Lost Ark Gems Guide (T4)
T4 gems explained: damage vs cooldown gems, the attack-power line on T4 gems, support-effect gems, the 7/9/10 breakpoints, and how to farm and upgrade them.
Gems are the simplest system to understand and the easiest to overspend on. You have 11 gem slots, and each skill can take one Damage gem and one Cooldown gem. That is the whole rule — everything else is about which levels are worth the gold.
Damage vs cooldown
Damage gems raise a skill’s damage; cooldown gems lower its cooldown. A balanced setup keeps your rotation flowing while your big hits hit hard. Don’t stack both gem types on one skill — only the highest of each applies, so split them across your kit.
Why T4 gems matter
T4 gems add a percentage of Attack Power at every level on top of their damage or cooldown value. That attack-power line is the reason you switch off T3 gems once you are in T4 content — lower-tier gems are penalized there. On supports (Artist, Bard, Paladin), T4 damage gems on certain skills also boost that skill’s support effect, so they pull double duty.
The breakpoints
Gems fuse three-of-a-kind (same level, same tier) into one level higher, up to level 10. Players treat 7, 9, and 10 as the milestone levels: 7 is a solid raid-ready floor, 9 is comfortable, and the jump to 10 is the single biggest step, which is why a level-10 gem (made from three level-9s) is the gold sink everyone eventually pays. Refaceting at a city jeweler changes a gem to the skill or class you need, but the silver cost climbs with level — buy the exact gem you want from the Auction House instead of gambling on rerolls.
How to get them
Daily Chaos Dungeons, the Kurzan Front, the Cube (use Cube Tickets), Field Bosses, and straight from the Auction House. For supports, the Ark Grid also hands out Astrogem chests, covered in the Ark Grid guide.
Spend smart
Don’t blow gold完美ing low-tier gems you’ll replace. Get to a working 7-set first, upgrade the skills you actually press, then climb to 9/10 as the raid demands. Tie this into your gear honing roadmap so gems and item level improve together, and check the gold guide for funding the auction-house buys.