Lionheart: Armor Rune Word - Diablo 2

Lionheart is the cheap version of the Fortitude Rune Word and is geared mostly toward Melee builds and classes due to the bonus Strength and Dexterity as well as the Enhanced Damage. Since the question gets asked so often about whether or not Enhanced Damage does anything on armor, I figured I would do my best to answer it below.

Enhanced Damage is applied differently to your character when it is not on a weapon and is called "Off-weapon ED" or "Off-weapon damage" in these instances. Basically what the game does is it calculates your weapon damage first and all of the bonuses on your weapon; then it factors in your "off-weapon ED" and applies that to the total weapon damage done. There are good writeups about it here and this one is ok.

The short answer is yes, Enhanced Damage on Lionheart does boost your Melee damage. To quote one of the websites I link to in the previous paragraph, "The combination of weapon Enhanced Damage and % Damage normally has the most significant impact on attack damage: for example, 300% Enhanced Damage results in 4 times base weapon damage while +300% Damage results in 4 times attack damage; together, this results in attack damage 16 times base weapon damage without any other damage bonuses."

 

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: Hel -- Lum -- Fal
Level Req: 41
Other Req: N/A
Slots: Chest Armor

+20% Enhanced Damage
+25 To Strength
+15 To Dexterity
+20 To Vitality
+10 To Energy
+50 To Life
All Resistances +30
Requirements -15%