psychotic13 wrote: »

Alchemist is one of the greatest sets in the game imo, can be used in many different builds.

You can drink a potion every 45 seconds, alchemist lasts 15 seconds so you can keep it up 33% of the time, it's best to use it when you're going to burst or use an ult. also is viable for both Stam and magicka as it gives spell and weapon damage

I second this. Alchemist may be my favorite set in the game and I believe it can work in so many builds. It is just such a versatile set because not only can it be used in stam or magicka builds but, because it can be crafted, you can run whatever weight you want as well - i.e. any combination heavy, medium, light. And, of course, without any farming, you can pick the exact pieces and traits you want to run. It is one of the few crafted sets still very effective in PvP.

Further, and perhaps most importantly, it allows you to run two 5-piece sets and 2 piece monster even if you only have 11 gear spots. This is because the 15 second alchemist bonus last even if you "lose" 5-piece alchemist. So it is great for Destro/Resto, 2H/Bow, etc. As an example, on my build I run 2 pirate skelly (head + shoulders), 5 necropotence (1 body piece, destro staff, 3 jewelry), and 4 clever alchemist body pieces. But my resto staff is also alchemist. So when I switch to my back bar I only have 4 necro but I have 5 alchemist. As long as I use my potion on this bar (takes a little getting used to always using it on your back bar but definitely worth it), the spell/wep damage bonus will last 15 seconds no matter what, and it will "carry over" to my front bar even though my front bar has 5 necro and only 4 alchemist on it. It is this factor that I believe makes alchemist really shine and makes it, to use OP's words, "an absolute must have for some builds."

In the current meta the 4 piece bonuses are also really nice IMO. The set provides enough health to be a more "defensive" set as it usually puts your health pool out of one-shot range. But at the same time you get a 1 piece wep/spell damage bonus at all times and, of course, can pop a potion (on your back bar) for huge burst potential. In other words, you get some defense and huge offensive burst all in one. So this gives you a lot of room to pick another 5 piece set and 2 piece monster set to compliment it.