The Fellowship gems system is a powerful way to customize and strengthen your character. Specifically, it offers unique bonuses and paths depending on your hero’s needs and your playstyle. Once you reach Contender 7, you will have a chance to earn gems as end-of-dungeon rewards. Additionally, when you enter Adept League, your loot can drop with gem sockets. These gems provide flat, passive bonuses from simple stat boosts to powerful conditional effects, and their power scales the further you invest in each color track.
Regarding limitations, gems have a small gem cap of 92, which includes all gems obtained from all dungeon rewards and the Star Map. This restriction applies regardless of gem tier, so keep it in mind when experimenting with builds. Furthermore, gems are character specific and not shared account-wide, meaning you will need to gather them on each hero individually.
Confused? Don’t worry, we’ll walk you through every detail of the gem progression.
Fellowship Gems Tiers
Gems have four different tiers that range from Small to Flawless, with each tier providing additional gem power at every increase.
| Gems | Tier | Gem Power |
|---|---|---|
 | Small | 120 |
 | Large | 240 |
 | Splendid | 360 |
 | Flawless | 480 |
You can only obtain Small gems from dungeon drops, however you can combine three gems of the same color and tier to create a gem of a higher tier. For example, 3 Small Rubies create Large Ruby, and 3 Splendid Emeralds create a Flawless Emerald.
Fellowship Gems – Jeweler
The jeweler is where you can upgrade your gems into higher tiers, as well as split high tier gems into their lesser tier counterparts. Additionally, you’ll be able to do several transmutations to make getting the gems you want easier.
- Unstable Aether: Fuse 3 gems together to transmute a gem into a random other color.
- Imbued Aether: Transmute a gem into a choice of three random colors.
- Arcane Aether: Transmute a gem into a choice of any color.
- Divine Aether: Imbue an item with a socket and +35% Essence Bonus. Note that this only works on items that can receive a +35% socket naturally, so no set items nor double sockets on legendary items. You can, however, apply it to an already socketed item that does not currently have +35% Essence Bonus. This item begins dropping in Paragon.
Master Craftsman Braggi
Preseason 2 introduces “Gem Budding”, a new system for Fellowship gems. This system allows players to convert Ingots, Aethers, and Godstones of the same rarity into copies of a small gem.
- Monopod: Creates one small gem in exchange for uncommon ingredients.
- Double Bloom: Creates two small gems in exchange for rare ingredients.
- Threefold Propagation: Creates three small gems in exchange for epic ingredients.
While this addition is great for targeting specific gem colors with extra resources, the biggest benefit is for alts. In the previous season, alts had to repeat the same dungeon farming process as your main character. Now, however, your alt can utilize the account wide resources to expedite their gem acquisition.
Check out everything Master Craftsman Braggi offers in our vendor section of our Beginners Guide.
Fellowship Gems – Dungeon Drops
As mentioned earlier, gems begin dropping in Contender 7, however you’ll quickly notice that you’re only getting Small Gems. This is intentional. As you progress, you’ll want to upgrade your gems to higher tiers. Your chance of gaining a gem from end-of-dungeon rewards will increase with the difficulty of the dungeons you’re doing.
Fellowship Gems – Sockets
Gem sockets start appearing on equipment once you’re in Adept league. Placing a gem into a socket will grants your hero with Gem Power equal to the amount that tier of gem provides. Importantly, sockets cannot appear on items that have a set bonus attached, relics, or weapons. As a result, players must choose between a powerful set bonus or powerful gem effects.
Additionally, gem sockets can drop with a modifier that applies 35% Essence Bonus. That socket increases the power of any gem you place inside it by that amount. For instance, a Small Gem normally provides 120 gem power, but this modifier boosts it to 162. Legendary equipment automatically drops with both a socket and a 100% Essence Bonus modifier.
Gem Power and Effects
When you open your character sheet, you’ll see three tabs at the bottom. By default, the first tab is your stats and inventory. Switching to the Talents tab is where you choose and edit your talent setup. Finally, the Gem Power tab tracks your current Gem Power, total gem count, and all unlocked abilities.
Each gem color has its own column and theme, which creates more opportunities for choice and build diversity. Cost increments grow at every stage, with each subsequent level requiring more than the last. The track consists of two ranks of five effects plus a final overcap node. Rank 1 is the first five effects, while Rank 2 contains the second five, which replace and significantly improve upon the previous ones. Since the initial set is weaker than higher rank counterparts, the system incentivizes going deeper into a particular color. Feel free to distribute your gems however you’d like, as shown in the image above. To help you plan your build, here is a breakdown of the unique effects provided by each gem color.
Ruby Gems
Ruby effects focus on boosting your primary stat, stamina, and your performance while in boss combat. You’ll want to keep yourself healthy to take advantage of the Might of the Minotaur effects.
| Icon | Name | Required Power | Description (Effect) |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Might Of The Minotaur | 120 | +3% primary stat while you are above 80% health. |
 | Champion’s Heart | 240 | +140 Stamina +15 Strength / Intellect / Agility |
 | Unyielding Vitality | 480 | You heal for 0.7% of your Maximum Health every 2 seconds while in combat. |
 | Titan’s Blood | 720 | +4% Stamina |
 | Essence Of The Conqueror | 960 | While in combat with a boss your Damage, Healing, and Absorbtion is increased by 5%. |
| Might Of The Minotaur – II | 1200 | +9% primary stat while you are above 80% health. (Replaces Might of the Minotaur) |
| Champion’s Heart – II | 1560 | +420 Stamina +45 Strength / Intellect / Agility (Replaces Champion’s Heart) |
| Unyielding Vitality – II | 1920 | You heal for 2.1% of your Maximum Health every 2 seconds while in combat. (Replaces Unyielding Vitality) |
| Titan’s Blood – II | 2280 | +12% Stamina (Replaces Titan’s Blood) |
| Essence Of The Conqueror – II | 2640 | While in combat with a boss your Damage, Healing, and Absorbtion is increased by 15%. (Replaces Essence of the Conqueror) |
Amethyst Gems
Amethyst supports your critical strike chance and damage, boosting this increase against enemies above 80% health.
| Icon | Name | Required Power | Description (Effect) |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Sealed Fate | 120 | Your Damage and Healing effects on characters with more than 50% health have +5% critical strike chance. |
 | Berserker’s Zeal | 240 | +100 Stamina +100 Critical Strike |
 | Reaper’s Reprieve | 480 | Each time an enemy that you dealt damage to dies, you gain Reaper’s Reprieve, healing you for 12% of your Maximum Health over 12 seconds. |
 | Killer Instinct | 720 | +3% Critical Strike chance |
 | Essence Of The Deathdealer | 960 | Your critical strikes do 3% more damage and healing. |
| Sealed Fate – II | 1200 | Your Damage and Healing effects on characters with more than 50% health have +15% critical strike chance. (Replaces Sealed Fate) |
| Berserker’s Zeal – II | 1560 | +300 Stamina +300 Critical Strike (Replaces Berserker’s Zeal) |
| Reaper’s Reprieve – II | 1920 | Each time an enemy that you dealt damage to dies, you gain Reaper’s Reprieve, healing you for 36% of your Maximum Health over 12 seconds. (Replaces Reaper’s Reprieve) |
| Killer Instinct – II | 2280 | +9% Critical Strike chance (Replaces Killer Instinct) |
| Essence Of The Deathdealer – II | 2640 | Your critical strikes do 9% more damage and healing. (Replaces Essence of the Deathdealer) |
Topaz Gems
This gem increases the amount of haste you gain at several different points in combat. Specifically, you gain haste benefits passively, during your Spirit of Heroism, and after damaging or healing targets below 30% health.
| Icon | Name | Required Power | Description (Effect) |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Adrenaline Rush | 120 | +3% Haste for 10 seconds each time you deal damage to or heal a character that has 30% or less health. |
 | Thief’s Alacrity | 240 | +100 Stamina +100 Haste |
 | Rogue’s Resurgence | 480 | When you are below 50% health you are instantly healed for 8% of your maximum health. This effect can only occur once every 20 seconds. |
 | Feline’s Grace | 720 | +3% Haste |
 | Essence Of The Virtuoso | 960 | You retain +3% Haste from ‘Spirit of Heroism’ while it is not active. |
| Adrenaline Rush – II | 1200 | +9% Haste for 10 seconds each time you deal damage to or heal a character that has 30% or less health. (Replaces Adrenaline Rush) |
| Thief’s Alacrity – II | 1560 | +300 Stamina +300 Haste (Replaces Thief’s Alacrity) |
| Rogue’s Resurgence – II | 1920 | When you are below 50% health you are instantly healed for 24% of your maximum health. This effect can only occur once every 20 seconds. (Replaces Rogue’s Resurgence) |
| Feline Grace – II | 2280 | +9% Haste (Replaces Feline Grace) |
| Essence Of The Virtuoso – II | 2640 | You retain +9% Haste from ‘Spirit of Heroism’ while it is not active. (Replaces Essence of the Virtuoso) |
Emerald Gems
Emerald focuses on increasing your damage and healing through expertise bonuses and reducing the cooldown of your hero’s abilities.
| Icon | Name | Required Power | Description (Effect) |
|---|---|---|---|
 | First Strike | 120 | +5% Expertise for 15 seconds when dealing damage to any enemy for the first time. |
 | Vanguard’s Resolve | 240 | +100 Stamina +100 Expertise |
 | Sentinel’s Bastion | 480 | Every 60 seconds you gain a shield that absorbs damage equal to 10% of your maximum health. The shield lasts for 60 seconds. |
 | Tactician’s Acumen | 720 | +3% Expertise |
 | Essence Of The Commander | 960 | Your ability Cooldowns are reduced by 4%. |
| First Strike – II | 1200 | +15% Expertise for 15 seconds when dealing damage to any enemy for the first time. (Replaces First Strike) |
| Vanguard’s Resolve – II | 1560 | +300 Stamina +300 Expertise (Replaces Vanguard’s Resolve) |
| Sentinel’s Bastion – II | 1920 | Every 60 seconds you gain a shield that absorbs damage equal to 30% of your maximum health. The shield lasts for 60 seconds. (Replaces Sentinel’s Bastion) |
| Tactician’s Acumen – II | 2280 | +9% Expertise (Replaces Tactician’s Acumen) |
| Essence Of The Commander – II | 2640 | +12% Ability Cooldown Reduction (Replaces Essence of the Commander) |
Sapphire Gems
Sapphire gem effects boost the effects of your Spirit Ability, how quickly you generate it, and adds an additional primary stat bonus to it.
| Icon | Name | Required Power | Description (Effect) |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Ancestral Surge | 120 | Your maximum Spirit Points is increased by 10. While Spirit of Heroism is active, your Strength / Agility / Intellect is increased by 8%. |
 | Mystic’s Intuition | 240 | +100 Stamina +100 Spirit |
 | Resonating Soul | 480 | For every 10% Health you are missing, all damage you take is reduced by 1%. |
 | Oracle’s Foresight | 720 | +3% Spirit |
 | Essence Of The Prophet | 960 | The cost of your Spirit Ability is reduced by 5%. The duration of your Spirit of Heroism is increased by 6 seconds. |
| Ancestral Surge – II | 1200 | Your maximum Spirit Points is increased by 30. While Spirit of Heroism is active, your Strength / Agility / Intellect is increased by 24%. (Replaces Ancestral Surge) |
| Mystic’s Intuition – II | 1560 | +300 Stamina +300 Spirit (Replaces Mystic’s Intuition) |
| Resonating Soul – II | 1920 | For every 10% Health you are missing, all damage you take is reduced by 3%. (Replaces Resonating Soul) |
| Oracle’s Foresight – II | 2280 | +9% Spirit (Replaces Oracle’s Foresight) |
| Essence Of The Prophet – II | 2640 | The cost of your Spirit Ability is reduced by 15%. The duration of your Spirit of Heroism is increased by 18 seconds. (Replaces Essence of the Prophet) |
Diamond Gems
Diamond is the most versatile of the colors: providing secondary stats, primary stats, stamina, and cooldown reduction for your relics.
| Icon | Name | Required Power | Description (Effect) |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Harmonious Soul | 120 | Each time an enemy you are in combat with is defeated, you gain +0.3% Critical Strike, Haste, Expertise, and Spirit for 5 seconds, stacking up to 10 times. When the duration of Harmonius Soul expires, you lose 1 stack. |
 | Stoic’s Teachings | 240 | +500 Armor +25 Strength / Intellect / Agility |
 | Tranquil Resolve | 480 | When you take Magic Damage you gain ‘Tranquil Resolve’, reducing all Magic Damage you take by 8% for 6 seconds. This effect cannot occur more than once every 20 seconds. |
 | Ancient’s Wisdom | 720 | +3% Strength / Intellect / Agility |
 | Essence Of The Artisan | 960 | Your Relic cooldowns are reduced by 8%. |
| Harmonious Soul – II | 1200 | Each time an enemy you are in combat with is defeated, you gain +0.9% Critical Strike, Haste, Expertise, and Spirit for 5 seconds, stacking up to 10 times. When the duration of Harmonius Soul expires, you lose 1 stack. (Replaces Harmonious Soul) |
| Stoic’s Teachings – II | 1560 | +1500 Armor +75 Strength / Intellect / Agility (Replaces Stoic’s Teachings) |
| Tranquil Resolve – II | 1920 | When you take Magic Damage you gain ‘Tranquil Resolve’, reducing all Magic Damage you take by 24% for 6 seconds. This effect cannot occur more than once every 20 seconds. (Replaces Tranquil Resolve) |
| Ancient’s Wisdom | 2280 | +9% Strength / Intellect / Agility (Replaces Anient’s Wisdom) |
| Essence Of The Artisan – II | 2640 | Your Relic cooldowns are reduced by 24%. (Replaces Essence of the Artisan) |
Fellowship Gems – Power Over-capping
The final node on each gem track provides a stacking bonus beyond the standard 2640 points. For every 2 points applied above a threshold of 2640, you will gain an additional 0.01% to your primary stat and stamina.
Additional Information
If you enjoyed this guide and want to learn more about Fellowship, check out our incredibly thorough Beginners Guide to read more!