Jewel Legend Special Gems Guide: Shapes, Blasts, Combos and What Each Move Is Worth

What counts as a match

A swap is legal if it lines up three or more gems of one colour in a row or column, or if it closes a solid block of one colour: a 2×2 square counts by itself, with no row of three needed. Swapping two special gems, or a colour bomb with any gem, is also legal without any match. Any other swap slides back and costs nothing.

When the gems that clear together form more than one shape, the game picks the special in a fixed order:

• Five or more in one straight line makes a colour bomb, even if the match also bends.
• A match that bends into an L, T or + makes a bomb. A full 3×3 square of one colour counts as a bomb too, not as a potion.
• Four in a straight line makes a line gem.
• A 2×2, 2×3 or 3×2 block makes a potion gem, but only if none of its gems is part of a straight run of four or more. That run takes priority.
• Three in a line is just cleared.

What each shape is worth

Each cleared gem scores 10. Making a special adds a bonus: 50 for a line gem, 80 for a bomb, 150 for a colour bomb, nothing for a potion gem. The square where the new special appears is not cleared, so it does not score as a gem. Damage is 30% of the score, rounded. Every swap costs 25 mana, and making any special, potions included, refunds 20.

Worked out from those rules, for a first match with no special going off and no cascade:

• Three in a row: 30 points, 9 damage, −25 mana.
• 2×2 block: 30 points, 9 damage, −5 mana, plus a potion gem worth 20 HP later.
• 2×3 or 3×2 block: 50 points, 15 damage, −5 mana, plus a potion gem.
• Four in a row: 80 points, 24 damage, −5 mana.
• Five-gem L or T: 120 points, 36 damage, −5 mana.
• Five in a row: 190 points, 57 damage, −5 mana.

What each special does when it goes off

A special fires when it is cleared by a match, caught in another special's blast, or swapped with another special. Specials caught in a blast fire too, in the same step, so one well-placed bomb can set off a line gem beside it.

• Line gem: clears its whole row or column, along the line it was made from. A horizontal four gives a gem that clears its row, a vertical four one that clears its column. A full line is eight squares, and firing adds 30 points.
• Bomb: clears a diamond, every square within two steps counting only up, down, left and right. That is 13 squares in the open but only 6 in a corner, so bombs are worth more near the middle. Firing adds 80 points; a three-match that sets one off near the centre scores about 210 points, or 63 damage.
• Colour bomb: it has no colour of its own, so it never matches. Swapped with a gem, it clears every gem of that gem's colour. Set off by another blast, it picks whichever colour is most common on the board. Firing adds 120 points.
• Potion gem: clears only its own square and restores 20 HP. The heal comes when it clears, not when it is made, so you can leave it on the board for later.

Swapping two specials together

Two adjacent specials fire as a pair when swapped, no match needed. Each pair multiplies the score of that first step, and the cascade that follows starts at chain step 2, so it scores ×1.3 straight away. A successful pair also refunds 25 more mana.

• Line + line (×1.5): a full row and column, in a cross through the square you swiped from.
• Line + bomb (×2.0): three neighbouring rows or columns, in the line gem's direction.
• Bomb + bomb (×2.5): a bigger diamond, 25 squares in the open.
• Colour bomb + plain gem (×1.5): every gem of that colour.
• Colour bomb + line (×3.0): every gem of the line gem's colour becomes a line gem, alternating rows and columns, and they all fire.
• Colour bomb + bomb (×3.5): every gem of the bomb's colour becomes a bomb and goes off.
• Colour bomb + colour bomb (×4.0): eight flies, each eating four random squares, so up to 32 squares across the board.
• Potion gem + a line gem or bomb: both simply fire, with no multiplier. A colour bomb treats a potion gem like a plain gem of its colour. A potion inside any combo's blast still heals.

Choosing what to fire, and when

No swap can deal more than 200 damage, whatever it scores. In my engine runs on 500 fresh boards, line + line reached that cap only 11% of the time, a colour bomb with a plain gem 94%, and every other pair every time, so pairing your two best specials often wastes one of them. Two separate moves can each deal up to 200. Pair specials when the pair clearly beats what each would do alone, as line + line usually does, and fire a colour bomb with a plain gem of the colour that has the most gems on the board.

The 200 limit applies to damage only. Potion gems caught in a capped blast still heal in full, and the mana refunds for specials made during the cascade still arrive. A huge combo that hits the cap is still worth it for the mana it gives back.

Where the new special lands

A new special appears on the square where the gem you pushed came to rest. If the match formed on the other gem's colour, it appears where your gem left instead. Two rules protect what you have already built. A new special never lands on a square that already holds one; it moves to the next ordinary square in the match. And in cascades, after the first step, the special appears at the bend of an L, T or + or in the middle of the group, because the gem you moved is gone by then.

Use the first rule on purpose. Push the gem that completes a four toward a bomb you already have, and the new line gem lands beside it, ready to be swapped with it next move.

Shuffles and stuck boards

If a cascade leaves no legal move, the board reshuffles itself for free. The Shuffle button is different: it costs 35 mana (more than a swap), you get one per battle, and the new board is rebuilt with no ready-made matches and at least one legal move. You cannot use it to roll for free damage. Save it for a board where every legal move is a plain three far from your specials.

A plan for your first match

• Start with Practice vs AI. The first round adds a five-step tutorial and has no clock, so try every shape once.
• Look for 2×2 squares first. They are easy to spot, cost almost no mana and leave a heal on the board.
• Build fours and L shapes near the centre of the board. Bombs lose most of their diamond at the edges and corners.
• Keep two specials next to each other instead of firing each as soon as it appears, but fire before the pair would pass 200 for no gain.
• Watch the mana segments. A plain three loses 25, so a run of plain threes empties the bar in four moves.

Common mistakes

• Pressing Shuffle the moment the board looks poor. It costs 35 mana and you get one, while a board with no move at all reshuffles itself for free.
• Firing a colour bomb on the colour you can see near it. It clears that colour across the whole board, so count which colour has the most gems.
• Lining up a four and a 2×2 that share gems and expecting both. The straight run of four wins, and you get a line gem, not a potion.
• Waiting for the hint. It shows the first legal move found from the top-left corner, not the best one.