Ranking The Best 3 Set Augments

[Sarlona Raiding]

Incoming opinionated post

This is how I rank set augments based on universal usefulness, gear tetris with ease of acquisition factored in to a lesser extent.

1) Touch of Power: 25 Artifact Universal Spellpower (Project Nemesis, Attunement Gaze): This isn't super easy to acquire nor is it universally useful, but it's the only source of this stacking spellpower with the newest gear - and most players have at least one caster build. It stacks with the sun spellpower augment and the only way to get this is with an older set bonus. PUG groups typically run this on LH.

2) Tough Shields: 30 Artifact PRR (Temple of the Deathwyrm, Dumathoin's Bracers): This isn't in a popular or frequently run raid, but it is hands-down the most universally useful set bonus and is the fastest to acquire as PUG groups can easily run this on LE or R1, there are only 3 items that drop and on LE the drop rate is 33% with 128 runes. In many cases this raid is prepped by the leader so when you join it's only 15-30 minutes until completion.

3) Legendary Bulwark: 10% Legendary Bonus to Maximum Hit Points (Hunt or Be Hunted, Stablestone): This is useful for the majority of builds and the equivalent sun augment is rare. It's a very fast raid with 2 end chests - so double the chance to loot the item and double raid runes. PUG groups typically run this on LH.

There are alot of other great sets that bump some of these 3 off the list for specific builds, but these are my top 3 from a universal perspective.

Also of note, if you have draconic raider's reward boxes in your bank from the server transfer process, there are some items that can be turned to augments, of special note:

https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Draconic_Raider%27s_Reward_Box

Cloak of the Mountain: Esoterica, +3 Artifact bonus to spell DC
Mail of the Mroranon: Brutal Blows, +3 Artifact bonus to Strength
Guided Sight: Quickblade, +15% Artifact bonus to Doubleshot and Doublestrike

Happy raiding all. Feel free to post sets you think are better.

 

[DBZ]

I only want one imbue

 

[Mindos]

Also of note, if you have draconic raider's reward boxes in your bank from the server transfer process, there are some items that can be turned to augments,

Just wait till these get the "Gift" tag by mistake.

 

[Swivven]

Why is Tough Shields a "universally-useful set bonus" when you can get a Solar Gem that does the same thing (+30 PRR Artifact Bonus)?

Is it easier to get 3 copies of the raid Bracers than farming the Solar Gem in regular dungeons?

-Swivven / Swivvirtue / Swivventure
Officer of The Silver Legion
Thrane server

 

[akiraproject24]

Why is Tough Shields a "universally-useful set bonus" when you can get a Solar Gem that does the same thing (+30 PRR Artifact Bonus)?

Is it easier to get 3 copies of the raid Bracers than farming the Solar Gem in regular dungeons?

-Swivven / Swivvirtue / Swivventure
Officer of The Silver Legion
Thrane server

Depends on build and gearing. Some builds are starved on sun slots and have to make tough choices on what to leave out. With some, they can end up squeezing it in using the 3 Augment slots.

So not easier but in some cases the easiest or only way to make the gear tetris work

 

[Sarlona Raiding]

Why is Tough Shields a "universally-useful set bonus" when you can get a Solar Gem that does the same thing (+30 PRR Artifact Bonus)?

Is it easier to get 3 copies of the raid Bracers than farming the Solar Gem in regular dungeons?

-Swivven / Swivvirtue / Swivventure
Officer of The Silver Legion
Thrane server

As far as I know all the augment sets have equivalent sun augments except touch of power. If you can't fit in all the bonuses from sun augments it may be beneficial to add set augments.

It's universally useful in the sense that every build should want to add 30 PRR Artifact bonus if possible for the damage mitigation.

Most of the other augment set bonuses work for a subset of builds such as melee power, stat bonus or spell DC. And while 10% hp is good for all builds, it's possible to get the same or higher bonus from many current and good shields. For example tanks usually get the same 20% bonus from tower shields. MRR is also good, but many builds are MRR capped and it won't help.

There is also no other set augment that requires fewer runs on typical PUG difficulty to acquire, although many people will not run this raid for any reason.

As always, there might be build-specific reasons you may not use this augment set. For example on my dark bargainer Warlock it's hard to fit in all the sun augments due to the extra blast/pact dice augments so I find the mind over matter ring set from Vision of Destruction a better option than 30 PRR augment set currently. It gives 30 Artifact bonus to PRR/MRR and MRR Cap. So the equivalent of 3 sun augments on 2 items that can't normally have a sun or moon augment bonus with the newest gear. I also use Palisade which gives me an LGS effect plus the legendary 15% hp on that build saving me another sun augment.

But I still believe it to be the most universally useful set bonus and over time items with set bonuses will fall behind newer gear and continue to be used less.

What would your ranking be if you excluded Tough Shields?

 

[Raedier]

This is an interesting take.

I'd rank cruelty, fort bypass and sneak dice as highest ranking set augments given that their equivalent sun slot counterparts can be rather hard to obtain, allthough that is coming from the perspective of a player who already has loads of raid runes to burn.

Best set augments to prioritize getting over others? Well if resources are scarce i'd definitely opt for bulwark and mp/rp/spell dc/helpless damage.

 

[Alternative]

Why is Tough Shields a "universally-useful set bonus" when you can get a Solar Gem that does the same thing (+30 PRR Artifact Bonus)?

Depending on the build, there might be fewer useful set augs than solar augs.

A simplified example would be: I have one sun slot free, so I will slot artifact heal amp because it doesn't exist as a set aug. Prr does exist as set aug, so even though it takes more effort to acquire, I will get it to optimize my available slots.

Solar stats also add to this competition, because solar augs are +4 vs +3 on set augs.

 

[Supot]

Wait, this is crazy. I never knew Dethwyrm only had 3 items. It does make it easier.

Ive always wanted this augment and have never run the raid. Now i feel more encouraged to learn it.

 

[Sarlona Raiding]

Wait, this is crazy. I never knew Dethwyrm only had 3 items. It does make it easier.

Ive always wanted this augment and have never run the raid. Now i feel more encouraged to learn it.

It has 3 items - one turns into the PRR augment set and another turns into the single occulation 20% threat reduction augment. Also, the standard pug difficulty is LE rather than LH like it is for many raids with items that turn into augments - which is important because you are getting 128 runes every run as well.

It's definitely worth learning in my opinion. Just make sure you have spell absorb if you get stuck in the red light green light room because it's buggy and you get hit even if you move properly. However, it only bugs a handful of times each run and it's considered a level 1 effect so regardless of which spell absorb item you use - you only take one charge per bug event.

I do see pug raids and typically the leader clears a good part of the dungeon solo before putting up the lfm. It's also much easier to do the puzzle rooms as you can turn the mirror both directions now (with my keymap settings holding down shift while turning the puzzle allows me to turn it counter-clockwise).