10 Best Starter Sets For The Elder Scrolls Online

These are the TEN BEST Starting Sets in ESO that can be obtained for free at any level. That’s right, every set on this list can be obtained as soon as you start the game – without any group dungeons, trials or crafting skills necessary – just easy-to-get gear that works!

This list will include both DLC and Base game sets as well as a mix of light, medium, and heavy armor sets so there will be something easy for you to pick up here no matter what class or role you want to play. In addition, all of these sets are from Overland content, meaning they can easily be obtained by yourself, either through farming delves, public dungeons, treasure chests, or just basic questing.

10. Armor Of The Trainee

Weight: Light, Medium or Heavy

Zone: Kenarthi’s Roost, Bleakrock Isle, Stros M’Kai (Base Game)

Starting off at number 10 we have probably the easiest gear set to obtain in the game, Armor of the Trainee. This set drops in all weights, so light, medium and heavy – and often will come with the training trait which helps you earn XP faster, making it an even better beginner set for leveling up.

For stat bonuses, Trainee increases your maximum health, Magicka and stamina, with the 5-piece set bonus giving you even more max resources, making this a great all-around set for any beginner build in ESO.

While most sets in ESO only drop in one specific zone, Trainee actually drops in three – it comes from your faction starter zones of Kenarthi’s Roost, Bleakrock Isle and Stros M’Kai. And unlike most regular overland zones in the game, these three starter zones don’t drop any other armor sets – so every drop you get in this zone will be a match, making it very easy to quickly get up to that 5 piece bonus. Almost every major quest and side quest in these zones will usually drop a specific piece, so doing those starter quests will be a great way to get pieces quickly. In addition to quests, all 3 starter islands have a high probability of spawning treasure chests, which can drop those set pieces as well, so make sure you bring some lock picks with you.

9) Shadow Of The Red Mountain

Weight: Medium

Zone: Stonefalls (Base Game)

Coming in next at number 9 we have Shadow Of The Red Mountain, a medium armor set that’s great for stamina-focused builds, both melee and ranged. The 2-4 piece bonuses increase all of you main damage-dealing stats including weapon damage, max stamina and weapon critical, while the 5 piece bonus gives you a unique lava damage effect which can be really strong, both for PVE and PVP builds.

Red Mountain drops in the zone of Stonefalls which is part of the base game, meaning you don’t need any DLC’s in order to obtain this set. Any overland enemy can potentially drop this set, but you’ll have much higher chances by completing the zone delves as well as the public dungeon and the dolmens. As always, there are multiple quests here in Stonefalls that can drop pieces as well, For example, by completing the Starved Plains quest right outside of the main city of Davon’s Watch will give you a 2-handed Red Mountain axe.

Set Piece Locations

• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• Dolmen: ring or neck
• Quests:
  • Rhorlak’s War Axe (2h Axe) – given by Sergeant Rhorlak for the quest “Through The Aftermath” – The Starved Plain
  • Cured Kwama Leggings (legs) – given by Soft-Scale for the quest “Proving Trust” – Senie  

8) Akaviri Dragonguard

Weight: Heavy

Zone: East March (Base Game)

At number 8 we’ve got the Akaviri Dragonguard set, a heavy armor set that’s especially strong for Tank builds in The Elder Scrolls Online. For the basic stats, the increased magicka recovery will help you cast more support abilities while the increased healing taken and health can help you stay alive longer. The 5-Piece bonus offers a 15% cost reduction on all ultimates which is absolutely huge, helping you pump out those powerful ultimate abilities as quickly as possible.

Akaviri Dragonguard comes from the zone of East March which is part of the base game. Dolmens, delves and the public dungeon are all great ways to farm this gear set but there are also actually a lot of quests in the zone that reward set pieces as well. For example, the Hefty Bonestrewn Gauntlets can be earned by helping this Nord find his missing family members. The quest itself takes less than 10 minutes, and the gloves are actually ideal for tanking because they come in the Sturdy trait which reduces the cost of blocking.

Set Piece Locations

• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• Dolmen: ring or neck
• Quests:
  • Hefty Bonestrewn Gauntlets (gloves) – given by Selgaard Wood-Hewer for the quest “Dark Deeds” – near Kerthor’s Cabin
  • Dungeon-Delving Harness (waist) – given by Kireth Vanos for the quest “Kireth’s Amazing Plan” – Mzulft
  • Skald-King’s Favor (head) – given by Thane Harvald for the quest “The War Council” – Fort Amul
  • Skald-King’s War Plackart (chest) – given by Prince Irnskar for the quest “A Council Of Thanes” – Jorunn’s Stand
  • Skald-King’s Greaves (legs) – given by High Priest Esling for the quest “Gods Save The King” – Mistwatch

7) Spinner’s Garments

Weight: Light

Zone: Malabal Tor (Base Game)

Set number 7 is the Spinner’s Garments set. Spinner’s is a popular and classic Light Armor set for ESO and is both powerful and easy to obtain. The 2-4 bonuses are especially strong because Max Magicka and Spell damage are ideal bonuses for any caster build in the game. These two stats will increase your damage and your healing done on most skills. The 5 piece bonus to Spell Penetration essentially makes all of your abilities hit even harder because it lets your attacks ignore a significant amount of your enemies resistances and increased damage is always good, whether you’re playing in PVE or PVP content.

Spinner’s Garments drops in the base game zone of Malabal Tor and as usual can be obtained from Delves, Dolmens, the Public Dungeon, World Bosses and treasure chests. My favorite location for farming this set is the Black Vine ruins Delve located at the northeast corner of the map. Remember that Delves bosses can drop waist and feet pieces so you should be able to get those pretty quickly. As you are working on those you can then walk right outside to see if anyone is destroying the Dolmen – get a few hits in for a chance at a jewelry piece once the Dolmen is defeated.

Set Piece Locations

• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• Dolmen: ring or neck
• Quests: none

6) Spriggan’s Thorns

Weight: Medium

Zone: Bangkorai (Base Game)

Set number 6 is Spriggan’s Thorns which is the Stamina equivalent to Spinner’s Garments that we saw in number 7. Just like Spinner’s, Spriggan’s has very strong 2-4 piece bonuses, and the 5 piece bonus will increase all of your outgoing damage automatically, including single target damage, AOE damage, and damage over time.

Spriggan’s comes from the zone of Bangkorai which is a base game zone, so no special DLC’s are required for this one.

You can get almost a full set of Spriggan’s simply from questing in Bangkorai. For example, the 2 Handed Maul called Foe-Smasher can be earned by talking to Squire Theo at Murcien’s Hamlet. And the unique shoulder piece called Hircine’s Boon can be earned by completing by completing Wyress Linnae’s quest at the Fallen Grotto. These are both fairly simple quests that you can complete in about 10 minutes each. You can find more quests to complete for set pieces below:

Set Piece Locations

• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• Dolmen: ring or neck
• Quests:
  • Anexiel’s Thorax (chest) – given by Najan for the quest “A Marriage In Ruins” – Nalata Ruins
  • Hircine’s Boon (shoulder) – given by Wyress Linnae for the quest “The Heart Of The Beast” – Fallen Grotto
  • Sentinel’s Longbow (bow) – given by Wyress Demara for the quest “The Will Of The Woods” – Viridian Woods
  • Chausses of the Cured (legs) – given by Renoit Leonciele for the quest “Freedom’s Chains” – Kerbol’s Hollow
  • Foe-Smasher (2h Maul) – given by Squire Theo Rocque for the quest “The Charge Of Evermore” – Murcien’s Hamlet 
  • Stone-Skin Gloves (hands) – given by Lady Clarisse Laurent for the quest “Tongues of Stone” – Qharroa Ruins

5) Crafty Alfiq

Weight: Light

Zone: Northern Elsweyr (Elsweyr Chapter)

Moving on to number 5, we have a very strong Magicka-based set, great for damage dealers and healers – this is Crafty Alfiq set. Now Crafty Alfiq is 100% focused on Max Magicka, as we can see from the 2-5 piece bonuses. This will be especially strong for classes like Magicka Sorcerer, Magicka Nightblade and Magicka Warden who already have some scaling bonuses to their Max Magicka, helping to push those values even higher.

Now this is a DLC set as it comes from the Elsweyr chapter zone Norther Elsweyr. Again, this can be farmed easily from the Delves, the public dungeon and treasure chests throughout the zone. There are also daily quests which have a chance to drop set pieces, and Several side quests in Northern Elsweyr can drop unique Crafty Alfiq pieces as well including a lightning staff and restoration staff.

Set Piece Locations

• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• World Dragon: ring or neck
• Quests:
  • Anequina Healer’s Rod (Restoration Staff) – given by Narayun for the quest “In Sickness and In Health” – near Anequina Aqueduct
  • Potentate’s Staff of Storms (Lightning Staff) – given by Ashur for the quest “Descendant of the Potentate” – Hakoshae Tombs

4) Venomous Smite

Weight: Medium

Zone: Western Skyrim and Blackreach (Greymoor Chapter)

Number 4 is a very powerful stamina-based set both for PVE and PVP and that’s the Venomous Smite set. This set gives us great offensive bonuses focused around weapon critical. And for the 5-piece bonus, when we deal any type of critical damage we proc a Poison Effect that does AOE poison damage around a target for 10 seconds with an additional 5 second cool down. Make sure that if you’re going to use this set that you already have invested somewhat into Critical Damage for a greater likelyhood of procing that AOE poison.

This set comes from the Greymoor chapter so keep in mind that it does require you to have access to the DLC zones of Western Skyrim and Blackreach if you want to farm the gear yourself.

Set Piece Locations

• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• Harrowstorm: ring or neck
• Quests:
  • Mor Khazgur Crusher (2h Maul) – given by Umgaak for the quest “A Clan Divided” – Mor Khazgur

3) Mother’s Sorrow

Weight: Light

Zone: Deshaan (Base Game)

Coming in at number 3 we have another very popular set from the base game and that’s Mother’s Sorrow. This set is great for all magicka builds and is even used by some end-game players for PVE Group Dungeon and Trial content, so you’ll get a lot of use from this set if you like playing magicka builds. For the 2 piece bonus we have max magicka and then everything else is Spell Critical.

This set comes from the zone of Deshaan, which is very easy to farm. This area in the northwest corner of the zone has a Delve, the public dungeon, and a Dolmen all in one area which makes it an ideal location for farming pieces for this set quickly. If you are lower level, then start in the Delve and farm the Delve boss while you look for treasure chests, then work your way up to the public dungeon and Dolmens as you get stronger. Finally, there is a very easy quest where you can obtain a Mother’s Sorrow lightning staff in the town of Silent Mire – though you might want to save this for when you reach the max gear level of CP 160 since that staff is so good.

Set Piece Locations

• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• Dolmen: ring or neck
• Quests:
  • Argonian Muck Minder of Mother’s Sorrow (Lightning Staff) – given by Leel-Vata for the quest “The Saving of Silent Mire” – Silent Mire
  • Plague Mask (head) – given by Aerona Berendas for the quest “Bad Medicine” – Quarantine Serk
  • Selforan Temple Sash (waist) – given by Forlorn One for the quest “Rescue and Revenge” – Selfora Temple

2) Eternal Vigor

Weight: Heavy

Zone: Western Skyrim and Blackreach (Greymoor Chapter)

Moving on to the number 2 set on this list we have Eternal Vigor, an extremely strong Heavy Armor set for basically all builds and play styles including PVE and PVP. Now what’s so great about this set is all the raw stats you get from it. Nothing fancy here, just pure, juicy stats. We get stamina, magicka and health recovery, plus a hidden health bonus on the 5 piece. Then we also have those dependent recoveries – so most of the time you will be getting the full 300+ stamina and magicka recovery which is huge – but when you get in trouble and your health dips you get a massive boost to health recovery instead. This is just a great all around survival set, especially if you like playing solo because the stamina and magicka recovery will help you sustain your skills while the health recovery is great for emergencies.

Eternal Vigor is another DLC set from Greymoor, can be obtained from Delves, public dungeons and treasure chests in that zone as well as the daily quest and zone side quests so make sure you check those out as well. For example there’s a super easy side quest in the Dragonhold Delve which will give you the unique Dragonholm helm for free.

Set Piece Locations

• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• Harrowstorms: ring or neck
• Quests:
  • Dragonhome Helm (head) – given by Heiruna Doll for the quest “Spellbound” – outside Dragonhome Delve
  • Karthwatch Walking Boots (feet) – given by Adelrine for the quest “The Blood Of Old Karth” – Karthwatch

1) Winter’s Respite

Weight: Light

Zone: Western Skyrim and Blackreach (Greymoor Chapter)

Finally, we are up to the number one set on this list and that is the new set Winter’s Respite. Now this is a magicka-focused set but just know that the passive healing on this set is so good that even a stamina build could get some use out of it. For the 2-4 piece bonuses you can see that they are magicka focused but that the 5 piece bonus gives us a free AOE heal every time we use a ground-based effect. Most builds can unlock this very early with basic weapon skills like Wall Of Elements from the destruction staff skill line or Volley from the bow skill line. One of the most challenging things I’ve noticed for new players is healing, especially on some classes that don’t have access to great healing skills early on, so this set is amazing for that. And remember this is also AOE healing so it’s great if you happen to be in a group as well.

This is from the Greymoor Chapter DLC, so you will need access to that if you want to farm it yourself. And as usual, it’s very easy to pick up from Delves, daily quests and side quests. For example, by completing the side quest for the Scraps Delve you get a unique Winter’s Respite staff called Spiderprod – super easy to get and very effective on certain builds. I used this on my Magicka templar from about level 10 to 40 – it’s great.

Set Piece Locations

• Delve Boss: feet, waist
• Public Dungeon Boss: shoulder, hand, or weapon
• World Boss: head, chest, legs, or weapon
• Harrowstorms: ring or neck
• Quests:
  • Rigurt’s Fancy Shirt (chest) – given by Rigurt the Brash for the quest “Cultural Conciliation” – near Karthald
  • Spiderprod Staff (Lightning Staff) – given by Neramo for the quest “The Scraps” – outside The Scraps Delve

Explore More ESO Sets