Is empower REALLY + to gem levels?

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Thalandor wrote:

If that's what it does, then most attack skills get the short end of the stick again, since most of them just get like 4% increased physical damage per level... oh well.

Turns out it won't be an end-all gem even for all spells.

When you level up your gem 2 levels, from 18 to 20* these skills gain this much more** damage:

Elemental hit: 19,7%
Spark - 21%%
Fireball - 19,8%
FP - 16,7%
Incinerate - 18,8%
Arc - 21,2%

There, not stellar but certainly not bad for only 25% more cost. However, empower will be a pain to level and you usually have more appealing options for most spells. For those with less options it will be great, for example Arc, Shock/Frost Nova, Firestorm...

* level 20 to 22 actually gets a tiny bit less as gain per level steadily drops off in later levels, for example fireball gets 34% more for levels 12-14 and 91% more for levelling it 6-8.
Fortunately we won't be able to use the gem at low or mid levels, that would trivialize them just like Searing Touch does.
** it's really more damage, base gets modified.

Purity is 24.8% mana reserved with Alphas, and 18.9% life reserved with Prism, with mana reservation nodes and an empowered Reduced Mana. Or 31.7% mana reserved / 25.8% life reserved without the mana reservation nodes. That provides a +6% max res with IF. Assume Alphas, add EA, Saffell's, and Divination Distillate to the mix, and you're looking at 94% max all res. Also assume an easy 50-75% spellblock with Saffell's and spells don't do diddly shit to you.

This is the only case where my power creep senses tingle, and I don't like the idea of empower. Everywhere else it looks fun as hell, especially as one of only a few viable supports for Arc. Level 25 Arc with level 23 supports? The spell might actually work now!

Edit: It's just too bad Empower can't empower Empower, that'd be funny. Infinitely recursive +1 skill levels? luls.

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tikitaki wrote:

Yes, it really is.

Taken from another thread:

WHAT IN THE SEVEN HELLS?

Don't tell me +1 to all gems works with Empower. That's severely broken, I had full confidence they won't make such a stupid oversight. I hate exceptions but even that is better than this.

+1 gems works with empower, that's why Empower has a max level of 3, which gives +2 to supported gems

So with +1 to all gems, and maxed empower, you would get +3 to all gems. With a +2 to cold on an item for instance, you would end up with +5 to level of cold gems and +3 to level of all gems

Not bad.

basically, you can't use +1 all gems to boost the Empower bonus beyond +2. it's capped.

It says +1 to ACTIVE skill gems, so it wont boost support gems

its not really that powerful, but should be good with some spells and with traps

I wonder if a a level 3 empower in a +level gem item becomes level 4 and gives +3 levels.

Because Righteous fire users with a +2/+1 offhand really needed 3 more levels on righteous fire.......really they did!

That could also be a level 26 arctic armor.......how much mitigation is that I wonder.


The fact that traps were nerfed in damage by nearly the amount empower would give them truly sickens me.

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Gravethought wrote:

I wonder if a a level 3 empower in a +level gem item becomes level 4 and gives +3 levels.

It has a max level of 3, so no.

And normal gems say "Max" level at 20, yet can be pushed higher, we won't know until someone has it.

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Gravethought wrote:

And normal gems say "Max" level at 20, yet can be pushed higher, we won't know until someone has it.

That's because their max level is not level 20. lol.

/facepalm

The only thing max has ever meant in this game is the most a gem could be leveled through experience.

No one had ever seen a level 25 of a gem because before empower it would have been impossible.