New Diablo 2: Resurrected players are often recommended to use the Spirit Runeword as soon as they can. This is because it's made up of some of the easiest Runes to obtain during the early stages of building up a character. It's also a great pick for endgame caster builds.
To create Spirit in Diablo 2: Resurrected, players need to find or make four specific Runes and insert them into a piece of equipment that has 4 empty sockets. This guide will detail how to get and make these Runes, and when players can get their hands on a 4-socket piece of equipment.
Updated on December 15th, 2021 by Hodey Johns: The Spirit Runeword is incredibly popular and there is a good reason this guide is getting as much traction as it has been getting. Considering that Runewords can take weeks of farming unless players know exactly what and where to farm, it felt like it was a good time to make this guide more accessible. This guide has been updated with more stats, some relevant images, and easier-to-read entries for players who know what they want, they just need a few directions with where and how to get the items in question.
What The Spirit Runeword Is
The Spirit Runeword is a four-socket shield with the following statistics:
- +2 To All Skills
- +25-35% Faster Cast Rate
- +55% Faster Hit Recovery
- +250 Defense Against Missiles
- +22 Vitality
- +89-112 To Mana
- +3-8 Magic Absorb
- +35% Cold Resist
- +35% Lightning Resist
- +35% Poison Resist
- +14 Damage To Attackers
- +3-8 Absorb Magic
The Spirit Shield benefits casters like the Lightning Sorceress build in Diablo 2: Resurrected, but is used for many other builds as well, thanks to its resistances and +2 to all skills perk.
How To Get Spirit Runeword
To make the Spirit Runeword, players will need to acquire a Tal, Thul, Ort, and Amn Rune, then insert them into a 4-socket piece of equipment while their character is Level 25 or above. While the Spirit Sword is good for some early builds, Spirit is used after finding a 4-socket Spirit Shield in Diablo 2: Resurrected. Unless playing as a Paladin, a shield with the required sockets cannot be obtained until playing on Hell difficulty.
Where To Get The Runes
Of course, it takes a little bit of luck to find every Rune, but when players know where to farm up, it shouldn't take too long, especially for gamers who have already defeated all of the difficult bosses already.
The Tal Rune
Tal is one of the easiest Runes to get in Diablo 2, and by the end of a Normal playthrough, players will almost certainly have one in their stash as long as they haven't been selling Runes. If they have been sold, a Tal Rune can be easily found by doing Countess runs.
This involves going to the Black Marsh in Act 1, and locating the entrance to the Forgotten Tower. The Countess can then be found on the fifth level. She can drop Tal after she is defeated while playing on any difficulty.
The Thul Rune
Unlike Tal, Thul can only drop from defeating the Countess on Nightmare or Hell difficulty. This doesn't mean players need to wait until Nightmare to get a Thul Rune, however, as it can be made by transmuting 3 Ort Runes with a recipe using the Horadric Cube, which changes them into a Thul Rune.
The Ort Rune
The Ort Rune can also only drop on Nightmare or Hell difficulty. Or, it can be made by transmuting 3 Ral Runes in the Horadric Cube. Ral can easily drop from doing Countess runs on any difficulty. Additionally, completing the 'Rescue on Mount Arreat' quest in Act 5 will reward 1 Ral, Ort, and Tal Rune, just be prepared to fight the super unique monsters in that area.
The Amn Rune
The Amn Rune in Diablo 2 can be obtained by defeating the Countess on Nightmare or Hell difficulty. It can also be made in the Horadric Cube, but it can take a long time to do this, as 3 Thul Runes are needed to make it, and each Thul Rune needs 3 Ort Runes to make. As mentioned above, each Ort Rune needs 3 Ral Runes to make. It's a long process, and unless players have a lot of spare Runes, they might just want to do Countess runs on Nightmare to save some time.
Diablo 2: Resurrected was released on September 23rd, 2021, and is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.