The issue of possible affixes (or bonuses to single skills on wands, orbs etc.) is beyond the scope of this article. Weapons which cannot have sockets (like throwing weapons) won’t get any socket and those with a maximum of 1 socket (like a few daggers and wands) have no chance for two of them. This results in a magical, socketed weapon that can be rerolled again with chipped, normal or flawless gems as many times as desired. 3 chipped gems + 1 magical weapon = magical weapon of the same type, with 1-2 sockets and an item level of 25.For magical items without sockets, using them in the socket quest reward will add 1 or 2 sockets, selected randomly. Magical items can have 1-4 sockets, depending on the prefixes and the item type, and you can never add more sockets to an item that already has one or more. It can’t be used on an item with sockets already. It’s basically the same as putting that Rare item in the socketing quest reward.

This requires 1 Stone of Jordan + 3 Perfect Skulls + One Rare Item. Rare items can also have a socket added by a Horadric Cube Recipe. You will never get more than 1 socket added using the socketing quest on any of these items. Rares may spawn with 1-2 sockets from the Mechanic’s prefix, and some sets and uniques have 1 or more sockets inherently, and can’t have more added. The Socketing quest adds 1 and only 1 Socket to any of these types. This doesn’t add sockets to the existing weapon though, since it is rolling new mods on the weapon, so is essentially random. The only partial exception is the 3 chipped gems + 1 magical weapon recipe, which will create a magical weapon with new properties and 1-2 sockets. You can never add a socket to an item that already has one or more sockets, with any recipe or the socketing quest reward. Also items can generate with a variable number of sockets, and how many depends on the monster that drops them, the item type, and much more.

There are three Cube recipes to add them, as well as the socket quest in Act V.

Socketed Items can be complicated, mainly in the number of sockets and how to add sockets to existing items.

How to Obtain Socketed/Socketable Items.

Diablo 2 cube recipes sockets