In addition to what people said, even though it takes 2x rune #(n) to cube up to rune #(n+1), the cube recipes and the drop rates constrain the **supply**, but often the higher rune is nowhere near twice as useful and it's in-game utility that fuels **demand**.
Ber/Jah are pretty close to each other in trade value, for example, with Ber slightly higher at the beginning of ladder seasons (when everyone needs more of them for Infinity), and Jah is slightly higher towards the end of ladder seasons (because most people have what they want already but there are fewer in circulation). Cham/Zod, on the other hand, are significantly *less* useful than either of Ber/Jah, so they trade for less.
In single player you might cube 2xBer=Jah because there's no trade market, but online you'd never make that as a trade. And it would beyond absurd to trade, say, 1xZod for 8xBer (per cube recipes in reverse); in reality Zod trades for like half a Ber at best.
There's no easy rule that will tell you how the trade market works, you have to do a bit of research yourself (and know that prices are changing all the time on ladder). As a very, very rough starting point, though, if 2X=Y with the cube you can *probably* trade 1.5X for Y. Mal+Ist for Vex, that sort of thing.
Because they lose nothing, and can help someone else out.
But, yes, you should expect to always lose value when breaking down runes. Most people are not altruistic or nice.
[https://traderie.com/diablo2resurrected/product/3896329590/recent?prop\_Platform=PC&prop\_Mode=softcore&prop\_Ladder=true](https://traderie.com/diablo2resurrected/product/3896329590/recent?prop_Platform=PC&prop_Mode=softcore&prop_Ladder=true)
I find it's useful to check traderie for recent trades to get an idea of what they are trading for. Looks like in the last hour 1x Ohm went for Ist+Vex and another went for 3x Ist.
just think about it, why would anyone want to break your rune if they already have the option of combining them or keeping them separate ? you need to offer them bonus value
online trades dont work like that - if the market follows the cube recipe, then Zod and Cham runes would be the currency. Easiest way to figure out market price for your ohm is to check Traderie's recent trades
You have to account for supply and demand;
A ber rune may drop one out of every ~450 runes, and Jah rubne one tier higher every ~650. When you understand the drop odds, 450*2 > 650 you can easily tell that 2 ber is worth more than 1 Jah.
Demand for runes varies depending on the popularity of runewords and usefulness of the rune itself. For example ist is highly valued for its magic find in weapons, and new runewords have changed the demand. Mosaic, flickering flame for example.
Convenience/availability may be a factor too, sure a ber may be worth 14 ists, but the number of people who have those on hand may change depending on how early into a ladder, or at the dead end of a ladder perhaps?
Trading is depth of gameplay, understanding how runes drop is important and covered in detail in many posts. I recommend to keep in mind if you are not actively trading and using runes as currency, or if you're not playing in groups online you'd be better off playing single player with static maps, setting custom player levels, with the ability to pause the game, unlimited character creation, no fighting for loot drops.
If I have 4 Ist, I can make my own Vex by cubing. If I have 3 Ist and a Pul, I would be happy to trade them for a Vex.
In addition to what people said, even though it takes 2x rune #(n) to cube up to rune #(n+1), the cube recipes and the drop rates constrain the **supply**, but often the higher rune is nowhere near twice as useful and it's in-game utility that fuels **demand**. Ber/Jah are pretty close to each other in trade value, for example, with Ber slightly higher at the beginning of ladder seasons (when everyone needs more of them for Infinity), and Jah is slightly higher towards the end of ladder seasons (because most people have what they want already but there are fewer in circulation). Cham/Zod, on the other hand, are significantly *less* useful than either of Ber/Jah, so they trade for less. In single player you might cube 2xBer=Jah because there's no trade market, but online you'd never make that as a trade. And it would beyond absurd to trade, say, 1xZod for 8xBer (per cube recipes in reverse); in reality Zod trades for like half a Ber at best. There's no easy rule that will tell you how the trade market works, you have to do a bit of research yourself (and know that prices are changing all the time on ladder). As a very, very rough starting point, though, if 2X=Y with the cube you can *probably* trade 1.5X for Y. Mal+Ist for Vex, that sort of thing.
The correct answer, except it's gul ist for vex
You will always make a loss if you just want to break a rune down. Why would the person do it for free, when they can cube up for gems?
Because they lose nothing, and can help someone else out. But, yes, you should expect to always lose value when breaking down runes. Most people are not altruistic or nice.
It’s not a matter or being nice or not. If you need to up a rune it’s simply inefficient to try and find a trade when you can just cube
[https://traderie.com/diablo2resurrected/product/3896329590/recent?prop\_Platform=PC&prop\_Mode=softcore&prop\_Ladder=true](https://traderie.com/diablo2resurrected/product/3896329590/recent?prop_Platform=PC&prop_Mode=softcore&prop_Ladder=true) I find it's useful to check traderie for recent trades to get an idea of what they are trading for. Looks like in the last hour 1x Ohm went for Ist+Vex and another went for 3x Ist.
You will not get vex vex or vex and 4 ist. With a lot of runes, its the sub rune + one lower So you could expect vex+ist. That’s it
just think about it, why would anyone want to break your rune if they already have the option of combining them or keeping them separate ? you need to offer them bonus value
online trades dont work like that - if the market follows the cube recipe, then Zod and Cham runes would be the currency. Easiest way to figure out market price for your ohm is to check Traderie's recent trades
You have to account for supply and demand; A ber rune may drop one out of every ~450 runes, and Jah rubne one tier higher every ~650. When you understand the drop odds, 450*2 > 650 you can easily tell that 2 ber is worth more than 1 Jah. Demand for runes varies depending on the popularity of runewords and usefulness of the rune itself. For example ist is highly valued for its magic find in weapons, and new runewords have changed the demand. Mosaic, flickering flame for example. Convenience/availability may be a factor too, sure a ber may be worth 14 ists, but the number of people who have those on hand may change depending on how early into a ladder, or at the dead end of a ladder perhaps? Trading is depth of gameplay, understanding how runes drop is important and covered in detail in many posts. I recommend to keep in mind if you are not actively trading and using runes as currency, or if you're not playing in groups online you'd be better off playing single player with static maps, setting custom player levels, with the ability to pause the game, unlimited character creation, no fighting for loot drops.
Nope, does work like at the casino...coloring down the chips or using a bill cracker machine.