If you have your farm Gem in a trap.... and you cast barrage on it, that gem always has +30% to specials, when you are high grade that makes a huge difference, huge difference, 100s of billions+
So don't reset your gem traps with the others, use barrage only... btw that 30% is with the skills in barrage at 0, not sure how it is affected if I max it out.
the enhancement skills only reduce cooldown and add tower shots. Cooldown is good tho, I max beam and barrage for instant recuperation after upgrading.
Prefer 2-4 grades at once. Ten takes too long, mana lost from upgrading to more mana gained per frame outpaces mana lost from recuperation time at about 3 upgrades. 4 is ok at early on though.