e have reserved the gems of this year's winter update for our last sneak peek - literally. These jewels are not just shiny, they shine with power. 

The Gem Atelier is a new element of the Wheel of Destiny, granting players more freedom and a broader array of choices for customising their characters. Let us take a closer look at what this exciting new feature entails...

As is customary, you venture into battle against the hordes of evil equipped with your favourite gear. If you come across an influenced or fiendish creature after the winter update, you will have the chance to loot special gems from them. Additionally, certain bosses may also yield these valuable treasures. Each vocation has three variants of gems: the lesser gem, the regular gem, and the greater gem. If you loot such a gem, you can either trade it with other players or, if it matches your vocation, reveal its potential via the Gem Atelier. This brings us directly to the next step in the process…

Navigate to the Wheel of Destiny interface and select the newly added tab labelled 'Gem Atelier'. There, you can reveal unidentified gems of your vocation and find out more about their traits. Revealing a gem will uncover its precise attributes. However, it will also bind the gem to your character; it will not exist as a takeable item anymore and cannot be traded any longer. Unveiled gems have different amounts of Mods:

• A lesser gem has 1 Basic Mod
• A regular gem has 2 Basic Mods 
• A greater gem has 2 Basic Mods and 1 Supreme Mod

Examples of Basic and Supreme Mods can be found later in the text, a complete list would go beyond the scope of this teaser. The gems are further categorised into four distinct colours, each signifying the domain of the wheel in which they can be strategically positioned.

In our scenario, we have successfully acquired and identified a regular sage gem, a gem type exclusive to the sorcerer vocation. Subsequently, we have placed it into the corresponding slot located in the upper right domain of the Wheel of Destiny. In the image to the left, you can see that each domain of the wheel now features three perks for upgrading the vessel, called Vessel Resonance Perks. Vessel Resonance Perks replace three Conviction Perks in every domain of the wheel. In our case, the regular sage gem placed into the vessel of the red domain houses two Basic Mods ( 2% Energy Resistance and 2% Fire Resistance). This vessel is currently a Dormant Vessel, which means we have unlocked its first level only. Therefore, the first Mod ( 2% Energy Resistance) is the sole active attribute, as you can see in the Selection column on the left side, where the second Mod is greyed out.

By filling the second Vessel Resonance Perk in the red domain, we now upgrade the vessel to level 2, a so-called Awakened Vessel. Additionally, if the Vessel Resonance number matches the gem quality, you gain a bonus of 2 to both Damage and Healing. In our current scenario, utilising a regular gem with two attributes and unlocking two Vessel Resonances in the domain creates a matching condition, triggering the activation of the special bonus.

Now it is time to provide you with examples of Basic and Supreme Mods by taking a closer look at the attributes of the identified gems. In total, there are 49 distinct Basic Mods, comprising 18 vocation-specific and 31 general Mods. Additionally, there are 19 vocation-specific Supreme Mods and 4 general Supreme Mods. General Mods are associated with gems across all vocations, whereas vocation-specific Mods are exclusive to gems of the corresponding vocation.

Examples:

General Basic Mods:

• Resist fire 2%
• Resist mana and life drain 1.5%

General Supreme Mods:

• Critical extra damage 0.5%

Vocation-specific Mods:

Some additional information:

• A new Mod called Revelation Mastery will be introduced. This Mod grants 125 Promotion Points of progress for the corresponding Revelation Perk, but the limit of 1000 promotion points per domain cannot be surpassed.
• Your Gem Atelier can accommodate a maximum of 90 gems. Gems that are no longer needed can be removed using the destroy function.
• To compensate the reduction in Conviction Perks, every character reaching level 51 in the future, or those already at level 51 or higher at release, will be granted eight gems with elemental resistance Mods. This allocation includes one lesser gem and one regular gem for each domain of the wheel.
• Moreover, adjustments to the positions of certain Conviction Perks in the wheel have been implemented.

While the topic may seem very complex at first sight, once you get hands-on experience with the feature in the game, numerous questions are likely to resolve themselves. Therefore, we wholeheartedly encourage all of you to thoroughly explore the possibilities the Gem Atelier has to offer on our test server. 

See you on the test server,
Your Community Managers