Gems are small objects that grant bonuses when [[socketed ]] into items. There are four five types of gems in Diablo III; [[Amethysts]], [[Diamonds]] (added in [[D3v2]]), [[Emeralds]], [[Rubies]] and [[Topazes]], which are found in 15 levels of quality. (The 15th, Marquise, was added in [[Patch 1.0.7]].) Only the first eight levels can be found from monsters or chests, bonuses provided by gems increase with Flawless Squares the highest quality (and the only type that drops in Inferno). Higher levels rank of gems can only be crafted (for a price) by the [[Jeweler]], gem and become quite substantial at the costs grow and accumulate impressivelyhighest ranks.
Gems drop randomly from every sort of target; monsters, [[Elite]]s, chests, barrels, etc. At least one and often several gems drop from special targets, such as [[Resplendent chests]], [[Treasure Goblin]]s, [[Horadric Caches]], etc. Gems can be upgraded in rank by the [[Jeweler]] for a fee of gold and materials.
Creating Though the Jeweler can always remove a level 14 gem from an item (for a fee) there is quite a choreno way to add sockets to an item in Diablo 3. The total costs(Gems can also be removed from items by salvaging, assuming a starting point in Inferno where Flawless Squares dropthough this permanently destroys the item.) Reaper of Souls added the [[Mystic]] Artisan, is 729 Flawless Squareswho can [[enchant]] items, 15,400rerolling one of the affixes and giving players a chance to add a socket by rerolling one of the [[primary affixes]]. ([[Secondary affixes]] can never be sockets.) This can be a difficult and expensive task,000 gold sometimes requiring many rolls and 1631 prayers to the gods of [[Tomes of SecretRNG]], for each Radiant Star gem.
Gems have no effect on the level requirement of an item, and and are thus one of the most useful [[twinks]] to boost the gear quality of a lower level character.
As of patch v1.07, there is no way to create or add sockets to items. During development * '''''See the Jeweler was set to add sockets to items, but this ability was shelved pre-release, leaving players able only to hope [[Gems Archive]] for socket finds. Itdetails about gems from D3's often hoped that socketing might come back as a quest reward or development and for a price, in a patch or more likely in the different properties and costs from [[D3XDiablo 3 vanilla]]'''''* '''''See the {{iw|gems Diablo 2 Gems}} page for details on that game's seven types of gems.'''''
[[Diamond]]s are confirmed as being introduced in [[Reaper of Souls]].==Socketing Basics==
The bonuses from gems are quite powerful, and a [[primary affix]] that adds [[socket]](s) to an item is one of the most desired item properties. Sockets begin to appear in items around level 15 (a few legendary helms can have a socket at level 10-15), and in the [[end game]] a socket is considered all-but-mandatory in weapons. In weapon sockets, players generally socket Emeralds for [[Critical hit Damage]]. Rubies for +damage, or Diamonds for +Elite damage are less popular.
* Weapons can only ever have 1 socket in [[Loot 2.0]], though the [[Manticore]] crossbow sometimes rolled 2 sockets in [[Diablo 3 vanilla]].
Gems are A socket in a helm is also very useful item desired, and usually used to obtain +[[twinkEXP%]] to new charactersfrom a Ruby, as gems have no level requirements. Items with sockets are first found around level 15 (some +[[legendaryLife%]] items have sockets as low as level 10)from an Amethyst, in late Act One or early Act Two, and it's quite easy to add a gem with a bonus much larger than that of the item itself. Low level weapons with a high level [[RubyReduced cooldown]] in them become wildly overpowered, but that's the whole fun of it for many playersfrom a Diamond.
All other items with a socket are considered "other" in terms of the bonuses they provide, (+to a single stat or [[All Res]] from a diamond) and these include:* [[Chest armor]]: 1-3 sockets.* '''''See the {{iw|gems Diablo [[Pants]]: 1-2 Gems}} page for details on that game's seven types of gems (skullsSockets.* 1 socket: [[Rings]], [[Amulets]], [[Shields]], [[Mojos]], diamonds[[Sources]], and sapphires do not appear [[Quivers]].** Several legendary items in [[Diablo 3vanilla]] held a socket in other [[slots]]but these are not found in the [[Loot 2.0]] version of those legendaries. ([[Ice Climbers]] boots and [[Tasker and Theo]] gloves.).'''''
==Diablo III Gems==
Gems in Diablo 3 have evolved during the game's development. Though the concept of 14 levels of quality has remained constant, the types of gems, their names and graphics, and the materials and costs to upgrade them have evolved repeatedly.
* See the [[Gems archive]] info for full details on their development.
===Weapons===
A socket in a weapon is considered almost essential, at the [[end game]]. Rubies were always popular at low or mid levels, and they became much more useful in [[Patch 1.0.7]] when their values in weapons were considerably upgraded. That said, Emeralds are the weapon socket of choice for most high levels characters, especially those with a healthy [[Critical hit Chance]] value. [[Amethyst]]s are a not unheard of for [[Hardcore]] players, for their [[life on hit]].
* [[Diamond]]s will come with [[Reaper of Souls]] and will boost elite damage in weapons.
===Helms===
Sockets in helms are even more desired than in weapons, to the point that virtually no end game helm is considered viable without a socket.
* [[Rubies]] are the most popular for the +%experience per kill. This bonus was irrelevant in the [[end game]] until the debut of the [[Paragon]] system, at which point it became the most sought after.
* [[Amethyst]]s are popular, especially for Hardcore characters, since the +%life bonus is a huge source of hit points, leveraging already high vitality bonuses.
* [[Topaz]] are also sought for the Magic Find bonus, while [[gold farmers]] may enjoy Emeralds for that bonus.
** The Topaz vs. Ruby debate is an interesting one, since high level players mostly seek paragon levels for the 3% bonus to Magic Find and Gold Find per level. Yet an affordable Star topaz grants 25% Magic Find, which is equivalent to the MF gain of more than 8 Paragon levels.
* [[Diamond]]s will come with [[Reaper of Souls]] and will reduce cooldown.
===Other===
All other items are given the "other" designation. Sockets are found in rare and magical [[pants]], [[chest armor]], off-hand items (such as [[quiver]]s, [[mojo]]s, [[orb]]s, [[shield]]s, etc) amulets, and rings, but not in shoulders, bracers, belts, or boots. (A few legendary and set items add sockets to other pieces of armor, such as the socket in [[Ice Climbers]] boots or [[Tasker and Theo]] gloves.)
Softcore players almost always go for +damage via a boost to their [[mainstat]].
* [[Emeralds]] for [[dexterity]] for [[Demon Hunter]]s and [[Monk]]s.
* [[Rubies]] for [[strength]] for [[Barbarian]]s.
* [[Topaz]] for [[intelligence]] for [[Wizard]]s and [[Witch Doctor]]s.
* [[Diamond]]s will come with [[Reaper of Souls]] and will apply a [[resist]] all bonus to armor.
Hardcore characters are much more likely to use Amethysts to boost their vitality.
==Upgrading Gems==
Gems can be upgraded by the [[Jeweler]], for a price. First of allChipped gems drop starting around level 15, with the Jeweler needs to be trained to his maximum level in order to craft the next highest level gems. Even then, he can only upgrade gems quality gem beginning to the 11th quality fall about every 6th levelhigher, and just be taught culminating in the 4 highest tiers in each gem type by [[DesignsFlawless Square]] that drop , which drops from monsters or objectsenemies around level 55-60. Jeweler Designs and Blacksmith [[Plans]] dropped very rarely until [[Patch 1.0.7]] buffed their drop rates 4x. All plans and designs In Diablo 3 Gems can also be purchased from upgraded all the [[Auction House]]way to rank 15, where their prices have steadily dropped over time. (Whe new recipes are introduced in patches, such as the level 63 items and Marquise gems in Patch v1.0.7, their values were though this is a very high for a day or two, before falling rapidly.) All gem upgrades cost gold, and most require some materials as well. Lower level recipes are quite cheap in terms of gold long and materialsexpensive process, and only require 2 gems to upgrade to the next level. Higher level gems require a lot of gold and materials, and it takes 3 gems to make 1 of the next rank. At the 2 > 1 upgrade ratio introduced especially in v1[[D3v2]] with no more Auction House.03 (prior to that Upgrading all upgrades were 3 > 1, plus much higher gold prices), it would require 256 chipped gems and 570 gold the way to create 1 Flawless Square (which is the highest a Marquise gem that drops), though no one actually collects that many chipped gems since higher quality gems can easily be found. When considering upgrade prices, bear in mind the cumulative costs, which are listed in the last column of the table below. For example, the price to make the 14th level gem, a Radiant Star, is 400k gold + 20 [[Tomes of Secret]] + 3 Flawless Stars. That doesn't sound so bad, until you realize that each of those Flawless Stars had to be made from requires 3 Perfect Stars, and 9 Flawless Stars, and 27 Stars, and so on, down to the [[Flawless SquaresD3v2]] that form the base of the gem economy. It requires a total investment of 729 Flawless Squares, 1631 Tomes of Secret, and 159,400280,000 gold to make a single Radiant Star, not counting the gold required to upgrade the Jeweler in the first place, or to obtain the three highest level plans for each gem. Even assuming you had all the and 2143 Flawless Squares, Tomes of Secret, and over 15 million gold in your stash, creating a Radiant Star would still take you 243 clicks on the Jeweler's upgrade bar. At 3 seconds per click, that's 729 seconds, or close to 12 minutes doing nothing but clicking the "Upgrade" bar in the Jeweler's interface. And the [[Marquise Gems]] introduced in Patch 1.0.7 require 3 Radiant Stars each. {{Template:Gem upgrade costs}} ==Full List of Gem Properties== All Square gems and their bonuses, with game data pulled directly via the [http://www.diablonut.com|DiabloNut Database] database. <item type="list" mode="misc">Gem</item>===Marquise Gems=== [[Marquise Gems]] were added in [[Patch 1.0.7]] as the new, highest level gem. They are meant to serve as something of a gold sink, with a considerably higher creation cost than earlier levels of gems, despite adding only marginally to the function. Marquise Emerald* Weapon: Increased Critical Hit Damage by 110%* Helm: +33% Extra Gold from Monsters* Armor: +62 Dexterity Marquise Topaz* Weapon: Melee attackers take 2500 per hit* Helm: 33% Better chance of finding magical items* Armor: +62 Intelligence Marquise Amethyst* Weapon: Each Hit adds +700 Life* Helm: +19% Life* Armor: +62 Vitality Marquise Ruby* Weapon: +160 Minimum and +160 Maximum Damage* Helm: Increases Bonus Experience by 33%* Armor: +62 Strength ==Rubies Buffed==)
[[Patch Reaper of Souls ups the gem quality considerably, and while nothing changes from level 1.0.7]] introduced -60, level 61 targets (monsters, chests, objects, treasure goblins, etc) drop rank 15 Marquise Gems and also reworked Rubiesgems, greatly increasing their damage when socketed in weapons. This was intended to make them with a viable alternative chance for Rank 16 Imperial gems to Emeralds, which were virtually the only gem socketed in weapons (at least in Softcore. In Hardcore Amethysts enjoyed some popularity for their drop on [[Life on HitMaster]] bonusor higher difficulty. Gems in RoS can be upgraded to rank 19, Flawless Royal quality.)
From Gem upgrade costs have been tweaked several times. The entire system received an overhaul for [[D3v2]], with much lower gold costs and an almost total removal of material components. It's much cheaper to make the official patch notes:highest level gems in [[Reaper of Souls]] than it was to make them in [http://us[Diablo 3 vanilla]], though the number of gems is the same, with 2 > 1 until Flawless Square and 3 > 1 at all levels above that.battle* See the [[Gems archive]] article for info about upgrade costs in earlier versions of Diablo 3.net/d3/en/blog/8608455/patch-107-now-live-2-12-2013]
All ruby gems have had their weapon bonuses increased (these changes will apply to both existing rubies, as well as new rubies){{Template:* 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 damage/+160 maximum damage.Gem upgrade costs d3v2}}
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.
==Gem Properties==
==Future Gem Changes==Each type of gem provides different bonuses in the three types of items: weapons, helms, and "other." The properties are the same for every rank of the each type of gem; only the values increase. Gems of the same rank share the same graphic; only the color changes.
Further gem changes and modifications are expected in future patches and expansions. {{Template:Gem Properties}}
For instance, the developers have discussed entirely reworking the reflects damage / [[thorns]] system, which would involve greatly buffing or reworking the bonuses granted by Topaz gems in weapons.
* '''''See the [[Gems Archive]] for details about gems from D3's development and for the different properties and costs from [[Diablo 3 vanilla]]'''''
