Diablo 4 Gems: Crafting, tier levels and how to unlock the Jeweler

Our Diablo 4 Gems guide explains everything you need to know to get the best gems

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Blizzard Entertainment

What do Diablo 4 Gems do? In Diablo 4 , Gems can provide excellent bonuses to your gear. But first you have to find them, and once you do, you might want to combine them with more Gems to earn better buffs. You have to make sure your gear has slots for them, too, and this can all cost you a pretty penny in terms of gold and resources.

If you’re brand new to Diablo 4 Gems and crafting mechanics, or have just started playing D4 now it’s out on Game Pass , don’t worry — we have you covered. Here’s everything you need to know about Diablo 4 Gems, including how to unlock the Jeweler, how you can craft and upgrade gems to the Flawless and Royal tiers, and much more.

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What are Diablo 4 Gems?

As you traverse Sanctuary , you’ll occasionally pick up different Gemstones like topaz, diamonds, and sapphire. Each Gem type has a unique set of perks, and you can slot them into any item with a Gem slot. Slotting it will then grant specific bonuses tied to that piece of gear. Typically, the bonus depends on whether it’s applied to a weapon, an armor piece, or jewelry. Generally, if you apply a Gem to a weapon, you’ll get offensive stat bonuses. If you apply it to armor, you’ll get defensive stats . And, if you apply it to jewelry, you’ll gain resistance to specific elements.

You’ll find Gems as random drops throughout the world, and they can spawn randomly from defeating enemies, opening chests, and caches that you may earn from activities such as Side Quests . Many of the strategies used for Diablo 4 Legendary gear farms can also be used to farm Gems.

How to use Gems in Diablo 4

While Crude Gems are the most common, you can combine them to upgrade to Chipped Gems at the Gem shop. Later, you can combine Chipped Gems to make them full-fledged Gems, maximizing their potential. And, later down the line, you can even combine some to make Flawless and Royal versions of these Gems. So, in short, you should aim to hoard any gems you earn to exchange them for better versions.

You can add gems of any level to the sockets you see on your gear. You’ll note items with sockets by the round holes that appear on them when you see them in the inventory menu, indicating you can place a gem in them to reap bonuses. Tunics , pants , two-handed weapons , and bows can have up to two sockets, while all other items can have only one. If you’d like to affix a Gem to an item that doesn’t have a Gem slot, you’ll need to visit the Jeweler to socket them, which requires gold and resources.

Diablo 4 Gem stats

Each type of Gem in Diablo 4 grants a different set of bonuses, depending on whether the Gem is attached to a weapon, armor piece, or jewelry. Here are the stats that each Gem affects depending on the gear with which it’s paired:

Amethyst

• Weapon: Increases damage over time
• Armor: Damage over time reduction
• Jewelry: Grants/increases Shadow resistance

Diamond

• Weapon: Increased Ultimate skill damage
• Armor: Grants/increases barrier generation
• Jewelry: Grants/increases resistance to all elements

Emerald

• Weapon: Increases critical strike damage to vulnerable enemies
• Armor: Grants/increases thorns
• Jewelry: Grants/increases poison resistance

Ruby

• Weapon: Increases Overpower damage
• Armor: Increases Life points
• Jewelry: Grants/increases fire resistance

Skull

• Weapon: Grants/increases extra Life points on kill
• Armor: Increases healing recieved
• Jewelry: Increases all armor stats

Sapphire

• Weapon: Increases critical strike damage to crowd-controlled enemies
• Armor: Damage reduction when fortified
• Jewelry: Grants/increases cold resistance

Topaz

• Weapon: Increases basic skill damage
• Armor: Damage reduction when crowd impaired
• Jewelry: Grants/increases lightning resistance

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Blizzard Entertainment

How to unlock the Jeweler and upgrade Gems

If you still need to find the Jeweler in your game, don’t fret. Early in your game, you’ll note a priority task to visit the Jeweler in Kyovashad. The quest functions as a tutorial on how to use the Jeweler and their services.

At the Jeweler, you can upgrade and combine your Gems, unsocket Gems from your gear, add sockets to your gear, and upgrade your jewelry, which we’ll cover in detail below.

You can find Jewelers in the following locations:

• Scosglen : Realyn - Cerigar (Emerald Chase)
• Fractured Peaks : Kratia - Kyovashad (Desolate Highlands)
• Dry Steppes : Tungal - Ked Bardu (Kotama Grasslands)
• Kehjistan : Kaveh - Gea Kul (Southern Expanse)
• Hawezar : Alyoni - Zarbinzet (Umir Plateau)

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Blizzard Entertainment

You can also use our interactive Diablo 4 map below if you need help finding the location of any jeweler:

Gem exchange values

There are five different tiers of Diablo 4 Gems, with their effects increasing in power as they graduate as you gather and combine them through. These tiers are as follows:

• Crude (level 15)
• Chipped (level 20): Requires three same-type Crude Gems to craft
• Standard (level 40): Requires three same-type Chipped Gems to craft
• Flawless (level 50): Requires three same-type standard Gems to craft
• Royal (level 60): Requires three same-type Flawless Gems to craft

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Blizzard Entertainment

Adding Gem slots and removing Gems

If you have a great piece of gear but want to add a Gem slot or two, you can do it as long as you have enough gold and a special item called a Scattered Prism . Scattered Prisms are relatively rare, and you’ll come upon them in the world via Treasure Goblins , World Bosses , and occasionally via salvaging Legendary gear.

Once you have a Scattered Prism and are ready to create a Gem slot, visit the Jeweler, and you’ll gain a new socket at the cost of gold and a Scattered Prism.

You can also remove Gems from pieces, which can be a good idea if you want to combine and upgrade them. There are two ways to do this. If you’re looking to get rid of the piece with the socketed Gem anyway, you can visit the Blacksmith to salvage it, which provides materials and returns any Gems therein to your inventory.

Another way to unsocket Gems is to visit the Jeweler, though they will charge you a fee. The costs for unsocketing gems will generally get higher as you begin to equip higher-level gear. So, in many cases, salvaging will be more worthwhile than

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Blizzard Entertainment

Upgrading jewelry

The Jeweler can also upgrade your jewelry. You can upgrade Rare gear up to three times and Legendary gear up to four times. Upgrades are expensive and cost you resources including Iron Ore , Silver Ore , Veiled Crystal , and Abstruse Sigil . Here’s how much you can expect to spend upgrading.

• Rare ring/amulet (rank 1): 5 Iron Chunk, 4,800 gold
• Rare ring/amulet (rank 2): 5 Iron Chunk, 4 Silver Ore, 11,250 gold
• Rare ring/amulet (rank 3): 8 Iron Chunk, 6 Silver Ore, 3 Veiled Crystal, 4,800 gold
• Legendary ring/amulet (rank 1): 5 Iron Chunk, 6,750 gold
• Legendary ring/amulet (rank 2): 8 Iron Chunk, 6 Silver Ore, 13,500 gold
• Legendary ring/amulet (rank 3): 8 Iron Chunk, 6 Silver Ore, 3 Veiled Crystal, 42,500 gold
• Legendary ring/amulet (rank 3): 12 Iron Chunk, 7 Silver Ore, 6 Veiled Crystal, 2 Abtruse Sigil, 135,000 gold

Now that you have the low-down on Diablo 4 Gems, you’ll want to put them to good use. We can help you make the most of your Diablo 4 builds with our best Diablo 4 Barbarian build guide, best Diablo 4 Druid build guide, best Diablo 4 Necromancer build guide, best Diablo 4 Rogue build guide, and best Diablo 4 Sorcerer build guide.

And, if you’re keen to explore everything Sanctuary has to offer, you may want to look at our interactive Diablo 4 map , have a peek at our Diablo 4 battle pass coverage, learn about Diablo 4 murmuring obols , and review what to expect when Diablo 4 seasons launch in July.

Activision Blizzard are currently the subject of a number of legal actions , labour disputes and allegations of workplace harassment . Rock Paper Shotgun will continue to write about these issues, as well as covering Activision Blizzard games as part of our commitment to cover subjects of interest to our readers. The latest news can always be found under our Activision Blizzard tag.

Diablo IV

PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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