Empower Support Gem, meet Brian at PAX Prime and Race Calendar importing

It's probably an aura/curse boost gem. This would address the aurastacking meta by forcing players to choose between improved auras or more auras, which in turn adds to build diversity because it makes using every build-relevant aura less of an obvious choice. It has XP gain as its quality bonus for the same reason that auras have radius as a quality bonus--they're already immensely powerful in themselves.


EDIT: Nevermind, just saw the experience requirement. Clearly meant as some sort of endgame alternative to leveling gems in off slots, possibly as a reaction to the discovery of the GCP/lvl20 gem recipe.

I'd guess it more likely that empower gem grants its level to any gems it is socketed with. It might be valuable in longer races where you are unable to get all the gems right away so some always lag behind. or for trying out stuff.

I also don't think vanilla gem has any experience bonus, looks like 5% more experience per quality and would only apply on growth of Empower gem.

So if it's 226m exp to level it up, and 20% quality brings it to 100% increased exp gain, then it's the same time to get 113m gem exp to level it up. Once the gem levels up, you find out what it does.

maybe +1-2 to all gems linked?

+ skill gem level maybe?

nvm. me = stupid.

"

NeoWorm wrote:

+ skill gem level maybe?

this would be my guess as wel

especially since they there is at level 23 many auras improve another big step.
currently there is no way in ever reaching +3, so this gem might actually change that.

If that gem needs as much xp to get to Lv2 as other gems need to get to lv20... Will it even be possible to get it to Lv20?

"

York wrote:

thats great....

Soo.. Whens PVP coming out and more importantly, what kind of pvp.....

Will there be a hostile button? A free for all perhaps? or a cut throat....


PVP info is much needed....



http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/498970

+1

Secretly Empower is a sink for GCPs because it must have a very desirable effect (or unknown for now, which will spark more interest of course), but without quality it's going to take you forever to level the gem up. Brilliant design.

"

Awkward0ctopus wrote:

maybe +1-2 to all gems linked?

Might be. But not much sense in it being a red gem in that case, it would primarily be used as a spell support. +levels are great on flat damage gems like spells or flat bonus auras and pretty much useless on percentage-growth gems.

But it also might be troll-categorization again, spell totem, reduced mana and inc burning being STR gems and all that.

Based on the wording Chris used in the post I am going to make a few guesses:

1. The gem itself is what is gaining the 75% increased experience, not the player or any other linked gems. This will also help to offset the crazy high experience needed to make it a level two gem.

2. A non-quality version would only gain 5% increased experience. This is why he specifically mentions a high quality version.

3. At some set level, the gem will do other things. This one is kind of obvious. but could the actual color of the gem change too? He mentions that it is 'a version' of what it looks like 'when you find it'. My guess here is two fold:

A) The gem will do something other than just gain more experience as it would be pretty worthless if that is all it did. It could possibly even change in color from a red gem to a blue gem based on certian things. for example, maybe if it is linked to Fireball at the time it reaches the tipping point, it changes to blue; however if it is linked to rain of arrows, it switches to green

B) If the first is not true, then possibly there are multiple versions of the same gem in different colors.

As for what the gem actually does, I'm not sure. I woudl imagine that it is something significant though for several reasons: the experience required to get it to "change" is so high and the gem itself looks impressive....no other gem looks quite so ....regal