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How to Augment Ancient Item in Diablo 3

An Augmented Ancient Item to go, please.

Customization in game is not just limited to picking up the best weapons, jewelry, armor, or even specializations and class. Sometimes, being able to interact with certain items or stats through alternate methods can even push your level even forward. In the case of Diablo 3, we will have to do this by performing rituals. Of course, what other way would we do it in such an iconic franchise. Anyway, today we will learn how to augment an Ancient Item in Diablo 3. Prepare your cubes and your items, it is time to work.

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How to Augment Ancient Item

To augment an Ancient Item or even a Primal Ancient Item, you will first need to get the Kanai’s Cube, which allows you to perform several rituals. Being able to augment an Ancient Item is one of those rituals. If you don’t know how to get the cube, go ahead and head to any town in Adventure mode and talk to the spirit of Zoltun Kulle, who will direct you to the cube. Once you have it, open up your cube and head to the page called Caldesann’s Despair, which is the name of the ritual that augments Ancient Items.

To augment an Ancient Item, you will have to combine various materials in order to fulfill the ritual. However, the material composition will depend on the type of Ancient Item and also what exactly you would like to augment. You will need an Ancient Item of any type, the correct Legendary Gem, and 3 Gems in particular to complete the ritual. In order to make things clearer, here are a couple of tables that better show how to perform this.

Caldesann’s Despair Recipe

Ancient ItemLegendary GemGem
(only one of the options)
WeaponRank 30+ Legendary GemFlawless Royal Amethyst x3
Flawless Royal Emerald x3
Flawless Royal Ruby x3
Flawless Royal Topaz x3
JewelryRank 40+ Legendary GemFlawless Royal Amethyst x3
Flawless Royal Emerald x3
Flawless Royal Ruby x3
Flawless Royal Topaz x3
ArmorRank 50+ Legendary GemFlawless Royal Amethyst x3
Flawless Royal Emerald x3
Flawless Royal Ruby x3
Flawless Royal Topaz x3

Gem Augment Effects

GemAugment Effect
Flawless Royal Amethyst Weapon: +270 Damage
 Helm: +41% Experience. (4.1% at level 70)
 Other: +280 Strength
Flawless Royal Emerald Weapon: +38,000 Thorns Damage
 Helm: Reduces all resource costs by 12.5%.
 Other: +280 Intelligence
Flawless Royal Ruby Weapon: Critical Hit Damage Increased by 130.0%
 Helm: +41% Extra Gold from Monsters
 Other: +280 Dexterity
Flawless Royal Topaz Weapon: +28,000 Life per Hit
 Helm: +23% Life
 Other: +280 Vitality

Related: How to Extract Legendary Power in Diablo 3

If you wish to create the Flawless Royal variation of the gems, you can use one of the Cube’s rituals called Darkness of Radament, which allows you to convert gems. All you have to do is to combine any 9 gems with the one of according gem essence you wish to transform them into (Essence of Amethyst, Essence of Emerald, Essence of Ruby, Essence of Topaz). With that being said, you are all set to augment your Ancient Items. Good luck!


Diablo 3 is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows, and macOS. Please check out Gamer Journalist on Facebook to join the discussion and keep up to date with our content. You might also like to check out our guides on Here’s Why Popular Diablo III YouTuber Rhykker Thinks This will be the Biggest Diablo III Season Ever or Diablo 2 Resurrected: how to play with friends.

Author
Image of Alejandro Josan
Alejandro Josan
A musician with a heart of a gamer, Alejandro's life has always been accompanied by adventures on Nintendo platformers, countless hours of fantasy RPGs and several third-party FPSs. Currently, he is studying Game Design and Development, preparing for a long career in the video game industry.