Are there really only a few usable sets?

Tasear · December 2018

I often hear people say there are only a few good sets? Do you agree this to be true or misguided perception?

Moonsorrow · December 2018

For pve dps there always are the one true "bis" that mathematically the best with optimal rotation for each spec.

Kinda same for pve tanking & healing for support builds if wanna make min/max for dps for the group.

BUT, when one goes to pvp.. then its FULL of different choices and almost anything can be "usable" in right builds. Well, same for fun builds at pve, but far too many taking seriously even like random normals.

SvariBK · December 2018

Also in pve it only really matters if you run in score oriented groups otherwise you can run what you want unless you wanna do the best possible dps as a self set goal. But there are many different sets and combinations that do decent dps.
Same for tanking and healing

O_LYKOS · December 2018

Very misguided. DPS wise, sure there's always that BIS youtube build that everyone follows religiously. But theres always other sets that can be used. Some with minimal dps loss, some with more. Unless you're doing speed/score runs, i dont see the issue running whatever set up you want.

By looking at your sig you know how to think outside the box. Not everyone can tho unfortunately lol

Cavedog · December 2018

In PvP it's absolutely true. There are maybe five magic and five stam sets worth running in PvP......

In PvE you can make all kinds of things work.

With that said, a lot of the fun of the game in my opinion is figuring out what works good for what you are trying to do. It's fun to make new builds and try new things. But I think those of us who try lots of different sets, and generally chase the alleged new BiS sets, we almost always go back to the same old sets for PvP. Most of the high performers in PvP are wearing sets they got two or more years ago, and are still running willpower or agility sets a lot of the time.

Liofa · December 2018

Yes, if you care about not pulling the group down by using something inferior. If not playing with group, use Ashen Grip, who cares ^^

Juhasow · December 2018

Yes.

Dubhliam · December 2018

People like to go over the top, as always.

For example, there was a time when a new crafted set was added into the game, and some players calculated it does best damage, as it did.
EVERYONE and their mothers wore that set.

It got "nerfed" to only proc from critical direct damage.

Now it is "garbage"

So you see, for some people there is a thin line between "garbage" and "best in slot".
The reality is, you will do 50k AoE DPS with that set, while some other new set will give you 51k single target DPS.

Clearly the old crafted set is garbage, no?

mimicks · December 2018

So many sets in the game -- a lot of which are just plain garbo. Maybe some could see use in some niche or RP build but meh

ToRelax · December 2018

Cavedog wrote: »

In PvP it's absolutely true. There are maybe five magic and five stam sets worth running in PvP......

In PvE you can make all kinds of things work.

With that said, a lot of the fun of the game in my opinion is figuring out what works good for what you are trying to do. It's fun to make new builds and try new things. But I think those of us who try lots of different sets, and generally chase the alleged new BiS sets, we almost always go back to the same old sets for PvP. Most of the high performers in PvP are wearing sets they got two or more years ago, and are still running willpower or agility sets a lot of the time.

Absolutely not. There are some sets like Lich that have retained their status as good and versatile sets for years, but there are also many more niche sets and almost every update there's new ones that compete just fine.

Everstorm · December 2018

Moonsorrow wrote: »

For pve dps there always are the one true "bis" that mathematically the best with optimal rotation for each spec.

Kinda same for pve tanking & healing for support builds if wanna make min/max for dps for the group.

BUT, when one goes to pvp.. then its FULL of different choices and almost anything can be "usable" in right builds. Well, same for fun builds at pve, but far too many taking seriously even like random normals.

Cavedog wrote: »

In PvP it's absolutely true. There are maybe five magic and five stam sets worth running in PvP......

In PvE you can make all kinds of things work.

With that said, a lot of the fun of the game in my opinion is figuring out what works good for what you are trying to do. It's fun to make new builds and try new things. But I think those of us who try lots of different sets, and generally chase the alleged new BiS sets, we almost always go back to the same old sets for PvP. Most of the high performers in PvP are wearing sets they got two or more years ago, and are still running willpower or agility sets a lot of the time.

Gotta love two completely opposite answers to the same question.

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO · December 2018

I have 7 DPS, 3 mag and 4 Stam, each one wears a 2 different five piece then the rest of them and each one has a different monster set. Each can hit 35k DPS. More then enough for all the content I care to complete.

Skoomah · December 2018

Absolutely misguided. On one character alone, I have 8+ distinct load outs with specific selection of gear, skills, food/drink options. Each one tailored specifically to a particular situation and my playstyle: PVE DPS, PVE Tanking, Battleground Chaos Ball, Battleground Capture the Relic, Cyrodiil Raid Dps, Cyrodiil Raid Tanking, Cyrodiil Scroll Running, Solo PVP, Humanoid and Werewolf PVP builds. These load outs fill up 120+ inventory space.

Once you go deep into ESO’s theorycrafting, then you truly unlock the beauty of the game. There is an incredible amount of gear selection. This is just on a Stamina DK.

This is not taking into account gear selection for the other 9 classes: Magicka DK, Templar, Warden, Nightblade, Sorceror... Stamina Templar, Warden, Nightblade, Sorceror.

The problem is too many times, people will post their unique and bad ass builds on YouTube which perform well, and then everyone hops on the band wagon, then all the work is ruined because someone’s talent and intelligence is wasted cause forums nerf threads pop up and ruins the fun.

ChunkyCat · December 2018

I hear there’s a guy who completed VMA using the blade of woe set.

Believe in your selfie.

VaranisArano · December 2018

Depends.

Are you following the meta or playing content with people who insist on following the meta?

Then, yes, they surely are limited sets. The Meta & the Next-Best-Thing-To-Meta.

For the rest of us, there's whatever we where to complete the content however we like.

For example, look at tanks.

Top tank sets: Ebon Armory, Alkosh, Torug's Pact

But throw the door open to the sets that non-trials tanks use and you get: Ebon Armory, Plague Doctor, Green Pact, Alkosh, Torug's Pact, Bahara's Curse, Brands of the Imperium, Galenwe, Livewire, and several others once you allow the "selfish" builds that aren't min-maxed for support a 12 person team in trials.

So, it depends. Do you need to min-max? Or, do you just want builds that can complete the content? The latter allows much more diversity than the FotM does.

Cloudless · December 2018

It's a vicious circle, really. Some widely known users will claim that only a handful of sets can work for your chosen role, and therefore other players are going to judge you and complain if you don't use exactly those sets, leading you to give up and conform to those expectations in the end.
To me, that takes out a good chunk of fun from the game: creativity and the wish to experiment should be rewarded, not frowned upon, but the way the devs handle balance and the playerbase thinks, right now, leads to the latter.

Tasear · December 2018

VaranisArano wrote: »

Depends.

Are you following the meta or playing content with people who insist on following the meta?

Then, yes, they surely are limited sets. The Meta & the Next-Best-Thing-To-Meta.

For the rest of us, there's whatever we where to complete the content however we like.

For example, look at tanks.

Top tank sets: Ebon Armory, Alkosh, Torug's Pact

But throw the door open to the sets that non-trials tanks use and you get: Ebon Armory, Plague Doctor, Green Pact, Alkosh, Torug's Pact, Bahara's Curse, Brands of the Imperium, Galenwe, Livewire, and several others once you allow the "selfish" builds that aren't min-maxed for support a 12 person team in trials.

So, it depends. Do you need to min-max? Or, do you just want builds that can complete the content? The latter allows much more diversity than the FotM does.

I am simply curious how other people think of this question. This answi though is very insightful.

For our favor of month, meta or how ever it can be called what if we had sets that did exactly same thing as current meta sets but slightly different would it make you feel there is diversity for your community?

TequilaFire · December 2018

Liofa wrote: »

Yes, if you care about not pulling the group down by using something inferior. If not playing with group, use Ashen Grip, who cares ^^

Wow, you definitely fit the elitist requirement for class rep.

Jeremy · December 2018

Tasear wrote: »

I often hear people say there are only a few good sets? Do you agree this to be true or misguided perception?

This game has such a huge assortment of gear sets it would be unrealistic to expect them to all be popular.

I do believe a lot of them are interesting enough to be of use though. I don't buy the argument there is only a few good ones. That's only true if you're a number cruncher and don't take into account anything but raw DPS figures. Which isn't necessary or particularly important, especially as it relates to the vast amount of content.

I do believe the more focused sets that only give bonuses to a particular element should be higher though.

Tasear · December 2018

Jeremy wrote: »

Tasear wrote: »

I often hear people say there are only a few good sets? Do you agree this to be true or misguided perception?

This game has such a huge assortment of gear sets it would be unrealistic to expect them to all be popular.

I do believe a lot of them are interesting enough to be of use though. I don't buy the argument there is only a few good ones. That's only true if you're a number cruncher and don't take into account anything but raw DPS figures. Which isn't necessary or particularly important, especially as it relates to the vast amount of content.

I do believe the more focused sets that only give bonuses to a particular element should be higher though.

Which sets do you mean when you say focus on element.

hedna123b14_ESO · December 2018

Tasear https://imgur.com/gallery/lrYnNzC

Hmm...as far as I know all the dps sets in the game ARE real. Haven't seen any fake ones as of yet.

Tasear · December 2018

hedna123b14_ESO wrote: »

Tasear https://imgur.com/gallery/lrYnNzC

Hmm...as far as I know all the dps sets in the game ARE real. Haven't seen any fake ones as of yet.

Innocent Typo fixed

hedna123b14_ESO · December 2018

Tasear wrote: »

hedna123b14_ESO wrote: »

Tasear https://imgur.com/gallery/lrYnNzC

Hmm...as far as I know all the dps sets in the game ARE real. Haven't seen any fake ones as of yet.

Innocent Typo fixed

Now that I understand the question I'd have to agree with @Liofa

Liofa wrote: »

Yes, if you care about not pulling the group down by using something inferior. If not playing with group, use Ashen Grip, who cares ^^

Jeremy · December 2018

Tasear wrote: »

Jeremy wrote: »

Tasear wrote: »

I often hear people say there are only a few good sets? Do you agree this to be true or misguided perception?

This game has such a huge assortment of gear sets it would be unrealistic to expect them to all be popular.

I do believe a lot of them are interesting enough to be of use though. I don't buy the argument there is only a few good ones. That's only true if you're a number cruncher and don't take into account anything but raw DPS figures. Which isn't necessary or particularly important, especially as it relates to the vast amount of content.

I do believe the more focused sets that only give bonuses to a particular element should be higher though.

Which sets do you mean when you say focus on element.

I mean sets that boost only the power of specific elements (like Silks of the Sun for "fire") or specific types of attacks (like Soul Shine for "cast time/channeling" abilities) or specific weapon-based abilities (like Light Speaker for "restoration staff" abilities). I believe sets that have these kind of narrow focuses should be increased more so they can compete better with sets that offer more general increases across the board.

Tasear · December 2018

hedna123b14_ESO wrote: »

Tasear wrote: »

hedna123b14_ESO wrote: »

Tasear https://imgur.com/gallery/lrYnNzC

Hmm...as far as I know all the dps sets in the game ARE real. Haven't seen any fake ones as of yet.

Innocent Typo fixed

Now that I understand the question I'd have to agree with @Liofa

Liofa wrote: »

Yes, if you care about not pulling the group down by using something inferior. If not playing with group, use Ashen Grip, who cares ^^

What makes you say so? Most people are disagreeing here.

hedna123b14_ESO · December 2018

Tasear wrote: »

hedna123b14_ESO wrote: »

Tasear wrote: »

hedna123b14_ESO wrote: »

Tasear https://imgur.com/gallery/lrYnNzC

Hmm...as far as I know all the dps sets in the game ARE real. Haven't seen any fake ones as of yet.

Innocent Typo fixed

Now that I understand the question I'd have to agree with @Liofa

Liofa wrote: »

Yes, if you care about not pulling the group down by using something inferior. If not playing with group, use Ashen Grip, who cares ^^

What makes you say so? Most people are disagreeing here.

Its very simple. You can literally use anything to complete content, however when people make the comment that there are only a few usable sets, they imply that only a few sets give you the best dps. This is true

CompM4s · December 2018

Maybe less variety when it come to pve, but in pvp there are so many different combinations that can run to make the group better.

Tasear · December 2018

hedna123b14_ESO wrote: »

Tasear wrote: »

hedna123b14_ESO wrote: »

Tasear wrote: »

hedna123b14_ESO wrote: »

Tasear https://imgur.com/gallery/lrYnNzC

Hmm...as far as I know all the dps sets in the game ARE real. Haven't seen any fake ones as of yet.

Innocent Typo fixed

Now that I understand the question I'd have to agree with @Liofa

Liofa wrote: »

Yes, if you care about not pulling the group down by using something inferior. If not playing with group, use Ashen Grip, who cares ^^

What makes you say so? Most people are disagreeing here.

Its very simple. You can literally use anything to complete content, however when people make the comment that there are only a few usable sets, they imply that only a few sets give you the best dps. This is true

That's not how it works though. Not all these meta sets work on each fight the best. Then again maybe it does come back to a different issue in game as to why DPS burn has become only mechics.

Is this what causes people to feel there is limited diversity?

@ZOS_Finn

Bashev · December 2018

Cavedog wrote: »

In PvP it's absolutely true. There are maybe five magic and five stam sets worth running in PvP......

In PvE you can make all kinds of things work.

For me it is exactly the opposite.
In PvP I can make builds with so many different sets. It is really versatile.
In PvE open world you can go naked. But if it is vet trials or vet DLC dungeons there are only few sets which work for dps, tanks and healers.

ParaNostram · December 2018

Very misguided. All you need is creativity and an understanding of how the game works and you can create truly anything.

Starlock · December 2018

Given folks have different gamelay goals and priorities - as well as different play styles - there are tons of good sets to accomodate thtat. The bigger issue is accessibility of sets, which is hamstrung because of dumb mechanics that ‘have to’ exist in MMOs.