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Runewords Overview

Season 7 - Season of Witchcraft

Last Updated:March 16, 2025|Changelog

First appearing in Diablo II, Runewords have long been a fan favorite, and they're back in the new Expansion for Diablo IV, Vessel of Hatred. Runewords offer exciting new customization opportunities for your characters and introduce a new mechanic to power up your character and access abilities from other classes. Let's learn about how to take our characters to another level in this new expansion!

Runes 2

Runes are exclusive to the Vessel of Hatred expansion.

Types of Runes

Runeword Overview

There are two types of Runes available in Vessel of Hatred, and these two types of Runes combine to form a Runeword. A Runeword is comprised of one Rune of Ritual and one Rune of Invocation, and you can only have two Runewords on a character. You cannot use two of the same Runes, nor can you use two Runes of Ritual or two Runes of Invocation in the same item (e.g., you cannot combine Bac with Bac, nor can you use Bac as your Rune of Ritual in both Runewords on your character).

The Runes have to be socketed into the same item. That is, Runewords can only be created in items with two sockets, this includes Helm, Chest, Legs, and 2H Weapon. You also cannot equip both Gems and Runes in the same item, so you have to select one or the other. Both types of Runes can drop in Magic, Rare, and Legendary rarity and the higher the rarity, the stronger the effect is. Runes are Tradeable and stored in the new Socketables tab.

Runes of Ritual

Runes of Ritual serve as the 'cause' of the Runewords, and provide a condition you must meet to generate Offering. Once you reach a certain amount of Offering, you trigger the Runes of Invocation. The more demanding the Rune of Ritual (e.g., the more difficult of a condition it is to meet), the more Offering you get in one go.

There are currently 17 Runes of Ritual.

Runes of RitualOffering GainedRune Effect
Yul50Cast a Skill with a Cooldown.
Lith25Stand still while fighting for 0.3 seconds.
Ahu10Lucky Hit: Up to a 100% chance against Injured enemies.
Tam 25Cast a non-Channeled Core Skill.
Xol150Evoke power from another Class.
Bac50Travel 5 meters.
Nagu 100Maintain at least 1 active summon for 5 seconds, gaining offering for each up to 6 summons.
Igni25Stores offering every 0.3 second. Cast a non-Basic Skill to gain the stored offering.
Poc5Spend 5% of your Maximum Resource
Neo200Deal damage after not taking any within 2 seconds. (Resets if Invulnerable.)
Feo1000Become Injured or Crowd Controlled (Cooldown: 10 seconds).
Noc10Inflict a Crowd Control that isn't Slow or Chill (now gain half of the offering when inflicting a Slow or Chill
Cem75Cast Evade.
Yax200Drink a Healing Potion.
Moni100Cast 2 Mobility or Macabre skills.
Zan150Cast an Ultimate Skill.
Cir300Cast 5 skills then become exhausted for 3 seconds.

Runes of Invocation

Runes of Invocation are the 'effect' part of the 'cause and effect' of Runewords. Once you meet the required Offering, you trigger the effect of the Rune of Invocation. This can be anything from granting you access to a skill, to increasing skill ranks, to restoring resource or life. Additionally, Runes of Invocation can have Overflow effects. If you provide more Offering than is needed, you can trigger additional criteria for some Runes. This is all detailed in their tooltip.

There are currently 27 Runes of Invocation:

Runes of InvocationOffering RequiredOverflowRune Effect
Jah250Store Excess OfferingReplace your next Evade with the Sorcerer's Teleport, blinking further, dealing damage, and becoming Unstoppable.
Cooldown: 2 Seconds.
Ohm 600Increased DurationEvoke the Barbarian's War Cry, increasing your damage dealt by 15%
Cooldown: 2 Seconds.
Vex150More Skill ranks, up to 3Gain +1 to all Skills for 10 seconds
Cooldown: 5 Seconds.
Xan700Cast increases damage by 1% per 10 offeringYour next Skill cast will be a guaranteed Critical Strike and Overpower.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Yom500Increase Stun DurationEvoke the Druid's Petrify, Stunning enemies and restoring 100 Resource.
Cooldown: 5 Seconds.
Eom100Further Reduced CooldownsReduce your active Cooldowns by 0.1 seconds.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Lac400Increased DurationEvoke the Barbarian's Challenging Shout, reducing your damage taken by 40% for 3 seconds.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Que300Increased DurationEvoke the Druid's Earthen Bulwark, granting yourself a Barrier.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Tzic200Increase damage by 1% per OfferingEvoke the Spiritborn's Concussive Stomp, dealing damage and Knocking Down enemies.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Xal300Gain More Maximum LifeGain 20% Maximum Life for 6 seconds.
Cooldown: 3 Seconds.
Wat100Increased DurationEvoke the Necromancer's Horrid Decrepify, Slowing enemies by 40%, reducing their damage by 20%, and letting you Execute enemies below 10% Life.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Kry300Increased SizeEvoke the Spiritborn's Vortex, dealing damage and Pulling In enemies.
Cooldown: 3 Seconds.
Qax400Further Increased DamageYour next non-Basic Skill cast spends all of your Primary Resource to deal up to 100% increased damage.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Zec100Further Reduced CooldownReduce your active Ultimate Cooldown by 1 second.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Ner600Increased DurationEvoke the Rogue's Countering Concealment, gaining Dodge Chance, Movement Speed, Unstoppable, and Stealth.
Cooldown: 6 Seconds.
Mot150Gain Multiple ShadowsGain a shadow from the Rogue's Dark Shroud, reducing damage taken by 8% per shadow, there is a maximum of 5 shadows.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Thul400Increased SizeEvoke the Sorcerer's Mystical Frost Nova, inflicting Frozen and Vulnerable onto enemies.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Chac20Increased Bolts SpawnedInvoke Druids's Lightning Bolt, striking a nearby enemy.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Gar25Gain Multiple StacksGain 2.5% Critical Strike Chance for 5 seconds, up to 25%.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Lum5Increased Resource RestoredRestore 1 Primary Resource.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Teb100Increase damage by 1% per offeringEvoke the Necromancer's Abhorrent Iron Maiden, counterattacking damage from enemies and Healing you when they die.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Tec50Up to 100% Increased SizeEvoke the Barbarian's Earthquake, dealing damage to enemies within.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Tun25Increased Grenades Spawned Evoke the Rogue's Stun Grenades, Stunning and dealing damage to enemies.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Ton20Increased Meteorites SpawnedEvoke the Sorcerer's Meteorites, dealing damage to enemies.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Tal30Increased Swarms Spawned Evoke the Spiritborn's Pestilent Swarm, dealing damage to enemies.
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Ceh100Summon Multiple WolvesSummon a Spirit Wolf to attack enemies for 8 seconds (now benefits from Summon and Companion bonuses).
Cooldown: 1 Second.
Qua50Increased DurationGain 10% Movement Speed for 5 seconds, up to 50%.
Cooldown: 1 Second.

Runeword Mechanics

Runeword Overview

Runewords come with a few important mechanics you should be aware of.

Creating Runewords

Creating a Runeword is as simple as combining a Rune of Ritual and a Rune of Invocation. Let's take Bac and Jah, the Runes shown above. By placing Bac and Jah in the same item, you've created BacJah, a Runeword. Now, every time you travel 25 meters, you've accumulated 400 Offering. Once you have accumulated 400 Offering, you trigger Jah, and your next Evade is replaced with Teleport.

Bac Jah
Runeword BacJah on an item

Offering and Overflow

Let's say you had a Rune of Ritual that generated 100 Offering, and you were using a Rune of Invocation that activated at 50 Offering. This would lead to a surplus of Offering, some extra. This is called Overflow. The bonus applied is proportional to how much Overflow is acquired, so stack as much as you can!

Obtaining Runes

Runeword Overview

Runes can drop from various activities within Diablo 4, and can only drop if the player has the Vessel of Hatred expansion. The following is a list of activities that frequently drops Runes.

Rune Loot 635 X 506

While Runes can be obtained from drops in Sanctuary, you can also craft them at the Jeweler. You use 3 Runes with the same name (e.g., three Bac Runes) to craft a random Rune. If using non-Legendary Runes, you have a chance to create a Rune of the next highest rarity. The Rune created while crafting is guaranteed to be different than the one used.

Runecrafting

Runeword Overview

Runes can also be used to create Mythic Uniques. Each Mythic Unique requires 2 Resplendent Spark, 6 Legendary Runes of a specific name, 6 Rare Runes of a specific name, and 6 Magic Runes of a specific name.

For example, you can craft Andariel's Visage using:

  • Tam x6
  • Qax x6
  • Zan x6
  • Resplendent Spark x2

You can find the rest of our recipes in our Crafting Cheat Sheet.

Rune Mythic Unique

Summary

  • Beloved in Diablo II, Runewords make their appearance in Vessel of Hatred, but this time with a unique twist.
  • Runewords are created by combining Runes of Ritual (causes) with Runes of Invocation (effect). With 15 Runes of Ritual and 26 Runes of Invocation, there's plenty of unique new Runewords for you to try!
  • Runes of Ritual generate Offering, and Runes of Invocation use that Offering to activate their effects. Try and find the most strategic pairings!
  • Runewords can only be slotted in items with 2 sockets (including two-handed weapons), and only two Runewords can be used per character. You also cannot repeat Runes.
  • Runes can be used in crafting to create other Runes, and even Mythic Uniques! The sky's the limit for your character!

Credits

Maintained by Avarilyn

Written by pandaglassjaw

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