The Best Druid Runewords in D2R

In this section, we will introduce you to all of the Runeword weapons which can be useful for a Druid character. We will review their offensive and defensive qualities, and the unique benefits of wearing them.

Breath of the Dying in a 2-handed weapon is extremely powerful for a melee Druid. Some of the best types are an Eth Archon Staff or Eth Thunder Maul. The Runeword grants indestructibility, up to +400% enhanced damage, and an immense +60% increased attack speed. Other useful attributes on the Runeword are the 12-15% life steal, which allows you to heal quickly while attacking, and the +30 bonus to all of the four types of your stat points.

Death in a 2-handed weapon eth Decapitator is the highest DPS possible for a Fury Druid. With up to 385% Enhanced Damage, 50% Crushing Blow, and Deadly Strike based on Character Level there is no way to top this. It does lack some of the nice bonuses like +30 to all stats and Increased Attack Speed that Breath of the Dying has so it will take a little bit more planning usually to get fully optimized.

Grief Runeword is the highest damage dealing one-hand weapon for any melee Druid Build. You should use a Phase Blade as the Runeword base. The main utility of the weapon is the +340-400 damage. Other useful attributes of the Runeword are the 20% deadly strike, the additional damage against Demons and ignoring the target’s defense.

Oath is a budget friendly, very fast and high damage dealing weapon. Since it grants Indestructibility, it should be put in an Ethereal weapon, preferably Berserker Axe.

Spirit is an ideal budget weapon Runeword for any caster Druid build. It provides +2 to All skills and +25-35% Faster Cast Rate, both of which are great for offense. Only a handful of items have comparable benefits to a Spirit weapon.

Heart of the Oak is the best Runeword for caster Druids. It grants you +3 to All skills, 40% faster cast rate, which make it the best weapon for offense, while it also adds 30-40% to All resistances.

Beast is a cornerstone item for the Summon Druid build. It is one of the two items that grants Fanaticism Aura, which boosts both the damage and the attack speed of the summons, making Beast the best weapon Runeword for a Summoner Druid.

Edge Runeword is a must have for any D2R character, as it is the only item which reduces Vendor prices besides Gheed’s Fortune. Equip it whenever you want to gamble or buy items from Vendors at cheaper prices.

Call to Arms grants you a level 1 to 6 Battle Orders and a level 1 to 6 Battle Command skills. Casting a higher level Battle Orders can almost double your life, while the Battle Command skill will add 1 to All skill levels. The survivability boost of a CTA is unparalleled.

In this section, we will introduce you to all of the armor Runewords which can be useful for a Druid character. We will review their offensive and defensive qualities, and the unique benefits of wearing them.

Enigma is a must have armor if you want to move by Teleport, as it is the only item in the game which grants the skill. It is also the best magic finding armor for its 1% magic find per level. The Runeword has several other useful offensive and defensive qualities, such as the +2 to All skills, the 0.75 strength per level, the +45% faster run and walk, the 5% to maximum life, and the 8% damage reduction.

Fortitude is an ideal armor for melee Druid builds for its +300% enhanced damage. The Runeword has great defensive qualities too, such as the +200% Enhanced Defense, the 25-30% All resistance, the 1-1.5 life per level, and the 20% chance to cast a level 15 chilling armor.

Duress is a budget friendly body armor, which is ideal for Melee Druids. The most beneficial features of the Runeword are the +15% Chance of Crushing Blow and the 33% Chance of Open Wounds. It also offers great defensive utilities, such as the 150-200% Enhanced Defense, additional resistances, and 40% Faster Hit Recovery.

Bramble is the best body armor Runeword for Rabies Druids, as it boosts poison damage by 25-50%, making it the single highest poison damage booster item. The item also has 50% faster hit recovery, 30 fire resist, and 100 poison resist, eliminating the need for poison resist on the rest of your gear

Chains of Honor is one of the two body armor Runewords which grants +2 to All skills. Its other main utility is the +65% to All resistances.

Smoke is a useful ladder starter / low level Runeword that grants +50% to all resistances.

Lore Lore is another useful ladder starter / low level Runeword for any Druid build. Its main utility is the +1 to All skill levels.

Phoenix is an ideal shield Runeword for fire damage dealing druids, as it provides -28% to enemy fire resistance. It also grants you a level 10-15 Redemption Aura, which will constantly heal you and recover your mana.

Ancient's Pledge is a useful ladder starter / low budget shield Runeword which boosts all resistances by almost 50%.

Rain is a budget friendly Druid armor Runeword which provides +2 to Druid skill levels.

Spirit is the number one shield Runeword for caster Druids. It is the only shield which provides +2 to All skill levels (making it the best switch-shield in combination with Call to Arms), and 25-35% faster cast rate, while also having great defensive utilities such as the 55% faster hit recovery and 35% Cold, Lightning and Poison resistances.