Gambling For Sockets With Horadric Cube - Diablo 2
Using one of the recipes on this page will allow you to add a random amount of Sockets to an item, keep in mind you can only add as many Sockets as the item allows. IE, you can never make a 3 Socket Shrunken Head since they only ever allow 2. This form of Gambling is much more common throughout Diablo 2 since everyone uses a Runeword or two and it isn't always possible to find the item you want with the amount of Sockets you want.
There is an additional use for the Helm, Armor and Shield recipes on this page which is called ebugging a piece of armor. Essentially, using one of the recipes on this page with an Ethereal piece of armor will allow you to boost the Defense on that armor by 50% while adding a random amount of Sockets to it. For more information on this check out my How to Ebug An Item Guide.
Horadric Cube High Rune Recipes
- List of Armor Rune Words
- List of Helm Rune Words
- List of Shield Rune Words
- List of Weapon Rune Words
Horadric Cube Weapons and Armor Recipes
- Horadric Cube Gambling for Socket Recipes
- Horadric Cube How to Ebug Armor
- Horadric Cube Upgrading Weapons & Armor
Horadric Cube Rare Crafted Gear Recipes
- Blood Item Recipes
- Caster Item Recipes
- Hitpower Item Recipes
- Safety Recipes
- Best Recipes to Gamble for Rare Items
Horadric Cube Charm and Amulet Gambling
1 Tal Rune + 
1 Thul Rune + 
1 Perfect Topaz + 
Normal Body Armor = Socketed Body Armor
For this recipe the item you're using must be completely normal. No sockets and not Low-Quality or Superior. It has to be a plain, regular old item. The amount of sockets the item can roll is random and depends on the ilvl of the equipment being used.
1 Ral Rune + 
1 Amn Rune + 
1 Perfect Amethyst + 
Normal Weapon = Socketed Weapon
For this recipe the item you're using must be completely normal. No sockets and not Low-Quality or Superior. It has to be a plain, regular old item The amount of sockets the item can roll is random and depends on the ilvl of the equipment being used.
1 Ral Rune + 1 Thul Rune + 
1 Perfect Sapphire + 
Normal Helm = Socketed Helm
For this recipe the item you're using must be completely normal. No sockets and not Low-Quality or Superior. It has to be a plain, regular old item The amount of sockets the item can roll is random and depends on the ilvl of the equipment being used.
1 Tal Rune + 1 Amn Rune + 
1 Perfect Ruby + 
Normal Shield = Socketed Shield
For this recipe the item you're using must be completely normal. No sockets and not Low-Quality or Superior. It has to be a plain, regular old item The amount of sockets the item can roll is random and depends on the ilvl of the equipment being used.
All of the recipes you can use to add Sockets to an item are listed above; as stated Low Quality, Cracked, Superior, Damaged etc items will not work in these recipes. The only way that you can add Sockets to an item like these is by doing the Larzuk Add Socket Quest. Before adding Sockets to an item you should check to see if you can even roll the amount of Sockets that you want on that item.
To check how many Sockets an item can hold I recommend you Google the type of item it is and how many Sockets it can hold. Something like this, "Diablo 2 Gnarled Staff Sockets". The second link (at the time of writing this guide) takes you to Diablo.fandom which gives you all of the information you need. Alternatively you can use Arreat Summit instead but to navigate this site easily you'll need at least a moderate understanding of Diablo 2 and how the items work in the game.
If you don't know whether or not your item is Elite, Exceptional, Normal etc then you'll be spending a lot of time looking through this website for it. One thing to keep in mind too is that if you want to add the maximum amount of Sockets to an item you may be better off doing the Larzuk Add Socket quest. This quest always gives you the maximum amount of Sockets an item can have when it is a White or Gray item. The biggest downside to this quest, however, is you're unable to Ebug an item with it. This quest can only be completed once per difficulty per character as well.
Tip: For those of you playing on Single Player you can cheese the system if you want when gambling for Sockets on an item. Diablo 2 save files are typically found in C: Users > (Your Comp Name) > Saved Games > Diablo 2. Put the items you plan to combine on the character you are doing the combine on. Log out of the game and highlight your save file for this character and COPY it to another folder where it will be safe.
Log back into the game and perform the recipe, if you don't get the amount of Sockets that you want then log out of the game and Copy your save file from the folder you placed it into back into your Diablo 2 Saved Games folder. You'll roll back your character a few minutes before you did the recipe combine, basically allowing you to do it a second time. I don't consider this cheating, I consider it strategically not wasting your time.