Just a noob question…
What Bosses in Normal could I repeatedly farm to get Ort, Amn or Thul Runes? And also, where is a good place to farm for Runeforge Base items also in Normal?
Can I get awesome Runeforge weapons with Ort, Amn or Thul runes on Normal? Or do I need to forget Normal, beat it fast and farm these better weapons on Nightmare?
Countess for rune farming. In normal I think the highest she can drop is Ort. NM countess is where it’s at if you’re looking for Ort Amn and Thul runes.
Easiest way to get those on normal is probably farming normal countess and upgrading rals. 3 Rals = thul, 3 thuls and 1 chipped topaz = amn.
If you can do NM countess that is definitely better though.
Edit: I was mistaken, 3 rals is an ort, then 3 orts is a thul.
As far as farming bases on normal, your best bet is cow level. You will never get a base with more than 3 sockets in normal because of the difficulty level restriction, but you can use larzuk and cube recipe to get more than that. A white 1h sword dropped from cows is pretty much always going to get 4 sockets from larzuk so its a good way to get a spirit base before going to NM.
3 Rals = Ort, 3 Orts = Thul
I think Normal Countess only drops up to Ral actually. You’d need to farm her a ton to cube up to Amn. Wouldn’t be worth it.
You can have Thul/Amn drop later in Normal though, I had a couple of Amn runes drop in Normal in my latest playthrough, one from Normal Act 5 and one from Normal Cows.
If you’re willing to wait, Nightmare Countess will be the most efficient place to farm them though.
Yes, I updated my post already.
Ah, I think you’re right.
NM countess for all those runes for sure then. Don’t cube these runes. You’re better off just running countess a few times or trading for them.
Thanks for the replies, guys.
I saw Edge “TirTalAmn” required level of 25, Holy Thunder “EthRalOrtTal” Scepter required level of 23, King’s Grace “AmnRalThul” Sword required level of 25. I thought that I could have them at such character levels. I am still at Normal at such character levels. And I am not seeing any runes above Ort at Act 3.
Well, I guess I just have to move forward without them.
Just a side question, any decent way for solo online to get high runes? Or just play and pray?
You can find a hr in hell just killing stuff solo. Better odds with more players. I mean they are very very rare though.
Trading anything you find to get one is often easier, but either way
For anything up to Ist, Hell Countess is the most efficient way. She’s cold and fire immune though, so you can’t farm her with certain builds. Or you need to rely on your merc to kill her.
Above Ist, things get tougher.
Certain types of enemies have higher drop rates for runes. Ghosts have the highest rune drop rates. There’s a bunch of stuff they can’t drop, so they end up with higher drop rates for runes. So you can farm areas with a ghosts for higher rune drop rates. Chaos Sanctuary has a decent number of ghosts, so that’s a decent option for runes. Arcane Sanctuary I think has the highest ghost density, but that seems like a pretty crummy area to try and farm.
Cows are in between. They have a higher rune drop chance than most enemies, but lower than ghosts. The nice thing about cows is that they have great density, so you can kill a ton of them relatively quickly. Runes are a volume thing, you want to kill a ton of enemies to maximize your chances. Cows are decent in that sense. High density and above average rune drop rate.
I think the council in Travincal is also decent. I had a Sur rune drop off the council while I was just progressing through Hell. That was a pleasant surprise!
Rune drops from enemies see better odds with higher player counts, so that can help. You might miss some drops if someone else grabs the runes though, so that’s a bit of a two-edged sword.
Lower Kurast superchests are also good for anything up to Ber, but it’s best to do LK runs at higher player counts (at least /players3, preferably /players7). It’s more of an offline strategy where you can manipulate /players. I also think it’s a bit less efficient in D2R because of the slower load times. LK runs are so fast that a few extra seconds in load times in D2R has a noticeable impact on the efficiency compared to original D2.
Yeah in the end it’s all about luck. Like I got a ber on my 2nd lk run (online solo lk runs for hours forgetting that this was not players 8), and this ber has given me so many items through trades.
But to finish the infinity or enigma will take god know how long. At least the call to arms is close to finish (but how to get that ohm is a big question mark lol).
BTW, I am somewhat new to higher levels of Diablo 2. Back in the old days, I was just using an illegitimate copy of D2 and I had no idea if my version was way easier. Anyhow, I am playing D2R now as if it’s a new game to me.
I am a bit frustrated on not having higher level Runes at Normal. It’s freaking hard to Solo the Normal Campaign. It took me 2 sets of 12-slots Rejuv potions to kill Diablo and I am using all the rune gear available to me on Solo. I want better runes to make it a little easier. I messed up with my specs and the higher runes are the only way I could reset my failed specs.
I understand Group game is way better for this game. But I love Solo for now as I play Casually. I dont want to be carried. I believe I can solo the whole thing but it’s a bit slow if there are no higher runes helping me. And I killed Diablo and he didnt drop any single rune for me. ROFL. Maybe Diablo saw me and my mercenary filled with Rune Gear although low levels.
BTW, thank you for the Cow info. It just tells me that I havent really played D2 back then. I am glad they made D2R. I am playing D2 as if it’s a new game to me. I played D3 and I like it. D2R is just a different Diablo fun game…
My advice is farm on river / chaos sanctuary. The spectral things and hidden chests can drop up Sol(at least the highest I got on normal). I’m not sure but I think act 5 can drop around shael.
Aren’t high chances but could drop. If you’re playing SSF wouldn’t hurt if you’re xp farming on those zones.
If you have access to nm, countess has higher chances to get what you need or cows. Would be up to you to decide
A2 merchants for armor (up to 3 sockets), A5 with 0% MF for 4 socket swords/polearms/Pal shields. Cows is not good idea for normal, Worldstone Keep is much better because it has monsters with higher level than cows.
Spirit (TalThulOrtAmn) - swords, +2 skills, cast rate, mana. The best runeword for young casters, but 4 sockets.
Insight (RalTirTalSol) - polearm, 12-17 meditation aura. One of the best yearly runewords for merc, if you got Sol in A4-A5 Normal.
Also you can take Shael in A5, it give you one of the best early shield runeword Ryme (ShaelEth) with Cannot be Frozen.
Not so much awesome but could make your life much easier:
For fighters could be used Malice (IthElEth) for Open Wounds and Strength (AmnTir) for Life Leach + Crushing Blow. Both are good, cheap and any weapon could be used. Good choice for A2 merc weapon.
And Stealth armor (TalEth) with faster run/walk, cast rate, faster hit recovery and mana regen.
I went to get Wirt’s Leg to get to that Secret Cow Level and the Horadric Cube wont let me. Better runes are on Cows and I cant get in there on Normal. It really means that I have to beat the Normal game before I could farm for better runes. And the complaint I have is that Solo Normal is hard without higher level runes. Stalemate.
Well, guess I have to start slaughtering Act 5 just with what I have. I only have Malice Weapon, 400k gold Rare Sceptre, Ancient’s Pledge Shield. Stealth Armor And Nadir Helm from my mercenary. Wish me luck against Baal.
A5 monsters has higher level than Cows and better drop than Cows. So you can forget about cows till the Hell.
To get high runes, killing large numbers of mobs is the answer, not farming a single mob in particular. Cows have very high density, are easy to kill and actually have an abover average drop rate for runes. So 100s of hell cow runs is the answer.
Build yourself a javazon, clear those cows a 1000 times (20 runs per hour x 50 hours… doable) and you will have a bunch of high runes.
Pls, read initial post. Javazon for killing hell cows on normal 
That’s… amazing advise!
I mentioned hell cows. My post is an answer to someone asking how to farm high runes.
Please read rest of thread and read my post. Thats… amazing reading skills !
Ups, sorry, my bad. Time to go to sleep