100 Countess Runs and average quality of rune drop

Since Ladder is right behind the corner, I decided to make 100 Countess runs with my Sorc SP and check the summary results. I opened the notepad and I wrote down every rune i found from Countess in every run. This is rather addressed to new or less experienced D2:R players, so they will find out what runes she usually drops and what's the generic ratio. Also, 100 runs with Sorc TP in SP took me around 2 hours, so keep in mind that random maps in MP and lack of Teleport if playing other char without Enigma will make it way tougher.

Below is the list of every run and what runes did i get each run. I only count Countess and her minions, i dont count other monsters, so if someone kills every monster on the way to Countess, he/she can add few runes more to this list.

1. Ort
2. Eth
3. Eth + Ral
4. No rune (sic!)
5. Sol + Shael + Ral
6. Sol
7. Eld + Tal
8. El + Ith
9. Tir
10. Shael + Key
11. 2x Tal
12. El
13. Mal (!) + Eth
14. Shael + Sol + Key
15. Thul + Tir
16. Sol
17. Ral + Ort
18. Eld
19. No rune again
20. Tal + Ort + Sol
21. Shael
22. 2x Ith + Sol
23. Amn + Tal + Nef
24. Dol + Ith
25. El + Ort
26. Nef + Ith
27. Io + Ort
28. El
29. Amn
30. El + Tir
31. Hel
32. Nef
33. Ort + Ko
34. Tal
35. Ral + Hel + Key
36. El + Thul
37. Tal
38. Lum + Amn
39. Io + Nef
40. Thul
41. Tal + Thul
42. Tal + Amn
43. Tal + Tir
44. Nef + Ith + Key
45. Ort + Tir
46. Tal + Key
47. Ral + Sol
48. Thul + Ort
49. Ort
50. Tal + Eld
51. Thul + Shael
52. 2x Amn + Ort
53. Dol + Tal
54. Hel + Fal
55. Amn + Tal + Lum
56. Hel + Amn + Eth
57. Eth + Shael
58. Ort + Shael
59. Tal + Ort
60. Shael + El
61. Ort + El
62. Ort + Eth
63. Ith + Shael
64. Sol + El + Thul
65. Fal + Tir + Shael
66. Nef + Sol
67. El + Ral + Key
68. Ith + Ort + Tir
69. Amn
70. Thul
71. Amn + Thul
72. Ral + Thul
73. Dol + Thul (3x in a row, damn...)
74. Tal
75. Amn
76. Eth + Nef + Thul
77. 2x Ral
78. Tal + Amn + Key
79. Amn
80. Dol + Tal
81. Tal + Ral + El + Key
82. Shael + Ort + El + Key (wow )
83. Dol
84. Ort + Ral
85. Sol
86. Eth + Amn
87. 2x Ort
88. Tal + Lum + Thul
89. Ith + Tal
90. Tir
91. Dol + Sol
92. Tal + Eld + Ko
93. Ort
94. Dol + Thul
95. Ith + Ort
96. Ral + Tal
97. Amn + Ort
98. Amn + Ort again
99. Nef + Shael
100. 2x El... so funny finish

Now, lets take a look at the list ordered from the most frequently dropped runes to the least frequent

Tal- 23
Ort - 23
Amn - 16
Thul - 14
El - 14
Ral - 12
Shael - 12
Sol - 11
Ith - 9
Tir - 8
Nef - 8
Eth - 8
Dol - 7
Eld - 4
Hel - 4
Lum - 3
Io - 2
Ko - 2
Fal - 2
Mal - 1

Keys - 9

As you can see, I got lucky only one time when i found Mal. Basically almost all other runes are low except few drops. Hell Countess can drop everything from Ist and below. She can also drop Lo, Ohm, Vex, Gul due to her mlvl, but the chances are... very very very low.

Also worth noticing is the Key of Terror drop rate. Doing 100 runs, i found 9 Keys, which is a good result i think.

Summary - If someone wants urgent lots of Tal, Ort, Amn or Thul runes, Hell Countess is way to go. Amn rune is used in making caster amulets and rings in Horadric Cube, so doing Countess runs will be helpful to farm Amn runes. She has very low chance to drop Ist, Mal, Um or even Pul rune, so if someone search for these runes, better to farm Travi or Cows.

That's it. Wish you guys all the best when ladder hits, and the best drops possible

The Countess has never given me the Mal rune since the release of the game. Yesterday, for three races, she gave me 2 Mal runes. I am shocked by such generosity.

Thanks for the detailed statistics. I visit The Countess a little every day, but I don't keep statistics. It is very interesting to see your report.

Moondew wrote: 4 years ago

The Countess has never given me the Mal rune since the release of the game. Yesterday, for three races, she gave me 2 Mal runes. I am shocked by such generosity.

Yes, repetative drops are kind of common in D2, as you can also see from my list. If you find a decent rune, you should always make another run(s) after

Moondew wrote: 4 years ago

Thanks for the detailed statistics. I visit The Countess a little every day, but I don't keep statistics. It is very interesting to see your report.

No problem. I found diablo2.io around week ago, found here a lot of useful info about various D2 stuff (even tho i play D2 since 19 years) and loved it, so when today i wanted to make some Countess runs i decided to write every run in the notepad and make statistics after 100 runs to give D2:R players generic hint and view of how Countess rune drop looks like. Very experienced and old players who spent like 10k hours in D2 probably won't find here anything new or interesting, but less experienced players and those who started to play D2 since Resurrected will find here useful info for sure. Especially when Ladder comes in 2 weeks

yo
i check your results close and im suprised too... im thinking about ums & puls. This is only 100runs and can be to small sample to understranding. I play online ands when i go top forgotten tower i dont think about countness... I Like farming there. In last half year i found there few (FEW!) HR. From countness i have few UMs ,PULs, and 1x Ist. I speek about last 6-8month bec i play like u from 20 years minimum but not like old days. Somethimes i dont even enter to game in few weeks. Somethimes i start farming and farm 2-3 days day & night .
My information says: Max rune from countness can be Vex and in playerone game that chance be 1:5723.
That can be diffirent in this dayts but my table say that value.
**ck the Ladder !

Thank you for your post, OP.

I recently did 100 runs over two days, and didn't get a Key until the 89th run! I did get a handful of Pul and a single Fal during that time. Then between run 90 and 100 she dropped two more keys, and on run 100 she dropped an Ist, Mal, and Thul. I had been getting seriously fed up with her Key stinginess, and still wish she had dropped more keys, but that last drop almost made up for it - almost.

Like you I also got a lot of lower runes though I didn't keep track of them. I only got one no rune drop. Between the Ral drops and cubing up to Ral, I made 25ish Rals, which is good trade fodder. I also used my teleporting sorc for these runs, but it took me twice as long as you. I think it's because after I kill countess, I clear the entire level and break all breakables and open all openables, which I have a compulsion to do. Same goes when I'm teleporting through the other levels, if I'm in a corner and see something that can be opened or broken, I HAVE TO DO IT.

aaabbbccc666 wrote: 4 years ago

yo
i check your results close and im suprised too... im thinking about ums & puls. This is only 100runs and can be to small sample to understranding. I play online ands when i go top forgotten tower i dont think about countness... I Like farming there. In last half year i found there few (FEW!) HR. From countness i have few UMs ,PULs, and 1x Ist. I speek about last 6-8month bec i play like u from 20 years minimum but not like old days. Somethimes i dont even enter to game in few weeks. Somethimes i start farming and farm 2-3 days day & night .
My information says: Max rune from countness can be Vex and in playerone game that chance be 1:5723.
That can be diffirent in this dayts but my table say that value.
**ck the Ladder !

Well i feel like Countess rune drop quality was higher before D2:R but... maybe i just got more lucky or i did more runs that i didn't count haha Of course 100 runs is not that much, people tend to make 500 Mephisto runs daily, so 100 Countess runs is a mediocre number. The point was to show the average drop rate of Countess and show unexperienced players what they should expect while farming Countess for runes. Also what's the average Key of Terror drop rate. I think 9 is pretty high, i can bet i would get 5 or 6 if i repeated it.

I am playing for almost 20 years but I've got breaks also I would get bored of D2 long time ago if i played it everyday. I played more in the past too. Now i am 30, so i don't have that much time and desire to make 500 Mephisto or Baal runs everyday like 15 years ago

I mentioned that Lo and Ohm can drop from Countess, because it's in her level range, it's possible but chance is like 1:20000 or so.

I am mostly SP player and i played online not that much, but 2.4 is the biggest patch since 1.10 so i am gonna give it a try and play some ladder this time. Also I am going to trade after 28th, thats why diablo2.io is my top1 D2 site now

Rayney wrote: 4 years ago

Thank you for your post, OP.

I recently did 100 runs over two days, and didn't get a Key until the 89th run! I did get a handful of Pul and a single Fal during that time. Then between run 90 and 100 she dropped two more keys, and on run 100 she dropped an Ist, Mal, and Thul. I had been getting seriously fed up with her Key stinginess, and still wish she had dropped more keys, but that last drop almost made up for it - almost.

Like you I also got a lot of lower runes though I didn't keep track of them. I only got one no rune drop. Between the Ral drops and cubing up to Ral, I made 25ish Rals, which is good trade fodder. I also used my teleporting sorc for these runs, but it took me twice as long as you. I think it's because after I kill countess, I clear the entire level and break all breakables and open all openables, which I have a compulsion to do. Same goes when I'm teleporting through the other levels, if I'm in a corner and see something that can be opened or broken, I HAVE TO DO IT.

Wow mate, i wish i had your luck for runes Ist and Mal at once from her is incredible. However i got lucky this time for Keys and it's a decent trade option though

I wanted to do it quick, so i rushed to Countess and her minions fast. Just wanted to count raw drop from her, probably many people playing Ladder will do that too for rune drops. Otherwise i do same like you, i also like to open every chest i see and kill some Unique packs of mobs Diablo 2 is very unforgiving, countless times i've got nothing from Meph or Diablo, but opening that one chest or armor rack gave me great unique item or HR that i wanted to get from the boss. Just yesterday i farmed Andariel a little, she kept dropping common crap like Venom Ward or Rogue's Bow... but then a unique Zombie dropped Arm of King Leoric

While farming keys over 300 runs I got one Mal, one Ist, and one Gul myself. Luck is a fickle thing. I did get a triple Key drop, so not all bad.

Mirrim9999 wrote: 4 years ago

While farming keys over 300 runs I got one Mal, one Ist, and one Gul myself. Luck is a fickle thing. I did get a triple Key drop, so not all bad.

No, that is so good.
Have a look at the drop rate :
Mal Rune 0.635546% 1:157
Ist Rune 0.4239912% 1:236
Gul Rune 0.0046655% 1:21434

Domin92 wrote: 4 years ago

Rayney wrote: 4 years ago

Thank you for your post, OP.

I recently did 100 runs over two days, and didn't get a Key until the 89th run! I did get a handful of Pul and a single Fal during that time. Then between run 90 and 100 she dropped two more keys, and on run 100 she dropped an Ist, Mal, and Thul. I had been getting seriously fed up with her Key stinginess, and still wish she had dropped more keys, but that last drop almost made up for it - almost.

Like you I also got a lot of lower runes though I didn't keep track of them. I only got one no rune drop. Between the Ral drops and cubing up to Ral, I made 25ish Rals, which is good trade fodder. I also used my teleporting sorc for these runs, but it took me twice as long as you. I think it's because after I kill countess, I clear the entire level and break all breakables and open all openables, which I have a compulsion to do. Same goes when I'm teleporting through the other levels, if I'm in a corner and see something that can be opened or broken, I HAVE TO DO IT.

Wow mate, i wish i had your luck for runes Ist and Mal at once from her is incredible. However i got lucky this time for Keys and it's a decent trade option though

I wanted to do it quick, so i rushed to Countess and her minions fast. Just wanted to count raw drop from her, probably many people playing Ladder will do that too for rune drops. Otherwise i do same like you, i also like to open every chest i see and kill some Unique packs of mobs Diablo 2 is very unforgiving, countless times i've got nothing from Meph or Diablo, but opening that one chest or armor rack gave me great unique item or HR that i wanted to get from the boss. Just yesterday i farmed Andariel a little, she kept dropping common crap like Venom Ward or Rogue's Bow... but then a unique Zombie dropped Arm of King Leoric

I don't know how you all do that sort of farming. I try, but I get fed up when rng doesn't go my way and think to myself, "Maybe if I just opened this one thing, something amazing would pop out," and before I know it I'm opening and breaking everything. Not sure if it's true because I rarely keep track of stuff, but it feels like my best drops have come from trash mobs and containers.

Rayney wrote: 4 years ago

I don't know how you all do that sort of farming. I try, but I get fed up when rng doesn't go my way and think to myself, "Maybe if I just opened this one thing, something amazing would pop out," and before I know it I'm opening and breaking everything. Not sure if it's true because I rarely keep track of stuff, but it feels like my best drops have come from trash mobs and containers.

Well in my case, i don't think like ''maybe i will be lucky if i kill this monster/open this chest''. I do it automatically, i just click/kill and run forward holding the ALT and when i see smth worthy, i move back and think ''wow, nice drop, didn't expect it''.

Also i noticed something. When i search for HR or good bases, I almost never find them as intented. Only if i do other things, suddenly i find HR or good base for RW without even thinking about it. Then i am again like ''wow, nice''. I could make 100 Cow level runs within a week and didn't find a single HR or even any rune higher than Pul, but then I do random Mephisto run and chest above him gives me e.g. Gul suddenly This game loves to troll me haha But i don't complain though.

Easiest way to do the farming, 10-30 runs at a time, mixing in other things when it gets stale. Or switching to another character and farming other areas. Of my 300 runs, only 35 of them were in a row, at most. I get bored if I repeat too many times.

I rotate between 3x3 Keyset farming with my light sorc, Trav runs with a Berserker, Chaos/Cow runs with my Hammerdin, and testing my FOHdin pre/post patch to see if he will be a better Chaos runner.

Variety is Key. Until ladder that is.

Seeing the distribution of rune drops from Hell Countess, I feel it would fit to call these as Spirit runs. =)

I've read that statically you get average of one Key per ∼11 runs. Your data is close to that.

Bisu wrote: 4 years ago

Seeing the distribution of rune drops from Hell Countess, I feel it would fit to call these as Spirit runs. =)

I've read that statically you get average of one Key per ∼11 runs. Your data is close to that.

Exactly Well, Spirit is totally overpowered RW considering the rune cost, so basically you can open Spirit factory after like 1000 Countess runs. You just need a friend who will do 100 Cow runs daily with 0 MF and find bases

Key of Terror has 8% drop chance as far as i know, so 9 Keys is pretty good, at least above average.

I forgot....
She drop me zaka few days ago
Third in few days...
Where is the Schaeffer Hammer ?! I try found one from over 20 years...
In resurected for now i cannot find soj.... So many HRs ,few maras ,bulkhatos , 2 or 3 perfect Nagels but not SOJ :-/