Gear is an extremely important aspect of builds in ESO. There's an insane amount of sets in the game and figuring out which sets to run on your build can be a daunting task. This article will go over the most common sets used in Group PVE content and give explanations on their strengths and weaknesses. This should give you a good start on what sets to pick in certain situations.

Note: For all of the non-DPS sets, as you do harder content the distinction between who wears what support sets starts to blur. You'll see healers and tanks run support DPS sets so less DPS are in support sets. Over time it's a good idea to make all of these sets so you can be flexible on these types of rosters.

DPS Sets

Slayer Sets (Pick one)

• Arms of Relequen - Extremely strong Single Target set. It's the default slayer set to pick if another set doesn't fit the goal of your build better. Downside is that it requires hitting light attacks consistently, so you won't see its strength unless you practice hitting light attacks in content.
• Coral Riptide - Extremely strong AOE set and very strong Single Target set. If you need AOE damage this is the best set to run and for some builds for Single Target (such as Arcanist). Downside to this set is that you need to keep your stamina very low to get the most out of the set, so be sure to dump your stamina low before every fight.
• Slivers of the Null Arca - Strong single target set and decent AOE set. This set doesn't require any active effort to get the bonus from it, making it nice in situations where Relequen or Coral don't mesh well with the fight (lots of downtime or unable to manage stamina). Downside is that procs from the set can hit the wrong target, making it feel bad in fights with a lot of targets.
• Mantle of Siroria - Strong Single Target and AOE set. This set gives about 85% of the bonus that Coral Riptide gives with a much easier condition to keep up. Downside to this set is that it's a light set meaning you'll likely want to run it as jewelry and weapons instead of on the body.
• Sul-Xan's Torment - Very strong AOE set. This set is great in trash as you'll constantly spawn the souls from small adds dying. This buff can then be brought into boss fights even after swapping sets, increasing your damage at the start of the fight significantly. Downside to this set is that you need a decent amount of enemies dying in order to proc the set, which isn't true for a lot of boss fights in the game.
• Whorl of the Depths - Strong Single Target set. This set is similar to Null Arca as it does not require active effort to get the full bonus of the set making it nice in situations where other sets can fall short. Downside to this set is that it's easy to proc the set on other targets, making it a minigame of avoiding hitting the wrong target. The set is also light meaning it's best used as jewelry/weapons.

Non-Slayer Sets

• Deadly - Very strong Single Target and AOE set. This set works extremely well for builds using a channeled spammable as almost all of your damage is buffed by the set. Otherwise this set is fairly mediocre.
• Azureblight Reaper - Extremely strong AOE set. Any fight with multiple targets (including trash) this set is almost always your first pick. It's extremely easy to use as it just requires placing down AOE ground DOTs which every build does. Only downside is the damage is bad with only one target.
• Runecarver - Very strong Single Target set and strong AOE set. This set is great for builds that can't take advantage of Deadly. Main downside is that it's a light armor set and you want the proc on both bars, meaning you'll have to run multiple pieces of light armor.
• Pillar of Nirn - Strong Single Target set. This set requires no active effort to get its bonus, making it a good option on any build. Main downside is that it lacks the dps increase that other sets have, meaning there's almost always something better you could be using.
• Mechanical Acuity - Extremely strong niche set. You can use this set in fast trash or very short boss fights (such as Snake and Ash Titan in vRG). If the scenario fits, this is easily the strongest set in the game. Most of the time, the scenario won't fit.

Support DPS Sets

Slayer Sets

• Master Architect / War Machine - Very strong support set. Two DPS can run this set and it frees up a healer from using Roaring Opportunist and Jorvuld's Guidance. Requires coordination to make sure everyone receives the buff (as each proc only goes on 6 people)
• Roar of Alkosh - Extremely strong support set. This set gives 6000 penetration to the group, which is a 12% damage increase if everyone is under penetration cap by that much. This set does require timing synergy usage to get max uptime on it, so it's worth practicing this timing.

Non-Slayer Sets

• Touch of Z'en - Strong Single Target support set. This set gives 5% damage done to one enemy and is extremely easy to keep up on some classes.
• Elemental Catalyst - Extremely strong support set. This set gives 15% critical damage to the group which is at least a 13% damage increase to anyone below the critical damage cap. The unique proc condition of this set means it's almost always a Necromancer DPS that runs this set as they have easy access to all three elemental damage sources.
• Martial Knowledge - Strong Single Target support set. This set gives on average 6.25% damage done to an enemy. This set can be tricky to get max uptime on as it requires being below 50% stamina and hitting light attacks exactly 8s apart.

Healer Sets

• Spell Power Cure / Vestment of Olorime - Extremely strong support sets. Major Courage is easily a 10% damage buff (more if your group doesn't have as many sources of extra Weapon/Spell damage). SPC is easier to get max uptimes with but requires you to heal while Olorime can be used by non-healers and can reach higher uptimes if group is coordinated.
• Roaring Opportunist - Very strong support set. Major Slayer is a 10% damage done buff and this set gives good uptime on it when combined with Jorvuld's Guidance (max of 76% uptime). Downside is that it requires weaving heavy attacks at specific times meaning there's situations where you can't cast skills if you want max uptime.
• Jorvuld's Guidance - Strong support set. Almost always paired with Roaring Opportunist. This set can also interact with rare sources of Major/Minor buffs and potentially give higher uptimes on them.
• Pillager's Profit - Extremely strong support set. A lot of the support meta is centered around rotating buffs and debuffs from ultimates, so giving your team essentially 40% of a 250 cost ultimate is insane (not to mention the DPS increase from getting extra DPS ultimates off)
• Symphony of Blades - Extremely strong support monster set. This 2 piece set gives a ridiculous amount of sustain to your group which means you can save your 5 piece sets for increasing group damage. Almost always worth running (some team compositions don't need the extra sustain).
• Ozezan the Inferno - Strong support monster set. Free source of armor and Minor Vitality, which increases the survivability of the group without using a 5 piece set.

Tank Sets

• Saxhleel's Champion - Extremely strong support set. Only other source of major force is Warhorn, a 250 cost ultimate that only gives 10 seconds of it. Dropping a 500 cost ultimate with this set gives you 33 seconds of Major Force, which is great uptime on a crazy strong buff.
• Lucent Echoes - Extremely strong support set. Gives 11% critical damage to the group and is very easy to have max uptime with. If group is under critical damage cap this is a 9% damage buff which is very good.
• Pearlescent Ward - Strong support set. The bonus from this set is minor (equivalent to about 5% damage done) but the real value of this set is in progression groups where the bonus damage reduction can come up often and help pulls recover much easier.
• Powerful Assault - Strong support set. Can be tricky to get max uptime on (requires a lot of movement to make sure it procs on the right 6 people) but a 7% damage buff is nothing to sneeze at.
• Turning Tide - Strong support set. Gives good uptime on Major Vulnerability, but is outshined by Archdruid Devyric if you're looking for non-Necromancer sources of Major Vulnerability as it's only a 2 piece set with a slightly worse uptime.
• Tremorscale - Niche support monster set. If group can't hit penetration cap with Alkosh for some reason this set is a 4% damage increase which is very nice for a 2 piece set.
• Nazaray - Extremely strong support monster set. This set can extend a lot of extremely strong Major debuffs (such as Major Vulnerability, Major Brittle, Major Cowardice) making it uniquely strong and practically mandatory on any optimized team composition. The fact this is a 2 piece set is actual insanity.
• Baron Zaudrus - Strong support monster set. This set can give a lot of ultimate generation if you proc it off cooldown with a skill like Elemental Susceptibility which can feed buffs you give from support sets that use your ultimate.
• Archdruid Devyric - Very strong support monster set. Allows you to get more Major Vulnerability uptime which is always helpful.  Can also pair this with a Nazaray extension to not need a Colossus from a Necromancer in some fights.