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Rune Facts Runes can be found in Diablo II Expansion games.  Runes can be inserted in socketed items to give the item magical properties.  Certain combinations of Runes, when inserted into an item in the correct sequence to create a Rune Word, give the item additional magic properties. Mercenaries can wear RuneWord Items and get the benefits as well. The most common runes can be upgraded to the next higher rune. Combine three of the same Runes in the cube; this only works for Runes: El, Eld, Tir, Nef, Eth, Ith, Tal, Ral, Ort. Some of the runes can be updated using Horadric Cube recipes. Check the Horadric Cube Recipe Page for details OK, the debate goes on. One of the continuing mysteries of Diablo II is "How many El's are there in a Zod?" Admit it, you stay awake some nights, wondering about it, don't ya? Oh, please. I know you do! So I was originally told that there are "1,144,561,273,430,840,000,000,000,000,000 El runes in a Zod rune". Richard wrote in to tell me that this number is about a billion-billion times too large. He said that the correct formula is as follows: 1 Eld = 3 El (or 1 * (3 to-the-power of 1)) 1 Tir = 9 El (or 1 * (3 to-the-power of 2)) 1 Nef = 27 El (or 1 * (3 to-the-power of 3)) This means to get to a single Pul rune you need 3,486,784,401 (or 1 * (3 to-the-power of 20)) El. From there you need two of each rune, up to Zod. 1 Um = 6,973,568,802 El (or 3,486,784,401 * (2 to-the-power of 1)) 1 Mal = 13,947,137,604 El (or 3,486,784,401 * (2 to-the-power of 2)) 1 Gul = 27,894,275,208 El (or 3,486,784,401 * (2 to-the-power of 3)) Bottom line, this means to get to a Zod rune you need 14,281,868,906,496 (or 3,486,784,401 * (2 to-the-power of 12)) El (plus assorted chipped to flawless gems). Andrew wrote in to say that he got a different number. The way that it was figured it out, was by raising 3 to the power of whatever rune you wanted to find. (3 to the power of one for an Eld, 3 to the power of 2 for Tir...etc) So he counted all of the runes, and including the El, there are 33 of them. Therefore, to find how many El's there are in a Zod, you raise 3 to the power of 32. When he did this, this is the number that he got: 1,853,020,188,851,841. And now, the final word from James, who not only plays DII, but also contemplates the number of El's in a Zod, while supervising race tracks in the desert (talk about multi-tasking!!). James wrote to let me know that Richard is wrong, and that although Andrew's formula is correct, his final answer is wrong. The correct calculation would be 3 to the 32nd power, which comes out to be: 1,853,929,019,000,000. That's a heck of a lot of El runes, if you ask me. To tell you the truth, I simply don't know; math was never my strong subject. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Richard, Andrew, James and everyone else who has taken the time to figure this out. Now quit wasting time playing math games, and get back to playing DII!!!! Looking for Rune Words? Here's the Rune Word List Runes are listed in order, from most common to least common Rune Name/Image Weapon Helm/Armor/Shield Character Level El +50 to attack rating, +1 to Light Radius +15 Defense, +1 to Light Radius 11 Eld 75% Damage to Undead, +50 to Attack Rating against Undead 15% Stamina Drained per Hit (Armor) Increased Chance of Blocking (shields) 11 Tir +2 to Mana per Kill +2 to Mana per Kill 13 Nef Knockback +30 Defense vs. Missles 13 Eth -25% Target Defense 15% Regenerate Mana 15 Ith +9 to Maximum Damage 15% Damage Taken goes to Mana 15 Tal +75 Poison Damage for 5 seconds 30% Poison Resist (Armor) 35% Poison Resist (Shields) 17 Ral +5-30 Fire Damage 30% Fire Resist (Armor) 35% Fire Resist (Shields) 19 Ort +1-50 Lightning Damage 30% Lightning Resist (Armor) 35% Lightning Resist (Shields) 21 Thul +3-14 Cold Damage 30% Cold Resist (Armor) 35% Cold Resist (Shields) 23 Amn 7% Life Stolen per Hit Attacker takes damage of 14 25 Sol +9 to Minimum Damage Damage reduced by 7 27 Shael 20% Increased Attack Speed 20% Faster Hit Recovery (Armor) 20% Faster Block (Shields) 29 Dol Hit causes Monster to Flee 25% +7 Replenish Life 31 Hel -20% Requirements -15% Requirements 33 Io +10 to Vitality +10 to Vitality 35 Lum +10 to Energy +10 to Energy 37 Ko +10 to Dexterity +10 to Dexterity 39 Fal +10 to Strength +10 to Strength 41 Lem 75% Extra Gold from Monsters 50% Extra Gold from Monsters 43 Pul +75% Damage to Demons, +100 Attack Rating agains Demons +30% Enhanced Defense 45 Um 25% Chance of Open Wounds 15% to all Resistances (Armor) 22% to all Resistances (Shields) 47 Mal Prevent Monster Heal Magic Damage reduced by 7 49 Ist 30% Chance of getting Magic Items 25% Chance of getting Magic Items 51 Gul +20% to Attack Rating 5% to Maximum Posion Resist 53 Vex 7% Mana stolen per Hit 5% to Maximum Fire Resist 55 Ohm +50% Enhanced Damage 5% to Maximum Cold Resist 57 Lo 20% Deadly Strike 5% to Maximum Lightning Resist 59 Sur Hit Blinds Target +5% to Maximum Mana (Armor) +50 to Mana (Shields) 61 Ber 20% Chance of Crushing Blow Damage reduced by 8% 63 Jah Ignores Target's Defense +5% to Maximum Life (Armor/Helms) +50 to Life (Shields) 65 Cham Freezes Target Cannot be Frozen 67 Zod Indestructible Indestructible 69 BLIZZARD and DiabloII are trademarks of Blizzard The Diablo II Tomb of Knowledge is a member of the Blizzard Authorized Fansite Database Send mail to the webmistress with questions or comments about this web site. 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