Breath of the Dying Runeword (BOTD)

1x Vex Rune, 1x Hel Rune, 1x El Rune, 1x Eld Rune, 1x Zod Rune, 1x Eth Rune and a 6-socket Weapon

The Breath of the Dying rune word, also known as BotD, is very useful for melee characters. Some say it is one of the best melee weapons in the game, if not the best. You gain huge damage, speed, mana, and life leech, +30 To All Attributes and it makes your weapon Indestructible. Characters, that use melee weapons, especially two-handed. Examples are the Barbarian, Druid, or Paladin. It is also recommended to use it on your mercenary, as he will deal a great amount of damage. This will allow him to support you even more. As you can see the Breath of Dying is an expensive runeword, but especially in non-ladder mode one of the best. It is recommended for melee characters.

How do I socket the BREATH OF THE DYING RUNEWORD?

Make sure you have all runes available - 1x Vex Rune, 1x Hel Rune, 1x El Rune, 1x Eld Rune, 1x Zod Rune, 1x Eth Rune - then put them into the sockets of the base item, in the correct order pictured below. Pay extra attention to this. The rune word is 'VexHelElEldZodEth' for a reason, so if you don't socket it in the exact order, the result would not be 'Breath of the Dying' (and instead you would end up with a bunch of runes socketed into the base item).
Take your desired base item, then socket the runes in this exact order:

Farming the Runes

  • The Vex rune can’t drop by killing The Countess or in the Hell Forge. Search for it in Act 1 on hell difficulty, or craft it with 2x ‘Gul’ + Ruby = ‘Vex’ in the Horadric Cube.
  • Hel can drop by killing The Countess on nightmare or higher difficulty, and in the Hell Forge also on nightmare or higher. It can drop in Act 1 on nightmare difficulty and can be crafted with 3 ‘Dol’ + chipped Emerald = ‘Hel’ in the Cube.
  • Search for El by killing the Countess on normal or above and in the Hell Forge on normal. You can also find it dropping in Act 2. You can not craft this rune since it’s the “lowest”.
  • Farm the Eld rune by killing The Countess on any difficulty and in the Hell Forge on normal. You can also farm it in Act 2 or craft it in the Cube with 3x ‘El’ = ‘Eld’.
  • Zod can only be found in Act 5 on hell difficulty. You can craft it with 2x ‘Cham’ + flawless Emerald = ‘Zod’ in the Cube.
  • Farm Eth by killing The Countess on any difficulty and in the Hell Forge on normal. It has a chance to drop in Act 2 and can be crafted with 3x ‘El’ = ‘Eth’ in the Horadric Cube.

And the Base?

The War Pike is dealing a good amount of damage. For fast attack speed, use the Great Poleaxe. The Ghost Spear is also dealing a nice amount of damage, and is a reasonable choice for your mercenary. For single-handed weapons, use the Berserker Axe. And for two-handed weapons the Colossus Blade. It has high damage and a nice range.

All the weapons in Ethereal rarity and they need exactly 6 Sockets, to create the rune word.

Strengths

Breath of the Dying has the highest damage for melee weapons. It is indestructible, lowers the target’s defense, and increases the attack speed by 60%. And on top, it steals mana per hit.

Weaknesses

BotD is very expensive. That is why many players prefer other, cheaper Runewords, like Grief. Another reason to rather use Grief is that it makes comparable damage to BotD

How much is BREATH OF THE DYING worth?

Runewords can have a huge difference in value. In order to find out the worth of the Breath of the Dying Runeword, we need to add up the value of the single runes, as well as the base item used for socketing. Every roll will require these basic ingredients and will get you the Breath of the Dying Runeword with random stats. This can be defined as the minimum value. The higher the stats of the roll, the higher the final value of the runeword. A "perfect roll" in a superior base tends to be the most rare and hence much more expensive than a random roll.

Can I buy the BREATH OF THE DYING Runeword in D2R?

Yes, we can offer the already rolled Breath of the Dying Runeword for you in different bases listed below.
Alternatively, you may want to get the unmade version, where we'll deliver the runes plus the base item to you. You can then complete the socketing yourself (offering a chance for a perfect roll, which would be of significantly higher value).
Here's the list of Breath of the Dying Runewords in various Base Items and Stats, which we can source for you from our network of trusted trade partners.

Buy BREATH OF THE DYING Runes as a Pack

Non-Superior base Items can be easily found or bought from a vendor NPC in the city, so an easy option get Breath of the Dying in D2R is to buy the single runes in a pack and socket the runeword yourself. You can either add the below listed runes to your cart and have them delivered to you, or head over to our runes list to find some more.
In any case, if you want to build the Breath of the Dying Runeword, you will need the following runes: 1x Vex Rune, 1x Hel Rune, 1x El Rune, 1x Eld Rune, 1x Zod Rune, 1x Eth Rune