Gems

Functionless on their own, gems possess great power when utilized with a weapon, shield, or helm, bestowing potent magical enchantments upon the item and its wearer. Socketed 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. Considering that the bonuses of even perfect gems cease to amaze at a certain point, they are probably best hoarded for crafting in various Horadric Cube recipes.

Gem Varieties

There are seven different types of gems:

• Amethysts
• Diamonds
• Emeralds
• Rubies
• Sapphires
• Topazes
• Skulls

All have different effects depending on what sort of item they are "socketed" in. There are five levels of quality for gems: from worst to best they are:

• Chipped
• Flawed
• Normal (simply called by the gem type in the game, i.e. "ruby")
• Flawless
• Perfect

Gems can not be bought, only found, though this changed several times during development. Better quality gems are found as you progress in the game.

• In Diablo II the system is rigid: Chipped gems show up in Act I and Act II and Flawed in Act III and Act IV, with very rare exceptions of monsters (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 Act IV and Act V, and can even rarely come across Flawless gems. 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 Hellforge Quest.

Socketed Items

Only weapons, helms, shields and body armor can have sockets, with body armor being the new addition to the list in the Expansion. No boots, gloves, belts, or jewelry will ever be socketed, and this includes Uniques.

• The number of sockets is fixed in Diablo II, all helms have 2, and all shields and weapons have 3, unless the item is only 2 spaces tall in inventory (bucklers, daggers) in which case it has two sockets.
• In the Expansion items can vary in their number of sockets. Helms can have from 1-4, Body armor 1-4, weapons 1-6, and shields 1-4. Full details elsewhere in the Items section.

Once a gem is inserted into a socket, it is there forever, and can't be upgraded in quality, so be sure you want to put a gem in before you do. However, there is a Horadric cube recipe which will allow a player to remove items from a socketed weapon. The items within the sockets are destroyed in the process.

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

In the Expansion you can only buy magical equipment, so you 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 and quality combine in the Horadric Cube to upgrade one level of quality.

Gem shrines are found only rarely, but they are worth preparing for and using, as they'll upgrade one gem from your inventory one level. It's best to carry around a flawless gem of whatever type you want upgraded and be sure it's the only gem in your inventory when you click the shrine. If you don't have any gems, or only have perfect gems, one random chipped gem will be dropped.

Gem Effects

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

You can see how gems look in an item here in this shot. The sockets 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 items in the game appear brightly-coloured, and their appearance is based on the first gem socketed. An item with an Amethyst first, then two Emeralds will be purple, not green.

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, 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.

Gems in shields do nothing for the Paladin's Smite attack.

Gem Stats (Expansion)

Amethyst

Amethysts are gems found in Diablo II. Purple in color, Amethysts add strength, attack rating, and defense, depending on what type of item they are socketed into.

The most popular use is for the +strength granted by socketing them in helms and body armor.

Diablo III Amethysts

This gem type returns in Diablo III, but with very different bonuses.

• Amethysts in Diablo III.

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction

Like all gems, Amethyst stats were slightly improved in the expansion.

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Clvl Req
Chipped		+40 to Attack Rating	+3 to Strength	+8 to Defense	1
Flawed		+60 to Attack Rating	+4 to Strength	+12 to Defense	5
Normal		+80 to Attack Rating	+6 to Strength	+18 to Defense	12
Flawless		+100 to Attack Rating	+8 to Strength	+24 to Defense	15
Perfect		+150 to Attack Rating	+10 to Strength	+30 to Defense	18

Diablo II Classic Stats

Amethyst stats in D2C were slightly lower than they are in the expansion.

Amethyst

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Sell Price	Clvl Req
Chipped		+40 to Attack Rating	+3 to Strength	+5 to Defense	125	1
Flawed		+60 to Attack Rating	+4 to Strength	+7 to Defense	375	5
Normal		+80 to Attack Rating	+5 to Strength	+9 to Defense	1250	12
Flawless		+100 to Attack Rating	+7 to Strength	+12 to Defense	3750	15
Perfect		+150 to Attack Rating	+9 to Strength	+16 to Defense	7500	18

Diamond

Diamonds are among the most useful of gems in the game, very popularly socketed in shields for the resistance bonus.

Diablo III Diamonds

Diamonds are not found in Diablo III. Only Rubies, Topazes, Emeralds, and Amethysts are found in D3C, though other gem types might return in expansions. See the Diablo III wiki for more details.

• Gems in Diablo III.

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction

The following bonuses are provided by socketed Diamonds in D2X.

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Clvl Req
Chipped		+28% damage vs. the undead	+20 to Attack Rating	+6% Resistance to All	1
Flawed		+34% damage vs. the undead	+40 to Attack Rating	+8% Resistance to All	5
Normal		+44% damage vs. the undead	+60 to Attack Rating	+11% Resistance to All	12
Flawless		+54% damage vs. the undead	+80 to Attack Rating	+14% Resistance to All	15
Perfect		+68% damage vs. the undead	+100 to Attack Rating	+19% Resistance to All	18

Diablo II Classic Stats

Diamond stats in D2C were slightly lower than they are in the expansion.

Diamond

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Sell Price	Clvl Req
Chipped		+28% damage vs. the undead	+10 to Attack Rating	+5% Resistance to All	125	1
Flawed		+34% damage vs. the undead	+15 to Attack Rating	+7% Resistance to All	375	5
Normal		+44% damage vs. the undead	+20 to Attack Rating	+10% Resistance to All	1250	12
Flawless		+54% damage vs. the undead	+25 to Attack Rating	+14% Resistance to All	3750	15
Perfect		+69% damage vs. the undead	+30 to Attack Rating	+19% Resistance to All	7500	18

Emerald

Emeralds are most popular when used as sockets in weapons, especially for low level characters. Their poison damage is not very high, but it stops monster healing.

Poison damage stacks oddly in Diablo II, and has been tweaked many times in patches. In earlier versions of the game, poison damage multiplied while duration added, potentially granting very high damage over very long times. The effect is less pronounced in v1.11+.

Diablo III Emeralds

This gem type returns in Diablo III, but with very different bonuses.

• Emeralds in Diablo III.

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction

Emerald stats in D2X.

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Clvl Req
Chipped		Adds 5 (5.9) poison damage in 1 sec	+3 to Dexterity	+12% Poison Resistance	1
Flawed		Adds 11 (11.7) poison damage in 1 sec	+4 to Dexterity	+16% Poison Resistance	5
Normal		Adds 17 (17.6) poison damage in 1 sec	+6 to Dexterity	+22% Poison Resistance	12
Flawless		Adds 23 (23.4) poison damage in 1 sec	+8 to Dexterity	+28% Poison Resistance	15
Perfect		Adds 29 (29.3) poison damage in 1 sec	+10 to Dexterity	+40% Poison Resistance	18

D2C Emerald Stats

Emerald stats varied slightly in D2C.

Emerald

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Sell Price	Clvl Req
Chipped		Adds 5 (5.9) poison damage in 1 sec	+3 to Dexterity	+11% poison resistance	125	1
Flawed		Adds 11 (11.7) poison damage in 1 sec	+4 to Dexterity	+15% poison resistance	375	5
Normal		Adds 17 (17.6) poison damage in 1 sec	+5 to Dexterity	+19% poison resistance	1250	12
Flawless		Adds 23 (23.4) poison damage in 1 sec	+7 to Dexterity	+24% poison resistance	3750	15
Perfect		Adds 29 (29.3) poison damage in 1 sec	+9 to Dexterity	+29 poison resistance	7500	18

Ruby

Rubies in armor or helms provide useful hit point bonuses, and are commonly socketed in merc equipment.

Diablo III Rubies

This gem type returns in Diablo III, but with very different bonuses.

• Rubies in Diablo III.

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction

These are the bonuses provided by a Ruby in D2X:

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

D2C Ruby Stats

Rubies have slightly different stats in D2 Classic.

Ruby

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Sell Price	Clvl Req
Chipped		+3 fire damage	+6-8 to maximum life	+11% fire resistance	125	1
Flawed		+4 to fire damage	+10 to maximum life	+15% to Fire Resistance	375	5
Normal		+4 to fire damage	+14 to maximum life	+19% fire resistance	1250	12
Flawless		+5 to fire damage	+19 to maximum life	+24% fire resistance	3750	15
Perfect		+6-7, 6-8, or 6-9 fire damage	+24 to maximum life	+29% fire resistance	7500	18

Sapphire

Sapphires are very usefully socketed in weapons for the slowing/chilling bonus they provide, especially for low level characters.

Diablo III Sapphires

Sapphires are not found in Diablo III. Only Rubies, Topazes, Emeralds, and Amethysts are found in D3C, though other gem types might return in expansions. See the Diablo III wiki for more details.

• Gems in Diablo III.

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction

The following bonuses are granted by Sapphires in D2X.

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Clvl Req
Chipped		+1-3 Cold Damage 1 second Cold Time	+10 to Maximum Mana	+12% to Cold Resistance	1
Flawed		+3-5 Cold Damage 1.4 second Cold Time	+17 to Maximum Mana	+16% to Cold Resistance	5
Normal		+4-7 Cold Damage 2 second Cold Time	+24 to Maximum Mana	+22% to Cold Resistance	12
Flawless		+6-10 Cold Damage 2.4 second Cold Time	+31 to Maximum Mana	+28% to Cold Resistance	15
Perfect		+10-14 Cold Damage 3 second Cold Time	+38 to Maximum Mana	+40% to Cold Resistance	18

D2C Sapphire Stats

Sapphires have slightly different stats in D2C.

Sapphire

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Sell Price	Clvl Req
Chipped		+1-2 cold damage 1 second cold time	+7 to maximum mana	+11% cold resistance	125	1
Flawed		+1-2 cold damage 1.4 second cold time	+10 to maximum mana	+15% to cold resistance	375	5
Normal		+2-3 cold damage 2 second cold time	+14 to maximum mana	+19% to cold resistance	1250	12
Flawless		+3-4 cold damage 2.4 second cold time	+19 to maximum mana	+24% to cold resistance	3750	15
Perfect		+3-6 cold damage 3 second cold time	+24 to maximum mana	+29% to cold resistance	7500	18

Topaz

Topazes are popularly socketed in armor and helms for the Magic Find bonuses they provide.

Diablo III Topazes

This gem type returns in Diablo III, but with very different bonuses.

• Topazes in Diablo III.

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction

These are the bonuses provided by Topaz in D2X.

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Clvl Req
Chipped		+1-8 Lightning Damage	+9% chance to find magical items	+12% Lightning Resistance	1
Flawed		+1-14 Lightning Damage	+13% chance to find magical items	+16% Lightning Resistance	5
Normal		+1-22 Lightning Damage	+16% chance to find magical items	+22% Lightning Resistance	12
Flawless		+1-30 Lightning Damage	+20% chance to find magical items	+28% Lightning Resistance	15
Perfect		+1-40 Lightning Damage	+24% chance to find magical items	+40% Lightning Resistance	18

D2C Topaz Stats

Topaz have slightly different stats in D2C.

Topaz

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Sale Price	Clvl Req
Chipped		+1-6 Lightning Damage	+9% chance to find magical items	+11% Lightning Resistance	125	1
Flawed		+1-7 Lightning Damage	+12% chance to find magical items	+15% Lightning Resistance	375	5
Normal		+1-8 Lightning Damage	+16% chance to find magical items	+19% Lightning Resistance	1250	12
Flawless		+1-10 Lightning Damage	+20% chance to find magical items	+24% Lightning Resistance	3750	15
Perfect		+1-12, 1-13, or 1-14 Lightning Damage	+24% chance to find magical items	+29% Lightning Resistance	7500	18

Skulls

Skulls were hugely popularly gems socketed in the early days of D2C for the dual leech they added. They are seldom used for that property anymore, as most players have far better item options, but they can still be helpful, especially in weapons for players without access to Amn runes or other forms of leech.

Diablo III Skulls

Skull gems are not found in Diablo III. Only Rubies, Topazes, Emeralds, and Amethysts are found in D3C, though other gem types might return in expansions. See the Diablo III wiki for more details.

• Gems in Diablo III.

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction

The following bonuses are created by socketing a skull in D2X.

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Clvl Req
Chipped		Steals 2% life and 1% mana per hit	Replenish life +2 and mana regen. 8%	Attacker takes damage of 4	1
Flawed		Steals 2% life and 2% mana per hit	Replenish life +3 and mana regen. 8%	Attacker takes damage of 8	5
Normal		Steals 3% life and 2% mana per hit	Replenish life +3 and mana regen. 12%	Attacker takes damage of 12	12
Flawless		Steals 3% life and 3% mana per hit	Replenish life +4 and mana regen. 12%	Attacker takes damage of 16	15
Perfect		Steals 4% life and 3% mana per hit	Replenish life +5 and mana regen 19%	Attacker takes damage of 20	18

D2C Skull Stats

Skulls have slightly different properties in D2C.

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Sell Price	Clvl Req
Chipped		Steals 2% life and 1% mana per hit	+2 Replenish life and +9% mana regeneration rate.	Attacker takes damage of 2	250	1
Flawed		Steals 2% life and 2% mana per hit	+3 Replenish life and +8% mana regeneration rate.	Attacker takes damage of 3	750	5
Normal		Steals 3% life and 2% mana per hit	+3 Replenish life and +12% mana regeneration rate.	Attacker takes damage of 4	2500	12
Flawless		Steals 3% life and 3% mana per hit	+4 Replenish life +4 and +12% mana regeneration rate.	Attacker takes damage of 5	7500	15
Perfect		Steals 4% life and 3% mana per hit	+5 Replenish life +5 and +19% mana regeneration rate.	Attacker takes damage of 6-7	25000	18

Gem Stats (Classic)

Amethyst

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Clvl Req
Chipped		+40 to Attack Rating	+3 to Strength	+5 to Defense	1
Flawed		+60 to Attack Rating	+4 to Strength	+7 to Defense	5
Normal		+80 to Attack Rating	+5 to Strength	+9 to Defense	12
Flawless		+100 to Attack Rating	+7 to Strength	+12 to Defense	15
Perfect		+150 to Attack Rating	+9 to Strength	+16 to Defense	18

Diamond

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Clvl Req
Chipped		+28% damage vs. the undead	+10 to Attack Rating	+5% Resistance to All	1
Flawed		+34% damage vs. the undead	+15 to Attack Rating	+7% Resistance to All	5
Normal		+44% damage vs. the undead	+20 to Attack Rating	+10% Resistance to All	12
Flawless		+54% damage vs. the undead	+25 to Attack Rating	+14% Resistance to All	15
Perfect		+69% damage vs. the undead	+30 to Attack Rating	+19% Resistance to All	18

Emerald

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Clvl Req
Chipped		Adds 5 (5.9) poison damage in 1 sec	+3 to Dexterity	+11% poison resistance	125
Flawed		Adds 11 (11.7) poison damage in 1 sec	+4 to Dexterity	+15% poison resistance	375
Normal		Adds 17 (17.6) poison damage in 1 sec	+5 to Dexterity	+19% poison resistance	1250
Flawless		Adds 23 (23.4) poison damage in 1 sec	+7 to Dexterity	+24% poison resistance	3750
Perfect		Adds 29 (29.3) poison damage in 1 sec	+9 to Dexterity	+29 poison resistance	7500

Ruby

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Clvl Req
Chipped		+3 fire damage	+6-8 to maximum life	+11% fire resistance	125
Flawed		+4 to fire damage	+10 to maximum life	+15% to Fire Resistance	375
Normal		+4 to fire damage	+14 to maximum life	+19% fire resistance	1250
Flawless		+5 to fire damage	+19 to maximum life	+24% fire resistance	3750
Perfect		+6-7, 6-8, or 6-9 fire damage	+24 to maximum life	+29% fire resistance	7500

Sapphire

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Clvl Req
Chipped		+1-2 cold damage 1 second cold time	+7 to maximum mana	+11% cold resistance	125
Flawed		+1-2 cold damage 1.4 second cold time	+10 to maximum mana	+15% to cold resistance	375
Normal		+2-3 cold damage 2 second cold time	+14 to maximum mana	+19% to cold resistance	1250
Flawless		+3-4 cold damage 2.4 second cold time	+19 to maximum mana	+24% to cold resistance	3750
Perfect		+3-6 cold damage 3 second cold time	+24 to maximum mana	+29% to cold resistance	7500

Topaz

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Clvl Req
Chipped		+1-6 Lightning Damage	+9% chance to find magical items	+11% Lightning Resistance	125
Flawed		+1-7 Lightning Damage	+12% chance to find magical items	+15% Lightning Resistance	375
Normal		+1-8 Lightning Damage	+16% chance to find magical items	+19% Lightning Resistance	1250
Flawless		+1-10 Lightning Damage	+20% chance to find magical items	+24% Lightning Resistance	3750
Perfect		+1-12, 1-13, or 1-14 Lightning Damage	+24% chance to find magical items	+29% Lightning Resistance	7500

Skulls

Quality		Weapon	Helm or Armor	Shield	Clvl Req
Chipped		Steals 2% life and 1% mana per hit	+2 Replenish life and +9% mana regeneration rate.	Attacker takes damage of 2	250
Flawed		Steals 2% life and 2% mana per hit	+3 Replenish life and +8% mana regeneration rate.	Attacker takes damage of 3	750
Normal		Steals 3% life and 2% mana per hit	+3 Replenish life and +12% mana regeneration rate.	Attacker takes damage of 4	2500
Flawless		Steals 3% life and 3% mana per hit	+4 Replenish life +4 and +12% mana regeneration rate.	Attacker takes damage of 5	7500
Perfect		Steals 4% life and 3% mana per hit	+5 Replenish life +5 and +19% mana regeneration rate.	Attacker takes damage of 6-7	25000