How to Find Four Socket Swords

Learn how to find 4-socket Broad Swords, Crystal Swords, and Long Swords in Diablo II: Resurrected for powerful runewords like Spirit.

Alright, so you're looking to craft some sweet runewords in Diablo II: Resurrected, and you've heard about the legendary Spirit sword. To make that happen, you'll need a specific kind of sword: a 4-socket Broad Sword, Crystal Sword, or Long Sword. Finding these can be a bit of a hunt, but don't worry, I'll walk you through it.

The main thing to remember is that the number of sockets an item can have is tied to its Item Level (iLv), which usually comes from the Monster Level (mLv) of the enemy that dropped it or the Area Level (aLv) of the place it was found. For 4-socket swords, you're generally going to need to be in Nightmare difficulty. While you can buy 3-socket weapons in Normal Act 2, the 4-socket versions just don't start showing up regularly until you step up the challenge.

The best one-handed swords that can roll up to 4 sockets are Broad Swords, Crystal Swords, and Long Swords. The exceptional and elite versions of these also count, though you might want to steer clear of the elite ones unless you're a Paladin, as they can have higher Dexterity requirements. Crystal Swords are pretty great because they can actually have up to 6 sockets, so if you find one with 4, you're golden!

Pro Tip: Don't waste your time having Larzuk socket a regular weapon you find. Since an item's iLv determines the max sockets, you might not get the 4 you're hoping for. It's much better to find a base item that already has sockets.

So, what's the best strategy? Just keep picking up any socketed Broad Swords, Crystal Swords, and Long Swords you find while playing through Nightmare difficulty. It might take a while – I remember not finding one until Act 5 myself! But don't get discouraged. If you're farming specific areas, like Eldritch and Shenk in Nightmare, you'll find them dropping fairly often. Nightmare Cows are also a fantastic place to hunt for these 4-socket bases. You'll eventually end up with a nice collection to choose from!

Once you've got your 4-socket sword, you'll want to pop in the runes Tal + Thul + Ort + Amn in that exact order to create the Spirit runeword. It's seriously one of the best early-to-mid game runewords you can get, giving you +2 to All Skills, a nice chunk of Faster Cast Rate, plus Vitality and Mana boosts. With a level requirement of only 25, it's a game-changer.