Hello, there is a lot of people asking for prices of items they found. Many new players struggle to know what is valuable and what not. I already made item price list prior the game release but i realized its not enough as prices are different at start of season, which is basicly same as it is even when it is non ladder.
This is project i am working on, i will be adding new items times frequently over next few days so keep that in mind. Also i aprretiate any feedback from any of you so i can maybe correct some info if it will be wrong.
Before I will get to what is valuable and why, I would like to list few general rules you should follow:
- Dont ever throw items on floor(they could be stolen by others or your game could crash and you will lose them
- Always check the content of trade window before you make a deal (some people might try to scam you and switch items)
- Dont scam other players please
- If you dont need some items consider donating them in games to other
- Prices are not written in stone, there are always players who might pay more if they really want the item
- Good stat rolls and perfect items are usualy considered as very valuable.
Ok thats probably all, Now I would like to talk about prices and how to know what to keep. I will start very simply and talk about Gems and next update will be Runes. I am very busy playing D2R myself so consider this being under construction 
GEMS
GEMS
Gems are generaly used for several things:
- can be socketed into items for bonuses
- can be used to craft Rejuvenation potions
- can be used in many different recipes in Horadric Cube
- can be used in crafting recipes
- can be used for rerolling magical items (usualy Grand charms)
Generaly speaking people will want to buy Perfect games, sometimes you could even sell Flawless gems, lower qualities are wanted only rarely. I mysels usualy keep 1-2 low level gems of every type on mule just in case. There is 7 types of gems and i will talk about how valuable are a little bit and why they are used.
- Ruby - Life when place in armor or Helm, Perfect Ruby is used to socket shield in cube, used in crafting for “Blood items”
- Topaz - Magic find +% if socketed into armor and helm, Perfect Topaz is used to socket armors in cube
- Diamond - All resistances in shields, Used in upgrade recipe for unique armor
- Amethyst - additional strength in socketed items if your mercany need more strength, Perfect amethyst is used to socket weapons in cube, used in crafting for “Caster items”
- Sapphire - Mana in Armor and Helm in early stages on game.
- Emerald - usable on normal difficulty to increase your block if you put them in armor or helm, Used in upgrade recipe for unique weapons
- Skull - used in some rare horadric cube recipes
Based on that information most valuable Perfect gems are Topaz, Ruby and Amethyst. Others are less valuble but still considered equal as perfect gems are mostly used for rerolling Grand charms in cube and it doesnt matter which ones you use fot that.
Topaz gem is obviously most valuable at start of season because majority of players is looking for making equip for Magic find.
GEM PRICES:
They are usualy sold in stacks. Keep in mind that in early stages of ladder are people usualy buying runes to buy unique items or sets so they are not so interested in gems. Its probably better to save gems for later when people will start to be interested in them.
1-8 Pgems - Runes below Pul
15-25 Pgems - Pul rune
20 P. Amethyst - Mal rune
25-30 P. Rubies - Mal rune
HARDCORE NOTE
Everything on hardcore is considered as more expensive, so Pul might be for more Pgems.
RUNES
RUNES
Runes are one of the most wanted
commodity in Diablo 2, runes can be socketed into items, they are used AS currency in trading, used for making runewords, item upgrading, crafting and other special recipes in Horadric Cube. I will talk a bit about all runes:
- El - First and practialy useless rune, it can be usefull at start of the game to cube 3 of them into Eld runes
- Eld - can be usefull in early stage of game if you place 3 of them into large shield for additional % block chance or in some cases to socket her into high end shield for better block if you have enough resistances
- Tir - really great for leveling new characters if you socket bunch of them in your equip as they will grant you mana back for kills.
- Nef - not very usefull rune, but can some people can buy them from you in stacks as they are used for crafting
- Eth - not a usefull rune, other than being part of some low level runewords
- Ith - usefull for low level characters and mercenaries as Ith in weapon provides +9 maximum damage, also could be sometimes sold in stacks for people who do crafting.
- Tal - Tal is part of several very usefull Runewords people are making at early stages of game. Also used in crafting and recipes in horadric cube recipes for Item
upgrading and socketing white/ethereal items. Tal can also provide solid bonus to poison resistance in armor helm and shield. - Ral - Ral is part of several very good Runewords people are making at early stages of game and very usefull for cube recipes and crafting recipes. Ral can also
provide solid bnous to fire resistance in armor helm and shield. Ral can be used in cube to repair and recharge armor. - Ort - Ort is part of several very good Runewords people are making at early stages of game and very usefull for cube recipes and crafting recipes. Ort can also
provide solid bnous to lightning resistance in armor helm and shield. Ort can be used in cube to repair and recharge weapons. - Thul - Thul is part of several very good Runewords people are making at early stages of game and very usefull for cube recipes and crafting recipes. Thul can also provide solid bonus to Cold resistance in armor helm and shield.
- Amn - mostly wanted to make runeword Spirit. Amn rune adds life leech if it is socketed in weapon which is very usefull for melee characters or to improve ACT II mercenary survivability. Amn is also used for some crafting.
- Sol - mostly wanted because Sol is used for Insight runeword, also used for upgrading of unique items in cube. Sol can provide some physical damage reduction when socketed in items.
- Shael - used for upgrading unique items and often used in weapons to increase attack speed. Shael can also increase faster block rate in shield and faster hit recovery in armor and Helm.
- Dol - pretty much useless rune, not worth socketing and not used for almost anything.
- Hel - rune can lower requirement for your items if you socket it in them. Hel is mostly used in Horadric Cube recipe to destroy content of socketed items if you
no longer want the runes, gems or jewels placed there. - Io - another not very usefull rune. Io has use only in few runewords.
- Lum - usefull to make runewords Smoke and Lionheart and also used for upgrading unique weapons in horadric cube.
- Ko - used for upgrading unique armors to elite version in horadric cube.
- Fal - Not very usefull rune, but has use in great runeword Lionheart.
- Lem - used for upgrading unique armors to elite version in horadric cube, but mostly wanted for nice % gold find bonus when inserted into socketed items.
- Pul - first rune which is considered more valuable and traded more frequently for items as currency. Pul is the first rune which can be upgraded into higher rune with just two of them. Pul is also used in Horadric cube recipe to upgrade unique weapons to elite version.
- Um - used as currency for buying and selling, very usefull for placing into socketed Armor/helm/shield for all resistances and into weapons for Open wounds.
- Mal - used as currency for buying and selling, usualy not worth placing in socketed items but it can help in weapon to provide prevent monster heal or in armor/helm and shield to provide magic damage reduction. Its usualy better to sell Mal instead of placing it in items.
- Ist - great rune and best amongst the mid runes. Used as currency and also frequently used into socketed items for additional magic find bonus.
- Gul - highest mid rune, but pretty much useless for using and only works as currency to buy and sell items. Gul is usualy being upgraded with one more into Vex.
- Vex - Vex in on the edge between mid and high runes. Can be used into socketed shield in rare cases, mostly by players who do PvP. Vex is commonly used for highly used runeword Heart of the Oak and as currency to buy better items.
- Ohm - used to buy and sell highly valuable items, commonly used for runeword Call to arms. Ohm also adds +50% damage in weapon so she is sometimes used by more rich players to increase damage on some special socketed rare or unique items.
- Lo - used to buy and sell highly valuable items, Lo is frequently used High Rune to make runewords Fortitude and Grief. Also can be socketed into weapon to provide
additional 20% deadly strike or +5 maximum lightning resistance into shield. - Sur - used to buy and sell highly valuable items. Less wanted than Lo and Ohm but still used in some runewords. Not worth socketing into iteams really.
- Ber - used to buy and sell most valuable items, highly wanted Rune for top Runewords like Enigma or Infinity. Ber can be also socketed into armor/helm/shield for 8% damage reduction and into weapon for crushing blow, but thats rarely seen as rune itself is highly valuable for runewords or trading.
- Jah - Most expensive high rune at start of season which can be used to buy most valuable items in game. Also is wanted for being part of Enigma runeword. It is possible to socket her into shield for +5% maximum life, but thats not worth doing because rune itself has so high value for trading or for making RW.
- Cham - second most rare rune , but far from being valuable as Lo-Jah runes. Cham has very limited use in runewords, is used as currency for trading valuable items and can be used to get “cannot be frozen” in socketed items.
- Zod - Most rare rune, used in trading and also being less valuable as Cham because of limited use of the rune in comparison to other high runes. Zod can be placed into socketed ethereal items to get Indestructibility property.
RUNE PRICES
NOTE: people dont usualy buy many low runes in early stages of ladder season because runes are used to buy basic items for starting doing Magic find runs.
- 20x Tir/Nef/Tal-Ort/Thul - Pul-Mal
- 20x Amn/Ral - Pul-Mal
- 20x Sol - Pul-Mal
- 10x Hel - Mal-Ist
- Lum/Ko/Fal/Lem - usualy being sold for usefull items which have less value than Pul or they can be bought for few Perfect games
- Pul - Can be bought for around 2-3 Lem or for around 15-25 Perfect gems
- Um - 2 Pul
- Mal - 2 Um
- Ist - 2 Mal
- Gul - Ist+Mal
- Vex - 3-4 Ist
- Ohm - 5-6 Ist
- Lo - 10-12 Ist
- Sur - 9-11 Ist
- Ber - 19-23 Ist
- Jah - 15-18 Ist
- Cham - 1-2 Ist
- Zod - 3-4 Ist
RUNEWORDS
RUNEWORDS
Diablo 2 has many runewords, many of them being frequently used by whole player base. Some runewords are easy to make but others are very expensive. There is currenty 77
runewords you can make. I will say few words about all of them.
AR - attack ratting
BOTD - Breath of the Dying
CB - Crushing blow
ED - % Enhanced damage or % Enhanced defense
ES - Energy shield
DS - deadly strike
FHR -Faster hit recovery
FRW - Faster run/walk
FCR - Faster cast rate
GF - Gold find
MDR - magic damage reduction
MF - Magic find
OW - Open Wounds
Souls - Monsters casting lighting
RW - Runeword
- Ancient’s Pledge(Ral+Ort+Tal) - Very usefull RW for starting characters. Ancient’s Pledge adds quite a lot of resistances and can be usualy made in act IV or V on normal difficulty to mostly help with Diablo or start of Nightmare.
- Black(Thul+Io+Nef) - quite a cheap RW in weapons which adds great +40% Crushing blow. Very usefull for smitters or melee characters.
- Fury(Jah+Gul+Eth) - expensive because of Jah and there are better runewords for less. Its one of the few RWs you can make in assassin claws.
- Holy Thunder(Eth+Ral+Ort+Tal) - Interesting RW for Holy shock paladin if it is made in scepter with +3 Holy shock. It is very cheap runeword and i mostly mention is for the high Lighting resistance it can provide. +60% lighting resistances on weapon is not common and there is also additional +5% max lightning resistance. This might be very usefull of you are moving in location with a lot of souls who do high lightning damage.
- Honor(Amn+El+Ith+Tir+Sol) - Cheap RW for fighters mostly possible to make on nightmare diffciulty.
- King’s Grace(Amn+Ral+Thul) - might be useful RW for start of Nightmare but it wont last long as it is not that good.
- Leaf(Tir+Ral) - RW for starting as Fire sorceress, it has +3 to Warmth so it helps with mana regenearation and also has + fire skill. It can be socketed into staff with already +3 firebaall for maximum effectivity.
- Lionheart(Hel+Lum+Fal) - Great runeword providing a lot for not much, because Hel Lum and Fal can be found during your playthrough on Nightmare. Bonuses it provides are basicly equivalent of +75 stat points and Lionheart also has +30 all resistances and +50 life and is very usefull for any class or mercenary because of lowered reuirements.
- Lore (Ort+Sol) - usualy possible to make at start of Nightmare, good helm providing +1 to all skills and 30% lightning resistance.
- Malice(Ith+El+Eth) - usable runeword for melee character or mercenary for normal and start of nightmare difficulty. Malice drains health but its not that much for great 100% open wounds.
- Melody(Shael+Ko+Nef) - can be usefull for Amazon using Bow/crossbow or for mercenary from ACT I but sadly +%ED bonus on it is quite low for a Ko rune investment
- Memory(Lum+Io+Sol+Eth) - mostly used for sorceress focused on Energy shield as staff has +3 energy shield, final bonus to energy shield will be +9 to ES if it is made in good base weapon with +3 ES so it is usefull to have it as prebuff weapon.
- Nadir(Nef Tir) - this RW is a joke, completely useless, it even have some negative attributes.
- Radiance(Nef+Sol+Ith) - minor bonuses for cheap runeword, can be usefull if you find 3 socket helm at end of normal, but people usualy use Lore RW instead which is better.
- Rhyme(Shael+Eth) - frequently used on caster classes, usualy before spirit monarch can be used. Rhyme provides Magic find, Gold fine, all resistances and improves blocking chance and speed of blocking. The shield can be usefull even for fighters as it has “cannot be frozen” property, rarely seen on items.
- Silence(Dol+Eld+Hel+Ist+Tir+Vex) - Price of this runeword is little bit too much because of Vex rune. I cant think of any build which would prefer to use it. It does have good bonuses, but its always missing something no matter who will use it.
- Smoke(Nef+Lum) - quite cheap runeword for nice +50 all resistances bonus and 20% FHR.I usualy prefer to make Lionheart instead as it has more stats.
- Stealth(Tal+Eth) - easy to make even in ACT I but usable from lvl 17, good as starting RW because it provides some FRC, FRW and FHR.
- Steel(Tir+El) - similar as Malice but without negative effects and only 50% open wounds, but even that is good for any fighter class.
- Strength(Amn+Tir) - nice 25% CB bonus, 7% life leech and strength bonus but low ED, usable for melee characters on normal. Can be also usefull for ACT II mercenary.
- Venom(Tal+Dol+Mal) - pretty much useless RW for 3 socketed weapon. Not worth making at all.
- Wealth(Lem+Ko+Tir) - Great RW for anyone who like to do some MF or GF. Many players use 4 topaz armor instead of using this one which is better and really not expensive. Armor provides +100% bonus MF and high +300% GF.
- White (Dol Io) - very cheap rune word because it has runes without value in it and pretty strong for practicaly any necromancer if it is made in good base weapon with some necromancer skills.
- Zephyr(Ort+Eth) - cheap rune word for Rogue mercenary or for bowazon if you dont have anything better.
- Beast(Ber+Tir+Um+Mal+Lum) - interesting runeword granting Fanaticism lvl 9 when equipped and tranformation to werebear which can make some very fun builds to play. Beast can be great on Necromancer focusing on summoning to make skeletons stronger, but you will have to sacrifice possible +skills from main hand.
- Bramble(Ral+Ohm+Sur+Eth) - Runeword usable for character builds with poison because it has +25-50% poison damage. Also it adds +50% FHR, other than that its pretty bad and doesnt offer much.
- Breath of the Dying(Vex+Hel+El+Eld+Zod+Eth) - This runewords is well known classic, one of the best runewords for any melee character, providing good dmg, attack speed, +30 to all atributes and some other nice bonuses. But it sadly dont have any OW, CB or DS. Can be also made in ethereal items as it provides indestructibility.
- Call to Arms(Amn+Ral+Mal+Ist+Ohm) - highly used RW everyone wants because it provides Battle orders skill from barbarion, improving Mana and Life. It is mostly used as buff item instead of fighting wepon.
- Chains of Honor(Dol+Um+Ber+Ist) - Great armor RW overall because of serveral nice properties like +2 skills, +65% all resist, 25% MF, 8% life leech and few others bonuses.
- Chaos(Fal+Ohm+Um) - RW strictly for assassin granting her ability to use skill Whirlwind. It is RW mostly used for PvP assassins.
- Crescent Moon(Shael+um+Tir) - No exactly great RW but it has interesting -%Lightning resistance to enemies ans Static Field on striking. It can be usefull for Lighting sorceress or paladin with Holy Shock.
- Delirium(Lem+Ist+Io) - Runeword made more for fun than for being that usefull, it has +2 skills and other than that , not exactly that good bonuses. 1% chance to transmutation to Stygian doll when you are hit is the “fun” part about this RW. Did you ever wanted to how is it it like to be the small fetish fighting with knife? Well now you can. It can be made in good base druid helms for more +skills.
- Doom(Hel+Ohm+Um+Lo+Cham) - RW for fighting providing Holy freeze aura. Could be also used on mercenary if you want both holy freeze and his different aura. It is not bad RW for melee fighters, but there are honestly better RWs which are not so expensive as this one. Doom also lowers enemy cold resistance on your attacks by -40-60% which is rather high value.
- Duress(Shael+Um+Thul) - some CB, OW, small bonus to damage and some resistances, bot a bad choice for not really expensive RW. It can help with fight with Ubers to have additional crushing blow bonus.
- Enigma(Jah+Ith+Ber) - famous runeword and dream of every Hammerdin build. One of the most wanted RWs in game, providing Teleport skill which is huge deal breaker for majortiy of characters. Enigma is expensive as it has Jah and Ber in it, but is totaly worth it. Enigma also provide huge bonus to strength, MF, defense, +2 all skills and +45% FRW. Totaly worth the cost of two high runes.
- Eternity(Amn+Ber+Ist+Sol+Sur) - not so great RW for cost of Ber and Sur, but definitely not a completely bad one as it has still some nice bonuses like 20% CB, cannot be frozen, 30% MF, life leech and can be made into ethereal weapons as it has indestructibility.
- Exile(Vex+Ohm+Ist+Dol) - very good RW for paladins fighting at close range. Exile provides life tap curse on attacks frequently and defiance aura when equipped. Also some other minor bonuses. Best made in shield with a lot of resistances in base because R doesnt have any resistances. Exile can be made in ethereal shields because it has repairs itself.
- Famine(Fal+Ohm+Ort+Jah) - Not really worth making, Famine doesnt provide much with exception of good ED bonus. Cost of Jah and Ohm is simply too high when you can get better RWs for less.
- Gloom(Fal+Um+Pul) - Not really worth making as Smoke or Lionheart will provide same or more for lower runes. Gloom doesnt add much with exception of +45% all resistances and decent Defense.
- Hand of Justice(Sur+Cham+Amn+Lo) - cost of this runweord is quite high for the outcome it provides. Hand of justice has some fighting bonuses and Holy fire aura when equipped which can be stacked together with RW Dragon. Hand of justice can work to create interesting builds if you dont know what to do with runes.
- Heart of the Oak(Ko+Vex+Pul+THul) - best weapon runeword for many caster builds, usualy made in Flail for low requirements. Heart of the oak has resistances, 40% FCR, +3 to all skills and high replenish life. Hoto provides a lot for not so high rune investment.
- Kingslayer(Mal+Um+Gul+Fal) - very decent runeword for the price of Runes in it. Damage is just +230-270% ED, but Kingslayer has 50% OW and 33% CB, which makes it great runeword against bosses. Kingslayer also has +1 to vengeance which could help to create some intersting builds or help to melee characters to deal with physical immune monsters.
- Passion(Dol+Ort+Eld+Lem) - very cheap runeword for melee characters providing solid +160-210% ED, high bonus to AR and Zeal+Berserk skills which can be used by any class. Only downside is that RW is causing monster to flee with 25% chance.
- Prudence(Mal+Tir) - some resistances, defense, FHR and decent +17 MDR. It is not bad RW, but little bit expensive in comparison to other cheaper RWs in armor which have similar bonuses. RW can be made into ethereal armor as it has repairing.
- Sanctuary(Ko+Ko+Mal) - very good RW for shields, providing big bonus 50-70% to all resistances, 20 to dexterity and other bonuses. It can provide huge resistance bonus in proper paladin shields with resistances in base.
- Splendor(Eth+Lum) - RW adding few minor bonuses, honestly not worth making.
- Stone(Shael+Um+Pul+Lum) - high FHR and defense bonus makes this armor usefull for fighter classes, it also adds some resistances and stat atributes.
- Wind(Sur+El) - Not a good runeword, %ED bonus is low and majority of bonuses on Wind just suck. Not worth making.
- Brand(Jah+Lo+Mal+Gul) - quite expensive runeword for missile weapons. It provides very good dmg against demons and has interesting lvl 14 amplify damage when being struck. This can be actualy usefull for some melee builds when it is used on rogue Mercenary.
- Death(Hel+El+Vex+Ort+Gul) - very good RW for melee characters which is not that expensive and provides a lot. Very high +%ED, indestructibility so it can be made into ethereal weapons, CB, DS and 25% to cast glacial spike on attack.
- Destruction(Vex+Lo+Ber+Jah+Ko) - one of the most expensive runewords and complete waste of runes. It has some usefull fightining bonuses but in low numbers, Enhanced damage is good, but thats all. Avoid making this RW honestly.
- Dragon(Sur+Lo+Sol) - quite a expensive runeword for almost nothing as it doesnt offer much, can be used together with hand of justice as Dragon also provides Holy fire aura, but other than that, its pretty useless.
- Dream(Io+Jah+Pul) - little bit better than Dragon and used on auradin build because it can be made into helmet and shield and both provides lvl 15 holy shock aura when equipped.
- Edge(Tir+Tal+Amn) - commonly used because it reduceds all vendor prices by 15%, also not so bad for lower levels as weapon.
- Faith(Ohm+Jah+Lem+Eld) - best runeword for bowazon, providing lvl 12-15 Fanaticism aura, high damage bonus and huge AR bonus 300%. Best made in Amazon bows.
- Fortitude(El+Sol+Dol+Lo) - very good and frequently made runeword by players. I can be created in weapon or Armor. It is usualy made in armor and can be very usefull for any melee character, because it adds +300% enhanced damage and some other minor bonuses. It is also commonly used on Mercenaries.
- Grief(Eth+Tir+Lo+Mal+Ral) - one of the most wanted RWs for fighters, it has incredibly high special +dmg, ignores target defense and some DS with other bonuses. The bonus damage type on grief is special as it is added all dmg types, even to shield damage. That makes grief best smiter weapon by far.
- Harmony(Tir+Ith+Sol+Ko) - quite good and not expensive runeword for missile weapons, it has good ED, elemental dmg, few points to Valkyria skill and great Vigor aura when equipped, increasing your speed significantly. It can be also used on rogue mercenary if you are not amazon yourself to get that nice speed bonus.
- Ice(Amn+Shael+Jah+Lo) - This runeword was most likely made for Amazon focusing cold bow skills. It has nice cold damage and Holy freeze aura when equipped together with some others bonuses but Faith is much better choice than Ice RW.
- Infinity(ber+Mal+Ber+Ist) - frequently used RW for caster classes with elemental damage, because Infinity has Conviction aura when equipped. Also decent damage and some CB and other stuff. Infinity is not cheap but definitely one of the best runewrds you can make which will greatly improve your damage. It is used on mercenary from act 2.
- Inisght(Ral+Tir+Tal+Sol) - great runeword for act 2 mercenary, its decent fighting weapon and has Meditation aura when equipped. Meditation regenerates mana on fast rate so this RW is usefull for pretty much all characters on their mercenary.
- Last Wish(Jah+Mal+Jah+Sur+Jah+Ber) - most expensive RW in game and excelent weapon for any melee fighter. It has Might aura when equipped at lvl 17, high +%ED, chance to activate fade and Life tap and high CB.
- Lawbringer(Amn+Lem+Ko) - strange RW, it has Sanctuary aura when equipped and great 20% chance to cast decrepify on striking. But doesnt have any enhanced dmg, so dmg is rather weak. It can help for some specific situations like running location with many undeads where you use it on act V mercenary. It can be useful for paladins fighting with elemental auras as it can be made into scepters.
- Oath(Shael+Pul+Mal+Um) - very decent runword for fighters, high +%ED, indestructibility and prevent monster heal. Its cheap considering what it has.
- Obedience(Hel+Ko+Thul+Eth+Fal) - this runeword is just absolutly amazing for your ACT II mercenary and super cheap for great properties it has for few low-mid runes. Only weapon base will be little bit harder to get.If you are not rich and mana is not the issue, this is what you want for your mercenary. Obedience has high ED%, FHR, 40% CB, defense, strength, dexterity, all resistances and has even slightly lowered requirements. On on top of all that i cast lvl 21 enchanted when enemy is killed which helps with AR.
- Phoenix(Vex+Vex+Lo+Jah) - very expensive RW, it can be made into weapon or shield. It is waste of runes in weapon but it provide huge 400% enhanced damage when it is made in shield. Phoenix also have redemption aura when equipped which provides mana healing and destroy bodies so its useful.
- Pride(Cham+Sur+Io+Lo) - runeword for polearms providing lvl 16-20 concentration aura. This could be nice for melee characters if it is used on mercenary, but Pride doesnt have +%ED so mercenary wont be so strong with it and also it is not cheap.
- Rift(Hel+Ko+Lem+Gul) - runeword for scepters and polearms, not exactly expensive, but it doesnt provide anything usefull either and it doesnt enhance damage.
- Spirit(Tal+Thul+Ort+Amn) - one of the most used runewords, it can be made at the end of normal or early on nightmare and can be used from lvl 25. It is amazing RW for caster clases like necromancer, sorceress or hammerdin build. I can be made in weapon or shield and It provides FCR, a lot of FHR, +2 skills, mana and vitality.
- Voice of Reason(Lem+Ko+El+Eld) - rarely used RW but it can have provide solid weapon for auradins in early stage of the game as it is rather cheap. It doesnt have +%ED but it has various bonuses focused on cold damage.
- Wrath(Pul+Lum+Ber+mal) - runeword for missile weapons. it has +% damage against demons and undeads but not normal +%ED which makes it not exactly good weapon. It has interesting Life tap and decrepify chance on attacking but thats its. It could be used for ACT I mercenary to provide support to your melee characters because of life tap and decrepify but it is honestly better to use Ber run in something else.
- Bone(Sol+Um+Um) - good runeword, but cost it little bit too high with two Um runes. It is designed for necromancer and it adds a lot of mana, +2 necromancer skills, some resistances and little bit of protection with bone armor cast when struck
- Enlightenment(Pul+Ral+Sol) - runeword for sorceress adding +2 sorc skills and other bonuses which are not so great. It is good if you need more + skills, but other than that its not so useful.
- Myth(Hel+Amn+Nef) - cheap but not so good one, it has +2 barbarian skills, but everything else is kind of bad.
- Peace(Shael+Thul+Amn) - chaep RW, adding +2 amazon skills, FHR and +2 to critical strike.
- Principle(Ral+Gul+El) - +2 paladin skills, a lot of +Life and fire resist. Honestly not worth making as it cost Gul rune which can be more useful elsewhere.
- Rain(Ort+Mal+Ith) - runeword designed for druid, useful mostly for ele druid, but honestly not bad even for Energy shield sorc because of high mana bonus.
- Treachery(Shael+Thul+Lem) - very usefull runeword. It is designed for assassin but it is good for any fighter or mercenary as it has +45% attack speed and fade and chance to fact Fade, improving damage reduction and resistances.
PRICES OF RUNEWORDS
Generaly speaking is price of runeword based on 3 things: roll of properties on runeword, base items where was runeword made and value of runes in the RW. Some RWs can lose value when they are made in not good item base or when they have bad roll of properties. On other hand well rolled RWs can get a lot more expensive and also desirable item base +% enhanced damage/defense can make price even higher. As you can see above, Diablo 2 has a lot of runewords but only some are traded frequently generaly speaking so I will talk about their prices.
- Ancient’s Pledge - preferably made in Large shield for lower requirements having basicly zero value as both base and runes are easy to get. Good rolled in paladin shield with resist can have some little value.
- Leaf - used for leveling or low level pvp so base weapon with good roll with +skills might be wort something for certain people.
- Memory - can be even worth Ohm if it is made in weapon base with +3 Energy shield.
- White - price might go higher if it is made in good base wand +desired skills.
- Bramble - +Poison damage roll on it will affect the price.
- Breath of the Dying - price will be affected by weapon base and +%ED roll
- Call to Arms - best made in crystal sword, roll of Battle orders skill 1-6 highly affects the price. Bad roll can decrease value to just 2 Ists but good roll +6 can be worth Ber or Jah.
- Enigma - price is only affected by final defense of armor and base armor where it is made. Elite Light armor types are preferable and nice roll with +15%ED can increase vale by 1 High rune.
- **Heart of the Oak - prefearbly made in Flail, price will be decided by +all resistance roll. 30-32% will be worth 2 ist, 33-35% 4 Ist, 36-39% 7-9 Ist and 40% can be worth Lo.
- Fortitude - price will depend on stats and armor base and can go from 7 Ists up to 2 high runes.
- Grief - preferably made in Phase blade or Berserker axe, added +damage has pretty wide range so it will affect price the most. Low griefs can go for 8-10 Ist, mid rolls 13 Ists and higher rolls can have value of several high runes. Perfect rolls with +15% ED base weapon are considered as one of the most expensive thing in diablo 2.
- Infinity - price is decided by +%ED roll and weapon base. Even bad roll is still very valuable because of Conviction aura so price might go from 2 HR for bad roll up to 4 high rune for good rolls +desirable weapon type.
- Inisght* - Price is decided by meditation aura level, weapon base and +%ED. Well rolled Insight can go even for several Ist runes.
- Spirit - Spirit in Crystal sword can go to Pul-Ist, based on FCR. Spirit in monarch can go for Um-2 Ist, perfect one or with +ED% even 4 Ist.
UNIQUE HELMS
UNIQUE NORMAL HELMS
Biggin’s Bonet
Good low level helm, worth wearing and keeping for leveling new character or even for low level PvP. Can be usualy sold for few Pgems.
Tarnhelm
Good for nice MF bonus 25-50%, GF and +1 all skills, valuable at start of season for MF bonus. Price might go from Pgems up to even Mal if it is good roll. Tarnhelm will lose value fast as people will start using shako on their MF characters.
Coif of Glory
Better than nothing, but has no value or good usage.
Duskdeep
very nice helm with resistance, DR and + maximum dmg for fighter builds. Also good on mercenary. Can be used on low lvl pvp builds or PK char. Duskdeep drops often and has basicly no value, you might get like 1-3 pgems if someone is asking for it.
Howltusk
Not an interesting helm, not worth using unless you are playing bowazon and want to keep monster from touching you. Howltusk has no value.
The Face of Horror
Not completely useless helm as it has all resist and decent Strength boost, but 50% chance that monster will flee is not desirable unless you play bowazon. Face of Horror has no value.
Undead Crown
Nice starting helm for Summoning necromancer because of +3 to skeleton mastery. Can be also used for mercenary because it has life leech. Undead crown has basicly no value but you might get some perfect gems for her early in season.
Wormskull
+1 to necromancer skill some some life leech, can be used for necromance or mercenary early on. Wormskull has no value.
UNIQUE EXCEPTIONAL HELMS
Peasant Crown
Nice helm for mostly caster builds, has good bonus to vitality and energy and +1 to skills. Usualy can go for few Pgems but very early in ladder can go even for Lem or Pul. It completely lose value after few weeks.
Rockstopper
Great helm mostly used for character fighting at close range, resistances can be quite high on it and also had nice 10% damage reduction. FHR and 15 vitality is also nice. Since the Defense on it is decent, well rolled Rockstopper could be even worth upgrading to elite version. Price will depends on resistances roll and can go from few Pgems up to pul.
Stealskull
Helm for fighters with some fighting properties and MF bonus 30-50%. Worth upgrading to elite version as Stealskull has quite high Enhanced defense. Ethereal Stealskull is also good for mercenary. Price usualy depends on MF roll and since it can provide up to 74% MF together with P.topaz, price might go even up to 1-3 Ist for high rolls. Low MF rolls are less desirable and can be worth few Pgems-Mal. Stealskull might be little bit harder to sell as most people do caster classes for MF and use shako instead.
Darksight Helm
Not that great helm as it doesnt offer much, but it has cannot be frozen and that is rarely seen on items.
Valkyrie Wing
Decent helm for amazon as it can have +1-2 amazon skills, some FHR and FRW and thats pretty much it. Could be sold at start of season for few Pgems, after that it has no value.
Blackthorn’s Face
Nice useful situational helm. It grants great protection against souls as it has +20 Lightning absorb. Preferably used for sorceress on hardcore when teleporting baalruns and facing souls. Blackthorn doesnt have much value tho, it may go for few Pgems, even runes like Fal/Ko/lem early in season but mostly only on hardcore.
Crown of Thieves
Great helm for mercenary because it has quite high Life leech and can be also used as part of Gold find Gear because of 80-100% GF. Price usualy can go from few pgems to Pul rune. Since it is usualy used on mercenary, ethereal version is much more valuable and good rolls with Life leech(11-13%) and 190% ED + can go even for 1-3 Ist. Perfectly rolled can go for HR.
Vampire Gaze
Another very good helm for mercenary because of life leech and damage reduction, also used often for Zealer paladin. Price can go from Pul-Um, 8/8/20 roll for Ist and ethereal version with high roll can go even for HR+.
UNIQUE ELITE HELMS
Harlequin Crest
One of the most wanted helm in game because it is end game equip for almost every character build focused on magic find. Helm is usualy called as just “Shako” and has several great properties. Price of Shako is very high at start of season where it can go even for Ohm and price will gradualy go down over weeks as many players will have it eventualy. End price usualy can be only Ist or Mal.
Steelshade
Pretty useless helm, it has decent life replenish but thats not enough to be good. There is also fire absorb which can be helpfull in some specific situations like Tranvical farming where you face hydra skill, but generaly speaking has steelshade no value, 1-2 Pgems if you will be lucky.
Veil of Steel
Definitely not bad helm stat vise as it has +50 all resistances, but required strength 192 make it very hard to use. Value of Veil of Steel is nothing to few Pgems.
Nightwing’s Veil
Considered as end game equip for cold sorceress. Its valuable because of +8-15% cold damage, +2 all skills and nice dexterity bonus. Unlike Veil of steel can be Nightwing used just fine because of lowered requirements. Usual price is Pul-Mal for worse rolls, Ist-Vex+ for higher rolls. Most desirable stat is obviously +% cold damage.
Andariel’s Visage
One of the best choices for mercenary or even melee character because of several good fighter properties like IAS, Life leech and Strength. Usualy socketed with Ral to negate negative fire resistance penalty. Worse rolls can cost Um-Mal, 30/10 1-2 Ist and very good rolls with high +%ED several Ist. Because it is mostly used for mercenary, Ethereal version is much more valuable and price based on stats goes from 5+ Ist up to several HRs.
Crown of Ages
Best helm for Zealer paladin, +1 skills, all resistances, 30% FHR, % damage reduction and can have 1-2 sockets. Crown of Ages is one of the most rare items and is hard to find. For price is most important number of sockets. Rolls with only one socket can go for 1-3 Ist based on other stats but 2 sockets can increase price to 7-8 Ist. Very good rolls with 2 sockets and 15% damage reduction can cost 2 or more HRs.
Giant skull
Rare helm, but not so valuable. It has 10% CB a lot of strength and also have 1-2 sockets. Sadly it has knockback, which is not desirable ability for many characters. It can be used on mercenary with some good jewels in it which will improve it. Price for rolls with 1 sockets will go for Pgems-Pul, good rolls can increase value to Mal-Ist.
Kira’s Guardian
Very usefull for mercenary because of a lot of resistances and cannot be frozen ability. Price can go from Lem-Mal, roll with +70% all resist for even Ist.
Griffon’s Eye
Very rare item used mostly by Javazon or Light sorc. Very valuable for rare +%Lighting damage and -% enemy lightning resist. Price depends on roll of these two stats. Worse rolls usualy goes for 4-6 Ist, 15% light dmg for 8-10 Ist and perfect 20/15 can have price of 3-4 High runes.
UNIQUE BARBARIAN HELMS
Arreat’s Face
Helm for almost every Barbarian build, life leech and +%ED stats are variable and they will decide price of Arreat’s Face. Price can go from Lem-Mal for rolls below 195% ED and based on Life leech. Higher rolls have price of 1-6 Ist. Perfecly rolled one can go even for HR.
Wolfhowl
Special helm which allow using tranformation to werewolf. Wolfhowl has 8 different properties which roll differently so price has wide range from Lem for bad roll up to Lo for perfect roll.
Demonhorn’s Edge
Can be used if you dont have Arreat’s Face, but it cant really compete with it so this helm has practicly no value and could be maybe sold for few pgems.
Halaberd’s Reign
Rarest Barbrian helm but not a good one as it doesnt offer much. Has no value.
UNIQUE DRUID HELMS
Jalal’s Mane
Great helm for any melee druid but can be of course used even by elemental druid unless you have better helm. +%ED is only stat affecting price and it can go from few Pgems up to Um.
Cerebus’ Bite
Druid helm for melee builds, huge boost to attack rating, OW and life leech. Also some shapeshift skills. Low rolls have little value, but high rolls can be usualy sold for Pul-Um.
Ravenlore
Helm for elemental build but it offer only +1 more ele skills with comparison to Jalal’s Mane so its not really that valuable. Price can go from Pgems up to Pul.
Spirit Keeper
Not very useful, it has interesting double absorb, but I dont really understand why when druid have elemental shield absorbing dmg anyway. I guess lightning absorb can be helpfull against souls, but Spirit keeper has basicly zero value or just few Pgems.
UNIQUE ARMORS
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/d2r/t/unique-armor-pricingvalue-guide/58833
UNIQUE GLOVES
UNIQUE BELTS
