Why no new sets for One-Bar Heavy Attack?

Taucheranzug · January 15

Hey guys,

been in love with ESO so far, going into the 4th year now. BUT:

My favorite PVE playstyle is still One-Bar Heavy Attack with my Magplar. But how is it that the two best armor sets for this playstyle are still Sergeant’s Mail and Storm Master? Both have been around since the game’s release in 2014, both are still the best combination to use, and I have tried MANY other sets. Why are there no newer sets for this playstyle that offer an improvement over these two?

Sorry if this has been asked a gazillion times before, but it really makes me wonder.

Best

Necrotech_Master · January 15

storm master isnt that great for heavy attack anymore after the nerf like a year or so ago

theres only like a 3 second window when you can refresh the proc to maintain uptime on the buff

ive seen a lot of people running only sergeant with some other 5 pc dmg set on their HA builds for more effectiveness

Taucheranzug · January 15

Yeah, but like which other 5 pc dmg set for HA together with Sergeant?

- Noble Duelist: But that one doesn't have crit...
- Or maybe Infallible Mage? But then you're wasting one bonus slot as you have Minor Slayer with the Oakensoul Ring anyway...

I don't know...

freespirit · January 15

My Magplar is basically a one bar HA build but I use Order's Wrath and Deadly not BiS but it works really well with the skills I use.

My Sorc still uses HA sets and does slightly more damage, might be worth looking at Deadly for you magplar?

Necrotech_Master · January 15

you could literally use almost any dmg set in place

i know some people who are using relequen in their HA build

it doesnt have to be a set dedicated to boosting the heavy attack itself, sergeants already does a good job of that on its own

have you tried any of the "common" dps sets like pillar of nirn or something to go with sergeant? that one procs purely on dealing dmg so you wont have to change your skill slotting at all

Taucheranzug · January 15

freespirit: You mean Deadly Strike? Yeah, but that one doesn't support heavy attacks specifically, right? Also, no crit bonus...

Necrotech: thanks for the advice, tried Nirn of course, but wasn't as good. And yeah, I thought about relequen, but isn't that a typical 2-bar set?

I tried it, but switched back to Sergeant and Storm Master soon after...

Necrotech_Master · January 15

Taucheranzug wrote: »

freespirit: You mean Deadly Strike? Yeah, but that one doesn't support heavy attacks specifically, right? Also, no crit bonus...

I tried it, but switched back to Sergeant and Storm Master soon after...

the first 2 ticks of the lightning heavy are considered DOT, im not sure if the final tick also gets counted because i dont know if the heavy counts as a "channel"

Kahnak · January 16

Taucheranzug wrote: »

Hey guys,

been in love with ESO so far, going into the 4th year now. BUT:

My favorite PVE playstyle is still One-Bar Heavy Attack with my Magplar. But how is it that the two best armor sets for this playstyle are still Sergeant’s Mail and Storm Master? Both have been around since the game’s release in 2014, both are still the best combination to use, and I have tried MANY other sets. Why are there no newer sets for this playstyle that offer an improvement over these two?

Sorry if this has been asked a gazillion times before, but it really makes me wonder.

Best

They just showed off two new DPS sets that proc on heavy attack in the last developer video on top of all of the other options in the game, so I don't know what you're talking about.

madman65 · January 16

Here is a new set come out soon. This can POTENTALLY be a heavy attack set: https://eso-sets.com/set/noxious-boulder

Here one that is available: https://eso-sets.com/set/tharrikers-strike

Taucheranzug · January 17

Hey

@Kahnak : I do know that there are more options in the game. It's just that none are as good as the combo of Sergeant's and Storm Master, you know?

@madman65 : Thanks for the hint on the upcoming set, will definitely look into that! But Tharriker's is no match for above combo. At the raid puppet, I do about 77 K DPS with Sergeant's and Tharriker while I do 87 K DPS with Sergeant's and Storm Master.

And again, that's what I've been talking about. The best results are with sets originating from the start of the game 10 years ago. One would have thought that they might wanna introduce sets (or set combos) that perform better than what has been there from the start.

Thanks guys for all your input so far!

BasP · January 17

Kahnak wrote: »

They just showed off two new DPS sets that proc on heavy attack in the last developer video on top of all of the other options in the game, so I don't know what you're talking about.

I tested them on the PTS and they are worse than the HA sets from the base game though, which proves Taucheranzug's point. It would be nice if one of them would've been a small upgrade over the old sets, in my opinion.

For reference, on a Sorcerer I personally did 90K DPS with Sergeant's Mail and Noble Duelist, and only 85K DPS with Sergeant's Mail and the new set called Vandorallen's Resonance.

My results on a Warden were pretty similar: I did 89K DPS with Sergeant's and Noble, and 86K DPS with Sergeant's and Vandorallen's. I also tested the other new set with that Warden, Noxious Boulder, but only did 81K DPS.

Zodiarkslayer · January 18

Yeah, Sergeant's Mail and Noble Duelist is the best combo of sets.
Only if you want to stay at range another set is better than Noble's.

malistorr · January 21

I've been using Noble Duelist and Sargeant's Mail with Oakensoul for a long time. Back in the day it was Infallible Aether/Mage and Undaunted Infiltrator/Unweaver and that would probably still be powerful but they changed the Undaunted sets.
I don't really test damage on dummies but just reading what each set does, I'd be surprised if Storm Master was better than Noble Duelist if you are primarily heavy attacking like I am and are willing to get within melee range of the boss every 10-seconds or so. I use crit surge and boundless storm and then wall of elements and then basically just heavy attack for several seconds and repeat. You also need to use the blue champion points that buff heavy attack damage, use a shock glyph on the staff and use either the charged or infused trait (not sure which is better damage because again I don't test). Max out your max mag on armor enchants and use max mag food. You can even slot bound aegis and inner light for max mag buffs that equal extra damage and/or use pets. All infused spell damage on the jewelry. 12th item slot can be a 1-piece monster that increases spell damage or same with offensive pen if needed.

Aces-High-82 · January 22

Deadly Strike ....

Kahnak · January 22

BasP wrote: »

show previous quotes

Kahnak wrote: »

They just showed off two new DPS sets that proc on heavy attack in the last developer video on top of all of the other options in the game, so I don't know what you're talking about.

I tested them on the PTS and they are worse than the HA sets from the base game though, which proves Taucheranzug's point. It would be nice if one of them would've been a small upgrade over the old sets, in my opinion.

For reference, on a Sorcerer I personally did 90K DPS with Sergeant's Mail and Noble Duelist, and only 85K DPS with Sergeant's Mail and the new set called Vandorallen's Resonance.

My results on a Warden were pretty similar: I did 89K DPS with Sergeant's and Noble, and 86K DPS with Sergeant's and Vandorallen's. I also tested the other new set with that Warden, Noxious Boulder, but only did 81K DPS.

"I tested them on the PTS and they are worse than the HA sets from the base game though, which proves Taucheranzug's point. It would be nice if one of them would've been a small upgrade over the old sets, in my opinion."

Well, Skinnycheeks just put out a video after testing Noxious Boulder and said it was miles ahead on Heavy Attack builds for short burst and only slightly behind for long, sustained fights. So, I'm going with that assessment.

BasP · January 22

Kahnak wrote: »

show previous quotes

BasP wrote: »

Kahnak wrote: »

They just showed off two new DPS sets that proc on heavy attack in the last developer video on top of all of the other options in the game, so I don't know what you're talking about.

I tested them on the PTS and they are worse than the HA sets from the base game though, which proves Taucheranzug's point. It would be nice if one of them would've been a small upgrade over the old sets, in my opinion.

For reference, on a Sorcerer I personally did 90K DPS with Sergeant's Mail and Noble Duelist, and only 85K DPS with Sergeant's Mail and the new set called Vandorallen's Resonance.

My results on a Warden were pretty similar: I did 89K DPS with Sergeant's and Noble, and 86K DPS with Sergeant's and Vandorallen's. I also tested the other new set with that Warden, Noxious Boulder, but only did 81K DPS.

"I tested them on the PTS and they are worse than the HA sets from the base game though, which proves Taucheranzug's point. It would be nice if one of them would've been a small upgrade over the old sets, in my opinion."

Well, Skinnycheeks just put out a video after testing Noxious Boulder and said it was miles ahead on Heavy Attack builds for short burst and only slightly behind for long, sustained fights. So, I'm going with that assessment.

Yeah, I saw his video too. I concur that the burst damage from Noxious Boulder is definitely nice and I do hope that he's right about the longer sustained fights.

That said, this was my aforementioned 81K parse with Sergeant's Mail and Noxious Boulder on the Warden and this was my 89K parse with Sergeant's Mail and Noble Duelist on the same build. That's a pretty large difference.

However, due to your post I did also just try Noxious Boulder on a Sorcerer and my DPS with that set was noticeably higher than on the Warden (I did 86K DPS twice). Compared to the 90K DPS I did with Noble Duelist on that character, you could say that Noxious Boulder was only slightly behind.

On the feedback thread for the new item sets I recommended adding a small buff to Heavy Attacks to Noxious Boulder, which I still think is warranted. In that case it could be a definitive upgrade over an old base game set, instead of a set that might be better situationally.

BXR_Lonestar · January 23

I run Macabre's Vintage with Seargants Mail. It's not META for single target, but its strong enough to handle trash pulls even on vet (makes them go boom!). It's very fun. And with all stat lines being WD/SD, none of its stats are really a waste unless you are fighting a boss with no minutes, in which case I can switch to Order's Wrath or Storm Master.

JaxontheUnfortunate · January 23

I've had fun with sergeants mail and beacon of oblivion for a non pet build.

Taucheranzug · March 12

Having just done a few runs with my Heavy Attack 1-Bar Magplar on the trial puppet now that update 45 is live, I can agree to BasP's preliminary results. With Sergeant's and Noble Duelist, I am doing about 87K on the puppet, while with Sergeant's and the new Noxious Boulder, it's about 86K, so it hits pretty close. Guess I'll be trying this combo in one of my next trials to see how it behaves in "real world conditions".

Next I'll be trying is Vandorallen's Resonance from Exiled Redoubt, just to see how the "other new Heavy Attack set" is performing, but I'll expect this one to be below Noxious Boulder. I'll keep you guys posted.

Any experiences with these two new sets under live conditions you guys would like to share are greatly welcome!

Best

BixenteN7Akantor · March 13

Looking at this thread, I see no one remembers that Undaunted Infiltrator and Undaunted Unweaver exist. Just like that meme with the kid drowning lol

Taucheranzug · March 13

Can those really compete against Sergeant's/Noble Duelist/etc.?

Best

BixenteN7Akantor · March 13

They give less damage than Duelist and Sergeant, but more than Storm Master. Their uptimes are toddler-level easy to keep up, you just need a Stamina/Magicka skill cast at least every 10 seconds and there's no cooldown.
Their 2-4 lines are better than Duelist and Sergeant but worse than Storm Master.
Infaillible Mage's only upside is the Minor Slayer, otherwise absolutely trash nowadays.

Renato90085 · March 13

u45 the 70% increased damage done with Heavy Attacks against Off Balance targets is best buff,
not add new bad set

malistorr · March 13

Sargeant's Mail is mandatory if using mostly heavy attacks like I do. Noble Duelist if you get close to enemies regularly and Storm Master if you don't. Or 1 of the 2 Undaunted sets. I doubt there would be a huge difference between which of the 3 other sets you use.

silentseashore · March 13

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

show previous quotes

Taucheranzug wrote: »

freespirit: You mean Deadly Strike? Yeah, but that one doesn't support heavy attacks specifically, right? Also, no crit bonus...

I tried it, but switched back to Sergeant and Storm Master soon after...

the first 2 ticks of the lightning heavy are considered DOT, im not sure if the final tick also gets counted because i dont know if the heavy counts as a "channel"

Yes they changed that too in U38. The final tick is now both a Direct Damage attack and a channel. So Deadly Strikes is indeed one of the best no-nonsense options for boosting heavy attacks.

dark_hunterxmg · March 13

Well, they kinda need to fix the heavy attack bug for any heavy attack build to work well anyway. It's been a problem for a long time

Dagoth_Rac · March 13

Renato90085 wrote: »

u45 the 70% increased damage done with Heavy Attacks against Off Balance targets is best buff,
not add new bad set

Wasn't that a behind-the-scenes recalculation of an existing buff, not a new buff? I think the 70% buff has always been there, calculation is just easier on the server now.

Aces-High-82 · March 14

silentseashore wrote: »

show previous quotes

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

Taucheranzug wrote: »

freespirit: You mean Deadly Strike? Yeah, but that one doesn't support heavy attacks specifically, right? Also, no crit bonus...

I tried it, but switched back to Sergeant and Storm Master soon after...

the first 2 ticks of the lightning heavy are considered DOT, im not sure if the final tick also gets counted because i dont know if the heavy counts as a "channel"

Yes they changed that too in U38. The final tick is now both a Direct Damage attack and a channel. So Deadly Strikes is indeed one of the best no-nonsense options for boosting heavy attacks.

Deadly paired wit Sergeant is the best combo if you run a lightning staff.

Taucheranzug · March 17

Just gave the new Vandorallen's Resonance a few runs at the puppet, but it seems it can't compete against our most favorite combo of Sergeant's and Noble Duelist, not even against the other new set (Noxious Boulder together with Sergeant's). I barely managed to achieve 82 K with Sergeant's and Vandorallen. This is in line with what people said previously about the new U45 sets.

Also tried Noxious Boulder (with Sergeant's) in "real life conditions", but while it performs well at the puppet (almost as well as Sergeant's/Noble), it fails against Sergeant's and Noble Duelist in dungeons, probably due to the fact that one doesn't have any real control over where the boulder actually goes once it's launched...

So - all in all, I agree to what most people already said in this thread. For the time being, the Sergeant's/Noble Duelist combo is still ace. Wonder if this will ever change...

Best

ZhuJiuyin · March 18

Try Vandorallen’s Resonance, I found this set does double damage if you are close to the boss, and it procs every 6 seconds.

Jestir · March 18

ZhuJiuyin wrote: »

Try Vandorallen’s Resonance, I found this set does double damage if you are close to the boss, and it procs every 6 seconds.

I believe it has one instance of damage on you and another on the target, so yes it can twice

Looks to be a very decent melee pvp set, although being light does hurt it a bit