Best Gems by Class

In my recent class analysis we took a look at each class and which stats, mods and gear they will be looking for. One thing I didn’t do was put it all together to see the big picture. I want to answer the question: which gems will be the most popular and why? There are 4 gems and a total of 11 different stats that they can give depending on whether they are used in a helm, weapon or other gear. Here is the break down from my jeweler page:


Amethyst
+ % Life (in helm)
+ Vitality
+ Life (in weapon)

Emerald
+ % Better Chance of Finding Magical Items (in helm)
+ Dexterity

Ruby
Increases experienced rewarded per kill by % (in helm)
+ Strength
+ Damage (in weapon)

Topaz
+ % Extra Gold From Monsters (in helm)
+ Intelligence
Attackers take damage per hit (in weapon)

We know that strength is the primary stat of Barbarians while Wizards and Witch Doctors look for Topaz and Emeralds. Demon Hunters and Monks want Dexterity. For the helmet specific stats we may see Topaz and Emerald being popular for farmers while Ruby is the choice of new characters who are still leveling and Amethyst might be appropriate for certain inferno difficulty encounters where you just don’t have enough life to survive.

I also noticed that, according to battle.net, there are only a few types of equipment that can be socketed. These include the Head, Torso, Wrists, Waist, Jewelry, Shields and apparently weapons. Each class could have 5 different pieces of equipment for the general stat, 1 for the helm stat and 1 for the weapon. So there will be 35 different types of equipment, for example: Demon Hunter helm will probably want Amethyst for % Life if they are doing challenging content while all 5 of the general pieces for the Demon Hunter will probably be Emeralds for Dexterity.

We don’t really know how important Vitality is going to be. It’s going to depend on how difficult the content is. I would guess that end-game content players will want vitality instead of their primary stat. It’s really hard to speculate so I’m just going to assume that vitality is desired 25% of the time over primary stats and 70% of the time over gold find and magic find, leaving 15% for each magic find and gold find.


Amethyst
+ % Life (in helm)
+ Vitality
+ Life (in weapon)
70% of all 5 class helms (3.50 points)
25% of all general gear (6.25 points)
25% of all weapons (1.25 points)
11 / 35 points (31.4%)

Emerald
+ % Magic Find (in helm)
+ Dexterity
15% of all helms (0.75 points)
75% of general Monk and DH gear (7.5 points)
8.25 / 35 points (23.5%)

Ruby
+ % Experienced (in helm)
+ Strength
+ Damage (in weapon)
Not used often enough to factor in
75% of general Barbarian gear (3.75 points)
75% of all weapons (3.75 points)
7.5 / 35 points (21.4%)

Topaz
+ % Extra Gold (in helm)
+ Intelligence
Attackers take damage (in weapon)
15% of all 5 class helms (0.75 points)
75% of general Wizard and WD gear (7.5 points)
Not used often enough to factor in
8.25 / 35 points (23.5%)

What we learn is that if my crazy %s are right Amethyst will be the most popular gem and Ruby will be slightly less popular than the other two. Eventually this will be reflected in their price, sending the price of Amethyst up and the price of Rubies down compared to Emeralds and Topaz. Vitality will only become as popular as it is as it starts being used in end game in helmets while the Emerald and Topaz will be popular early on as players scrounge together sets of equipment to farm.

Important: Many of the strategies and tips I share here were originally inspired by the people at the Diablo 3 Gold Secrets Forum. If you're serious about making the big bucks in Diablo 3, or just being the best players, you need to signup ASAP.

Leave a comment

4 Comments.

  1. I think emeralds and topazes are going to be the best sellers since they are both used for two different classes. Rubies will sell, but not as much as emeralds and topazes. Amethysts I really don’t know, we have to wait is see how much Vitality players will need.

  2. Have any data to support that idea? :p

  3. Topax should show “ATTACKERS take damage” ie it’s a thorns type ability.

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