Jewelcrafting 101

[Aflin]

Jewelcrafting 101: Socketing

So, you find yourself with a socketed item and now what? Time to socket? Maybe and maybe not...read on.

First off, the gems that you socket into the pieces all have different stats on them that give the item even more bonuses.

When deciding on what gems to put in the sockets, the first thing to look at is the "Socket Bonus:" For this example, we will use the Paper Hat.


Paper Hat
Cloth 87 Armor
+25 Stamina
+10 Spirit

[Blue Socket]
[Red Socket]
[Yellow Socket]

Socket Bonus: Adds 25 to your Riding Skill

Use: Adds 75 to all stats and 1500 to your armor and tops off your life, mana, rage and energy. Item cannot be used more than once every 10 seconds.

Disclaimer: this item is completely made up and does not exist in the game but is a good example for the purpose of explaining socketing.


Note the socket bonus on the item: "Socket Bonus: Adds 25 to your Riding Skill" If you want this bonus, then you have to match the colors of the sockets with the colors of the gems.

If you do NOT care about the silly socket bonus, you can use ANY color in any socket. Many people decide that the socket bonus is not worth it and put whatever gems they want in the item to get better stats for their play style.

If you do not care about the socket bonus in our example, you could put all red gems in all of the slots.

If you do match the colors, the text of socket bonus will change from gray to green so that you can easily see that the socket bonus has been activated.

Now that you have decided if you care about the socket bonus or not, you can start picking your gems. There are three sources of cut gems: Vendors, Auction House, Jewelcrafters.

For the most part, anything that a jewelcrafter makes will be better than what a vendor will sell. There are some exceptions when you get your reputation or PvP up to certain levels, but for the most part, JC'ers will be your best bet.

Important note: Gems can be changed later. If you start out with your first gems and later decide to put different gems into the sockets, you can. This will destroy the old gems in the process, but it also allows players to get some use of the item until they can get better gems later on.

Muti-colored Gems: Some gems will work in more than one colored slot. These are Green, Orange and Purple gems. Green gems will work in either a blue or yellow slot, Orange gems will work in either a red or yellow slot and Purple gems will work in either a blue or red slot. You can tell what color a cut gem is by reading the mouse over or stat window description.

Should you want to gain the socket bonus on our example hat:
Blue Socket = Blue, Green or Purple gems
Red Socket = Red, Orange or Purple gems
Yellow Socket = Yellow, Orange or Green gems

So, you could socket this item with a purple in the blue, a purple in the red and a green in the yellow and still get the socket bonus.

All cut gems have stats on them. Some gems have more than one stat. Here area few examples:
[Red]+13 to healing
[Red]+12 to Attack Power
[Purple]+4 to Spell Damage and +4 to Stamina
etc.
The list goes on and on, catch me in game for a complete list.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
An item may or may not be an upgrade for you depending on how you socket it. This is a case by case thing so get with me in game and I can link you the options and you can see if the bonus from the gems will make the item an upgrade for you or not. If not and the item is BOE, by all means, throw it on the AH instead.
The listed stats on an item may not be an upgrade, but depending on the gems you pick, it can be a lot better after socketing and end up being an upgrade for you after all.



Contact Lisha or Aflin in game for a list of what stones can be used for your piece.

Also:
If you have gems that you want cut to sell on the AH, I am happy to do this for you. If you have one gem and want to trade it for another gem, I am happy to do that as well.

We have a few folks in game that donate their gems to the guild. If you have a socketable item and need gems, I will gladly give you the gems you need for your item.

If you would like to donate uncut gems to the guild, please send them to Lisha. Please do NOT donate gems that have already been cut as they do not stack and I do not have enough bag space to hold all of the cut gems.

[Aflin]

Some of the better items in the game have a Meta Socket.

A meta gem is the only gem that will go into the socket. A meta gem is a special gem that is either player crafted or bought from a special vendor.

While a meta gem has its own stats, the stats will not apply unless you meet the requirements of the gem. Meta gems require that you have other gems in your currently equipped gear to work.

Here is an example of how it works:

Relentless Earthstorm Diamond
+12 Agility & 3% increased critical damage
Requires at least 2 Red gems
Requires at least 2 Yellow gems
Requires at least 2 Blue gems
"Only fits in a meta gem slot."


This gem will only function if you have other socketed items equipped. This paticular meta gem requires 2 of each color.

One cool thing about the secondary colored gems (purple, green and orange) is that they count twice, one for each color.
Purple counts as 1 Blue and 1 Red
Green counts as 1 Blue and 1 Yellow
Orange counts as 1 Red and 1 Yellow

Let's say that your other socketed items have a total of:
1 Blue
3 Yellows
2 Oranges

This would mean (for meta gem requirements) that you have:
1 Blue
5 Yellows
2 Reds

Since gems can be replaced in gear, you could replace one of the yellows with a green and that would satisfy the meta gem's requirements.
You would then have:
2 Blues
5 Yellows
2 Reds

With the change in previously socketed gems, your meta gem will now function properly and you will get the extra stats from the meta gem.

[Thistle]

Great post, Aflin.

For a complete list of all the gems that can be cut (for those who're curious)... go to www.wowhead.com , and browse Items / Gems / (choose a color).

There are hundreds of gems, you won't be able to browse them all at once!