Strength: Weapon Rune Word - Diablo 2
Strength is one of the better low level Rune Words that you can Socket into a weapon. It offers you a small amount of Enhanced Damage along with a big boost to Strength along with Life per Hit and Mana After Each Kill. To top it all off this Rune Word also comes with Crushing Blow which is one of the more saught after attributes on a weapon by melee characters. Crushing Blow deals a % of the monsters current HP in damage; this means against bosses with a ton of HP Crushing Blow dominates.
Its available to players starting at level 25 and by that time (assuming you save the Runes you find) you're likely to have found both the Tir and Amn that you need. The Countess is a boss you could visit if you haven't found either one of the required Runes for your Rune Word.
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: N/A
Slots: All Melee Weapons
+35% Enhanced Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
25% Chance of Crushing Blow
+20 to Strength
+10 to Vitality
+2 to Mana after each Kill
