Sockets and Support Gems
Understand Path of Exile 1 item sockets, colours, and links before spending Chromatic, Jeweller's, or Fusing currency.
Sockets live on equipment and must support the gems placed inside.
In Path of Exile 1, socket count, socket colours, and links are separate parts of an equipment item. Colours determine which gems fit naturally, while links determine which socketed gems can work together. Changing one layer does not automatically solve the others.
Count, colour, and links are three different crafting questions.
Jeweller's Orb reforges the number of sockets on an item. Chromatic Orb reforges socket colours. Orb of Fusing reforges links between sockets. The imported directions also say item quality affects the chances associated with these socket operations, but each currency still has its own job.
Define the required gem arrangement before rolling equipment.
Start with the skills and supports the character needs, then identify the required count, colours, and links. Evaluate the equipment base and quality before spending repeatedly. A colour result is not useful if the sockets are not linked correctly, and more sockets are not automatically the right sockets.
Do not apply PoE2 Skill Gem socket rules to PoE1 equipment. Random socket currency can replace a usable arrangement with a worse one, and none of these currencies guarantees the exact configuration in one attempt.