Skill Gem Level Penalty (v3.0 Final)

Problem:
Attribute bonuses are handy for unlocking the use of equipment that would otherwise be useless, but socket color bias increases the need to equip items with attribute bonuses at higher levels. I discus this issue here: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1421705

Requirements on equipment are static so your character can eventually grow out of the need for attribute bonuses as they progress. But because gems progress separately from your character, usually faster, the requirements increase and this can cause you to over-level your skill gems while you have items with attribute bonuses equipped. When you need to replace an item granting an attribute bonus with something better, you will lose the use of your skills.

Suggestion:
When a character's attributes fall short of the requirements of a gem's current level, penalize the gem's level down to what the character's attributes qualify them for. The penalty is not a permanent downgrade so no levels or experience is lost and it doesn't reduce the level requirements. The penalty can be reduced by "+x to level of gems" mods and the Empower support but gems can't gain experience or be upgraded as long as they have a level penalty. If the character's attributes fall below the requirements for a gem's first level, then it's disabled.

Example:
I have a level 10 Fireball spell gem that requires a level 32 character with 75 Intelligence. My character is level 34 and has 75 Intelligence but she has a pair of gloves that give her +10 Intelligence. I find a better pair of gloves that I want to use instead but when I remove my old gloves her Intelligence drops from 75 to 65. 65 intelligence only qualifies her for Fireball level 8 so when the gem is equipped on this character it gets a -2 level penalty.

This is a great idea. I assume that while downgraded they wouldn't be able to gain exp, though?

That's right.

Nice idea! Definitely hate it when sometimes switching a gear will make the whole body of gears void. But would it be implemented? Very unlikely..

I hope so. It's a small change that makes a big difference.

It's a very well thought QoL change, I support that. :)

Great idea and QoL improvement! GGG make it happen please!

You can use an orb of scouring to decrease the gem level by 1 (vendor) or sacrifice a passive node in the tree to get +30 to an attribute to gap the bridge until you find another item with +attribute. Those are very cheap and viable solutions for whenever you make a mistake with your attributes.

I find the suggested idea not too great to be honest because then you could just always use your lvl20 gems (if you have) and let them auto-scale. And if the penalty is worse than the missing-attributes then nobody would ever use it anyway because... Penalty...

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silverdash wrote:

You can use an orb of scouring to decrease the gem level by 1 (vendor) or sacrifice a passive node in the tree to get +30 to an attribute to gap the bridge until you find another item with +attribute. Those are very cheap and viable solutions for whenever you make a mistake with your attributes.

Orbs of Scouring and Regret aren't cheap until you reach a very high level or dress up in items that give you bonuses to rarity. These are harsh work-arounds that force you to make sacrifices that can ruin your build.

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silverdash wrote:

I find the suggested idea not too great to be honest because then you could just always use your lvl20 gems (if you have) and let them auto-scale.

The level requirement still applies so that gems can't be used by lower level characters.

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silverdash wrote:

And if the penalty is worse than the missing-attributes then nobody would ever use it anyway because... Penalty...

There will always be tradeoffs.

Sounds great.