Gems in Path of Exile 2: skill, support and Spirit explained

The three kinds of gem

Skill Gems: give you active skills, the main attacks and spells you use.

Support Gems: modify an active skill, for example by adding an effect or a bonus to it. Each active skill can link up to 5 support gems.

Spirit Gems: give permanent minions, auras and class-specific permanent buffs. They stay active by spending your Spirit reservation, and some ask for Strength, Dexterity or Intelligence.

There are also Meta Gems, which can go in either a skill or a support slot, and Lineage Gems, stronger supports that show up in the endgame.

Uncut gems

Monsters and bosses drop uncut gems (Uncut Gems) or give them as quest rewards. Some map mechanics and Waystone modifiers increase how many drop.

To get a skill you engrave an uncut gem in the gemcutting window. Engraving consumes the gem, so it is worth keeping a few spares in your stash.

Gem levels

Each uncut gem drops with a level. To engrave a level 7 skill you need a gem of level 7 or higher, and your character must meet the skill's level requirement.

Active skills need gem levels 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 or 13. A lower-level gem cannot upgrade a skill you already engraved, and this also applies to supports and Spirit gems.

Slots

You start with a base number of skill slots that grows as you level. Extra slots can come from items (such as Unset Rings), certain uniques and ascendancies, for example the Gemling Legionnaire.

Some weapons (wands, sceptres, staves, spears, shields) come with an attached skill. That skill counts toward yours and accepts support gems, but it disappears when you take the weapon off.

Tips to get started

Do not spend all your gems at once: keep a few spare so you can swap skills without losing progress.

Check the attribute requirements on the gem before engraving it.

Support gems were rebalanced in version 0.4.0 and some no longer interact with certain basic skills: always read the gem's description.