How important are rune words?

[djsutton]

How important are rune words?

I have a question about something that's been bothering me with D2. Seems like almost every guide I read assumed you'll have easy access to a bunch of different rune word items that use unes so rare that I will almost certainly never see one, much less the twenty or so I need to get geared. I know there are guides that advertise they work untwinked, which does have appeal to me, but do I really need these super rare rune words to be effective? I may be exaggerating the problem, and if so, don't be afraid to call me on it, but it feels like these are impossible to get without duping, and that they're the only really good stuff in the game. The Commandomancer, for instance sounds like a lot of fun, but I'll never be able to play one. This is a bit of a rant, I suppose, and I apologize for that, and if anyone has productive solutions, or reccomendations of builds that are really fun to play that don't require runewords, that'd be great. And if I'm a blathering idiot who's completely misrepresented the game, I'd love to know what I'm missing.

 

[snickersnack]

Re: How important are rune words?

It's a game; have fun. Some people like ridiculously overpowered characters, while others prefer the challenge of ridiculously underpowered characters - to each his own. I prefer a wide range.

For a long list of builds that use more easily attainable items, check out the Guardian/Patriarch/Matriarch thread in the Single Player forum.

 

[Sovsy]

Re: How important are rune words?

If you rely on finding these runes then yes, the chances are you never get the runes you want. But there is more than one way to skin a cat, may i suggest:-

Collecting 20 RALs(= PUL Rune)
Collecting 40PGs(= PUL rune, 50 = UM from the guy i sell too)
Rushing Toons for their forge(depending on the strength of you char, if you cant solo Hell, rush ppl in NM)
Selling gear worth PUL and up(see the price guide for gear worth selling)

Basically once you get an UM+PUL you can buy any HR you need.

 

[djsutton]

Re: How important are rune words?

If you rely on finding these runes then yes, the chances are you never get the runes you want. But there is more than one way to skin a cat, may i suggest:-

Collecting 20 RALs(= PUL Rune)
Collecting 40PGs(= PUL rune, 50 = UM from the guy i sell too)
Rushing Toons for their forge(depending on the strength of you char, if you cant solo Hell, rush ppl in NM)
Selling gear worth PUL and up(see the price guide for gear worth selling)

Basically once you get an UM+PUL you can buy any HR you need.

But I'd have no way of knowing I wasn't trading for a dupe, which is something I'd rather not do. This is probably is unreasonable on my part, though. Is that something people even worry about anymore? I'd feel like I was cheating.

 

[Sovsy]

Re: How important are rune words?

There's always a risk, especially when going for say ZOD's which are more than likely duped, i dont trade for them.

I guess i dont really care, i've had one LO rune disappear from my inventory. But i've traded for several and they've all been legit, the risk IMO is minimal, not everyone in the Diablo 2 world is out to scam you.

Anyway as someone said, its just a game.

 

[Doppel]

Re: How important are rune words?

I have a question about something that's been bothering me with D2. Seems like almost every guide I read assumed you'll have easy access to a bunch of different rune word items that use unes so rare that I will almost certainly never see one, much less the twenty or so I need to get geared. I know there are guides that advertise they work untwinked, which does have appeal to me, but do I really need these super rare rune words to be effective? I may be exaggerating the problem, and if so, don't be afraid to call me on it, but it feels like these are impossible to get without duping, and that they're the only really good stuff in the game. The Commandomancer, for instance sounds like a lot of fun, but I'll never be able to play one. This is a bit of a rant, I suppose, and I apologize for that, and if anyone has productive solutions, or reccomendations of builds that are really fun to play that don't require runewords, that'd be great. And if I'm a blathering idiot who's completely misrepresented the game, I'd love to know what I'm missing.

Its impossible to say that you'll need this or you'll need that without being specific. For instance, if a certain build "needs" to have teleport without it being charges then it "needs" Enigma. At least according to whoever wrote the build, you might not agree and don't "need" Enigma to be able to play that build relatively effective, but more likely then not it won't be as effective as having Enigma. So, you could see Enigma as being an item you most likely never be able to make, unless you of course get a lucky rune drop or you set yourself a goal you want to find those runes (by for example running Lower Kurast) or you try to trade for the legit runes if you think you have something of equal valua (most likely not), or you trade for duped runes which everyone on Bnet does by trading first for Puls, then Ists then Highrunes. (Something which doesn't take nearly as long as one might think, thanks to duping, at the end of last ladder i was able to make Enigma that way from scratch in about two weeks or so)
Anyways, check out the SP forums for example, there you'll see a lot of people playing without (high) runewords, looking for (high) runes, but not literally needing to have (high) runewords to be able to do so, and if they then finally make their Grief BA or Fortitude or Enigma or something, well then its something of an achievement instead of it having been a requirement to be able to play relatively effective in the first place.

 

[snickersnack]

Re: How important are rune words?

But i've traded for several and they've all been legit, the risk IMO is minimal, not everyone in the Diablo 2 world is out to scam you.

You do realize how vastly unlikely that is, right? If you trade for a high rune, it's almost surely duped, and if you've traded for several, then they are certainly not all legitimate.

 

[Timmy]

Re: How important are rune words?

Not really important.

For hoto you have Wizzy or Df or occu and even suicide branch as alternative.
For enigma you got teleport charges on items.
eBotd BA < Eth Death Clever so don't need that weapon.
eBoth GPA, you got eth tombreaver or ribcracker as fine alternatives.
infinity, just get a merc that does a lot of damage with eth reaper toll or tombreaver to kill immunes.


and the list goes on, you don't need runewords at all Even a tal rasha cold/fire sorc can do solo baalruns very effectively.

 

[omgwtfbbqpwned]

Re: How important are rune words?

Runewords turns the game into "easy mode". Throw in Annihilus/Torch and you're practically in "god mode". I'm not sure how anyone manages to die with Anihilus/Torch/high-end runewords requipped.

Instead of teleporting through the game with 'Enigma', you'll have to walk and watch out for baddies. With 'Grief', practically any melee build (including a Meleemancer) becomes quite easy, and I think that's saying something. Without 'Infinity', your runs are going to take longer, and you won't be able to handle high player runs by yourself. Etc.

So are you losing effectiveness? Of course. Is gameplay going to be impossible to the point where you're tearing your hair out because single five minutes is such a huge struggle? Nope.

 

[cralz]

Re: How important are rune words?

As the others here have stated, runewords are not necessary to complete and enjoy the game. There may be special builds that require certain runewords, like the Dreamer builds, but most standard builds can do just fine without the runewords. Like omgwtfbbqpwned said, the overpowered runewords pretty much take the challenge out of the game. Some like that, some don't. It can be fun to mow down mobs in Hell without batting an eye, but it's not necessary.

You're also overlooking the runewords that are powerful but also very cheap and easy to make. These include Spirit, Lore, Insight, Harmony, Crescent Moon, Smoke, Splendor, Duress, and so on. The runes for most of these can be found simply by running the Countess in Nightmare or Hell, and can make the game much easier - a Sorceress with an Insight mercenary basically has infinite mana.

If not having the powerful runewords is getting to you (and the longer you play on BNet and see the crazy and cool stuff people have, the more you'll be inclined to want them), you can start small by making runewords that only use one high rune. Prepare everything else first (the other runes and your socketable) and then make the runeword once you get the high rune to avoid losing it. I don't keep piles of high runes around for that reason, so I usually only get a bunch of them when I'm ready to make some runewords.

 

[Roflbawlz]

Re: How important are rune words?

Runewords are extremely important. If you are not a sorceress chances are you will be using an enigma or wasting time running around.

 

[IntelligentX]

Re: How important are rune words?

The Earth still rotate even without runewords I'd say.

Runewords are extremely important. If you are not a sorceress chances are you will be using an enigma or wasting time running around.

Teleport charges?

 

[CombatShrine]

Re: How important are rune words?

You can solo hell with a naked necromancer in hardcore.


There is no such thing as "hard" in diablo 2.

 

[Sovsy]

Re: How important are rune words?

You do realize how vastly unlikely that is, right? If you trade for a high rune, it's almost surely duped, and if you've traded for several, then they are certainly not all legitimate.

What i do realise is how vastly broad that statement of yours is. I have quite a few HR's, all very much legit through playing the game, quite a few HR's that i do not need. So i think its fair to say that there are many people, like me, wanting to trade there HR's for runes they do need.

I said i've traded several in the past, not all at once, you know, as required.

 

[boogyman19946]

Re: How important are rune words?

What i do realise is how vastly broad that statement of yours is. I have quite a few HR's, all very much legit through playing the game, quite a few HR's that i do not need. So i think its fair to say that there are many people, like me, wanting to trade there HR's for runes they do need.

I said i've traded several in the past, not all at once, you know, as required.

I dare to say that if you trade for a HR and believe that the HR is legit, I call thee a fool. Majority of the HRs on Battle.net are duped and if I remember correctly, majority is always above 50% so that means the runes you traded have at the very least a coin flip chance of being legit or duped. The microscopical chance of ever finding a high rune suggest that it's far beyond 50% that the high rune is duped. More likely above 70% chance. Ists, Mals, Guls and the like are "common" high runes. You don't need lottery winning luck to eventually find one, but runes like Ber, Vex, Ohm, Jah, and Zod have such a ridiculously small chance to drop, that it's almost a certain thing to say that the runes you ever traded were purely dupes.

 

[Sovsy]

Re: How important are rune words?

I dare to say that if you trade for a HR and believe that the HR is legit, I call thee a fool. Majority of the HRs on Battle.net are duped and if I remember correctly, majority is always above 50% so that means the runes you traded have at the very least a coin flip chance of being legit or duped. The microscopical chance of ever finding a high rune suggest that it's far beyond 50% that the high rune is duped. More likely above 70% chance. Ists, Mals, Guls and the like are "common" high runes. You don't need lottery winning luck to eventually find one, but runes like Ber, Vex, Ohm, Jah, and Zod have such a ridiculously small chance to drop, that it's almost a certain thing to say that the runes you ever traded were purely dupes.

Why is no one listening. I've said already that there is a risk that the runes your trading for are dupes. But not necessarily all the time as you yourself have pointed out.

Maybe we should all start wearing Sigons Sets if we're so worried?

That'd be pretty funny actually.

 

[Ivo]

Re: How important are rune words?

if you really worry about runes being duped just get the item you want your runeword in first and trade the necesary runes one by one. and put them in the sockets immediately. They won't go "poof" then. well actually they will go poof eventually but after a very long time since it needs an active "rust storm" which isn't that often. duped runes that are not socketed disappear more often because a passive "rust storm" gets those.

 

[boogyman19946]

Re: How important are rune words?

Maybe we should all start wearing Sigons Sets if we're so worried?

You think Sigon's Set can't be duped? What do you think people duped before all these overpowered runewords came around? In addition, what do you think people used before 1.10 if it wasn't things like Sigon's Set?

 

[Sovsy]

Re: How important are rune words?

oh jeez....

My point with respect to Sigons was a very sarcastic one, i guess that was lost in the translation somewhere.

Why would you even trade for it in the first place, jump on a bunch of runs, it drops so often you'll have the set within a few days if that. You'll be dupe and care free!

Duping is just the nature of the beast, build a bridge.

 

[snickersnack]

Re: How important are rune words?

What i do realise is how vastly broad that statement of yours is. I have quite a few HR's, all very much legit through playing the game, quite a few HR's that i do not need. So i think its fair to say that there are many people, like me, wanting to trade there HR's for runes they do need.

I said i've traded several in the past, not all at once, you know, as required.

Q: Why is a zod rune worth the same as a vex rune (or in some cases, less)?
A: Mass duping.

99.9% of the high-end runes that get traded on bnet are dupes. It's as simple as that.