Runes in In Diablo III , Runes are nothing like still small objects that must be placed in sockets to take effect, but in D3 the Runes found sockets are in Diablo II. In D2 there were 33 kinds of {{iw|Runes Runes}}[[skills]], which were small not items that had no use on their own. (Items may also have sockets, but that could runes won't be placed used in item them if they do.) Active skills have sockets to add various bonuses to in the skill tree interface, and when a valid rune is placed into the socket, the skill gains an appropriate bonus, depending on the itemtype and quality of rune used. Certain combinations Bonuses vary greatly, depending on the skill and the type of runes could also be rune used to create {{iw|Runeword RuneWords}}, very powerful items with pre-set statsand include such things as extra hits, extra damage, increased spell duration, and many more.

[[Image:New_Rune_Socket.png|thumb|Rune Socket]]Skill Runes in [[Diablo III ]] improve a character's active skills [[skill]]s in various creative ways. Runes don't just add damage; they modify the skill in some way, making it more powerful and fun to use, as well as allowing for character customization. Runes can be used very strategically; different runes in the same spell will do things. For example: the [[Wizard ]] skill, [[Blizzard, ]] would gain different benefits from different runes. A few hypothetical Blizzard bonuses: more falling projectiles, longer duration, more damage per projectile, longer chill time, better to/hit, better chance of critical hit, and so forth. Also, each of those types of bonuses would be increased in power by the quality of the rune used, allowing for a huge variety of potential bonuses and play styles.

As of the [[BlizzCon 2008]] demo (October 2008), only some :* Active Skills had sockets for runes; none * None of the Passive skills didhad sockets. Furthermore, no * No skill had more than one socket.  It is not known if any of this will remain that way in the final game.

As of BlizzCast episode 8 (30th of March, 2009) [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/blizzcast-8-live-with-diablo-iii-goodies/] Runes and Rune Sockets have become Horizontal Rectangles, as seen in the image on top and in the image to the right. 

The [[D3 Team ]] gave several examples of rune functions during a panel at Blizzcon (October [[BlizzCon 2008) ]] when Skill Runes were first revealed as a game feature. ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouYP1zGfd0s Watch the demonstration] on YouTube.)

* '''[[Mirror Image ]] Skill:''' This skill, from the [[Conjuring Skill Tree]], creates a duplicate of the [[wizard]], which is capable of moving around and using spells to attack monsters. (It's not just a decoy or an illusion.)

* '''[[Teleport ]] skill:''' This skill, from the [[Arcane Skill Tree]], teleports the Wizard to the targeted location. The spell isn't quite as quick as it was in Diablo or Diablo 2, since the Wizard leaps up into the air before vanishing, and appears in the air, then falls down to earth.

* '''[[Skull of Flame ]] skill:''' The Witch Doctor lobs a flaming skull, grenade style, which explodes on impact, dealing substantial fire damage to nearby targets.

* '''[[Electrocute ]] skill:''' This skill, from the [[Storm Skill Tree]] creates a strand of lightning that locks onto an enemy like a beam weapon, dealing steady lightning damage. It will chain to a second enemy if one is in range, dealing damage to both.

* [[Energy Rune]]* [[Viper Rune ]] (named Lethality before)* [[Hydra Rune ]] (named Multistrike before)* [[Force Rune ]] (named Power before)* [[Striking Rune]]

More runes will almost certainly be added during development as the team thinks of useful types to include in the game. The team won't be adding a lot of odd types of runes, though; D3 Lead Designer [[Jay Wilson ]] has stressed that runes must add a useful function to multiple types of skills. The [[D3 Team ]] wants all the runes to be useful to all characters[[class]]es, so they won't add runes that just boost one type of skill, or one character's skills. They have to think up rune bonus properties that work across the board, so there are probably not going to be 50 types of runes. (Utility doesn't equal equality, since not every skill can receive exactly the same level of improvement from every rune.)  

It's been stated that runes will have various levels of quality, in a fashion somewhat akin to the different quality levels of {{iw|Gem gems}} in Diablo II. At BlizzCon 2008, [[Jay Wilson]] said there were 5 or 6 quality levels of runes (Minor being the lowest quality), but that the number could go up or down during development. Higher qualities of runes will (of course) be dropped by higher level monsters, and the higher qualities will be much rarer. The function of each type of rune will not change at higher quality; instead the bonuses will be increased. The D3 team hasn't yet revealed much information about how item [[crafting ]] will work in D3, other than to say that they won't have any {{iw|Horadric_Cube Horadric Cube-style}} converting items. We therefore know nothing about the potential for runes to be upgraded by type, though it's certainly possible that something along those lines could be implemented.

At the [[BlizzCon 2008]] demo, runes were stored in an [[inventory ]] grid on the skill tree menu; not in the normal inventory. There were 10 rune slots below the skill trees. It's not known if they will still be stored there in the final game, if there will be ways to increase the number of slots, or if they can be stored in the inventory instead.

What do you really know about runes? The ones from our world come from the ancient Vikings, and their "futhark" (equivalence of our 'Alpha Bet(a)'). They allegedly hold magic powers, and the magicks of the 'runa' are still practiced practised today. These practices, called "Seden", are of course done mostly as a pastime, but some forms of the old runes were used in proper form as late as early 20th century in the 'Dalarna' area of Sweden...