Spirit: Shield Rune Word - Diablo 2
Spirit is one of the best Shield Rune Words in the game and also one of the most commonly used ones because of the +2 Skills benefit. Despite it having a level requirement of 25 this Rune Word can only be placed in shields with 4 Open Sockets which (aside from Paladin Shields) are extremely rare. Monarchs, Wards and Aegis' are the only 3 non-Paladin shields in the game that can roll 4 Sockets and you won't be able to find any of these until late Nightmare or Hell difficulty.
Builds that do not use a Spirit Rune Word in their primary line up can still find use of this Rune Word by using it in combination with a Call to Arms Rune Word. Call to Arms grants the player Battle Command and Battle Orders, Barbarian Skills that boost the Health, Mana and Stamina as well as Skill Levels of you and your allies. Using a Call to Arms with a Spirit Rune Word will increase the Skill Level of these abilities.
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: 25
Other Req: Ladder Only
Slots: Shields and Swords
Both
+2 To All Skills
+25-35% Faster Cast Rate (varies)
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+250 Defense Vs. Missile
+22 To Vitality
+89-112 To Mana (varies)
+3-8 Magic Absorb (varies)
Shields
Cold Resist +35%
Lightning Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Swords
Adds 1-50 Lightning Damage
Adds 3-14 Cold Damage (3 Sec,Normal)
+75 Poison Damage Over 5 Seconds
7% Life Stolen Per Hit
Spirit Rune Word in Akaran Rondache Paladin Shield.
Spirit Rune Word in Paladin Shield.