Chests

Chests (this includes barrels, crates, hidden stashes, etc) are an excellent source of items, including runes. The level that chests drop at is determined by the area of the game they're found on; consult the Levels section for that information. The level of runes that can be found from chests progresses steadily as you move through the game.

The following list details the highest level runes you can find in any area. All of the lower level runes may also be found there, and in fact are far more likely to appear than the higher level ones.

Act 1 Normal: No Runes from Chests
Act 2 Normal: El/Eld/Tir/Nef (r01-r04)
Act 3 Normal: Eth/Ith/Tal/Ral (r05-r08)
Act 4 Normal: Ort/Thul/Amn/Sol (r09-r12)
Act 5 Normal: Shael/Dol (r13-r14)
Act 1 Nightmare: Hel/Io (r15-r16)
Act 2 Nightmare: Lum/Ko (r17-r18)
Act 3 Nightmare: Fal/Lem (r19-r20)
Act 4 Nightmare: Pul/Um (r21-r22)
Act 5 Nightmare: Mal/Ist (r23-r24)
Act 1 Hell: Gul/Vex (r25-r26)
Act 2 Hell: Ohm/Lo (r27-r28)
Act 3 Hell: Sur/Ber (r29-r30)
Act 4 Hell: Jah/Cham (r31-r32)
Act 5 Hell: Zod (r33)