Item socket

Item sockets are slots on equipment or resonators into which other items can be placed. There are 3 types of sockets:

• Coloured sockets in which skill gems of a matching colour can be socketed
  • Coloured sockets can be linked together, which is required for Support Gemss to provide benefits to linked Skill Gemss.
• Abyss sockets in which Abyss Jewelss can be socketed
• Resonator sockets in which fossils can be socketed

Coloured sockets

Colours

Each socket has one of four colours:

• red, associated with Strength
• blue, associated with Intelligence
• green, associated with Dexterity
• white

Skill gems have to be placed into a socket with the corresponding colour with the exception of white gems and sockets, which can be placed into a socket of any colour or take a gem of any colour respectively.

The random choice of colour for sockets is weighted based upon the magnitude of the relevant attributes (strength, dexterity, intelligence) required to use the item. For example, a low strength requirement (low base-level) pure strength armour item has a higher probability of rolling off-color sockets than a high strength requirement (high base-level) pure strength armour.

White sockets can be obtained through Corruption by using a Vaal Orb at a 25% chance. They can also be crafted into an item using an Encrusted Fossil or Vorici's crafting bench in the Immortal Syndicate Research safehouse. The Altar of Corruption in the The Temple of Atzoatl has a chance to corrupt an item to have all white sockets.

The colour of sockets can be changed by Chromatic Orb reforging or by using the Crafting Bench in your hideout.

Number of sockets

The number of possible sockets on equipment is based on the item level as well as the type of the equipment being used.

The number of sockets can be changed by Jeweller's Orb reforging, using the Crafting Bench in your hideout, an Orb of Binding or a Encrusted Fossil. Corrupted items can only be changed through the Crafting Bench and need an equivalent amount of Vaal Orb as the usual cost of Jeweller's Orb, Chromatic Orb and [Orb of Fusing]] to change sockets on any corrupted item.

Maximum number of sockets by equipment type

• Most Beltss, Amuletss, Rings and Quiverss do not have sockets. Exceptions are Unset Ring, Black Maw Talisman, Stygian Vise, and Ornate Quiver.
• One-handed weapons and shields can only have up to 3 sockets max
• Boots, Helmetss and gloves can have up to 4 sockets
• Body Armourss and Two-handed weapons can have up to 6 sockets

Some items have exceptions to these rules.

Item level

The item level item is generally applicable, but note that there are a few cases where the restriction does not apply:

• Hillock, upon death, always drops a specific weapon with three differently coloured sockets, which is dependent on your class.
• Unique items that override the socket mechanics, such as Tabula Rasa which always has 6 linked white sockets.
• Items from Chests with of Complexity affix
• Sockets can be crafted to an item using the Crafting Bench ignoring item level restrictions

Links

Sockets can be linked to other sockets in the same item. In order to provide their benefits support skill gems have to be placed in sockets linked to other sockets containing active skill gems.

Multiple support skill gems of the same type can only be applied once to an active skill gem, however it is possible to apply a single support skill gem to multiple active skill gems at once. If multiple support gems of the same type are socketed in the same link, the highest level support is used.

For example, the two skills Fireball and Freezing Pulse may be linked with the support skill Elemental Proliferation Support in a three linked item, or Freezing Pulse may be replaced by Combustion Support to enhance the Fireball even more. However linking two instances of Elemental Proliferation Support will only provide the bonus of the highest level one. Spell Totem Support can be linked with most blue Active skills (Arc, SRS, Frostbolt, etc) in a 6 link armor/Tabula Rasa

The number of links can be reforged using an Orb of Fusing, the Crafting Bench, an Orb of Binding or a Encrusted Fossil.

Order

Generally the order in which skill gems are linked only holds importance for trigger gems and for rounding the mana cost. The order for sockets used is:

    １    ⇒    ２
               ⇓
    ４    ⇐    ３
⇓        
    ５    ⇒    ６

If multiple trigger gems are socketed in several equipped items the order will be:

Main hand ⇒ Amulet ⇒ Helm ⇒ Off hand ⇒ Body armour ⇒ Gloves ⇒ Boots

Items with non-standard interactions

Base items

• Unset Rings have 1 socket instead of none.
• Black Maw Talismans have 1 socket instead of none.
• Gnarled Branch can only have up to 3 sockets, despite being a two-handed weapon.
• Fishing Rod can only have up to 4 sockets, despite being a two-handed weapon.

Unique items

• The Goddess Unleashed and Oni-Goroshi always have 6 linked sockets. They are the only one-handed weapons that can have more than three sockets.
• Actum, Kaom's Heart, Replica Kaom's Heart, Kaom's Roots, and The Grey Spire do not have any sockets.
• Malachai's Artifice always has a white socket and grants stats based on the colour of the gem socketed into the item.
• Prismatic Eclipse, Scaeva, and Crown of the Tyrant grant stats based on the colour of the sockets in the item.
• Tabula Rasa always has 6 white linked sockets.
• Skin of the Loyal and Skin of the Lords always come with six linked sockets that are randomly colored. These cannot be modified with the crafting bench.
• Dialla's Malefaction does not need to have the socketed gems match the socket colors, effectively functioning as white sockets.
• Loreweave always has 6 sockets.
• Shadowstitch always has 6 linked sockets.
• Maloney's Mechanism always has 3 sockets, one of which can be lost if replaced by a vaal implicit.

Unique items from races

All Descent: Champions unique items have three white, linked sockets (except for Slivers of Providence and Chains of Time).

Related Prophecies

• The Jeweller's Touch will cause the next Jeweller's Orb used on an appropriate item to make that item become a fully-linked five-socket item.
• Fated Connections will cause the next Jeweller's Orb that resulted in an item having 6 sockets to also make those sockets fully linked.

Abyssal socket

Abyssal sockets are special types of sockets exclusively found on Abyss themed items. A single socket can be found on Stygian Vise and between one and two sockets on Abyss-related uniques. Abyss sockets can also be crafted into an item using a Resonator with a Hollow Fossil.

The following uniques have abyss sockets:

• Bubonic Trail
• Command of the Pit
• Hale Negator
• Lightpoacher
• Shroud of the Lightless
• Tombfist

Abyss sockets take the place of regular sockets, i.e. an item will have the number of maximum coloured sockets reduced by the amount of abyss sockets; for example, a glove with two abyss sockets can only have up to a maximum of 2 coloured sockets.

You can only socket abyss jewels into these sockets.

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