Socket A socket is a special slot on an item into which gem s can be inserted to provide bonuses similar to those gained from enchanting . Items with sockets and the gems to put in them were introduced in the expansion . There is currently no way to remove a gem once it has been placed into a socket . You can place another gem in the same socket , but doing so will destroy the existing gem ( much like overwriting enchants ) . Placing gems in sockets . Gems can be added to sockets in the " Item Socketing " window , which can be opened by holding shift and right clicking on a socketed item . The gems are then dragged into the slots , and the " Socket Gems " button is pressed to apply the gems . Socket types . Sockets are separated into several types : Gems may be placed by anyone into a socketed item via a drag - and - drop interface , invoked by shift - right - clicking the weapon or piece of armor you want socketed . Colored sockets . The majority of sockets found on equipment are Red , Yellow , and Blue sockets . While any gem can be put in any of these socket types , the item socket bonus will only be activated if all of the sockets are filled with the matching gem color or a gem color that contains the socket color . With the exception of meta gem s ( and Cogwheel / Hydraulic " gems " ) , all gems match one or more of these colors . Uncolored sockets . Prismatic , or uncolored , sockets are generally sockets that have been added to an item by blacksmithing skills ( or blacksmithed items such as the , , or ) . Any normal colored gem ( except meta gems , etc . ) may be placed in them . Uncolored sockets , and any gems they may have , do not count towards any socket bonus an item may have . However , they will count towards any requirements of a meta gem . Meta sockets . Meta sockets are only found on high - level head gear ( currently only in particular varieties of head items ) . Meta sockets only accept meta gem s , and meta gems may only be placed in meta sockets . In addition , if the meta gem ' s requirements are not met , that meta gem will not be activated , and you will receive neither the meta gem ' s bonuses nor any socket bonus from the item containing the meta gem . You can socket the meta gem without meeting the requirements , but the meta gem will remain inactive until you do meet its requirements ( which can be done either by socketing new gems , or equipping new items containing the required gems ) . A meta gem requires you to have currently equipped items socketed with a certain number and color of other gems . These colors can be as either primary or secondary colors ( see below ) and secondary gems count for both colors . For example , an item with a meta gem socket that requires 2 blue and 1 red gem in order to become active , could be activated by having 2 purple gems or 2 blue and an orange gem . Cogwheel sockets . Only cogwheel s can be put in these cogwheel sockets . So far , all cogwheels require Engineering to use . As of the end of Cataclysm , cogwheels have been pretty unpopular , but new upgraded cogwheels will appear in Mists of Pandaria . Hydraulic sockets . Introduced early in Cataclysm ( since as of Patch 4 . 0 . 3a ) , but never used , hydraulic sockets , were to appear in items dropped in Mists of Pandaria raids . When Mists of Pandaria was released , these sockets were effectively renamed to Sha - touched sockets ( see below ) . Sha - touched sockets . As of Patch 5 . 4 , these sockets only appear on weapon items that drop from bosses in the Heart of Fear and Terrace of Endless Spring raid s . So far only 3 gems will fit in these sockets : History . Sockets were introduced in the Burning Crusade expansion and modelled after a similar concept using runes in " Diablo II " , though the method of replacing them is different . The rune word system , which added additional bonuses if a particular set of runes was inserted in a particular order , has not been replicated in WoW — special combinations of gems do not confer any bonuses except the item ' s pre - defined socket bonus , unless using a meta gem . As of patch 3 . 0 . 2 , Blacksmiths are able to permanently place a ( additional ) socket on a bracer or glove , making the socketed item soulbound . Blacksmiths were originally given the ability to socket one - handed weapons , but this appears to not have been implemented in a patch release ( although it is referenced in the game files ) . A blacksmith can make an , which can be used by anyone ( even sold via the Auction House ) to add a " prismatic " socket to a belt , making the belt soulbound .