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Gems in Diablo 4 are magical items that can enhance whatever they are socketed into. Each of these gems will provide you with a host of different benefits depending on the item it is socketed into.
There are many different kinds of gems that you can get as loot or craft outside of combat. Slotting a gem into a weapon will garner offensive benefits, Armour will gain you defensive benefits and socketing them into your rings and amulets will raise your various resistances.
Updated by Chad Thesen on 26 June 2023: Embedded links have been added for convenient navigation from this guide to other material readers want to explore.
Where Can You Find The Jeweler in Diablo 4?
Before you can upgrade your gems, you will need to have unlocked The Jeweler. Once you reach level 20, you will be given a Quest that involves upgrading a Crude Ruby into a Chipped Ruby. Completing this Quest will have The Jeweler unlocked for permanent use.
What Can The Jeweler Do?
The Jeweler will allow you to craft items, upgrade existing gems and jewelry, as well as add sockets to your gear for you to slot these gems into. If you find some gear that does not have a slot, but you really wish it did, you will need to get your hands on a Scattered Prism to add one. Each piece of gear has at least 1 slot that it can have, with the following allowing for a maximum of 2 slots – Bow, 2-Handed Weapon, Chest and Pants.
Upgrading Your Gems
Now that you know how to get The Jeweler and what they do, let’s talk about upgrading those gems of yours. There are various stages that reflect the quality of the gems you have. This starts at Crude and goes up to Royal. Once your character is at a high enough level, better-quality gems will start to drop on their own without needing to upgrade. Each different kind of gem will also grand different benefits depending on the item it is slotted into. Go speak with the Jeweler and go to the Craft tab. In this tab, you will be able to take several gems of one quality and merge them into one of better quality. This will have the same bonuses but with a greater effect.
Each time you upgrade a gem, you will need a certain amount of that type of gems previous drop type, along with gold that gets higher for each upgrade. Crude Gems are the lowest level of gems you can get your hands on, and will start to drop at level 15. These can be upgraded to Chipped Gems. Chipped Gems drop at level 20 and upgrade to the base gem’s name, such as Saphire or Ruby. This will come at a cost of 3 Crude Gems and 4,500 gold. Base gems will drop at level 40 and upgrade to Flawless gems. To Upgrade to these base gems, it will cost you 3 chipped gems of the same type and 12,500 gold. Flawless gems will upgrade into Royal. The cost of getting a gem to the rank of Flawless will be 3 base gems and 18,000 gold. Royal is the current highest level of gem that you will be able to get. To get a royal gem, you will need to pay the cost of 3 Flawless gems and a whopping 50,000 gold.
What Bonuses Do Gems Give?
Different types of gems will give different bonuses depending on the slot they are in. Here is a quick rundown of each type of gem and what they give when slotted.
Type |
Armour |
Jewelry |
Weapon |
Amethyst |
Reduces damage over time to the user |
Increases resistance to shadow |
Increase to damage over time |
Diamond |
Increases the effects applied through Barrier |
Increases resistance to all elements |
Increases damage of Ulitmate Skill |
Emerald |
Increases damage dealt through Thorns |
Increases resistance to poison |
Increases the damage of Critical Strikes to enemies that are Vulnerable |
Ruby |
Increase to Maximum Life |
Increases resistance to fire |
Increase to Overpower damage |
Sapphire |
Grants damage reduction while fortified |
Increases resistance to cold |
Increases the damage of Critical Strikes to enemies that are Crowd Controlled |
Topaz |
Reduces damage while the user is impaired |
Increases resistance to lightning |
Increases damage of Basic Skills |
Skull |
Increases the effect of healing on the user |
Increases the stat value of your Armour gear |
Killing targets will heal the user |
Be on the lookout for Legendary Gems too. These legendary gems can be vital for certain builds, while other builds will benefit more from using the highest upgraded forms of non-legendary gems.