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Comparing and contrasting Charms can be more difficult than you might imagine. Part of the challenge is figuring out how to fit everything you want into your inventory, which can feel like playing an especially difficult game of Tetris.
If you're having trouble deciding whether a Charm's properties are more valuable or less valuable depending on the Charm size, divide the numerical value of the trait by the number of slots the Charm occupies (3 for Grand, 2 for Large, and 1 for Small) to make a determination. Make use of that number to compare the value per slot (VPS) of the product. In the case of faster run/walk charms, for example, the Grand Charm of Inertia at 7% has a VPS of 2.3 while the Large Charm of Inertia at 7% has a VPS of 2.5, according to the VPS Calculator. With a VPS of 3, the Small Charm of Inertia, which has a 3% faster run/walk, outperforms them both. You'll need to use all of the tools available to you in order to make the best decisions because most Charms are not so clear cut on this point, given the RNG of properties and the presence of both Prefixes and Suffixes in their properties lists.
There are times when you'll get a high-level Charm with terrible properties, which is usually due to a particularly poor roll or lower-quality Prefixes/Suffixes. Using the Horadric Cube recipe below, you can reroll any Magic-quality Charms (but not Unique Charms) that you have. The properties you receive will be completely random, but they may be a significant improvement over the ones you received at the start of the game. Small charms and jewels are by far the most popular objects to be converted in this manner.
Any Charm can be converted into another Charm of the same size and with a different affix (or affixes) by pressing the Convert button. To put it another way, you cannot turn a Grand Charm into a Small Charm. Or vice versa, depending on your point of viewIt also rerolls affix(es) at random, including the number of affixes that can be obtained. Rerolling a Charm with both an Affix and a Suffix still results in the same percent chance of getting only an auffix (50%), only a prefix (25%), or both (25%), as it does when rerolling a Charm with only an Affix. In theory, you could also receive the same affix(es) that you previously had.
Almost all Prefixes and Suffixes are shared by all Charms; however, the values vary depending on the size of the Charm. Most of the lower-end versions of Prefixes or Suffixes are only useful as leveling Charms to a limited extent; end-game players will want to concentrate their efforts solely on the highest-end versions.
Bonuses for Class Skills are only available on Grand Charms.
Magic Find is a prefix that can be used with Grand and Large Charms. It's a suffix for the Small Charms category.
Grand Charms are more common and better in early levels, so take advantage of this. Large and small charms have higher iLvl requirements for properties with similar scales than medium and small charms.
The value of Grand Charms also decreases significantly at mid-levels, when Small Charms take over as the primary resource.
Several levels of affixes can be found under the same affix name in some cases. There is a chance that not all of them will have Charms at all levels. There are typically three iLevel ranges with Grand Charms, two with Large Charms, and one with Small Charms in each of these.
Some affix properties have a possible range, such as 5-10%, which can be useful. In that case, the Charm will roll a fixed number within those ranges for that particular trait.
The Prefix and Suffix sections below provide an in-depth discussion of each Charm affix, as well as recommendations on how to best utilize them. Charms are also widely traded, so you'll want to know which ones are in the highest demand before you buy them.
Attack Rating is a percentage indicating the likelihood of hitting a targeted mob (or player in the case of PvP). A low attack rating can lead to a high number of misses. Having a high Dexterity rating can also help you improve your Attack Rating. For those of you who are constantly attempting to take down mobs that are higher level than you are, or who are worried that they will be missing out on a lot in PvP, you may want to consider improving this stat. As a Grand Charm, the highest-ranked Steel prefix provides a significantly better VPS than the lowest-ranked Steel prefix, which is one of the few instances in which this is true. Lightning deals the most overall damage of the four, but all four of them can be useful in the right build if used appropriately. Elemental damage with a high iLvl and high damageCharms are useful, highly tradable, and, when combined with the appropriate suffix, can be incredible.
There is one issue with the +Poison Charms, and that is the duration of the effect. The numbers appear to be insanely high when compared to the other elemental damage types, but keep in mind that the higher the iLvl of the Charm, the longer D2 Resurrected Items takes to deliver the full amount of damage. This is particularly effective against builds such as the Zealadin (Zealot build Paladin), where frequent hits will keep the poison counter reset, reducing the poison damage by a significant margin. In AoE builds, where a character may hit multiple targets at the same time, but not repeatedly hit the same target, it works better.
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