Welcome to another installment of a segment where we dive into oneElder Scrolls Online’smanySets, and explore what sort ofBuildsyou can make. Not only will we show you how to get the most from these Sets, but we’ll explain where to get them, what requirements there are to obtain them (if any), and everything else you could possibly want to know about them. In this article we take a look atDead-Water’s GuileSet, which is used to gain Ultimate at a faster rate.
This Set was added to the game withUpdate 20 Murkmire, which launched in October/November of 2018. Dead-Water’s Guile is anOverland Setthat drops in theMurkmire Region(Murkmire DLC required). Overland Sets are found by defeating Bosses, clearing Dolmens and looting treasure chests in their respective zones, and are bind on equip. The Style of this set isElder Argonian. Elder ArgonianMotifswill become available by doing Daily Quests in Murkmire in the next major Update.
Since this is an Overland Set, it will drop all weapon types, jewelry and armor pieces but only in Medium Armor. Traits on this set are random, but the Jewelry will always have the Robust Trait. Keep in mind that you can useTransmutationto change Traits if you wish, however theSummersetexpansion is needed, along with 50 Transmute Crystals.
Dead-Water’s Guile Set increases Weapon Damage, Max Health and Max Stamina, but the beauty in this Set is in its 5 piece set bonus. It restores5 Ultimate2 secs after any enemy you attacked dies. You don’t have to be the one to kill the enemy, just damage it 2 secs before it dies to reap the benefits of this set. This bonus has no cooldown , and that means it is great against large groups of enemies but completely useless against bosses unless they spawn many trash mobs.
Ultimates & How Ultimate Points are generated
Ultimate Skills are very powerful abilities that do not useMagickaorStamina. Instead activating Ultimate Skills costs a separate resource calledUltimate Points. Ultimate Points are generated by attacking enemies with light or heavy attacks. When an enemy is hit, you get a buff that lasts 8 secs and it gives 3 ultimate points per sec for a total of 24 Ultimate Points. Ultimate Points are not generated only with attacks, but also byDodgingandBlocking.
Players can also gain Ultimate through Skills and Sets (much like this one), as well as two Buffs calledMinor HeroismandMajor Heroism. Minor and Major Heroism both stack with one another, and this Set, but you cannot have 2 of the same Buff active at once. This means that if you use a skill and a Set that both grant Major Heroism, or example, you will not gain any more Ultimate than if you only used the Skill or the Set individually. The following are a list of Sets and Skills that grant Ultimate:
Skills That Grant Ultimate
Sets That Grant Ultimate
How this Set works is that anytime you strike an enemy with an attack that deals damage 2 secs before it dies, you will receive5 Ultimate pointsupon its death. You don’t need to be the one that kills an enemy, as long as you damaged it within 2 seconds of it dying. This Set doesn’t have a cooldown, which means that you can gain Ultimate very quickly by helping to kill many enemies in rapid succession. Using theDecisive Traiton your Weapon will add an additional Ultimate a certain percentage of the time, so it is certainly worth considering. 5 piece set bonus is not limited by range, meaning that ranged characters can benefit from it as well.
The best way too pull this off is by doing 2 things: using AoEs and DoTs. AoEs will allow you to strike many enemies at a time, which helps to improve your odds of gaining Ultimate. And, DoTs will guarantee that you deal damage just before each enemy dies, as they usually tick for damage every 1-2 seconds. For this reason you’ll want to look for Skills that are both of these things likeCaltrops,Volley,Cleaveor evenDawnbreaker. By hitting many enemies with DoTs you will ensure that you gain Ultimate fast!
Notes for PvE Players
As a Tank, usually your DPS is low, but Ultimates can change that by allowing you to use something like Dawnbreaker much more often. It would not be a bad idea to combine this Set with something likeChampion of the HistandBloodspawnfor maximum Ultimate gain (to further increase your Dawnbreaker usage). You can also use this Set for harder trash pulls, such as in Trials, where enemies die somewhat frequently to gain moreWar HornsorShield Walls, if necessary. It’s not the best tanking Set out there by any means, but it is also not the worst, and is a solid choice for new Tanks.
Likewise, this Set is not a bad idea for a Stamina DPS that wants to spam Dawnbreaker often, speeding up the trash pulls in Dungeons and Trials. Consider using this when you want to go for speed run achievements, just remember to swap it out for something else when you get to bosses that have no adds, or it may not be so useful.
Dead-Water’s Guile can be also used on anyone that wants to farm large groups of enemies for materials or Champion Points. It does not matter what class you are, using this Set combined with anything relevant for your class will speed up the process if you have a cheap Ultimate Skill you can spam.
Notes for PvP Players
Dead-Water’s Guile is going to be more effective when fighting in larger battles (more enemy players more Ultimate Points), but can still be effective in smaller scale PvP. Max Health, Max Stamina and Weapon Damage are all great bonuses for a PvP Stamina DPS, and most Stamina DPS get their kills from Dawnbreaker. However, I would not recommend using this Set unless you are playing with at least 2 other players in your group, and are actively seeking out scenarios where you are fighting as many or more players.
More Ultimate = More Dawnbreakers = More Kills!
Champion of the Hist is definitely worth considering here as well, because the 2,3 and 4 piece bonuses are all also very good, meaning you won’t lose out on “that” much DPS. And what you do lose in overall DPS, you should gain in burst damage, which where you will succeed. Blood Spawn is probably overkill for this type of setup, so I would suggest using something likeSelene’s,SlimecraworVelidrethfor further increased bursts.Decisive Weaponsare not recommended for PvP, as you will need the increased damage fromSharpenedorNirhonedto be competitive.
Final Tips
The Ultimate gained from using Dead-Water’s Guile works at ANY range, so it can be used effectively with Bow builds, or in scenarios where it isn’t possible to stay near your targets (like during sieges in Cyrodiil). Be sure to use AoEs and DoTs in order to verify you gain that 5 Ultimate when the target(s) die!
Since Dead-Water’s Guile is a Medium Armor Set, it would be wise for Tanks to equip pieces of this set in there Weapon and Jewelry slots to equip a Heavy Armor set on their body. Consider also getting getting a Bow or Greatsword for you back bar, so that you may put AoE DoTs with either Cleave or Acid Spray.
The Asylum Greatsword also grants you Ultimate when striking enemies with Reverse Slash, which will further boost Ultimate gain whether or not you are Tanking or DPSing. Consider backbarring it on your tank, or using on your front bar if you are a DPS in order to gain a HUGE boost to Ultimate. The Reverse Slice morph hits 2 other enemies, so definitely use this one for best results.
As mentioned above, this Set works fantastically against large groups of enemies. By using weapons with theDecisive Trait,Heroismbuff and theShooting StarUltimate from the Mage’s Guild, you can fill up Ultimate very fast. The Shooting Star Ultimate ability generates Ultimate points for every enemy hit with the initial blast and this is AoE ability, meaning you are going to hit a lot of enemies at once. On top of all that Decisive Trait gives you chance to receive additional ultimate point every time ultimate points are gained, and they are going to be gained at a fast rate with Heroism and Shooting Star. You get a Meteor and you get a Meteor! Everybody gets a Meteor!
Stay tuned as I’ll be covering the rest of theMurkmire Sets, and be sure to check out our otherESO Guides!
