The Difference Between Quest gear and Solo Advanced Gear #EQ2 #EverQuest2
stargrace 
People in channels keep asking what the point of advanced solo dungeons are because they reward gear that’s equal in stats to the items that you quest for out in the open world.
Except they’re not the same.
What is very hard to see is that the armor piece that you loot can actually be upgraded four times with gems. You can’t tell that these armor pieces can be upgraded unless you examine the piece, and then you’ll see at the top on the left hand side a little blurb that says 0/4 gems.
How do you get these gems?
Easily enough. There are recipes for these gems for crafters, or you can purchase the gems outright from a vendor in Vesspyre.
- Cryptic – Advanced Solo (up to 4 yellow gems)
- Arcane – Tier 1 Heroic (up to 4 blue gems)
- Potent – Tier 2 Heroic (up to 3 green gems)
- Energized – Tier 1 Raid (1 red gem)
- Mystical – Tier 2 Raid (1 purple gem)
EQ2wire has a fantastic write up on their FAQ about these gems. I highly suggest people go check it out. Hopefully, SOE will make these gem slots a bit more noticeable in the future because as it stands right now unless you go to outside sources and read about it, or you pick it up from another player, it is incredibly difficult to learn about them. Mousing over the gear mentions nothing of the gem slots.