Rework gems

[Planetus]

I don't know about most people, but for me at least putting gems into rings or amulets is somewhat meh. The reason? The bonuses they give are all across-the-board bonuses, which mean that only defensive bonuses (resists, saves) are something that you'll benefit from all of, and even then armor and defense may well not mean much to you. As a mage, I don't need +Str, +Dex, and +Cun, and even +Con is secondary. That means that a random green ring of magic is probably better at any given tier than the best stat-boosting ring I could make. Likewise for +damage and critical chance. And +light radius and infravision is just meh overall if I can only put it on a white ring or amulet.

My suggestion is to re-work the bonuses that gems give, to focus on a particular theme. Maybe red gems give a bonus to fire and physical damage, +Str, and +physical critical chance, while blues give +Dex, lightning and cold, and +stun/freeze resist or something like that. Something so that, as a single class, I could actually make a ring with a gem that is at least competitive with the green rings of the same tier, maybe even blue or purple.

[Sedrahl]

I don't really use gems either, so I can't really vouch for their usefulness. However, it is worth taking into account that some classes benefit from +allstats more than others, particularly warrior-mage hybrids like Arcane Blades, Temporal Wardens, Shadowblades, and Reavers, all of whom directly benefit from almost every stat gained. Also from what I've heard Bloodstone rings are quite good.

[SageAcrin]

As a mage, I don't need +Str, +Dex, and +Cun, and even +Con is secondary. That means that a random green ring of magic is probably better at any given tier than the best stat-boosting ring I could make.

Ring of magic? That isn't actually an ego which exists. There's two different rings there that could be(Arcane Power or Wizard's) and I'm not sure which you mean.

Either way, ultra-focused bonuses aren't necessarily that great in ToME. You gain a small amount more durability, more saves, and more critical hit rate with the all-stats, and the more you build one specific Power, the less returns you get on it. (You also picked the class with the highest statistical focus, possibly, for this example. There are many classes with statistics more spread out, and stat gems are better for them.)

Likewise for +damage and critical chance.

If you can find a ring that actually boosts multiple relevant elements, or physical damage as an element, that much, consistently, you're surprisingly lucky. If you're considering ultrafocused fire Archmages the only class in the game, or Corruptors, that is true, but in general damage rings come out way ahead.

(And even for those cases, you have to find the exact right ego for your build. Which isn't all that likely.)

Also, you seem to be under the impression that amulets work the same as rings. Amulets require a special, rather hard(or was, I think AI changes made it weirder, but I haven't done it lately.) quest to make, but give you the benefits of two chosen gems+1 randomized top tier gem, and are way better...than basically every other amulet, but also way better than the rings.

Honestly, I find the alldamage+, allresist+ and Bloodstone type stun resists pretty good. Allstats are generally weaker later, but better early when they represent earlier skills and more of an overall gain than, say, 1% of resist. Or a single stat bonus, for me.

They all represent competitive rings/amulets to what is there, though if there's a (non-high-end-randart) example of a ring or amulet that really stomps created rings/Limmir's Amulet, I'd like to know about it. I can't think of one, except for niche builds(Like Void Ring and Arcane oriented Archmages.).

I basically don't think gems need a retool, in other words.

Having said that, the Defense/Saves gem is generally still weak, even after getting buffed. It honestly ought to be +3 per tier, or even +4 given how scaling goes and how small the niche of Defense is.

Thinking on it, +4 feels like a really good level for it. It sounds extreme, but consider that Defense tanks usually need 40 just to get by, and 60 to feel comfortable...this will only push you into the former range with the top tiers, and the latter it probably won't be too important for. And you generally need even more saves than that for safety. I think it'd be a good idea.

And yeah, the light/infra gems are essentially bad. Perhaps they could grant a 30/60% resistance to Confusion as well as their current effect? Nice symmetry, doesn't feel out of place, and it makes them have a niche similar to Bloodstones/Quartz.

[PureQuestion]

Also everyone enjoys Cunning, because it boosts crit rates.

[nate]

Even beyond the fact that Linnir's amulet is either a tier 4, or else everything hard has already been killed-- even beyond that, I don't find his amulets useful, because existing amulets are lightweight, easily swappable, and provide valuable immunities, where Linnir's provide no significant immunities. (This is from a melee perspective.) Goedelanth Rock is maybe an exception in that it's useful, but even then, defense trumps offense for me.

The same goes for the rings-- status immunities are vital, and rings are one of the few places you can find them outside of randarts.

The nature of jewelry (light weight means a large collection) means I find focused bonuses more useful than general bonuses. When heading into the Prides, would you rather have 2 rings with 5% resist all, or 3 sets of 2 rings with +25% resist cold/darkness/fire each? The former is very rare-- the latter are very common.

I'm sure that the existing gems are useful for some players. They haven't been for me. That's okay-- I don't mind, anymore than I mind the staff drops. But there is room for more types of gems-- making focused gems doesn't necessarily mean getting rid of the existing ones.

[SageAcrin]

Even beyond the fact that Linnir's amulet is either a tier 4, or else everything hard has already been killed-- even beyond that, I don't find his amulets useful, because existing amulets are lightweight, easily swappable, and provide valuable immunities, where Linnir's provide no significant immunities. (This is from a melee perspective.)

There's several confusing assumptions in that, such as the assumption that stralite amulets are somehow less random than voratun amulets(both can be found randomly, and I don't believe there's a reliable source of them in the game, barring Atamathon for voratun), and that +9% allresist or 60% Stun resistance with a secondary of damage boosting or more resistances is somehow worse than amulets generally are at handling resistances to damage or status-something I usually don't find true.

If you have an example of an amulet that strongly competes against either, would you please share it? Because I've never found one that wasn't a randart.

(This is also ignoring the potential Goedaleth Rock. And of course, Telos Staff Gem also provides several status resists, and the Lifebinding Emerald provides a tidy 30% heal mod/+30% stunres, and Wrathroot's Barkwood provides +100 Life and some elemental resists. Incidentally, the Barkwood's a tier 4 gem, IIRC.)

The nature of jewelry (light weight means a large collection) means I find focused bonuses more useful than general bonuses. When heading into the Prides, would you rather have 2 rings with 5% resist all, or 3 sets of 2 rings with +25% resist cold/darkness/fire each? The former is very rare-- the latter are very common.

Depends on the Pride.

Where'd you find the +25% physical resist ring for Grushnak?

Oh, right, that is actually an extremely rare green ego that grants physical resistance-one, in fact, so uncommon that I've gone entire runs without seeing it.

So the allresist ring would actually be better there, wouldn't it, especially given that it raises armor? Similary, Gorbat hits in every element flavor, basically(Physical, Arcane, Fire, Ice and Lightning are all pretty common.).

Either way, overspecialization can be fatal; Some of the highest risks in Prides are the fixed unique spawns, and those can have any form of offense. It sounds good to resist a few specific elements, right up until an enemy hits you with the one you're not resisting.

Planning in a Roguelike is about planning for the worst, not overly shielding against the expected-that mentality leads to people complaining about "bullshit deaths" all the time, when it's really their own fault.

Also, there's a weird assumption in this that there's a mutual exclusivity here. There isn't; Many equips besides rings and amulets give specific resists that you can swap to, but rather few equips besides rings or amulets give that general protection, even though it's rather low. And that general protection stacks with that specific resistance. I have no problem capping off the relevant resists for a given pride without rings, on average-though, it varies on the class(mails and heavy armor are much better on resistances than robes, for example.).

[nate]

There's several confusing assumptions in that, such as the assumption that stralite amulets are somehow less random than voratun amulets(both can be found randomly, and I don't believe there's a reliable source of them in the game, barring Atamathon for voratun)

You're right. Tier 4 is not guaranteed. But white Tier 5 amulets, in my experience, are at least as rare as the kind of serendipitous randarts you want to leave out of the comparison. Most players will not get a Tier 5 white amulet until they beat Atamathon. The fact that they may not get a white Tier 4 either doesn't make Linnir's amulets any more effective.

and that +9% allresist

+9% resist all is a good ability. However, it's in competition with a whole horde of artifact amulets, enough of which give, say, 100% blindness immunity, plus other nice bonuses, as to make them pretty accessible.

60% Stun resistance

How do you get 60% stun resist? I don't see any gems that do that.

If you have an example of an amulet that strongly competes against either, would you please share it? Because I've never found one that wasn't a randart.

These are the amulets that I would put an emphasis on at endgame:
Mastery (high values of Combat Training can give both significant damage and armor for a melee-- armor being roughly equivalent to physical resist; high values of other trees can also be useful), Teleportation (free escape on an item, unbeatable on any map that allows teleportation), Clarifying, Murder (10% crit power + 3% crit rate + another ego beats 14% crit rate), Choker of Dread (see invis, full blind immune), Withering Orbs (see invis/stealth, blindfight), Feathersteel (depending on char; being faster than other mobs is essential, see below), Unflinching Eye (full blind immune + 50% confuse immune + ESP horror, omg).
You can see that there is certainly no shortage for me to pick from, and that for the most part, what I value can't be found on gems.

(This is also ignoring the potential Goedaleth Rock. And of course, Telos Staff Gem also provides several status resists, and the Lifebinding Emerald provides a tidy 30% heal mod/+30% stunres, and Wrathroot's Barkwood provides +100 Life and some elemental resists. Incidentally, the Barkwood's a tier 4 gem, IIRC.)

Yes, some of these gems are useful. But still, Vitalizing is one ego that provides up to +50 life; Healing provides 20% heal factor with one ego; grounding provides up to 30% stun resist. For randarts, you're looking at 30% physdam, 15% physcrit, 25% critpow, 50% heal factor, +150 life, 50% immunity to stun, blind, confuse, or pin, and 30% to a single damage resistance. Finding a randart that combines three useful egos is certainly no less common than finding a useful artifact gem and a tier 5 white amulet and finishing Linnir's quest.

Where'd you find the +25% physical resist ring for Grushnak?

On my armor. On any of a variety of resist gear that I've got laying around. It's certainly easier to find than the Stun resist that I'm going to need.

Oh, right, that is actually an extremely rare green ego that grants physical resistance-one, in fact, so uncommon that I've gone entire runs without seeing it.

Yeah, it is rare, but still-- that Mountain ego isn't worth discounting, not if you want to factor in things like Goedelanth Rock. It's only like 10% physical resist, but it's also got 10% physical damage, and it's only one ego, and you've got the whole game to find one or two: the ego is the same regardless of whether it drops at lvl 1 or at lvl 50.

So the allresist ring would actually be better there, wouldn't it, especially given that it raises armor? Similary, Gorbat hits in every element flavor, basically(Physical, Arcane, Fire, Ice and Lightning are all pretty common.).

Better than what? Than 25% darkness resist? Of course. 5% resist all would certainly be okay there. But only if you've already got your Stun resist in order-- Stun resist for which your primary source is jewelry. And even then, I think I'd prefer the "of life" ego on my ring: +60 life, +20% heal factor, and room for a prefix as well. That's even discounting randarts. Everything that I listed for amulets is available for rings.

Either way, overspecialization can be fatal; Some of the highest risks in Prides are the fixed unique spawns, and those can have any form of offense. It sounds good to resist a few specific elements, right up until an enemy hits you with the one you're not resisting.

If you're getting one-shotted, or if you're facing mobs that are moving faster than you are, and you don't have anything like ESP or Preternatural Senses, that's true. Otherwise, it's trivial to take a look at a target and switch to the proper loadout.

Also, there's a weird assumption in this that there's a mutual exclusivity here. There isn't; Many equips besides rings and amulets give specific resists that you can swap to, but rather few equips besides rings or amulets give that general protection, even though it's rather low.

No, I didn't mean to suggest that it's exclusive. It's just that there are only so many full suits of plate armor one can carry; only so many mauls. But one's arsenal of jewelry can be huge.

[SageAcrin]

On my armor. On any of a variety of resist gear that I've got laying around. It's certainly easier to find than the Stun resist that I'm going to need.

Nah, only one armor of any note grants physical resistance(Chromatic Harness. Well, two, Breath of Eyal does if you have the AM bonus, but that's through Allresist.). I don't think any others toss it out; Part of the reason I love Chromatic Harness, really, non-defensive builds can wield it and get notable defensive bonuses out of the deal, due to the physical resist.

If you mean all slots, off the top of my head that's still a really rare resist that only comes up through a few artifacts/egos(Harkor'Zun's gauntlets, Wrap of Stone, a few others.). Stun resistance actually comes up really strongly on multiple top tier armors. (Plate of the King, Chromatic Harness, I believe Dragon ego also covers Stun. Strangely, two out of three of those cover physical resistance as well. I personally find Stun resistance not that hard to find in passing...)

Also by the point in the game the Prides are, I strongly question single-minded focus on Stun to the point where you require 100% resistance on it. Play more cautiously and use Relentless Pursuit more; It's not as if a lot of enemies stun the hell out of physical fighters(You should at least have good physical saves by that point, and many fighters get solid Defense as well.), or a lot of mages get into range to be stunned a lot. Maybe in Vor, where Flameshock is an issue, and Grushnak can be a threat for mages with their low physical saves... but otherwise...certainly not in areas like Gorbat(Confusion is more of an issue, which doesn't say a lot.).

How do you get 60% stun resist? I don't see any gems that do that.

Bloodstone 5 +60% stun resist Life regen 10% if max life

From the wiki. There's a lower tier version(Quartz, Tier 3) that gives +30%.

If you're getting one-shotted, or if you're facing mobs that are moving faster than you are, and you don't have anything like ESP or Preternatural Senses, that's true. Otherwise, it's trivial to take a look at a target and switch to the proper loadout.

It is non-trivial to optimize your build against multiple uniques at once, which is the main danger in the Prides.

A Pyromancer with Necromancer class skills is covering some three elements alone, plus can summon enemies that cover an additional two. (Oh, and has Impending Doom, which is Arcane, so he kinda can cover a fourth that his summons also spam.) Toss in some Cryomancers. That's just one unique and not a terribly odd or special setup. The game can toss three at you at once, often in strange elemental flavors like Mind(admittedly, you can deal with this with save pumping) and Nature.

Also, I think preparing against oneshots is pretty valuable. Also, preparing for bad teleports and enemies I can't immediately escape due to them having tons of mobility.

[Planetus]

First off, for this comparison, I would ignore both the unique artifact gems and their implications on Limmir's amulet on the one side (since I'm not suggesting reworking those), and the artifact or randart amulets or rings on the other side (since those are rare and powerful enough to be justifyingly preferable to common gem rings and amulets).

For some examples, I have a purple amulet that grants +7 defense, +6 luck, +2 magic, +0.14 mana per turn, and +23 max mana, and that's just a copper amulet (tier 1, I found it in one of the starter dungeons. Or maybe I should mention my gladiator's voratun ring of life, that grants a whopping +7 phys power, +8 str, +7 con, +1.7 life regen, +59 life, and +19% healing. Or maybe my rogue's gold ring of corrosion (12 def, 6 cun, 24% acid res, 12% acid dam.

60% stun/freeze immunity is nice, if you don't have good saves already, but I'd prefer some of those others for just about any class I can get. +5% critical chance and +10% damage isn't that tempting comparatively, either, and that's one of the best gems I see. +5 to all stats would be very tempting on an all-stat build, and I could see the possibility of adding a rainbow themed gem to preserve that possibility, but for most of the classes I play, at least two of those stats are waste stats. What caster worries much about Str or Dex? What class that isn't magic based somehow worries about Mag? Cun and Con are always nice, it's true, but I'd prefer 10 points in a primary stat and 7 points in a secondary over 5 points in everything any day. Yes, I do tend to specialize, but that works fine for me and, from what I've seen on the character vault, a lot of others as well.

Add in egos that boost skill trees (Mastery most common), that add activatable effects, that regenerate resources, etc. and there are a ton of factors and combos that could completely overwhelm the effects of any single gem. Allowing two gems on any ring or amulet could work, but then we're allowing common gem-binding to compete with Limmir's amulet, which means buffing Limmir's amulet, which means... Yeah, I see reworking the common gems as a much cleaner solution.

[SageAcrin]

Voratun Gladiator/Of Life is probably the best ego ring in the game, for my money.

Sure, if I can get one of those I'll use it over gems. That doesn't mean gems are bad, because you don't exactly always get that combo. Of Life in general competes solidly, but there is a big difference in the durability boost that +80 life gives a low HP class like Archmage and a high HP class like Berserker(effectively much smaller than the resists for a Berserker), and a 5% resist bonus cuts damage by 10% if you already have 50% resistance to something, while it's a lower relative impact if you don't. Situational comparison.

That Rogue's Ring is pathetic for anything that doesn't use Acid, and literally nothing in the game (Besides an Alchemist that's very focused, but that's not all Alchemists, and you need to swap off of just Acid sometimes because of resists...) just uses Acid. That listed amulet also does nearly nothing, on net, outside of a Defense build, incidentally. Those are both niche equips-equips you get much more access to shouldn't compete with the top end randomized niche equips.

(And, as mentioned; There is only one way to get an amulet. There is no single gem version of amulets. You are talking about a competition with something that will never occur, there will never be single gem amulets at tier 1.)

I'm kinda weirded out by how you blow off +10% alldamage/+5% critical rate, too. That's a very notable damage bonus that's hard to reproduce on those slots(or any slots besides weapons or gloves).

Specialization works. That doesn't mean specialization is the only way to play. Just because you hate generalized equips does not mean they're bad. If you'd like, you can go look at my record and see how heavily I specialize-it works to generalize, too.

Mastery is an uncommon ego and relevant ones(that impact a category with notable boosts from category raising) are very, very rare and you are very fortunate to see one. Resource regeneration is mostly relevant with Stamina(hard to regen otherwise) and Mana(some classes use it without regenerating it), and for the most part is just swap material and not worth leaving on outside of some very niche builds. Activateable effects...mostly boils down to those rings that use Greater Weapon Focus, to me, and artifact equips. Maybe a Healing amulet early, but just maybe.

(Also, you do realize that if you make gems strongly niche, Alchemists are going to tear the game up by stacking +75% or something worth of a damage element on three equips, right? They do have a primary purpose that's different from jewelry, even if that is a very nice secondary purpose with IMO interesting uses. I've been ignoring how much of a nightmare balancing these two aspects is, but it works pretty well...right now...)

[nate]

Probably, SageAcrin, a lot of this comes down to differences in how we play. Before I started modding, I'd play Cursed on Roguelike-- which is probably why I never noticed that Bloodstone, since 60% stun resist wouldn't be any better for me than 25% (which is easy to find, and comes with some other bonuses as well). And my speed would make it pretty easy for me to isolate individuals. I'm not trying to suggest that resist all is a bad trait for a ring-- just that even under circumstances in which it would shine, other traits would shine as well. (Can't remember running into any Impending Doom in the Prides, but in 1.0.0, it probably would have scared me shitless Far less scary now, since I prioritize heal factor anyways.)

In general, I found that the only time I used gems was when I was very low level and couldn't find anything worth wearing in Angolwen. By the time I was in the East, I always had a collection of rings that I valued far beyond anything I could make with gems. Randarts are a part of that-- sure, they're not always perfect, but even two out of three good traits can make them pretty crazy. Saying, "Hey, let's not go crazy and dream up the most amazing randart possible for comparison" is a valid thing to say, but it doesn't make much sense to forget that by the time a player has reached the top of High Peak, they're likely to have found enough randarts to get quite a few useful ones (never minding the fact that they might have just bought an uber one).

I even made a Goedelanth amulet once, went off to the Infinite Dungeon, and found that I kept switching it out for other gear. Something that should be the god of all amulets, and it was just dead weight to me.

Taken individually, any useful ego or randart trait is rare. Considered in whole, over the course of an entire game, they stop being rare. Finding an amulet of teleportation is rare. Finding an amulet of mastery (combat training) +0.4 is rare. Finding a voratun gladiator's ring of life with a good bonus is rare. But finding something that beats what you can make with gems is common.

http://te4.org/characters/10195/tome/f3 ... cc96e13e7f -- no gem rings/amulets
http://te4.org/characters/10195/tome/86 ... 8ab837557e -- no gem rings/amulets
-- EDIT: oops, petrified ring, although in your inventory you have two regular old ego rings that are basically equivalent (I would prefer the treant ring myself; 30% cold resist one would also be a good choice)
http://te4.org/characters/10195/tome/35 ... 7da62444c8 -- no gem rings/amulets
http://te4.org/characters/10195/tome/53 ... 2ba9725d5a -- no gem rings/amulets
http://te4.org/characters/10195/tome/e0 ... 5dc88fdc7a -- amulet of the moon (resist all, +damage)
http://te4.org/characters/10195/tome/d8 ... 6ae415e511 -- no gem rings/amulets
http://te4.org/characters/10195/tome/f4 ... 6baf2e4bfe -- no gem rings/amulets

It doesn't even look like you really disagree that much. In the first two pages of your winners (skipped pre 1.0.0 characters), there's one wearing an amulet of the moon, and none are wearing gem rings. It feels less like you think crafted jewelry can compete with drops, and more like you think that crafted jewelry shouldn't compete with drops.

[SageAcrin]

Go back a bit farther and you'll see how practically all of my characters used Jade/Pearl Rings, though, when they were 2% resistance per tier. (At least, once I caught on to how good they are for how accessible they are. It wasn't on my first runs that I figured this out.)

You can see more clearly why I'm against a buff, that way. I don't want to see gem rings dominate the entire ring spectrum...again.

Also;

http://te4.org/characters/10195/tome/86 ... 8ab837557e -- no gem equipment

Has Petrified Wood Ring on a slot, actually.

http://te4.org/characters/10195/tome/e0 ... 5dc88fdc7a -- amulet of the moon (resist all, +damage)

Also Amber Ring I used short term is still in inventory.

http://te4.org/characters/10195/tome/86 ... 8ab837557e -- no gem equipment

http://te4.org/characters/10195/tome/f4 ... 6baf2e4bfe -- no gem equipment

I covered the former, already, but... come now, one of those has Imbue Item and the other has that and Crafty Hands. How many gem effects do you think I need?

Also, check out how many characters had Voratun Rings/Amulets in case I found artifact gems. I do that because I'm greedy, and because I found exceptionally good ego or artifact rings, not because they're bad.

Edit:

The Voratun Life/Treant? Yeah, there's an argument. That was a heavy healing character with a tank orientation, and I could have gone either way on those rings. In the end, the extra Darkness res(which is pretty rare) tipped me towards that, but I can see liking the Healmod more.

[nate]

Pardon the Petrified Wood thing. You're right that I missed that (although I think you'll agree that this rare artifact gem is not much, if any, of an upgrade on several of the rings in that character's inventory).

And of course, if you can imbue, you will imbue what you can. It doesn't change the fact that you found dropped rings superior to crafted rings on those characters.

I did notice how you had characters in earlier version with gem stuff, when the effects of those gems were much more powerful than they are now. I certainly don't think that the game would be improved by making pearls give 2% resist all per tier. I don't think anybody wants to see gem effects dominate the game. I'm not sure that it can be balanced well: the existing framework allows for no randomness, alchemy lets one stack, and resists have accelerating returns-- that all adds up to hard to balance except via restructure. But I think that ring crafting is a potentially interesting element of the game that most players ignore because there are few benefits.

This is especially true with Linnir's quest. It is a dangerous and difficult quest (well, the first time at least), that relies on one or more very rare drops (white amulets, artifact gems) and that can only be completed near the end of the game-- and yet how many players ever wear or even create an amulet of the moon? I don't bother with that quest any more. I doubt I'm the only one.

Also, check out how many characters had Voratun Rings/Amulets in case I found artifact gems. I do that because I'm greedy, and because I found exceptionally good ego or artifact rings, not because they're bad.

I'm not saying they're bad in some absolute sense, I'm saying they're bad relative to the drops a player is likely to find at equivalent tiers. I think you may be overestimating exactly how exceptionally good those egos are: by the end of the game, any player is going to have a collection of jewelry with good egos-- roll the dice enough times and they'll come up boxcars. Recent randart changes have swayed the balance even further away from imbue and toward drops.

[SageAcrin]

This is especially true with Linnir's quest. It is a dangerous and difficult quest (well, the first time at least), that relies on one or more very rare drops (white amulets, artifact gems) and that can only be completed near the end of the game-- and yet how many players ever wear or even create an amulet of the moon? I don't bother with that quest any more. I doubt I'm the only one.

I think that's more a problem where some classes have no reasonable chance of successfully clearing it(not so much dying as keeping Limmir alive). That boss is single minded and heavily invisible-some melee characters just strongly struggle to hurt it enough to distract it, and it's not like enemies stop coming because you're fighting a boss.

The Brawler just did that much damage. I was pleasantly surprised that they succeeded there.

Limmir's Amulet of the Moon struck me as the most powerful equip in the game-to the point of being game-alteringly overpowered depending on what you RNG for the random gem-back when the 2%s existed.

However, here's a thought experiment that might make this work for everyone, ignoring the Light and Infra gems/defense and save gems, which I suggested changes to(+2->+4 per rank for the defense/save gems, +30/60% confuse resist on Light+Infra/See Invis(Edit: Oh yeah it wasn't Light/Infra on two gems, it was Light/Infra and See Invis. still never use either.).

When affixing a gem into a ring, have it gain the gem bonuses and a random green(single, lesser) ego.

This way, the competition becomes less linear. There are, as mentioned, many interesting green egos-Mountain is shamefully underpresent. This would allow you partial control over the ring, but also give it a random bonus. It would encourage you to horde a lot of blank rings and change them in...or not do that, as you blow money each time and that costs you cash towards a randart, either way it seems harmless enough.

The idea is based on how neat Rare gemmed rings were-but those were woefully overpowered(seriously, they tended to beat out randarts), and I don't think this would be reliable enough to be. It would make them really good, but not necessarily what you're looking for.

How's that for an idea that doesn't overhaul the entire system? The same effect could be applied to Limmir's amulet as well, and I doubt it'd be hard to RNG up the effects of a random ego upon gem imbue on an equip-that takes place in a chat menu, after all, and you can do pretty much anything you want there.

[HousePet]

I was thinking gem egos for a moment, but that would drive people crazy.
Unless it was extremely rare to find an egoed gem, and say a rare (pink) gem had one ego and a randart had two.

Edit: That won't work. Tired.

Rare Gem: 2 egos
Randart Gem: 3 egos

These gems do not contain base gem bonusses.
These egos are picked at random from the entire ego list.