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Gem
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Gems grant varying bonuses when socketed into items of all types, and they might have other functions, such as use in [[crafting]] [[recipes]].
==Twinking Gems==
Gems do not have a Clvl requirement to use, and they are intended to be very useful as twinked items. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blue-info-on-level-14-gems/]
<blue>They don’t have a level requirement so we do intend to see them used as a way to twink new characters, or allow people to buy into gemming up a bit earlier on if they have the gold.</blue>
There may be some interesting complications with this though.
<blue>You can pay an artisan to remove the gems from an item. The last design I had heard of was that it was based on gem value, so as you socket higher level gems it becomes more expensive, but you’ll almost certainly want to unsocket gems to level them up, or swap to new gear. This may cause some unique problems for low level (non-twink) characters attempting to buy high level gems and then being unable to remove them from the socket when they get a better piece of armor (because they can’t afford it), but that may turn out to be an acceptable roadblock.</blue>
* Level 13 - Flawless Star
* Level 14 - Radiant Star
==Upgrading Gems==
===Unsocketing Gem===
One key fact to consider is that in Diablo III, gems (and other socketables) can be removed from sockets, by the [[Jeweler]], <u>without losing the gem or the item</u>. (Though this may grow quite expensive[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/more-blue-info-on-crafting-gems/] with higher level gems.) This was not the case in Diablo II, where runes, gems, and jewels were in an item forever, or were destroyed by the unsocket recipe. This change fundamentally alters the upgrading project, since instead of gems sitting useless in your stash until they are all the way to the top level (as they did in Diablo 2), characters in Diablo III will be using their highest level gems all the time, and gaining considerable benefits from the gem.
If a character's goal is to gain a huge bonus from a L14 gem in their shield, they'll be using that type of gem at L9, L10, L11, and so on, as they slowly upgrade it towards L14. This should make the upgrading process seem a little less lengthy, especially as it will take weeks or months for each additional level of improvement with a high level gem.