Diablo 3 Gems and Jeweler tips - recipes, effects, bonuses, sockets, upgrades, Covetous Shen
How to choose the right gems for your characters, save money when removing them, level up Covetous Shen, and unlock new gems for him to craft.
You'll hoover up plenty of gems as you play through Diablo, and these precious items can be inserted into the armour and weapons you collect to make them even more potent. While the gems you discover as you level up your character become increasingly powerful, you'll have to pay a visit to the Jeweler and hand over some serious cash to craft the very finest stones.
How to unlock the Jeweler
Covetous Shen is the jewellery specialist in Diablo 3, and you'll first encounter him in Act 2 of the game. Once discovered, he'll relocate to whichever camp you're currently operating out of.
Gem types
There are five different categories of gems in the game - Amethyst, Emerald, Ruby, Topaz and Diamond - and each one boosts your stats in a certain way, depending on the item of equipment they're socketed into. The gems within each category are tiered in terms of the combat bonuses they provide, so a gem you find in your first hour in the game will provide only a small boost, while later jewels become much more powerful. You'll find these improved gems as you reach certain levelling thresholds.
Here's a breakdown of the effect each gem type has on your character.
| Gem | Helm | Weapon | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amethyst | + Life | + Life per Hit | +Vitality |
| Emerald | + Extra Gold from Monsters | + Critical Hit Damage | +Dexterity |
| Ruby | + Bonus Experience | + Damage | + Strength |
| Topaz | + Better Chance of Finding Magical Items | Ranged and melee attackers take damage per hit | + Intelligence |
| Diamond | - Cooldown of all skills | + Damage against Elites | + Resistance to all elements |
Gems for each class
As you can see from the table above, you'll need to switch your gems around to suit your combat weaknessesat any given time. This is particularly important at end-game, where stats like Critical Hit Damage become increasingly important, and the overall balance of your character's combat stats becomes much more nuanced.
When making your way towards Level 70, however, you'll typically want to push out as much damage as you can, so you can kill monsters more quickly, and increase your experience gains as you gradually work your way into the tougher, but more rewarding difficulty levels.
As a general rule, getting the best Ruby you can find for your Head slot will help you level up nice and quickly, while stuffing your gear with gems that boost your class's preferred stats will help increase the damage you can inflict against enemies. With that in mind, here are the primary damage stats for each class.
| Class | Primary Stat | Gem |
|---|---|---|
| Barbarian | Strength | Ruby |
| Crusader | Strength | Ruby |
| Demon Hunter | Dexterity | Emerald |
| Monk | Dexterity | Emerald |
| Witch Doctor | Intelligence | Topaz |
| Wizard | Intelligence | Topaz |
Upgrading gems
If you've got some spare cash you can upgrade your gems using the Jeweler. Just be aware that as the gems you craft become more powerful, the cost of crafting each one increases. You'll also need up to three gems from the tier below to create the gem you're actually interested in, and these old gems are destroyed in the crafting process. This pyramid of decreasing returns, combined with an escalating crafting cost, makes it challenging to acquire the very finest gems.
Need more Diablo 3 help? Learn how to unlock Zelda outfits like Ganondorf in Diablo 3 Switch, get some Diablo 3 boss strategies, and learn how use the Mystic, Blacksmith, Gambling and Horadric Caches. We also have advice for every class, from the Barbarian to the Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Witch Doctor and Wizard.
Unsocketing gems
It doesn't cost anything to place a gem inside a piece of equipment, but you do have to pay a fee to Covetous Shen if you want to both remove it and preserve the piece of equipment it's socketed into.
If you know that you're going to get rid of the equipment the gem is sitting in, however, go to the Blacksmith instead and simply salvage the item. The gem will automatically pop out into your inventory, along with the salvaged materials, saving you a small fortune over the course of the game.
Note that you can also use the Mystic to add sockets to certain items, allowing you to stuff even more of the most valuable gems into your character's armoury. Our guide to this character has all the information you need.
Jeweler Designs
As you kill monsters, there's a chance one of them will drop a special Jeweler's Design. These can be handed it to Covetous, giving you options to create more powerful gems, amulets and rings.
Just getting started with Diablo 3? Head back to the first page for an overview of all our guide content.