How many sets are actually good?

RaptorRodeoGod

How many sets are actually good for any given role? As in, for each individual role, dps, healer, tank, pvp, etc, on average how many sets are actually good and comparable to each other?

Just curious what the general consensus is.

Jusey1

Hard to answer this since it depends if you want a generalization answer (which will be meta sets) or just any sets that can be good to a degree, but never as good as meta.

rpa

Any set which gives moar stats is better than a no set at all. So all are 'good' in that sense. But there are too many sets in this game. Like sets which appear conceived for moar sets for dlc instead for some combat niche or the old dusty and cobwebby remains of nerfed ex op. I myself progress too slowly to keep up with the changes so I do not have faintest idea of the numbers.

geonsocal

10-25

from a cyrodiil perspective...

at least 10 or so basic sets: spinners, spriggans, pariah, mara's balm, order's wrath, hundings, deadly strike, war maiden, automaton, silks of the sun, dark convergence, plaguebreak...

plus at least another 10 "niche" sets to have fun with...

phaneub17_ESO

Too many activities where they can be useful beyond their intended purpose.

Amottica

What defines a "good set" is rather subjective based on the activity and the player's goal. This post was placed in the general portion of the forum so it is not defined even to one of the PvP activities or PvE. Beyond that there are many different interests in the game where different sets are more beneficial than they are in other activities.

Based on the information provided I find it difficult to choose between 50-100 and more than 100.

Cazador

Depends on your meaning of good really. If you mean meta sets it's a relatively small list, otherwise most sets are good for something or other.

fred4

25-50

I would have said more, but then you asked "per role". Hard to guess, but I think you'd be surprised. I have my go to selection of sets that I build with, but other people have different ones. The meta tries to cut through the overwhelming choice. In doing so it tends to amplify every minute performance difference.

FrancisCrawford

Most figures being given here are a bit low because monster sets, mythic items, and ability-altering weapons are sets too.

That says -- the number of 5-piece sets somebody would miss if they were removed from the game or nerfed to Oblivious is surely quite a few dozens.

The number that would be missed if everybody got new accounts and had to retool without any sunk costs is probably a smaller number of dozens.

aaisoaho

More than 100

Since we are looking for good sets in general, I have to guess it is at over 100 category. If it was just PVE, my guesstimate would've been in 50-100 slot instead. Why?

Well, let's start from what is the most familiar to me, PVE dd perspective. We have a lot of situationally good sets.

The following lists contains sets that pops to mind rather fast in no particular order.

Mythics (n=8):
- Harpooner's wading kilt
- Sea Serpent's Coil
- Thrassian Stranglers
- Death dealer's fete
- Oakensoul
- Ring of Pale Order (solo)
- Mora's Whispers
- Spaulder of Ruins (support dd)

Monster sets (n=9):
- Grothdarr (trash setups)
- Prior Thierric (trash setups)
- Zaan
- Kjalnar's nightmare
- Stormfist
- Encratis' Behemoth (support dd)
- Maw of Infernal
- Iceheart (Lokke HM progging says hi)
- Balorgh (burn setups)

Minor slayer sets (n=9):
- Bahsei's mania
- Coral Riptide
- Arms of Relequen
- Master Architect (burn setups)
- War Machine (burn setups)
- Sul-xan's torment (trash setups)
- Yandir's Might (generalist for pugging where resource management can be iffy)
- Roar of Alkosh (support dd)
- Whorl of the Depths

Non-trial sets (n=13):
- Pillar of Nirn
- Kinras's Wrath
- Burning Spellweave (trash srtups)
- Azureblight (trash setups)
- Plaguebreak (trash setups)
- Advanced Yokeda
- Mechanical Acuity (burn setups)
- Elemental Catalyst (support dd)
- Martial Knowledge (support dd)
- Z'en's Redress (support dd)
- Sergeant's Mail (oakensoul setup)
- Storm Master (Oakensoul setup)
- Grave Inevitability (oakensoul setup)

And I'm sure I forgot some sets there. But that is 39 sets listed for just PVE damage dealers. Now take into consideration there's still tank sets, healer sets and PVP.

EDIT: Of course, I forgot the weapon sets (n=9):
- Chaotic Whirlwind (trash setups)
- Titanic Cleave (trash setups)
- Chaotic Whirlwind (backbar)
- Thunderous Volley (backbar)
- Caustic Arrow (backbar single target)
- Merciless Charge (backbar)
- Crushing Wall (backbar)
- Executioner's blade (5222221 setups)
- Destructive Impact (brittleden)

Those bump PVE dd sets to 48.

KilianDermoth

25-50

.

Thecompton73

geonsocal wrote: »

from a cyrodiil perspective...

at least 10 or so basic sets: spinners, spriggans, pariah, mara's balm, order's wrath, hundings, deadly strike, war maiden, automaton, silks of the sun, dark convergence, plaguebreak...

plus at least another 10 "niche" sets to have fun with...

How did you forget the one set that rules them all, Rallying Cry?

jtm1018

Less than 10

Fotm.

Vaqual

More than 100

If people consider only 10 out of 400+ sets good, are those 10 sets not just too good?
Does fun & entertainment count in any way?
Would I use subpar sets just because the animations are less obnoxious?
Sure.
Would I opt for the best in slot option even if it ruins my characters flavour?
Likely not.
I think when most people first created an account they wanted to play Elder Scrolls (however you may define that individually), and not pwn hard with your current meta clone. I can't deny that I also get very competitive when I play PvP, but I have been playing MMOs (and PvP in the respective games) long enough to realize, that I have the most fun in games when I do not let performance optimization ruin the core game experience. I try to make sets work that I like. I have to compromise a lot and I know the limits of these "rp" builds, but overall I enjoy playing non-meta/niche sets more.

So I would argue that almost all sets can be considered good (not balanced), if you just have enough boxes to tick.^^

Tommy_The_Gun

Less than 10

Can't say about PvE, but in PvP it is very tiny amount of sets that you use, because you want to be competitive.

And after next update, in PvP all sets that have a healing aspect (even tiny ones) will be literally killing you. So even less sets will be used.

Next patch we are not allowed to heal. The only healing that will be worth using are extremely strong burst heals. Maybe it will be worth to run tri-stst potions & potion cooldown glyphs idk. Or maybe it will be worth to try to experiment which sets work in no-cp and move there.

It is not like they are nerfing older sets. They introduce new broken sets that are changing rules of the game lol.

Danikat

RaptorRodeoGod wrote: »

How many sets are actually good for any given role? As in, for each individual role, dps, healer, tank, pvp, etc, on average how many sets are actually good and comparable to each other?

Just curious what the general consensus is.

How many sets are good for a specific role is very different to how many are good overall. A perfect set for a healer would likely be terrible for DPS and you probably need different sets for PvP, and different PvE areas, or for stamina and magicka builds.

So I could say (random number) there's 10 good sets for any given role. But that could mean there's 100+ good sets in total if there's no cross over between them.

I think that's going to make the poll confusing and, if people interpret your post correctly and vote based on how many sets are good for one specific role, it will make the numbers look very low to people who read it as asking how many sets are good in total.

It gets even more murky if you accept that 'good' doesn't mean 'the best'. A set could be completely out-classed by another, but if it's still good enough that you can clear content without problems then it's still good, just not the best.

KilianDermoth

25-50

.

Agenericname

50-100

There are quite a few that are good. Fewer are meta.

Looking at just tanks, its a fair number that are seen in trials and dungeons; drakes rush, yolnokrin, pearl, powerful assault, crimson oath, turning tide, elemental catalyst, saxheel champion, olorime, and martial knowledge. There's 10 just for tank and thats without looking at punturing remedy, void bash, or monster sets.

My answer is based on the total number of sets that would considered "good" for those roles and those activities.

Holycannoli

Not an awful lot, maybe the 10-25 range.

The bigger question is how many sets aren't worth using.

MudcrabAttack

25-50

I’ve been using Wizards Wardrobe switching between 15 different sets in one trifecta trial alone on just one DPS. These help fill a role very well, a few may only be really good in one single fight but that’s why I keep it in my bag

Master bow
Maelstrom bow
Maelstrom staff
Zaan
Balorgh
Velidreth
Slimecraw
Tzogvin
Pillar of Nirn
Mechanical acuity
Coral Riptide
Relequen
Sergeants mail
Storm Master
Oakensoul

Add in people who don’t do ranged play styles using things like BRP dual wield, support sets like Zens & Alkosh & Catalyst& Martial Knowledge, sets that explode like azureblight, the other mythics like harpooner kilt & sea serpents coil & Thrassian, an entire group of magic buff sets.

It’s way beyond 25 sets, and probably more than 50 but I don’t have all day to count sets I’ve seen used in speedy vet trials before

FeedbackOnly

More than 100

Most sets have a use or can be used to complete content.It would be narrow minded to say just 10

starlizard70ub17_ESO

25-50

There's only a dozen or so truly useless sets, so most sets can be used to get you to 50lvl CP160. There's about a 12-15 sets that are great to meta for PvP and/or PvE. And then there's another 20 or so sets that are great in certain roles like trials, undaunted, etc. So there's about 30 - 35 sets that are good enough to be useful and the rest are basically decon or vendor trash.

El_Borracho

50-100

10-25? LOL. Guess a lot of people forgot there are tanks, healers, and lots of PVP builds. Heck, there are about 20 strong sets for PVE tanks alone, and that's before you get to niche builds.

CrashTest

10-25

This is just off the top of my head, thinking about sets I wear often in endgame raid, but there are probably about a dozen or so more.

1. Yolna
2. TT
3. Naz
4. vDSA sword and board
5. COR
6. Tremor Scale
7. Arch
8. Engine Guardian
9. Sax
10. Pearl
11. RO
12. JO
13. SPC
14. Pillager's
15. Symph
16. Spaulder
17. PoE
18. Pillar of Nirn
19. Relequen
20. Whorl of Depths
21. Kilt
22. Sea Serpent's Coil
23. Z'ens
24. Alkosh
25. EC (I don't wear this but it's good and it came to mind bc Zenkosh)
26. Sul-Xaan
27. Burning Spellweave
28. Grothdaar
29. Maw
30. Zaan"s
31. Master's Ice staff
32. Asylum daggers


edit - yes, I know I voted wrong. If I could revote, I'd choose 50-100 and that's just for PvE.

Kaelthorn_Nightbloom

More than 100

It's definitely more than 100. There are many niche uses for sets that players are glancing over or unaware of.

See my comment below for over 100 good sets.

Darkstorne

More than 100

"Good"?

And for what content?

The majority of sets are 'good' for solo content and questing, if not great. The majority of sets are 'good' enough for vet dungeons. I think it's only when pushing for trifectas and playing in hardcore trial groups that squeezing every ounce of performance from meta sets really begins to matter.

I have a sword and shield Warden using oakensoul, ice furnace, and frozen watcher. I shield charge a group of mobs, immobilise them with gripping shards, then hold block and watch my bear munch on them as they're obliterated in AOE frostfire 🥶🔥 It's not meta, but it's still fun and OP as hell for the vast majority of ESO content. For dungeons I swap ice furnace out for turning tide, but frozen watcher stays put.

I always think it's a shame so many players think only a select number of sets are worth using, just because those are the sets that rack up the biggest numbers against stationary high health target dummies.

Stx

25-50

If you add up all the top tier pve dps sets, support sets, tank sets, healer sets, buff sets etc. and then add all the PvP sets that are both powerful and niche I think you will be surprised how many sets are good. Also add in sets for solo pve like hexos, iceheart, pale order etc.

There are still far more useless sets in the game but yeah.

Kaelthorn_Nightbloom

More than 100

Here's a list of 105 sets that I've personally used and verified are good.

Adept Rider (multiple niche uses)
Aegis Caller (pve dps almost as good as Pillar of Nirn)
Aetherial Ascension (meta Sorcerer set for battlegrounds healing)
Agility (best 3 piece PvP weapon set if stamina is greater than magicka)
Akaviri Dragonguard (meta for ultimate spamming builds)
Archdruid Devyric (monster set that applies Major Vulnerability)
Archer's Mind (Nightblade crit damage build)
Arkasis's Genius (good set for healers in Team Deathmatch that gives entire group 44 ultimate)
Armor Master (niche damage reduction set that gives more mitigation than Swift)
Armor of the Trainee (1 piece bonus)
Armor of the Veiled Heritance (meta selfish bash build set)
Assassin's Guile (good bash build set if you need extended poison duration)
Back-Alley Gourmand (crit damage builds)
Balorgh (PvP burst damage)
Blessing of the Potentates (ultimate spam builds)
Bloodlord's Embrace (magicka permablock)
Bloodspawn (ulti regen)
Buffer of the Swift (good damage mitigation set for PvP)
Burning Spellweave (one of the best DK sets)
Clever Alchemist (great PvP burst damage set)
Crafty Alfiq (still the best selfish Mag Sorc set for shields)
Crest of Cyrodiil (good permablock set)
Crimson Oath's Rive (great debuff set for both PvE and PvP Team Deathmatch)
Daedric Trickery (great defensive PvP set)
Dagon's Dominion (the best PvP set for AoE damage builds)
Dark Convergence (still a good PvP set)
Deadlands Demolisher (meta bash build set)
Death Dealer's Fete (great mythic for Sorcs and Warden polar wind build)
Desert Rose (magicka permablock)
Drake's Rush (great set for group Major Heroism)
Draugrkin's Grip (still a good niche set for PvP)
Druid's Braid (great set for 1-bar Warden polar wind build)
Earthgore (meta set for PvP healers)
Engine Guardian (good set for niche PvP)
Essence Thief (orbs are annoying to pick up but it's still a good damage set for niche PvP)
Gaze of Sithis (best defensive Mythic if you don't block)
Grace of the Ancients (best 3 piece set for max magicka builds)
Gryphon's Ferocity (still a good niche PvP damage set if you don't have the bar space for Race Against Time)
Harpooner's Wading Kilt (still a good pve dps Mythic)
Healer's Habit (good set for 2-bar Sorc PvP healing since they don't get Minor Mending)
Heartland Conqueror (still a good set for offensive frontbar, defensive backbar)
Hexos' Ward (good set for new players until they get Pale Order)
Imperial Physique (the best set for Imperial City if you're in a good group with healers)
Innate Axiom (good starter set for DK PvP)
Kvatch Gladiator (best niche Mag Sorc set for securing Endless Fury kills in Battlegrounds)
Kynmarcher's Cruelty (great offensive PvP set)
Law of Julianos (good starter PvE set)
Lord Warden (good defensive group set)
Maarselok (good PvP monster set)
Magma Incarnate (the 2pc Minor Courage is decent but this is the best 1pc bonus for sustain)
Malacath's Band of Brutality (best PvP damage mythic for Heavy armor and low crit chance, including bash builds)
Mara's Balm (good defensive PvP set)
Mark of the Pariah (best damage mitigation set for PvP when your health is below 40%)
Mechanical Acuity (still a good burst damage PvP set)
Mighty Chudan (great PvP set if you don't have bar space for Major Resolve)
Mora's Whispers (good crit chance Mythic for PvE)
Mother's Sorrow (still a good set for solo PvE)
Necropotence (best Mag Sorc set for shields when using pets)
Night Mother's Embrace (required set for sneak build)
Night Mother's Gaze (niche Major Breach set, especially for Nightblades)
Night Terror (good 2pc bonus for sneak)
Nunatak (good monster set for Major Brittle)
Oakensoul (loaded 1-bar mythic)
Order's Wrath (good starter set for PvE and some PvP)
Perfected Crushing Wall (good Ice Warden PvP and some PvE)
Perfected Destructive Impact (very strong PvP burst set, especially on backbar)
Perfected Frenzied Momentum (strong PvP set)
Perfected Gallant Charge (it's actually good for niche bash builds)
Perfected Merciless Charge (good set when paired with Rush of Agony PvP)
Perfected Precise Regeneration (great backbar PvP healer set for sustain)
Pillar of Nirn (very strong PvE damage set)
Plague Doctor (great set for 1-bar Warden polar wind PvP build)
Plaguebreak (still a good PvP set)
Powerful Assault (one of the best group damage sets for both PvE and PvP)
Rage of the Ursauk (very strong 3 piece bonus but it will be replaced with Shield Splitter in U37)
Rallying Cry (stat dense set for PvP that provides group damage and crit mitigation)
Ring of the Pale Order (great solo PvE set and also used on many solo PvP builds in Cyro/IC and dueling)
Ring of the Wild Hunt (movespeed Mythic for solo PvE and also good for PvP)
Rush of Agony (one of the best Battlegrounds sets in the game and arguably a better version of Dark Convergence)
Scorion's Feast (good but not great - Mixed feelings about this one. It's a little wonky and the red aura means your uninformed group members think it's actually a debuff. But it does provide group damage and sustain.)
Sea-Serpent's Coil (loaded PvP damage mythic)
Sergeant's Mail (good for heavy attack build)
Shadow of the Red Mountain (honorable mention here because it can randomly proc during a burst combo in PvP)
Shell Splitter (arriving in U37 but I've confirmed that some builds will hit very hard with this - jabs, bash, flurry, etc)
Slimecraw (good for solo PvE if you can't slot Minor Berserk for some reason)
Snow Treaders (very good in PvP if you can't slot a cc break)
Spaulder of Ruin (great monster set for PvE healer)
Spell Power Cure (good for both PvE and PvP healers)
Spinners/Spriggans (these are still good but not great for PvP)
Steadfast's Mettle (niche bash build set that is actually good for its intended purpose)
Storm Master (good for heavy attack build)
Stygian (one of the strongest Nightblade sets for PvP)
Symphony of Blades (good PvE healer set if someone else is running Spaulder of Ruin)
The Ice Furnace (good Warden PvP set)
Torc of Tonal Constancy (good sustain Mythic for PvP)
Trial by Fire (meta set for PvP healer damage mitigation except for Sorc healer, also good for permablock builds)
Vicious Death (niche PvP set, very strong aoe burst)
War Maiden (hits very hard on niche Magblade builds)
Ward of Cyrodiil (good but not great for niche bash builds)
Way of Fire (good PvP damage)
Willpower (still the best 3 piece PvP weapon set for PvP damage)
Witchman Armor (good but not great set for PvP)
Wrath of the Imperium (honorable mention here that for certain niche PvP builds, this is the best 3 piece weapon damage set for ranged abilities. Note that it doesn't apply to many sources of damage that you think it would, so take caution and verify with manual testing)
Wretched Vitality (best sustain set for PvP)
Vesture of Darloc Brae (good 4pc bonus for sneak build)

Necrotech_Master

More than 100

i think the number of sets actually considered "useless" or "bad" sets is actually far lower than the number of sets that could be considered "good" or "useable"

El_Borracho

50-100

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

i think the number of sets actually considered "useless" or "bad" sets is actually far lower than the number of sets that could be considered "good" or "useable"

Totally agree, for all the pros and cons of hybridization, it did make a lot of "Why would you ever use this set?" sets viable, if not strong. Prior to hybridization, you would NEVER use Pillar of Nirn on a magicka build. Now its the meta. People are out farming Sergeant's Mail, Way of Fire, and Martial Knowledge, sets that were arguably trash just a couple of years ago. Heck, a guildie I run vet trials with has a Magplar that runs War Maiden with Soulshine and hits over 100K.

Just because a set isn't the meta doesn't mean its bad. In a lot of cases, its just as good if you use it properly

Oreyn_Bearclaw

25-50

Assuming we are counting things like monsters, mythics, and arena weapons as sets, I think most end game players are going to be in the 15-20 range of what's in their bag at any given time for trial situations. My main openworld PVP toon, probably has close to that many in her bag as well, but I don't switch around in PVP quite as often. I also certainly mix things up for BGs or group PVP play, my ganker has half a dozen sets on him as well.

Totally a shot in the dark, but In would guess I have golded out probably around 80 different unique sets during my time in ESO. If I made it gold, it was at least useful at the time.

Are all sets in the game great? No certainly not, but the reality is that there are a LOT of ways to be within a few percent of Meta. Gear certainly matters on the margins but player skill and bar loadouts are way more important than what you are wearing.

EDIT: I think some people are not quite answering the question. I completely agree that the total number of useful sets is north of 100, but the question called for useful sets for a given roll. That number is certainly lower as some sets are pretty niche. That said, if you have ever pushed score in a trial or gone for trifectas, sometimes you wear an entire loadout (3-4 sets) for a single fight. Last TTT run I did for example I had 7 different loadouts on hotkey.