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Gems are your main weapons in GemCraft to fight the monsters and other enemies. This sets the series apart from other tower defense games where the towers themselves do the attacking, and the title of the series refers to the mechanic of creating and combining gems. Gems can be placed in towers to release balls of magical energy to attack the targets, used as bombs, or slotted into other structures for various effects. The color of the balls varies based on the color of the gem.

Colors[]

A gem can have one or more color components. A gem with one color component is called a pure gem, one with two color components is known as a dual gem. A gem with all color components at the same time is called a prismatic gem.

The color components of a gem determine its power and special abilities. A pure gem has a bonus to its special, while a dual gem has a bonus to to its damage and slightly reduced specials. Gems with 3 color components have further decreased specials and may have no bonuses at all, while gems with 4 or more color components never have any inherent bonuses except for Prismatic Gems in Gemcraft Chapter Zero. They also have increasingly weak specials, and in earlier installments may not even exhibit all of their specials at all.

In GemCraft and GemCraft Chapter Zero, gems also have a "hue" value depending on their color. The role of this is not explained in the game.

The specials corresponding to the colors changed between the games:

Game Red Orange Yellow Lime Green Cyan Blue Purple Black White
GemCraft & GemCraft Chapter Zero Splash Mana leeching Cricital hit Chain hit Poison Shock Slow Armor tearing --- ---
GemCraft Labyrinth Bloodbound Mana leeching Cricital hit Chain hit Poison Shock Slow Armor tearing --- ---
GemCraft: Chasing Shadows Chain hit Mana leeching Cricital hit --- Poison Suppression Slow Armor tearing Bloodbound Poolbound
GemCraft: Frostborn Wrath Bleeding Mana leeching Cricital hit --- Poison --- Slow Armor tearing --- ---

Creating and combining gems[]

A pure gem can be created from mana.

In GemCraft and GemCraft Chapter Zero, it is only possible to choose the grade of the gem, the color is random. The colors available vary from level to level.

In GemCraft Labyrinth, it is possible to choose the color as well as the grade. However, only certain colors are available from the start depending on the level. The other colors can be unlocked, but this costs a lot of mana.

In GemCraft: Chasing Shadows, it is possible to choose the color as well as the grade. Only certain colors are available depending on the level. For non-vision fields, other gem types may be unlocked by obtaining the corresponding skill tome from a tome chamber.

Two gems can be combined using mana, regardless of their color. A gem can have any combination of color components.

Starting with GemCraft Labyrinth, it is possible to duplicate gems (by pressing D over a gem), which creates a gem with the exact same color combination. This game also introduces the upgrade feature (by pressing U over a gem) which is equivalent to duplicating the gem and then combining the two copies together.

Combining mechanics[]

The stats of a combined gem are determined by a combination of the gems used to make it using an algorithm that differs between games. For more information, see the Gem Optimization page.

Grades[]

In GemCraft and GemCraft Chapter Zero there are six shapes corresponding to the gem grades:

Grade
1
Grade1Gem
A curved triangle, also used as the icon for the games.
2
Grade3Gem
A square.
3
Grade6Gem
A diamond.
4
Grade8Gem
A regular pentagon.
5
Grade10Gem
A regular hexagon.
6 or higher
Grade12Gem
A circle.

Starting from GemCraft Labyrinth there are 12 different gem shapes:

Grade
1
Grade1
A curved triangle, also used as the icon for the games.
2
Grade2
A triangle with curved sides, concave at the bottom.
3
Grade3
A square.
4
Grade4
A square with curved sides, concave at the top.
5
Grade5
A square with curved sides, all concave.
6
Grade6
A diamond.
7
Grade7
A kite.
8
Grade8
A regular pentagon.
9
Grade9
A five-pointed star.
10
Grade10
A regular hexagon.
11
Grade11
A crescent.
12 or higher
Grade12
A circle.

Specials[]

Splash[]

In GemCraft red gems have the splash special. This special allows a gem to hit multiple targets inside a given splash radius, up to 55. In GemCraft Chapter Zero a splash gem placed in a trap instead hits up to a certain number of monsters at the same time, the number of monsers being 1 plus the splash radius divided by 15.

Splash gems are no longer present from GemCraft: Labyrinth onwards.

Mana Leech[]

Main article: Mana Leech

Orange gems have the mana leech special. This special adds a certain amount of mana on every hit. In GemCraft the mana leech special has a cap of 12. In GemCraft Chapter Zero a mana leeching gem placed in a trap has the exact same special (although it is still affected by the trap specials skill).

In GemCraft: Labyrinth the cap on the mana gain per hit is removed, and the mana leech of the trap special gets the standardized +80% plus the bonus from the skill.

Critical Hit[]

Main article: Critical Hit

Yellow gems have the critical hit special. This special makes shots randomly do increased damage. In GemCraft the critical hit special has a fixed multiplier of 3 (therefore it's called "triple damage") and the chance to do a critical hit has a cap of 50%. In GemCraft Chapter Zero a critical hit gem placed in a trap instead gets a bonus to its range and firing speed.

In GemCraft: Labyrinth the critical hit special is changed to have a variable multiplier. There is also no upper bound on the chance doing a critical hit: if the chance would go above 100%, it will wrap around and cause the gem to always do get an additional multiplier to its damage plus have a chance to get yet another one. Additionally the trap special is now the same as the tower one and the critical hit chance of the trap special gets the standardized +80% plus the bonus from the skill.

In GemCraft Chapter 2: Chasing Shadows the critical hit special is split into a chance and a multiplier stat. The chance has a cap of 80% but there is no cap on the multiplier.

Chain Hit[]

In GemCraft lime gems have the chain hit special. This special gives shots a chance to bounce to another target. The bounce chance is re-checked on every hit, meaning a shot can bounce to more than one enemy. The chance has a cap of 40%. In GemCraft Chapter Zero a chain hit gem placed in a trap instead has a chance for a second hit, with the chance being triple of its normal chain hit chance but capped at 70%.

In GemCraft: Labyrinth the chain hit special is changed such that instead of bouncing, all targets are hit at the same time. There is also no upper bound on the chance of hitting additional targets: if the chance would go above 100%, it will wrap around and cause the gem to always hit an additional target plus have a chance to hit yet another one. The trap special is now the same as the tower one and the chain hit chance of the trap special gets the standardized +80% plus the bonus from the skill.

In GemCraft Chapter 2: Chasing Shadows the chain hit special is moved to the red gem. It works similarly to Labyrinth but the info panel shows a single "chain hit length" stat. The chain hit length also increases more slowly after it reaches 7 (an exponent of 0.7 is applied to the part above 0.7).

Chain hit gems are no longer present in GemCraft: Frostborn Wrath. However the pylon has an attack that can bounce between targets like the original chain hit special.

Poison[]

Main article: Poison

Green gems have the poison special. This special poisons monsters, causing them to take additional damage over time that ignores armor. In GemCraft the poison damage is dealt over 5 seconds. A poison shot hitting an already poisoned monster resets the poison timer and spreads the remaining poison damage over the new timer together with the poison damage from the shot. In GemCraft Chapter Zero a poison gem placed in a trap has 4 times the normal poison damage.

In GemCraft: Labyrinth the power of the trap special gets the standardized +80% plus the bonus from the skill.

In GemCraft Chapter 2: Chasing Shadows poison damage is dealt over 9 seconds.

Shock[]

In GemCraft cyan gems have the shock special. This special has a chance to shock the target for 1 second. The chance has a cap of 14%. In GemCraft Chapter Zero a shocking gem placed in a trap has the same chance to shock, but the shock lasts for 3 seconds instead of 1.

In GemCraft: Labyrinth the cap on the shock chance is removed and it can go well above 100%. However every time a monster becomes shocked its resistance to shocking increases randomly by 5..12%. An already shocked monster ignores any shocking shots until the shock wears off. The shock always lasts for 3 seconds and the shock chance of the trap special gets the standardized +80% plus the bonus from the skill.

Shocking gems are no longer present from GemCraft Chapter 2: Chasing Shadows onwards.

Slow[]

Main article: Slowing

Blue gems have the slow special. This special causes the target to slow down by a certain percentage for a certain amount of time. Both the speed reduction and the time increase with the special's power. In GemCraft the reduction has a cap of 55%. A monster can't be slowed below 0.3. A slowing shot hitting an already slowed monster resets the slow timer, and lower its speed if it has a greater effect than the pre-existing slowing effect. In GemCraft Chapter Zero a slowing gem placed in a trap has the same special, but with double the shocking chance and time.

In GemCraft: Labyrinth the slow always lasts for 4 seconds and there is no limit on the slow percentage. The slowed monster's speed is calculated by dividing its speed by 1 plus the slow ratio (e.g. "50% slower" means it will be 1/1.5 of its normal speed, or 66.67%). A slowed monster ignores any further slowing shots until the slow wears off unless the shot will make it even slower than its current speed. The slow percentage of the trap special gets the standardized +80% plus the bonus from the skill.

In GemCraft Chapter 2: Chasing Shadows the slow duration is 2 seconds by default. It can't be increased by combining the gem, but it is affected by the True Colors and Slow skills (in fact the slow ratio is not affected by skills).

Armor Tearing[]

Main article: Armor Tearing

Purple gems have the armor tearing special. In GemCraft this special has a chance to decrease the armor level of a monster by 1. The chance has a cap of 70%. In GemCraft Chapter Zero an armor tearing gem placed in a trap has the same chance to reduce the target's armor but the reduction is 3 points instead of 1.

In GemCraft: Labyrinth armor tearing is no longer a percentage chance, instead it is a flat value that is always reduced from the target's armor, and this value has no cap. The armor reduction of the trap special gets the standardized +80% plus the bonus from the skill.

Suppression[]

In GemCraft Chapter 2: Chasing Shadows only, cyan gems have the suppression special. This special permanently reduces a monster's health regeneration by the power of the special and it is applied regardless of shields.

Bloodbound[]

In GemCraft: Labyrinth red gems have the bloodbound special. This special increases the maximum damage of a gem based on the total kills of the gem. The damage increase per kill increases with the special power.

In GemCraft Chapter 2: Chasing Shadows black gems have the bloodbound special. This special increases the damage and all nonbound specials based on the number of total hits (not kills) of the gem, and instead of increasing the stats continuously, it only does so in discrete "hit levels" which take more and more hits to reach. The beam spell can be used to rapidly add hits to a gem, increasing the bonus from bloodbound. The first hit level is at 30 hits and each subsequent level is 1.65 times the previous one, rounded up at the end (so the first 10 levels are 30, 50, 82, 135, 223, 367, 606, 999, 1649, 2720, 4488).

Bloodbound gems are no longer present in GemCraft: Frostborn Wrath. However each gem gains a 5% damage (but not other stats) increase per hit level. The hit levels are also calculated differently: below 1000 hits, the hit levels start at 24 and each next level is (N+16)*1.78-16, making the sequence 24, 56, 111, 210, 386, 699, 1257. After that the next level is 822 more, and each subsequent level is 123 more than the previous one.

Poolbound[]

In GemCraft Chapter 2: Chasing Shadows white gems have the poolbound special. This special increases the damage and other specials (not including bloodbound) of a gem based on your mana pool level. The stat increase per mana pool level increases with the special power.

Poolbound gems are no longer present in GemCraft: Frostborn Wrath. However, each gem gains a 5% damage (but not other stats) increase per mana pool level.

Bleeding[]

Main article: Bleeding

In GemCraft: Frostborn Wrath red gems have the bleeding special. This special puts a debuff on a monster that causes it to take extra damage from all sources. The increase percentage increases with the gem's grade. The duration starts at 3 seconds and can be affected by skills.

Gem bombing[]

Gems can be thrown as bombs, which destroys the gem and does damage in an area. Gem bombs are also used to activate various mechanics.

Destroying buildings[]

In GemCraft Chapter 0: Gem of Eternity monster nests, junk piles, beacons, arcane locks and the seal on the Gem of Eternity can only be destroyed by gem bombs. Monster nests have a certain amount of HP which means a different number of gem bombs might be required depending on the grade. The others have a minimum grade requirement for destroying them.

Starting with GemCraft: Labyrinth monster nests and beacons can also be destroyed by shots but gem bombs still work on them.

In GemCraft Chapter 2: Chasing Shadows dwellings are introduced which can only be destroyed by gem bombs of a specific minimum grade.

Transmuting gems[]

Main article: Transmutation

This mechanic is only found in GemCraft Chapter 0: Gem of Eternity. A pure gem dragged onto an inventory row will transmute all the gems in that row to the color of the gem bomb as long as they are less or equal grade to the gem bomb.

Enraging waves[]

Main article: Angering

Starting from GemCraft Chapter 0: Gem of Eternity, gem bombs can be thrown on wavestones to summon more monsters while also increasing their stats. Higher grade gems summon more monsters and result in an overall less stat increase per monster summoned.

In GemCraft: Frostborn Wrath it is no longer possible to enrage waves with gem bombs, instead the enraging slot is used for this purpose.

Heating sparks[]

Main article: Sparks

A similar mechanic to enraging is dropping gem bombs on sparks to boost their effect.

Demolition[]

Main article: Demolition

Starting with GemCraft: Labyrinth friendly buildings (including those pre-placed on the map) can be demolished by dropping a gem bomb on them. However the number of demolitions per battle is limited. The number of demolitions can be increased via the respective skill, and in GemCraft Chapter 2: Chasing Shadows, one demolition is also added every 20 waves.

Ending Endurance[]

In GemCraft: Labyrinth dropping 3 gem bombs on your Magic Orb during Endurance will immediately end the battle. This is useful because it allows you to earn the amulet for not letting any monsters touch your orb without having to beat all the waves.

Orb protection[]

In GemCraft Chapter 2: Chasing Shadows gem bombs can be used to decrease banishment cost by dropping them on the Orb of Presence, replacing the Armor/Banisher skill from previous games. The decreased banishment cost doesn't affect mana burn. The decrease has a cap of 50% and increases logarithmically based on the minimum damage of the gem.

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