How to upgrade Skill Gems in Path of Exile 2
Path of Exile 2 has changed the Skill Gem system as well as how you upgrade them. Gone are the days of grinding up exp on a gem to upgrade them in an incredibly tedious fashion. Instead, players have a whole new system that is more flexible and fair if not a little grindy.
But that’s the nature of ARPGs just in general. The way this system works is that it allows you to be a bit more bold with your skill upgrades instead of being patient and saving them for later.
However, you cannot upgrade Support Gems. That would take far too long and create a ridiculous, unfair grind. If you haven’t sorted out how to upgrade your Skill Gems in Path of Exile 2, here’s what you need to know.
Path of Exile 2 makes the process of Skill Gem upgrades a bit easier
Path of Exile 2’s Skill Gem upgrade system uses the same currency you use to unlock skills in the first place: Uncut Skill Gems. They stack up to 11 right now, which could change in the future. There are several levels of these gems right now, though we aren’t certain what the cap is at this time. It’s likely to be 20, as PoE 1’s skill cap was level 20. We’ll update this once we have more information.
If you want to upgrade a Skill Gem in Path of Exile 2, you must have an Uncut Skill Gem of a higher level. For example, in the screenshot above, I used an Uncut Skill Gem Level 4. It allowed me to upgrade a few skills right away:
- Unearth: Level 2 to Level 4
- Contagion: Level 3 to Level 4
- Enfeeble: Level 3 to Level 4
If there’s a level gap between your skills, it will catch that ability up straight away. If, for example, I found an Uncut Skill Gem Level 7, I could take a Level 1 Contagion and bump it up immediately to Level 7. All you need is the right skill-level gem — no extra currency, no gold, none of that.
You’ll find the Upgradable tab in your skill selection menu when you activate the gem. You can either unlock a new skill or upgrade something else if you have a skill that meets the requirements in Path of Exile 2.
The hard part is finding the gems themselves. Mini-bosses and bosses tend to have a better chance of dropping them, as do named enemies. This is all RNG-related though — until we have a better idea of how mapping works in Path of Exile 2. For now, your best bet is to grind through enemies and bosses to find them.
You get plenty of them though, so there’s no real reason to hold back. You don’t really need to hold back on leveling a skill just to level it multiple times at once. You can, but you truly don’t have to. There will be plenty of Uncut Skill Gem drops throughout your adventure.
Check out our other Path of Exile 2 guides and features:
- Path of Exile 2 review
- Path of Exile 2 Spirit resource guide
- Path of Exile 2 Class tier list (Early Access)