How to Research Best Individual Pieces of Armour

SteveyP777 · November 2020

Hi everyone,

Having to query this because I don't even know how to word the question in a way that will easily bring up google results relating to the query...

So - I see a lot of advice when it comes to building a character that depending on your preferences (i.e. solo vs group, PVP vs PVE) you may want to choose an armour combination of 5/1/1 or 5/2/0 etc... i.e. 5 pieces of armour to gain full benefits from using a set in either light/medium/heavy and then two other pieces (maybe 1 from each of the other armour types) to benefit from the Undaunted Mettle passive...

I definitely understand how to look up sets as there's loads of guidance...

But what do I do about finding the best individual pieces to go with those i.e. the awkward /1/1 or /2/0?

I may already know the answer though but it is based on an assumption which is as follows: I am *assuming* that every single piece of armour in the game is, basically, craftable! Every single one of the 7 different armour pieces for their respective weights can be crafted at the appropriate level and infused with the desired traits and enchanted... and that's it!

If that assumption is correct then I know how to go about finding the /1/1 (in my case) that I'm after. Either I can craft what I want or hope it will drop somewhere - but I am able to find lists of all the different traits and enchantments and take it from there.

However, if there are stand-alone pieces of armour which have buffs/utilities special to that particular piece, which you cannot craft, which can only be found in certain locations or as rewards for completing certain activities - then I'd really want to know what those are, how to research them and which ones to go for.

I could ask a similar question regarding weapons and jewellery.

I hope that question makes sense!

Thanks in advance

SteveyP.

Xuhora · November 2020

top of the morning to you stevey

now im not sure if i understood your question correctly but here is my answer

your assumption that the 1/1 of a set can not be from the same set since these have their specific weight to it. (i.e. ebony armor can ONLY drop in heavy, sou you assume that the 1/1 weight has to be from different sets is correct, BUT: the 1/1 generally is achieved via Monstersets which can drop in any armorclass. so we usually run a 5 piece on Body with 1 specific type, and then go for the 2 other types with the monsterset. i will make an example:

i run 5 pieces of false god (light, divines)
i run 2 pieces of maw of infernal (medium divines shoulders, heavy divines head)
with the jewelry and weapon i usually run a 3 piece of a set on backbar and a 5 piece on backbar
3 jewels mothers sorrow, inferno staff mothers sorrow frontbar (5 pieces total)
vMA lightning staff on the backbar (3 mothers sorrow, 2 VMA set)

i hope this cleared things up, if not, i missunderstood you or your writeup ist not specific enough

Scottfree2 · November 2020

" I am *assuming* that every single piece of armour in the game is, basically, craftable! Every single one of the 7 different armour pieces for their respective weights can be crafted at the appropriate level and infused with the desired traits and enchanted... and that's it!"

Nope, many sets are what are called overland sets, and typically drop in one particular weight, Others are only found in certain dungeons for example.

Yes u can craft the craftable sets in any weight, level or trait but id guess less than half?, 1/3rd? of the sets in the game are craftable.

If u want a particular dungeon or overland set, u are likely doomed to quite a few to many attempts to get the exact trait u want, tho transmutation has made that rather less onerous IF u have access to it.

The_Camper · November 2020

Basically this is how it works. Might be a tad confusing at first. But in a few days, you will know how things work when it comes to gear sets.

There are CRAFTABLE sets in the game. To craft these sets, you need to specific number of traits researched in your crafting tree. Each Armor piece has 9 craftable traits. So if a set requires 5 traits, lets say you need a heavy armor chest piece of that set, you need 5/9 researched in heavy armor chest research line to craft that specific piece of that set. Alternatively you can ask someone else to craft as these sets can be traded.

Then there are OVERLAND sets that can't be crafted, But dropped by different monsters in specific zones. These can also be traded. So either farm them or buy them from someone.

Then there are DUNGEON & ARENA sets, which are bound on pickup. Means they can't be traded or crafted. In group dungeons and arenas, the dropped sets are tradable between the members who did the dungeon for a short period. So the only way of getting these sets is doing those content.

PVP sets are ones that can only be acquired in Cyrodil and Imperial city. These can also be traded between players.

for more info on what is what, check eso-sets.com

twev · November 2020

Don't forget that there are a lot of sets that have good returns for using 4 pieces, because the 5th bonus might not be something you're interested in.
You can combine that with some other set that might have 3 or 4 bonuses picked the same way.

Add weapons and jewelry set bonuses and you can combine multiple other set combinations on the same character

Nestor · November 2020

https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/UESPWiki:EsoBuildEditor

Your bread and butter loadout will be two 5 piece sets and one 2 Piece Monster Set. There are combos of 1, 2, 3, 5 piece sets out there, and you can sometimes just use 4 of the 5 piece sets.

The one piece sets, or mythic items, are more for niche builds.

Anyway, use the build editor linked above. Hint, create a login so you can save your characters and makes trying different things easier.

MaleAmazon · November 2020

Go to

https://eso-sets.com/

And look at "Sets by content type" at the top, then look at mythic and monster items as well as some under "Arena" and "Trial" for the 'odd' pieces.

As for "awkward" pieces, you can use

2-p monster sets,

2-p 'special weapon' sets, like Maelstrom or Asylum

3-p "weapon" (or whatever they are called) sets, like agility, willpower, endurance, eagle eye and some others.

1-p mythic 'antiquities' sets.

I might have forgotten something.

SteveyP777 · November 2020

Thank you very much everyone for replying!

I can see that my question was not phrased quite well enough to convey exactly what I was asking - however - it doesn't matter as you have all basically answered it.

What I wanted to know was whether there are individual pieces of gear i.e. NOT part of a set - which offer stand-alone benefits i.e. a 'sash' that offers 'Minor Prophecy' and it'll be a 'special' sash that you can obtain somewhere without it having to be part of a set.

However, it's clear from your answers and other research I've done that basically the best way to optimise is to make sure that every piece of equippable gear is part of one or other set if at all possible.

As long as I've understood that correctly, then I know how to go about researching!

There was lots of information you have provided that I didn't know (e.g. monster sets) so lots to absorb!

Really appreciate all your help - I really love the ESO community for how helpful it is - thanks everyone.

TBois · November 2020

There are only a few items that give a 1 piece set bonus rather than needing a second piece to provide the first set bonus. These are as follows.

- Mythic Items: These only come in 1 specific gear piece.
- Moster Sets: These have a 1 piece set bonus and a 2 piece set bonus (only comes in head and shoulders but can be acquired in all 3 weights)
- Trainee Set: This set has a 1 piece set bonus, a 2 piece set bonus and a 3 piece set bonus (comes in all pieces and all 3 weights)

All other sets start giving their set bonuses at 2 pieces.

SteveyP777 · November 2020

TBois wrote: »

There are only a few items that give a 1 piece set bonus rather than needing a second piece to provide the first set bonus. These are as follows.

- Mythic Items: These only come in 1 specific gear piece.
- Moster Sets: These have a 1 piece set bonus and a 2 piece set bonus (only comes in head and shoulders but can be acquired in all 3 weights)
- Trainee Set: This set has a 1 piece set bonus, a 2 piece set bonus and a 3 piece set bonus (comes in all pieces and all 3 weights)

All other sets start giving their set bonuses at 2 pieces.

Thank you Tbois! Once again, really helpful!