Ruby

Rubies are one of the five types of gems found in Diablo III. The others are Amethyst, Emerald, Topaz, and Diamonds, the last added in Patch 2.0.1 and Reaper of Souls. See the main gems article for full details about gem scarcity, upgrade recipes, strategy, and more.

Rubies provide a variety of bonuses, adding % Experience gain in helms, +damage in weapons, and +Strength in Armor. The exp gain bonus from a helm is a popular socket. Strength is the mainstat for Barbarians and Crusaders and those classes often stick Rubies into their armor for the boost to damage and the secondary benefit of raising their Armor.

As of D3v2 and Reaper of Souls, a Ruby is the best option for a weapon socket for any low level or poorly-geared character. In the end game more players choose Emeralds to raise Critical hit Damage, but this is only valuable to characters who have a good Critical hit Chance value. Prior to Patch 1.0.7 Rubies were much less useful in weapons, but that patch buffed their damage considerably.

Development Changes

During development, Rubies added a bonus to the Attack stat, when socketed in "other" objects. This was changed to a +Strength bonus in the final game.

Ruby Stats

	Quality	Helm	Other	Weapon
	Chipped Ruby	Increases experience reward per kill by 5%	+6 Strength	+3 Minimum Damage, +3 Maximum Damage
	Flawed Ruby	Increases experience reward per kill by 7%	+10 Strength	+6 Minimum Damage, +6 Maximum Damage
	Regular Ruby	Increases experience reward per kill by 9%	+14 Strength	+9 Minimum Damage, +9 Maximum Damage
	Flawless Ruby	Increases experience reward per kill by 11%	+18 Strength	+12 Minimum Damage, +12 Maximum Damage
	Perfect Ruby	Increases experience reward per kill by 13%	+22 Strength	+15 Minimum Damage, +15 Maximum Damage
	Radiant Ruby	Increases experience reward per kill by 15%	+26 Strength	+18 Minimum Damage, +18 Maximum Damage
	Square Ruby	Increases experience reward per kill by 17%	+30 Strength	+21 Minimum Damage, +21 Maximum Damage
	Flawless Square Ruby	Increases experience reward per kill by 19%	+34 Strength	+25 Minimum Damage, +25 Maximum Damage
	Perfect Square Ruby	Increases experience reward per kill by 21%	+38 Strength	+30 Minimum Damage, +30 Maximum Damage
	Radiant Square Ruby	Increases experience reward per kill by 23%	+42 Strength	+40 Minimum Damage, +40 Maximum Damage
	Star Ruby	Increases experience reward per kill by 25%	+46 Strength	+60 Minimum Damage, +60 Maximum Damage
	Flawless Star Ruby	Increases experience reward per kill by 27%	+50 Strength	+80 Minimum Damage, +80 Maximum Damage
	Perfect Star Ruby	Increases experience reward per kill by 29%	+54 Strength	+100 Minimum Damage, +100 Maximum Damage
	Radiant Star Ruby	Increases experience reward per kill by 31%	+58 Strength	+120 Minimum Damage, +120 Maximum Damage
	Marquise Ruby	Increases experience reward per kill by 33%	+62 Strength	+150 Damage
	Imperial Ruby (RoS only)	Increases experience reward per kill by 35%	+100 Strength	+190 Damage
	Flawless Imperial Ruby (RoS only)	Increases experience reward per kill by 37%	+160 Strength	+220 Damage
	Royal Ruby (RoS only)	Increases experience reward per kill by 39%	+220 Strength	+250 Damage
	Flawless Royal Ruby (RoS only)	Increases experience reward per kill by 41%	+280 Strength	+270 Damage

Diablo II Ruby

Though Rubies were found in Diablo II, their stats are not the same as Rubies in Diablo III.

Quality	Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Clvl Req
Chipped	+3-4 Fire Damage	+10 to Maximum Life	+12% fire resistance	1
Flawed	+5-8 to Fire Damage	+17 to Maximum Life	+16% to Fire Resistance	5
Normal	+8-12 to Fire Damage	+24 to Maximum Life	+22% fire resistance	12
Flawless	+10-16 to Fire Damage	+31 to Maximum Life	+28% fire resistance	15
Perfect	+15-20 Fire Damage	+38 to Maximum Life	+40% fire resistance	18

Patch 1.0.7 Buffs

The value of Rubies in weapons was considerably increased in Patch 1.0.7. Here's a quote from the patch notes:[1]

All ruby gems have had their weapon bonuses increased (these changes will apply to both existing rubies, as well as new rubies):

• Chipped Ruby: +3 minimum damage/+3 maximum damage (up from +2/+2)
• Flawed Ruby: +6 minimum damage/+6 maximum damage (up from +4/+4)
• Ruby: +9 minimum damage/+9 maximum damage (up from +8/+8)
• Flawless Ruby: +12 minimum damage/+12 maximum damage (up from +10/+10)
• Perfect Ruby: +15 minimum damage/+15 maximum damage (up from +11/+11)
• Radiant Ruby: +18 minimum damage/+18 maximum damage (up from +12/+12)
• Square Ruby: +21 minimum damage/+21 maximum damage (up from +13/+13)
• Flawless Square Ruby: +25 minimum damage/+25 maximum damage (up from +14/+14)
• Perfect Square Ruby: +30 minimum damage/+30 maximum damage (up from +15/+15)
• Radiant Square Ruby: +40 minimum damage/+40 maximum damage (up from +16/+16)
• Star Ruby: +60 minimum damage/+60 maximum damage (up from +17/+17)
• Flawless Star Ruby: +80 minimum damage/+80 maximum damage (up from +18/+18)
• Perfect Star Ruby: +100 minimum damage/+100 maximum damage (up from +19/+19)
• Radiant Star Ruby: +130 minimum damage/+130 maximum damage (up from +20/+20)
• Marquise Ruby: +160 Minimum and +160 Maximum Damage

These rubies have also had their bonus damage calculations changed, and will now add damage flatly to both the minimum and maximum values on weapons

For example, if you have a weapon that does 150-200 damage and you socket a Perfect Square Ruby (which adds +30 minimum damage/+30 maximum damage), your weapon will do 180-230 damage

The boosts to high end Ruby damage were enormous, and while Emeralds remain the weapon socket of choice for most characters, Rubies are useful for some classes and builds, especially those that deal damage with skill that do not or seldom proc their damage from critical hits.