Introduction

One of the most fun aspects of Diablo II is the item hunting. There are hundreds of different item modifiers with an incredible array of properties, all of them of different levels, droppable by different monsters, some only on higher difficulty levels, and more. The variety is nearly infinite.

Magic-Only Modifiers

In Diablo II the best items are always Rares (or some Uniques). Rares can get up to six modifiers, three prefixes and three suffixes at most, always beating the prefix/suffix that Magical items can have, since they are all drawn from the same pool. Rares are found from monster drops (more drop if you have +Magic Find equipment on) or created with Imbues by Charsi, and you get Rare rings for quest rewards also.

In the Expansion, Rares work the same way, with up to three prefixes and three suffixes, but Magical Items are much improved. Most of the best jewelry and armor are Rare (though there are very nice Sets and Uniques, far better than in D2) since having a lot of modifiers adding up is usually the best. However for damage-dealing weapons, magical items are usually the best. There are new, higher value affixes of every type that can only be found on magical items.

For example King's gives +81-100% Damage and +121-150 Attack Rating, and can be found on Rare weapons. This is the best mod from this family in Diablo II. In the Expansion though there are new mods, Master's and Grandmaster's, both of them better than King's, but neither of them possible on Rares.

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There are modifiers like this in nearly every family of Affixes. On Armor you tend to want as many mods as possible. For example Chromatic (21-30% Resist All) the top magic-only mod, is better than Prismatic (16-20% Resist All) the best that can be on a Rare, but if you add two more prefixes, such as 31-40% Resist Fire/Cold/Lightning/Poison on the Rare item with Prismatic, it's far better than the magical amulet with Chromatic.

Since with weapons, dealing the most damage possible is the goal for most characters, just two mods for huge damage beats decent damage with other bonuses. The biggest damage Rare weapon is the same as in Diablo II.

• D2 Rare: King's, Merciless of Slaughter = +200% Dmg +20 Max
• D2X Magic: Cruel of Evisceration = +300% Damage, +63 Max Dmg

As you can see, the Cruel/Evisceration does 100% +43 Max damage more than the best possible Rare, which is an enormous difference, and Magical items can have two sockets, compared to just one in Rares. Another factor for the Magical weapons is that you can buy them from NPCs with the biggest mods in the game, and it's free (just takes time) to keep seeing new ones, until eventually one you want will be offered. Rares must be found or Imbued, and the odds of getting the three or four mods you really want are very very low.

On top of the much higher potential magical damage is the fact that you can get one or two sockets in the magical item, adding more damage, leech, IAS, etc. Basically customizing the item to do what you most want/need it to do. You can add one socket to a Rare of course, but the total damage will still be far lower, and there's just one socket, so you can't modify it as much as you'd like to. You can add up to 50% more damage with a socketed item, so adding two of those would boost the Magical item even more over the Rare.

Item Level

A stat you'll notice listed for every prefix and suffix is the Item Level, or Quality Level, as it's more accurately referred to. This is a number that is used in many game calculations. Monsters must be at least that high in level to drop an item with that affix on it. Your Clvl must be no less than 6 below the Qlvl to get it on an Imbue. The Clvl requirement is 3/4 the highest Qlvl affix on an item. The Qlvl also factors into gambling, modifiers you see on items for sale by NPCs, repair prices, and many other things.

Crafted

These are basically Rares with some preset mods, but often mods that can't be found on magical or rare items. None of these can compete with the top magical weapons for damage, though they can have more damage than a Rare in some cases. Check the crafted section for more details.

There are also RuneWords, which don't have affixes per se, since they are much like Uniques and Set Items, with all of their mods set in advance (though the type of item you create them in varies). None of these three types have Affixes, but there are very good items of all types that are often the best items in the game, and all can have a socket added to customize them somewhat. They can't be directly compared to magical and rare items, since they can have all sorts of mods that magic and rare can't.

Charms

Charms are covered in this Modifiers section, since they are small magical items. Charms are items you must find, and once identified they have magical properties that benefit you as long as they are in your Inventory (not Stash or Cube). Charms can't be equipped or socketed or placed in sockets, they are just passive bonuses from your Inventory.

There are no Rare Charms, only Magical, so you'll never get one with more than two affixes, and they don't have very many types of bonuses either. The bonuses, values of them, and their Quality Levels and Clvl requirements vary widely between small, large, and grand charms, so there are pages for each of these.

Runes

Runes are small objects that are socketed, and add bonuses to items much like Gems, but with a lot more variety. There are thirty-three Runes, and they are useful for their individual bonuses, as well as the potential to make Runewords, though these can only be created in normal items, ones that aren't rare, magical, set, unique, etc. Runes do not have affixes, they are always the same. See the Runes section for full details.

Jewels

Jewels are small objects that have no function until they are socketed, when they add their bonuses to the item you seat them in. Jewels differ from Gems and Runes, the other items that can be stuck into sockets since they are random. Jewels can be magical or Rare, and there are millions of possible Jewels, with all of the prefixes, suffixes, and different ranges of values on them. See the Jewels page, for the complete listing of Jewel Affixes.