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 atPermafrost Setwhich raises Health Recovery when a Damage Shield ability has been used.
Introduction To Permafrost Set
This set was added withOrsinium Expansionthat launched in November 2015. It added a lot of new content, including 18 new Sets, andMaelstrom Arena. The Permafrost Set drops from normal and veteran Maelstrom Arena, and each set item is bind on pickup, meaning you will have to run the Arena to obtain it. Set items come in theSnowreachMotif Style. This motif cannot be obtained in any way at this time.
Weapon and ArmorTraitsare random, meaning you are likely to have to farm pieces for different Traits. It is a Heavy Set so enchantments on Armor and Weapon pieces areMax HealthandAbsorb Health. Jewelry comes withHealthyTraits andHealth RecoveryEnchantments. Keep in mind that you may useTransmutationto change Traits if you wish, however theSummersetexpansion is needed to change Traits on Jewelry, along with 50 Transmute Crystals.
Permafrost increases Max Health by 1206, Max Magicka by 1096 and Magicka Recovery by 129 with 4 pieces equipped. The 5 piece set bonus increases Health Recovery by 885 when a Damage Shield ability has been used.
Resource Recovery
Health, Stamina and Magicka are all complimented with same named Recovery stat. This stat indicates how much of that particular resource you can regain over time. Recovery ticks every 2 seconds and the amount you recover is displayed in character sheet. Base recovery (without anything that would increase it further) depends on your character’s level.
These Recovery stats can be increased in many ways.Note that increasing Max Health, Stamina and Magicka does not affect Recovery at all. Every Recovery stat has their own methods of how to increase it. It can be through Champion Skills, Sets, Abilities, Buffs, Traits…etc. SetJewelryalmost always comes with a Recovery stat Enchantment. Light Sets come with Magicka Recovery, Medium with Stamina, and Heavy with Health. TheInvigorating Amor Traitincreases Recovery for all 3 resources at once, though by a very low amount.
Health Recovery
Health Recovery is a stat that is more important for Tanks but it is rarely utilized in PvE Builds, while it can be more effective in PvP. Healing Done, Healing Taken, and Healing Received do not impact Health Recovery in any way.MinorandMajor Defile, however, reduces Health Recovery by 15/30%. The following are all the ways to increase Health Recovery:
Stamina Recovery
Stamina Recovery is a stat that is most important for Stamina DPS roles. Most tanks have little use of it because Stamina Recovery is 0 when holding block, which they almost always are. In addition, you can regain Stamina by hitting an enemy with fully-charged Heavy Attack when using any weapon besides Staves. Here are all the ways to increase Stamina Recovery:
Magicka Recovery
Magicka Recovery is a stat that is most important for Magicka DPS roles and some Tank builds. Besides Magicka Recovery you can recover Magicka by hitting an enemy with a fully-charged Heavy Attack when using Staves. Here are all the ways to increase Magicka Recovery:
What You Need To Know About This Set
How this set works is whenever a Damage Shield is activated, Health Recovery increases by the number listed on the tooltip for this Set, and it lasts only as long as Damage Shield is active. That means if the Shield breaks through damage, the increase is lost. The unfortunate thing, is that there is no special icon that indicates if the buff is active or not, so you just have to “know” it’s working. The only way to verify it is by activating a Damage Shield and then going into inventory to check your Stats. Tooltip Health Recovery cannot be increased in any way except by upgrading Armor quality. With Gold quality items set bonus goes up to885Health Recovery.
The great thing about Permafrost is that you can have increased Health Recovery as long as Damage Shield is active, so activating it again and again when it is about to expire or break, can lead to having that buff active at all times (since there is no cooldown on it).
The Health Recovery bonus can proc from other Sets that have chance of granting a Damage Shield as well, so Sets likeBrand of ImperiumandWhitestrake Retributioncan proc the buff which will last until that Damage Shield has been broken (or ends). It also procs from theReinforcedChampion Skill that provides a Damage Shield when blocking, as well as theGlyph of HardeningWeapon Enchantment. Having theInfusedWeapon Traitwill reduce the cooldown of this Glyph by up to 50%, and increase the Damage Shield value by up to 30%. This is great combination for Permafrost builds since it guarantees more Damage Shields, which in turn increases surviveability and the frequency of the Health Recovery buff from Permafrost.
Notes for PvE Players
The Permafrost Set is meant for Tanks only. Stamina tanks likeDragonknightsandTemplarsstill need Magicka to keep their surviveability up so having increased Max Magicka and Mag Recovery works quite well for them, and this is especially true if using Permafrost. To have that Health Recovery buff active at all times you will likely have to spam a Damage Shield every few seconds, which uses lot of Magicka. So these bonuses of Magicka and Magicka Recovery work quite well here.
Health Recovery builds for Tanks are plausible, mainly because of this specific Set. In some cases it will almost double Health Recovery you already have, and there are ways to make Health Recovery extremely high. The following is the setup I used to reach very high Health Recovery numbers.
I managed to get my Health Recovery up to around6200with this setup when all buffs were active which is quite high. Dying is highly unlikely with such high Health Recovery, especially when playing with Permafrost where you need to keep a Damage Shield up most of the time anyway. Another option instead of Beekeeper isOrgnum Scaleswhich increases Health Recovery by 50% when under 60% health. With that setup and all buffs active Health Recovery goes to about7500-8000which is extremely high, but this is only when you are below 60%. For the toughest content, however, it might not cut it because there is the possibility of high burst damage that can kill you in one hit, and you will chew through Stamina with no Block Reduction Glyphs on your Jewelry.
A must have ability for a Permafrost Build isBone Shield. It grants a Damage shield equal to 30% of your Max Health and it costs Stamina to cast. If playing with classes that have Damage Shield abilities, they cost Magicka to cast. Now you have 2 damage shields that cost different resource so keeping that Permafrost buff active at all times becomes easier.
That being said, running a full Health Recovery build can be detrimental. As tank you still need to take care of your team besides only tanking and still have decent Resistances. Health Recovery happens every 2 seconds, so in between you may take a lot of punishment on the toughest veteran content, which can be difficult to sustain if relying only on Health Recovery. So set likeBrands of the Imperiumwould be ideal since it grants a Damage Shield to allies and yourself, and the Shield itself activates your Permafrost Health Recovery buff. Adding on top of thatTroll KingSet would improve Health Recovery further, and with it survivability a lot. If you feel like Troll King would be detrimental to the build and that such high recovery is unnecessary, then switch to something likeEngine GuardianorLord Warden.
For such builds,Bastionand theHealthyChampion Skills are very important. Bastion increases the effectiveness of Damage Shields, and the longer you have them, longer the buff will last. The Healthy Champion Skill increases Health Recovery by up to an additional 15%.
Notes for PvP Players
Health Recovery can be useful in PvP, and especially so when resources have been drained and you do not have means of healing. It is also great counter to DoT effects like Bleed and Poison. With damage output and healing reduced in PvP, Health Recovery can play huge role in sustainability. Players looking to PvP with Permafrost will likely be in the tank role, with the job of harassing enemies and drawing fire, while their teammates take out other players. Consider pairing this Set with something like Troll King, andFasalla’s Guilein order to put Defile on enemies while you are in the middle of them, reducing their healing.
Final Verdict
Permafrost has its uses in PvE and PvP, and although it isn’t the most impressive Set in PvE, it can make tanks quite independent and hard to kill. In PvP it will be used more often because Health Recovery is much harder for players to counter, since it happens even when CCed, although Defile is a concern.
Overall it is a mediocre Set for some peculiar builds that can be easily replaced with other ones that would make Tanks more useful to the team and more durable. Health Recovery is all well and good, but it is only just another heal over time in the end, and so it requires further optimization. This in turn can lead to detrimental effects, and in toughest content you’re able to still be one-shotted easily, nullifying this sort of setup completely.
Stay tuned as I’ll be covering the rest of theESO Sets, and be sure to check out our otherESO Guides!
