Reading the Differences in Gems

Reading the Differences in Gems is a Dark and Darker quest assigned by the Goldsmith merchant, part of the What It Takes to Become a Master quest line. Did you know? Every gemstone differs subtly in hardness. Being able to read those differences precisely is one of a gemcutter’s key skills. Now that we’ve worked with rubies and diamonds, it’s time to turn our attention to other gems. Sapphires and emeralds would be ideal. I’ll leave it to you. There are 2 objectives to complete: Bring 3× Blue Sapphire; Bring 3× Emerald. All progress requires a successful extraction — items retrieved or kills made during a failed run do not count toward quest completion. Once every objective is fulfilled, return to Goldsmith in the lobby to turn in the quest and receive the reward. This quest requires completing Getting Used to Fine Gems before it becomes available from Goldsmith. Completing Reading the Differences in Gems rewards 150 XP, 150 Gold, 4x Arcane Essence. The quest is completed in Ice Cavern, Goblin Caves, Ruins or Ship Graveyard. Merchant quests in Dark and Darker are one of the most consistent gold and experience sources in the game, independent of loot luck on the Trading Post. Completing the full Goldsmith quest chain unlocks higher reward tiers and increases merchant affinity, which can affect prices and open additional quest tiers in future seasons. The What It Takes to Become a Master chain provides a structured progression path through the Goldsmith quest tree, and finishing each quest in order is the fastest route to the higher value objectives later in the line. Use the MetaBot Dark and Darker quest tracker to check all open objectives across every active merchant before extracting, so you can turn in multiple quests from a single run and get the most value out of each session.