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Si vis pacem, para bellum

VeiledCriticism
VeiledCriticism
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So running Maelstrom arena this weekend I took notice of this set:
Para Bellum Set
  • (2 items) Adds 1096 Maximum Stamina
  • (3 items) Adds 1206 Maximum Health
  • (4 items) Adds 1096 Maximum Stamina
  • (5 items) Gain a damage shield that absorbs 13966 damage if you have not taken any damage in the last 10 seconds.

Link for set information: https://eso-sets.com/set/para-bellum


Am I missing something, or there is a situation that this set is useful?
If not, which is my guess, how come it remained untouched for so many years?


PS:
The name is from Latin and used in this famous proveb: "Si vis pacem, para bellum". It translated to "If you want peace, prepare for war".

More like, If you want to waste 5 slots, wear this set.
  • cmvet
    cmvet
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    Hiddle wrote: »
    So running Maelstrom arena this weekend I took notice of this set:
    Para Bellum Set
    • (2 items) Adds 1096 Maximum Stamina
    • (3 items) Adds 1206 Maximum Health
    • (4 items) Adds 1096 Maximum Stamina
    • (5 items) Gain a damage shield that absorbs 13966 damage if you have not taken any damage in the last 10 seconds.

    Link for set information: https://eso-sets.com/set/para-bellum


    Am I missing something, or there is a situation that this set is useful?
    If not, which is my guess, how come it remained untouched for so many years?


    PS:
    The name is from Latin and used in this famous proveb: "Si vis pacem, para bellum". It translated to "If you want peace, prepare for war".

    More like, If you want to waste 5 slots, wear this set.

    agree, name a situation, pve or pvp where you are not taking damage for 10 seconds while in a fight. I could imagine werewolf with your pets holding agro would be ok, but after monday that is not possible, so never.
    Edited by cmvet on August 11, 2019 5:02AM
  • Taleof2Cities
    Taleof2Cities
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    You're asking the right question, @Hiddle.

    Exactly what situation is this set useful?? ;)

    Because damage shields are mostly linked to tanking or defense on light armor magicka characters.

    This set, however, happens to be medium armor ... which is associated with neither of the two examples above.

    As you're likely aware, medium armor players prefer damage or proc sets for a 5-piece bonus (and not a damage shield).

    Furthermore, players generally want the 5-piece bonus working for them in combat. Not a 5-piece that spawns after the peak of combat. Or worse, after combat.

    On the bright side, the new Combat Team has been reviewing item sets and making improvements. Recall that they've made wholesale changes to another Maelstrom set, Elemental Succession, for this Monday's Scalebreaker debut.

    Maybe they take a look at Para Bellum, too, in the near future ...

    Edited by Taleof2Cities on August 11, 2019 4:46AM
  • goldenarcher1
    goldenarcher1
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    I've collected all the pieces from this set now in good traits thanks to double VMA drops.

    I just don't know why.
  • Taleof2Cities
    Taleof2Cities
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    I've collected all the pieces from this set now in good traits thanks to double VMA drops.

    I just don't know why.

    Same here.

    Have a full set with weapons and jewelry as fallout from chasing a Winterborn Ice Staff.
  • FrancisCrawford
    FrancisCrawford
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    Are there any PvP contexts in which you're confident the fight will be over within 10 seconds?
  • LinearParadox
    LinearParadox
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    This set is a great example of one of the many dead sets in this game.
    It's one of my biggest gripes; while the game boasts having literally 100s of sets to chose from, and it does, I'd say only about half of them are useful, and less than half of that are competitive.
    There is no real situation in PvP or PvP where having a 14K shield (or 7K in PvP) is going to make any kind of difference.
    There is no real situation in PvE or PvP, where you're going to have a 10 second break from all damage to refresh the shield.
    There is no real situation in PvE, as a Healer, DPS or Tank where having this set is useful or anywhere near competitive.
    There is no real situation in PvP where having this set is ANYTHING but a complete waste of a 5pc set.

    If they made the shield refresh every 10 seconds even when taking damage, it still wouldn't be enough.
    If they made the shield refresh every 5 seconds even when taking damage, it still wouldn't be competitive but might be slightly better than dead weight.

    Sadly there are a TON of sets in this game that're so bad it's astounding, and tbh they look like newbie traps to me.
    I know the combat team is going back and revisiting old/outdated/dead sets a couple at a time each patch, but most of them remain useless even after they're reworked, sadly.
    twitch.tv/linearparadox
    Benthar the Unkillable - lvl 50 StamDK - AD
    High Confessor Celosia - lvl 50 MagDK, AD
    Aeolyndra Sunstrider - lvl 50 Magplar Support God, AD
    Maldreth Angala - lvl 50 Magicka PetSorc, AD
    Veldrosa Wyldwind - lvl 50 StamSorc, AD
    M. Night Shatupon - lvl 50 MagBlade, AD
    Vestonia Ironhardt - lvl 50 Warden GuardTank, AD
    Bone Daddy - lvl 50 Stamcro, AD
    Abra Kedaver - lvl 50 Magcro, AD
    CP 1100+
  • kojou
    kojou
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    It decons for materials pretty well.

    None of the 5 piece sets in VMA were ever particularly good. I am gathering Elemental Succession for my DK now, but I had decon'ed a lot of that when it was crap, so you never know what is going to get buffs...

    My tin foil hat theory is that they like to have 1 bad set in every piece of content so they can skew the RNG towards it. Para Bellum is this set for VMA. Well... Glory is really bad too.
    Edited by kojou on August 14, 2019 2:29PM
    Playing since beta...
  • luen79rwb17_ESO
    luen79rwb17_ESO
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    Hiddle wrote: »
    More like, If you want to waste 5 slots, wear this set

    We need the latin translation for this and apply it to 90% of the sets.

    PC/DC/NAserver

    V16 sorc - V16 temp - V16 dk - V1 nb - V1 temp - V1 dk
  • SidraWillowsky
    SidraWillowsky
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    This seems to be the single least useful set in the game. I love that it drops from vMA, one of the places where you're *least* likely to not take damage in 10 seconds.
  • kalunte
    kalunte
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    take a magblade, engage, do your killing combo, cloak 4th, you get the shield to engage next target.

    you will "para bellum" (prepare your war) by having your shield before you engage your 2nd target.

    this is how it must be used, it will be bad for sure, even for bombers, but this is the "how to".
  • remilafo
    remilafo
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    it's a anti-gank set.. plain and simple....

    if hate getting surprised in pvp..
  • LinearParadox
    LinearParadox
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    remilafo wrote: »
    it's a anti-gank set.. plain and simple....

    if hate getting surprised in pvp..

    The funny thing there is, it's really not. a 5K shield in PvP isn't going to do jack against a ganker, especially now that shields can be crit. It probably won't even save you from the original burst, and if it does, it'll likely just mean the difference between your ganker using an execute ability once or twice more.
    And the irony of it all, is that a better set would've actually helped you not only survive the burst, but heal back up and even fight off your ganker, not just like for an extra second or two, pointlessly, only to die anyway just as you would've before.

    No, it honestly has 0 uses. It's not just one of the many dead sets in the game, it's probably one of the worst.
    twitch.tv/linearparadox
    Benthar the Unkillable - lvl 50 StamDK - AD
    High Confessor Celosia - lvl 50 MagDK, AD
    Aeolyndra Sunstrider - lvl 50 Magplar Support God, AD
    Maldreth Angala - lvl 50 Magicka PetSorc, AD
    Veldrosa Wyldwind - lvl 50 StamSorc, AD
    M. Night Shatupon - lvl 50 MagBlade, AD
    Vestonia Ironhardt - lvl 50 Warden GuardTank, AD
    Bone Daddy - lvl 50 Stamcro, AD
    Abra Kedaver - lvl 50 Magcro, AD
    CP 1100+
  • Major_Lag
    Major_Lag
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    Yep, as the others have nicely put it... there simply isn't any conceivable situation in which you would need a damage shield after not having taken any damage in the last 10 seconds.

    About the only conceivable use I can think of, is to wear it in Cyrodiil in heavy lag situations, to help deal with the common "problem" of being hit and killed by invisible siege projectiles with no telegraphs... except that again, there are other, much better sets to help with THAT problem.

    While we're on this subject, I think the Hatchling's Shell set also deserves a (dis)honorable mention:
    Free damage shield... nice... oh wait, it's only every 15 seconds :#
    Remind me please, when was the last time that you've had a damage shield last for more than 3-4 seconds while taking any significant amount of damage? :D (unless it was stacked under a 2nd shield, which does NOT count!)
  • Xvorg
    Xvorg
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    This set is a great example of one of the many dead sets in this game.
    It's one of my biggest gripes; while the game boasts having literally 100s of sets to chose from, and it does, I'd say only about half of them are useful, and less than half of that are competitive.
    There is no real situation in PvP or PvP where having a 14K shield (or 7K in PvP) is going to make any kind of difference.
    There is no real situation in PvE or PvP, where you're going to have a 10 second break from all damage to refresh the shield.
    There is no real situation in PvE, as a Healer, DPS or Tank where having this set is useful or anywhere near competitive.
    There is no real situation in PvP where having this set is ANYTHING but a complete waste of a 5pc set.

    If they made the shield refresh every 10 seconds even when taking damage, it still wouldn't be enough.
    If they made the shield refresh every 5 seconds even when taking damage, it still wouldn't be competitive but might be slightly better than dead weight.

    Sadly there are a TON of sets in this game that're so bad it's astounding, and tbh they look like newbie traps to me.
    I know the combat team is going back and revisiting old/outdated/dead sets a couple at a time each patch, but most of them remain useless even after they're reworked, sadly.

    On NBs can be useful in PvP if you know how to use cloak and dodge roll.
    Sarcasm is something too serious to be taken lightly

    I was born with the wrong sign
    In the wrong house
    With the wrong ascendancy
    I took the wrong road
    That led to the wrong tendencies
    I was in the wrong place at the wrong time
    For the wrong reason and the wrong rhyme
    On the wrong day of the wrong week
    Used the wrong method with the wrong technique
  • Xvorg
    Xvorg
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    This seems to be the single least useful set in the game. I love that it drops from vMA, one of the places where you're *least* likely to not take damage in 10 seconds.

    Oh, no, there are much worst examples... just remember Ashen Grip is still there.
    Edited by Xvorg on August 24, 2019 9:02PM
    Sarcasm is something too serious to be taken lightly

    I was born with the wrong sign
    In the wrong house
    With the wrong ascendancy
    I took the wrong road
    That led to the wrong tendencies
    I was in the wrong place at the wrong time
    For the wrong reason and the wrong rhyme
    On the wrong day of the wrong week
    Used the wrong method with the wrong technique
  • DoonerSeraph
    DoonerSeraph
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    If the damage absorbed by this shield (and only the para bellum shield) didnt count towards the condition for it to proc, then maybe...
  • caesarvs
    caesarvs
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    Hiddle wrote: »
    PS:
    The name is from Latin and used in this famous proveb: "Si vis pacem, para bellum". It translated to "If you want peace, prepare for war".

    All because of a dog. If that damn dog wasn't killed, hundreds of people wouldn't have to die

    :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

  • kind_hero
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    Let's add some more value to this thread.

    How do you see it improved?

    I have several suggestions (not saying they are optimal, just doing brainstorming)

    - have the shield activate on crit damage, same like Iceheart,
    - shield activates when getting out of stealth (since it is a medium armor set)
    - build up the shield strength with light attacks, and at full strength it will reflect projectiles for 1.5 seconds
    - if your health drops below 50% gain the shield
    - activate the shield after using a potion
    - activate the shield by heavy attack

    The shield should be stronger for a 5 piece bonus anyway.

    Maybe you have better ideas than me :)
    [PC/EU] Tamriel Hero, Stormproof, Grand Master Crafter
  • Major_Lag
    Major_Lag
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    kind_hero wrote: »
    - shield activates when getting out of stealth (since it is a medium armor set)
    That would be good for PvP.
    Maybe too good, even - since invisibility is already a pretty strong means of resetting the fight. And the 5pc bonus would not do you any good if your opponent is using detection or AoEs.

    In PvE though, it would be quite bad; I can't see any non-cheese way of meaningfully utilizing it like that.

    Another idea: make the shield activate on blocking, with a suitable cooldown, similar to the existing Psijic Order passive.
    Maybe with a condition that you need to not have taken any damage in the last 2-3 seconds.
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