3.0 Gems

[Juggernot]

With the new list of blue gems in place, i never knew if i should stack it but with 3.0 i thought i should, i figured i would confirm it here

Is it a good idea to use Strength + Stam gems? I used them alot in my T6 to cover the red sockets and get the socket bonus, or should i be using the +8 Dodge and stam gems?

I plan to use Enduring, The 24 stam ones for blue sockets, i was going to try and match the sockets or do we go back to stacking Stam gems? Btw i'm the MT for our guild

[Kazeyonoma]

if you can hit uncrittability than I'd say str/stam or dodge/stam are both very viable selections, it's just a matter of your raid and personal makeup. Do you like putting out more threat with a bit more mitigation? Are you not having trouble staying alive throughout the tougher bosses? go str/stam. if you're not able to survive the burst of some bosses, you might want to lower that chance of burst, go with the dodge/stam. But again, it's not like your blindly socketing anything and everything with 1 type of gem, we're talking about maybe 2-3 gem slots, it comes down to personal preference, and I doubt 2-3 gem slots will make the difference if your skill is there =]

[Juggernot]

Thanks, and yea i agree, i'm still wearing T6 and not probably going to find many upgrades till naxx (by looking at the gear guide) and i only have the BT pieces so there aren't many blue gem slots so i didn't know if i should just stack stam or if it would be fine to go with the socket colors, i'm a JC so i'm gonna use the Dragons eye and i'll get to 540 defense then go from there.

[Disruptor]

dont forget about the diminishing returns on parry / dodge ...
if you got a huge amount of dodge rather gem parry to increase survivability

[Xav]

Our survival stats are so weak currently and our threat is so high compared to DPS, I highly recommend using dodge/stam in reds, defense/stam in yellows, and solid stamina in blues. High stamina is currently an extremely value stat to have (just due to how hard some things truly hit), and the socket bonuses while picking up a bit of avoidance make the hybrid gems worth it. Strength gems however I don't find much point in using. Expertise would serve a similar purpose (more threat), scales faster until you hit the soft cap, and helps mitigate damage as well.

[Schwegburt]

I'll say thisl, Patchwerk 25 man (Not 10 man) made me re-evaluate my gemming choices. I knew he was a gear check but that bastard hits so stupidly hard it's not even funny. I thought gemming Str/Stam or Expertise/Hit for more consistent Threat was fine. But after that fight I may have to start orienting far harder in the direction of Avoidance and Effective Health.

It's hard to get over the mentality that T6 and Sunwell gear is only around an entry level blue at 80. Not only that but it's hard to stop going ape-shit over having abilities that scale now.

Our Threat's OP now and rarely a concern. I'd say lean towards survival since DPS is still catching up so fights will tend to last longer. Because of that Healing needs to catch up a bit as well with regen and even raw healing power to an extent.

[Disruptor]

dont forget about the diminishing returns on parry / dodge ...
if you got a huge amount of dodge rather gem parry to increase survivability

Well forget about that... thats not true.
I looked up some posts and calculated myself and wow, parry is so useless, just never gem it.
Defense rating is atm the best mitigation with 49 def you got 1% avoidance and 0.33% block ( tho we dont know the diminishing formula for misses ) and 41 dodge is 1% avoidance.
Anyway, i tanked the adds of sarthi heroic with 3 dragons and the damage is ridiculous.
Our feral tank with almost 40k life got almost 1 hittet by breaths and me with 35k life had some real trouble with surviving that encounter.
Even worse, that the first add coming down will be instantly focused by the raid and so you need a huge amount of life and a good TPS too.

Defense rating is the best mitigation but for encounters like sarthi you need some stam gear. ( there is a nice advantage by having more stam, you gain way more heal aggro and thats a great help )