I know it’s been said that Runewords might be added at some point in the future in Diablo 4. In my opinion they could be added like this or similar to this.
- A socketed white item as this would make white items interesting
- Requires runes found as loot in the end game
- Can only be forged in Hell’s or Heaven’s Forge
- Are challenging to forge at the location. For example when forging it would make an explosion killing everything around it unless you have a lot of life or armor stacked, it is time based somehow or there are hordes of demons (Hell) preventing you from forging it so your chances of actually forging one are 1/100
- The looks of the item is chosen at the forge
- You can only equip 1 runeword item (this would prevent you from becoming a god or builds being all about runewords)
- You give the item its name with a prefix and a suffix
- Its an item that gives you a boost in power, but your power doesn’t rely on it
- And last, its for the end game at the highest difficulty only
I believe this would make forging these item an epic, difficult and memorable moment to look for.
This is just an idea. feel free to comment below any ideas you may have about end game content!
I think it would be interesting if the runes were placed directly onto your body instead of items. Using the rune to inscribe the rune on yourself consumes the rune. As before, individual effects are applied to that body slot, but runeword combinations are still possible, and the stats gained appear as a tooltip in the center of the inventory over your character’s body portrait. You can toggle full visibility of the body portrait back and forth. Alternatively, there’s always a “Runeword” slot visible which shows your current active runeword if you restrict it to one runeword per character (probably more sensible)
Using Enigma Runeword as an example: Runes Jah Ith Ber. Jah is inscribed onto the head, Ith onto the neck (via amulet slot), Ber onto the body. They leave behind rune “word” tattoos which change your appearance based on the power of the runeword. If it’s an angelic style runeword, gain angelic style rune markings on your body. Demonic, then demonic markings, etc. Some special runewords can have further effects like paths of flame or ice. A cloak of shadows. Ethereal appearance, etc. The visual effects of runewords can also be transmogged but at significant cost. Lower power runewords may only provide a very small visual accessory.
Gear and runewords aren’t dependent on each other, so you could technically inscribe a runeword on to a naked character. Only one rune mark per slot can be inscribed. If it’s a long runeword, you might be limited to just one rune effect on your body. If there are two shorter ones, you might gain two.
By separating the runeword system from item system, you retain the value of gems, whose value in Diablo 2 were reduced to nothing when runes became a thing.
1 Like
I like the idea of having runewords that also change your appearance. That could be fun.