Path of Exile 2 Uncut Gems Guide — All 20 Gem Levels, 8 Weapon Groups and 185 Cutting Options

An uncut skill gem in Path of Exile 2 is a two-part object: a gem level from 1 to 20 and a weapon group. The cached cutting table holds 20 gem levels, 8 weapon groups and 185 gem entries spread over 7 odd-numbered tiers — and the numbers on that ladder, not the name on the gem, decide what you can actually cut.

This guide walks the real table. Every figure below comes from the gemcutting and tier data parsed off poe2db.tw and stored locally, so you can plan a level 22 character and a level 90 character with the same table.

The 20-level ladder, with character requirements

Gem level is gated by character level, and the gates are not evenly spaced. The first ten levels arrive fast; the last five take twice as long.

Two things fall out of that table. First, gem level 14 to 15 is the heaviest single step in the ladder: six character levels (58 to 64) plus the fourth socket, all in one upgrade. Second, the gap from gem level 15 (character 64) to gem level 20 (character 90) is 26 character levels for five gem levels, which is why most league starters stall around gem level 15 to 17 and never feel it.

Socket count only changes at four points: 1, 10, 15 and 20. If you are holding an uncut gem purely to open more sockets, holding past 15 has no socket value at all; only the gem level itself improves.

Eight weapon groups, 185 gem entries

The weapon group is the second half of the roll. It does not follow your class — it follows the weapon family the gem was assigned to, and each group has a fixed pool per tier.

Crossbow is the widest group at 25 entries and Quarterstaff the narrowest at 21. That four-entry spread is small, but it matters at tier 13, where Crossbow still offers three options while Quarterstaff offers two (Flicker Strike and Gathering Storm).

What each tier actually contains

Tier totals across all eight groups:

Tiers 1, 3 and 5 are the fat part of the table — 90 of the 185 entries, roughly 49% of everything a cut can produce. From tier 9 onward the pool narrows sharply: 66 entries remain across tiers 9, 11 and 13, and those are the gems that define an endgame character.

The practical read is that early cutting is cheap and low-stakes, while a late cut is a genuinely narrow result. A tier 13 Bow uncut gem can only become Magnetic Salvo, Spiral Volley or Toxic Domain. There is no third path.

Reading a real row

Take the Bow group at tier 1. The table lists four gems: Lightning Arrow, Escape Shot, Poisonburst Arrow and Lightning Rod. A level 1 ranger cutting a tier 1 Bow gem gets one of those four, and every one of them is a usable starting skill — which is why tier 1 is safe to cut on sight.

Now take Mace at tier 13: Ancestral Cry, Hammer of the Gods and Ancestral Warrior Totem. Three options, three completely different builds. A warrior who wants Hammer of the Gods has a one-in-three shot, and no amount of currency changes the denominator.

That asymmetry is the whole design. Early tiers are forgiving because the pool is broad and the skills are interchangeable at low level. Late tiers are not, because three options can mean three unrelated archetypes.

The source description for the marquee payoff skill is worth quoting directly, since it explains why the narrow tiers are worth chasing:

“Hammer of the Gods — Build Glory by Heavy Stunning enemies. When you have maximum Glory you may entreat the Ancestors to crush your enemies, manifesting a massive hammer that falls from the sky onto your target.” — poe2db.tw skill gem entry, cached in src/data/poe2-skill-gems.json

A skill written like that is not interchangeable with a tier 1 slam, which is exactly why it sits behind a 1-in-3 tier 13 roll.

Cutting policy that matches the numbers

Cut tier 1, 3 and 5 immediately. They cover 90 entries and every group has at least three options at each of those tiers. Holding them gains nothing, because the gem level cap that matters (level 10, character level 36) arrives long before you run out of low-tier gems.

Hold tier 7 and 9 until you know your archetype. Tier 9 has only 23 entries across eight groups — an average of under three per group — so the result is already narrow enough to be worth saving for a character you have committed to.

Do not hoard past tier 11 for socket reasons. The fourth socket opens at gem level 15 and the fifth at gem level 20. If you already have a four-socket setup from a level 15 cut, a second tier 13 gem buys you a different skill, not a better socket count.

Match the group to the weapon, not the class. A Witch holding a Bow uncut gem is holding a Bow roll. If your build’s damage comes from Quarterstaff skills, a Primal uncut gem is dead weight in the stash regardless of your ascendancy.

Where this fits in the wider gem economy

Uncut gems are one half of the gem system; support gems are the other, and the support pool is far larger — 557 entries against 407 skill gems. The cutting table only governs which active skill you receive. It never governs supports.

If you are still deciding which active skill to build around, the level band data on our skill gem unlock guide tells you when each gem first appears, and the support gems guide covers the 557-entry support pool. For the raw tables, the gem levels and uncut gems page and the skill gems database carry the same source data in browsable form.

New players usually hit the uncut gem wall around act 2, when the first tier 5 gem shows up and the temptation is to cut it for anything. The beginner guide covers that stretch in order, and the ascendancy guide explains the level 22 and 38 trial gates that arrive in the same window.