Cost effective 3

Last post to follow up on my previous ones about being cost effective. This will focus once again on epic gems. However instead of actual gold, I'm going to be talking about stat upgrades and how much you're actually paying for that epic gem in terms of being cost effective. First a disclaimer: I am not advocating only using rare or even common gems instead of epics.

If you're in a high end guild working on heroic Sindragosa, then having epic gems will indeed help make the difference between a kill and a wipe. An extra 200 stamina will save a tanks life and help you get that server first/second kill. But if you're still grinding ToC and the lower spire because you're convinced you need better gear, open up elitistjerks.com instead of the AH window. In other words, you can think of this post as amount of use Vs. price.

We'll just be using red gems because this post would wind up being far too cluttered with numbers. Also we'll be basing this off of my server's average AH prices for cut gems once again.


Cardinal ruby - 200g
20 strength
40 AP
24 SP

Scarlet ruby - 70g
16 strength
32 AP
19 SP


For a rare gem you're paying:

70g / 16 str = 4.4g per strength
70g / 32ap = 2.2g per attack power
70g / 19sp = 3.6 per spellpower


For an epic gem you'll wind up paying a total of:

200g / 20str = 10g per strength
200g / 40ap = 5g per attack power
200g / 23sp = 8.7g per spellpower

Going from rare to epic is a difference of a whopping 130g, almost a 100% increase in price per stat point, all for a game breaking bonus of 4 strength, 4 spellpower, or 8 attack power.

Now I shall ask you the obvious. Is a 200g price tag worth it for a 4 point stat difference for something you got for your alt's offspec side-grade? I should hope not. How often do you play that toon? How important is performing at the absolute max to you? Referring to a raid boss dying and not just you topping recount, how much of an over all difference will it make? Any at all? There's also the fact that many bosses these days require (mostly) that you don't get yourself killed than they require you to have massive damage. Dead mage = zero dps.

Ask yourself all of these questions and answer honestly before you decide that 130g more is legitimately worth an extra 4 strength or if 130g for that extra 6 stamina is going to keep you alive. Putting my money where my mouth is, I always used epic gems on my tank because while doing progression raiding where that little extra bit will, and numerous times has, made a difference.

However for my alt DK I'm only using rare gems because I don't play them nearly as much so the value diminishes greatly because it's rarely in use. Regardless of that, I'm still more than able to carry my own weight in dps (and that of a few others) in a raid. This is all while saving myself a few thousand gold by realizing that I wouldn't be getting nearly as much out of epic gems as I would were I on that toon more often. If nothing else remember this: casually raiding/played toons do not need epic gems.


Thanks for stopping by!