Diablo 2, being a classic CRPG, has a lot of different mechanics. If you didn’t grow up playing this game, some of them might be a bit esoteric. And even if you did play it, it may have been a long time. So in that case, let’s go over something that seems a lot of players don’t know about. Sockets and item enhancement are one of the more important areas to learn. Without properly upgraded gear, higher difficulties become much harder.
One of the key things to remember is that upgrade Runes take up slots. If you want to make a Runeword for a certain effect, you need to have a number of free slots equal to the number of runes in the recipe. So if you want to add Fury to a weapon, you need to add Jah, Gul and Eth, in that order. But first, you need to have the right number of sockets.
How to add sockets to items in Diablo 2 Resurrected
There are two ways to add sockets to items in Diablo 2 Resurrected. The most common way is to head to the vendor Larzuk in the Act V town. The number of sockets Larzuk puts in your items depends on the rarity and item level.
- Unique, Set, and Rare items – 1 Socket
- Magic items – 1-2 Sockets (random)
- White/Grey items – Maximum amount of sockets based on item level
When calculating item level, remember that item level is based on the level of the monster that dropped the item. This scales with difficulty, so higher difficulty means higher area level. So on Hell difficulty, Act 1 can have area levels of 67 and higher. The item level in this case would be 67+. Use this page on the D2 wiki to check item levels if you want to learn them all.
Use this page on the D2 Wiki to see the master list of item levels by item type, thus the maximum number of sockets.
Adding Sockets via Horadric Cube
Another way to add sockets to items in Diablo 2 Resurrected is by using a specific Horadric Cube recipe. You may only use these on White and Grey rarity tiers.
Here are the recipes to add a socket to an item with the Cube:
- Body Armor: Tal Rune + Thul Rune + Perfect Topaz + Normal Armor
- Weapon: Ral Rune + Amn Rune + Perfect Amethyst + Normal Weapon
- Helm: Ral Rune + Thul Rune + Perfect Sapphire + Normal Helm
- Shield: Tal Rune + Amn Rune + Perfect Ruby + Normal Shield
Sockets are limited by the item level, so not all weapons or armor will get the maximum number of sockets.
When learning all this, it’s a great idea to understand how the Runewords work; that way, you can make the effect your want with those shiny new sockets. Let’s say you want to make a set of Stealth Armor, you will need to know the Rune recipe that uses those items.
There are plenty of other things to learn about in this reimagined game. The Shrines seem to be confusing some players, for example.