Last time, we explored the Rune Words that are extremely helpful in the early game. By now, you should be strong enough to explore the boundaries of Hell. However, the punishing -100% all resist in Hell mode would prevent you from getting too far unless you have the proper equipment.

If you haven’t farmed enough items for your journey, you’ll see your mercenary get ground to pieces in no time, and you’d often get one-shot yourself as well. Starting from Act 2, it’ll be near impossible to move forward, so you would have to farm places with high Treasure Class to gain better items. In those places, higher runes are dropped — although still very rare. So here are some endgame and hell Rune Words to help you through Hell.

As much as most of these Runes are very hard to obtain, a lot of them are literally endgame items. The most popular items among these Rune Words are Enigma, which enables any character to use Teleport, Infinity, which reduces enemies resist by a big margin, and Call to Arms, which grants Barbarian Warcry skills.

So without further ado, we bring to you 15 endgame and hell Rune Words for Diablo 2: Resurrected.

Enigma (Body Armors) - Jah + Ith + Ber

+2 to all Skills, chance to find magic items, damage reduction, and strength stats — the item itself is already pretty good, but the biggest reason Enigma is great is that it grants Teleport. Any class character can use Teleport as long as their mana allows with just this item, and therefore, is considered the best Rune Word item.

The most common item used to make Enigma is Mage Plates, Dusk Shrouds, and Archon Plates, as their minimum strength requirements are low. 

Grief (Swords, Axes) - Eth + Tir + Lo + Mal + Ral

Grief increases the damage of the weapon up to 400, increases the attack speed up to 40%, and has ignore target’s defense, so it’s considered one of the best weapons for melee characters. 

The base item varies by character. Barbarians mostly use Zweihanders, Colossus Blades, or Berserker Axes. Smite Paladins mostly use Phase Blade which has fast attack speed.

Last Wish (Swords, Axes, Hammers) - Jah + Mal + Jah + Sur + Jah + Ber

Last Wish needs three Jah runes which are very hard to get, but compared to the value of the runes, its options are somewhat “meh”. Among the guaranteed options, crushing blow, life tap, fade, and ignore target’s defense are great, but the damage is low, and it doesn’t have any attack speed options. Also, the Might Aura overlaps with the Act 2 mercenaries.

Due to this, Last Wish is mostly used by Smite Paladins. Smite isn’t affected by the weapon damage and critical blow options, and it’s easy to manage the auras — therefore Smite Paladins are the best class to clear the Pandemonium Event. Last Wish is mostly worked on Phase Blade.

Infinity (Polearms) - Ber + Mal + Ber + Ist

Equipping Infinity grants a level 12 Conviction Aura which reduces the defense of surrounding enemies by 83% and the resist by 85%. Besides that, it prevents monsters from healing, HP by level, and crushing blow. It’s mostly used on Sorceresses’ or Necromancers’ mercenaries who need to deal with Hell monsters’ resists. The most used base items are Giant Thresher, Cryptic Axe, and Great Poleaxe.

Fortitude (Weapons, Body Armors) - El + Sol + Dol + Lo

Fortitude is used more on armors than on weapons. It has high defense stats and resists, so it’s mostly used on the armor for mercenaries. Besides that, Barbarians, Amazons, and Druids use it because of the +300% enhanced damage option.

For Barbarians, the most used base item is Sacred Armors. Amazons use Wire Fleeces, Archon Plates, and Dusk Shrouds. Additionally, it’s better for mercenaries if the base item is ethereal.

Phoenix (Weapons, Off-hand Armors) - Vex + Vex + Lo + Jah

Phoenix is more used on off-hand armors than on weapons. As it has a Redemption Aura, it’s easier to gain HP and mana. Another feature of Phoenix is that it has enhanced damage despite being a shield.

The classes that use Phoenix the most are Lightning Sorceresses and Javelin Amazons. For the base item, Monarchs are the most popular.

Doom (Axes, Hammers, Polearms) - Hel + Ohm + Um + Lo + Cham

Doom has +2 to all skills and it can decrease up to 60% cold resist on enemies. It also has the Holy Freeze aura, so it helps to survive from evil. It’s mostly used by Blizzard Sorceresses and Elemental Druids, but as Doom doesn’t have a Faster Cast Rate option, it’s more popular among Druids. For the base item, the Berserker Axe is the most popular. 

Breath of the Dying (Weapons) - Vex + Hel + El + Eld + Zod + Eth

On Breath of the Dying, it has dual steal options — hp and mana, so it makes it easier to set up the items. Also, as one of the runes needed is Zod, it’s indestructible, and this means you can use an ethereal weapon for this rune word. It’s mostly used on two-handed weapons or spears. For one-handed weapons, Grief has higher DPS.

Breath of the Dying is mostly used by Barbarians, Wolf Druids, and Spear Amazons. For the base item, ethereal Giant Threshers and Colossus Blades are preferred. Besides them, Thunder Mauls, Great Poleaxes, or Ghost Spears are used as well.

Call to Arms (Weapons) - Amn + Ral + Mal + Ist + Ohm

Call to Arms is an item that enables all classes to use Barbarians’ Battle Command, Battle Orders, and Battle Cry. To increase the effect, it’s good to have Spirit, charms, or whatever items that increase all skill levels. This is the endgame swap weapon for all classes.

The most popular base Item is Crystal Sword, as it has low requirements to equip. Paladins sometimes use it on Scepters. The runes needed for Call to Arms are quite expensive, but the skills it gives are quite random. Battle Command is 2-6, Battle Orders is 1-6, and Battle Cry is 1-4. Among these, the Battle Orders stat is the most important.

Chains of Honor (Armors) - Dol + Um + Ber + Ist

The biggest features for Chains of Honor are the +2 to all skills and +65 all resist. It’s mostly used by Sorceresses, who don’t need to use Enigma, as they can learn Teleport. Compared to Enigma, the life stats or chance to find magic items is lower, but the high resist makes it easier to set up other equipment.

Dusk Shrouds or Archon Plates are the most popular base items, and it’s one of the few Rune Word items that have all options fixed.

Exile (Paladin Shield) - Vex + Ohm + Ist + Dol

Exile is a Rune Word dedicated to Paladins. It has the Defiance Aura, Life Tap, and additional Offensive Auras skill. It’s mostly used by Smite Paladins and is usually worked on Sacred Targes, Sacred Rondaches, Kurast Shields, Zakarum Shields, or Vortex Shields. As it has the repairs durability option, ethereal shields can be used.

It’s a great shield overall, but it doesn’t have an all-resistance option. Because of that, when you look for shields to work Exile on, make sure you find a good Paladin Shield with decent all-resistance stats.

Heart of the Oak (Staves, Maces) - Ko + Vex + Pul + Thul

As staves are two-handed weapons, it’s not as good, so Heart of the Oak is mostly worked on Maces. The +3 to All Skills, +40% faster cast rate, and the all resistances bonus makes it one of the endgame weapons for Hammer Paladins, Summoner Necromancers, etc.

Mostly, Flails, Knouts, and Scourges are used, but Knouts and Scourges are more expensive to repair, so it’s most recommended to work Heart of the Oak on Flails.

Faith (Missile Weapons) - Ohm + Jah + Lem + Eld

All Skills, enhanced damage, attack rating, ignore target’s defense, all resistances… There are plenty of good options on Faith. It even has a Fanaticism Aura, so Faith is considered an endgame weapon for Bow Amazons. Popular base items are Grand Matron Bows and Matriarchal Bows.

Beast (Axes, Hammers, Scepters) - Ber + Tir + Um + Mal + Lum

With a level 9 Fanaticism Aura, players can gain additional attack speed and attack rating. It’s mostly used by Summoner Necromancers to strengthen their minions. The most used base item is Berserker Axes.

Pride (Polearms) - Cham + Sur + Io + Lo

Obviously, gaining the Concentration Aura is a great option on a polearm. It’s mostly given to Act 2 mercenaries that have the Might Aura, and it’s used to increase damage to the maximum level. Compared to Insight or Infinity, its DPS is lower, so it depends on what the players prefer.