Alright guys, today I’m finally tackling the Lawbringer runeword for my Merc. Wanted Amn + Lem + Ko? Yeah, sounds easy until you actually try finding a Lem. Spent way too long messing around before figuring out a decent system. Here’s how my grind went down.
First off, I made a big mistake. Started with Travincal runs in Hell difficulty. Everyone says those council members drop good runes, right? Loaded up my Hammerdin, busted through Act 3, and started spamming the council in Travincal. Did maybe 20 runs. Dropped tons of gold, some charms, basic jewels… and exactly zero high runes. Not even an Amn! Felt like a waste of time. My fingers were getting tired.
Okay, plan B. Switched gears entirely. Remembered something crucial: Countess runs are reliable for low-to-mid runes, even if they aren’t quick. Targeted my farming for the specific runes I needed.
My Actual Method That Worked:
- Step 1: Target Amn and Ko. Straight to the Black Marsh in Hell difficulty. Cleared the Tower, smacked the Countess on every run. She consistently dropped runes like Ral, Ort, Tal… and after about 15 runs, boom, an Amn dropped! One down. Few runs later? Got a Ko from a random mob chest on the way to her! Lucky break, but the Countess definitely helped get the runes flowing.
- Step 2: Cube Recipes are Your Friend. No Lem dropping naturally? No sweat. Went back to my stash. Took three Puls I had sitting around (found earlier during random MF runs). Stuck them in the Horadric Cube – 3 Pul runes + 1 chipped gem = Lem rune! Bam. Did it twice to get two Lems (one for later maybe). Felt way smarter than relying purely on luck.
- Step 3: Finding the Base. Needed a 3-socket sword. Wasn’t picky. Went back to running The Pit in Act 1 Hell for general magic find. Wrecked everything with my hammers. Took maybe 8 runs, but a clean 3-socket Phase Blade dropped. Perfect. Way easier than hunting specific runes.
The Payoff: Took the base to Larzuk. Guaranteed sockets? Sure, but I already had 3. Slapped the runes in real careful: Amn, Lem, Ko – in that exact order. Done. Lawbringer in my hands! My Merc feels way tougher now. Took maybe 3 hours total spread over an evening? Mostly relaxing gameplay, no crazy frustration. Much better than endlessly hoping Travincal would cough up a Lem.
Bottom line? Forget just farming high-level areas hoping for the exact rune you need. Mix it up: Run Countess for the lower ones reliably, use cube upgrades wisely (save those Puls!), and find the base while doing your regular magic find runs. Makes the whole thing way less painful. Got mine finally!