D2R Ethereal Items

D2R Ethereal Items Guide

Ethereal items have more powerful stats compared to the non-ethereal versions of the same items, but also have a lower maximum durability and cannot be repaired.

  • Ethereal Weapons: +50% base damage; their Strength and Dexterity requirements reduced by 10
  • Ethereal Armor: +50% base defense; their Strength requirement is reduced by 10.

D2R Ethereal Repair

Ethereal items cannot be repaired.

Most types of armor or weapon, even one with magical properties, can be Ethereal. Bows and Crossbows cannot be Ethereal. These items appear translucent in the Inventory, and when equipped, they appear translucent on the character wielding them.

  • You can place Zod Runes (Indestructible) in some Ethereal Items to prevent them from being destroyed.
  • Ethereal items lose durability at a slower rate than normal items.
  • The durability for Ethereal items is calculated as follows: (Normal durability divided by 2) + 1. Example: An Ethereal Giant Conch will have (30/2)+1 = 15+1 = 16 durability, provided it is not a failed Set or Failed Unique.
  • Ethereal items spawn with full durability (albeit reduced maximum durability).
  • Durability (maximum durability) values observed ingame agree with the following empirical formulae,
    Ethereal non-magic, magic, rare, or unique item: Durability = [normal durability / 2] + 1
    Ethereal unique item with +durability (dur) as a magic property: Durability = [normal durability / 2] + 1 + dur
    Ethereal Superior item with ‘Increase Maximum Durability X%’ (X = dur%, 10 to 15): Durability = [[normal durability / 2] * (100 + dur%)/100] + 1

    Upgrading ethereal rare or unique items (using the proper Horadric Cube recipes) forces maximum durability to equal the normal maximum durability of the base item. Example: Ethereal Hone Sundan will have 15 maximum durability as a Yari, but 28 maximum durability as a Ghost Spear (upgraded). The +durability magic property of the unique items that have it carries over. Example: Ethereal Duriel’s Shell (+100 durability) will have 126 maximum durability as a Cuirass, but 150 maximum durability as a Great Hauberk (upgraded).

    Failed Set (double durability magic) and Failed Unique (triple durability rare) items spawn with twice and thrice the normal durability, respectively, hence:

    Ethereal Failed Set: normal durability + 1
    Ethereal Failed Unique: [normal durability * 3/2] + 1

    Note: ‘[]’ denotes rounding down (calculations are done with integers, there are no fractions at any step).

  • Broken Ethereal Items sell for 1 Gold.
  • Items that spawn as indestructible can not be ethereal at the same time. Hence, most elite unique items that are indestructable will never become ethereal.
  • After being sold to a merchant, Ethereal items don’t appear in the merchant’s trade screen.
  • Armor strength requirements are lowered by 10, and weapon strength/dexterity requirement is lowered by 10, when they are Ethereal.
  • Ethereal Items do not lose Durability on Hirelings.
  • Magic, Rare, and Unique Items can be Ethereal but Imbuing will not make a non-Ethereal item become Ethereal.
  • Ethereal items CAN be Imbued, and still be Ethereal after the imbue.

Diablo 2 Resurrected Ethereal Bug

Note that this bug has been fixed.

Cheap Diablo II: Resurrected Items

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