Skill Gem Level Penalty (v3.0 Final)

The vendor pages on the PoE wiki don't have gem prices (yet) so I had to logged on.

None of the vendors are currently selling gems for Orb of Scouring but the vendors in act 4 are selling two of the most popular gems in the game- Multistrike and Spell Echo- for Orbs of Alchemy, which costs 2x Orbs of Scouring.

I'm currently working on a HC Scion build. The first half of her passives include Iron Reflexes and all of the best evasion nodes. The second half of her passives include Zealots Oath, Ghost Reaver, and Chaos Inoculation. Some points are allocated to elemental resistances but no points are allocated for offensive buffs. The aim is to combine good armour with a good energy shield.

To eliminate the issues of accuracy and damage reflection, I'm only using spells, mines, traps and minions to cause indirect damage and DOT. I'm also using Herald of Ice and Arctic Armour which reduces my mana to 50%. That's why Spell Echo is absolutely critical. I can't afford to lose it so, I can't equip anything that grants even +1 intelligence until she's level 80 or so.

I'd very much like to see this implemented but let's look at the facts: GGG still didn't do even such easy thing as "when you are equipping piece of armor with gem in it that have stat requirement higher than you have but at the same time this piece gives stats that will allow you to use that gem with it on, first fkn check if you'll have needed stats after equipping and allow your char to wear it". THIS is very simple, orders of magnitude simpler that your suggestion... and still isn't implemented.

I can take or leave this idea. I find absolutely nothing wrong with the way things currently are. I understand the problem the OP is presenting, but it is a problem during leveling. At these levels, the smart thing to do would just be to pick up the +30 nodes(generally the cheapest option) and spec out of them later, or use a stat stick like astramentis (great leveling amulet and solves all your stat problems).

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silumit wrote:

I'd very much like to see this implemented but let's look at the facts: GGG still didn't do even such easy thing as "when you are equipping piece of armor with gem in it that have stat requirement higher than you have but at the same time this piece gives stats that will allow you to use that gem with it on, first fkn check if you'll have needed stats after equipping and allow your char to wear it". THIS is very simple, orders of magnitude simpler that your suggestion... and still isn't implemented.

Well you simply remove the gem from the item, equip the item to get the mod, and then equip the gem.

I see what you mean though. The fact that items can be disabled while they're equipped means it's completely unnecessary to prohibit items from being equipped. Fixing that would make it less tedious to fit items by eliminating extra steps. My suggestion would fix that issue but fixing that issue alone wouldn't fix my issue.

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ghoulavenger wrote:

I can take or leave this idea. I find absolutely nothing wrong with the way things currently are. I understand the problem the OP is presenting, but it is a problem during leveling. At these levels, the smart thing to do would just be to pick up the +30 nodes(generally the cheapest option) and spec out of them later, or use a stat stick like astramentis (great leveling amulet and solves all your stat problems).

I do have a +30 Intelligence node, and a +20 notable, and a few +10 nodes to enable the use of wands and spells. I don't have Astramentis but even if I did I would still have to use Sidhebreath instead.

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TheNightFly wrote:

The easiest and least expensive way to avoid this hang up is to not use any items that grant attribute bonuses. Of course this greatly impacts the fun of PoE. I end up missing out on a wide range of unique items and I never get to use any of the seven different kinds of amulets that specifically give attribute bonuses. I can't imagine that this was what GGG intended when they created those items but this is what the hard attribute requirements of gems is forcing players to do.

The few implicit mod options for amulets if you aren't using +stats aren't that impressive, so you may as well use the one that gives the stat you need. The hybrid ones are especially useful. Also don't forget that if it's STR you need, heavy belts give a large implicit bonus as well as able to roll large explicit. I had one with 30 base, 40 rolled, and 10 to all stats --> 80 STR belt!

Between your tree and your gear, this should rarely be an issue...

Heavy Belt: 30 STR (easy)
Turquoise Amulet: 24 (easy)
Several +10 main attribute nodes in tree: 30-50 in early game.
Big, off-stat nodes: 30 of one, 30 of another
You start with minimum 10 in all stats

Just that, before rolling any affixes, you have ~70 all stats. If that isn't enough to run the gems you're using, you have issues in your tree, with your gear, or both.

Let's not also forget that it's as easy as opening your character sheet and mousing over the gem to see if you even should level it up--you're not meant to always level the gem just because it can. Gem choice and gem levels are equal parts of importance in relation to a complete build.

While I like your suggestion, and would support it, I don't think GGG is going to do anything about it. The game has plenty of workarounds, and if you expect your character to be 100% perfect (no mistakes) and efficient (no wasted currency), you have to plan it out much more carefully than you have.

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TheNightFly wrote:

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silumit wrote:

I'd very much like to see this implemented but let's look at the facts: GGG still didn't do even such easy thing as "when you are equipping piece of armor with gem in it that have stat requirement higher than you have but at the same time this piece gives stats that will allow you to use that gem with it on, first fkn check if you'll have needed stats after equipping and allow your char to wear it". THIS is very simple, orders of magnitude simpler that your suggestion... and still isn't implemented.

Well you simply remove the gem from the item, equip the item to get the mod, and then equip the gem.

I see what you mean though. The fact that items can be disabled while they're equipped means it's completely unnecessary to prohibit items from being equipped. Fixing that would make it less tedious to fit items by eliminating extra steps. My suggestion would fix that issue but fixing that issue alone wouldn't fix my issue.

I agree. It's just my suggestion is way way more simple, and even this one is still not implemented.

I would be very happy with this. Socket a 21/20 Spark at level 1 and run with it forever. You can already do this sort of progression just by having appropriately leveled gems to swap to, but what's the benefit in having it be so inconvenient?

This would have no impact at the start of a league, but would make leveling new characters much more pleasant in the same way twink gear does. I think anything that removes trivial inconveniences and time sinks from the game is a good change.

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Jennik wrote:

Socket a 21/20 Spark at level 1 and run with it forever.

A 21/20 Spark gem would still require a level 72 character. Since the first two levels of Spark have no attribute requirement, a level 72 Marauder, Duelist, or Ranger with only 14 Intelligence and no Intelligence bonuses from passives or equipment could start using a 21/20 Spark gem at an effective level 2 with a -19 level penalty. But 1-22 Lightning damage wouldn't be very effective against level 72 monsters.

I like this idea a LOT.