Diablo 2 TIER LIST - Runes

[@Underscore76]

Tal rune is 100% an S-tier rune: ancients pledge, spirit, insight, stealth! Not all players will have gear with a Ber but every character is at some point carried by Tal

[@kungfusmith4526]

Agreed i dont like that he put runes like sur that high because its 1/2 of ber

[@MrLlamaSC]

Ya this was a tough list to make. Ultimately I dropped Tal some because it's so common and easy that having it that high seemed silly. Also Sur rune being 1/2 Ber makes it worth a lot but only from that lol. Otherwise it's like C tier at best.

[@PTAiZTragiC]

@@MrLlamaSC In every normal playthrough, I like my act 2 merc to use a 3x tal pole. Also in the beta, I found that to be much more useful than a malice. 15 years of playing and I made my first malice in the beta lol

[@Underscore76]

@@MrLlamaSC you’re definitely right about that, it’s the workhorse rune that drops off the fastest compared to like Ort/Ral that retain usefulness regardless of level. Great list and love the content!

[@gunzakimbo]

I would say the same with Ral with all of the cube recipes that Ral and Tal make some super sweet items! Both are S tier IMO.

[@PK13719]

LOVE the new Tier Series, it’s good to step up the Game a bit 🤙🏻 Thanks a lot!

[@theincorn]

I'm loving all these tier lists! Great content.

[@oddeology1259]

Lem is undervalued...it is useful in Treachery and Lawbringer which for Solo self-found are bread and butter runewords of non-casters. Treachery is also very decent in an act 2 mercenary. And Pul should be a bit higher because it upgrades unique weapons to the last tier. The problem with a tier list like this is that you can't help being influenced by the drop chance of each rune when you are pondering where to place it.

[@flashbeaster]

MrLlama getting the future playerbase of D 2 R ready for massive trading and items exchange. True community leader

[@galdortauron]

Awesome guides Llama! Waiting for a runewords tier list (maybe split by best in normal, nightmare and hell?)

[@Lattrodon]

I need to start learning how everything in D2 works before D2R launches so these videos are super helpful

[@Lattrodon]

@Jmt1000 what do you think is so wrong with it?

[@jacek2300]

Good and informative as always. One question - what would be the best spec to start d2r? Static/ orb sorc ok? What woul u recommend? Keep it up?

[@QueenMar1ka]

Always blizz sorc, tons more damage than orb

[@FortuneTellher]

when llama drags the runes I hear the rune drop sounds in my head lmao

[@bobby45825]

The sound of a very smooth, yet very small stone that's perfectly oval and being placed into an equally small, yet stone-like socket.

[@charden2016]

It took half the video to realize the sound isn't actually there

[@Preacher_.]

That sweet sweet sound of scraping chalk

[@vhyles]

Ral is the real MVP of low runes. Used in BIS runewords like CTA, Insight, Grief and other useful leveling runewords like Lore and Ancient's Pledge. Not to mention it's used in the cube for crafting caster amulets, putting sockets in a non-socketed white weapon and repairing armor

[@KylesArk]

Can you PLEASE do a video on what to look for in good base items??

[@Preacher_.]

When D2R releases, I'm gonna try and trade an Hel rune for a Zod and then link them this video and say "Well Llama said it's worth more, really I should be asking for 2 Zod's for my highly sought after Hel rune :P "

[@bencze465]

If this was rarity order there would be no point for this video as there's lists for that. Obviously it is importance.

[@Preacher_.]

@@bencze465 "Llama said it's worth more!" ^ ^

[@justingarssacoche]

genius

[@aalleezzzz]

some of these low teir runes will be worth much more as long as there are no bots and dupes, just getting a enigma will be so hard in d2r

[@charden2016]

This fact actually has me really excited

[@Annihilated247]

i love the content buddy! i played diablo 2 back in patch .08 and played up to about a year after 1.0... would be really cool to see a video of very old builds being used in todays meta. maybe use older versions of the game to show off some of the items that can never be aquired again.

[@Fender178]

Yeah Jah is used a lot as well in Phoenix, Furry (combined with Chaos for a WWsin.) Also Lem runes are very useful for gold find characters such as the barb and sorc. I would put Ort tad bit higher because it can be used for to repair charges on Teleport staves and lower res wands. Dol is used in the white rune word for a white wand.

[@nicklucido6658]

I can honestly say the only thing i use cham is my vamp gaze for my merc because i prefer vamp gaze treachery over andys fort the cannot be frozen is clutch

[@Xehemoth]

Tal rune is definitely S tier. Its very easy to get in normal and grabbing a 3 socket stabby stick can crank out 225 poison damage in very early game. That alone will carry you to A4 without much else. People sleep on the early game, but its just as important to be able to get the growing pains out of the way quickly and anything that helps with that is much deserved praise.

[@TiranGaming]

Mr. Llama thank you alot for you content. Russia watching you :)

[@DANKZI]

I just started to play D2 again after 19 years and got 3 bers for a +15/15 3sok superior dusk shroud on ladder. Off to a good start I'd say!

[@SuperZakaru]

Decent tier list but missed the mark on a lot of things Imo, Lum is easily A tier, splendor, smoke, memory, also used for upping, Fal Imo is B cause it's used to make Lem which makes the best Merc armor in the game and one of the best Merc weapons in the game, Treachery and obedience are staples for early game sorc in order to open up all the content in the game, Lem is also higher on the tier list cause of treachery and lawbringer, also as a hc player Um is way more useful than an Ist, no one's really isting a lot of things on hardcore but Ums get chewed up like candy, Amn should also be higher cause it's used to roll sockets in weapon bases, ral should be higher than amn cause of the same thing as well as amulet crafting. Gul could be higher simply from it being half a vex which makes one of the best early and even late ladder runwords hoto, also Imo ber should be in a tier above every other rune, it's just far and above the most used and most wanted rune in the game.

[@MediPL]

El is no longer the most common rune. It got bumped down when the rune drops were fiddled around a few patches ago. From what I remember some rune in the eth-tal range is now the most common.

[@DragonsilverXGenesis]

Yeah El is now a bitch to drop !

[@chrisnoble7765]

Yeah from personal experience that feels about right...

[@PennPeul]

Hey MrLlama! I see crutches in the back. Hope you didn't break your leg! Get well. And thanks for the video (old player getting back to the game, very useful for me)

[@sytrostormlord3275]

The biggest value of Eld is that 3x Eld make a Tir rune... but you're probably faster getting Tir rune from countess norm, than getting 3 Elds...

[@WUZLE]

It's just incredible how rare the high end runes are. I've never seen an Um, Ist, or anything higher and I have two level 87 characters and have done dozens of LK, Travincal, Chaos and Hell Countess runs. And before you say "You need to do hundreds", this is supposed to be a game, not a job. When certain builds hit a brick wall in Hell difficulty without unspeakably rare runes or items, while other builds sail on through with common gear, there is a problem somewhere in the game.

[@illusion-]

To any new player in diablo 2 resurrected: this list does NOT reflect their actual value in trades. This is a list of how useful they are to Mr llama. So don't go and trade a zod for an amn rune.

[@sonofillahee]

Or a soj for an amn rune

[@Sulamanjansulttaani]

Too late, my zod is stuck in a basic club

[@illusion-]

@@Sulamanjansulttaani 😂

[@imasspeons]

@@Sulamanjansulttaani Io Dol Io Dol Io Dol etc

[@ChernorizecHrabyr]

You need to establish objective criteria for the list, you made good points, though it seemed random. Imo the criteria should be consitent of availability + usefulness.

[@henkdevries7573]

Loving this series right before D2R is getting released (I'm sure it's just a coincidence). Everyone is going to ask these kind of questions and to be honest they might as well be answered by one of the most established Diablo 2 personalities out there.

[@drobostoko5714]

Io rune almost D tier = 10 vitality. Black for early barb bosses. Dream for lighting aura, delirium best defensive helm + 2 all skillz for merc aura/protection or self. Pride for Best iron golem in the game. White for best bone spear necro. Good job ser that is defenetly almost D tier.

[@attq3980]

can you explain to new players which runes to save and which to use for leveling on random items?

[@timabel280]

hey just cause your one of the few people who might be able to make eld any good cause you have so many items in your holy grail. i kinda want you to make an ultimate undead killer utilising things like 6eld runes in a wep or double lawbringer or azurewrath and sanc aura either on a barb or pally or what ever you thinks good. just as a weird side project then take it to the tunnels or sewers to show it off.

[@RockandGameUSA]

Eld rune is used for blocking, and should be noted as such, since you save dex points for vit on some character builds. Eld is by far from F tier....BOTD is made using eld.

[@Jakeypoo92]

i think the only time i've used an eld rune is when i find a Homunculus necro shield and i want to give it even high chance to block so i don't have to spend more dex for max block lol

[@NathenToZuo]

do runes gathered in first acts 1-5 have any value? or do they get better in later acts?

[@vojislavl6665]

Llama, if you see this, can you make a video purely on runes and its usefulneee. Similar like you did here, but maybe with a table or graph, to help us take in the info. I'm not the best with runes but i did find this useful. Another one like this would be awesome!!

[@MrLlamaSC]

Could be a decent idea! I'll see if I can fit it in

[@vojislavl6665]

@@MrLlamaSC Absolute legend. Thank you!

[@markmauk8231]

Another reason to have f.e. Ist and Um up thrre is it's power as a currency for mid tier trading. Thats why I would also rank Pul a bit higher. Pul is the starting rune for trading i would say.

[@Annihilated247]

what mod do you use for the game by the way? im really interested in getting a mod that lets me have shared bank space and stuff offline but i dont wanna download something thats going to compromise my pc.

[@MichaelPohoreski]

PlugY

[@rgracon]

Is there a resource where you can type in the runes you have, and it will tell you complete or partial runewords available? I’m thinking kind a like a scrabble word finder when you put in your letters, but to be able to filter results by runes instead

[@danzfloor1]

Is IST Rune still the main currency in the game and the prizing value for all the stuff? .......F.e. Shaco = xy IST Runes

[@kittykisses2257]

Thanks for vid. Very educational

[@diegowfrk1]

Loving all these content. Keep it up Llama

[@johnwayneasgenghiskhan4699]

I'd probably swap out the Hel & Amn runes with the Lem & Tir runes. Lem for Treachery ofc & Tir for MPK on mana pounding chars. Would also bump down Thul (hate that rune) and bump up Lum for Smoke & Splendor for freshly entering hell.

[@rayvincyful1]

Next video: gem tier list. And then potion tier list.

[@Ackbar223]

Potion tier list is easy; S = Full Rejuv, Thawing A = Super Healing/Mana, Antidote B = Greater Healing/Mana C = Healing/Mana D = Lesser Healing/Mana F = Minor Healing/Mana

[@mkv2718]

@@Ackbar223 you forgot regular rejuv

[@Ackbar223]

@@mkv2718 regular rejuv is low B

[@King_Nipper]

I disagree with El and Eld being so low. You can turn any low-quality item into a Normal version (including Paladin Shields, which rerolls the attached affix) so when looking for a good base they can be invaluable. They also don't drop that often in Hell, so you have to sorta target farm them when you need them. Unlike Dol, which just stacks up, is annoying to upgrade, and is useless.

[@MorbidBloodshed]

wait, you dont keep low runes to upgrade them? i know it takes a while.... but why not?

[@Cracktune]

is this tier list public. like can I download this ?

[@Zeraphor]

Wow llama, you're going all out on them tier lists!

[@benmeadows391]

Oh so do you not recommend me orbing my high runes up?

[@MrLlamaSC]

2x Sur to Ber or 2x Cham to Zod are usually the only ones people morph up often.

[@archie8271]

ral and thul are my 2 favorite runes lower than Lo to find. GG crafted ammies have no other comparison, and you get FCR or blocking which is amazing for every character (in hardcore)

[@gunzakimbo]

Loving the tier lists!

[@andrewhixson2235]

If they do an update they should make a Rune Kal. You can make a rune word in all socketed items. Kal-El. Rune word Superman. It would turn the armor Blue.

[@l4m41987]

maybe getting this a little bit more data driven. Drive rarity against demand to make the tier list. maybe use pole on rune words players use.

[@Raidyification]

Can we get a tier list on 2 player combos?

[@FRV3SCeNCe]

@mrLlamaSC : Now with Mosaic, I am expecting Gul to be much higher in the tierlist

[@abelortiz8093]

Great tier list videos

[@liquid1snake]

Jah it Ber.....music for my ears

[@xEnemyOfTheStatex]

My man just made a whole new tier for Eld

[@einfachiggi]

i remember when to use ZOD to make item undistructible even after removing with HEL, i loved that bug :D

[@einfachiggi]

short reply: wow, im old hahaha

[@meefle4601]

EH. DOL is essential in speedrunning necro. Ive seen you get stuck for an hour hoping it would drop from countess.

[@-JustinCombs]

Bro put sol in a tier for being used in a few rws but then mal in b tier for being used in more runewords?

[@Kaktanternak]

honestly I was surprised Cham is so low! It gives CBF and if you really don't need dex or defense against cold damage, you don't need a raven to get it, freeing up a ring slot on some builds. And Um not being S was a surprise as well. I made a Smither for ubers on my PlugY with guardian angel socketed with Um. You can get pretty much an immortal pal with 90+ res from +15 max in guardian angel and passive max res from resistance auras ^^

[@sunbear1310]

Ith rune is 1/3 of Enigma and required for caster belts. Very hard done by.

[@ZachC-130]

All these runes that most people won't ever get if drops are the same as LOD. Tal goes from normal to he'll. Stays useful.

[@ZachC-130]

Bet you keep more runes if they stack lol.

[@DesroTy]

I've literally found 4 sur runes but not a single BER rune. I still can't bring myself to cubing such high runes

[@titaniumhud1536]

Pul was used for upping white chest armor to elite, iirc

[@ericshun3331]

Ith makes caster belt, needs some love. Verrrry helpful early on

[@Tyrael17X]

Fun fact El rune is pretty rare bc you can not craft it so it's a necessity to drop and most often eth or higher drops 22 countess runs and only 2 El...

[@kenjiakox]

You forget to mention the many pvp builds uses bers (helmets), Los (helmets), Um (sin claws), Jahs (helmet) so they are actually the only "useful hr" on non ladder also, hel is incredible to reroll spirits, insights, enigmas, griefs for perfect rolls - hel should one tier above

[@CalvinJary]

Next do a diablo 2 KZbinr tier list. Mr LlamaSC is obviously S tier

[@JungleScene]

Im loving all these tier lists! how many great videos can a man put out in one single day?

[@TheStephenation]

People drop runes back on the ground?

[@jakubdutkiewicz5816]

if jah ber is S (as it should) then lo is S- (I agree with you) and zod is C(botd is meh) then nef lum is A (why do you have it in D????)

[@Sonum131]

Text ver. in case anyone else was wanting it: RUNES tier list S Ber Jah Lo Ist A Um Sur Vex Ohm Hel Amn Shael Sol Ral B Mal Zod Lem Cham Ko Tal Tir Ort Thul C Pul Gul Fal Lum Eth Nef Io D Ith El Dol Eld

[@pedroelias86]

how can I farm ber and jah? playing hell for a while and have never seen one!

[@JoyTuub]

Ber is found in act 3 on hell. You can make one with the cube with 2 Sur runes and a flawless amethyst (maybe perfect amethyst... Can't recall) Jah are found in high tier chests in act 4 on hell. There may be other ways to find it but none are coming to mind.

[@JoyTuub]

Forgot to mention you can craft Jah runes with 2 ber runes and some gem in the cube... But since you've never found a ber yet, not immediately pertinent.

[@hardcaliber19]

This advice isn't accurate. There is no specific chests or acts where ber and jah runes only drop. It's rng. You can find jahs and bers in the pits in act 1 Hell ffs. There are definitely areas where the chance to drop HR is higher (lvl 85 areas, LK super chests, Hell Cows, etc.), but this advice is misleading.

[@TaigaUppercut]

How is Cham not S tier when ChamLo is the single most meta combination for pvp in the game in helmet, literally every fpk character uses Cham, except barb

[@M1GH7YALN]

I hate how hard it is to get HR's without trading can spend hundreds of hours and only find 1

[@roccohitch7316]

Mal rune must be higher. It's in 13 RW. (Some RW's for example Oath/Beast/Brand/LastWish/CTA/Grief/Infinity/Wrath). For example Oath, if your not so rich, you get for a Mal rune a really nice Weapon. Yes its not an OP Grief, but you can easy clear the game with an Oath, lots of dmg + 50% IAS. Nice nice nice

[@Kozi15]

El is the Component of Malice. And Malice is the best mats for Iron Golem for Iron Golem vs Iron Golem matches. lol

[@JirkaGasik]

Aaaand, found my first-ever Cham rune today!!

[@Ackbar223]

But Eld is so useful, it's 1/729 of a Ral rune! How can you throw away a rune that's worth about one seven trillionth of a Zod rune? You've probably thrown away an Ort rune worth of Eld runes with how much you play Diablo 2! I'm totally being sarcastic, El and Eld runes are really only useful for crafting better low runes when you're still in Normal.

[@franciscodetonne4797]

This game IMO has an amazing item system: nothing really has *only* one use. Many things can be used as they are or used in crafting. Runes can be socketed, used in crafting or made into runewords. Haters say it's rose-tinted glasses but this game is wayyyyyyyyyy too far ahead in some areas. I keep coming back to this game. PS. Some runewords are OP, but I think in a purely SP/offline play, OP runewords actually worth the effort.

[@shoeshank112]

Dol is in enough great and highly used rubewords that it should be a bit higher.

[@jacobcastillo2388]

They need to boost rune drops . I have heard you say in videos it takes 30+ hours to get some high tunes. Not saying it should drop every other time but definitely need to buff the drop chances a little for people to not have to no life to just get one rune

[@bobby45825]

They might for single player. At least it'd make more sense.

[@M4RCi92]

There's people on the ladder who have enigmas, infinities and all sorts of gg endgame runewords 2 weeks after season launch. Drop rates are good as they are, I don't want D2 to be a lootfest like D3.

[@jacobcastillo2388]

@@M4RCi92 I understand not saying they need to increase all loot drops. I’m saying for specifically just runes. And the reason they have THem within 2 weeks is they are playing non stop which was my original point. I’m fine with grinding for runes but I don’t want to have to grind nonstop for just 1. Do the math on the times that I brought up 30 hours for 1, some rune words take 4-6 maybe 3-4 ish of those are high runes that would take 100-120+ hours for one rune word. That’s my point I love Diablo 2 I don’t think they should change much . But a slight increase would be nice

[@hardcaliber19]

@@M4RCi92 one word: Bots This is the main reason for people rocking high end runewords two weeks in.

[@davlove1987]

You underestimated El a little. You forget that finding 14 trillion Els equals one Zod. So just think about that the next time you drop one back on the ground!

[@jonathanmelsha9214]

Dol is on Coh, fort, white, silence, venom, passion , exile... id say its more c tier than anything..

[@brainwasher9876]

Nef rune should be higher, to make blood gloves for sins and ama.

[@LixxLixx]

Why am I blessed to have llama spam my inbox

[@Jackaroo.]

Ohm gotta be S tier. Every class except barb uses cta, and 50% enhanced damage is bad ass. Ohm is way more useful than a Vex, if you are putting Vex as A tier, Ohm has to be higher.

[@quietlightning4063]

ZOD is legendary!

[@-Nick-T]

sol runes make my days better.

[@Tomasz_Rządkowski]

not even mentioned that mal goes to oath runeword 👎

[@xshortguy]

ZOD is in the B tier because he just had to slap a ZOD in that Beast

[@Jerome...]

Pul is great ... half my trades are for a Pul rune. It's like the 1$ bill of the game.

[@Rookie2171]

Me: which picture is which rune?

[@amfitness5598]

This needs to be redone bc of all the new runewords

[@AGHathaway]

Hel, Ral, Shael, Amn, and Sol are not A-tier runes. That is absolutely ridiculous.

[@Gunnvulcan]

wait......can anyone expand on what he means by "reroll rune word" ?

[@fundingsecured7072]

What does each rune do again?

[@winloc_5681]

I would recommend just looking up a rune list on google

[@illusion-]

@@winloc_5681 the arreat summit is the official diablo 2 resource site.

[@winloc_5681]

@@illusion- perfect, that would work great

[@aznbigboyjo3]

I traded my Cham for a Hel rune because of your chart

[@ajr3605]

Lol!

[@briancarlson9778]

Mal Rune B-tier... WTF lol. Used in 3 different S-teir runewords and 10 different useable runewords. Legit the most used rune in runewords in the game and is also 1/2 IST.

[@Blueballon]

How do reroll rune words?

[@Steph1]

Tir>Cham for runeword sake, Tal definitely >Cham