Runes and Sockets

#Sockets

Some weapons, helms, body armour and shields drop with sockets: empty holes, shown as dark circles under the item's properties. Gloves, boots, rings and amulets never take sockets.

• Plain (normal) items drop socketed about 30% of the time, with anything from one socket to the most their base can hold.
• Magic items sometimes have one or two (12%).
• Rares and uniques never have sockets.

Better bases hold more: a bronze sword takes at most two, an emberforged sabre four, and the great two-handed bows and staves up to five. Every base's page shows its maximum.

#Adding sockets: the Hollowing Awl

A Hollowing Awl bores one more socket into a normal or magic item, up to its base's maximum. The item must be identified, not corrupted, and not have any runes in it yet. Monsters drop awls now and then (champions and bosses more often), and smiths can forge them at an anvil (Hollowing Awl).

#Runes

Runes are small carved stones, stacked with your other materials (the Materials tab of your bag). There are 16 of them. Each is signature loot: only certain monsters and bosses carry each rune, from the Kindle Runes of the imps outside Emberfall to the Everflame Rune the Ashen King keeps for himself. A rune's page lists exactly who drops it and how often.

Name	Rune Tier	In Weapons	In Armour
Kindle Rune	1	+2 Max Damage	+10 Life
Soot Rune	2	+1 Life per Hit	+8 Armour
Wisp Rune	3	+4% Attack Speed	+3% Movement Speed
Flint Rune	4	+2% Critical Chance	+12 Armour
Char Rune	5	+8% Damage	+18 Life
Tinder Rune	6	+3 Min Damage	+15% Gold Find
Wick Rune	7	+2 Life per Hit	+8% Magic Find
Scorch Rune	8	+12% Damage	+20 Armour
Slag Rune	9	+6 Max Damage	+28 Life
Brand Rune	10	+4% Critical Chance	+2 Life per Hit
Hearth Rune	11	+8% Attack Speed	+40 Life
Gleed Rune	12	+18% Damage	+35 Armour
Pall Rune	13	+4 Life per Hit	+15% Magic Find
Crucible Rune	14	+12 Max Damage	+55 Life
Ashfall Rune	15	+6% Critical Chance	+6% Movement Speed
Everflame Rune	16	+28% Damage	+70 Life, +30 Armour

#Socketing a rune

Open an item with a free socket and choose a rune:

• On a computer: drag a rune from the Materials tab of your bag onto the item (in your bag or on your character), or right-click the item and choose Socket a rune…. The item's window opens with the rune picked; press Socket to confirm.
• On a phone: tap the item and pick a rune under Sockets, or tap a rune in your materials and choose the item. Then press Socket to confirm.

Runes fill the sockets left to right, in the order you put them in. Each rune adds its own bonus: one bonus in a weapon, a different one in armour or a shield.

#Rune words

Fill every socket of a plain (normal) item with the right runes, in the right order, and the runes flare: the item becomes a named rune word with fixed, powerful properties that replace the runes' own bonuses. A rune word needs an item with exactly as many sockets as it has runes, and some only work in one kind of item.

There are 20 rune words. Each one's page lists its runes in order, the kind of item it needs, how many sockets, and exactly what it grants:

Name	Sockets	Base	Recipe	Stats
Tinderstrike	2	Any weapon	Flint · Kindle	+50% Damage +5% Critical Chance +6 Max Damage
Ashen Veil	2	Body armour	Soot · Wisp	+30 Armour +35 Life +5% Movement Speed
Smokecrown	2	Helm	Wick · Kindle	+30% Magic Find +30 Life +15 Armour
Emberward	2	Shield	Tinder · Flint	+45 Armour +40 Life +2 Life per Hit
Smoulder	3	Any weapon	Soot · Char · Wisp	+70% Damage +15% Attack Speed +4 Life per Hit
Wildfire	3	Bow	Wisp · Flint · Scorch	+90% Damage +20% Attack Speed +6% Critical Chance +8% Movement Speed
Rally	3	Any weapon	Hearth · Char · Brand	+80% Damage +10% Attack Speed Level 5 Might Aura: +14% Damage for you and your party within 8 tiles
Bramblewall	3	Body armour	Soot · Slag · Brand	+60 Armour +50 Life +25 Thorns (returned to attackers) Level 5 Thorns Aura: 30% of Damage Taken Returned to Attackers for you and your party within 8 tiles
Sanctum	3	Shield	Flint · Hearth · Pall	+80 Armour +60 Life Level 6 Sanctuary Aura: 8% Less Damage Taken for you and your party within 8 tiles
Bulwark of Embers	3	Body armour	Slag · Tinder · Slag	+80 Armour +80 Life +3 Life per Hit +25% Gold Find
Crown of Coals	3	Helm	Gleed · Brand · Char	+90 Life +5% Critical Chance +25% Magic Find +40 Armour
Thrallbinder	3	Helm	Soot · Char · Soot	+30% Summon Life +10% Summon Damage +40 Life
Pyreheart	4	Staff	Char · Wick · Hearth · Gleed	+140% Damage +8% Critical Chance +60 Life +10% Magic XP
Cinderfall	4	Melee weapon	Brand · Slag · Scorch · Gleed	+150% Damage +20% Attack Speed +10 Life per Hit +15 Max Damage
Zeal	4	Any weapon	Wisp · Gleed · Ashfall · Wisp	+130% Damage +20% Attack Speed +6% Critical Chance Level 7 Fanaticism Aura: +14% Attack Speed for you and your party within 8 tiles
Kiln	4	Body armour	Crucible · Hearth · Pall · Slag	+150 Armour +160 Life +20% Damage +5 Life per Hit
Wild Hunt	4	Body armour	Brand · Wisp · Scorch · Wick	+10% Summon Attack Speed +15% Summon Damage +90 Life +60 Armour
Dominion	4	Shield	Pall · Hearth · Brand · Gleed	+20% Summon Damage +35% Summon Life +90 Armour +80 Life
The Long Night	4	Shield	Pall · Ashfall · Hearth · Crucible	+160 Armour +150 Life +8 Life per Hit +4% Critical Chance
Last Light	5	Any weapon	Pall · Crucible · Ashfall · Brand · Everflame	+220% Damage +12% Critical Chance +25% Attack Speed +12 Life per Hit +25 Max Damage

The first hero to forge each rune word is announced to the whole world and credited on its page and in everyone's Collection Log.