Today I'm going to be walking you through the Jewels system in Heroes vs. Hordes.
I'm going to run down all of the Jewels and what they do, and then I'm going to tell you about the best Jewels for:
- Normal Builds
- Hard Mode Builds
- Nightmare Builds
- And Farming Builds
Generally, the best Jewels are going to help you clear through Normal Mode and Hard Mode because that's the bulk of the content.
However, some Jewels work for all different parts of the game, so it's good to know about them too.
But first, let's go through how Jewels work before we go through how to create Jewel Sets that optimize your damage during the game.
How To Craft And Obtain Jewels
The way you obtain Jewels is through the Shop.
In the Shop, you can craft a Jewel, which will randomly craft any Jewel except Ultimate Jewels between Levels 1 and 12.
You craft a Jewel by spending 600 Dust, and Dust is obtained through a variety of ways in the game.
The odds of crafting higher-level Jewels are much, much rarer than the odds of crafting lower-level Jewels. And it's rarer to craft a unique jewel than a regular one.
Here are the jewel odds:
Jewel Level | Drop Rate 1 | 50.100% 2 | 25.000% 3 | 12.500% 4 | 6.250% 5 | 3.125% 6 | 1.563% 7 | 0.781% 8 | 0.391% 9 | 0.195% 10 | 0.098% 11 | 0.049% 12 | 0.024%
It's 80% for normal jewel and 20% for special jewel.
You create higher-level Jewels by merging two lower-level Jewels together in the Gem Cutter.
But know that higher-level Jewel will be of less value in total aggregate power than the two lower-value Jewels. As a quick example, One Level 1 health Jewel adds 10 health. If I merge two of them into a Level 2 health Jewel, that new jewel only adds 15 health. 15 < 10 + 10.
Jewel Explanations
I'll go through every jewel in the game and explain what they do.
Regular Jewels
Regular Jewels can be equipped in any number of slots in your gear, meaning you could, in theory, fill all 18 jewel slots with the same type of jewel. For example, I use 18 Key Chance jewels for farming.
For that reason, you DO NOT regularly merge these jewels in the Gem Cutter.
Health Jewels add health. In this case, a Level 8 is 45, and a Level 1 is 10 health. As you increase the level of your Jewels, you get diminishing returns. Higher-level Jewels will offer you marginally less each time. Health Jewels are not really used until Nightmare Mode. However, if you get one early in the game, and it's the only Jewel that you have, plug it into your gear.
Damage Jewels add damage. Know that it's additive damage. It's not multiplicative. And unless you're early in the game and just starting to get them, you typically don't ever use damage Jewels.
Key Jewels increase the chance of getting Silver Keys when completing a run. These are what you load up for your farming gear. You want to keep MANY of them. These are incredibly valuable, and you don't want to merge them until you have enough to fill all of your jewel spots. In this case, you can start merging basically from the bottom up.
Regeneration Jewels increase your HP per minute. You don't really use Regeneration Jewels until Nightmare Mode. In Nightmare Mode, they are incredibly valuable because you have basically no Regeneration, and you're looking to scrounge up Regeneration from any place you can.
Cooldown Jewels are one of the best Jewels you can possibly get. Cooldown Jewels do what they say. They reduce the cooldown of your weapon attacks. And as such, they are one of the highest DPS Jewels you can add to your build. You're going to need a lot of them, and you're going to want to fill up a lot of slots in your gear with them. So you don't want to merge them together until you can start filling up all those slots.
Area of Effect Jewels increase the Area of Effect damage of any weapon that does Area of Effect. They are valuable and should not be merged until you can fill all your slots.
Projectile Speed Jewels increase the projectile speed of any projectiles for your weapons. This has some use cases. Heroes like Pirate Queen or Monk gain additional damage from Projectile Speed. These can be kind of like the third level of Jewels for those builds.
Effect Duration Jewels increase the duration of any projectiles on the battlefield. This does not impact status Effect Duration, so these aren't of terrible value.
Movement Speed Jewels increase your movement speed across the battlefield. A lot of these are pretty straightforward. In Nightmare Mode levels 1 to 120, there's no cap on Movement Speed, and it's how you avoid Horde. These are S-plus tier for early Nightmare Mode. Before that, you don't typically equip them.
Critical Strike Jewels increase your chance for a Critical Strike. I don't typically use Critical Strike. Again, these are really good if you get them early in the game. But in terms of the priority of Jewels, they're not all that used.
Coin Jewels increase your coin bonuses at the end of runs. As such, they make it really valuable for farming, particularly late-game farming. Once you already have all your Heroic gear, usually you're going to be grinding for Talents. Gold becomes even more valuable then, or if you just need an influx of gold in order to level up your pets or for some other reason.
Evasion Jewels stop Horde from hitting you. They are, again, really valuable in Nightmare Mode, but not really valuable in any other mode.
Unique Jewels
Now it's the point where we switch over from regular Jewels to Unique Jewels. While regular Jewels can be equipped in any number of slots in your gear, each Unique Jewel can only be equipped once.
So, I can't go into my Jewel build and try to equip multiple Projectile P jewels. It'll let me do one, but when I try to equip another one, it gets grayed out, and I can't do it.
Because you can only have one, feel free to merge these to your heart's content. You're trying to get the highest value single Unique Jewel that you can for any particular Unique Jewel.
Projectile P increases the number of physical projectiles. This effect occurs on cast, so you can think of it as multiplying your physical damage by the percentage shown.
Projectile M increases the chance of doubling the number of magical projectiles. This effect occurs on cast, so you can think of it as multiplying your magical damage by the percentage shown.
Vulnerability adds +6 damage on each consecutive hit and can stack up to 10 times. It's multiplicative, so instead of simply adding 60, it multiplies your damage by 1.6. This makes it one of the best Jewels in the game.
Looter gives you an upgraded chance of getting a chest on completing a wave, which can help in farming.
Assassin increases your chance for an instant kill. This is valuable in builds around Pirate Queen or in modes that allow instant kill, such as Normal Mode and Arena.
Explosion gives each horde a chance to blow up on kill, causing damage in an area around them. The damage is a % of their max health. This jewel can be worth equipping in modes where horde have a lot of health, like Hero Clash or Nightmare Mode.
Reflection reflects damage back to enemies. I have never equipped this Jewel, but it might have future uses.
Weakness reduces enemy attack. This is an S-Plus tier Jewel for Nightmare Mode since Horde actually hits you.
Ultimate Duration increases the length of your ultimate. It is extremely valuable and worth buying from the Guild Shop.
Ultimate Charge reduces the activation cost for your ultimate. This is arguably more valuable than Ultimate Duration because you sometimes want to cast more but shorter ultimates.
Ultimate Durationmakes your ultimate last longer, which increases the damage for most heroes.
Guild Points Jewel increases the number of Guild Points earned from a Guild Run.
Common Jewel Builds
Max Damage Build (Normal Mode / Hard Mode)
For maximizing damage in Normal and Hard modes, you'll want Vulnerability in every build—it's the strongest multiplier available.
Ultimate Duration and Ultimate Charge get you more ultimate damage.
Then you run Cooldown until 60% on the detail screen. Cooldown is the biggest multiplier of damage and you get 30% from tomes. 60% + 30% gets you to the 90% cap, for maximum damage.
If you have extra slots, Projectile P and Projectile M are great additions for doubling physical and magical projectiles, respectively.
Area of Effect can also improve your damage, especially on weapons with strong AoE effects.
Farming Build
Key Jewels are the priority for farming runs, as they drastically increase Silver Key drop rates, making them the best jewels for upgrading gear.
If you a little more firepower to clear waves or survive all of coin rush, you can add Vulnerability, Ultimate Duration, and Ultimate Charge. These will give you enough damage to Auto the level and get more coins during coin rush.
Late, late game, your farm build might change to all Coin Jewels to maximize your coin collection to max talents. But those of you there don't need me to tell you that.
Nightmare Mode (Levels 1-120)
Early Nightmare mode movement speed is a priority, as there's no cap, and it helps you avoid horde. I normally try to push 11+ m/s on the detail screen. The higher the better.
You follow that up with Weakness, as it reduces enemy attack damage.
Then Vulnerability remains key for boosting your damage enough to push some levels each run.
And then fill out any slots in your build with Regeneration.
Nightmare Mode (Levels 121+)
As you progress deeper into Nightmare mode, movement speed loses all its value past level 120. At that point, you get a set amount of 9 movement speed.
Weakness and Vulnerability remain essential for survival and damage, while Regeneration and Evasion remain top priorities for staying alive. HP Jewels also become a viable option for the first time at this stage. They multiply nicely with snail pets and any hero with a shield, like Werebeast or Shield Warden.
If your hero benefits from procing ultimates off of non-kills, like Clockwork Mage or Knight, Ultimate Charge and Ultimate Duration can still be helpful, but they become more situational than earlier builds.
Best Jewels (Most Valuable to Least)
Vulnerability is the single best jewel and should be included in every damage-focused build, even for farming when space allows.
Ultimate Duration and Ultimate Charge are crucial for keeping ultimates active as much as possible, making them must-haves in Normal, Hard, and even some Nightmare runs.
Cooldown is another high-value jewel, helping to hit the 60% threshold for optimal skill uptime.
For farming purposes, Key Jewels are king, significantly increasing Silver Key drop rates and making them non-negotiable for loot efficiency.
Area of Effect and Coin Jewels have situational value, depending on whether you need better clear speed or more gold income.
In Nightmare mode, Movement Speed is extremely valuable up to level 120 but loses priority beyond that.
Weakness is a necessity in Nightmare to reduce enemy damage, while Evasion and Regeneration round out your build.
Finally, Projectile P and Projectile M can be nice additions in the late game, giving you multiplicative damage increases.
Worst Jewels
Damage jewels are a complete waste after reaching talent level 50.
Effect duration jewels are rarely used.
