Sanctuary: Shield Rune Word - Diablo 2
Sanctuary is one of the best available Shield Rune Words for anyone looking strictly for defensive bonuses. It offers extremely high All Resist along with increased Enhanced Defense as well as Defense against Missile attacks. In addition to this it offers blocking bonuses as well as increased Dexterity & Magic Damage Reduction.
I personally have used this Rune Word on many characters due to the insanely high All Resist bonuses it offers. With just this one piece of gear you'll obtain pretty much half of the All Resist you need to safely go through most areas on Hell difficulty.
Keep in mind that all Rune Words you create will retain any pre-existing bonuses found on the item. If you find a 'Superior' piece of armor with +Enhanced Defense, a Superior Weapon with +Enhanced Damage or a Helm/Weapon that has +Skill bonuses for a certain class, all of these will remain on the final Rune Word that is created. It's also possible to 'ebug' a piece of Ethereal Armor that you find which will increase the Defense bonuses by 50%, check out my Ebugging Guide for more information.
Farming High Runes: Out of all locations in the game one stands above the rest for farming specifically High Runes, the Countess during Act 1. The Countess has a guaranteed chance to always drop a High Rune and can even drop more than one. Check out my The Countess Farming Guide for more information.
Required Runes:
Level Req: 49
Other Req: N/A
Slots: Shield
+20% Faster Hit Recovery
+20% Faster Block Rate
20% Increased Chance of Blocking
+130-160% Enhanced Defense (varies)
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+20 To Dexterity
All Resistances +50-70 (varies)
Magic Damage Reduced By 7
Level 12 Slow Missiles (60 Charges)
Sanctuary Rune Word in Ebugged Monarch Shield.