The Warlocks Den - WoW Warlock Discussions

With the release of the first expansion, The Burning Crusade, a new way to improve your armor pieces was introduced - socketed items. A socketed item is like any other item, except that it can be upgraded by attaching magical gemstones into the item itself. This imbues the item with additional powers similar to an enchantment. A question that is raised a lot is "what gems should I use for xxx item?" - this guide is here to help solve those questions!

Contents:

• General F.A.Q.
• What Warlocks Want
• Jewelcrafting and Gem Websites
• Gem Add-ons

What are Gems?
A gem is generally an item that can be placed into a socket of another item to give that item additional bonuses, powers and/or procs. Jewelcrafters can turn raw gems into socket gems or various jewelry items like rings and necklaces. The term "gem" can be used for raw or cut stones, but is generally only used to describe cut gems. A gem cannot be removed once it is placed into a socket, however it can be overwritten by another, destroying it in the process.


How do I place a gem into a socketed item?
If an item has sockets, shift-right-click on it to bring up the item's socketing window. Here, you can simply drag and drop gems from your inventory to the sockets. Once you are satisfied with your selections, click the "Socket Gems" button at the bottom of the window. Be aware that socketing is permanent - the gems are permanently affixed to your socketed item and there is no way to undo your decision.


What can you put into a socketed item?
There are three primary colors of gems that can be placed into a socketed item: red, blue, and yellow. In addition, there are "secondary colored" gems - orange, purple, and green - that match two colors. Players can place any color gem into a socket; however, matching all of an item's sockets with their corresponding colored gems can award additional bonuses. These dormant bonuses appear in grey text below the sockets. The only exception to this rule is the very powerful meta gem, which can only be placed into a meta socket and you must complete the meta gem requirements in order to activate it, while you don't need it to be activated in order to socket it into an item. Additionally no gem except a meta gem can be placed in a meta socket. So far, only high-end helms have meta sockets.

• Red Socket can host:
  • Red Gem
  • Purple Gem
  • Orange Gem
• Yellow socket can host:
  • Yellow Gem
  • Orange Gem
  • Green Gem
• Blue socket can host:
  • Blue Gem
  • Green Gem
  • Purple Gem

Do I have to use only gems of a certain color in a socket?
No. You can place a red gem in a yellow socket, or a blue gem in a red socket. The only downside to not matching the colors with the sockets and the gems is not receiving the item's socket bonus.

Again, it's important to note that you can put any color gem in any socket (except meta gems / meta sockets). Thus, you may decide you would rather take the benefits from individual gems that don't match instead of going for the socket bonus. In that case it would be better to ignore the suggested gems and pick the ones you want to use instead. In this way, you can tailor an item to your needs. You can take an item that you might not otherwise use and make it suit your needs by picking your own gems.


How do I gain a socket bonus?
As stated above, socketed items have dormant bonuses which appear in grey text below the sockets. This bonus will become active when certain criteria are met - usually when all an item's sockets are filled with gems that match the colors of the sockets. If an item has a red socket and two blue sockets, placing a red and two blue gems into the corresponding colored sockets will activate the socket bonus. The socket bonus stacks on top of the stat bonuses the three gems would normally provide. Note: If a gem matches the socket it is being placed into, the socket will begin to sparkle.


What are meta sockets and meta gems?
Meta sockets and gems are rare and provide powerful bonuses. Meta sockets will only accept meta gems, and meta gems can only be used in meta sockets. Meta gems can have their own special requirements unique to each meta gem. If these particular requirements are not met, the gem will not work and remain greyed out. Meta gems have their own requirements before they will activate. If a gem requires a specific number of other gems, it counts this based on all other gems currently socketed in equipped items on the character. Secondary colored gems will count towards both colors they are eligible for.

For example, "Requires at least 5 Red gems" means that for the meta-gem to function, you must have 5 gems that can be socketed in red sockets, installed on your equipped items. For example, an orange gem counts as a red gem. Incidentally, it also counts as a yellow gem.


Can I use meta gems in a normal socket?
No. Meta gems can only be used in a meta socket.


Can meta-gem effects stack?
Since only head slot items can bear meta gems, you cannot have more than one equipped ad once. Unless you have multiple heads.


Can I put a different gem into a socket that already has a gem in it?
Yes. However, any gems that were already socketed will be destroyed in the process - think of it as "overwriting" the old gem with the new one. You can not remove a gem once it has been socketed.


Do I have to fill all the sockets in an item at once?
No. You can fill one socket at a time until you find the right gems for other slots, or fill them all at once.


What does "Unique-Equipped" mean?
"Unique-Equipped" means you can only have one of these gems equipped at a time - you can carry or socket as many as you like, but you may only wear one of them. For example, you might use [legs of uberness] which you put on in raids and [shoulders of godlike ability] which you swap in when PvPing.. You can have a "Unique-Equipped" gem in both pieces of armor, but you can not equip both pieces of armor at the same time.





+Damage Gems
Since a large portion of the damage we deal comes via the spells we cast (the rest coming from our pets), anything that increases the amount of damage they do is something we want to get our hands on. After all, why would we choose to only do say 500 damage from one spell, when we can load up on +damage gear and do 750 damage from the same spell, for the same mana cost? Basically, the more +damage you have, the more damage you do!! So when it comes to picking gems, +damage gems are one of the first ones to look at!


+Hit gems Vs +Damage gems
If you are not hit capped through gear improvements alone, the best way to gem is by putting pure +Spell Hit gems into any sockets you can. Whether or not +Hit is valued over +Damage or +Stamina however depends on your game play style. I would suggest having a look at the About +Damage Gear guide and reading the "+damage Vs +Crit Vs +Hit - what to choose?" section.


PvE Gems Vs PvP Gems
Yet another choice you have to make depends on if you spend most of your time PvP'ing, or hanging out in raids and instances. The general rule of thumb is that PvP = stack on the stamina, while PvE = never drop the damage!


Single Stat Gems Vs Combo Stat Gems
When discussing gems, one thing that can arise is the single stat vs combo stat gem argument. For example: 2 x Runed Living Ruby's which provides +18 Damage, vs the 2 x Glowing Nightseye which produces +10 Spell Damage with the added bonus of +12 Stamina. What's the better choice? Is sacrificing +8 Damage worth it for the stamina increase? Etc... To hear what the members think, please see the Single Stat Gems Vs Combo Stat Gems thread.

What gems to use?
Below is the most common gems Warlocks will go for. From Canadiampimp's Gearing your Warlock guide:

Yellow - always put pure spell hit gems in UNLESS you are hit capped
Blue - put pure spell hit gems in UNLESS hit capped AND don't need 2 blue gems for meta gem
Red - only put pure spell hit gems if not hit capped AND the socket bonus is worthless

Red Socket

• Runed Ornate Ruby +12 Spell Damage
  For those happy to do a little PvP, this is available for 6,885 honor points. This gem is is "Unique-Equipped" which means you can only have one of these gems equipped at a time.
  
• Runed Living Ruby +9 Spell Damage
  Purchasable from your local jewel crafter or Auction house, they can set you back a little or a lot depending on your server.
  
• Glowing Nightseye +5 spell damage, +6 stamina
  Purchasable from your local jewel crafter or Auction house, they can set you back a little or a lot depending on your server.
  
• Veiled Noble Topaz +5 Spell Damage, +4 Spell Hit Rating
  Purchasable from your local jewel crafter or Auction house, they can set you back a little or a lot depending on your server.

For a list of all the gems Warlocks would go for that can be placed in a red socket, please see the What to put in a Red Socket? This will be the final "what gem do I get" thread if it's for a red socket. ALL questions, assistance and discussions for gems in red sockets is to go in this thread please.


Yellow Socket

• Gleaming Ornate Dawnstone +10 Spell Crit
  For those happy to do a little PvP, this is available for 6,885 honor points. This gem is is "Unique-Equipped" which means you can only have one of these gems equipped at a time.
• Gleaming Dawnstone +8 Spell Crit
  Purchasable from your local jewel crafter or Auction house, they can set you back a little or a lot depending on your server.
  
• Polished Chrysoprase +5 Spell Crit, +6 Stamina
  Chance to drops in heroic mode Shattered Halls, from any of the bosses. WoWhead has it at 6-7% drop rate however, so you might be running it a lot to get one. Patch 2.4 will see this gem lose the "Unique-Equipped" tag.
  
• Veiled Noble Topaz +5 Spell Damage, +4 Spell Hit
  Purchasable from your local jewel crafter or Auction house, they can set you back a little or a lot depending on your server.

For a list of all the gems Warlocks would go for that can be placed in a yellow socket, please see the What to put in a Yellow Socket? This will be the final "what gem do I get" thread if it's for a yellow socket. ALL questions, assistance and discussions for gems in yellow sockets is to go in this thread please.


Blue Socket

• Charmed Amani Jewel +15 stamina
  Quest reward from "Playin' With Dolls" inside Zul'Aman (reward for finding Zungam, cousin of the guy near the flight path outside ZA). Zungam is held prisoner in a hut in Halazzis area (lynx god), by the water. Once you release him from his ball and chain, he walked down stairs and then allows you to finish the quest to find him, and pick up "Playin' with dolls", which involves taking a voodoo doll he gives you to Griftah in Lower City. This gem is BOP and "Unique-Equipped".
  
• Solid Star of Elune +12 Stamina
  Purchasable from your local jewel crafter or Auction house, they can set you back a little or a lot depending on your server.
  
• Glowing Nightseye +5 spell damage, +6 stamina
  Purchasable from your local jewel crafter or Auction house, they can set you back a little or a lot depending on your server.
  
• Polished Chrysoprase +5 Spell Crit, +6 Stamina
  Chance to drops in heroic mode Shattered Halls, from any of the bosses. WoWhead has it at 6-7% drop rate however, so you might be running it a lot to get one. Patch 2.4 will see this gem lose the "Unique-Equipped" tag.

Meta Socket
Being worked on - see Help please - Meta gem order of preference - The Warlocks Den Forums


And if, after all that information, you still can't figure out for yourself what gems you want - post a reply to the Socket Recommendation thread outlining the gear piece you have to socket, any current sockets you have previously filled, your stats and what you primarily spend your time doing. Please do not start a new thread.




WoW Gem Finder - http://www.wowgemfinder.com
The Jewelcrafting Search Engine for World of Warcraft Socket Gems

If you're wanting to know what gems are out there, what different ones you can use in your item, this is the site to go to! You can click any filter in the right bar to view a gem list. You can also stack multiple filters: clicking + will add a filter, and clicking – will add an inverted filter. Stacking filters makes it easy to build complex queries, such as gems that give increase damage, but don't increase intellect. Similar site: http://www.wow-gem.com


World of Warcraft Jewelcrafting Helper - http://jesta.us/gems/
Another gem finding site. If you are a jewelcrafter though, you can register and fill the database with your known cuts so people can come to you with the gem cuts that they want.

• GemList - An add-on that allows people to whisper !gem stat to get a list of gems matching that criteria (such as red, blue, crit, stam, etc) that the Jewelcrafter can craft.
• GemHelper - An add-on that functions as a searchable/filterable complete database of all 140 gems available in the game and where to get them. If you are a Jewelcrafter, you can also craft directly from this add-on with additional options such as "Have Materials" and the ability to replace the default JC UI.
• Gemologist - A Fizzwidget addon that whenever you see a gem (in your tradeskill window, on the Auction House, or wherever), the tooltip will provide a list of what types of common minerals a miner can find that type of gem with.
• GemWatch - An addon that will show you a count of the colors you have equipped the way a meta-gem will count. It takes into account all the gems that are multicolored and give you a result back.

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