Gear sets - how will you build?

[MurphDog6]

So with the update comes the new gear sets. How is everyone thinking of setting up their ideal gear sets? Looking at the bonuses available I am currently leaning towards a mix and match. Thinking of setting up with 3 pieces of Strikers Battlegear  and 3 pieces of Sentry's Call gear which would give me the following bonuses;

+20% Enemy Armor Damage

+100% Critical Hit Damage

+30% Headshot Damage

+20% Damage to Elites

i think that by taking a mix of 2 gear sets that the bonuses are better than gearing 4 pieces of one to activate the talent and then having 2 pieces of another. What do you guys think?

 

[ESGN]

Thats pretty much what im going for and im sure it will be the most popular combo.

 

[WayneGSG]

I guess I am not the only one with this theory, since I just posted something very similar as a theory in general.

 

[Xeromaus]

So with the update comes the new gear sets. How is everyone thinking of setting up their ideal gear sets? Looking at the bonuses available I am currently leaning towards a mix and match. Thinking of setting up with 3 pieces of Strikers Battlegear  and 3 pieces of Sentry's Call gear which would give me the following bonuses;

+20% Enemy Armor Damage

+50% Critical Hit Damage

+30% Headshot Damage

+20% Damage to Elites

i think that by taking a mix of 2 gear sets that the bonuses are better than gearing 4 pieces of one to activate the talent and then having 2 pieces of another. What do you guys think?

I corrected your critical damage value in the quote, as it isn't what they previously advertised. Aside from that, you're not fighting elites in hard mode incursion, so that 20% would be lost. If you have good enough aim to make true use of 30% headshot, the 4 piece bonuses would be FAR more powerful than adding elite damage. All in all, it boils down to; do you think 20% elite damage is better to have than an evolving base damage boost capping at 100%, or do you think +50% critical damage is better than having +45% base damage. If your aim is poor, I'd say yes, take the 3/3 build, but if it isn't, the 3/3 build lets a lot of damage slip away.

 

[MurphDog6]

So they have reduced the effects of the gear bonuses to 50% crit now?

 

[max_kramer]

Would be really useful if Massive/Ubisoft rewarded agents for completing a gear set, and not just for the first 4. Extra effort, extra rewards. Thanks. 

 

[ThePassionateGamer]

Would be really useful if Massive/Ubisoft rewarded agents for completing a gear set, and not just for the first 4. Extra effort, extra rewards. Thanks. 

Exactly this. It would be awesome if they would introduce a 5th and 6th piece bonus or if that would be too much they could at least bring a "full set bonus" or something alike. Would be great. Because at it's current state gear pieces 5 - 6 are a bit off a waste. Sure they have high gear scores and can roll higher bonuses then lower GS items. But the downside is set pieces do not have gear talents on them. Some gear talents can be really nice and missing two of them can be a bad choice.

Do "normal" HE gear pieces also drop in gear scores above 200? If so (and that is what I base this argument on right now) you would be better off to combine a 4 piece gear set with two HE gear pieces with good gear talents.

I currently run a 4 piece Sentry's Call set and it works like a charm. I have considered to add two pieces of the Striker set to it but I am unsure if that would be a wise choice or not.

 

[Xeromaus]

Exactly this. It would be awesome if they would introduce a 5th and 6th piece bonus or if that would be too much they could at least bring a "full set bonus" or something alike. Would be great. Because at it's current state gear pieces 5 - 6 are a bit off a waste. Sure they have high gear scores and can roll higher bonuses then lower GS items. But the downside is set pieces do not have gear talents on them. Some gear talents can be really nice and missing two of them can be a bad choice.

Do "normal" HE gear pieces also drop in gear scores above 200? If so (and that is what I base this argument on right now) you would be better off to combine a 4 piece gear set with two HE gear pieces with good gear talents.

I currently run a 4 piece Sentry's Call set and it works like a charm. I have considered to add two pieces of the Striker set to it but I am unsure if that would be a wise choice or not.

I have yet to see anyone post any 2 pieces of "normal" HE equipment with talents that together trump the 2 piece bonus on a gear set.

Armor boost? won't exceed 65% hard cap, which most have already. +skill power? Tacticians has you covered. +damage? sentry or striker has it beat. situational crit boost? trumped by base increases. Etc.

Bear in mind that to retain those HE gear bonuses, you're wearing, at best, 204gs pieces. While these trump tier one gear sets in ability ranges, tier two gear set abilities are over them, and not hard to attain. In place of two weaker talents, you're either carrying +30% headshot damage, +20% armor damage, or +4000 skill power (sorry nomad, you're just a bad set).

 

[ThePassionateGamer]

I have yet to see anyone post any 2 pieces of "normal" HE equipment with talents that together trump the 2 piece bonus on a gear set.

Armor boost? won't exceed 65% hard cap, which most have already. +skill power? Tacticians has you covered. +damage? sentry or striker has it beat. situational crit boost? trumped by base increases. Etc.

Bear in mind that to retain those HE gear bonuses, you're wearing, at best, 204gs pieces. While these trump tier one gear sets in ability ranges, tier two gear set abilities are over them, and not hard to attain. In place of two weaker talents, you're either carrying +30% headshot damage, +20% armor damage, or +4000 skill power (sorry nomad, you're just a bad set).

But there are builds which will be even better with one of the HE gear talents or not?

For a dedicated healer for example the rapid talent would bring another cooldown reduction on his healing skills and the last I have seen was 25% reduction which is nice. But I do not know if this talent could lower those skills below the skillpower cap. So I dunno if with a full 4 set Tacticians Bonus going the cooldwons would be even lower. Vigorous grants overheal to let you use another mod on your first aid. Like the "defibrilator" or "booster shot" to buff damage slightly.

For a damage oriented build Reckless does boost your base damage while you take more damage. Some say that this is a very powerful talent if used right.

Savage with it's plus 13% crit chance to targets out of cover also a very good one in PVE situations.

I know that not all talents are good and many are very situational. I think it has to be tested to see if some of those talents would be better then a 2 set bonus on certain builds.

Don't get me wrong, I do not say that having two normal HE gear pieces with the right talents will always be better but sometimes they can be so we should never neglect them right away just to add another set bonus.

 

[Xeromaus]

But there are builds which will be even better with one of the HE gear talents or not?

For a dedicated healer for example the rapid talent would bring another cooldown reduction on his healing skills and the last I have seen was 25% reduction which is nice. But I do not know if this talent could lower those skills below the skillpower cap. So I dunno if with a full 4 set Tacticians Bonus going the cooldwons would be even lower. Vigorous grants overheal to let you use another mod on your first aid. Like the "defibrilator" or "booster shot" to buff damage slightly.

For a damage oriented build Reckless does boost your base damage while you take more damage. Some say that this is a very powerful talent if used right.

Savage with it's plus 13% crit chance to targets out of cover also a very good one in PVE situations.

I know that not all talents are good and many are very situational. I think it has to be tested to see if some of those talents would be better then a 2 set bonus on certain builds.

Don't get me wrong, I do not say that having two normal HE gear pieces with the right talents will always be better but I sometimes they can be so we should never neglect them right away just to add another set bonus.

4 piece tacticians maxes out electronics stats/bonuses/cooldowns for a healer with a decent group, and in a SHORT time. Healers still need to do damage however, or they're more of a drag on the group than a help.

Reckless doesn't give more damage than either of the two set bonuses at 2 piece, AND has the negative of taking more damage.

+13% crit chance is usually wasted now, as most have that capped or close...AND it only applies to enemies standing out of cover....situational increases do a lot less than they would ever appear to.

The bottom line is EVERY squad member needs to be able to do decent weapon damage, and the best boosts to that are on gear bonuses. We're talking about end game builds anytime we discuss gear sets, not placeholders.

 

[ThePassionateGamer]

Then I have to wait till I get my 2 pieces of Strikers together with my Sentrys Call to improve my build even more. Another point on the to-do-list.

 

[ESGN]

did they finally fix the reckless talent where you do take the dmg or is it still bugged where it gives you dmg resistance?

 

[fewcm]

Not, yet. It will be fixed in 1.2