Diamonds are Forever: Paladin Gemming Part II

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Welcome to Part II of my guide to Paladin Gemming. Here we’ll cover Prismatic, Dragon’s Eye (Jewelcrafter only), and Meta Gems. Again, I have marked each with what spec it works best with. In this case, I also marked some for their PvP uses, mostly including those with Resilience or Stun/Silence/Fear reduction effects.

First up, we’ll talk about the Prismatic gems. These provide increases to all stats in a single gem, most often used as filler gems, as they match every color, and can be used to fill the requirements of one red, one yellow, AND one blue gem for Meta gems.

Prismatic
 Holy Retribution Enchanted Pearl +4 Stats
 Holy Retribution Enchanted Tear +6 Stats
 Holy Retribution Nightmare Tear +10 Stats

It’s obvious what is provided by each, and the only difference is the amount of stat increase, and cost. Obviously Nightmare Tears are far more expensive then the lesser Enchanted gems.

Next we have the Jewelcrafter only Dragon’s Eye gems. They provide a large amount more stat increase than the normal versions (even epic versions) of the same type.

Dragon’s Eye
  Bright Dragon’s Eye +68 Attack Power Red Socket
  Fractured Dragon’s Eye +34 Armor Penetration Red Socket
Retribution Precise Dragon’s Eye +34 Expertise Rating Red Socket
Holy Runed Dragon’s Eye +39 Spell Power Red Socket
Retribution Bold Dragon’s Eye +34 Strength Red Socket
  Delicate Dragon’s Eye +34 Agility Red Socket
  Subtle Dragon’s Eye +34 Dodge Rating Red Socket
  Flashing Dragon’s Eye +34 Parry Rating Red Socket
Holy Retribution Smooth Dragon’s Eye +34 Critical Strike Rating Yellow Socket
Retribution Rigid Dragon’s Eye +34 Hit Rating Yellow Socket
Holy Retribution Quick Dragon’s Eye +34 haste Rating Yellow Socket
Holy Brilliant Dragon’s Eye +34 Itellect Yellow Socket
Holy Retribution Mystic Dragon’s Eye +34 Resilience Yellow Socket
  Thick Dragon’s Eye +34 Defense Rating Yellow Socket
  Stormy Dragon’s Eye +43 Spell Penetration Blue Socket
  Solid Dragon’s Eye +51 Stamina Blue Socket
Holy Lustrous Dragon’s Eye +20 MP5 Blue Socket
  Sparkling Dragon’s Eye +34 Spirit Blue Socket

In these cases, I’ve marked each as what type of gem slot it would fill. For the red slots, I have marked the Precise, Runed and Bold gems. The Precise Dragon’s Eye gems provide a large amount of expertise, allowing you to quickly reach the soft cap. Runed Dragon’s Eyes provide a pretty decent amount of Spellpower. I would recommend this, if you feel that your mana and mana regen is adequate, as well as a fairly high Crit rating (I usually hover around 32% in my holy gear). Bold Dragon’s Eyes, like other Bold types of gems provide Strength, however in a much larger amount. Again, as long as you have reached the hit cap and the expertise soft cap, this would be a good filler gem.

Yellow Dragon’s Eyes provide the same stats as regular yellow gems, however, again in larger amounts. I have marked Smooth, Rigid, Quick, Brilliant, and Mystic gems. Each providing much more of the stats than those provided by regular gems. I did mark Mystic, though, for PvP purposes, providing +34 Resilience is a great boon for PvP battle, and lessening the impact of other player attacks.

Of the blue Dragon’s Eyes, I’ve only marked the Lustrous Dragon’s Eye. Even then, I’m unsure if it would really be a good choice, as MP5 has been so downrated for the Intellect stat.

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Lastly, we’ll talk about Meta gems. These gems have always intrigued me, with the different kinds of “extra” procs and abilities provided. Meta gems also require a certain amount of other gems to be activated, making gemming for them a priority. So far, only higher level headpieces have Meta gem slots, and more often then not another gem slot along with it.

Meta
  Destructive Skyflare Diamond +25 Crit Rating / 1% Spell Reflect 1xRed Socket 1xYellow Socket 1xBlue Socket
Retribution Chaotic Skyflare Diamond +21 Crit Rating / 3% Increased Crit Damage 2xBlue Socket
Holy Retribution Enigmatic Skyflare Diamond +21 Crit Rating / Reduces Snare/Root Duration by 10% 2xRed Socket 1xYellow Socket
Holy Retribution Impassive Skyflare Diamond +21 Crit Rating / Fear Duration Reduced by 10% 2xRed Socket 1xBlue Socket
Holy Beaming Earthsiege Diamond +21 Crit Rating / +2% Mana 2xRed Socket 1xYellow Socket
Holy Retribution Enigmatic Starflare Diamond +17 Crit Rating / Reduces Snare/Root Duration by 10% 2xRed Socket 1xBlue Socket
Holy Retribution Impassive Starflare Diamond +17 Crit Rating / Fear Duration Reduced by 10% 1xRed Socket 2xBlue Socket
  Invigoration earthsiege Diamond +42 Attack Power / Sometimes Heal on Your Crits 1xRed Socket 2xBlue Socket
Retribution Persistent Earthsiege Diamond +42 Attack Power / Stun Duration Reduced by 10% 2xYellow Socket 1xBlue Socket
Retribution Swift Skyflare Diamond +42 Attack Power / Minor Run Speed Increase 1xRed Socket 2xYellow Socket
Retribution Swift Starflare Diamond +34 Attack Power / Minor Run Speed Increase 1xRed Socket 2xYellow Socket
Retribution Persistent Earthshatter Diamond +34 Attack Power / Stun Duration Reduced by 10% 3xBlue Socket
  Effulgent Skyflare Diamond +32 Stamina / Reduce Spell Damage Taken by 2% 1xRed Socket 2xBlue Socket
  Austere Earthsiege Diamond +32 Stamina / 2% Increased Armor Value from Items 1xRed Socket 2xBlue Socket
  Powerful Earthsiege Diamond +32 Stamina / Stun Duration Reduced by 10% 3xBlue Socket
  Powerful Earthshatter Diamond +26 Stamina / Stun Duration Reduced by 10% 1xYellow Socket 2xBlue Socket
Holy Ember Skyflare Diamond +25 Spellpower / +2% Intellect 3xRed Socket
Holy Forlorn Skyflare Diamond +25 Spellpower / Silence Duration Reduced by 10% 2xYellow Socket 1xBlue Socket
  Tireless Skyflare Diamond +25 Spellpower / Minor Run Speed Increase 1xRed Socket 1xYellow Socket 1xBlue Socket
  Bracing Earthsiege Diamond +25 Spellpower / 2% Reduced Threat 2xRed Socket 1xBlue Socket
Holy Trenchant earthsiege Diamond +25 Spellpower / Stun Duration Reduced by 10% 1xRed Socket 1xYellow Socket 1xBlue Socket
  Trenchant Earthshatter Diamond +20 Spellpower / Stun Duration Reduced by 10% 1xRed Socket 1xYellow Socket 1xBlue Socket
Holy Forlorn Starflare Diamond +20 Spellpower / Silence Duration Reduced by 10% 2xYellow Socket 1xBlue Socket
  Tireless Starflare Diamond +20 Spellpower / Minor Run Speed Increase 1xRed Socket 1xYellow Socket 1xBlue Socket
Holy Revitalizing Skyflare Diamond +8 MP5 / 3% Increased Critical Healing Effect 2xRed Socket
  Thundering Skyflare Diamond Chance to Increase Melee/Ranged Attack Speed 1xRed Socket 1xYellow Socket 1xBlue Socket
  Eternal Earthsiege Diamond +21 Defense Rating / +5% Shield Block Value 2xRed Socket 1xBlue Socket
Holy Insightful Earthsiege Diamond +21 Intellect / Chance to restore mana on spellcast 1xRed Socket 1xYellow Socket 1xBlue Socket
Retribution Relentless Earthsiege Diamond +21 Agility / 3% Increased Critical Damage 1xRed Socket 1xYellow Socket 1xBlue Socket

There are a LOT of choices to work from, both for PvE and PvP purposes. I will begin with the PvE metas, as they are what I usually work with.

First up I’ll take a look at Holy PvE Meta gems, and their benefits. There are a few that could be used, though there are those that are preferred amongst the PvE crowd. Most popular among them is the Insightful earthsiege Diamond. This meta provides some great benefits, the +21 Intellect is excellent for the current healing models of paladins; in addition, the Chance to restore mana on spellcast actually procs fairly often, and has saved my tail a couple of times. A less used, but useful meta is the Ember Skyflare Diamond. This meta provides a good junk of Spellpower, as well as an increase of 2% of your intellect. A great starter gem to work with, especially for earlier dungeons, and the earlier pieces of gear with meta slots. The last, and likely most situational is the Revitalizing Skyflare Diamond. Again, with the downgrading of MP5 for Holy Paladins, this isn’t the best allocation of stats. Providing only 8MP5, but also increasing the healing effect of your Critical heals by 3%. As I said before, some interesting extra abilities; though I’m sure this will likely go away during Cataclysm, with the advent of Spirit and the Critical Healing Effect Mastery.

Next, we’ll take a look at the Retribution PvE meta gems. I personally have a bit of debate as to which is more effective for the ret spec. The most popular is the Relentless Earthsiege Diamond, increasing your Agility by 21, but also increasing all Critical damage by 3%. I can totally understand the Crit damage increase, as that is a wonderful addition; however, I am unsure why Agility is so popular for Ret paladins. I do understand the bit of dodge considering the up close nature of a melee spec, but the only other addition provided is the slight crit and armor increase. I personally see a bit of better use in the Chaotic Skyflare Diamond. This provides the same increase in crit damage, but also increases your Crit rating. I think this would be a more advantageous meta to choose, maybe we’ll see some comments on this.

As for PvP metas, i have included all of those with +Crit and +Spellpower for Holy specs, each with the different Stun/Silence/Fear Duration reducing effects. For Retribution I chose those with +Attack Power and +Crit, with those same Stun/Silence/Fear Duration reducing effects, in addition to some Minor Run Speed Increase gems, though more oft then not, Pursuit of Justice will take care of the speed issue.

Well, that’s a quick and dirty look at the Meta, Prismatic, and Dragon’s Eye gems available to Paladins. I hope that it helps a bit in your choices.

What gems do you prefer, or have used? Do my choices make sense to you?

2 thoughts on “Diamonds are Forever: Paladin Gemming Part II”

  1. The big difference between the Retribution metas is the gem requirement. Two blues is a horrible activation cost for Retribution PVE, stamina does absolutely zero good for your DPS. You get more DPS overall out of a single Nightmare Tear with a Relentless Earthsiege, than you will from a Chaotic Skyflare, a Nightmare Tear, and a Sovereign Dreadstone. Chaotic Skyflares are a caster DPS meta (as they all can use the spirit productively), or perhaps viable for Ret PVP.

    Reply

    • I guess that I can agree with you from a min/max perspective, as you’re wanting to get the most that you can out of as few gems as possible, and trying to use a hybrid gem for the extra blue slot isn’t going to help much. I do agree that it would be better used as a PvP meta though, as Stamina is always helpful there.

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