Unbelievably lucky drop halts Diablo 2 speedrun attempt, player sells it anyway
The world of speedrunning is open to everyone and anyone, but perhaps the biggest barrier to entry is understanding exactly what is going on when watching another player break through exploits you never knew existed.
Few franchises are open to this confusion like Diablo, with its iconic looting system leading to some brutal RNG and item-filtering nightmares. And now, this gameplay structure has bitten one player in perhaps the most unexpected way.
Diablo 2 speedrunner interrupted by finding immensely rare item
One speedrun of Diablo 2 has been dragged to a screeching halt, all as the player running the speedrun accidentally discovered one of the game's rarest items. Instead of carrying on, they headed straight to a vendor to sell it.
During a full run of Diablo 2's campaign in an assassin-based attempt at a speedrun, streamer Kano found himself fighting enemies in their hordes, before walking over a Zod Rune. To many, this item is considered to be one of Diablo's rarest.
"A Zod Rune! That’s my highest speedrun rune," he says in response to finding the item. "That’s the first-ever Zod I found, by the way."
He takes the item straight back to a vendor to sell it for 35,000 gold, practically uprooting his speedrun attempt in the process. Hey, we can't fault him for getting his bag.
How rare is Diablo 2’s Zod Rune?
Click to enlargeThe Zod Rune is arguably one of the most valuable and rare items in Diablo 2, let alone the whole franchise. It allowed players to harness the Breath of the Dying and Obsession Rune Words. The item has a drop rate of 1:2,987,183, which is absurd even by Diablo's standards - so we can't fault the speedrunner for wasting no time in selling it.
Even though most attention is on Diablo 4, the Diablo 2 speedrunning community is still strong. It's because, more often than not, we avoid eventualities like this. Still, after bagging the Zod Rune, it's not like their speedrunning days are over. at least they can try again tomorrow.
