Introduce Normal Gems (in addition to Skill gems)

Currently with socketed items you have only 1 directions to head in; Link it as much as possible so that you can get the most buffed skill possible to use, and make sure you have the mana to use it.

That is all well and good but I think if normal gems (think gems/runes (not runewords) from Diablo 2) were introduced to give buffs to the item or character depending on which item-type it was put in (+ local dmg in weapon, +life in armour for example) it would make things a lot deeper and interesting.

So instead of just working for that 6 link and mana costs. I could be like, nah that aint for me. I'm instead just going to get as many holes as possible in my gear and fill it all up with passive buffs then just use a default skill with no supports. That way I don't have to worry about mana or linking stuff. Sure I might not be as strong as someone with all linked and supported skills, but I come pretty damn close. And maybe I can mix things up, have 1 supported skill as my main then all the other slots with 'normal' gems in to give me passive/global buffs.

Could even make it interesting like making certain interactions between linked normal ems and skill gems, or some kind of 'set' bonus when you link certain normal gems with each other. Then you could have magic/rare/unique 'normal' gems and blah blah blah, the possibilities are huge.

Hope this makes sense etc lol

Thanks for reading.

It does make sense, but it wouldn't work like you intend.

What it would actually do is make everyone put lots of 'normal' gems in their weapon, and then use a 5L/6L skill in their chest. So you woul;nd't avoid any of the stuff you're talking about. It would be another thing competing for gem slots, though, which could be good as an alternative to aura-stacking.

I think this is a great idea, and I've submitted an idea similar to this before.

Three points:

1. Kaom's Heart. If you really think about it, this mechanic has already been explored; there is an item, and a very popular one at that, which is flavored entirely around the sacrifice of sockets for passive stats. While I don't feel that you should ever be able to match Kaom's by taking a +life six-link and tossing a ton of Life "normal gems" in it, players should be able to at least come somewhat close with their own items, also allowing a full degree of customization.

2. Oil and water. I think it's important to add a rule that an active skill gem and a "normal gem" cannot be linked; if you already have an active gem, you can't put a normal gem in linked sockets, and vice versa. This would lead to an interesting situation where a 5L 6S item is not quite strictly inferior to a 6L; one supports a normal gem, the other doesn't. This would help shrink the gap between the value of 5L and 6L.

3. Leveling is optional. There are many ways to design "normal gems," including not making them gems at all. Perhaps they should be designed as static, never gaining XP or levels, and instead, like flasks, be capable of prefixes and suffixes but incapable of being rare. Naturally you'd still need to color-code them for appropriate socket color (perhaps making some white so they can go anywhere), but that's really as far as the comparison needs to go.

nah I don't like it

the game is enough of spamming one Ability all the time.

Giving players the incentive to use even less Abilitys won't make tha game better.
Players would be asking themselfs "what Skill can I drop to get more passive stats?"

They wouldn't run around with 2 or maybe 3 Curses for different situations, they wouln't use a decoy or Skeleton-Totem, they wouldn't use Traps as Support-Skills, players would simply stack one ability, some Auras and tons of passive Stuff, and it would be better than using different Skills.

This is an awful idea. Builds are already centered around a single skill linked with 5 support gems + auras. Adding passive skill gems adds nothing to the game and actually discourages having a mix of skills.


Existing CC and utility skill gems need to be buffed or changed and curses need to be more potent or have some sort of stacking mechanism outside of multi cursing.

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Buchsbaum wrote:

Players would be asking themselfs "what Skill can I drop to get more passive stats?"

As opposed to asking "what skill can I drop to stack another aura?"

The game already has this "problem."

Well obviously it would need to be balanced and designed in such a way that they don't beat linked skills. But it just provides more opportunity for character diversity.

Maybe make it so they cant link with skill gems, maybe make them so weak that you only really use them as a placeholder until you can link the slots or give them really unique but minuscule benefits so that they would only work as part of a strategy instead of just + life.

I don't know 100% how it would work, but this just seems like a big opportunity that should be taken advantage of in some way, shape or form.

I mean you could have a 'normal' gem that gives bonuses based off how many links are on your character, but cant be linked. Or one that requires you to have that type of gem in 3 items you are wearing to receive a bonus. Or one that buffs unsupported skills only. etc etc. Surely we could come up with some good ideas to make further use of sockets other thank just link skills.

I can see the appeal. POE defies convention on how gems and sockets work, so it is natural to suggest a change to bring things back in line with player expectations.

I'm having a difficult time seeing how this would be different from just giving players something that is equivalent to a few extra points on the passive tree. And if that's all this offers, well just level up a couple times. You can already get a few extra points on the passive tree.

While Diablo-style gem socketing may be the most natural analogue to this suggestion, a more apt one may be Diablo 2-style charms. Charms consume space that could be used for something else, and give a passive bonus in return. Just like passive gems. Charms were a great idea in theory but in practice there were problems. I haven't seen a game use charms since Diablo 2, so it looks like a lesson was learned.

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ScrotieMcB wrote:

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Buchsbaum wrote:

Players would be asking themselfs "what Skill can I drop to get more passive stats?"

As opposed to asking "what skill can I drop to stack another aura?"

The game already has this "problem."

Just because the game has a small problem (limited number of auras that are valuable, limited mana to use them), dosen't mean we should make it 100x worse.

While I like the idea in principle, it is too difficult to implement, has too many issue with how it interacts with existing mechanics, and in general I feel would be detrimental to the game

I think it would be cool to see a unique which had something like "Support gems socketed in this item count as being linked to your basic attack". That way you could get what the OP was after (trading away dps to not have mana management issues) without needing to create a whole bunch of extra stuff.

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Although, I guess people who want that can just use elemental hit and keep it at level 1 anyway...