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 will take a look at theBlooddrinker Setwhich increases damage done with Bleeding effect.
Introduction To Blooddrinker Set
This Set was added in the game with theHorns of the Reach DLC. It launched in August 2017 and introduced 2 new dungeons,Bloodroot ForgeandFalkreath Hold. The Blooddrinker Set drops from Bosses in Bloodroot Forge and is bind on pickup. You can acquire medium armor, weapons and jewelry of this set in theBloodforgemotif style. The Motif drops from Earthgore Amalgam, the last boss in Bloodroot Forge, but only on Veteran Difficulty.
Weapon and ArmorTraitsare random, meaning you are likely to have to farm pieces for different Traits. This is a Medium Set so enchantments on Armor and Weapon pieces areMax StaminaandAbsorb Stamina. Jewelry comes withRobustTraits andStamina RecoveryEnchantments. Keep in mind that you can useTransmutationto change Traits if you wish, however theSummersetexpansion is needed to change Jewelry Traits, along with 50 Transmute Crystals.
The Blooddrinker Set increases Weapon Critical by 1666 and Weapon Damage by 129 with 4 pieces equipped. The 5 piece set bonus increases damage done with any Bleeding effect by 20%. This set is aimed towards Stamina DPS builds due to Weapon Critical and Damage increases, and the many ways of inflicting Bleeding with such builds.
Damage Types in ESO
Damage in ESO is split into two groups:PhysicalandMagical. Physical Damage is mitigated byPhysical Resistanceand Magical Damage is mitigated bySpell Resistance.Physical Damage Sub Types: Poison, Disease and Bleed.Magical Damage Sub Types: Frost, Shock and Flame
All Physical Damage Sub Types are mitigated by Physical Resistance and their own mitigation (Poison Resistance for example). All Magical Damage Sub Types are mitigated the same way. So for example Frost Damage will be mitigated with Spell Resistance + Frost Resistance before applying damage.
Bleedis a Physical Damage type, but is not like other Physical Damage, making it unique.It does damage-over-time that completely bypasses ALL Physical Resistance, making it extremely powerful. Bleeds can also Critically Strike, as well as trigger effects from Sets such asBriarheart,Defilerand any other sets that proc by dealing damage. Bleed effects from sets likeTwin Sisterscannot Crit, however, because no damage from Sets can Crit.
Bleeds from the same source (Ability, Set, etc) will refresh the Bleed effect if used again. That means if you use the Carve ability twice, for example, you won’t accomplish much because the Bleed you already caused will just be replaced by newer one. you may have as many Bleeds active as you want at once, as long as they come from different sources.
The Bleed effect can be applied in 3 ways:
Bleed damage can be increased using these methods:
What You Need To Know About This Set
How this set works is whenever you Bleed an enemy, that damage-over-time will be increased by 20%. The change is reflected in the tooltip of every source that inflicts Bleed damage, and that applies to both abilities and sets. This means if the Twin Sisters Set and Blooddrinker are both equipped, for example, the Bleed tooltip damage of Twin Sisters will be increased by 20%.
To maximize damage done with Bleed from any source, you need to have lots of points intoStamina, Weapon Damage,MightyandThaumaturge. If the Bleed source comes from an Axe or ability then addPrecise Strikesas well, because it increases Crit damage of ticks. Bleed from Sets cannot crit. Bleed damage can be increased further withMinor/Major Berserkthat increases damage done andMinor/Major Brutalitythat increases Weapon damage.
Let’s see how high we can take the Bleed tooltip damage with the Carve ability. Without any points into Stamina, Mighty, Thaumaturge or buffs, the tooltip displays3625damage over 10 secs. Adding 64 points into Stamina, food buff active, 100 Points into Mighty & Thaumaturge and the Major Brutality buff, tooltip damage went up to7710. Keep in mind that the tooltip does not account for Crits, so with 2 Crits the total damage done was9930with 70 points into Precise Strikes even though tooltip said only7710. Note that you do not need to worry about Physical Penetration, because all Bleed damage bypasses Physical Resistance.
Notes for PvE Players
Bleed is commonly used in any Stamina DPS rotation. It is usually combined with Poison/Disease, since both scale off of the same Stats and Champion Points. Blooddrinker is used to increase Bleed damage only, not Poison or Disease, so it would be most beneficial if as much of your Build as possible revolved around Bleeds.
To make the most out of such a build, we need 3 different Bleed sources. That means Axe, Abilities and one other Set. Twin Sisters is more for PvP because blocking is not used much in PvE as a DPS. Savage Werewolf will reset the Bleed every time you Light Attack, which may occur just before it ticks, resulting in less effectiveness. So you have to be careful on your timing if you use this Set. I would recommend either using Pillar of Nirn or Stinging Slashes.
For Dual Wielding Builds, players like to use aDagger + Axecombination. Daggers offers more Crit chance, and the Axe gives a chance of proccing a Bleed. Wearing 2 Axes is not recommended because if you proc the Bleed from both Axes one would reset the other, which can cause loss to overall dps since the first one didn’t have time to tick. Twin Slashes is one of the primary abilities used in such a Build, and you can boost the damage of this ability specifically with the Stinging Slashes Set.
Dual Wielding players should use a Two-Handed Weapon as a secondary, so that they can use Carve. That is one additional bleed that can Crit and that is boosted by Blooddrinker. It also helps having Forward Momentum to increase Weapon Damage which increases Physical Damage and lasts for a long time. TheTitanic Cleave Setis recommended if you went with Stinging Slashes, so that you deal increased damage when you use Cleave.
This set is great forWerewolvesas well. They rely on Bleed damage since it procs from their Light Attacks. Naturally, this is where Blooddrinker comes into play. Combining it with something likeShacklebreaker,Strength of the Automaton, Savage Werewolf or Pillars of Nirn is great way to increase overall DPS.
For Stamina DPS that relies on Bleed, there are someMonster Helmsthat work better then others.Slimecrawgrants Minor Berserk at all times, increasing damage from all sources by 8%.Selenehas a 15% chance to do a high amount of Physical damage.Velidrethhas a 20% chance to do a high amount of Disease damage.
Notes for PvP Players
Bleed is very effective in PvP because it goes through resistances and can deal a lot of damage, even to the most heavily-armored opponents. This is where Blooddrinker will see most of its use, and the strategy here is simple. Stack Bleeds on your target, while DPSing to keep pressure on them. Add some sort of Defiling effect and you’re golden.
Final Verdict
Blooddrinker is useful in PvP and PvE because the Bleed effect is always used in Stamina DPS rotations. In PvP this set is even better due to Bleed going through much more Resistances than most enemies you face in PvE. The 20% increased damage is a good amount, because it stacks with every other source that increases Bleed Damage, and all those sources are used in stamina dps builds anyways to increase overall dps.
Since you may stack several Bleeds on a target at once, this Set becomes more potent the more you use. However, this does take some optimization and specific other Sets to complement it to make it useful. Be sure to study the sections listed above so that you know the sources of Bleeds, so you can determine what works best for you.
Stay tuned as I’ll be covering the rest of theESO Sets, and be sure to check out our otherESO Guides!
