Diablo 2: Resurrected – The Best High Rune Zones for Solo Online Players

The third ladder season of Diablo 2: Resurrected is about to happen soon. That means players will be starting fresh again if they choose to make a ladder character.

There’s no doubt that runes are probably the most desired sort of currency or item in general that Diablo 2 players chase for. They are useful for runewords which is a mechanic that allows players to craft some of the best items in the game.

You can also use them to cube them up to higher tier of runes or using them for crafting materials. This can be very helpful if you don’t get a particular rune you’re trying to hunt for.

Ever since I returned to Diablo 2 years ago, I actually returned to the game as a solo online player.

Throughout the years, I built my “wealth” within the game and it was all on players one settings. I’ve logged in countless of hours to obtain many mid and high runes all by myself.

Adorable 3D printed runes.

It’s also the time where I spent most of my time in Diablo 2, although I do have an offline Single Player character too. I do use that character to take advantage of features that are exclusive in Single player, like allowing you to adjust the player settings, which can up the drop rates of items.

However, in solo online, you are stuck with the players one settings, and this is where things can get tricky when it comes to finding high runes.

I know there are Diablo 2 players that might not have a group of friends that they can play together and take advantage of the better drop rates which does help with rune hunting.

However, it’s still possible to find a multitude of high runes even if you don’t have any friends and spend most of your time playing alone in an online environment.

There’s no doubt that high runes will be the constant chase items throughout the many stages of Diablo 2. I always like to say that you can never have too many high runes in Diablo 2, and there is always something you can do with them.

This will be a list to rank the very best locations you can farm as a solo online player. I have invested most of my time as a solo online player, so I can simply tell you what are the best spots to find high runes in the players one settings.

The Arcane Sanctuary

This space themed location is certainly a well known location for rune farming, but it is kind of not everyone’s cup of tea.

I personally am not the biggest fan of Arcane Sanctuary farming, but it’s also a method that can be potentially decent for player one settings.

Here comes the ghosts!

The main reason why people farm Arcane Sanctuary because of the Specter mobs are static spawns for this location and they have increased drop rates for runes.

They are actually some of the best enemies you can fight for high runes because they are generally not too threatening to fight most of the time.

There’s a popular technique people like to use if they farm this location. They will generally play as a Sorceress or any character that’s using Enigma to simply target only the ghost packs and The Summoner for potential Key of Hate drops.

Unfortunately, on players one settings, I find it not to be too optimal most of the time because it does lack density and can be frustrating to deal with the increased No Drop chance.

The No Drop chance is very much what it sounds like. On lower player settings, monsters have a higher chance of not being able to drop items after being killed.

I did say the Specters are generally not too dangerous, but if you do bump into boss packs and they have mods like Extra Strong or Extra Fast, they can certainly slow you down or be a massive threat if you play Hardcore.

A couple of Specters died on the edge of the narrow platform.

Also, the way the map layout is designed for Arcane Sanctuary, you have to be careful of killing the Specters or else they don’t drop anything if you kill them off the ledge.

I’d rather farm this location with higher player counts or if you join a public magic find match, then Arcane Sanctuary would certainly be rated higher as far as rune finding efficiency goes.

However, from a solo online player perspective, it is a location you can still farm every now and then, but I wouldn’t heavily invest my time into it.

Eldritch and Shenk

Eldritch and Shenk are probably some of my favorite farming spots in Diablo 2 because of how convenient it is to find them due to the location between them and the Frigid Highlands waypoint.

The waypoint is also close to Bloody Foothills which is where Shenk the Overseer is located.

I actually got my very first Jah Rune from one of Shenk’s minions when I returned to Diablo 2 years ago, and it was the last rune I needed for my Enigma.

An ongoing battle is being displayed.

The density is also rather respectable most of the time, and it also includes some enemies that do have increased drop rates for runes. Most notably, the Quill Rats. You definitely want to try to kill them as much as you can if you see them spawned.

Despite being an area that’s more designed to help players find unique and set items, I have gotten a decent amount of high runes from here.

It’s mostly because the density is moderately good for the most part and both Frigid Highlands and Bloody Foothills have enemies that shouldn’t be too challenging. Both locations are fairly flexible places to farm for various builds too.

The Secret Cow Level

This is the spot that I believe every old Diablo 2 player have fond memories of playing in public matches.

I certainly remember this location very well as a child for how funky it was, but at the same time, it’s also a fun place to get your demon slaying going on.

The Secret Cow Level is arguably the best spot for mass density, and Cows are some of the better mobs that do have elevated rune drops which make them a desirable zone to farm.

From a solo online player perspective, Cows are definitely worth putting your time into, but when going through dry spells, it can feel demoralizing. Cows are certainly not the greatest place for finding unique and set items if you aren’t lucky with the rune drops.

Hammerdin vs Cows.

It can be nice to find some useful uniques or set items just to boost the player’s morale a bit and “distract” the player from not finding much success with high runes.

Don’t expect to find any useful or handy unique for the most part. You’re mostly here just to find mid to high runes, item bases for runewords, and charms.

It can also be a pain when dealing with the No Drop chance because there are going to be times where you’ll kill a group of cows and you don’t see them drop too many items.

You will immediately think what those items could’ve been if you were playing on a higher player setting like playing in a public match.

If higher player counts factored in how I rank my list, The Secret Cow Level would definitely be higher.

Wow! Look at that density.

Even though The Secret Cow Level isn’t the greatest location for farming all sorts of items, it’s hard to not avoid it from a rune hunting perspective.

Its sheer mass density just makes it too good to not give it a go. Monster density is absolutely a key thing when it comes to rune hunting and Cows are best at that.

I think it’s definitely worth doing some hundreds of times and just hope you’ll find at least 2 high runes while you’re at it.

Make sure you use a Javazon or Summoning Necromancer if you want to get real serious with Cows.

River of Flame

Here’s an area that’s rather overlooked among many players from a magic finding and rune hunting perspective.

With that mentioned, it’s actually a good place to get your rune hunting going on because of the Finger Mage mobs.

These guys are easily some of the best enemies to kill for high runes because they have similar elevated drop versus the Specters from the Arcane Sanctuary, but they are much less threatening overall to deal with.

The River of Flame’s density is also good, but the main reason why players tend to not farm this location as much is because there are some mobs that can spawn baby forms. They actually do not give the player any sort of experience or loot.

The River of Flame looks stunning in the updated graphics.

This can slow down the player, but luckily, the baby mobs are very easy to kill. River of Flame is a level 85 area, so mobs can drop some very precious items like Crown of Ages if you happen to get lucky enough.

The only real downside for River of Flame is sometimes the mobs can be deadly especially if the boss packs roll the right mods. The Urdars come to mind and don’t ever underestimate Abyss Knights with Might or Fanaticism aura with Extra Strong!

You might need a character that does have some moderately good gear to properly farm this location and do hundreds of runs without any slowdowns.

Baal Walk

We all know Baal Runs is an iconic thing to do in public matches when it comes to going for that level 99 journey or endgame activities when your gear is decked out.

Baal Walk is basically a slower version of a Baal Run. The name is fairly self explanatory. You start from the Worldstone Keep Level 2 waypoint and you walk your way to the Throne of Destruction.

Instead of trying to skip the mobs from the Worldstone Keep Level 2 & 3, you want to try to kill them as many as you can before you enter the Throne of Destruction.

You can also include Worldstone Keep Level 1 if you like.

Throughout this article, I have already stressed out how it’s important to kill as many things as you can for rune hunting and doing a Baal Walk, you’ll realize how excellent the density is.

There will be a plentiful amount of monsters for the player to kill and there are mobs that have excellent chances for high runes. Both the Specters from Arcane Sanctuary and Finger Mages from River of Flame are present in Worldstone Keep Level 3.

You also deal with Willowisps (Souls) which are some of the most dangerous enemies in Diablo 2, but they also have similar high rune drop rates to the Specters and Finger Mages. The Souls appear on Worldstone Keep Level 2 & the Throne of Destruction.

When you combine the mass density you have to face and the chances of dealing with enemies that have great rune drop rates, doing a Baal walk is easily one of the best places you can find high runes on the players one setting.

Make sure you have some respectable poison resistance when doing many Baal walks.

I definitely gotten a good amount of my high runes while doing Baal walks, so trust me on this one.

On top of that, all of these locations you go to are level 85 areas, so there’s also potential chances for some juicy unique or set items you can acquire while rune hunting.

Going through a dry spell is always going to be a thing in Diablo 2, and scoring a potential nice unique item can always keep the player motivated through the process.

Last but not least, Baal is also a desirable target at the end of process. He can drop any unique and set item except the Cow King set which is only exclusive to The Secret Cow Level.

Slaughtering the demons…

The only real downside to doing a Baal walk is you need to have good gear to be able to do them consistently without dealing the potential deaths which will slow you down. There are definitely some spicy demons that can cause a massive threat while you are doing a Baal walk, so be prepared for it!

Once you acquire the gear you need, it’s hard not to do it, and it’s just a lot of fun too. It’s a great reminder of how far you’ve come as far as character progression goes.

Chaos Sanctuary

The next location which I believe is one of the best spots for magic finding and that is the Chaos Sanctuary. Not only the Chaos Sanctuary is excellent for looking for unique, rares, and set items, it’s also the place for rune hunting too.

The Chaos Sanctuary is a place that frequently includes the Finger Mages from the River of Flame, and they are a static enemy in this zone. This fact alone already makes the Chaos Sanctuary a competitive place for rune hunting.

If your intentions is to rune farm in the Chaos Sanctuary, it’s worth killing the mobs from the River of Flame waypoint.

There are generally a lot of monsters being thrown at you, and we all know that’s a good thing when it comes to hunting down for high runes. It’s also considerably an easier place to farm than doing a Baal walk because the three type of monsters in the Chaos Sanctuary are always going to be the same which means the player can easily optimize their gear set up.

Just like the Worldstone Keep and the Throne of Destruction, the Chaos Sanctuary is a level 85 area, so if you are not finding any juicy runes, at least you can potentially find some nice unique items to make up for it.

And of course, there’s Diablo who is simply the cherry on top of the cake. Diablo doesn’t have a bigger drop table like Baal, so he’s not better than Baal in that regard. However, he is easier to kill and you can still find respectable unique items from him too.

Lord De Seis is the real boss in the Chaos Sanctuary.

Also, he is the only Prime Evil boss where I managed to get a high rune. Vex Rune is currently the highest rune I ever gotten from the Prime Evil bosses.

There is also a special way to spice up your Chaos Sanctuary runs. You can easily combine the River of Flame and Chaos Sanctuary together if you really want to kill a lot of monsters for those desirable rune drops.

I still remember the days when people used to do public matches of River of Flame and Chaos Sanctuary at the same time. Hopefully, those times will return again to make public matches even more interesting than just Cbaal games.

That’s another factor that made me put River of Flame higher than The Secret Cow Level. I didn’t want to mention it until the Chaos Sanctuary was mentioned.

Infector of Souls with Conviction Aura is always scary to combat.

Whether you want to do the seal pop technique or just play the good ol’ kill everything method, Chaos Sanctuary is just an excellent place to find runes in players one setting.

Despite the praises, there’s only one place that’s better than the Chaos Sanctuary when it comes to rune farming efficiency for solo online players.

Travincal

Let me tell you something about Travincal. I have seen every rune drop from the Council Members. It was also the place where I found my first Cham Rune when I was fed up with the Cows not giving me anything too desirable.

I also still remember getting my first Ber Rune and I remember it was around 15 runs in.

Travincal has always been there for me, and I honestly think if you don’t invest your time to do a couple of thousand runs, you must not like high runes at all.

Zealots are a lot to fun to use when it comes to Travincal farming.

The Council Members that you go after does have elevated chances for high rune drops, and they are easily the best demons to kill for high rune drops.

There are no other mobs in the game that even come close to their rune drop rates.

It must be noted that the Council Members can only drop up to a Cham Rune, but the other enemies in the Travincal zone can actually drop a Zod Rune.

The Council Members can also drop some desirable unique items too, so that will help when going through a dry spell. I have gotten multiple Stone of Jordans before, and I’ve also found a lot of useful charms too which Travincal is also excellent at delivering.

You also get a lot of gold when doing a lot of Travincal runs, and you can take advantage of that and gamble for jewelries and circlets. So there’s basically like a little side activity you can do while you’re doing your Travincal runs to shake up the monotony.

Any source of fire absorption is a must for those who want to run Travincal religiously.

If you’re absolutely desperate for high runes and you need to make your Enigma or Infinity, just run Travincal like a mad man. Try to do it for a month straight, and I promise, you will find something valuable if you can tolerate the monotony.

That is my personal list and ranking of the best locations to farm for high rune as a solo online player.

Diablo 2 is a game of chances, so sometimes things don’t go the way they’re supposed to go. I would advise players try to farm some other locations just to shake things up and hopefully combat the dry spell.

With that said, I hope many of you will have good luck on your side, and I hope my list will influence you the zones you should farm once you acquire some decent gear.