the expansion, will actually completely revamp the game and make what Season 4: Loot Reborn did to the game look like a hotfix.
The most exciting of all the changes announced is the addition of Runewords, which haven't been in a Diablo title since Diablo 2: Resurrected, and the community loves this so much they have already dissected the Patch 2.0 notes and figured out all of the possible combinations of Runewords we'll be able to use in the game. It's been less than 24 hours, the devil works hard but Diablo fans hungry for new content work harder...
How will Runes and Runewords work in Diablo 4?
Runewords will be a feature only accessible for those that purchase the Vessel of Hatred expansion. This makes sense as the same approach was made when Diablo 2 added the Lord of Destruction expansion which bought runewords to the game.
Runewords are a way to make your own abilities, and even use abilities from other classes. There are two kinds of Runes:
- Runes of Ritual - specify an action you must take to trigger
- Runes of Invocation - grant a powerful effect when you meet above trigger
Having both the Bac and Jah Runes equipped to an item you’re wearing created the BacJah Runeword. It also means that every time your character travels 5 meters, they will generate 50 Offering. Once they have generated at least 500 Offering, their next Evade is replaced with the Sorcerer’s Teleport.
What is Offering?
Runes use a resource system called Offering, which is created by Runes of Ritual when their conditions are met. Runes of Invocation then use this Offering to trigger their effects. The harder the condition, the more Offering the Rune of Ritual generates. Similarly, the stronger the effect of a Rune of Invocation, the more Offering it needs.
Sometimes, you might generate more Offering than needed to activate a Rune of Invocation. This is where Overflow comes in—extra Offering can boost the effects of many Runes of Invocation for a short time.
To make a Runeword, you need to place both a Rune of Ritual and a Rune of Invocation into an item with two Sockets, like those in Chest, Leg, and Two-Handed weapon slots. The Helm slot now has an extra Socket, so it can also hold a Runeword. Any Rune of Ritual can work with any Rune of Invocation. Runes come in three rarities: Magic, Rare, and Legendary, with higher rarities offering stronger effects.
What are all the Runes in Diablo 4?
| Rune name | Rarity | Offering | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yul | Legendary | 50 | Cast a Skill with a Cooldown. |
| Cir | Magic | 25 | Cast the same non-Channeled Skill 3 times in a row. |
| Ahu | Legendary | 10 | Lucky Hit: Up to a 100% chance against Injured enemies. |
| Neo | Rare | 300 | Deal damage after not taking any within 5 seconds. (Resets if Invulnerable.) |
| Tam | Legendary | 25 | Cast a non-Channeled Core Skill. |
| Xol | Legendary | 150 | Evoke power from another Class. |
| Zan | Magic | 150 | Cast an Ultimate Skill. |
| Feo | Rare | 1000 | Become Injured or Crowd Controlled (Cooldown: 20 seconds). |
| Noc | Rare | 5 | Inflict a Crowd Control that isn't Slow or Chill. |
| Cem | Magic | 50 | Cast Evade. |
| Bac | Legendary | 50 | Travel 5 meters. |
| Ur | Magic | 10 | Your Minion or Companion kills an enemy or dies. |
| Yax | Magic | 100 | Drink a Healing Potion. |
| Poc | Rare | 2 | Spend 5% of your Maximum Resource. |
| Moni | Magic | 10 | Cast a Skill after moving. (Cooldown: 0.2 seconds) |
| Kaa | Rare | 2 | Lose 1% of your Maximum Life. |
| Lith | Legendary | 25 | Stand still for 0.3 seconds. |
| Rune name | Rarity | Offering | Cooldown | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lac | Rare | 800 | 1 sec | Evoke the Barbarian's Challenging Shout, reducing your damage taken. |
| Ohm | Legendary | 500 | 2 secs | Evoke the Barbarian's Enhanced War Cry, increasing your Movement Speed and damage dealt. |
| Vex | Legendary | 400 | 1 sec | Gain +3 to all Skills for 5 seconds. |
| Gar | Magic | 25 | 1 sec | Gain 2.5% Critical Strike Chance for 5 seconds, up to 25%. |
| Xan | Legendary | 700 | 1 sec | Your next Skill cast will be a guaranteed Critical Strike and Overpower. |
| Que | Rare | 800 | 1 sec | Evoke the Druid's Earthen Bulwark, granting yourself a Barrier. |
| Yom | Legendary | 500 | 5 secs | Evoke the Druid's Petrify, Stunning enemies and increasing your Critical Strike Damage against them. |
| Eom | Legendary | 100 | 1 sec | Reduce your active Cooldowns by 0.25 seconds. |
| Lum | Magic | 5 | 1 sec | Restore 1 Primary Resource. |
| Qua | Rare | 200 | 1 sec | Restore an Evade charge and gain 6% Movement Speed for 5 seconds, up to 30%. |
| Xal | Rare | 200 | 1 sec | Gain 20% Maximum Life for 4 seconds. |
| Wat | Rare | 100 | 1 sec | Evoke the Necromancer's Horrid Decrepify, Slowing enemies, reducing their damage, and letting you Execute them. |
| Teb | Magic | 100 | 1 sec | Evoke the Necromancer's Abhorrent Iron Maiden, counterattacking damage from enemies and Healing you when they die. |
| Qax | Rare | 400 | 1 sec | Your next non-Basic Skill cast spends all of your Primary Resource to deal up to 100% increased damage. |
| Zec | Rare | 200 | 1 sec | Reduce your active Ultimate Cooldown by 4 seconds. |
| Ner | Rare | 700 | 6 secs | Evoke the Rogue's Countering Concealment, gaining Dodge Chance, Movement Speed, Unstoppable, and Stealth. |
| Mot | Rare | 150 | 1 sec | Gain a shadow from the Rogue's Dark Shroud, reducing damage taken per shadow. |
| Jah | Legendary | 500 | 2 secs | Replace your next Evade with the Sorcerer's Teleport, blinking further, dealing damage, and becoming Unstoppable. |
| Thul | Rare | 400 | 1 sec | Evoke the Sorcerer's Mystical Frost Nova, inflicting Freeze and Vulnerable onto enemies. |
| Tzic | Rare | 250 | 1 sec | Evoke the Spiritborn's Concussive Stomp, dealing damage and Knocking Down enemies. |
| Kry | Rare | 500 | 3 secs | Evoke the Spiritborn's Vortex, dealing damage and Pulling In enemies. |
| Ono | Magic | 25 | 1 sec | Evoke the Druid's Dancing Bolts, seeking and dealing damage to enemies. |
| Tec | Magic | 100 | 1 sec | Evoke the Barbarian's Earthquake, dealing damage to enemies within. |
| Met | Magic | 100 | 1 sec | You leave the Necromancer's Desecrated Ground behind you for 3 seconds, dealing damage to enemies within. |
| Tun | Magic | 100 | 1 sec | Evoke the Rogue's Stun Grenades, Stunning and dealing damage to enemies. |
| Ton | Magic | 25 | 1 sec | Evoke the Sorcerer's Meteorites, dealing damage to enemies. |
| Tal | Magic | 100 | 1 sec | Evoke the Spiritborn's Pestilent Swarm, dealing damage to enemies. |
| Ceh | Magic | 100 | 1 sec | Summon a Spirit Wolf to attack enemies for 8 seconds. |
- Runes are tradeable, stack and will be stored in a new socketable inventory tab.
- A maximum of 2 Runewords can be equipped (4 Runes total).
- The same Rune cannot be equipped twice.
We'll be able to craft Runes from unwanted Runes
You'll be able to use 3 Runes with the same name to craft a new Rune. When non-Legendary Runes are used to craft in this way, there is a chance to make a Rune of a higher rarity.
We'll also be able to craft Mythic Uniques at the Jeweler by combining the following:
- 1 Resplendent Spark
- 10 Legendary Runes of a specific name
- 10 Rare Runes of a specific name
- 10 Magic Runes of a specific name
What skills can I make with Runewords
As stated, the community at large has already diligently compiled list after list of skills that we'll be able to make using combinations of these Runes. If you're already looking at builds ahead of Vessel of Hatred launch and want to do some theory crafting, there's a huge database here at Diablo4.life where you can narrow down to Skill combinations using Magic, Rare, or Legendary Runes. There are too many combinations to list here but here are a few examples:
| Runeword | Trigger | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| CirGar | Cast the same non-Channeled Skill 3 times in a row 1 time | Gain 2.5% Critical Strike Chance for 5 seconds, up to 25% |
| CirCeh | Cast the same non-Channeled Skill 3 times in a row 4 times | Summon a Spirit Wolf to attack enemies for 8 seconds |
| UrGar | Your Minion or Companion kills an enemy or dies 3 times | Gain 2.5% Critical Strike Chance for 5 seconds, up to 25% |
| YaxGar | Drink a Healing Potion 1 time | Gain 2.5% Critical Strike Chance for 5 seconds, up to 25% |
| YaxMet | Drink a Healing Potion 1 time | You leave the Necromancer's Desecrated Ground behind you for 3 seconds, dealing damage to enemies within |
Time will tell which of all these hundreds of combinations will actually get used, as with anything in Diablo 4 some items come out on top and make their way into the meta. The full Patch 2.0 Public Test Realm PTR will be available for everyone who plays Diablo 4 on Battle.net to test from September 6 to 11. The PTR itself is running in two sessions, with September 4 to 6 being only for levelling characters and testing the new progression.
How to install the PTR
- Open the Battle.net launcher.
- Navigate to Diablo 4.
- In the bottom left corner, select the dropdown and you'll find Public Test Realm.
- Click Install.
- Click Play and select a test server.
- Create a test character.
- Skip Campaign.
- Create a Seasonal Character for any testing related to the Seasonal themes
