With that in mind, it’s helpful to go over the system as a whole. Here’s everything players need to know about how the gem system works, and when players should be buying, selling, or fusing their gems in Lost Ark.
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Gem Overview
Most aspects of the gem system may seem obvious at a glance, but some can be easy to miss or forget aspect or people who are playing a wide variety of games at a time, or just came back to Lost Ark after its last big update. All gems in Lost Ark have the following properties:
Start at Level 1 and max out at Level 10. Are Class-Specific. Either increase the damage of a Skill (Triangle-shaped Gem) or reduce the Cooldown of a Skill (Circular Gem). Make a much larger impact on Combat than one might expect. Don’t stack with other Gems of the same Skill and Type. Follow the same Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 system as all other Gear. Are 50% less effective when using Gems of a lower Gear Tier than the player’s currently equipped Gear. Can be traded between characters using the Storage system, or even sent in the Mail.
Where To Get Gems
There are a wide variety of ways that players can obtain gems in Lost Ark, such as:
Chaos Dungeons: From the two-daily Chaos Dungeons that use Aura of Resonance. Cube Dungeons: From the Clear Reward. Boss Rush: Players will receive a handful of Chests that each hold a number of Gems, depending on their performance. Field Bosses: Given as part of their once-a-day rewards on the days they spawn. Auction House: Here, players can buy Gems with their hard-earned Gold. Events and Daily Login: Rare, but Gems can be given out as part of an Event Shop or as a Daily Login Reward.
Fusion System
There are three aspects of fusion system in Lost Ark: Fusing Gems, Rerolling Gems, and Equipping Gems.
Fusing Gems
Fusing three Gems of the same level into a single Gem of the next level. Auto Fusion will automatically Fuse all possible Gems in a player’s inventory. If a player clicks on Auto Fusion of any Level, and it doesn’t allow them to continue, this means that they don’t have enough Gems to Fuse up that high at the moment.
The Fusion Result is random in terms of its type (Damage Increase or Cooldown Reduction) and has a 100% success rate. Players can even use Gems of another Class if they happen to have some, which will always result in a Gem relevant to their Class. Note that Gems can’t be Fused up to the next “Tier.” For example, it’s impossible to turn Tier 2 blue Gems into Tier 3 orange Gems.
Rerolling Gems
Rerolling costs Silver, and is based on Gem Level and Tier of Gem. For example, a Level 1 Tier 1 Gem costs almost no Silver to reroll compared to a Level 10 Tier 3 Gem. Rerolling a Gem of a different Class will always result in a Gem relevant to the player’s current Class.
Gem Rerolling is by far the easiest way for newer Lost Ark players to throw away a lot of their saved-up Silver.
Equipping Gems
There are 11 total Gem Slots into which players can slot Gems into. Players cannot equip two Gems of the same Skill and type, regardless of Gem Level. The Gem Equip Menu sidebar allows players to sort their Gem Benefits by Skill.
By default, players have two Gem Presets, and each additional one costs Blue Crystals (which players can get for Gold or as a Microtransaction) to unlock. Gems that are currently part of a Gem Preset cannot be Fused; think of it as something similar to “Locking” them.
When To Buy Gems
The right time to buy gems with Gold (as opposed to upgrading them) is a bit dependent on the current value of Gold in the game. However, it’s almost always worth it to buy Gems at around level 5 or so. At that point, this is more efficient than enrolling them using Silver, and then slowly work on upgrading them all through Fusion from there.
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Of course, players can also just buy the Level 10 Versions of their Gems they get to Tier 3, but that’s quite a Gold investment and isn’t really necessary for the content that most players will be facing pre-1380 to 1400+.
When To Sell Gems
Compared to buying, selling Gems is an almost equally common activity. There are players who swear by the “Life Hack” of always selling Level 5+ Gems that are irrelevant to their currently needed Skills, but this slows down the progression from having eleven Level 5 Gems to eleven Level 10 Gems.
Rather, here are the most common scenarios in which people tend to Sell their Gems:
After moving from Tier 1 to Tier 2 or Tier 2 to Tier 3, and selling all the Gems of the previous Tier. When the price for specific Class Gems the player has are selling for an absurd amount on the Auction Market. When the player’s Gem Fusion progression has slowed down, and they have a couple of Level 5+ Gems that apply to unused Skills. When a character that’s meant primarily for grinding Una’s Tasks or Daily Content obtains a fair number of Gems.
When To Fuse Or Not Fuse Gems
Gem Fusion is (usually) something that every Lost Ark player is passively keeping track of at all times. There are not many scenarios in which a player will leave a bunch of Gems in their storage of the same level without Fusing them. Because Fusing is usually the go-to method, here are some examples in which some Lost Ark Veterans would recommend not Fusing, and instead would recommend selling or holding onto the relevant Gems.
Don’t bother Fusing Tier 2 Gems past Level 5. They’ll become irrelevant at Tier 3 but sell for a decent price at Level 5. Don’t Fuse Gems that have Damage/Cooldown Bonuses for Skills currently in use. Don’t ever Fuse three Damage-type or Cooldown-type Gems hoping this will make the result of the same type, Gem Fusion results are entirely random. Never Fuse equipped Gems of a high level unless there’s a relevant Gem of a Similar Level already ready to replace it.
Lost Ark is available now on PC.
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