Charms are accessory items found in Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. These items only need to be present in the character's inventory and identified for their magical attributes to take effect. They do not function if placed inside your character's Stash or inside a Horadric Cube (even if that Horadric Cube is located in your inventory).
Generally, smaller is actually better as far as Charms are concerned, since more can be stored in a player's inventory. However, some Magic Prefixes and Suffixes are only available on the larger Charms. There are also a few affixes that are actually more effective on Grand Charms than they are on Small Charms (+Attack Rating, for example).
When using Charms, the player may really dig themselves into a hole wherein they cannot pick up any more items. It is best to pick only the best Charms to keep and sell ones that are sub-par. Try to keep some space to pick up one or two large items. Players are welcome to completely fill their inventory with Charms, but take note that other party members may pick up good equipment dropped by monsters.
A Charm's effects are varied, some ranging from increasing one's life to even increasing the amount of Gold enemies drop upon death. It is advisable to store Life or Resistance Charms in your Stash and equip them before facing a tough boss. Grand charms can even grant bonus to the entire skill tree. They are known as skillers.
Charms come in varying sizes, each size having three types of artwork, which isn't in any way related to their stats:
- Small - One inventory space.
- Large (also known as Medium) [1] - Two inventory spaces on top of each other like a Dagger.
- Grand (also known as Large) [1] - Three inventory spaces on top of each other like a Short Sword.
There are only two types of Charms: Magic and Unique. Rare, set or crafted charms have not been introduced. Magic Charms contain 2 attributes at most, which increase in quality depending on the size of the charm.
Charms are a sort of collector's item in Diablo II. It brings a subtle strategy in the game by forcing item searchers to decide between increased stats versus inventory space.
Small Charms[]
Small charms offer the best value per unit of inventory space for most stats. For example, a small charm of luck may provide up to +7% additional Magic Find; large charms provide only +3% magic find per space; grand charms provide only up to +4% per space.
Large Charms[]
Large charms have the potential to provide more Strength than either their small or large counterparts, but otherwise it is outclassed in terms of value per inventory space. This hardly means that large charms are worthless, however, particularly if they have a strong prefix and suffix.
Grand Charms[]
While grand charms generally don't surpass small charms in terms of value per inventory space, their +skills modifiers are powerful, making them highly sought after. Not all skill trees are created equal, however, so the value of such charms can vary greatly.
Trivia[]
- During the 20th Diablo anniversary, players could loot Charms in World of Warcraft for some minor stat increases.