Pandemonium and endgame bosses
Countess runes and Key of Terror
The Countess has a special rune drop table and can also yield a Key of Terror for the Pandemonium chain.
WHERE & HOW TO FARM
Countess runes and Key of Terror
Forgotten Tower Cellar Level 5 in Act I; enter the tower from Black Marsh.
Before you go
- Reach Hell difficulty for the key farm.
- Be able to defeat the Countess and the monsters blocking the cellar route.
- Carry town portal scrolls or a tome if you want convenient returns.
Farming steps
- Take the Black Marsh waypoint and locate the Forgotten Tower entrance.
- Descend through the cellar levels, using stairs to reach Level 5.
- Find and kill the Countess, managing any dangerous monsters around her room.
- Collect her runes and any Key of Terror that drops.
- Return to town, store the runes you plan to use, and note which ones remain missing.
- Save and exit to reset the map and run again.
- Magic Find does not raise rune drops; keep gear that helps you move and kill safely.
- Keep useful runes organized by runeword goal so you do not accidentally spend a needed ingredient.
Repeat, collect and use
Repeat as long as you need runes or keys. Key drops are random and should not be budgeted as a guaranteed reward per kill.
Common mistakes
- Adding Magic Find at the cost of speed for a rune-focused run; use damage and mobility instead.
- Assuming a key will drop on each kill; count keys only when they actually appear.
- Entering underprepared for Hell immunities; keep an alternate damage source or a way to bypass troublesome enemies.
When to stop or switch
Stop when your rune goal is met or switch to Summoner and Nihlathak runs if you are building a complete key set.
Sources & fact checks
What you can get here
Open a guide to find other locations and see what the item is used for.