Last night, I finally picked up enough JPs after a couple instance runs to pick up the Cluster of Stars, my leather helm of choice pre-raid. However, it also was the first helm in Cataclysm that has a meta gem slot. However, this is where a situation arose.
There is no doubt that the Chaotic Shadowspirit Diamond is the preferred meta gem. It is a 54 critical strike rating plus 3% increased damage with critical strikes. The math, which if you would like to see it, I would recommend going to Graylo's site, finds this to be true. However, it is going to be broken until 4.1 where they will return to requiring two blue gems like the old Chaotic Skyflare Diamond. The current meta requires more blue gems than red gems, which as moonkins should never happen in the first place.
From there, we have three different choices to go to. Each is dependant on what you may need.
Bracing Shadowspirit Diamond - 54 Intellect + 2% Decreased Threat
This is a very attractive meta for me specifically. One, it has a blue gem requirement so that when 4.1 fixes Chaotic, it is going to be easier to transition over in terms of regemming. Second, it has an intellect boost, which is our most important stat behind being hit capped. Third, it has decreased threat which means it is Starfalls for everybody. (Not really, but you get my point.)
Ember Shadowspirit Diamond - 54 Intellect + 2% Maximum Mana
Originally, I thought this would be the one of choice depending on your mana issues. However, it appears that at least in 25 man raiding, mana doesn't seem to be as big of a deal as first thought. (See post from yesterday.) This means that having more mana may not be as good as having some sort of threat reduction.
Fleet Shadowspirit Diamond - 54 Mastery + Minor Run Speed Increase
If you remember the reasoning behind why Tuskarr's Vitality was the boot enchant for choice in Wrath, then you know what the Fleet diamond is on the list. The faster you move, the sooner you can DPS. However, this gem has two major problems with it. One, it has Mastery, which is our worst stat. Second, there will be an enchant for a run speed increase for boots that will stil be preferred. The reason this is bad is because the speed run enchants don't cumulatively add up. In addition, looking at the math, this is the furtherest behind the Chaotic in terms of DPS by a good deal.
In terms of what I would recommend until 4.1, it is all dependant on what you want. If you have lots of gold to regem your gear when 4.1 and you want the maximum DPS, go with the Chaotic. (I would also look at Graylo's site for how to gem in this circumstance because it is not easy.) If you want to put our solid damage, decrease threat, and make it easier to regem after 4.1, go with the Bracing. If you are having mana issues in raids and 5 mans, go with the Ember. If you want to get a small run increase prior to getting your boots enchanted, go with the Fleet.
As I said, there is no doubt after 4.1, you will want to go with the Chaotic meta gem. It simply is the best output in DPS. Until then, we will just have to make due with the other gems out there.
Last reminder for this. Tomorrow is the last day for the Header Contest. I will close entries at midnight tomorrow night so if you want a chance to win some great prizes, this is your shot.
4 comments:
I'm using the Ember Shadowspirit diamond for now, since this allows me to use the same helm for both my DPS & healing sets.
@lissanna
Excellent point. The Ember is preferred if you are using it for both since it helps with mana. If a healer OOMs, everybody is in trouble.
Something to think about when starting gem. Blizzard did say they were "Rethinking" the intended change to the meta's. I wouldn't assume that things will go back to the "2 blue gems" requirement. Also don't forget the Relentless (21 agi/3% crit) didn't get a new version. I would expect that they will make a new one of those as well.
@Tinderhoof
This was the exact quote from a Blizzard blue post.
"The current design has been reconsidered, so we're planning to revert gems that now require more blue than red gems back to their original requirements. Such a change can't be accomplished via a hotfix though, so we'll have to wait to revert these in a future patch."
The Chaotic original requirement was one red gem, which should be a given for moonkins, and two blue gems. This means that I will need two Purified Demonseye to fulfill that meta requirement. Having a meta with one is ok until that happens.
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