Welcome to Hack The Minotaur's top ten best starting sets for the Elder Scrolls Online. This list includes DLC and Base game sets and a mix of light, medium, and heavy armor sets. Thus, there will be something easy for you to pick up, no matter what class or role you want to play. In addition, all of these sets are from Overland content, meaning you can obtain them easily, either through farming delves, public dungeons, treasure chests, or basic questing. MmoGah, a reliable gold seller, help you get millions of ESO gold and buy in-game equipment easily at a lower cost.
10. Armor of The Trainee
Weight: Light/Medium/Heavy
Location: Stros M'Kai (base game), Khenarthi's Roost, Bleakrock Isle, Betnikh, Bal Foyen
Armor of the Trainee is the easiest gear set to obtain in the game. This set drops in all weights and often come with the training trait, which helps you earn XP faster, making it an even better beginner set for leveling up.
Trainee increases your maximum health, magicka, and Stamina, with the 5-piece set bonus giving you even more max resources, making this a great all-around set for any beginner build.
While most sets in ESO only drop in one specific zone, Trainee drops in three. It comes from your faction starter zones of Kenarthi's Roost, Bleakrock Isle, and Stros M'Kai. Unlike most regular overland zones in the game, these three starter zones don't drop any other armor sets. Therefore, every drop you get in this zone will be a match, making it very easy to get the 5-piece bonus quickly. Also, tons of major quests and side quests are available in these zones, and they usually drop a piece of these armor set, so doing those starter quests is a great way to get pieces quickly.
In addition to quests, all three starter zones have a high probability of spawning treasure chests, which can drop those set pieces as well, so make sure you bring some lock picks with you.
9. Shadow of The Red Mountain
Weight: Medium
Zone: Stonefalls (Base Game)
Shadow Of The Red Mountain is a medium armor set that's great for Stamina focused builds, both melee and ranged. The 2-4 piece bonuses increase all of your main damage-dealing stats, including weapon damage, max Stamina, and weapon critical, while the five piece bonus gives you a unique lava damage effect, which is strong for PvE and PvP builds.
Red mountain drops in the zone of Stonefalls, which is part of the base game, meaning you don't need any DLC's to obtain this set. Any overland enemy can drop this item, but you'll have much higher chances by completing the zone delves, the public dungeon, and the dolmens. As always, there are multiple quests in Stonefalls that can also drop pieces. For example, completing the Starved Plains quest right outside of the main city of Davon's Watch gives you a two-handed Red Mountain axe for free.
Set Piece Locations
• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• Dolmen: ring or neck
Quest Locations
• Rhorlak's War Axe (The Starved Plain): a reward after the quest "Through the Aftermath"
• Cured Kwama Leggings (Senie in Stonefalls) a reward for "Proving Trust"
8. Akaviri Dragonguard
Weight: Heavy
Zone: Eastmarch (Base Game)
Akaviri Dragonguard set is a heavy armor set that's strong for Tank builds in TESO. For the basic stats, the increased magicka recovery will help you cast more support abilities, while the increased healing taken and health can help you stay alive longer. The 5-piece bonus offers a 15% cost reduction on all ultimates, helping you pump out those powerful ultimate abilities as quickly as possible.
Akaviri Dragonguard comes from the zone of East March, which is part of the base game. Dolmens, delves, and the public dungeon are great ways to farm this gear set, but there are also many side quests in the zone that reward set pieces. For example, you can obtain the Hefty Bonestrewn Gauntlets by helping Nord find his missing family members. The quest takes less than 10 minutes, and the gloves are ideal for tanking because they come in the Sturdy trait, which reduces the cost of blocking.
Set Piece Locations
• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• Dolmen: ring or neck
Quest Locations
• Hefty Bonestrewn Gauntlets (Bonestrewn Crest, Eastmarch): given by Selgaard Wood-Hewer for the quest "Dark Deeds"
• Dungeon-Delving Harness (Mzulft): given by Kireth Vanos for the quest "Kireth's Amazing Plan"
• Skald-King's Favor (Fort Amol in Eastmarch): given by Thane Harvald for the quest "The War Council"
• Skald-King's War Plackart (Jorunn's Stand in Eastmarch): given by Prince Irnskar for the quest "A Council Of Thanes"
• Skald-King's Greaves (Mistwatch in southern Eastmarch): given by High Priest Esling for the quest "Gods Save The King"
7. Spinner's Garments
Weight: Light
Zone: Malabal Tor (Base Game)
Spinner's is a popular and classic light armor set for ESO, and it is powerful and easy to obtain. The 2-4 bonuses are especially strong because Max Magicka and Spell damage are ideal bonuses for any caster build in the game. These two primary stats will increase your damage and your healing done on most of your skills. The 5 piece bonus to Spell Penetration makes all of your abilities hit even harder because it lets your attacks ignore a significant amount of your enemies resistances and increased damage is always good, whether you're playing in PvE or PvP content.
Spinner's Garments drops in the base game zone of Malabal Tor, and as usual, can be obtained from Delves, Dolmens, the Public Dungeon, World Bosses, and treasure chests. My favorite location for farming this set is the Black Vine ruins area. This is a Delve located at the northeast corner of the map. Remember that Delves bosses can drop waist and feet pieces, so you should be able to get them quickly. As you are working on those, you can walk right outside to see if anyone is destroying the Dolmen - get a few hits in for a chance at a jewelry piece once the Dolmen is defeated.
Set Piece Locations
• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• Dolmen: ring or neck
Quests: none
6. Spriggan's Thorns
Weight: Medium
Zone: Bangkorai (Base Game)
Spriggan's Thorns is the Stamina equivalent to Spinner's Garments that we saw in number 7. Like Spinner's, Spriggan's has very strong 2-4 piece bonuses. The 5 piece bonus will automatically increase your outgoing damage, including single target damage, AoE damage, and damage over time.
Spriggan's comes from the zone of Bangkorai, which is a base game zone, and no DLC's are required. You can get a full set of Spriggan's from doing side quests in the zone. For example, you can get the two-handed Maul called Foe-Smasher by talking to Squire Theo at Murcien's Hamlet. And you can obtain the unique shoulder piece called Hircine's Boon by completing Wyress Linnae's quest at the Fallen Grotto. These are simple quests that you can complete in about 10 minutes each. You can find more quests to complete for set pieces below:
Set Piece Locations
• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• Dolmen: ring or neck
Quest Locations
• Anexiel's Thorax (Nalata Ruins): given by Najan for the quest "A Marriage In Ruins"
• Hircine's Boon (Fallen Grotto): given by Wyress Linnae for the quest "The Heart Of The Beast"
• Sentinel's Longbow (Viridian Woods): given by Wyress Demara for the quest "The Will Of The Woods"
• Chausses of the Cured (Kerbol's Hollow): given by Renoit Leonciele for the quest "Freedom's Chains"
• Foe-Smasher (Murcien's Hamlet): given by Squire Theo Rocque for the quest "The Charge Of Evermore"
• Stone-Skin Gloves (Qharroa Ruins): given by Lady Clarisse Laurent for the quest "Tongues of Stone"
5. Crafty Alfiq
Weight: Light
Zone: Northern Elsweyr (Elsweyr Chapter)
Crafty Alfiq set is a very powerful Magicka-based set, great for damage dealers and healers. Crafty Alfiq is 100% focused on Max Magicka from the 2-5 piece bonuses. This will be especially strong for classes like Magicka Sorcerer, Magicka Nightblade, and Magicka Warden, who have some scaling bonuses to their Max Magicka, helping to push those values even higher.
This is a DLC set from the Elsweyr chapter, specifically the zone of Northern Elsweyr. Again, you can be farm this easily from the Delves, the public dungeon, and treasure chests throughout the zone. There are also daily quests that have a chance to drop set pieces, and several side quests in Northern Elsweyr can drop unique Crafty Alfiq pieces as well, including a lightning staff and restoration staff. Those quests will be a great option, especially if you are at a lower level.
Set Piece Locations
• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• World Dragon: ring or neck
Quest Locations
• Anequina Healer's Rod (Anequina Aqueduct): given by Narayun for the quest "In Sickness and In Health"
• Potentate's Staff of Storms (Hakoshae Tombs): given by Ashur for the quest "Descendant of the Potentate"
4. Venomous Smite
Weight: Medium
Zone: Western Skyrim and Blackreach (Greymoor Chapter)
Venomous Smite set is a very powerful Stamina-based set both for PvE and PvP. This set gives you great offensive bonuses focused around weapon critical. And for the 5-piece bonus, when you deal any type of critical damage, you proc a Poison Effect that does AoE poison damage around a target for 10 seconds with an additional 5-second cool down. But the damage is strong, and it is AoE, so you can hit multiple targets with it. If you're going to use this set, make sure you already have invested somewhat into Critical Damage for a greater chance of procing that AoE poison.
This set comes from the Greymoor chapter, so it requires you have access to the DLC zones of Western Skyrim and Blackreach if you want to farm the gear yourself.
• Set Piece Locations
• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• Harrowstorm: ring or neck
Quest Location
Mor Khazgur Crusher (Mor Khazgur): given by Umgaak for the quest "A Clan Divided"
3. Mother's Sorrow
Weight: Light
Zone: Deshaan (Base Game)
Another very popular set from the base game is Mother's Sorrow. This set is excellent for all magicka builds and is even used by some end-game players for PvE group dungeon content and trials, so you'll get a lot of use from this set if you like playing magicka builds. For the 2-piece bonus, Mother’s Sorrow increases your max magicka, and then everything else is Spell Critical.
This set comes from the zone of Deshaan. This area in the northwest corner of the zone has a Delve, the public dungeon, and a Dolmen all in one section of the map, making it an ideal location for farming pieces for this set quickly. If you are lower level, start in the Delve and farm the Delve boss while you look for treasure chests, then work your way up to the public dungeon and Dolmens as you get stronger. Finally, there is a straightforward quest to obtain a Mother's Sorrow lightning staff in Silent Mire. It takes about 10 minutes to get this staff, though you might want to save this for when you reach the max gear level of CP 160 since that staff is so good.
Set Piece Locations
• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• Dolmen: ring or neck
Quest Locations
• Argonian Muck Minder of Mother's Sorrow (Silent Mire): given by Leel-Vata for the quest "The Saving of Silent Mire"
• Plague Mask (Quarantine Serk): given by Aerona Berendas for the quest "Bad Medicine"
• Selforan Temple Sash (Selfora Temple): given by Forlorn One for the quest "Rescue and Revenge"
2. Eternal Vigor
Weight: Heavy
Zone: Western Skyrim and Blackreach (Greymoor Chapter)
Eternal Vigor is an extremely powerful heavy armor set for all builds and play styles, including PvE and PvP. What's so great about this set is the pure, juicy stats. The set's bonuses boost your magicka, Stamina, and health recovery, plus an extra health bonus on the 5-piece. For the main 5-piece bonus, you'll have all of those recoveries. Most of the time, you will get the full 300+ Stamina and magicka recovery. But when you get in trouble and your health dips, you get a massive boost to health recovery instead. This is an all-around survival set, especially if you like playing solo because the Stamina and magicka recovery will help you sustain your skills, while the health recovery is excellent for emergencies.
Eternal Vigor is another DLC set from Greymoor, can be obtained from Delves, public dungeons, treasure chests, the daily quest, and zone side quests. For example, there's a super easy side quest in the Dragonhold Delve, which will give you the unique Dragonholm helm for free.
Set Piece Locations
• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• Harrowstorms: ring or neck
Quest Locations
• Dragonhome Helm (outside Dragonhome Delve): given by Heiruna Doll for the quest "Spellbound"
• Karthwatch Walking Boots (Karthwatch): given by Adelrine for the quest "The Blood Of Old Karth"
1. Winter's Respite
Weight: Light
Zone: Western Skyrim and Blackreach (Greymoor Chapter)
Winter's Respite is a magicka-focused set, but the passive healing on this set is so good that even a Stamina build could get some use out of it, especially for a beginner. For the 2-4 piece bonuses, you can see that they are magicka focused, but the 5-piece bonus gives you a free AoE heal every time you use a ground-based effect. Most builds can unlock ground-based effects very early with basic weapon skills like Wall Of Elements from the destruction staff skill line or Volley from the bow skill line. One of the most challenging things for new players is healing, especially on some classes that don't have excellent healing skills early on, so this set is amazing for that. This is also AoE healing, so it's great if you happen to be in a group as well.
This set drops from the Greymoor Chapter DLC. As usual, it's very easy to pick up from delves, daily quests, and side quests. For example, by completing the side quest for the Scraps Delve, you get a unique Winter's Respite staff called Spiderprod, which is super easy to get and is very effective on certain builds. I used this on my magicka templar from about level 10 to 40.
Set Piece Locations
• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• Harrowstorms: ring or neck
Quest Locations
• Rigurt's Fancy Shirt (near Karthald): given by Rigurt the Brash for the quest "Cultural Conciliation"
• Spiderprod Staff (outside The Scraps Delve): given by Neramo for the quest "The Scraps"
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