There are five basic ranks of an item in Diablo 2, and each one of them has its own name color. The ranks are; Normal, Magic, Rare, Set, and Unique.
Aside from that, you may also come across Ethereal Versions of these types of equipment, which is a special state where the armor has one big drawback (it cannot be repaired) and offers extraordinary bonuses.
Gear of any rarity can be dropped at any difficulty level of the game, but the higher level you are, the more Rare, Set, and Unique items you will obtain. If you add Magic Find on items, it’ll increase your chances of receiving Magical drops. Also, many equipment styles and qualities can be reformed or enhanced using the Horadric Cube.
Diablo 2: Normal Rarity Equipment
Items of Normal Rarity in diablo 2 resurrected unique items include items that have no Magical properties of their own, apart from the in-built properties that it carries, such as Weapon Damage & Armor Defense.
Normal Rarity Items are either White when dropped, or Grey when they are socketed. They have no Magical properties as mentioned above, and can offer up to 1-6 maximum number of sockets for Weapons, 1-4 for Chest Armor, 1-4 for Shield, and 1-3 for Helm. Its perfect change of Gambling is at 0%.
Normal Socketed Equipment can consist of anywhere from 1 to 6 Sockets, and they can accept additional socketed items, such as Gems, Runes, or Jewels. The only items that can be used to create Runewords are; Helms, Armor, Weapons, and Shields.
If you’re not already aware of diablo 2 resurrected unique items, then Runeword-Enhanced Normal Socketed Armor is a significant source of end-game gear for players who are focusing on the gameplay with LOD (Lord of Destruction) full version expansion enabled. Also, you can create the Normal Socketed Chest Armor, Headgear, Shields, or Weapons from regular Normal Un-socketed items via the Horadric Cube for these diablo 2 resurrected unique items.
Diablo 2: Magic Rarity Equipment
Magic Rarity items have 1 to 2 random Magic properties, and their name appears in the color Blue. They can have sockets from 1 to 4 relating to the Chest Armor, Shields, and Weapons. However, in terms of Helms, they can be anywhere around 1 to 3. These items have a percent change of Gambling of about 90%, which is 9 in 10.
Magic Rarity Equipment for diablo 2 unique items may have either a Prefix, Suffix, or both, and the chances of having them are 25%, 50%, and 25%, respectively. The Prefixes and Suffixes of an item are chances dependent upon the item that is being used. For instance, Weapons have properties like Additional Damage and Attack Rating, Armor has Defensive properties like Additional Defense, Additional Mana items are mostly used by spellcasting classes, and Jewelry acts like a support system that carries bonuses to Magic Find.
Magic items are also the first quality level where the items have to be identified prior to using them. Similarly, the other levels like Rare, Set, and Unique also need to be identified. This process can be initiated by using a Scroll of Identify or Tome of Identify, or alternatively, you can ask the NPC named Dekard Cain to identify the items (d2r unique items) for you; however, he does charge 100 D2R Gold for the service, but that is until you have completed the questline ‘Search for Cain’.
Diablo 2: Rare Rarity Equipment
Rare Rarity Equipment is magical gear consisting of advanced Affixes and a ‘Special Random Name’. The name basically appears in the color Yellow, but the properties are listed in the color Blue. Such items can have 2 to 6 Magical properties among the available Suffixes and Prefixes. Aside from that, Rare items (otherwise known as d2r unique items) can have anywhere from 1 to 2 sockets in Headgear, Shield, Weapon, or Chest Armor, and the percent change of Gambling is about 10%, which is 1 in 10.
You can add up to 3 Suffixes and 3 Prefixes on a single Rare item, but do keep in mind that you can’t duplicate a single Prefix or Suffix. Similarly, they cannot have another Prefix or Suffix of the same category or group that has the same effect. However, the plus point is that you can have one that does the same thing. For instance, a Rare weapon that is rolled up with a Fiery Prefix and a Burning Suffix offering Fire Damage is allowed.
Diablo 2: Set Rarity Equipment
Set Rarity gear is basically worn together to obtain greater bouses than when they are worn in parts. In simpler words, they offer extra bonuses depending upon the number of items you have equipped. It also includes partial Set bonuses, where you obtain extra abilities if a certain number of pieces are worn.
Set items appear in the color Green, and have both; Individual Static properties, as well as Set Bonus properties. The number of sockets that it offers is predetermined depending on the set. Also, you can only have one socket added to a single Weapon, Shield, Helm, or Chest piece.
However, you can only do that through Larzuk’s quest in Act V, and that too once per difficulty. The percent change of Gambling for Set items is about 0.10%, which is 1 in 1000.
Most of the Set items aren’t popular for end-game content, and you can often get better properties with items combines. Acquiring a complete set can be challenging, which is until or unless you are doing a lot of trading. Some of the most popular sets are Sigon’s Complete Steel for either Levelling or Mercenary gear, Griswold’s Legacy for Paladins, Immortal King for Melee Warriors, and Tal Rasha’s Wrappings for Sorceresses. A good and suggested combo for Melee Warriors would be the Angelic Wings Amulet and Angelic Halo Ring.
Diablo 2: Unique Rarity Equipment
Unique Rarity gear acts as the backbone of many strategies since you can use Normal socketed equipment with Runewords for Helm, Shield, Body Armor, and Weapon, and then fill the rest with Unique gears. Some Unique equipment is even better than Runeword gear in the affected slots.
Unique items are appeared in the color Tan and have Static properties. However, most of these properties consist of randomized ranges within the ability. Aside from that, the predetermines sockets depend on the set, and they can only have 1 socket added to a single Weapon, Armor, Shield, Helm, or Chest via Larzuk quest in Act V (Similar to Set Rarity Equipment). The percent change of Gambling is about 0.05%, which is 1 in 2000.
You can only equip a single Unique item in any of the preferred slots (one at a time). That doesn’t mean you can’t wear an entire set of Unique pieces, but there shouldn’t be any duplicates. However, you can carry more than one of the same type. This doesn’t really come into play except with three items; Charms, Weapons, and Rings for classes that can dual-wield (Barbarian/Assassin). Also, there are three unique Charms in the game, and you can only carry one of each type with you. Also, you won’t be able to get another drop of the same Unique in the same game or expansion.
Ethereal Items: Diablo 2 Resurrected
Ethereal items aren’t really a part of the item rarity statement since it’s more towards the subtype of a gear, which is similar to being Socketed. It appears as a semi-transparent type of Normal item that includes bonuses and drawbacks. Any Armor or Weapon type can be an Ethereal, with exceptions for Arrows, Bolts, Bows, Amulets, Crossbows, Phase Blades, Rings, and Set items.
Its major pros are that Ethereal items have a 50% bonus to their damage or defense, and the items have reduced stat requirements. The only con is that you cannot repair Ethereal items, so once the item is broken it’s completely gone.
It’s worth noting that some Ethereal Weapons can regenerate on their own if they have suffixes like Self-Repair and Restoration. However, it only works if they aren’t broken, because past that stage the item cannot be repaired. You can also give Ethereal to your mercenary as such equipment does not lose Durability. Finally, you can fit an Ethereal weapon with a Zod Rune, which makes the item indestructible.