Man, making that Malice runeword wasn’t some fancy walk in the park like some guides make it sound. Took me actual effort and a couple screw-ups, gotta be honest. Let me just dump how it went down, step by messy step.
The “Getting Stuff Together” Headache
Okay, first thing hit me was I needed the runes: Ith, El, and Eth. Sounds simple, right? Ha! Not having any saved up meant farming. Dropped down into the Tower, fought Countess so many times I lost count. Mostly got low junk runes, felt like forever. El runes dropped like candy, sure. Eth dropped a few times finally. But that Ith? Man, that little jerk was holding out on me. Had to clear Act 1 trash mobs outside Tristram a bunch more before one finally popped. Pain.
Next up? Finding a weapon with exactly three sockets. Needed a white one, plain, nothing fancy. Went rummaging through Nightmare act drops thinking “something decent must drop”. Scored a few swords and polearms, but zero sockets. Felt pointless. Finally snagged a basic Broad Sword off some random Fallen in the Stony Field. Took it to Larzuk in town. Hold my breath… click… pop! Three sockets. YES!
The Actual Making Part (Where I Almost Flubbed It)
Alright, sword in hand, runes in stash. Time to jam ’em in. Remembered reading the order matters big time. Had to check my notes because I always forget the sequence: Ith, then El, then Eth. So… opened the socket window. Clicked the Broad Sword in. Grabbed the Ith rune first, dropped it in the left socket slot. Easy. Then pulled out the El rune, popped it right into the middle slot. Nervous now. Last, the Eth rune. Slotted it perfectly in the last one. Ready? Hit Transmute.
Boom. The sword glowed yellow suddenly, name changed right there. “Malice Broad Sword”. Felt good seeing those stats right away:
- Punches holes in monsters? Check.
- Life drains away? Spooky, but okay.
- Stops monster healing? Super useful.
- That nasty Open Wounds effect? Brutal for longer fights.
Success! But… ugh, almost ruined it earlier trying to put the runes backwards in my first attempt before realizing the order thing.
So… Was It Worth My Time?
Honestly? Kinda? The process itself was a grind finding that Ith rune and the right socketed sword. Real effort went in. The runeword itself? It does the job early on, makes you feel powerful for a bit, especially stopping monsters from healing. That life leech and open wounds stuff? Pretty nasty combination against tougher beasts. Main downside is how fragile it makes the weapon. The negative max durability thing means you’re repairing it ALL. THE. TIME. Gets annoying real fast carrying scrolls or constantly heading back to town.
Would I do it again? Maybe for an alt character early in ladder if I snag the runes fast. But hunting it down specifically? Probably not worth the headache unless you really love that specific set of effects. It works. It’s cheap. But man, be prepared to fix your weapon every five minutes. Seriously.