The Three Valheim Gemstones: Bloodstone, Iolite and Jade
Ashlands weapons can be modified with one of three gemstones, and they are not three tiers of the same upgrade — they are three different weapons wearing the same hilt. Bloodstone scales with damage you have already taken. Iolite adds lightning and a chain proc. Jade adds poison and locks the target in place. All three come from the same source, and one of them does nothing at all while you are healthy.
On sourcing. Iron Gate do not publish system documentation. The figures below come from the community wikis and can change with any patch.
What Each Gem Does
| Gem | Colour | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Bloodstone | Red | +0.2% damage for every HP you are missing |
| Iolite | Blue | +10 Lightning damage, plus a Chain Lightning proc |
| Jade | Green | +10 Poison damage, plus a 20% chance to immobilize for 10 seconds |
All three share the same source and the same handling stats. They are found in Charred chests inside Charred Fortresses in the Ashlands, weigh 2.0, stack to 50, and — usefully — can be teleported, unlike the metals of the same tier.
That single source is worth planning around. As covered in our dungeon guide, Charred Fortresses are a siege rather than a crawl — gates have 6,000 HP — so a gem run is a real expedition, not a detour.
The naming convention on modified weapons follows the gem. Iolite produces the "Thunder"/"Storm" versions, Jade the "Nature" versions, and Bloodstone the "Blood" versions of the Ashlands weapon line.
The Proc Chances
Iolite's Chain Lightning has three different rates depending on what you are holding and how you attack:
| Attack | Chain Lightning chance |
|---|---|
| Normal attack | 25% |
| Secondary attack | 20% |
| Bow, normal attack | 20% |
That is unusual precision, and it matters for weapon choice. A weapon whose secondary attack is its main damage source gets the 20% rate, not the 25% — so Iolite favours weapons you use with the primary swing.
Jade is simpler: a flat 20% chance to immobilize for 10 seconds, alongside its 10 Poison. Ten seconds is a long lockdown, and as our status effects guide notes, Immobilized prevents movement but not attacks — the target can still hit you if you stand in front of it.
Bloodstone has no proc at all. It is a flat scaling bonus, which makes it the only one of the three whose contribution you can calculate in advance rather than average out over a fight.
So the choice is partly about temperament. Iolite and Jade are variance; Bloodstone is arithmetic.
Bloodstone Is a Trap Unless You Read It
The wiki spells this out because it is the single most misread line in the system: "A weapon upgraded with Bloodstone has its damage increased by 0.2% for every HP the player is missing. It is not HP the target is missing."
Read that again if you assumed it was an execute mechanic. It is the opposite. Bloodstone rewards being hurt, not finishing something off.
Work the numbers and the shape becomes clear:
| Your state | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Full health | +0% |
| 50 HP missing | +10% |
| 100 HP missing | +20% |
At full health a Bloodstone weapon is a plain weapon. Every point of the bonus has to be paid for in damage taken first.
Which makes it a build choice rather than an upgrade. It suits a player running a large health pool from food who fights at low health deliberately, and it suits badly a player who blocks well, parries and tops up between engagements. A cautious player gets almost nothing from Bloodstone.
And note the interaction with the Bear and Vilebone set bonuses. Both add +25% damage taken from Blunt, Slash and Pierce — which means they push you into Bloodstone's scaling range faster. That is either a synergy or a death sentence depending on how the fight goes.
Iolite is the safe default. +10 Lightning with a quarter-chance proc is a real, unconditional improvement on any weapon, whatever your play style.
Practical tips
- Three gems, all from Charred chests in Charred Fortresses.
- All weigh 2.0, stack to 50, and can be teleported — unlike Ashlands metals.
- Bloodstone: +0.2% damage per HP you are missing — nothing at full health.
- Iolite: +10 Lightning, Chain Lightning at 25% primary / 20% secondary and bow.
- Jade: +10 Poison and a 20% chance to immobilize for 10 seconds.
- Immobilized stops movement, not attacks.
- Iolite is the safe default; Bloodstone is a deliberate low-health build.
Running your own Valheim server
A Charred Fortress is a siege with 6,000 HP gates — the kind of content a group plans for rather than stumbles into. A gamever Valheim server keeps that world persistent for up to 10 players, with one-click backups so an Ashlands foothold survives the week between attempts.
Conclusion
Valheim's three gemstones turn one Ashlands weapon into three. Bloodstone adds 0.2% damage for every HP you are missing — explicitly not the target's — which means it contributes nothing at full health and rewards a deliberate low-health build. Iolite adds +10 Lightning and a Chain Lightning proc at 25% on a normal attack, 20% on a secondary attack and 20% on a bow's normal attack. Jade adds +10 Poison and a 20% chance to immobilize for 10 seconds, which stops movement but not attacks. All three drop from Charred chests inside Charred Fortresses, weigh 2.0, stack to 50 and can be teleported — a genuine convenience at a tier where the metals cannot. Iolite is the unconditional pick; Bloodstone is only worth it if you know you will be hurt.
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