What are shards?
Shards, which players also call gems or soulgems, are materials you place into the sockets of weapons and armor. Each type raises a different stat, and the stat it gives can change depending on whether it sits in a weapon or in armor. Placing them is what players call "sharding".
You can get shards from monster drops, quest rewards, game events and other players. Shards of the same kind can be merged into a higher grade at a Jewelcraftsman, who stands in every town. Besides the stats, shards also add glow or sparkle effects to your gear.
Shard types
| Shard | In a weapon | In armor |
|---|---|---|
| Garnet | Physical attack | Physical defense |
| Citrine | HP | HP |
| Sapphire | Magic attack | Magic defense |
| Turquoise | MP | MP |
| Amber | Accuracy | Evasion |
| Alabaster | Metal attack | Metal resistance |
| Aquamarine | Wood attack | Wood resistance |
| Amethyst | Water attack | Water resistance |
| Ruby | Fire attack | Fire resistance |
| Topaz | Earth attack | Earth resistance |
Grades and combining
Every shard type comes in many grades. The lowest grade is sold by a regular Merchant for 530 silver coins; each next grade is made by merging several shards of the grade below (3, then 4, then 5 or 6 at the top). The Garnet line shows how the numbers grow (table shortened).
| Garnet shard | Grade | Weapon | Armor | Made from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shabby | lowest | +3 | +5 | 530 silver (Merchant) |
| Average | 5 | +16 | +26 | 4 Common |
| Flawless | 7 | +25 | +41 | 4 Beautiful |
| Immaculate | 8 | +32 | +53 | 5 Flawless |
| Incomparable | 10 | +50 | +85 | 5 Perfect |
| Garnet Gem | 11 | +75 | +125 | 6 Incomparable |
| Drakeflame Stone | 12 | +100 | +170 | 6 Garnet Gems |
| Glowburn Stone | 13 | +130 | +220 | 3 Drakeflame Stones |
Special stones
A few high-grade stones give rarer bonuses. Each line starts at grade 12 and is upgraded by merging 3 stones into the next one.
| Line (grade 12 → 13 → 14) | Weapon | Armor |
|---|---|---|
| Attack line: Diamond of Tiger → Deity Stone → Devil Stone | Attack Level +1 / +2 / +3 | Attack Level +1 / +2 / +3 |
| Defense line: Diamond of Dragon → Jade of Steady Defense → Serenity Stone | Defense Level +1 / +2 / +3 | Defense Level +1 / +2 / +3 |
| Casting line: Stone of the Savant → Grand Origin Stone → Eastern Splendor Stone | Channeling -3% / -4% / -5% | Vitality +10 / +12 / +15 |
| Critical line: Primeval Stone → Primogenitor Stone → Ancient Unity Stone | Critical rate +1% / +2% / +3% | Vitality +10 / +12 / +15 |
Adding sockets
- Weapons can have up to 2 sockets, armor up to 4 and accessories up to 4. Some gear already comes with sockets.
- New sockets are added with socket stones (accessories use their own accessory socket stones). Higher-grade and legendary gear needs more stones, and the number jumps sharply above grade 10.
- A shard cannot go into gear of a lower grade than the shard itself.
Sharding is one of the main ways to grow your Equipment, next to Refining.
Glow effects
Armor glows when you fill its sockets with matching shards. Average (grade 5) is the first grade that counts, and Immaculate (grade 8) gives the stronger effects.
| Shard | 2 shards, grade 5+ | 4 shards, grade 8+ |
|---|---|---|
| Citrine | Purple glow | Lightning |
| Turquoise | Blue glow | Blue crystals |
| Garnet | Orange-red glow | Burning fire |
| Sapphire | White glow | Thick white mist |
| Amber | Yellow glow | Stronger yellow glow with sparkles |
| Elemental shards | Green glow | Strong green glow with sparkles |
| Mixed types | Sparkles | Sparkles |
Sources
Game pictures: © Perfect World Entertainment / Arc Games · arcgames.com
