Below is a listing of the most powerful Retribution Paladin gems.

Meta Gems

There are only two meta gems right now for PVE Ret!

[Relentless Earthsiege Diamond]
[Chaotic Skyflare Diamond]

No other choice. [+21 Critical Strike Rating (and/or 21 Agi)& 3% Increased Critical Damage] Yep you read that right, every crit you have will be increased by 3%. That’s hard to beat.

[Relentless Earthsiege Diamond] has been shown to be higher dps than [Chaotic Skyflare Diamond] due to the fact that it only requires 1 blue gem, of course if your a JC and using prismatic gems, Chaotic is better.

PVP is another story. While the Relentless Earthsiege / Chaotic Skyflare Diamonds is great, it works against your opponents if they wear Resilience gear. For PVP/Arena only builds snare or stun resist is better. The stun resist stacks with the protection talent Stoicism for a strikingly large amount

Enigmatic Skyflare Diamond / Powerful Earthsiege Diamond

Some might argue that 3% increased crit damage is best for both PVE and PVP. However, since any serious opponent will be stacking a respectable amount of Resilience, I’d almost rather be rocking some stun/snare resist. Damn Stunlock Rogues!

Socket Gems

With the release of WotLK, strength still dominates the Gemming scene. Here are the optimal gems for your slotting needs!

Red: Bold Scarlet Ruby (16+ Str.)
Yellow: Smooth Autumn’s Glow (16+ Crit.)
Orange: Inscribed Monarch Topaz ( 8+ Str/Crit.) *Note : Currently not in the game, will come with Ulduar patch. Read mini-paragraph below for optional gemming
Purple: Sovereign Twilight Opal (+8 Str +12 Stam.)

Try and stay as close to expertise cap as possible, the dual slots (Orange / Purple) could be substituted for Expertise / Hit, depending if you need one or the other more. Expertise is far more important then hit, however. (Hit cap is very easy to reach with gear alone)