Diablo III Reaper of Souls Gem Guide

With the release of the expansion to Diablo III called Reaper of Souls, a lot has changed in the game.  One of the many changes made to the game has to do with the gems that you can find and create.
The three main changes that Reaper of Souls made to gems are as follows:

A whole new gem type has been added to the game 4 new gem levels have been added above the old highest level of Marquise All Marquise and higher gem levels are Bind to Account, making them un-tradable.

This makes for some interesting gearing options and upgrades, as well as completely devaluing and replacing the old gems.  Let’s take a look at these new changes in detail.

Diablo III - Reaper of Souls - New Gem Levels

The new gems levels are as follows:

Marquise – Imperial – Flawless Imperial – Royal – Flawless Royal

You will now be able to find Marquise level gems dropping from level 61 or higher mobs on any difficulty level.  You can find Imperial level gems as well but they will only drop from level 61or higher mobs on Master or higher difficulty level.

The higher levels of gems must be crafted through the upgrade process and to craft the highest level of gems you will need to first find the patterns as drops from mobs.

Diablo III - Reaper of Souls - Gem Upgrade Costs

Once you collect enough gems of Marquise or Imperial level you can visit the jeweller and upgrade them to higher levels.  This process is not cheap however, so be prepared.

Crafting costs are as follows:

Marquise to Imperial = 3 Marquise + 200,000 gold Imperial to Flawless Imperial = 3 Imperial + 300,000 gold Flawless Imperial to Royal = 3 Flawless Imperial + 1 Death’s Breath + 400,000 gold Royal to Flawless Royal = 3 Royal + 1 Death’s Breath + 500,000 gold

Therefore, for all those players out there what want to create a single max level gem, from the normal Marquise drops, you need to collect the following:

81 Marquise Gems + 4 Death’s Breath + 9.8 Million Gold!

If you choose to wait until you get enough Imperial Gem drops to try and create a max level gem, then you will save a significant amount of gold, cutting the materials down to the following:

27 Imperial Gems + 4 Death’s Breath + 4.4 Million Gold

As you can see, upgrading to the highest level of gem will be extremely expensive and normally only worth while once you have some best in slot legendary or set items.

Diablo III - Reaper of Souls - New Gem Type: Diamond

With the expansion a whole new gem type has been added to the game.  This gem is the Diamond, which provide several new benefits to gems. Depending on the type of item they are placed into they provide the following benefits:

Weapon - They provide a boost to damage against Elites as straight percentage boost.

Helm – They provide a Cool Down Reduction as a percentage.

All Other Items – They provide a boost to All Resistances.

Diablo III - Reaper of Souls - Gem Benefits by Level

Here is a referance guide for all of the various gem levels of Marquise level and higher and the various benifits they provide in the different item types.

Amethyst Item Type Benefit Marquise Imperial

Flawless
Imperial

Royal Flawless
Royal Weapon Life on Hit 700 800 900 1000 1100 Helm Life % 19 20 21 22 23 Other Vitality 62 100 160 220 280

 

Diamond Item Type Benefit Marquise Imperial

Flawless
Imperial

Royal Flawless
Royal Weapon Elite Damage % 16 17 18 19 20 Helm Cool Down Reduction % 10 11 11.5 12 12.5 Other All Resistances +X 60 66 70 74 78

 

Emerald Item Type Benefit Marquise Imperial

Flawless
Imperial

Royal Flawless
Royal Weapon Critical Damage % 110 115 120 125 130 Helm Gold Find % 33 35 377 39 41 Other Dexterity 62 100 160 220 280 Ruby Item Type Benefit Marquise Imperial

Flawless
Imperial

Royal Flawless
Royal Weapon Weapon Damage 160 190 220 250 270 Helm Experience Gain % 33 35 37 39 41 Other Strength 62 100 160 220 280

 

Topaz Item Type Benefit Marquise Imperial

Flawless
Imperial

Royal Flawless
Royal Weapon Reflect Damage 2500 3100 3725 4350 4975 Helm Magic Find % 33 35 37 39 41 Other Intelligence 62 100 160 220 280