Navigation
Diablo 2 Expansion - Lord of Destruction
Horadric Cube Recipes FAQ
Version 3.0, 12/16/2003
by Brian Kern
______________________________________________________________________________
This FAQ is copyrighted material.
LIMITED REPRODUCTION LICENSE: This FAQ may be posted, emailed, or saved to a
disk without express permission, provided that the FAQ remains unaltered, and
the full copyright notice is in place. Removing the copyright notice and
rights disclaimer voids any rights assigned.
Exclusions: This FAQ may not be used for promotional purposes, nor may it be
incorporated in guides, magazines, secured websites, or in any state or place
where a fee is charged in order to obtain the information contained within.
All professional use rights are retained by the author.
All copyrights and trademarks are held by their respective owners, when not
specifically mentioned.
Diablo 2 is (c) 2000 Blizzard Entertainment.
Future revisions of this FAQ may be found at http://www.gamefaqs.com .
______________________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents
1. Revision History
2. Introduction
3. Cube Q&A;
3.1. What is the Cube? Where can I get one?
3.2. What can you do with this cube?
3.3. Crafted items? What are those?
3.4. A warning about valid recipes..
3.5. Stone of Jordan - Defined
4. Cube recipes!
4.1. Upgrade recipes
4.1.1. Rune upgrades
4.1.2. Gem upgrades
4.1.2. Equipment upgrades
4.1.3. Equipment repairs
4.1.4. Adding sockets
4.1.5. Removing sockets
4.2. Respawn recipes
4.2.1. Spawning new magical items
4.2.2. Spawning new rare items
4.3. The Resist Gear recipes
4.4. The Potion recipes
4.5. Weapon Creation recipes
4.5.1. Weapon recipes
4.5.2. Throwing Weapon and Ammo recipes
5. Credits and Contact Info
______________________________________________________________________________
1. Revision History
______________________________________________________________________________
v3.0, 12/16/2003, 5:46pm
Home sick today and missed my old FAQs. Updating for 1.10. Someone had to. I
mean, it's only been what, two years since I last touched this document? And
you thought I'd forgotten about it..
Anyway, cleaned up and totally re-did the ToC, stripped useless sections,
re-did the organization of existing ones and added a couple new thanks to
the new v1.10 recipes. Way to go, Blizzard! I love when companies update
older games, too.
v2.0, 08/28/2001, 11:30am
Updating for the 1.09 patch.
Removed the cube bugs section. Added the Rune Upgrade formulae.
v1.4, 07/11/2001, 1:00pm
*Weird* bug added (Unsocketing a rare) and a crash-bug added.
v1.3, 07/09/2001, 11:45pm
Expanded upon the 3PGems + Magical recipe to include Charms.
v1.2.1, 07/08/2001, 11:00pm
Fixed a few formatting errors and added a note about the Resist Gear recipes
not working in the Expansion. Keep an eye on that.
v1.2, 07/06/2001, 5:30pm
I've received two questions as to what an SoJ is, so there's a new section
under Q&A; for all you newbie types. :)
v1.1, 07/04/2001, 3:00pm
Formatted everything for posting and submitted to GameFAQs.
v1.0, 07/04/2001, 2:30pm
Is there no good guide that contains info on the Horadric Cube for the Common
Man? I swear, I hate going to sites and wading through their eight different
pages of slop just to find one recipe I need... hence this FAQ.
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Introduction
______________________________________________________________________________
Welcome to the D2 Expansion Horadric Cube FAQ. This is another FAQ spawned out
of my unhappiness with other products on the 'net. Hats off to the old
Prophecy team, though most of them got swallowed up by FFXI.
The FAQ has been updated so that it deals strictly with the most current level
of play; that is to say, the D2 Expansion patched to level 1.10. Distinctions
for recipes of lower patch levels have been removed, though I have still
included distinctions for recipes that require a particular character type
to function (as several are Ladder-only, for example).
- Brian
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Cube Q&A;
______________________________________________________________________________
This section will handle general questions and answers about the Horadric
Cube.
.----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| 3.1: What is the Cube? Where do I get one? |
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
The Horadric Cube is a Quest item that you recieve in Act 2. It's a part of
Quest 2 - retrieving the Staff of Kings. You have to cruise down to the Halls
of the Dead and locate the golden chest on the third level in order to get the
Cube.
Cubes are permanent quest items. You can only ever hold one. You'll keep your
one cube from Act 2 Normal straight on through Act 5 Hell.
.----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| 3.2: What can you do with this Cube? |
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
The Horadric Cube has four major functions to it. The first is the ability to
do transmutations; changing items into other items.
This function comes into play quite heavily in the Staff of Kings quest in Act
2, and again in the Khalim's Will quest of Act 3. In both cases, you have to
assemble a variety of items, slap them together in the cube, and then
transmute them to come up with the proper quest related item.
Second, transmutation allows you to do some pretty nifty things with normal
items, as the recipes section will show later. :)
Third, the Horadric Cube's transmutation power is used to create Crafted
Items, a new class of item in the D2 Expansion.
And, finally, perhaps the Cube's most important feature ... it's extra stash
space! The Cube can hold 3x4 worth of gear, but when it's closed, it's only
2x2 in size. That's an extra 8 square item spaces to use!! .. okay, so this
isn't as important in the Expansion where they've doubled the Stash size for
us, but still! Space is space. Some people like loading the cube with resist
gear and carrying it wherever they go, so they can switch to it rapidly when
engaging certain kinds of monsters.
.----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| 3.3: Crafted Items? What are those? |
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
New to the Expansion, Crafted Items are something like Set items you can
create, but without the Set part. When you throw just the right combination of
stuff into the Cube and transmute it, you'll get an item that has certain
preset modifiers (five max) and up to five more random magical prefixes and
suffixes, for some truly powerful gear.
The Cube creates these. Crafted item recipes aren't listed, because there are
way too many, and they're going to get their own FAQ. Look for it on GameFAQs.
:)
.----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| 3.4: A warning about valid recipes.. |
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
Pay close attention to the documentation below. You'll find that people on
Battle.net are only too happy to give you a hot new Cube recipe that
incorporates a pre-existing one. Example:
Hot New recipe --
3 rings + 2 perfect Rubies + 1 SOJ = Holy Ornate Plate w/ 900+ Defense!
The catch here is that 3 rings by themselves will become 1 amulet. The Cube is
a little piggish - anything extra that happens to be there when a valid
recipe is invoked will be consumed too. So, you'd wind up with one amulet,
having lost two perfect Rubies and a Stone of Jordan. On top of that, the
amulet will probably suck. ;)
Learn your recipes, and be wary of those you hear from others.
.----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| 3.5: Stone of Jordan - Defined |
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
A couple of people have written in to ask, "What the heck is a Stone of
Jordan, and where do I get one?"
The SoJ is a unique ring. Back in Diablo 2, prior to patch 1.08, it was the
absolute best ring a caster could find. The SoJ packs +1 to All Skills, +25%
mana, and a couple other stats that make it very attractive to casters.
For a long while, the SoJ was the currency by which all other things were
rated in the trading channels. Blinkbat might go for 1 or 2 SoJs; four or five
Perfect Skulls could net you one SoJ.
The reason is because even though they were rare, you could gamble them. All
you needed was the Nagelring and the Manald Heal, the two previous unique
rings, and you could have a shot at gambling the SoJ from Elzix (or your
gambling NPC of choice). People used to horde these things to trade for great
rare gear or specialized uniques that players were abusing, Blinkbat being
the canonical example.
The SoJ recipe exists to give people a way to spend all those spare SoJs,
as now there are lots of ways to get a + to all skills, and high resist rare
rings will be a necessity, due to the modifications to resists on Nightmare
and Hell difficulty.
______________________________________________________________________________
4. Cube recipes!
______________________________________________________________________________
.----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| 4.1: Upgrade recipes |
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
Upgrade recipes convert an existing item into a better version of itself.
How this is achieved varies by the recipe.
___ 4.1.1: Rune upgrades ____________________________________________________
You can upgrade your runes by using one of the below formulae; note that
you'll probably have to patch up and use a certain character type to make the
most of it.
3 El Runes = Eld Rune 2
3 Eld Runes = Tir Rune 3
3 Tir Runes = Nef Rune 4
3 Nef Runes = Eth Rune 5
3 Eth Runes = Ith Rune 6
3 Ith Runes = Tal Rune 7
3 Tal Runes = Ral Rune 8
3 Ral Runes = Ort Rune 9
3 Ort Runes = Thul Rune 10
3 Thul Runes + 1 Chipped Topaz = Amn Rune 11
3 Amn Runes + 1 Chipped Amethyst = Sol Rune 12
3 Sol Runes + 1 Chipped Sapphire = Shael Rune 13
3 Shael Runes + 1 Chipped Ruby = Dol Rune 14
>> v1.10 Single Player, Open, or Ladder character required <<
3 Dol Runes + 1 Chipped Emerald = Hel Rune 15
3 Hel Runes + 1 Chipped Diamond = Io Rune 16
3 Io Runes + 1 Flawed Topaz = Lum Rune 17
3 Lum Runes + 1 Flawed Amethyst = Ko Rune 18
3 Ko Runes + 1 Flawed Sapphire = Fal Rune 19
3 Fal Runes + 1 Flawed Ruby = Lem Rune 20
3 Lem Runes + 1 Flawed Emerald = Pul Rune 21
2 Pul Runes + 1 Flawed Diamond = Um Rune 22
2 Um Runes + 1 Topaz = Mal Rune 23
2 Mal Runes + 1 Amethyst = Ist Rune 24
2 Ist Runes + 1 Sapphire = Gul Rune 25
2 Gul Runes + 1 Ruby = Vex Rune 26
2 Vex Runes + 1 Emerald = Ohm Rune 27
2 Ohm Runes + 1 Diamond = Lo Rune 28
2 Lo Runes + 1 Flawless Topaz = Sur Rune 29
2 Sur Runes + 1 Flawless Amethyst = Ber Rune 30
2 Ber Runes + 1 Flawless Sapphire = Jah Rune 31
2 Jah Runes + 1 Flawless Ruby = Cham Rune 32
2 Cham Runes + 1 Flawless Emerald = Zod Rune 33
___ 4.1.2: Gem upgrades _____________________________________________________
Not too efficient, but sometimes the only way to get better quality gems.
Remember that all 3 gems used in the recipe have to be of the same type; mix
and match doesn't work.
3 Chipped Gems = 1 Flawed Gem
3 Flawed Gems = 1 Normal Gem
3 Normal Gems = 1 Flawless Gem
3 Flawless Gems = 1 Perfect Gem
___ 4.1.3: Equipment upgrades _______________________________________________
1. When converting to a higher item type, the properties of your weapon are
normally kept static; they do not change.
2. When converting a Unique from Normal to Exceptional, or Exceptional to
Elite, note that the Unique itself *does not change*. It's name, it's
properties, any sockets, runes, jewels, etc that you have put in it all
remain the same.
___x___ Only the base item class is upgraded. ___x___
1 Eld Rune + 1 Chipped Gem + Low Quality Weapon = Normal Quality Weapon
Upgrades useless weapon types to standard weapon types. ilvl=1.
1 El Rune + 1 Chipped Gem + Low Quality Armor = Normal Quality Armor
1 Ort Rune + 1 Amn Rune + 1 Perfect Sapphire + Normal Rare Weapon
= Exceptional Rare Weapon
1 Ral Rune + 1 Thul Rune + 1 Perfect Amethyst + Normal Rare Armor
= Exceptional Rare Armor
1 Fal Rune + 1 Um Rune + 1 Perfect Sapphire + Exceptional Rare Weapon
= Elite Rare Weapon
1 Ko Rune + 1 Pul Rune + 1 Perfect Amethyst + Exceptional Rare Armor
= Elite Rare Armor
1 Ral Rune + 1 Sol Rune + 1 Perfect Emerald + Normal Unique Weapon
= Exceptional Version of Weapon
1 Tal Rune + 1 Shael Rune + 1 Perfect Diamond + Normal Unique Armor
= Exceptional Version of Armor*
>> v1.10 Ladder Character required <<
1 Lum Rune + 1 Pul Rune + 1 Perfect Emerald + Exceptional Unique Weapon
= Elite Version of Weapon
1 Ko Rune + 1 Lem Rune + 1 Perfect Diamond + Exceptional Unique Armor
= Elite Version of Armor
___ 4.1.4: Equipment repairs ________________________________________________
A note: Ethereal equipment can't be repaired by any means known to man. These
recipes won't help you there. :)
1 Ort Rune + Weapon = Fully Repaired Weapon
1 Ral Rune + Armor = Fully Repaired Armor
Have skills that use charges? We've got you covered.
1 Ort Rune + 1 Chipped Gem + Weapon = Fully Repaired and Recharged Weapon
1 Ral Rune + 1 Flawed Gem + Armor = Fully Repaired and Recharged Armor
___ 4.1.5: Adding sockets to an item ________________________________________
Some of these recipes respawn the item itself, forcing a re-roll of all it's
stats and modifiers. Pay careful attention to the listing to figure out which
is which. Don't lose items you love.
Adding a single socket to a Rare item:
3 Perfect Skulls + 1 Stone of Jordan + 1 Rare = Sockets that particular rare
Adds one socket. Does not respawn the item, unlike other recipes.
Spawning a normal item of the same type, with sockets:
1 Tal + 1 Thul + 1 Perfect Topaz + Normal Body Armor = Socketed Body Armor
Spawns a socketed armor. 1-6 sockets, restricted by item class.
1 Ral + 1 Amn + 1 Perfect Amethyst + Normal Weapon = Socketed Weapon
Spawns a socketed weapon. 1-6 sockets, restricted by item class.
1 Ral + 1 Thul + 1 Perfect Sapphire + Normal Helm = Socketed Helm
Spawns a socketed helm. 1-6 sockets, restricted by item class.
1 Tal + 1 Amn + 1 Perfect Ruby + Normal Shield = Socketed Shield
Spawns a socketed shield. 1-6 sockets, restricted by item class.
Spawning a magic item with new properties, adding sockets:
3 Normal Gems + 1 Normal Socketed Weapon = 1 Socketed Magic Weapon
Spawns a magical, socketed weapon. ilvl=30, 1-2 sockets.
3 Chipped Gems + 1 Magic Weapon = Socketed Magic Weapon
Spawns a magical, socketed weapon. ilvl=25, 1-2 sockets.
3 Flawless Gems + 1 Magic Weapon = Socketed Magic Weapon
Spawns a magical, socketed weapon. ilvl=30, 1-2 sockets.
___ 4.1.6: Removing sockets from an item ____________________________________
If you use this recipe, not only are the sockets totally stripped from
whatever gear you're working with -- the runes or jewels that were in those
sockets are destroyed as part of the process. But it's useful if you want to
re-cast an item's sockets, or just really wanna change how one works.
1 Hel Rune + Scroll of Town Portal + Any Socketed Item = Unsocket that item
.----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| 4.2: Respawn recipes |
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
Respawn recipes are the ones that generate new items out of items you already
have in your inventory. Most of these have been around for quite awhile. The
item level of a respawned item is almost always directly related to the level
of both the item you put in and the level of your character; trying to spawn
a godlike amulet on your Lvl20 Barbarian with crap you picked up off the
ground in Normal just isn't going to work out for you.
___ 4.2.1: Spawning new magical items _______________________________________
Do yourself a favor, and don't use perfect skulls for these.
3 Amulets = 1 Ring
3 Rings = 1 Amulet
3 P.Gems + 1 magical item = Another magical item of the same type.
By `another magical item of the same type`, I really mean just that -- this
recipe works for respawning new rings, amulets, jewels, charms, weapons,
armors, throwing weapons, absolutely anything that is blue and thus magical.
___ 4.2.2: Spawning new rare items __________________________________________
Skulls get used up here, and for good reason; respawning rares is sometimes
more profitable than gambling. Not usually, though. :)
1 Perfect Skull + 1 Stone of Jordan + 1 Rare = High Quality Rare (same type)
ilvl of spawn = (66% of your cLvl) + (66% of the ilvl of the rare)
This recipe was added to give people with 40 SoJs something to do with them.
Most people are going to have to abandon SoJs in favor of resists, now that
Hell difficulty runs at -100 to all resistances.
If you're cLvl80 and the item is ilvl60,
ilvl of spawn = (52) + (39) = ilvl 91. Percentages always round down.
6 Perfect Skulls + 1 Rare = Low Quality Rare (same type)
ilvl of spawn = (40% cLvl) + (40% iLvl)
Same example as above would give ilvl 56. Percentages always round down.
.----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| 4.3: The Resist Gear recipes |
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
So, Hell is beating you down and you need a way to fight back? Low
resistances leading directly to your deaths and experience loss? This is the
place for you.
6 P. Gems (non-skull) + Amulet = Prismatic (16-25% Resist All) Amulet
1 Ring + 1 P. Emerald + 1 Antidote = 1 Jade Ring (Poison Resist)
1 Ring + 1 P. Ruby + 1 Exploding p. = 1 Garnet Ring (Fire Resist)
1 Ring + 1 P. Sapphire + 1 Thawing p. = 1 Cobalt Ring (Cold Resist)
1 Ring + 1 P. Topaz = 1 Coral Ring (Lightning Resist)
The level of resistance on the rings will always be random, 21-30%.
.----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| 4.4: The Potion recipes |
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
Pick up all the mana potions and chipped gems you see, and use them to create
rejuvs. Rejuvs are the bread and butter of the high level player, as they heal
life and magic instantly, where typical potions take precious seconds to fill
your bar back up. Nothing quite like a good rejuv potion for a boss fight.
In the recipes below, the quality of the Health potions, and Mana potions is
irrelevant; so minor potions and some time can lead to Full Rejuvenation!
The Gem mentioned in the third recipe must be a Normal Gem.
1 Health Potion + 1 Strangling Gas potion = 1 Antidote Potion
3 Health Potions + 3 Mana Potions = 1 Partial Rejuvination Potion
3 Health Potions + 3 Mana Potions + 1 Gem = 1 Full Rejuvenation Potion
3 Partial Rejuvenation Potions = 1 Full Rejuvenation Potion
.----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| 4.5: Weapon Creation recipes |
'----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
___ 4.5.1: Weapon recipes ___________________________________________________
Nothing good to say here; these recipes are near useless. Technically a rare
long sword could be used for that last recipe... but god, why?
1 Diamond + 1 Staff + 1 Kris + 1 Belt = 1 Savage Bardiche
1 Magical Small Shield + 1 Spiked Club + 2 Skulls = Small Shield of Spikes
3 Chipped Gems + 1 Sword = 1 Socketable Long Sword
4 Health Potions + 1 Ruby + 1 Magical Long Sword = Long Sword of the Leech
___ 4.5.2: Throwing Weapon and Ammo recipes _________________________________
For all those times when shops just aren't selling arrows. Or javelins.
... yeah.
2 Quivers of Arrows = 1 Quiver of Bolts
2 Quivers of Bolts = 1 Quiver of Arrows
1 Axe + 1 Dagger = One stack of Throwing Axes
1 Spear + 1 Quiver of arrows = 1 stack of Javelins
______________________________________________________________________________
5. Credits and Contact Info
______________________________________________________________________________
- Credits
Blizzard Entertainment, for some of the finest games around. A good part of
my life has been devoted to Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo.
GameFAQs.com, for providing the best online gaming resource that we have in
this troubled day and age. :)
- Contact Info
Do you have additions or corrections for this FAQ? Further questions that
weren't answered the first time around? A burning desire to *know*? Send an
email over to
As always, full credit will be given to the people responsible for any
contributions or corrections.
(c) 2001-2003 by Brian Kern
Limited reproduction rights as assigned.