Runes List

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 an item in the proper order, give that item even more wondrous abilities.

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.

Name Weapon Armor/Helms/Shields Level
El +50 To Attack Rating, +1 Light Radius +15 Defense, +1 To Light Radius 11
Eld +75% Damage To Undead, +50 Attack Rating Against Undead 15% Slower Stamina Drain/7% Increased Chance of Blocking(Shields) 11
Tir +2 To Mana After Each Kill +2 To Mana After Each Kill 13
Nef Knockback +30 Defense Vs. Missile 13
Eth -25% To Target Defense Regenerate Mana 15% 15
Ith +9 To Maximum Damage 15% Damage Taken Goes to Mana 15
Tal +75 Poison Damage Over 5 Seconds Poison Resist 30%/Poison Resist 35%(Shields) 17
Ral Adds 5-30 Fire Damage Fire Resist 30%/Fire Resist 35%(Shields) 19
Ort Adds 1-50 Lightning Damage Lightning Resist 30%/Lightning Resist 35%(Shields) 21
Thul Adds 3-14 Cold Damage - 3 Second Duration Cold Resist 30%/Cold Resist 35%(Shields) 23
Amn 7% Life Stolen Per Hit Attacker Takes Damage of 14 25
Sol +9 To Minimum Damage Damage Reduced By 7 27
Shael 20% Increased Attack Speed 20% Faster Hit Recovery/20% Faster Block Rate(Shields) 29
Dol Hit Causes Monster To Flee 25% Replenish Life +7 31
Hel Requirements -20% Requirements -15% -
Io +10 To Vitality +10 To Vitality 35
Lum +10 To Energy +10 To Energy 37
Ko +10 To Dexterity +10 To Dexterity 39
Fal +10 To Strength +10 To Strength 41
Lem 75% Extra Gold From Monsters 50% Extra Gold From Monsters 43
Pul +75% Damage To Demons, +100 Attack Rating Against Demons +30% Enhanced Defense 45
Um 25% Chance of Open Wounds All Resistances +15(Armor/Helms) +22(Shields) 47
Mal Prevent Monster Heal Magic Damage Reduced By 7 49
Ist 30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items 51
Gul 20% Bonus To Attack Rating 5% To Maximum Poison Resist 53
Vex 7% Mana Stolen Per Hit 5% To Maximum Fire Resist 55
Ohm +50% Enhanced Damage 5% To Maximum Cold Resist 57
Lo 20% Deadly Strike 5% To Maximum Lightning Resist 59
Sur Hit Blinds Target Maximum Mana 5%/+50 To Mana (Shields) 61
Ber 20% Chance of Crushing Blow Damage Reduced by 8% 63
Jah Ignore Target's Defense Increase Maximum Life 5%/+50 Life (Shields) 65
Cham Freeze Target +3 Cannot Be Frozen 67
Zod Indestructible Indestructible 69


Odds of Finding a Rune:
This list is not correct to the latest version of the game, but it's relatively close, and gives you an idea of the odds of finding a given rune.

El = 144,238
Eld = 96,159
Tir = 69,209
Nef = 46,139
Eth = 43,530
Ith = 29,020
Tal = 32,998
Ral = 21,999
Ort = 21,133
Thul = 14,088
Amn = 11,822
Sol = 7881
Shae = 6028
Dol = 4019
Hel = 2899
Io/Po = 1933
Lum = 1343
Ko = 895
Fal = 606
Lem = 404
Pul = 267
Um = 178
Mal = 115
Ist = 77
Gul = 48
Vex = 32
Ohm = 19
Lo = 13
Sur = 7.2
Ber = 4.8
Jo = 2.4
Cham = 1.6
Zod = 1

This is a comparison, so you'll find 1 Zod for every 144,238 El's.