Are jewels worth it?

I'm at point where I could use 5 points to branch into 3 sockets, or dive into a axe cluster for 92% increased axe dmg. I'm using a 2h.

In order to get even, each jewel would need to give me at least 31% dmg (x3 = 93%).

The range on jewel mods can is:
A) 10-12% increased melee dmg
B) 14-16% increased physical dmg
C) 12-14% increased physical dmg with 2h
D) 14-16% increased physical dmg with axes

For all I know, a jewel can have only 3 of these, but not C+D,
so we drop the weaker one (C) and pretend we have perfect rolls on our jewel:

12% increased melee dmg
16% increased physical dmg
16% increased physical dmg with axes (Let's add one more to make it a GG jewel)
10% all resistances

Three of these jewels give us 132% increased dmg compared to 5 axe nodes 92%, that's 40% more.
And keep in mind, this jewel is perfect, and would cost something like 3-5 ex,
without the all res maybe 2-3 ex.

So you would have to pay at least 6 ex to get a total of 40% more dmg than what you would get FOR FREE in the passive tree... and again, this jewel is PERFECT, if you get low rolls your gain is only 22%.

This is madness. I thought jewels were supposed to be a interesting alternative to builds, but it seems they are nothing more than a end game build elite top 10 in the world ultimate tweaking tool, to squeeze the very last drops of % dmg out of the tree?

To the average player 6 ex for 20% more dmg is absolutely out of the question.
You can get a 200-300% dmg increase by investing those 6 ex into a lot of gear.
20% for 6 ex? Are you fucking kidding me??

Here's a little suggestion for starters:
Shorten the path to socket nodes! Remove the aux nodes on both sides. Make the socket nodes cost TWO POINTS, but without having to waste 1 point on the aux node to step into it.

That would make them more attractive.
Also, buff jewel mods by 2-3%, because right now, they get barely even with regular nodes and are thus almost moot.


TL;DR

Jewels are not worth it, unless you get the perfect rare rolls, which then are bought by the top of the elite players, because you can't even do the math to benefit from them.

(I left unique jewels out on purpose, they work as intended).

the main purpose of jewels is to get the mods you cant get anywhere else (or the mods that are not in your side of tree)

The answer to your question is Yes.

Now, not all sockets are worth it. some are two nodes away rather than one and that's less efficient in general. I've found them great to help in balancing a shortfall in available nodes or gear while leveling, or boosting a stat that is particularly helpful to my build and that I've already attained all the available nodes for.

I'm particularly thinking about my Ice Crash staff wielder who has extra block chance, attack speed, life leech, crit and some handy resists. Without these my build would be less effective and while I could spend those points elsewhere, in my case there's really nothing nearby that would be anywhere as useful.

In your example this may not be the case and you are better using the points for other nodes, but with the variety of builds available, your example is not necessarily the only point of view to be considered.

"

Jewels are not worth it, unless you get the perfect rare rolls, which then are bought by the top of the elite players, because you can't even do the math to benefit from them.

You are worng because you can't even do the math.

1 mod on jewel got power of around 1 node
If you cant get normaly mod that jewel give: 1 mod on jewel is worth more than 1 node

example:
If you make build, and getting another life node would cost you 5 points, then 5% life on jewel is worth much more than 1 point.

Are jewels worth it?
Depend on your build.

jewels are for everything BUT damage

ability to easily fix that missing 6 dexterity for a marauder, gain mana leech without the need to hunt for an item with correct affix and have +6% life is what jewels are for most of the time. bit of damage there and there is just a sweet bonus. btw if anything - jewels are GREAT for attack speed that is far rarer than %damage

it is about the opportunity cost - fixing gearing issues gets extremely annoying the more min-maxed it is. if you lack 18% fire resist you can a) juggle all your items b) pick resists from the tree c) run purity d) slot appropriate jewel

there is enough damage on the tree anyway, but that above mentioned fluff is the stuff that is in short supply

due to how jewels roll, the ability to easily roll desired 2-roll/semi-easily roll desired 3-roll it is quite easy to find EXACTLY the right match. something far more difficult when it comes to 'big' items with 6 rolls

it sure helps rich more than poor but.. the poor are rich enough to utilize this mechanic to good mecasure

My supernova build used to use no jewels (unless playing CI version) - there are several builds that dont use jewels. Just depends sometimes getting to notables is more important to make build work and wasting 2-3 pts chasing a jewel is not worth it. I'd say 95% benefit though.

some builds wont even work w/o jewels. Like Matrix's or Doeboys dischargers where mana or ES on hit is mandatory to even function.