Pride

Pride is a luxury mercenary runeword in Diablo 2 Resurrected, designed primarily to transform your Act 2 mercenary into an aura powerhouse. Requiring Cham + Sur + Io + Lo in a 4-socket polearm or spear, this expensive combination delivers a level 16-20 Concentration Aura that dramatically amplifies physical damage for your entire party.

The Concentration Advantage

The real value of Pride lies in its Concentration aura, which provides up to +345% Enhanced Damage at level 20 to all nearby allies. This makes it exceptional for physical damage dealers who can benefit from the massive damage multiplier without sacrificing their own weapon slots. Summoner builds particularly shine with this runeword, as the aura affects all minions including skeletons, revives, and golems.

Best Uses & Builds

While Pride works on Act 2 mercenaries, it faces stiff competition from Infinity and Insight. The most popular application is with summoner Necromancers, who often create an Iron Golem from Pride rather than equipping it on their mercenary—this prevents monsters from shattering when frozen, which would remove corpses needed for summoning.

Physical Bowazons can also benefit significantly when pairing Pride with Atma's Scarab for Amplify Damage. However, in single player, The Reaper's Toll with Decrepify often provides higher overall damage output. In multiplayer where Amplify Damage is available from party members, Pride becomes more competitive.

Rune Cost & Availability

The rune requirements make Pride extremely expensive. Cham is the second-rarest rune in the game and cannot drop from Countess or Hellforge, while Sur and Lo are both high-value runes. This investment must be carefully weighed against alternatives like Infinity, which provides broader utility for most builds.

Best Bases

• Ethereal Thresher - The preferred choice for Act 2 mercenaries, offering excellent attack speed and damage. The ethereal version provides 50% extra defense and damage without durability loss on mercenaries
• Ethereal Giant Thresher - Slightly higher damage range than Thresher but requires more strength. Only choose if your mercenary can meet the requirements
• Spears (Patch 2.4+) - Since Patch 2.4, Pride can be created in spears, including Amazon-specific spears. This opened new possibilities for Amazon builds, though the mercenary application remains most common