Single runes can drop anywhere within Diablo 2: Resurrected, starting in Normal difficulty through to Hell difficulty. Runes are a socketable D2R items cheap, as gems are, so you can place them in socketed gear to receive their effects. However, the real value of runes happens when they are combined with a set order to create an item. Runewordsas they're known, are some of the most powerful items available in the game, and are right ahead of established items and specials. The complete list of runewords is available in the next section.

Runes are also used in specific Horadric Cube recipes. In particular, you could mix an Ral rune with a damaged piece of gear to repair it. This is a great option to use when you're short of gold and aren't able to pay for repairs from a seller. Runes may also be put together in the Horadric Cube.

This is popularly referred to "cubing to" and is a typical method to gain access to the next rune without the need to hunt for this in nature. For instance, if you are carrying three El runes but need an Eld rune, put three El runes in the Cube and press the transmute key. The result will be an Eld rune. This upgrade recipe is contained in the rune chart to the left.

The quest for Hellforge found in Act 4 will always drop some runes. It is frequently used to pay for the speed of the scene. The Countess's room buy diablo 2 resurrected items, in the bottom of the Forgotten Tower in Act 1's Black Marsh, is another fantastic source of runes.