Diablo 4: Vessel Of Hatred Has Added Runewords, And They’re Game-Changers

Runewords, and not “Rude words” like you thought, are a new mechanic in Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred, letting you add new customizable, conditional buffs to your equipment. These socketable items can be dropped by enemies and chests across Diablo IV—here’s how to find them and use them.

What Are Rune Words?

Runewords are a new breed of stones that you can slot into your equipment in order to gain skills that are otherwise only available to other classes. You’ll find them in the second tab of your inventory, labeled “Socketables,” and they come in two halves, which you can mix and match to create a wide variety of bonus effects.

To use a Runeword, you’ll need to have a piece of equipment with two empty sockets in it (one socket to hold each half of the Runeword), one Rune of Ritual, and one Rune of Invocation.

How Do I Build Runewords?

Yellow ‘Runes Of Ritual’ represent the top half of the Runeword, and they will specify an action you will need to take. “Zan,” for example, tasks you with “Casting an Ultimate skill.” What will happen when you do? You’ll determine that with the other half of the Runeword; the Rune Of Invocation.

Runes of Invocation are purple, and they represent the bottom half of the Runeword. They specify the reward you’ll get for taking the action listed on the Rune Of Ritual that is attached to it. For example, “Ton” invokes the Sorcerer’s Meteorites, dealing damage to enemies.

When put together in an item, these two create the Runeword “ZanTon,” which summons Meteorites whenever you cast an Ultimate skill. Another useful Runeword I made is “CemTal” or “Acrobatic Locusts,” which automatically casts the Spiritborn’s “Pestilent Swarm” every second time I use Evade.

How Do I Use Runewords?

After you place both the Rune of Ritual and Rune of Invocation in your two-socketed item, a purple icon will appear above your action bar. What you’ll need to do to activate them will depend on the specific Runeword you created, but if it requires multiple actions, the purple icon will start to fill up as you make progress towards completing the Rune action.

With CemTal, for example, I used Evade one time, and you can see that the purple icon is half full. The next time I use Evade, it will activate, casting ‘Pestilent Swarm.’ If you don’t see a purple icon, something is wrong, so head to the Jeweler and Unsocket the Runes and try again.

How Do I Get More Runes?

Just like other items, you’ll be able to look Runes from enemies, chests, and the like. There are tons of Runes out there, with many different effects, so experiment and figure out the Runewords that are best for you. Good hunting!