How to Ebug Armor, Helms and Shields in Diablo 2

Chains of Honor Runeword in Sacred Armor
Chains of Honor Runeword in an Ebugged Sacred Armor.

Ebugging a piece of Armor in Diablo 2 is a well known trick that boosts the armor's Defense by 50% while adding Sockets to it. In order to Ebug a piece of Armor you'll need a plain piece of Ethereal Armor (Not Low Quality or Superior) as well the appropriate items to do the combine in the Horadric Cube.

The most common uses for Ebugged Armor and Helms are for very powerful Mercenary gear. When a Mercenary dies or takes damage their gear will not suffer any durability loss. For this reason, a Mercenary can wear a piece of Ethereal gear indefinitely without ever worrying about it breaking.

In order to Ebug a piece of armor you'll need to use the same recipes that are used to add Sockets to an item. Each of the recipes you can use to Ebug a piece of armor are listed below and are from my Horadric Cube Weapons and Armor page.

1 Tal Rune + 1 Thul Rune + 1 Perfect Topaz + Normal Body Armor = Socketed Body Armor

For this recipe the item you're using must be completely normal. No sockets and not Low-Quality or Superior. It has to be a plain, regular old item. The amount of sockets the item can roll is random and depends on the ilvl of the equipment being used.

1 Ral Rune + 1 Thul Rune + 1 Perfect Sapphire + Normal Helm = Socketed Helm

For this recipe the item you're using must be completely normal. No sockets and not Low-Quality or Superior. It has to be a plain, regular old item The amount of sockets the item can roll is random and depends on the ilvl of the equipment being used.

1 Tal Rune + 1 Amn Rune + 1 Perfect Ruby + Normal Shield = Socketed Shield

It's worth noting that you can add Sockets to an Ethereal weapon too but they do not receive a bonus like armor does. Allegedly the Ebug exists on armor because at one time the Horadric Cube removed the Ethereal bonus when you did this recipe, so Blizzard fixed it by making the cube reapply the bonus. So now, since it no longer removes the bonus, it just reapplies the 50% bonus armor each combine, awesome right?

Chest Armor is the most commonly Ebugged armor followed by Helms; not many people Ebug shields since there are no shield Runewords that make the shield Indestructible and only 1 type of Mercenary uses shields. There is a single Runeword that Repairs Durability over time and can be useful for Ebugged armor for the player, Prudence. It has two Sockets and is a decent mid level armor Runeword.

Below I will show you some examples of me Ebugging armor so you can see it in action.