Diablo II/Gems

Gems are precious stones which can be placed in any socket of an item to add bonuses to that item. The bonus(es) added vary depending on whether a gem is placed in a socket in a weapon, helm and body armor, or shield. When gems are placed in a low, normal or superior quality item, the item can change color depending on the color of the first gem placed in a socket (otherwise, gems do not affect an item's color). Once placed in a socket, a gem cannot be removed without destroying it (and it can only be removed in Diablo II: Lord of Destruction).

Due to their low required levels, gems are often placed in socketed items early in the game, where the bonuses added can be a significant improvement on what is otherwise available at that level. Later in Lord of Destruction, gems are less commonly placed in sockets unless their bonuses are comparable to or better than those of runes or Jewels.

Gems can also be used to make crafted items in Lord of Destruction and make or manipulate other items using the Horadric Cube (including upgrading lower quality gems to higher quality gems). They can normally only be dropped by monsters, with the exception of perfect gems. However, a random perfect gem is a reward for destroying Mephisto's Soulstone on the Hellforge, and lower quality gems can be upgraded to perfect using the Horadric Cube or any Gem Shrine found in the wilderness (activating the shrine will upgrade a lower quality gem found in inventory, or drop a random chipped gem if there is none).

Monsters spawned in games with more players are normally less likely to have no drop and thus more likely to drop items (including gems), but Better Chance of Getting Magic Items has no effect on the quantity or quality of gems dropped. Each gem fills one inventory space and they cannot be stacked.

Gems cannot be bought from vendors in town unless another player sells them and at least one player remains in town afterwards to prevent the inventory being reset. If gems are sold to a vendor, they are displayed under the Misc tab of the inventory if there is sufficient space for them. Gold from selling gems to vendors in Hell is as follows:

Gem	Chipped		Flawed		Normal		Flawless		Perfect
	Gem	Skull	Gem	Skull	Gem	Skull	Gem	Skull	Gem	Skull
Gold	250	500	750	1,500	2,500	5,000	7,500	15,000	15,000	35,000

However, selling gems is not recommended as they are not as plentiful as gold, and can be put to better uses.

Topaz

Gem	RLvl	Weapon	Helm and body armor	Shield
Chipped	1	1-8 Lightning Damage	9% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items	Lightning Resist +12%
Flawed	5	1-14 Lightning Damage	13% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items	Lightning Resist +16%
Normal	12	1-22 Lightning Damage	16% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items	Lightning Resist +22%
Flawless	15	1-30 Lightning Damage	20% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items	Lightning Resist +28%
Perfect	18	1-40 Lightning Damage	24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items	Lightning Resist +40%

Amethyst

Gem	RLvl	Weapon	Helm and body armor	Shield
Chipped	1	+40 Attack Rating	+3 Strength	+8 Defense
Flawed	5	+60 Attack Rating	+4 Strength	+12 Defense
Normal	12	+80 Attack Rating	+6 Strength	+18 Defense
Flawless	15	+100 Attack Rating	+8 Strength	+24 Defense
Perfect	18	+150 Attack Rating	+10 Strength	+30 Defense

Sapphire

Gem	RLvl	Weapon	Helm and body armor	Shield
Chipped	1	1-3 Cold Damage Cold Length 1 Second	+10 Mana	Cold Resist +12%
Flawed	5	3-5 Cold Damage Cold Length 1.4 Seconds	+17 Mana	Cold Resist +16%
Normal	12	4-7 Cold Damage Cold Length 2 Seconds	+24 Mana	Cold Resist +22%
Flawless	15	6-10 Cold Damage Cold Length 2.4 Seconds	+31 Mana	Cold Resist +28%
Perfect	18	10-14 Cold Damage Cold Length 3 Seconds	+38 Mana	Cold Resist +40%

Ruby

Gem	RLvl	Weapon	Helm and body armor	Shield
Chipped	1	3-4 Fire Damage	+10 Life	Fire Resist +12%
Flawed	5	5-8 Fire Damage	+17 Life	Fire Resist +16%
Normal	12	8-12 Fire Damage	+24 Life	Fire Resist +22%
Flawless	15	10-16 Fire Damage	+31 Life	Fire Resist +28%
Perfect	18	15-20 Fire Damage	+38 Life	Fire Resist +40%

Emerald

Gem	RLvl	Weapon	Helm and body armor	Shield
Chipped	1	10 Poison Damage Over 3 Seconds	+3 Dexterity	Poison Resist +12%
Flawed	5	20 Poison Damage Over 4 Seconds	+4 Dexterity	Poison Resist +16%
Normal	12	40 Poison Damage Over 5 Seconds	+6 Dexterity	Poison Resist +22%
Flawless	15	60 Poison Damage Over 6 Seconds	+8 Dexterity	Poison Resist +28%
Perfect	18	100 Poison Damage Over 7 Seconds	+10 Dexterity	Poison Resist +40%

Diamond

Gem	RLvl	Weapon	Helm and body armor	Shield
Chipped	1	+28% Damage to Undead	+20 Attack Rating	All Resistances +6
Flawed	5	+34% Damage to Undead	+40 Attack Rating	All Resistances +8
Normal	12	+44% Damage to Undead	+60 Attack Rating	All Resistances +11
Flawless	15	+54% Damage to Undead	+80 Attack Rating	All Resistances +14
Perfect	18	+68% Damage to Undead	+100 Attack Rating	All Resistances +19

Skull

Gem	RLvl	Weapon	Helm and body armor	Shield
Chipped	1	2% Life Stolen per hit 1% Mana Stolen per hit	Replenish Life +2 Regenerate Mana 8%	Attacker Takes Damage of 4
Flawed	5	2% Life Stolen per hit 2% Mana Stolen per hit	Replenish Life +3 Regenerate Mana 8%	Attacker Takes Damage of 8
Normal	12	3% Life Stolen per hit 2% Mana Stolen per hit	Replenish Life +3 Regenerate Mana 12%	Attacker Takes Damage of 12
Flawless	15	3% Life Stolen per hit 3% Mana Stolen per hit	Replenish Life +4 Regenerate Mana 12%	Attacker Takes Damage of 16
Perfect	18	4% Life Stolen per hit 3% Mana Stolen per hit	Replenish Life +5 Regenerate Mana 19%	Attacker Takes Damage of 20

External link

• Gems (The Arreat Summit)