Gem tag

For a list of active skill gems ordered by gem tags, see List of active skill gems by gem tag.

For a list of support skill gems ordered by gem tags, see List of support skill gems by gem tag.

All Skill gems have gem tags (also called keywords) listed in the first line of the mouseover description. In addition to dividing the skills into groups, gem tags largely determine which support gems and modifiers can modify a certain skill. The relationship is not strict, however.

Support Skill Keywords

While you can technically link any support gem to any skill gem, some combinations will have no effect. If a support gem contains one of the following keywords, the skill must have the keyword as well to be affected. Note that any skill with the Bow keyword counts as having Projectile.

Just "Support": Elemental Focus

For example, Freezing Pulse and Ethereal Knives get no benefit from being linked to Point Blank: although they are Projectiles, they are not Attacks.

Overview of gem tags

Category	Mainpage	Description
AoE	Area Damage
Attack	Attack Damage
Aura	Aura	An aura is a permanent effect focused on your character that also affects nearby party members and minions. Auras reserve a portion of your mana pool. Most of them reserve a percentage of your Mana, only reserves a flat amount.
Bow		These skills require a bow to be used. They implicitly have the projectile gem tag (see Projectile Damage).
Cast	Cast	Skills marked with the Cast keyword deal secondary damage. Cast gems are not spells, and are therefore not affected by modifiers that would normally only modify spells.
Chaining
Chaos	Chaos Damage	Chaos is one of the five damage types
Cold	Cold Damage	Cold is one of the five damage types
Curse	Curse	These skills weaken enemies to make them less dangerous or easier to kill.
Duration		Certain skills have an effect over time or activate after the duration. In some cases, such as curses, reusing the skill will reset the timer.
Fire	Fire Damage	Fire is one of the five damage types
Golem		Golems are a type of minion that provides a direct Buff to the person who summoned them, but not to anyone else.
Lightning	Lightning Damage	Lightning is one of the five damage types
Melee		Some melee skills require certain weapons; see Melee Skills. These skills all deal melee damage.
Mine	Mine Damage
Minon	minion damage.	These skills let characters raise monsters to fight enemies
Movement		Skills that move the character.
Projectile	Projectile Damage
Spell	Spells
Totem	Totem	Totems are stationary summons that assist in battle. Note that many other skills can be turned into a totem with the Spell Totem or Ranged Attack Totem support gems. See totem damage.
Trap		Traps are skills that trigger when an enemy walks over it. Note that many other skills can be turned into a trap with the support gem. See trap damage.
Trigger		Certain skills can't be activated manually, and happen automatically when specific conditions are met. Getting hit by these skills does not activate any trigger effects, like Reckoning or the energy shield recovery of Aegis AuroraAegis Aurora Champion Kite ShieldChance to Block: 32% Armour: (860-1235) Energy Shield: (176-250) Movement Speed: -3%Requires Level 62, 85 Str, 85 Int(300-400)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +10% to all Elemental Resistances +5% to maximum Cold Resistance +6% Chance to Block Recover Energy Shield equal to 2% of Armour when you Block (10-20)% increased Elemental Damage with Attack SkillsBorn from the marriage of ice and sky, the aurora evokes both awe and power..
Vaal
Warcry		Warcries are active skills that provide situational benefits to players and are typically aligned with melee characters, because they only affect nearby enemies and allies. Warcries are not spells can therefore cannot be supported by support gems that specifically link with spells, such as Cast when Damage Taken. They all share a cooldown.