HOW TO MAKE ENIGMA
Enigma in Diablo 2 Resurrected is the runeword ‘JahIthBer’. To create it, you need to insert a Jah rune, Ith rune and Ber rune in a 3 socket body armor. Make sure to put the runes in the right order and that the base item has exactly 3 sockets, or else the runeword will not work.
Choosing the optimal base for Enigma
The recommended base to make Enigma is a Dusk Shroud or an Archon Plate.
There are in total 15 eligible bases. The Dusk Shroud, Wyrmhide, Scarab Husk, Wire Fleece, Diamond Mail, Loricated Mail, Great Hauberk, Boneweave, Balrog Skin, Archon Plate, Kraken Shell, Hellforge Plate, Lacquered Plate, Shadow Plate and Sacred Armor.
What to look out for
Builds that don't invest a lot in Strength often look for a light armor with no impact on run speed. These armors generally don't have a high Strength requirement and thus leave more points for Vitality. The bases with the least impact on run speed are the Dusk Shroud, Wyrmhide, Scarab Husk, Wire Fleece, Great Hauberk and Archon Plate.
Builds that already have a high Strength requirement can look for higher defense bases. The base with the best defense is the Sacred Armor. High defense often comes with a high strength requirement, that's why these requirements are also an import factor.
The base with the lowest strength requirement is the Dusk Shroud. The Dusk Shroud only requires 77 Strength to equip.
Elite bases overview
| name | defense | strength | sockets | weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dusk Shroud | 361 - 467 (414) | 77 | 4 | Light |
| Wyrmhide | 364 - 470 (417) | 84 | 4 | Light |
| Scarab Husk | 369 - 474 (421.5) | 95 | 4 | Light |
| Wire Fleece | 375 - 481 (428) | 111 | 4 | Light |
| Diamond Mail | 383 - 489 (436) | 131 | 4 | Medium |
| Loricated Mail | 390 - 496 (443) | 149 | 4 | Heavy |
| Great Hauberk | 395 - 501 (448) | 118 | 4 | Light |
| Boneweave | 399 - 505 (452) | 158 | 4 | Medium |
| Balrog Skin | 410 - 517 (463.5) | 165 | 4 | Medium |
| Archon Plate | 410 - 524 (467) | 103 | 4 | Light |
| Kraken Shell | 417 - 523 (470) | 174 | 4 | Medium |
| Hellforge Plate | 421 - 530 (475.5) | 196 | 4 | Heavy |
| Lacquered Plate | 433 - 541 (487) | 208 | 4 | Medium |
| Shadow Plate | 446 - 557 (501.5) | 230 | 4 | Heavy |
| Sacred Armor | 487 - 600 (543.5) | 232 | 4 | Medium |
Exceptional bases overview
In addition to Elite bases, Exceptional bases are also an option
| name | defense | strength | sockets | weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linked Mail | 158 - 172 (165) | 74 | 3 | Medium |
| Tigulated Mail | 176 - 190 (183) | 86 | 3 | Heavy |
| Cuirass | 188 - 202 (195) | 65 | 3 | Light |
| Mesh Armor | 198 - 213 (205.5) | 92 | 3 | Medium |
| Russet Armor | 225 - 243 (234) | 97 | 3 | Medium |
| Mage Plate | 225 - 261 (243) | 55 | 3 | Light |
| Sharktooth Armor | 242 - 258 (250) | 103 | 3 | Medium |
| Templar Coat | 252 - 274 (263) | 118 | 3 | Heavy |
| Embossed Plate | 282 - 303 (292.5) | 125 | 4 | Medium |
| Chaos Armor | 315 - 342 (328.5) | 140 | 4 | Heavy |
| Ornate Plate | 417 - 450 (433.5) | 170 | 4 | Medium |
Conclusion
Generally, the best balance between Strength requirement and defense, is the Archon Plate. Since the average defense among the elite light armors is minimal (ranging from 414 to 467), depending on how low you want to go on Strength requirements, the Dusk Shroud is also a very good option. Because of the small defense range of the light armors, your choice can also be based on aesthetics. The difference between a max defense Dusk Shroud and max defense Archon Plate is only 75 defense, while having 26 less Strength requirement.
If you however want the absolute lowest Strength requirement (48 less than Archon Plate), the exceptional Mage Plate is the best option, while still maintaining decent defense. For comparison, if assigned to Vitality, this would result in 144 more life for a Paladin, which is more than 7 Small Charms of Vita.
Where to find
A 3 socket Dusk Shroud can be found earliest in Nightmare difficulty. Since a 3 socket Dusk Shroud can only drop from level 65 areas or higher (from normal monsters), the earliest area you can find this base in is The Worldstone Keep Level 1, which has an area level of 65.
Obtaining the runes for Enigma
Most of the runes for this recipe are hard to find. Because it requires multiple high runes, this recipe is particularly hard to make.
| rune | source |
|---|---|
| ith | Farming Normal, Nightmare, or Hell Countess |
| ber | Farming high density areas in Act 3 or higher on Hell difficulty |
| jah | Farming high density areas in Act 4 or higher on Hell difficulty |
The benefits of Enigma
Enigma is most popular for its ability to grant +1 to Teleport to any class. Besides Teleport, this armor also provides huge amounts of Better Chance of Getting Magic Items and a massive Strength bonus allowing more points to be allocated to other Stats like Vitality.
Enigma is most often created in an exceptional or elite version of light armor (Dusk Shroud, Wyrmhhide, Scarab Husk, Wire Fleece, Great Hauberk, and Archon Plate), the most popular choice is a Superior Archon Plate. However it should be noted that a Mage Plate might be the better option if you don't need high Strength. ALL these armors don't affect run speed and have a low Strength requirement.
The biggest downside of Enigma is its high cost of Jah and Ber, and its lack of Resistances.
The resulting runeword will have the following stats. Since this runeword has varying attributes, you might end up with an undesirable item if the attributes didn't roll high enough.
- +2 To All Skills
- +45% Faster Run/Walk
- +1 To Teleport
- +750-775 Defense (varies)
- +(0.75*Clvl) To Strength (Based On Character Level)
- Increase Maximum Life 5%
- Damage Reduced By 8%
- +14 Life After Each Kill
- 15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
- (1*Clvl)% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based On Character Level)
- socketed (3)
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