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Gems, runes and sets

Socketing is the main lever for making a piece of gear better than the one that dropped. There are three socket types, two entirely separate kinds of gem, and four armour sets.

How socketing works

The three socket types
SocketPer itemGives
GemSeveralA flat stat bonus, such as +10 Strength or +25 Movespeed
RuneOneA potion effect, such as Speed or Absorption
EssenceOneA cosmetic particle trail. No combat effect

Drag the gem onto the gear. The game rolls against the gem's success rate for that socket's level. On success the bonus appears in the item's description; on failure the gem is destroyed. This is why fortifying a socket first matters A fortify stone raises the socket level, which raises the odds.

Never slot a gem you care about into an unfortified socket. The failure case is not "nothing happens", it is "the gem is gone".

Stat gems

Nine standard sigils, plus one that is deliberately bad.

Stat gems
GemTierGrants
Common Sigil of StrengthCommonStrength
Common Sigil of VitalityCommonVitality
Common Sigil of DexterityCommonDexterity
Common Sigil of IntelligenceCommonIntelligence
Common Sigil of WisdomCommonWisdom
Common Sigil of MovementCommonMovement speed
Uncommon Sigil of MovementUncommonMovement speed, for boots
Cursed Nerd SigilCursed−10 Intelligence. Yes, on purpose

Skill gems

A completely different category, and the reason the gear menu has dedicated slots. Stat gems go into gear. Skill gems go into your gear menu's active and passive slots and grant an actual ability.

Twenty-five exist, one for each player-castable skill worth having:

Skill gems by kind
KindCountGems
Common active10Angel Kiss, Bless, Bomb, Dart, Dash, Energy Bolt, Eruption, Gattling, Smite, Strike
Uncommon active8Blade Furry, Corruption, Fireball, Flash Flame, Frost Bomb, Holy Strike, Ice Shard, Snowfall
Passive7AOE Boost, Damage Boost, Health Amp, Mana Amp, Movespeed Boost, Rabbit, Skill Vampirism

Full detail on what each one does is on the skills page.

Runes

One rune per item, granting a potion effect at ranks I to III. Six are defined and three of them currently do nothing. They reference potion effect names that changed in a Minecraft update and have not been migrated yet.

Runes and their status
RuneEffectStatus
Rune of SpeedSpeed I–III, on bootsWorking
Rune of LuckLuck I–III, on armourWorking
Rune of AbsorptionAbsorption I–IIIWorking
Rune of JumpJump BoostBroken
Rune of ResistanceResistanceBroken
Rune of StrengthStrengthBroken
Do not spend a rare drop on the broken three. They will slot, they will occupy the socket, and they will have no effect. This page will be updated when the fix lands.

Essences

Purely cosmetic, one per item: Light Trail and Magic Helix. Neither affects combat in any way. They are there because a character who has done the work should look like it.

Armour sets

Four sets, each with a helmet, chestplate, leggings and boots. Bonuses unlock at two pieces and again at four.

The four sets
SetThemeNotes
Skeleton KingNecromancer, boss lootTwo pieces gives +20 maximum health; four gives Speed I
SpiderCave creaturesTwo- and four-piece bonuses
WebSpider-themedTwo- and four-piece bonuses
Wild CatForest, agilityPieces are named "of Wild Cat" and drop broken

You can mix. Two Skeleton King plus two Spider gives you both two-piece bonuses, at the cost of never reaching either four-piece. Whether that is worth it depends entirely on how good the four-piece is, which is why the two-piece bonuses are deliberately generic and the four-piece ones are not.

Next: the gear the sockets sit in, or the monsters that drop them.