What is the deal with aqua gems?

[test]

Auqa gems seem to do the same thing as red gems, but are limited to boosting "physical attack"(whatever qualifies as that) But aqua gems are rare and red gems are uncommon and easy to craft, so obviously Aqua gems are suppose to be better, so what's going on?

[Handoiron]

Aqua gems boost Physical damage.

Red gems boost Attack.

Attack boosts ALL damage where Physical is only 1 of the 2 types of damage (physical v. magical).

Most item granted and area damage attacks in the game are magical damage.

You can see the type of damage an attack is by looking at the description of the attack. It should always list either physical or magical damage.

Red Gems are better simply because they add to all damage types. They should also add more damage even to physical attacks until higher values of attack and damage increase %. By then, you will likely be using almost purely magical damage and using the legendary pearl gems that are much better than either one.

[test]

That doesn't answer the base question. Why are Aqua gems rarer and harder to get if red gems are just better?

[Smilindeth]

Wonky item find implementation.
If you max out your item find you will find yourself getting fewer legendaries and far more skull blades.

[test]

Aqua gems gems are literally rarer. Red gems are "uncommon" Aqua gems are "rare", so says their info window. Also it's super easy to craft red gems and get lots of red gems right off the bat. My only Aqua gem came from buying it for a few K from blacksmith when it was selling them, a single gem only available for sale once.

Also Aqua gems sell for three times what Red gems sell for. 27 verses 9, probably because of rarity.

The game seems to consider Aqua gems more valuable, so could you simply be wrong? The wording of the gems is different so maybe the answer is in there?

[Handoiron]

The alternative is that the better gem would be harder to get. Making them rare drops and still crafted would defeat the purpose of making them rare.

The wording of the gems is different exactly for the reasons I detailed. They apply to different stats that have different portions of the damage calculations. Also, one applies to all attacks and the other only applies to some attacks.

It's a fairly easy thing to check. Slot a red gem and check the damage you deal then swap it out for an aqua gem without changing anything else and check the damage you deal then. You could even do it at one time using 2 of the same class in the same gear, one with a red and the other with an aqua.

Even then, remember that the aqua gem only applies to physical attacks which are arguably less useful overall in comparison to magical attacks.

Star gems are even better than red gems for a long time anyway.

[Zombina]

Originally posted by test:

That doesn't answer the base question. Why are Aqua gems rarer and harder to get if red gems are just better?

red gems boost overall damage : Magic,physical damage .
aqua boost only physical so it doesn't matter if it's rare more than red gems . the item drop pool doesn't matter,what matter is the use of the items themselves