8 New Runewords in D2R Patch 2.6

Patch 2.6 New Runewords

Blizzard and a number of popular content creators recently announced 8 new Runewords that will be coming to Diablo 2 Resurrected in Patch 2.6 when Ladder Season 3 commences.  This is exciting news for players who will have further items to diversify their builds!  Please remember however that these are not currently available, and will come live once the new patch drop.

In this guide we will give a basic overview of the new runewords, how to make them and which builds we believe will benefit the most.

Overview

Runeword name:           “Ground”

Item base:                    Helmet (3 sockets)

Runes:                          Shael Io Ort

Level Requirement:       35

Stats:                           +20% Faster Hit Recovery

                                    +80 – 110% Enhanced Defense

                                    +10 to Vitality

                                    Increase Maximum Life 5%

                                    Lightning Resist +40 – 60%

                                    Lightning Absorb +10 – 15%

Runeword name:           “Hearth”

Item base:                    Helmet (3 sockets)

Runes:                          Shael Io Thul

Level Requirement:       35

Stats:                           +20% Faster Hit Recovery

                                    +80 – 110% Enhanced Defense

                                    +10 to Vitality

                                    Increase Maximum Life 5%

                                    Cold Resist +40 – 60%

                                    Cold Absorb +10 – 15%

Runeword name:           “Temper”

Item base:                    Helmet (3 sockets)

Runes:                          Shael Io Ral

Level Requirement:       35

Stats:                           +20% Faster Hit Recovery

                                    +80 – 110% Enhanced Defense

                                    +10 to Vitality

                                    Increase Maximum Life 5%

                                    Fire Resist +40 – 60%

                                    Fire Absorb +10 – 15%

Runeword name:           “Bulwark”

Item base:                    Helmet (3 sockets)

Runes:                          Shael Io Sol

Level Requirement:       35

Stats:                           +20% Faster Hit Recovery

                                    +80 – 110% Enhanced Defense

                                    +10 to Vitality

                                    Increase Maximum Life 5%

                                    Replenish Life +30

                                    Damage Reduced by 7

                                    Physical Damage Reduced by 15%

Runeword name:           “Cure”

Item base:                    Helmet (3 sockets)

Runes:                          Shael Io Tal

Level Requirement:       35

Stats:                           +20% Faster Hit Recovery

                                    +80 – 110% Enhanced Defense

                                    +10 to Vitality

                                    Increase Maximum Life 5%

                                    Poison Resist +40 – 60%

                                    Poison Length Reduced by 75%

Runeword name:           “Metamorphosis”

Item base:                    Helmet (3 sockets)

Runes:                          Io Cham Fal

Level Requirement:       67

Stats:                           +5 to Shape Shifting Skills (Druid only)

                                    +69% Enhanced Defense

                                    +10 to Strength

                                    +10 to Vitality

                                    All Resistances +10

                                    Cannot be Frozen

                                    Werewolf strikes grant “Mark of the Wolf” for 180 seconds

                                                20% Bonus to Attack Rating

                                                Increase Maximum Life 40%

                                    Werebear strikes grant “Mark of the Bear” for 180 seconds

                                                +25% Attack Speed

                                                +25% Crushing Blow

                                                Physical Damage Received Reduced by 20%

Runeword name:           “Hustle” (weapon)

Item base:                    Weapon (3 sockets)

Runes:                          Shael Ko Eld

Level Requirement:       39

Stats:                           5% Chance to Cast Level 9 Burst of Speed on Striking

                                    +30% Increased Attack Speed

                                    +130 – 150% Enhanced Damage

                                    +75% Damage to Undead

                                    +50% Attack Rating Against Undead

                                    +10 to Dexterity

Runeword name:           “Hustle” (Armour)

Item base:                    Armour (3 sockets)

Runes:                          Shael Ko Eld

Level Requirement:       39

Stats:                           +50% Faster Run / Walk

                                    +20% Increased Attack Speed

                                    +20% Faster Hit Recovery

                                    +10 to Dexterity

                                    50% Slower Stamina Drain

Runeword name:           “Mosaic”

Item base:                    Claws (3 sockets)

Runes:                          Mal Gul Thul

Level Requirement:       53

Stats:                           25% Chance for Finishing Moves not to Consume Charge

                                    +2 to Martial Arts (Assassin only)

                                    +20% Increased Attack Speed

                                    +200 – 250% Enhanced Damage

                                    20% Bonus to Attack Rating

                                    Adds 3 – 14 Cold Damage

                                    Prevent Monster Heal

Ground, Hearth, Temper, Bulwark and Cure

The first 5 runewords all have very similar stats and allow the player to pick and choose which one is most appropriate for the situation they are faced with.  For example, “Cure” would be extremely strong when battling against Andariel providing a huge boost to Poison Resist and reducing the length of her poison spells by 75% - effectively negating the majority of her damage.  Whereas “Hearth” will make the fight against Duriel very easy given the majority of his / her damage is cold.

Each of these Runewords have a relatively low level requirement at 35 and common runes that can be obtained early in Nightmare difficulty.

These runewords may also have a place in the PvP side of Diablo 2, players could potentially keep one of each stowed away in their stash and choose which one is better suited for the particular matchup.  These will be particularly effective on Druids where you can target bases with +3 to primary skills to maintain some of the damage that may be lost from the runeword not having any + skills in the stats.

Metamorphosis

With the introduction of Metamorphosis it is clear that Blizzard are trying to encourage players to play Shape Shifting Druids more, often a very niche build in the game.  An interesting mechanic of this runeword is that the “Mark of the Wolf” and “Mark of the Bear” stats will stack – meaning a player could switch very quickly between Bear and Wolf form to gain the buffs for 3 minutes, the combination of both buffs does sounds very powerful!  Time will tell how these well these modifiers will work together, and which path players choose when using it.

The remaining stats on the runeword are all very strong for melee builds, providing the fundamental “Cannot be Frozen” modifier that all melee builds require.  Whether this helmet proves more powerful than the existing Jalal’s Mane and Cerebus Bite we will have to wait and see.  I am certainly in favour of seeing more Wolves and Bears running around in the game!

Hustle

The “Hustle” combination of runewords is interesting, and I believe will change the way in which people play through the game and level their characters.  A level 9 Burst of Speed will provide the character with 44% Increased Attack Speed and 51% Faster Run / Walk, if you were to combine the weapon version of the runeword there is potential for the character to receive a total of 94% Increased Attack Speed and 101% Faster Run / Walk – a huge bonus for a level 39 character!

Mosaic

Mosaic is another class specific runeword, which Blizzard appear to be using to encourage more users to play Martial Arts Assassin builds.  An interesting mechanic of the “25% Chance for Finishing Moves not to Consume Charge” is that these stack, so an Assassin could use 2 of these clays and increase this to a 50% chance – this has the potential to be a huge buff to Martial Arts Assassins!

The runeword also benefits from boosts to skills, attack speed, damage and attack rating – everything a melee build could hope for!  I’ll be very interested to see how this runeword performs in the game, and hope to see more Assassins kicking their way through the world!

 *If you'd rather skip farming or levelling you can quickly Buy D2R Items at our store.