Socket levels

Do the number of sockets increase by the number of levels you gain?

For example level 1 chars can have 2 sockets per item, at what level do 4, 5, and 6 socket items become available?

The itemlevel determines the max number of sockets.
I believe 45 is the cutoff for 6 sockets.

to get the itemlevel of an item, grab it with your mouse and type /itemlevel in the chat window.

there are no official numbers from the devs which itemlevel can have how many max sockets.

I have never heard anyone give an item level that determines how many sockets you can get below the max of 6 (which is 48 the last I heard). I know that you can get 3 linked sockets on an item as early as Act 2 of normal. At least iirc. I am not sure how your level, or the level of the area you are in, affect the possibility of getting anything less than 6 sockets. It was always my belief that it was possible to get 5 sockets at any item level (therefore any character level). Here is when I usually start seeing these socket numbers:

4: I usually start seeing these around Cruel difficulty.

5: I start seeing these around Ruthless Act 2 but I think you start seeing them a bit earlier.

6: I usually start seeing these in Merciless. Found one yesterday when I was in the Ledge instance.

I hope this answers your question, at least a little. :)

Had someone once give cut off numbers for item level. wonder where they got them from cause their 6 sock number was lower than mechanics listing. But it has nothing to do with character level.

From the mechanics thread:

"

Item level needed for number of sockets (research ongoing)
1 socket : 1
2 sockets: 1
3 sockets: 15
4 sockets: 28
5 sockets: 35
6 sockets: 50 (lowest seen so far)

To avoid confusion, this is not the item's level, rather it is the itemlevel, which you can find by picking the item up and typing "/itemlevel" (without quotes) into chat.

An item's itemlevel is determined by the area level in which it drops (+1 itemlevel for blues dropping the item, +2 for yellows dropping the item). For example, in Merciless, Fellshrine Ruins (a popular farming spot), the area level is 54, if a Yellow mob is killed, he will drop itemlevels of 56 which also allows level 56 items, such as Thicket Bows to drop. Blues in this area will drop itemlevel 55 and white mobs/chests/etc will drop itemlevel 54.

if i were a dev i would't answer this question as it would dramatically increase jewelers orb inflation.
people would applying them less if they exactly know which itemlevel can have how many sockets.

"

cronus wrote:

if i were a dev i would't answer this question as it would dramatically increase jewelers orb inflation.
people would applying them less if they exactly know which itemlevel can have how many sockets.

It's been answered already.

can any item have 6 slots? cant imagine that...

No, only chest items and two-handed weapons.