[Top 10] Dark Souls 3 Best Gems That Are Powerful

Updated:

21 Dec 2021

Gems, or infusions, are a major game mechanic that can change the way you play the game completely. What they do is change the damage output and scaling on your weapons, making them deal different damage, such as Fire, Dark, or Lightning. They can also change weapon scaling, so you can have a heavy weapon with a Heavy infusion, making it scale even more with Strength. All infusions can be removed through the use of a Shriving Stone. Additionally, to acquire an infusion you need to get a certain type of Coal. This article will cover 10 of the best Gems, why they’re useful, and how to get them. See if anything catches your eye and try to implement it into your own playthrough for some fun builds!

10. Poison Gem

How to get the Poison Gem

Quite a simple gem to aim for in your playthrough, it can serve as a good tool to deal with some of those pesky enemies that are difficult, but you still need to kill them. After a certain number of successful hits, the effect will proc, poisoning your enemies, and dealing progressive damage for a period. This Gem is also useful for PvP, and very niche situations that do not occur that frequently. Requires Farron Coal.

What makes the Poison Gem great:

Easily attained
Effect procs easily
Good for certain niche situations
Can be good for PvP

9. Chaos Gem

How to get the Chaos Gem

The Chaos Gem offers Fire damage, as well as Intelligence and Faith scaling to weapons. This is quite useful for players who want a different damage type on their main-hand weapon, while also using some magic or Miracles. It’s a bit of a niche Gem, but still, it is fantastic, with beneficial effects that will aid you greatly in gameplay. Requires Giant’s Coal.

What makes the Chaos Gem great:

Added Faith scaling to weapons with innate Lightning damage, such as the Dragonslayer’s Axe
Fire damage
Added Faith and Intelligence scaling

8. Simple Gem

How to get the Simple Gem

The Simple Gem changes the damage type of your weapons to magic and adds a passive FP regen buff. This means that it is ideal for players that need some extra FP regen to use Weapon Arts or spells. It can be applied to non-main-hand items, such as shields, so you can infuse your main weapon with a different gem while retaining the effects of the Simple Gem on another item. Take note that this effect is only active when the item in question is visible. Requires Giant’s Coal.

What makes the Simple Gem great:

Magic damage on weapon
Added FP regen buff while weapon is visible
Adds Intelligence scaling

7. Lightning Gem

How to get the Lightning Gem

Up next, we have the Lightning Gem, which imbues your weapon with Lightning damage and adds Faith scaling. This damage type is ideal for some enemies and bosses, such as Vordt of the Boreal Valley. The added Faith scaling makes this Gem an excellent addition to a Miracle build since the Scaling and Miracles go hand in hand. It is a niche Gem that is quite useful in specific situations but should be kept in mind since it has only positives about it. Requires Giant’s Coal.

What makes the Lightning Gem great:

Added Faith scaling
Extremely good for some enemies and bosses
Good for Miracle builds

6. Dark Gem

How to get the Dark Gem

Quite similar to the Chaos Gem, the Dark Gem grants you Intelligence and Faith scaling, as well as Dark damage on your weapon. Some bosses, such as Vordt and Dancer, are fairly weak to Dark damage so this Gem is strong against them. To maximize the use of the Dark Gem, you need to have a character with a lot of levels invested into Faith and Intelligence, so the scaling pays off. Requires Profaned Coal.

What makes the Dark Gem great:

Added Faith and Intelligence scaling
Dark damage
Adds Faith scaling to weapons with innate Lightning damage

5. Blood Gem

How to get the Blood Gem

Luck and Bleed builds are some of the most fun builds you’re going to run, so this Gem is ideal for that. It adds the Bleed effect to weapons, which is a debuff that procs on enemies after a certain number of successful hits, dealing a percentage of max HP as damage, plus a flat amount. It scales with Luck and is best when used on low scaling, low damage weapons such as the Bandit’s Knife, to proc the debuff as often as possible. Requires Profaned Coal.

What makes the Blood Gem great:

Added Bleed effect
Great with low damage, fast weapons
Scales well with Luck

4. Sharp Gem

How to get the Sharp Gem

One of the most popular damage sources in the game, Dexterity is employed by players that prefer a faster approach to gameplay, and want to increase their mobility, while retaining damage. These builds have the potential to have some of the highest damage output in the game, and that is made all the stronger through the use of Sharp Gems. They lower the base damage of your weapons but increase their Dexterity scaling, so the more Dex you have, the higher your damage output will be. Requires Farron Coal.

What makes the Sharp Gem great:

Increased Dexterity scaling
Higher damage output

3. Heavy Gem

How to get the Heavy Gem

The counterpart of the Sharp Gem, the Heavy Gem increases your Strength scaling, while lowering the base damage and Dex scaling of your weapon. This is ideal for players running a Strength build that want to really specialize in a Strength-oriented weapon. Requires Farron Coal.

What makes the Heavy Gem great:

Increases your Strength scaling
Increases damage output

2. Fire Gem

How to get the Fire Gem

Fire infusions are quite popular for players that want to focus specifically on Fire damage, such as Pyromancers. This gem removes stat scaling but adds Fire damage to your weapon, which has the added benefit of knockback and stagger effects on successful hits. The damage itself can be increased through the use of items such as the Fire Clutch Ring. It can also be chosen as a Burial Gift so you start the game with one outright.

What makes the Fire Gem great:

Fire damage
Added elemental defense for shields
Additional stagger and knockback effect on successful hits
Can be increased with items, such as the Fire Clutch Ring

1. Refined Gem

How to get the Refined Gem

Finally, we have the Refined Gem, which gives your weapon a balanced scaling of Strength and Dexterity. The best way to incorporate this Gem into a build is to find a Quality weapon and infuse it, raising the scaling and, directly, your own damage output. Take note that no weapon in the game can achieve a rating above a B with the Refined infusion, but even a B scaling is great for most players.