Eight new rune words will be introduced with Diablo 2 Resurrected Patch 2.6

Diablo 2 Resurrected came out in August 2021 to the excitement of hardcore fans of the series. Given that Diablo 3 still struggles with adding new content, plenty of people were eager to return to the world of one of the most successful hack-and-slash games ever.

Patch notes

Alongside these new rune words, Blizzard has announced that plenty of other content will be added to the game. But most of these changes are still a secret, so we will have to wait until it launches on January 31. There will be a Public Test run starting on January 24 if you want to test out some of this new content. You can join this PTR by selecting the PTR: Diablo 2 Resurrected branch in your Battle.net app.

New rune words

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, runes are a big part of the Diablo 2 item system. They are socketable items that give various bonuses, depending on the item they are placed in. Runewords are an advanced variant of this. By combining specific runes together in an item, you will create a Unique variant of that item that gives a ton of bonuses. So here are the Runewords that will be added with content patch 2.6 :

Rune Word	Rune Order	Allowed Items	Character Level Required	Final Stats
Bulwark	Shael + Io + Sol	Helm	35	+20% Faster Hit Recovery +4-6% Life stolen per hit +75-100% Enhanced Defense +10 to Vitality Increase Maximum Life 5% Replenish Life +30 Damage Reduced by 7 Physical Damage Received Reduced by 10-15%
Cure	Shael + lo + Tal	Helm	35	+20% Faster Hit Recovery +75-100% Enhanced Defense +10 to Vitality Increase Maximum Life 5% Poison Resist +40-60% Poison Length Reduced by 75%
Ground	Shael + Io + Ort	Helm	35	+20% Faster Hit Recovery +75-100% Enhanced Defense +10 to Vitality Increase Maximum Life 5% Lightning Resist +40-60% Lightning Absorb +10-15%
Hearth	Shael + Io + Thul	Helm	35	+20% Faster Hit Recovery +75-100% Enhanced Defense +10 to Vitality Increase Maximum Life 5% Cold Resist +40-60% Cold Absorb +10-15%
Temper	Shael + Io + Ral	Helm	35	+20% Faster Hit Recovery +75-100% Enhanced Defense +10 to Vitality Increase Maximum Life 5% Fire Resist +40-60% Fire Absorb +10-15%
Hustle	Shael + Ko + Eld	Any weapon or armor item	39	Armor: +50% Faster Run/Walk +20% Increased Attack Speed +20% Faster Hit Recovery +10 to Dexterity 50% Slower Stamina Drain Weapon: 5% Chance to cast level nine Burst of Speed on striking +30% Increased Attack Speed +130-150% Enhanced Damage +75% Damage to Undead +50 to Attack Rating against Undead +10 to Dexterity
Mosaic	Mal + Gul + Thul	Claw	53	+25% chance for finishing moves to not consume charges +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
Metamorphosis	Io + Cham + Fal	Helm	67	Werewolf strikes grant Mark for 180 seconds Mark of the Wolf: +20% Bonus to Attack Rating Increase Maximum Life 40% Werebear strikes grant Mark for 180 seconds Mark of the Bear: +25% Attack Speed +25% Chance of Crushing Blow Physical Damage Received Reduced by 20% +5 to Shape Shifting Skills (Druid only) +50-80% Enhanced Defense +10 to Strength +10 to Vitality All Resistances +10 Cannot be Frozen

 

Players who like playing Druid or Assassin will be excited by the prospect of rune words catered explicitly to those classes. Most of the other rune words are lower level ones, but they’re still excellent additions when leveling a character. The Cure rune word especially will help deal with pesky mobs that inflict poison.

It’s great to see that Blizzard is still bringing updates to Diablo 2 Resurrected. Since Diablo 4 is still half a year away, this new content is an excellent opportunity to get back into the swing of things if you’ve been away from the series for a while.