The gems you place into socketed equipment are handy in Diablo 2: Resurrected. A gem you put into a weapon will have unique effects in combat, allowing you to stack various types of damage or even increase your overall defense when placed into a piece of armor. However, your equipment won’t remain the best forever, so you may want to eventually grab new gear and put those same valuable gems into them. Can you remove gems from items in Diablo 2: Resurrected?
Unfortunately, you will not be able to remove any gem from a socketed item and return it to you. Once you have placed it into a piece of armor or weapon, it’s there for good. However, you can remove a gem from a socketed item using the Horadric Cube. You’ll find the Cube in the Hall of the Dead during Act II of the game.
All you have to do is place the item you want to clear of gems, a Town Portal scroll, and then a Hel run into the Cube, and you’ll strip the item of its gems. You are wasting the Hel run in doing so, though. When you remove the gems or socketed items, you do not receive them back. But you do remove them from the item.
Thankfully, you can frequently find gems during your Diablo 2: Resurrected adventure. They often fall on the ground after defeating Champions or by opening chests up. If you don’t have a gem in your inventory, you might even have the benefit of finding a gem shrine that you can use. When you already have a gem in your inventory, you can improve it at a gem shrine.
You might want to consider placing a gem inside a socketed item based on your character’s level and how far you are into an act. If you’re about to clear an act, but you’re struggling on the final boss, placing a few gems onto your equipment before starting the fight can sway the battle in your favor, even if you think you’re about to find a new item. If you’ve already reached the Horadric Cube, placing gems into items you need at the current moment is usually worth your while.
