Stat-Based Armor Set Rankings

fred4

I thought it might be useful to compare various stat-based armor sets numerically to see how much bang for the buck the 5-piece bonus gives you. In order to do this, I divided the 5-piece bonus value(s) by the value(s) of what a 2/3/4 item bonus would give you. For example, for Bone Pirate, the calculation goes as follows:

2000 stamina / 1096 stamina = 1.825
150  regen   / 129  regen   = 1.163
Total                       = 2.988

In other words, the 5-piece bonus of Bone Pirate is 2.988 times the strength of a single 2/3/4 item bonus. The higher the ratio, the better the set.

In case you are new to the game, this is for giggles only. If you can't decide between similar sets, this might be relevant, but there are many differences that aren't covered by the numbers. The first question is, are the stats relevant for your build? In PvP you might like both magicka and stamina, in PvE only one stat may be relevant. Some sets only proc on certain conditions and don't give you the stat all the time. Some sets only cover certain damage types, and not healing. Some sets, like Toothrow, might be covered by a skill or potion. Furthermore, I have not included highly-rated sets that give you penetration, minor maim or crit resist, since I could not think of a good way to quantify those. Twice-Born Star is also omitted. It would require a whole chapter on it's own. Lastly, group-oriented sets and sets that give you percentage bonuses are omitted.

Sets that permanently maintain their buffs or have very reliable procs

Imperial Physique (>=10K)  19.17
Green Pact                  4.01
Amber Plasm                 3.88
Shacklebreaker              3.65
Fortified Brass             3.48
Toothrow                    3.41
Treasure Hunter             3.41
Trainee                     3.32 (bugged, actual ranking is below 3.00)
Plague Doctor               3.32
Beekeeper                   3.10
Bone Pirate                 2.99
Necropotence                2.87
Imperial Physique (<10K)    2.74
Lich                        2.67
Warlock                     2.33
Trappings of Invigoration   2.33
Julianos                    2.32
Hunding's Rage              2.32
Draugr Hulk                 2.32
Leviathan                   2.31
Mother's Sorrow             2.31
Destruction Mastery         2.19

Sets that only apply to specific damage types or weapons

Soulshine             3.49
Light Speaker         3.49
Spider Cultist        3.49
Innate Axiom          3.10
Automaton             3.10
Sword Singer          3.10
Sword Dancer          3.10
Netch's Touch         3.10
Vampire Lord          3.10
War Maiden            3.10
Ysgramor              3.10
Sun                   3.10

Sets that do not permanently grant their buff(s)

Pariah                7.46 (at maximum)
Permafrost            6.86
Fury                  5.81
Clever Alchemist      5.06
Ravager               4.88
Siroria               4.65
Moon Hunter           4.65
Bloodthorn            4.09
Senche                4.04
Scathing Mage         4.00
Elemental Succession  3.99
7th Legion            3.88 (only counting damage)
Armor Master          3.58 (only counting resistances)
Truth                 3.49
Swamp Raider          3.49
Briarheart            3.48
Moondancer            3.47
Veiled Heritance      3.10
Duneripper            2.89
Way of the Air        2.67
Flanking Strategist   2.67
Tormentor             2.45
Berserking Warrior    2.40

MerlinPendragon

Very interesting test! May have even inspired me to replace Hundings Rage with Toothrow.

I always found it odd that when people suggest Health sets for tanking that Green Pact is only mentioned secondary to Plague Doctor, Ebon, etc. This confirmed for me why it is still such a strong set if you need that high health count.

Good work!

fred4

MerlinPendragon wrote: »

Very interesting test! May have even inspired me to replace Hundings Rage with Toothrow.

Thanks. Yeah, based on the fact that Mother's Sorrow is quite highly rated for trials, it may be worth a shot, but only if you are not covering Major Savagery with potions / Expert Hunter / some group buff already. I'm not sure whether 833 crit is directly comparable to 129 weapon damage. May be good on NB and/or with Minor Force buff.

I always found it odd that when people suggest Health sets for tanking that Green Pact is only mentioned secondary to Plague Doctor, Ebon, etc. This confirmed for me why it is still such a strong set if you need that high health count.

The 5-piece from Green Pact is evenly split between health and health regen, though. Health regen has been a low-rated stat as long as I've played the game, aside from using Troll King. For tanking I suspect health is more important so as not to get one shot. I'm more of a PvPer, and I do feel base health regen once it exceeds 1K. For PvE I couldn't say, but it might be interesting to combine Green Pact with the new foods that also include health regen.

Qbiken

Very interesting, never seen this way of thinking before

This actually makes theorycrafting and testing on PTS quite a lot more interesting.

Just curious, what do you mean by trainee being "Bugged"

Minno

When in doubt craft shacklebreaker lol

VaranisArano

MerlinPendragon wrote: »

Very interesting test! May have even inspired me to replace Hundings Rage with Toothrow.

I always found it odd that when people suggest Health sets for tanking that Green Pact is only mentioned secondary to Plague Doctor, Ebon, etc. This confirmed for me why it is still such a strong set if you need that high health count.

Good work!

Green Pact is good if the tank needs more health, such as for a high health build. Ebon Armory gets its constant recommendations because its a group support set which when worn by a tank allows the DDs and Healers in the group to min-max rather than have to invest for that extra 1k health in their builds. Plague Doctor is the equivalent of Ebon Armory for anyone who doesn't run trials.

fred4

Qbiken wrote: »

Very interesting, never seen this way of thinking before

Thanks. It is particularly relevant where sets give you similar stats. For example it shows that Bone Pirate is better than Hulking Draugr, since most stamina builds also need stamina regen. You'd need to get that from somewhere else, if you wore Hulking. On the other hand there is a problem with Bone Pirate that is not reflected in the numbers: It doesn't work with Lava Foot Soup and Saltrice.

This is all about how to get the maximum possible stats. For a PvPer, one easy answer is: Use all prismatic enchants on your gear. They give you 50% more stats than any other enchant, and you probably want them all. It's a no-brainer, if you have the Tel Var / gold to pay for them. This brings your health up to the point where you may prefer Lava Foot Soup and Saltrice over Dubious Camoran Throne, and Hulking may be preferred over Bone Pirate. Because of Hakeijos and Lava Foot Soup, the Bone Pirate advantage is negated, unless you truly want the additional health from Dubious.

Always be clear about what you really want. If you want just a little more health, you can also get that by not simply dumping all 64 attribute points into stamina. Don't accept a set or food bonus merely as a "nice to have". If that happens, you can probably build better. Get sets that give you the most stats, then change everything around them, enchants, mundus, attributes, food / drinks, to get the exact mix of stats you want. This is why Amber Plasm and Shacklebreaker are hard to beat, for PvP, although I can also see why the bursty nature of some damage sets or the Lich proc is useful. What I forgot is to include a comparison table of foods, drinks and mundus stones. Maybe when I have more time.

Just curious, what do you mean by trainee being "Bugged"

Last I checked, a few months ago, Trainee gives you less stats than what the tooltips say. A single piece of Selene gives you slightly more stamina than the 5-piece stamina component from Trainee. Have not re-checked lately, but not seen any patch notes to say it was fixed.

DeadlyRecluse

This is a pretty cool way to present this data, thanks!

Super helpful for comparing a few options for stat-advantage style players.

Jimmy_The_Fixer

Trainee makes me sad, it shouldn't give less stats than shackle.

Soris

Minno wrote: »

When in doubt craft shacklebreaker lol

Haha right, i was thinking the same

El_Borracho

MerlinPendragon wrote: »

Very interesting test! May have even inspired me to replace Hundings Rage with Toothrow.

I thought the knock on Toothrow was that the 5th bonus of Major Savagery was a wasted bonus as you could use Flames of Oblivion or pots to get that buff. You can have that, and more Weapon Damage with Hundling's:

Toothrow:

(2 items) Adds 1096 Maximum Stamina
(3 items) Adds 833 Weapon Critical
(4 items) Adds 833 Weapon Critical
(5 items) Gain Major Savagery at all times, increasing your Weapon Critical rating by 2191.
(5 items) Adds 100 Weapon Damage

Hundling's:

(2 items) Adds 833 Weapon Critical
(3 items) Adds 1096 Maximum Stamina
(4 items) Adds 833 Weapon Critical
(5 items) Adds 299 Weapon Damage

You get the same Stamina and Weapon Critical bumps, but get more of a Weapon Damage bump from the 5th piece of Hundling's. I suppose you could justify Toothrow by pointing out that it applies to both bars, where FoO only boosts the bar it is on, so it could free up an ability slot. But the 199 extra damage from Hundling's is significant. Not saying either is wrong, but it would be interesting to see if the always-up Major Savagery on both bars would balance that out.

Minno

El_Borracho wrote: »

show previous quotes

MerlinPendragon wrote: »

Very interesting test! May have even inspired me to replace Hundings Rage with Toothrow.

I thought the knock on Toothrow was that the 5th bonus of Major Savagery was a wasted bonus as you could use Flames of Oblivion or pots to get that buff. You can have that, and more Weapon Damage with Hundling's:

Toothrow:

(2 items) Adds 1096 Maximum Stamina
(3 items) Adds 833 Weapon Critical
(4 items) Adds 833 Weapon Critical
(5 items) Gain Major Savagery at all times, increasing your Weapon Critical rating by 2191.
(5 items) Adds 100 Weapon Damage

Hundling's:

(2 items) Adds 833 Weapon Critical
(3 items) Adds 1096 Maximum Stamina
(4 items) Adds 833 Weapon Critical
(5 items) Adds 299 Weapon Damage

You get the same Stamina and Weapon Critical bumps, but get more of a Weapon Damage bump from the 5th piece of Hundling's. I suppose you could justify Toothrow by pointing out that it applies to both bars, where FoO only boosts the bar it is on, so it could free up an ability slot. But the 199 extra damage from Hundling's is significant. Not saying either is wrong, but it would be interesting to see if the always-up Major Savagery on both bars would balance that out.

Crit/health/stam pots too.

WD buff is easy to find as well, unlike spell damage buff.

BlackMadara

fred4 wrote: »

show previous quotes

Qbiken wrote: »

Very interesting, never seen this way of thinking before

Thanks. It is particularly relevant where sets give you similar stats. For example it shows that Bone Pirate is better than Hulking Draugr, since most stamina builds also need stamina regen. You'd need to get that from somewhere else, if you wore Hulking. On the other hand there is a problem with Bone Pirate that is not reflected in the numbers: It doesn't work with Lava Foot Soup and Saltrice.

This is all about how to get the maximum possible stats. For a PvPer, one easy answer is: Use all prismatic enchants on your gear. They give you 50% more stats than any other enchant, and you probably want them all. It's a no-brainer, if you have the Tel Var / gold to pay for them. This brings your health up to the point where you may prefer Lava Foot Soup and Saltrice over Dubious Camoran Throne, and Hulking may be preferred over Bone Pirate. Because of Hakeijos and Lava Foot Soup, the Bone Pirate advantage is negated, unless you truly want the additional health from Dubious.

Always be clear about what you really want. If you want just a little more health, you can also get that by not simply dumping all 64 attribute points into stamina. Don't accept a set or food bonus merely as a "nice to have". If that happens, you can probably build better. Get sets that give you the most stats, then change everything around them, enchants, mundus, attributes, food / drinks, to get the exact mix of stats you want. This is why Amber Plasm and Shacklebreaker are hard to beat, for PvP, although I can also see why the bursty nature of some damage sets or the Lich proc is useful. What I forgot is to include a comparison table of foods, drinks and mundus stones. Maybe when I have more time.

show previous quotes

Just curious, what do you mean by trainee being "Bugged"

Last I checked, a few months ago, Trainee gives you less stats than what the tooltips say. A single piece of Selene gives you slightly more stamina than the 5-piece stamina component from Trainee. Have not re-checked lately, but not seen any patch notes to say it was fixed.

I've actually done the same thing and included enchants, mundus, and traits. I need to format it to he more readable and then I'll post it.

SaintSubwayy

MerlinPendragon wrote: »

Very interesting test! May have even inspired me to replace Hundings Rage with Toothrow.

Keep in mind that the 5 pcs bonus is in the major buff class (major savagery)
It is also provided by expert hunter and weaponpower potions.

If you run either of them (or other form to get it) it is NOT worth using.
In pve you might even run expert hunter and pots, just because hunter gives you 2% WD

ATomiX96

keep in mind, these are raw values, some classes (and races ofc) utilize certain stats better than others (for example Nightblade Crit-Multiplier Passives)

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO

Furthermore, I have not included highly-rated sets that give you penetration, minor maim or crit resist, since I could not think of a good way to quantify those.

Pen is easy, just like you did with the rest just with a * that if you over pen, you get nothing, take the five piece/set piece, you get this-

Spinners/spriggans is 3450/1487=2.32

Calculating the sets this way is a good way to see ZOSs intended way they wantes set piece/5 piece bonus to work out, according to this from the patch notes here https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/4420099#Comment_4420099

The bonus for having 5 pieces is approximately 2.31x the value of a one-piece bonus. For example, you can get a set bonus of 129 Spell Damage, or a 5-piece bonus of 299 Spell Damage on Julianos.

Some sets, such as Necropotence, have conditional bonuses. Since it’s harder to get these bonuses, we are allowing them to provide up to a 25% increase over other sets. This is why Dragur Hulk now gives 2540 max resource and Necropotence now gives 3150.

Aznox

Nice work, i have the same thing on an excel spreadsheet somewhere on my computer, but didn't bother to put so many sets throught it ^^

If you do the same with food/drinks, you will realize they can easily amount to 2 entire 5 pc sets (counting all 2-3-4-5 bonus)

John_Falstaff

I wonder why Briarheart is so much higher than Hunding's? Yes, it does have a heal to it, but with theoretical max uptime of Briarheart being 66%, I think it's strictly equal or worse stat-wise than Hunding's (which doesn't make it a bad set because unlike Hunding's the effect is carried over bar swaps, but that's already another matter).

Many other very good sets ended up rather low in rankings; AY, Veiled Heritance, Mother's Sorrow are low but they're among top sets in their categories, but Ravager came ahead despite the fact that it's falling behind this patch (it's very easy to keep nearly 100% uptime on VH, but most classes would have troubles keeping high Ravager uptime). Different stats scale better in different situations (high crit will benefit from warhorn rotation, weapon damage from DK tank), and so on and so forth. The effort is interesting, definitely, just shouldn't be taken as a guide for choosing sets. ^^

Asardes

I was considering Green Pact for a BGs Chaos Ball build for my Stam DK, along with 7th Legion (one stat is also health recovery), and Troll King, Arhaeum Takeaway Broth and various other multipliers (Nord Racial, Constitution, Green Dragon Blood). It should give ~4K ticks.

fred4

John_Falstaff wrote: »

I wonder why Briarheart is so much higher than Hunding's? Yes, it does have a heal to it, but with theoretical max uptime of Briarheart being 66%, I think it's strictly equal or worse stat-wise than Hunding's (which doesn't make it a bad set because unlike Hunding's the effect is carried over bar swaps, but that's already another matter).

Many other very good sets ended up rather low in rankings; AY, Veiled Heritance, Mother's Sorrow are low but they're among top sets in their categories, but Ravager came ahead despite the fact that it's falling behind this patch (it's very easy to keep nearly 100% uptime on VH, but most classes would have troubles keeping high Ravager uptime). Different stats scale better in different situations (high crit will benefit from warhorn rotation, weapon damage from DK tank), and so on and so forth. The effort is interesting, definitely, just shouldn't be taken as a guide for choosing sets. ^^

The tables are deliberately dumb. I merely aimed to show how much resource you get, compared to 2/3/4 piece bonuses, when a set is procced. The proc conditions are left to the eye of the beholder, which is for example why Pariah and Fury score so highly, even though they are very situaltional, and why Briarheart is higher than Hunding's. I also did not aim to compare the effectiveness of a 2/3/4x crit bonus to a 2/3/4x weapon damage bonus, and so on.

usmguy1234

Spoiler

fred4 wrote: »

I thought it might be useful to compare various stat-based armor sets numerically to see how much bang for the buck the 5-piece bonus gives you. In order to do this, I divided the 5-piece bonus value(s) by the value(s) of what a 2/3/4 item bonus would give you. For example, for Bone Pirate, the calculation goes as follows:

2000 stamina / 1096 stamina = 1.825
150  regen   / 129  regen   = 1.163
Total                       = 2.988

In other words, the 5-piece bonus of Bone Pirate is 2.988 times the strength of a single 2/3/4 item bonus. The higher the ratio, the better the set.

In case you are new to the game, this is for giggles only. If you can't decide between similar sets, this might be relevant, but there are many differences that aren't covered by the numbers. The first question is, are the stats relevant for your build? In PvP you might like both magicka and stamina, in PvE only one stat may be relevant. Some sets only proc on certain conditions and don't give you the stat all the time. Some sets only cover certain damage types, and not healing. Some sets, like Toothrow, might be covered by a skill or potion. Furthermore, I have not included highly-rated sets that give you penetration, minor maim or crit resist, since I could not think of a good way to quantify those. Twice-Born Star is also omitted. It would require a whole chapter on it's own. Lastly, group-oriented sets and sets that give you percentage bonuses are omitted.

Sets that permanently maintain their buffs or have very reliable procs

Imperial Physique (>=10K)  19.17
Green Pact                  4.01
Amber Plasm                 3.88
Shacklebreaker              3.65
Fortified Brass             3.48
Toothrow                    3.41
Treasure Hunter             3.41
Trainee                     3.32 (bugged, actual ranking is below 3.00)
Plague Doctor               3.32
Beekeeper                   3.10
Bone Pirate                 2.99
Necropotence                2.87
Imperial Physique (<10K)    2.74
Lich                        2.67
Warlock                     2.33
Trappings of Invigoration   2.33
Julianos                    2.32
Hunding's Rage              2.32
Draugr Hulk                 2.32
Leviathan                   2.31
Mother's Sorrow             2.31
Destruction Mastery         2.19

Sets that only apply to specific damage types or weapons

Soulshine             3.49
Light Speaker         3.49
Spider Cultist        3.49
Innate Axiom          3.10
Automaton             3.10
Sword Singer          3.10
Sword Dancer          3.10
Netch's Touch         3.10
Vampire Lord          3.10
War Maiden            3.10
Ysgramor              3.10
Sun                   3.10

Sets that do not permanently grant their buff(s)

Pariah                7.46 (at maximum)
Permafrost            6.86
Fury                  5.81
Clever Alchemist      5.06
Ravager               4.88
Siroria               4.65
Moon Hunter           4.65
Bloodthorn            4.09
Senche                4.04
Scathing Mage         4.00
Elemental Succession  3.99
7th Legion            3.88 (only counting damage)
Armor Master          3.58 (only counting resistances)
Truth                 3.49
Swamp Raider          3.49
Briarheart            3.48
Moondancer            3.47
Veiled Heritance      3.10
Duneripper            2.89
Way of the Air        2.67
Flanking Strategist   2.67
Tormentor             2.45
Berserking Warrior    2.40

Very awesome. Definitely earned the insightful. I wonder if it would be beneficial to split the armors into hybrid and pure types. Like for instance bone pirate is a hybrid sustain/ damage set whereas hulking is a pure damage set. Etc.

Minno

fred4 wrote: »

show previous quotes

John_Falstaff wrote: »

I wonder why Briarheart is so much higher than Hunding's? Yes, it does have a heal to it, but with theoretical max uptime of Briarheart being 66%, I think it's strictly equal or worse stat-wise than Hunding's (which doesn't make it a bad set because unlike Hunding's the effect is carried over bar swaps, but that's already another matter).

Many other very good sets ended up rather low in rankings; AY, Veiled Heritance, Mother's Sorrow are low but they're among top sets in their categories, but Ravager came ahead despite the fact that it's falling behind this patch (it's very easy to keep nearly 100% uptime on VH, but most classes would have troubles keeping high Ravager uptime). Different stats scale better in different situations (high crit will benefit from warhorn rotation, weapon damage from DK tank), and so on and so forth. The effort is interesting, definitely, just shouldn't be taken as a guide for choosing sets. ^^

The tables are deliberately dumb. I merely aimed to show how much resource you get, compared to 2/3/4 piece bonuses, when a set is procced. The proc conditions are left to the eye of the beholder, which is for example why Pariah and Fury score so highly, even though they are very situaltional, and why Briarheart is higher than Hunding's. I also did not aim to compare the effectiveness of a 2/3/4x crit bonus to a 2/3/4x weapon damage bonus, and so on.

Yea and I like how this data shows availability of the stats instead of effectiveness of each stat.

We have too much feedback/threads on the latter but hardly a comparison on the former for players looking to upgrade their builds.

fred4

El_Borracho wrote: »

show previous quotes

MerlinPendragon wrote: »

Very interesting test! May have even inspired me to replace Hundings Rage with Toothrow.

I thought the knock on Toothrow was that the 5th bonus of Major Savagery was a wasted bonus as you could use Flames of Oblivion or pots to get that buff. You can have that, and more Weapon Damage with Hundling's:

Toothrow:

(2 items) Adds 1096 Maximum Stamina
(3 items) Adds 833 Weapon Critical
(4 items) Adds 833 Weapon Critical
(5 items) Gain Major Savagery at all times, increasing your Weapon Critical rating by 2191.
(5 items) Adds 100 Weapon Damage

Hundling's:

(2 items) Adds 833 Weapon Critical
(3 items) Adds 1096 Maximum Stamina
(4 items) Adds 833 Weapon Critical
(5 items) Adds 299 Weapon Damage

You get the same Stamina and Weapon Critical bumps, but get more of a Weapon Damage bump from the 5th piece of Hundling's. I suppose you could justify Toothrow by pointing out that it applies to both bars, where FoO only boosts the bar it is on, so it could free up an ability slot. But the 199 extra damage from Hundling's is significant. Not saying either is wrong, but it would be interesting to see if the always-up Major Savagery on both bars would balance that out.

Of course. From my initial post:

"... this is for giggles only ... some sets, like Toothrow, might be covered by a skill or potion."

The original post is only a small part of the theory-crafting puzzle and is for people who already know what they are doing, like you. What it aims to show, in the case of Toothrow, is that if you value the use of a different potion, and you are so cramped for bar space that you don't want to slot Expert Hunter / FoO, then the Toothrow set is rather good.