Charms were first introduced into the Diablo franchise in the Lord of Destruction expansion for Diablo II, and like Runes - another refugee gameplay mechanic from Diablo II - Charms have now found new life in the most recent Diablo IV expansion, Lord of Hatred. This page will discuss how to unlock Charms and Talismans, how they work and how to find and create new Charms and Talismans.
Page Breakdown¶
| Quick Search |
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| Equipping Charms |
| Finding and Creating Charms |
(1 of 2) Talismans offer a wide array of stat bonuses and determine how many Charms you can equip,
Talismans offer a wide array of stat bonuses and determine how many Charms you can equip, (left), while Charms themselves just provide stat bonuses, but can come in sets that get stronger the more of the set you have equipped, or as uniques that have the same properties as unique gear. (right)
Equipping Charms¶
You’ll unlock Charms and Talismans fairly early on in Lord of Hatred; when you talk to 
Lorath during the main quest Last of the Horadrim he’ll just… give you a starter Talisman and Charms, and from that point forward you’ll be able to start finding both as random drops. More on that later, for now just know that Talismans and Charms have changed since Diablo II, most strikingly because Talismans weren’t a thing. Instead of being magical tchotchkes that rolled with random stats that you could benefit from by cluttering up your inventory, they’re now their own discrete form of equipment entirely. The days of Tetris-style inventory management is behind us, for better or worse.
Talismans must be equipped for any Charms to be used, as Talismans determine how many Charms can be equipped at once. The lowest-tier Talisman will let you equip three Charms, rares allow four and legendaries give you the option of equipping five Charms. Talismans can also have a wide variety of random stats on them, including one that unlocks another Charm slot, for a maximum of six Charms. Talismans come in magic, rare and mythic rarities.
Charms can be equipped in the six slots surrounding the Talisman, and the number of Charms you can have equipped at a time depend on the quality and traits of your Talisman. When equipped, Charms can provide various benefits, including Armor, Maximum Resource, Maximum Life, Resistances, stats, bonus skills, Lucky Hit effects, Movement Speed and EXP/gold/crafting items drop rates. Charms can be magical, rare, legendary, set or even unique, and while they all tend to have random stats on them, the set and unique charms can yield additional benefits. Set Charms will unlock escalating bonuses the more Charms from the same set you have equipped and unique Charms can bear the unique properties of a unique item without you actually having to use said item.
For example, the Seed of Horazon is an amulet that increases your Demonology skill damage by an amount that depends on your current Wrath while also reducing the damage you sustain by an amount that depends on your current Domination. If you use Demonology skills, this is a good effect to have.. But you may not be keen on the other stats the Seed of Horazon has. So, find or create a unique charm with the property and wear another amulet instead! Win-win!
(1 of 3) You can find Charms and Talismans as drops from any source, like any other item.
Finding and Creating Charms¶
Speaking of finding and creating charms, once you’ve obtained your starter set from Lorath, both will start dropping like any other loot, and you don’t have to wait long for this mechanic to kick off. If you’re over level thirty or so you should be finding rare and set charms somewhat frequently, with legendary talismans popping up as you reach the level cap. At first these will just give you some minor (but welcome) buffs to various stats - more resistances, Movement Speed, some bonus skills. Nice, but not game breaking. As you climb Torment difficulty theirs, however, you’ll start finding more potent set charms and unique charms, which can make your character significantly more powerful.
You’ll get Charms and Talismans as drops from the usual sources of loot - Helltides, Pit runs, Nightmare Dungeons, Tree of Whisper caches, etc. There’s no escaping RNG in a Diablo game, and for every good Charm and Talisman you find, you’ll pick up dozens of junk, and like most things in Diablo IV you can turn trash into treasure with a little bit of luck and know-how.
First, you can recycle junk Charms and Talismans at the Occultist, the same way a Jeweler recycles gems and a Blacksmith processes gear into raw materials. You’ll gain Horadric Resin by recycling Charms, which can be used in various formulas with the [Horadric Cube]. You can reroll set Charms or turn an Ancestral Unique item into a Unique Charm via the Horadric Cube. You can also perform the “3 to 1 Transmutation” via the Horadric Cube, sacrificing three Charms or Talismans of the same rarity to gain one Charm or Talisman with rerolled properties… usually of the same rarity as before. Just keep in mind that this is best saved for when you hit Lv70, as transmuting gear in the Horadric Cube tends to yield and item with the same level as the lowest-level item used, and there’s no point in bothering with anything weaker than Lv70.
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