Gem

Gems (Japanese: ジェム, Jemu) are a type of equipment in Xenoblade Chronicles . They provide a mechanical bonus of some sort, such as increasing Strength by 20, or resisting 50% of Spike Damage. Gems are activated by equipping them on Weapons or Armour which have gem slots. Many weapons and armour are available both with and without gem slots. Alternatively, some weapons and armour, called Unique items, have gems permanently attached to them.

Each piece of armour can hold up to one gem, and a weapon can hold up to three gems. Thus a character can equip up to eight gems. Some gems can only be equipped on one type of equipment - either weapons or armour, while others can be equipped on both weapons and armour.

Acquiring Gems

Gems can be acquired in a number of ways. Gems are often given as a reward for completing a Quest or a section of the Collectopaedia. Many NPCs have gems available for Trading.

Gem Crafting

Main article: Gem Crafting

Gems can be crafted by combining Ether Crystals and/or Ether Cylinders in an Ether Furnace. Ether crystals are dropped by enemies, or collected through Mining. Mechon and other mechanical enemies drop ether cylinders instead of ether crystals.

When crafting a gem, two characters work together. One character serves as the Shooter and the other serves as the Engineer. Each character has different strengths and weaknesses in each role. If there is high party affinity, characters who are not crafting may also help, which can result in higher quality gems.

Each gem's page lists where to find gems and crystals. Additionally, mining locations are listed on each area's page and a complete list of all mining locations in Xenoblade Chronicles can be found on this page.

Value

A gems's selling price depends on its rank and effects. The gem's effect tends to factor more prominently in its value than its rank. For instance, a Rank III Heat Sink gem is 4× as valuable than a Rank VI Agility Up gem, while a Rank VI Heat Sink gem is only 1.7× as valuable than a Rank III Heat Sink gem.

Farming gems to sell for gold is not a viable means of collecting gold quickly because of how this works. The more common types of gems that can be found early on in the game, as well as lower rank gems, will sell for negligible amounts of gold. The most valuable gem in the game which is not dropped by a superboss, Debuff Resist VI, sells for 6,875 G (8,250 G with Riki's Buy Stuff! skill), which is far more than most other rank VI gems but a lot less than many other late game materials and unique equipment. In general, selling excess equipment and materials throughout the game will net much more gold than selling gems.

The individual gem pages list the base value (sell price) of a Rank I gem. The values for higher ranks of gems are calculated as follows:

Rank	Value
	base value
	1.2 × base value
	1.5 × base value
	1.8 × base value
	2.0 × base value
	2.5 × base value

Type

Gems are divided into types based on their mechanical effects. More details, including descriptions, stat breakdowns, and locations for all variations of a gem can be found on each gem's page.

Attribute

Gems in this category increase a character's basic game statistics.

Name	Type	Element	Max. †	Effect
Strength Up	Equipment		150	Increases Strength.
Agility Up	Equipment		50	Increases Agility.
Ether Up	Equipment		150	Increases Ether.
Muscle Up	Equipment		100	Increases Physical Defence.
Ether Def Up	Equipment		100	Increases Ether Defence.
HP Up	Equipment		50%	Increases max HP.
Critical Up	Weapon		25%	Increases Critical Hit Rate.
Attack Stability	Weapon		50%	Increases Weapon Minimum Attack Damage.
Attack Plus	Weapon		50%	Increases Weapon Maximum Attack Damage.

Attack

Gems in this category modify attacks in some way. This category also includes Gems that debuff enemies.

Name	Type	Element	Max. †	Effect
Electric Plus	Weapon		100%	Increases electric damage.
Double Attack	Weapon		50%	Grants a chance to attack twice when auto-attacking.
Spike	Armour		250	Deals spike damage to enemies when attacked.
Bleed Attack	Weapon		250	Adds Bleed effect to attacks.
Blaze Attack	Weapon		400	Increases chance of auto-attack dealing extra Blaze damage.
Chill Attack	Weapon		300	Increases chance of auto-attacks dealing extra Chill damage.
Poison Attack	Weapon		500	Increases chance of auto-attacks dealing extra Poison damage.
Lightning Attack	Weapon		500	Deals electric damage when auto-attacking.
Daze Up	Weapon		100%	Increases damage to Dazed enemies.
Topple Up	Weapon		100%	Increases damage on Toppled enemies.
Bleed Plus	Weapon		100%	Increases Bleed damage.
Blaze Plus	Weapon		100%	Increases Blaze damage.
Chill Plus	Weapon		100%	Increases Chill damage.
Poison Plus	Weapon		100%	Increases Poison damage.
Strength Down	Weapon		25%	Grants a chance to lower enemy's Strength.
Agility Down	Weapon		25%	Raises chance of an auto-attack reducing enemy's Agility.
Ether Down	Weapon		25%	Raises chance of an auto-attack reducing enemy's Ether.
Slow	Weapon		25%	Raises chance of an auto-attack inflict Slow.
Bind	Weapon		25%	Raises chance of an auto-attack inflicting Bind.
HP Steal	Weapon		200	Raises the chance of an auto-attack recovering HP.
Paralysis	Weapon		25%	Raises chance of an auto-attack inflict Paralysis.
Break	Weapon		25%	Raises chance of an auto-attack inflict Break.
Phys Def Down	Weapon		25%	Raises chance of an auto-attack reducing enemy's Physical Defence.
Ether Def Down	Weapon		25%	Grants a chance of successful attacks reducing enemy's Ether Defence.
First Attack Plus	Weapon		150%	Increases damage on the first attack of combat.
Back Atk Plus	Weapon		100%	Increases damage from attacks behind enemies.

Defence

Gems in this category modify a character's defences.

Name	Type	Element	Max. †	Effect
Slow Resist	Armour		100%	Increases Slow resistance.
Bind Resist	Armour		100%	Increases Bind resistance.
Paralysis Resist	Armour		100%	Increases Paralysis resistance.
Sleep Resist	Armour		100%	Increases Sleep resistance.
Confuse Resist	Armour		100%	Increases Confuse resistance.
Arts Seal Resist	Armour		100%	Increases Arts Seal resistance.
Daze Resist	Armour		100%	Increases Daze resistance.
Topple Resist	Armour		100%	Increases Topple resistance.
Lock-On Resist	Armour		100%	Increases Lock-On resistance.
Pierce Resist	Armour		100%	Increases Pierce resistance.
Divine Protect	Armour		100%	Increases Instant Death resistance.
Debuff Resist	Armour		100%	Resistance against all status ailments, except Topple and Daze.
Good Footing	Armour		100%	Increases Blow-Down resistance.
Bleed Defence	Armour		100%	Reduces Bleed damage taken.
Blaze Defence	Armour		100%	Reduces Blaze damage taken.
Chill Defence	Armour		100%	Decreases Chill damage taken.
Poison Defence	Armour		100%	Reduces Poison damage taken.
Spike Defence	Armour		100%	Reduces Spike damage taken.
Physical Protect	Armour		50%	Activated at the start of a battle. Reduces physical damage.
Ether Protect	Armour		50%	Activated at the start of a battle. Reduces ether damage.
Auto-Atk Stealth	Weapon		50%	Reduces accumulated aggro from auto-attacks.
Arts Stealth	Weapon		50%	Reduces accumulated Aggro from using Arts.

Support

Gems in this category aid the character in ways not related to movement or dealing damage.

Name	Type	Element	Max. †	Effect
Haste	Weapon		50%	Increases frequency of auto-attack.
Damage Heal	Armour		200	Chance to recover HP when attacked.
Recovery Up	Armour		50%	HP Recovery amount increased.
Aura Heal	Armour		150	HP is recovered every 2 seconds.
Arts Heal	Weapon		150	Using Arts recovers HP.
Unbeatable	Armour		50%	Raises the chance of surviving with 1 HP when Incapacitated.
Daze Plus	Weapon		100%	Increases duration of Daze.
Topple Plus	Weapon		100%	Extends Topple time.
Buff Time Plus	Armour		150%	Extends Buff time.
Debuff Plus	Weapon		150%	Extends gem Debuff time.
Weapon Power	Weapon		50%	Boosts activation rate for gems mounted on weapons.
Night Vision	Weapon		50%	Increases attack accuracy at night.
Initial Tension	Equipment		100%	Increases starting battle tension.
Aggro Up	Weapon		50%	Increases Aggro in battle.
Aggro Down	Weapon		50%	Decreases Aggro in battle.
Tension Swing	Armour		50%	Makes Tension change more easily.
Daze Tension	Weapon		25	Tension is raised by attacking a Dazed enemy.
Revival HP Up	Equipment		30%	Increases amount of HP recovered when revived.
Talent Boost	Weapon		12	Increases Talent Gauge gain from auto-attacks, but halves damage.
Heat Sink	Weapon		75%	Reduces Ether Rifle overheating.

Field

Gems in this category mostly provide benefits that are useful outside of combat, or assist in avoiding detection by enemies.

Name	Type	Element	Max. †	Effect
Quick Step	Armour		25%	Increases Movement Speed.
Earth Cloak	Equipment		60%	Decreases detection range of land-based enemies.
Aquatic Cloak	Equipment		60%	Decreases detection range of water-based enemies.
Aerial Cloak	Equipment		60%	Decreases detection range of flying enemies.
Auto-Heal Up	Armour		25%	Increases HP recovery speed outside of combat.
Fall Defence	Armour		75%	Reduces falling damage.
Terrain Defence	Armour		75%	Decreases damage from hazardous terrain, such as poisonous bogs.

Special

Gems in this category increase a character's rate of advancement.

Name	Type	Element	Max. †	Effect
EXP Up	Equipment		200%	Increases EXP gained.
AP Up	Equipment		200%	Increases Art Points gained.

Footnotes