Many bow/crossbow runewords cannot be made in other weapon types. In addition to these, the following can also be made in missile weapons: Passion, Voice of Reason, Venom, Silence, Call to Arms, Fortitude, Phoenix, Plague, Asylum, Breath of the Dying, Zenith
diablo 2 claw runewords
A major advantage of using two claws is Weapon Block. This gives a maximum of 60% chance to block physical attacks but, unlike a shield, it can also block most magical attacks. Blizzard, Bone Spears, Bone Spirits, Tornadoes can all be blocked. This skill is also independent of dexterity and character level. The only thing that affects it is the skill level.
A note about claw speed advantages (thanks to stephan):Assassins have an attack speed advantage when using claws with the strike charge-ups. With claws the max speed is 7 fpa, while with other 1-handers you can never go faster than 8 fpa. The base speed of the strike charge-ups is also faster when using claws (meaning they need less IAS to reach the same speed compared with other 1-handers).
Primary and Off-hand ClawFor the purposes of this guide, the primary claw is the one equipped first and is above your gloves. The secondary is in the shield slot, above the boots. Dependant on the skill you are using, some mods do not work in the secondary slot.
* Half this damage applies if using a two handed weapon, regardless of what the LCS says. So for blade sentinel damage with a two handed weapon is 3/16. Not that this is important in a claw guide.** Blade Sentinel has natural pierce*** All blade skills have a fixed speed, regardless of IAS on weapons or gear.
So which are the best claws?If you are playing a trapper, Greater Talons. They have the lowest requirements for claws with the fastest WSM and ability to get staffmods.For physical damage based characters, it is a question of using the highest damage claw that lets you hit the speed you need. Runic Talons, Feral Claws and Greater Talons are all popular choices.
The following runewords can all be made in claws. Check the table above for the best base claws to make them in. Remember to look for staffmods that will complement your build. As all these runewords are geared towards physical damage characters, recommended staffmods are Mind Blast, Venom, Weapon Block, Shadow Master, Dragon Flight, Fade, Burst of Speed. Lightning Sentry is also desirable for Hybrid WW/Trap Assassins.
With the coming of patch 1.13 and the increased rune drop rates, this claw is now accessible to both SP and BNet players. A top of the range Fools claw will beat it for almost all builds, but these can be very hard to come by, especially if you are after staffmods on the claw too. This is a great runeword for the primary claw on a hybrid WW / Trap assassin, made in a +3 Lightning Sentry base.
The 100% open wounds is what makes this attractive. Nice for a PvM kicker, but you will have trouble hitting the required speeds without using BoS for a PvP character. Remember to get +5 or more Replenish Life somewhere else in your equipment to combat the drain on the claw.
The highest physical damage of the unique claws, but not enough to recommend it really. No +skills, but maybe the cold effects could be useful in some builds. If you are looking for damage on a claw, it is relatively easy to find a rare or magical claw to surpass it, and in a quicker claw base type.
Only do this is you are playing a character that is based solely on physical claw damage. If you are playing a Kicker or a Phoenix Striker for example, there is no point. The only real effect will be you have to invest more points into strength and dexterity that you could better spend in vitality.
Magical Claws can have one prefix and one suffix. In addition to this they can have up to 3 staffmods. Claws are one of the few instances magic items can be better than Rares, Uniques and Runewords. For a trapper, it is possible to get +3 to Traps and +3 to LS on the claw, with IAS. As magic items have the potential to get two sockets from Larzuk, this is very difficult to beat in a rare, and no runewords or Uniques have better mods.
Example of a great (probably the best) rare trappers claw:Witch Hunters (+2 Assassin Skills)Mechanics (2os)of Quickness (40 IAS)of Simplicity (Requirements -30%)+3 Lightning Sentry, Mind Blast & Weapon Block staffmods.
Remember that you can upgrade rare claws using the cube recipe. I normally check even rare Blade Talons and Claws when questing. They can potentially drop with all the nice mods you need on a fools claw, but of course no staffmods. But upgraded to Exceptional or Elite they can still be very nice indeed.
(or: me no like read just tell wot 2 pik up wen killin stuf U n00b)Magical, +3 Trap and +to LS, DS, CBS. Especially if it has IAS too, or is in a fast claw type.Magical, +3 Shadow with +to Fade, Venom, BoS, SMRare / Magical, +2 Assassin Skills, +to any useful skills.Rare / Magical, Fools with IAS, in a quick claw.White, Plain or 3os and +to Fade, Venom, Mind Blast, Dragon Flight, Lightning Sentry.
Claw VendorsNormally I would recommend shopping Hell Anya as she is the quickest vendor to shop. But maybe you are playing untwinked, or in a tournament and need to shop some claws before you can get to her.
This is a list of who sells what claws, taken from the shopping calculator. I have not personally verified this list. I have noticed that Hell Anya is not listed as a vendor of Blade Talons although I know I have bought several from her, so there may be other errors. Anything I have corrected is listed in italics.
Can I shop a white claw with staffmods?No. Staffmods are only available on exceptional and elite claws. These are only available after character level 20 (ilvl 25) and will therefore always be magical.
Imbuing is the act 1 quest reward that Charsi gives. It takes a normal quality item and makes it a rare quality item. Imbuing is one of the best methods of generating rare claws as it will always give you three staffmods.The imbue quest cannot be used by a char with a level lower than 8The imbue quest sets the ilvl to character level plus four. In equation formclvl + 4 = ilvl
From: OutlawDino #006you best option for a trapsin are +3 Traps / 40 IAS claws with 2 sockets @ larzuk and any 3 of:Unfortunately I only use the items I find on my own and only have one character on Nightmare (Chptr 1 at that too), so those will be a little hard to come by.I don't trade or shop for items on line.---I have Gwen Stacey clones, and you don't.Official Deadpool of the CAGN board.
Totally an issue. There should be some claws that at least steer you in a direction like ups your claw ice DMG or beefs PHX strike or venom significantly. A claw for bladesin. Traps has always been good enough. Maybe a shockweb or fire blast one . Even making treachery more end game instead of mid would be helpful.
I like the idea of having a claw runeword like faith with an aura and some of the stats. It would need to be expensive something like Jah, Ohm and Gul. But to be honest with the change with plague it will be really good for MA sins, no attack speed but will be nice to use.
Although I have no opposition to assassins getting new good claw runewords. I do want to see how the MA assassin actually plays out with all the new changes. I think it might be sleeper OP and do crazy damage.
As Assassin Katars can have a +1-3 bonus to up to 3 different skills, findinga claw with useful bonusus could make a more effective weapon. If a claw withseveral desirable skills is found, consider saving this for use with a higherlevel runeword. Checking Claws that drop for useful skills is recommended.
If a white claw drops that has useful skills but no sockets, the HoradricCube recipe Ral Rune + Amn Rune + Perfect Amethyst can be used to add sockets.For the Claws listed above, it has a 4 in 6 chance of giving the 3 socketsrequired for Pattern.
Some runewords work in all weapons, or all melee weapons, or all ranged weapons (bows/xbows). Others are more specific. "Maces" is a term used in the game, but it's deceptive since it only applies to some blunt weapons. The Mace, Morning Star, Flail, and Exceptional/Elite versions of those items are "Maces." "Clubs" and "Hammers" are different, when it comes to runeword eligibility, and the Club, Spiked Club, War Hammer, Mauls, and Great Maul, or the excep/elite versions of those weapons will not work with "Mace" runewords. Nor will any type of Scepter.Note also that the "Polearms" weapon type does not include Spears. Spears can only be runed with the "All Melee Weapons" words. 2ff7e9595c