Is there a reason why not to level up a skill gem?

[Halbblutclaus [Snooker]]

Hi Folks,

im wondering why i can dismiss a level up of a skill gem? What is the use of this?

Thank you very mutch

[Lyc]

Consider you got gear that inceases your int, skill gem reaches a level where it needs 120 int, and you only reach that with your gear you are only wearing because you got nothing better and are looking to change it to something better, but without int buff.

Level gem -> change gear -> not enough int, you can no longer use the gem (until new gear with int buff or you invest skill points

[Halbblutclaus [Snooker]]

that's a good point. i didnt see it in the low level ranged i played until now

[Drake]

there are also support gems that have a level threshold. Like cast when damage taken, to get higher gems to trigger you need to level cwdt, but doing so also increase the dama you need to take to trigger, so you need to balance the gem level depending on the skill.

Some secondary skills used for utility can also be kept at level 1 to reduce mana cost, like flame dash, orb of storms, whirling blades etc.

[Astasia]

And clarity can be kept at very low levels for attack characters to get all the mana gen they need at minimal reserved.

Lots of reasons to not level gems.

[Kesvalk]

is there a way to hide the gen from the level up tracker on the side?

[Agerthaw]

right click the "+" sign, not the normal left click to level it, should remove that notification.

[Kesvalk]

Originally posted by Agerthaw:

right click the "+" sign, not the normal left click to level it, should remove that notification.

thanks!

[BAN✔️ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ]

for cdwt low lvl + immortal call = immune to phy

[Mokona]

Many reaons to not level up some gems, one of them being your movement gem can just stay level one. Leveling it up only increases the mana it would take to use if you need an oh ♥♥♥♥ button, better hope its not to much mana to use at that point.

[Astasia]

Originally posted by Mokona:

Many reaons to not level up some gems, one of them being your movement gem can just stay level one. Leveling it up only increases the mana it would take to use if you need an oh ♥♥♥♥ button, better hope its not to much mana to use at that point.

Mana cost of attacks doesn't increase with level, so you might as well level them as high as you can. Lightning Warp needs to be leveled because it sucks otherwise. Flamedash maybe doesn't need to be leveled, I've never used it, don't like the charges.

[The_Driver]

Originally posted by Astasia:

Mana cost of attacks doesn't increase with level, so you might as well level them as high as you can.

That's not quite as generally true as it's stated here, there are attacks that go up in mana cost, like e.g. https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Caustic_Arrow - although it's mostly projectile skills that do that

[Astasia]

Ah, right, forgot it was "melee" attacks, but that includes like shield charge, leap slam, and whirling blades.

[The_Driver]

Originally posted by Astasia:

Ah, right, forgot it was "melee" attacks, but that includes like shield charge, leap slam, and whirling blades.

https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Dominating_Blow is melee attack and still has level-based mana cost according to wiki... it's so inconsistent...^^

[Astasia]

I couldn't remember what it was exactly so I found the patch note:

Attack skills that have their damage based on the wielded weapon have their mana costs fixed in place from level 1 onwards. Increasing the level of the gem does not increase the mana cost of the skill. Dominating Blow still increases in mana cost, as the mana is also paying for the minions.

That was from 2.1. I remembered the note, but I didn't remember that it was under the melee section of the notes, so while it doesn't say melee it was only for melee skills.