Diablo 2: Resurrected — Horadric Cube recipe list and guide

The Horadric Cube is one of your most powerful tools in Diablo 2: Resurrected. Learn how to use it properly.

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Diablo 2: Resurrectedis an incredible remaster of the original game, and a comfortable entry point into the Diablo universe for those interested in checking out this series ahead of next year’s hotly anticipated release ofDiablo 4. If you are tough enough to get past the Act 1 boss Andariel, you’ll be able to pick up the Horadric Cube just a bit later in Act 2, and it remains with your character throughout the rest of the game.

The Horadric Cube is one of the most powerful tools available to your character, allowing you to craft items, upgrade runes and gems, socket items, and much more with the press of its Transmute button. It can be held on your person for a nifty inventory slot upgrade, or it can be held in your stash; wherever you decide to keep it, it will work in the same way.

Players may come from Diablo 3 and be surprised by the lack of instructions with the Horadric Cube in Diablo 2: Resurrected and may not be inclined to experiment and risk losing precious crafting materials. Here we have laid out all the recipes (except those used for end-game crafting; those deserve a guide of their own) that you’ll need to master Diablo 2: Resurrected. This includes new recipes introduced with Patch 2.4 that allow for upgrades to set weapons and armor.

Horadric Cube rune recipes

We’ll get this one out of the way first, as we have already written aDiablo 2: Resurrected rune and runeword guidewith information about “cubing up” runes.

From El rune to Ort rune, all you need is three runes in the cube when you press the Transmute button to create the next rune in the hierarchy. For example, three El runes become one Eld rune. Three Eld runes become one Tir rune, and so forth.

This changes at the point you which to create Amn and anything higher, which requires a chipped gem in order to upgrade to the next rune. The recipes for crafting the following runes are:

From Lum and above, flawed gems are required for upgrades:

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Once you need to craft Mal, you will need plain gems:

The final five and rarest of the rune recipes require flawless gems as part of the upgrade:

Horadric Cube gem recipes

Chipped gems begin dropping in Act 1 Normal, moving all the way up to perfect gems as you progress through the game. Chipped gems actually become extremely rare outside of Normal difficulty, so keep a good stash as you will need them throughout the game. The Horadric Cube can be used to upgrade gems if you find yourself needing better quality.

We’ll use the Ruby as an example for the recipes below, but rest assured the same holds true for all gems, including skulls. The rule of thumb is that you need 3 of any particular gem to upgrade it to its superior quality:

Horadric Cube repair and recycling recipes

In the early game, gold can be hard to come by. Since your items degrade at a fairly quick pace, repairing at a vendor might be out of the question. Luckily, you can repair and recharge equipment with the Horadric Cube. Note that these recipes will not work on Ethereal items; once they’re broken, they’re broken forever.

In terms of recharging, this has to do with items that have skills under the “Charge” category. For example, a staff might have Teleport skill charges that can be used by any character regardless of class.

In a similar manner, you can combine items to create other dispensables and consumables. For example, you can turn bolts into arrows and vice versa. Here are some helpful recipes to recycle your junk.

This also works for more important items like rings, amulets, and rare items.

Horadric Cube item utility recipes

Runewords are an integral part of creating the perfect demon slaying builds in Diablo 2: Resurrected, but there can be difficulty in finding armor with the perfect amount of sockets via normal loot drops. It’s possible but time-consuming and leaves you at the mercy of RNG. To improve your odds of getting the perfect armor primed for your runeword, the Horadric Cube allows you to upgrade and socket armor yourself. You are still hoping RNG awards the number of sockets you need, but you can at least narrow down the loot pool this way. With these recipes, you cannot use cracked or superior but you can use ethereal if you choose. When you’re ready to gamble, here are the recipes you need:

Magic and rare armor can also be socketed, however these sockets cannot be used for runewords:

Horadric Cube item upgrade recipes

Unique and rare items can be upgraded to the next quality via the Horadric Cube. The hierarchy of loot quality is Normal < Exceptional < Elite. Knowing how to improve the quality can come in especially handy if you find a useful low-level unique early game that you wish to take to use in the higher difficulties.For example, a Goldwrap Belt can be upgraded to become a Goldwrap Battle Belt with the right recipe, which will in turn increase its defense stats and potion slots. It can be upgraded — or “upped” in Diablo slang — again to become the Goldwrap Troll Belt.

This moves the item from normal to exceptional to elite along the way. In the case of armor, granted bonuses will remain the same but defense (and requirements) will climb. In the case of weapons, granted bonuses will also remain but damage and requirements will climb. This can be done to ethereal items, but it cannot be done to runewords or items you’ve crafted.

The same process can be done to rare items.

Diablo 2: Resurrected Patch 2.4brought a whole lot of changes to the game, including a buff to set items to make them more viable. Previous to this patch it was not possible to upgrade set items, but now we can up them to Exceptional and Elite levels. Here are the recipes you need to reach set perfection:

Horadric Cube special event recipes

The Horadric Cube is crucial in kicking off a couple of Diablo 2: Resurrected’s special events.

The Secret Cow Level is legendary in Diablo lore, and for good reason. This is a greatpastureplace to farm for items and experience but is only accessible via a portal created with a Horadric Cube recipe. It can be created by any character that has defeated Baal with the same difficulty that they’re trying to open the portal.

For example, a character that has defeated Baal (with the quest completed) in Normal difficulty will be able to open the portal in Normal. You’ll need a Tome of Town Portal and a Wirt’s Leg.  Wirt’s Leg is acquired by heading for the cairn stones in the Stony Field, going through the portal to Tristram, and lifting it from Wirt’s corpse.Note that as long as you have the right ingredients, you can open the portal as many times as you want, but only one portal may exist per game.

The Pandemonium Event is a mega-boss battle that ends with the player receiving a coveted Hellfire Torch Large Charm. Keys must be sourced from bosses throughout the game — Key of Terror from Countess, Key of Hate from Summoner, and Key of Destruction from Nihlathak — and placed into the Cube together to open a portal to a demi-boss.

A good tip is to gather three of each key for a “key set” before beginning. This will prevent you from opening the same portal twice. Once you’ve killed the demi-boss in each of the three portals, place the three gathered organ (one drops from each demi-boss) into the Cube.

Defeat the bosses in Uber Tristram and a Hellfire Torch will drop. This is one of the most coveted items in the game due to how much time it takes to prepare for and how difficult it is to complete.

Finally, you can create Tokens of Absolution in the Horadric Cube. Tokens are used to reset your character’s attributes and skill points. Once you’ve used up the three free respecs granted by Akara, this is the only way to reset your character.

The Twisted Essence of Suffering can drop from Andariel or Duriel, the Charged Essence of Hatred can drop from Mephisto, the Burning Essence of Terror can drop from Diablo, and the Festering Essence of Destruction can drop from Baal. Note that this only applies to Hell difficulty.

More Diablo 2: Resurrected resources

Diablo 2: Resurrected may be the first experience of the grim world of Sanctuary for many players, and has perhaps sparked interest in Diablo 3 players who want to go back and experience a darker more foreboding game. The gameplay and grind can be quite stark in contrast to Diablo 3, but no problem; we have a bunch of guides that can help. Our roundup of15 beginners Diablo 2: Resurrected tips and trickswill help greenhorns get off to a good start, and ourDiablo 2: Resurrected guide to classes and abilitieswill take your characters to the next level.

Diablo 2: Resurrected has cross save enabled, meaning whether you choose to play on Windows PC, Xbox or Nintendo Switch, your save will travel with you.If you’re worried that your PC isn’t quite up to handling the new graphics, be sure to check out thebest PCs for playing Diablo 2: Resurrectedfor something that will be up to the task.

More than a fresh coat of paint

Diablo 2: Resurrected is a divine remaster of Blizzard’s iconic action RPG set in the dark foreboding world of Sanctuary. With cross save you can slay the demons of hell on Windows PC, Xbox consoles, Nintendo Switch and Playstation and pick up your pursuit of the Dark Wanderer wherever you game.

Jen is a News Writer for Windows Central, focused on all things gaming and Microsoft. Anything slaying monsters with magical weapons will get a thumbs up such as Dark Souls, Dragon Age, Diablo, and Monster Hunter. When not playing games, she’ll be watching a horror or trash reality TV show, she hasn’t decided which of those categories the Kardashians fit into. You can follow Jen on Twitter@Jenbox360for more Diablo fangirling and general moaning about British weather.