Gems/Runes/Jewels in Diablo 4

General Discussion
1

So we know that Runes are in Diablo 4, I believe we can safely assume gems will be there, and hopefully jewels but we don’t know. Here is my feedback on these.

First, from what we have seen, the Icon sizes for Items seem to be able to sustain 2 sockets only, I hope that this wouldn’t be the case and that different types of gear can roll 1 to 4 sockets. I see that Sockets count as a regular affix on gear, so maybe provide that option for white items.

I. Gems:
so Gems in Diablo 3 are not exciting at all, they drop too much to a level that makes it you don’t care when they do drop, most players have only equipped Emerald gems in their weapons since the game lunched. We don’t want that in Diablo 4, Gems should be less frequent to drop and more diverse and balanced, so it provides the player with a choice: Do I Slot this gem in my gear now? do I wait for a better Item? Do I need to wait and upgrade this Gem? Which Gem benefits me the most? These questions provide more flavor to Gems/gear Slots, and add more diversity to the itemization.
First, the Gems need to go back to their Elemental roots like in Diablo 2 and be build upon, which will be more balanced and more flavorful and complete your build, example:

    1. Ruby: On Weapon: Adds X-XX Burn damage and X% chance to jump to adjacent target for a fraction of the damage/ On Armor: Add XX Strength/ On Miscellaneous: X% for target to explode on death/ On shield: Add XX fire resistance.
    1. Sapphire: On Weapon: Adds X-X Frost damage and +X% damage to frozen targets/ On Armor: Add XX to Resource/ On Miscellaneous: Add X% chills (synergize with chill abilities to freeze target quicker)/ On shield: Add XX frost resistance.
    1. Topaz: On Weapon: Adds 1-XXX lightening damage and +X% damage to shocked targets/ On Armor: Add XX to Intellect/ On Miscellaneous: Add X% Shock chances (synergize with shocking abilities to stun target quicker)/ On shield: Add XX lightening resistance.
    1. Emerald: On Weapon: Adds XX-XX poison damage over time and +X% on death to deal remaining damage to nearby enemies/ On Armor: Add XX to Dexterity/ On Miscellaneous: Poison damage overtime ticks faster by X-XX%/ On shield: Add XX poison resistance.
    1. Amethyst: On Weapon: Your successful hits apply a stackable dot for enemies hit to deal X% less damage/ On Armor: Add XX to Life/ On Miscellaneous: Enemies hit have X% chance to take X% more damage from all sources for short period of time/ On shield: Add XX Defense.
    1. Diamond: On Weapon: Adds XX% damage to Undead/ On Armor: Add XX to Willpower/ On Miscellaneous: Reflect X% damage back to attackers/ On shield: Add X to All resistances.
    1. Opal (new): On Weapon: Your attacks have X% chance to pierce through the target to the next target/ On Armor: Add XX to Resource regen/ On Miscellaneous: Add XX to Magic find/ On shield: Add X to Holy resistance.
    1. Skull (bring them back): On Weapon: Leach X% of your hits/ On Armor: Add XX to Life regen/ On Miscellaneous: Enemies hit have X% chance to fight for you for X% of time (capped number of enemies)/ On shield: Add X to Shadow resistance.
      Of course the gems can be more balanced or changed to other effects but that’s gist of, proving more flavor and synergies with different builds. Every gem should be the best for a certain playstyle and not a default one that works for all.

II. Runes:
Now the rune system presented in last blizzcon as Action and effect runes could be viable as well as if an armor piece has 3 sockets or 4 sockets you could stack multiple action runes or multiple effect runes. However, I would hope that Runewords are added as crafting recipes, where you will need A base White Item and the Runes required for that specific Runeword which will turn the Item into a Runed Item with set specific stats and affixes that isn’t random and could have skill and build interaction. Both systems can co-exist

III. Jewels:
The Jewels should have less drop rate than both Gems and Runes and could provide 1 regular affix like any present on gear (lower ratio and no legendary affixes) and 1 additional Strong affix which allow you have more flexibility, Exemples: An affix that reduces all strength requirements by XX% this would help players reach those skill upgrade breakpoints without taking much of their Attributes, Another affix could give additional skill ranks, Another one could provide X% less damage from ranged or melee or elites, And last one that will make your dismount ability bring you back to your mount if the targets died.

I don’t know also if there will be legendary gems and how you implement them, I don’t want them to give a big power creep. so maybe not have them for now

Please share if you have any ideas that would help the Team working on this, and for The Devs keep up the good work, it’s moving in the right direction, and we are trying to help.

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