Please bear in mind that this is not a hypothetical where every set and item in the game is available. Also, this is all strictly PVE.

I've been rejiggering the gear on a couple of my characters, and one of the decision points is how to set up the sets. While I have my own thoughts and have done some of my own testing, I was wondering what people on the forum think especially since Alcast is a bit of an "every problem is a nail" in this regard.

One important thing to keep in mind is that I do not any of the one-weapon sets at this point, and probably will not for a while as I simply have been focusing on other content (e.g. vet dungeons). So answers like "just grind a weapon set and go 5-3-2-1" do not really help - today.

I also do not have every monster set in "pairs" - either because I haven't gotten the helm yet (Zaan), or, conversely, because I got the helm but can't roll the shoulders for the life of me (a bunch of others), since the game apparently believes that I am a healer and not a DPS.

I do, on the other hand, have access to pretty much anything dungeon or overland, and can craft any 6-trait set. So let's transition from the hypothetical to the real.

Case 1 - Magblade DPS (standard-ish):

- Let's suppose I have the following pieces to play with: 2 Skoria, 5 Julianos (or Mechanical Acuity), 5 any overland set (e.g. War Maiden), and 3 Willpower.

- Set-up 1 is: 5 Julianos/Acuity, 5 War Maiden/whatever, 1 Skoria (for survivability). I've actually gotten ok results with this one in vet/vet HM thus far.

- Set-up 2.1 is: 5 Julianos/Acuity, 2 Skoria, 4 War Maiden/whatever. The question becomes will the auto-hit meteor offset the 5-bonus from, say, War Maiden (which does buff my best-parsing skills like Path).

- Set-up 2.2 is: 5 Julianos/Acuity, 2 Skoria, 3 Willpower and 1............nothing, really a placeholder for months from now when I start grinding one-item weapon sets. Basically do 2 bonuses from Willpower play better than 3 bonuses from an overland/dungeon set.

----

Case 2 is very similar, just stamina rather than magicka (in case there is a difference) - Stamsorc DPS (no pets 2H build like the one on Alcast):

- Starting pieces to play with: 5 Hundings or Acuity, 5 Spriggan/whatever, 3 Agility, and either 2 Kragh/Sellistrix or 1 of most others (either helm or shoulders). [I mean I also have stuff like 2 Infernal or 2 Pirate Skeleton, but surely not on a Stamsorc DPS...]

- Set-up 1: 5 Hundings/Acuity, 5 Spriggan, 1 monster piece with either health, stamina or penetration (haven't decided which).

- Set-up 2.1: 5 Hundings/Acuity, 2 Kragh or Sellistrix, 4 Spriggan/whatever. I spend most of my time in melee range so these monster sets could potentially work out better than Spriggan or something? Maybe?

- Set-up 2.2: 5 Hundings/Acuity, 2 Kragh or Sellistrix, 3 Agility and.....again, a placeholder slot for future weapons grinding.

---

So. Thoughts? Suggestions? Insightful commentary? Cat GIFs??