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{{Item_navbox}}Functionless on their own, '''gems ''' possess great power when utilized with a [[weapon]], [[shield]], or [[helm]], bestowing potent magical [[magic]]al enchantments upon the [[item ]] and its wearer. Socketed [[Socket]]ed [[armor ]] is added in the [[Expansion]], but all items have identical stats in either armor or helms. Gems, once socketed, add special bonuses to the items. Gems are also useful in various [[Horadric Cube]] recipes.

==Gem Varieties==

* Amethysts[[Amethyst]]s* Diamonds[[Diamond]]s* Emeralds[[Emerald]]s* Rubies[[Rubie]]s* Sapphires[[Sapphire]]s* Skulls[[Skull]]s* Topazes[[Topaz]]es

* In Diablo II the system is rigid: Chipped gems in Acts 1 [[Act I]] and 2 [[Act II]] and Flawed in Acts 3 [[Act III]] and [[Act IV]]4, with very rare exceptions of monsters [[monster]]s ([[High Council ]] usually) dropping Normals. In [[Nightmare ]] and [[Hell ]] all gems dropped are normal.* In the Expansion there is more variety. Gem quality dropped is based on [[Mlvl]], and though it progresses at about the same rate, you can find some Normal gems in Acts 4 [[Act IV]] and 5[[Act V]], with occasional Flawless. By late Nightmare nearly every gem dropped is flawless, and this continues through hell, though some lower quality, usually chipped, will still drop from time to time. Perfect gems are never dropped, though one may be found as a reward for the [[Quests_Act_Four#Quest_Two:_The_Hellforge|Hellforge]] Quest.

==Socketed Items==Only weapons[[weapon]]s, helms[[helm]]s, and shields [[shield]]s can have sockets, with [[body armor ]] added to the list in the [[Expansion]]. No boots[[boot]]s, gloves[[glove]]s, belts[[belt]]s, or [[jewelry ]] will ever be socketed[[socket]]ed, not even [[Uniques]].

* In the Expansion items vary a lot more in sockets. Helms can have from 1-4, Body armor 1-4, weapons 1-6, and shields 1-4. Full details elsewhere in our [[Items ]] section.

In Diablo II only [[normal ]] items are socketed, and you can find or buy them.

In the [[Expansion ]] you can only buy magical [[magic]]al equipment, so can never buy anything socketed from the [[NPCs ]] (unless someone else in your game sells a socketed item, and you then buy it from the NPC). Sockets can be found on normal or [[superior ]] items, and can be made in magical, [[rare]], [[unique]], and [[set ]] items, either with [[Horadric Cube ]] recipes, or as an [[Act Five ]] quest reward. The maximum number of sockets is never more than the spaces an item takes up in inventory, and you can only get 1 socket in Rares, and only one or sometimes two in Sets and Uniques. Two or sometimes three in magical items.

==Upgrading Gems==Three gems of the same type combine in the [[:Category:Horadric Cube|Horadric Cube]] to upgrade one level of quality.

==Gem Effects==So what do gems do? Their effects vary, but are logical: Gems placed into weapons generally add [[damage]], while gems in shields [[shield]]s provide [[resistance]], and gems in [[helms]]/[[body armor |armor]] add to [[hit points ]] or other attributes[[attribute]]s. Exactly how much benefit a socketed gem provides depends on the quality of the gem.

[[Image:gemmed-hat.jpg|left]]You can see how gems look in an item here in this shot. The sockets [[socket]]s display down the left side of the image for all socketed items, and if they are filled the gem is visible there, rather than an empty hole. Socketed gems in an item glow nicely, as you can see from the sapphires in this helm, and the info detailing their effects is displayed in blue, below the normal stats for the item. Socketed items in the game appear brightly-coloredcoloured, and their appearance is based on the first gem socketed. An item with an [[Amethyst ]] first, then two Emeralds [[Emerald]]s will be purple, not green. When you socket an item it just drops in and the item changes colorcolour; there isn't any flashy light show.

The bonuses from gems of the same type stack, so if you had two [[rubies ]] in a sword, the [[fire ]] damage would be added together. It is arithmetic, never geometric, so if you had say three sapphires[[sapphire]]s, all of them chilling for 3 seconds, you wouldn't move up to freezing the monster, you'd just chill it for longer. The same goes for other gems. For example rubies add fire damage to your attack. Three perfect rubies would do a lot of fire damage, but they wouldn't create a small firewall under the monster.

==AmethystsGem Stats (Expansion)==

===Amethysts are somewhat popular in helms for the added strength. They aren't much used other than that.===

===Diamonds ===[[Diamonds]] are among the most useful of gems in the game, very popular socketed [[socket]]ed in [[shields]]. Generally tower (or pavise), hence the "3DT" referring to three (always perfect) diamonds in a tower shield.

===Emeralds===[[Emeralds]] stack oddly, adding much more damage than you would expect. Multiple of the same type, the duration adds, the damage is squared. 2 =4x damage over 2 seconds, 3 =9x damage over 3 seconds, etc. Adding other types of [[poison]] damage (from [[jewel]]s in [[body armor|armor]]/[[helm]]/[[shield]], poison [[charms]], [[unique armor]], etc) in creates enormous damage.

 Emeralds stack oddly, adding much more damage than you would expect. Multiple of the same type, the duration adds, the damage is squared. 2 = 4x damage over 2 seconds, 3 = 9x damage over 3 seconds, etc. Adding other types of poison damage (from jewels in armor/helm/shield, poison charms, unique armor, etc) in creates enormous damage. Six perfect emeralds in a weapon yields (29.3 x 36) 1054.8 poison damage over six seconds. Big socketed emeralds with other poison damage is the best way to deal with most [[Physical ]] [[Immune monsters]] [[monster]]s.

===Rubies=== [[Rubies]] deal [[fire]] damage.

 [[Sapphires ]] are very useful in a [[weapon]], especially a starter [[bow ]] with one along with two perfect sapphires. The bonus [[mana ]] in a [[helm ]] is nice, but less useful than skulls for [[mana regen]], for most characters. [[Cold ]] time stacks from all equipment and skills, and is cut by 1/2 on Nightmare and 1/4 on Hell.

===Topazes=== [[Topaz ]] are useful in starter weapons for the relatively large [[lightning ]] damage, with no requirements to use it. They are also popular in helms [[helm]]s for item finding.

===Skulls== =

===Rubies== =

===Sapphires== =

===Topazes== =