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 atGrave-Stake CollectorSet, which is used to replenish Magicka and Stamina at the same time.
An Introduction to Grave-Stake Collector
This Set was added to the game withUpdate 20 Murkmire, which launched in October/November of 2018. Grave-Stake Collector is one of 3 newCrafted Setsintroduced with this DLC. It can only be crafted atSet Crafting Stationlocated in Murkmire and requirement to craft is 7 Traits.Sweet Breeze OverlookCrafting Station can be found inMurkmirenorthern territory directly above Bright-Throat Village.
Murkmire DLC is required to gain access to the needed Crafting Station, but players can, of course, still have another player craft it for them if they do not own the DLC. Since it is crafted, it can be made in any craftableStyle, Light/Medium/Heavy Armor, all Weapons, Shield and Jewelry. This also means that you may add any Trait to said set while crafting. Note that you will need theSummerset Chapterin order to craft Jewelry for this Set.
Enemies you’ve damaged have a 10% chance to drop a grave-stake for 6 seconds after they’ve died. Touching the grave-stake restores, if legendary,6500Stamina and Magicka. Only one grave-stake can appear at a time. The increase fromEpictoLegendaryis around 200 Magicka and Stamina restored, which is not worth the Legendary materials. Stick to Epic Armor and Jewelry Quality. If you are running this with Weapons from this set, consider upgrading to Legendary to increase your DPS.
Proc Sets and How They Work
Proc Sets, or Sets that have “chance to apply some effect” called “Proccing” are becoming more popular in ESO and seemingly added every majorUpdate(Proc is short for: Programmed Random OCcurrence). When the conditions of the Proc Set are met the effect will trigger. However, not all Proc Sets work the same way, and some apply buffs that remain on you whether you continue to wear the Set or not. Learning how to use Proc Sets effectively is extremely important for min/maxing, especially in PvP.
An important thing to note is that Proc Sets can no longer Critically Strike or Critically Heal as ofUpdate 13(Homestead) so as to reduce their effectiveness inCyrodiil. In addition, many Proc Sets have cooldowns to keep them from being abused. When choosing a Proc Set to use, if you’re so inclined, you want to not only look at the effect, but how often you may apply it. Finding Sets with little or no cooldown is ideal, because it allows you to trigger them frequently.Grave-Stake Collectorhas no cooldown, making it an ideal type of Proc Set.
What You Need To Know About Grave-Stake Collector
How this set works is that whenever you damage an enemy, they have 10 % chance of dropping a Grave-Stake when killed,at the location they died. Walking to the Stake activates it, restoring Stamina and Magicka. This is done automatically when walking over it, and there is no need to interact with it.
There can only be one Grave-Stake active at a time and it lasts for 6 seconds before vanishing, if not used. This means ideally you’d be near the enemy when it dies in order to grab the Grave-Stake quickly, thus allowing other Grave-Stakes to spawn. An important thing to note is that you only have to damage an enemy, not kill it yourself, in order to have a chance of spawning a Grave-Stake. There is no mark placed on enemies you damage, so you’ll have to keep track if you’ve damaged the enemy yourself or not.
Other players cannot pick up Grave-Stakes that drop from your Set, and in fact they cannot even see it on their screen to attempt to do so. This means that if you are in a 4 man group and everyone wears this Set (hypothetically) and everyone procs at the same time, there would be 4 Grave-Stakes on the floor but each player could only see their own.This means that this Set cannot be used by healers for sustain support.
The problems with this Set are many. First, there is only a10%chance for a Grave-Stake to appear, which is extremely low (and sometimes it feels even lower than 10%). Another issue is that when Grave-Stake appears, you need to actively walk to it to get the Magicka and Stamina restoration effect within 6 seconds. The spot where the enemy died can be extremely dangerous at the time when a Grave-Stake spawns, forcing you to miss out on sustain opportunities. To add insult to injury, you cannot spawn a new Stake while one is available, punishing you for not picking it up.
Notes for PvE Players
Grave-Stake Collector is best used on Tanks because it grants Max Health, Stamina and Magicka. Healers do not need Stamina and Health, so that immediately makes it not as good for them. And on top of that, they needs their Sets to benefit their group, which this does not. The saving grace of having this Set on a Tank is that you are the only one that can pick up your Grave-Stake, which helps with resource management. Since running out of resources is often the reason Tanks die, this can be a godsend under the right circumstances.
Though Grave-Stake Collector can be used by a Tank in a group setting, it shines inMaelstrom Arenasolo play. Maelstrom Arena is taxing on resources since you need to run around a lot, Dodge, Block and kill lots of enemies at the same time. This means you will be using both Magicka and Stamina, no matter the build, and the addition of the Health on the Set doesn’t hurt either. For all intents and purposes, in Maelstrom Arena you are the Tank, Healer and DPS, and this Set is perfect for that exact situation.
Maelstrom Arena Builds will need to pair this Set with something that increases their DPS or they will not be able to kill much. There are lots of great Stamina and Magicka DPS Sets available, so be sure to check out theWikito see what is available.
Tanks using this Set will need to pair it with other traditional tanking Sets in order to survive in between the spawning of Grave-Stakes. There are a lot of Tank Sets out there so I won’t list them all here, but it’s probably best if you use Grave-Stake Collector Jewelry and something like Waist and Gloves. This way you won’t need to upgrade these pieces to Legendary, saving you materials.
Notes for PvP
Grave Stake Collector can be useful in PvP as well, but the scenarios in which it works well are limited. Because you don’t need to kill enemies, but just hit them before they die, you’ll want to look for large battles where you can strike with many AoEs. Ideally this would be bridge fights, or taking keeps. You won’t want to use this Set defensively, because the Grave-Stakes spawn where the enemy dies. If you’re high up on a wall and they are down below in a horde, then you cannot grab it without dying.
Set-wise you’ll probably want to play as a tank or melee DPS, because you will want to be close to enemies when they die. If you’re playing a Tank you’ll want something that gives you good Stamina sustain, so that you may Block very often. If you’re playing DPS then you’ll need something that boosts damage significantly, as you will already have a bit lower than usual with Grave-Stake as your second set.
Final Tips
Grave-Stake Collector is a Tank set that can find its use primarily in Maelstrom Arena, but also in group play due to the nice effect of restoring Magicka and Stamina at the same time. If you’re tanking with this Set be sure to have at least one AoE Skill slotted, so that you can “mark” many enemies, improving your chances of spawning a Stake.
One thing to point out is that the Grave-Stake is often hard to see with many effects happening on the screen at once, so you’ll have to keep a careful eye out for it. You definitely don’t want to miss out on them, so take the time to learn exactly what they look like.
When using this Set as a Tank, you may find situations where it simply isn’t needed. There are many Boss fights where it is just one Boss with no additional enemies, rendering the Set ineffective. For this reason, I strongly suggest having a back up tanking Set for those times, particularly if it’s in a tough dungeon. Don’t wipe your group because you are not prepared!
Stay tuned as I’ll be covering the rest of theMurkmire Sets, and be sure to check out our otherESO Guides!
