Originally published August 16, 2024. The original article can be found here.
We are thrilled to have the chance to talk to Nadav Pechthold, one of ESO's Combat Designers, to dive deep into the process behind the creation of the game's many item sets.
Across ESO's 10-year history, the team has added over 650 unique item sets to the game, allowing players to further customize and perfect their builds. In Part 1, we'll discuss item set basics, how they are designed, and what teams are involved in their creation. Keep an eye out for Part 2 in the coming weeks, which will dive into item set balance and post-launch support.
Item Set BasicsEdit
Thank you for joining us, Nadav! Let's focus on the basics first: What are item sets in ESO?
Nadav: In ESO, you can find weapons, jewelry, and armor, and equipping them increases your character's power. These items can impact how much damage you take, how many resources you regenerate, and how much damage you can do.
Some items are part of a larger set, and if you collect and wear more than one item of those sets, you get additional benefits. Every item set has a maximum limit where, after you've equipped that maximum, you won't receive any additional benefit, but the final boon you get is going to be greater.
In many cases, item sets are comprised of five pieces, but we also have sets that require both fewer and more than that to complete.
In addition to increasing overall power, why else are item sets important to the player?
Nadav: Item sets increase player power, yes, but they also offer different types of power and give players a lot of ways to customize their experience.
Beyond your Class, Race, and weapon selections, item sets provide further opportunities for different playstyles, whether you want to play ranged or melee, use magicka or stamina, deal damage, heal, or tank.
Some item sets are simply there to make your life easier, like Hunding's Rage, while some are going to double down on a playstyle and enhance it. Others might help fill a specific gap or assist with the things that you're not currently good at.
As developers, how do you categorize the game's various item sets?
Nadav: Item sets cover a huge gamut in our game, but I would say most of them are combat-focused. We do have a few sets that are utility-focused and offer benefits both in and out of combat, but those are in the minority.
One way we categorize the game's many sets is with complexity in mind. For example, we have item sets that are very simple: You put them on, and you get a benefit. Others, however, are more nuanced and require you to do something, or they work depending on the situation you are in.
There are some item sets that offer additional utility or roleplay opportunities too, right?
Nadav: Yes! One of our most recent mythic items is called the Shadow Queen's Cowl, and this was something I was extremely excited about.
We worked very closely with the Systems team on this one because we wanted to make a mythic item that wasn't purely combat-focused. This item celebrates Nocturnal and the Thieves Guild, and it's all about being sneaky, giving players the ability to see pick pocketable targets through walls while they're in stealth.
Aside from Combat, what other teams work on item sets?
Nadav: Item sets as a system are always live, but they need to have new content constantly generated, too. As a result, it's not just the Combat team who has a major stake in item sets, as they can impact many other development teams, including Systems, Art, Content, and Engineering.
For example, much of the work done to support new and existing item sets is completed by the Systems team. This includes how items are sourced, the chances of earning them, and where they can be found.
Designing and PrototypingEdit
What's the first step for the item set creation process?
'Nadav: Because of ESOs content updates, there are rarely any surprises when it comes to planning new item sets. We know that if there's a dungeon DLC coming out, we'll need sets for each dungeon. If there's a Chapter or zone DLC, we know we'll need overland and crafted sets.
So, the first step is simply understanding what new updates are coming, and then the Combat team and other designers and engineers will come together for a series of meetings where we essentially brainstorm ideas.
Where does the team typically look for inspiration?
Nadav: Often, inspiration comes from the content itself, so if there's a dungeon, we'll play through it a bit and think about what monsters or mechanics or themes we can leverage.
We also think about the playstyles we'd like to include that we don't typically see in other games, and we have a list of ideas we have talked about in the past, too. We'll then refine those ideas until we've narrowed them down to something manageable, and it's very important to get the viewpoints of people outside the Combat team.
How might a Systems Designer or an Engineer think about a new item set differently?
Nadav: A Systems Designer might ask how a set is going to interact with the economy, while an Engineer would know whether the tech exists to support a new set or whether it could hurt game performance.
Right! Because with large populations, like in Cyrodiil, you might not want the same item sets all firing at once, right?
Nadav: Exactly. Some item sets are more performant than others, and we must carefully monitor sets to make sure that when used in Cyrodiil, Battlegrounds, or any other zone where there are a lot of players, they're not going to cause issues.
With so much variety, can some item sets be harder to design than others?
Nadav: Class sets are typically harder to design than other types of item sets, as they need to be both mechanically and thematically tied to specific classes and skill lines, narrowing our design scope and limiting what type of abilities we can create for each set.
Who else needs to review the design of an item set?
Nadav: We have a group of Seniors and Leads that we collectively refer to as the stakeholders, and they're given the list of sets for an update and asked for final approval.
Sometimes, they like an idea but want us to make some changes, and we go back and forth between them and the brainstorming group until we have a list of final products.
Sometimes, we get more approvals than needed, and we save those ideas for future updates.
Is that when you can finally start building a new item set?
Nadav: Yep! Once we have the approvals, we begin prototyping immediately. We have an in-house tool that we use to build everything in the game, and we try to make a prototype as fast as possible so the team can get their hands on it and discover any immediate pitfalls.
Do you use existing items and effects when building these prototypes?
Nadav: Yes. Usually, I will take existing things and modify them so they are closer to what I'm looking for. For example, if I wanted an effect that is six meters, I'll look for an existing one that size and test that out.
That's why we do early prototyping with placeholder art before we hand it off to our artists. It's much easier for us on our end to make those adjustments with placeholder art than for them to redo any work that they've done.
Building the SetEdit
What happens after the Combat team completes the prototype?
Nadav: Once we have resolved any problems, we begin integrating more teams into the set’s production.
The Systems team creates the "physical" items players interact with. That means the weapons, armor, and jewelry with their traits and enchantments, the drop tables so that the items will spawn when you defeat the right enemy, and the craft station setups. We also integrate the various artists, who then craft the set's unique visual and sound effects.
What is the process for crafting the effects for an item set?
Nadav: Obviously, I can't speak for the artists on the more technical aspects, but usually we'll have an idea for visuals based on either the mechanic of the item set itself or the content it is related to.
When building the prototype, we try our best to replicate the feel we want with a temporary effect we already have. We then give those placeholder effects to the artists to use as the foundation and give them a description of what we hope the visuals will look like.
The team then builds upon all that, taking out our crayon drawings and putting masterpieces in their place.
Sometimes we have a specific visual in mind that we might reference. Other times, we might just ask them to make it look cool, and they go to work. Once they're happy with what they've created, the Art and Combat teams get together for a review and it's just like any other process. We iterate and make changes, and by the time the players see it, it looks super cool.
Why is it important for item sets to have distinct visuals or sounds?
Nadav: There are a lot of different answers for that, and they're all correct. Basically, an item set in any team-based content, whether it's PvE or PvP, needs to be identifiable. Some item sets don't work well if you and a teammate are both wearing them at the same time, but you also need to be able to identify what sets your enemy is using so you can react to them.
Also, a set's visuals and sounds often showcase the content. For example, there's a set called Red Mountain which launches a fireball at your enemy and another, called Plague Slinger, that creates a skeever corpse and launches a poison ball. They do similar things but have different damage types, and they both tell very different stories.
With Art and Systems teams involved in the process, what happens next?
Nadav: With Art and Systems getting started, we go back to the engineers who review every single item set we've made to check to make sure that everything is as performant as possible.
They meticulously grade our efforts, and sometimes they'll say something like "Hey, can you move these parts around? Could you do a little tinkering and change these values? It'll just make that item run a little bit better."
Sometimes they'll tell us about a new piece of technology since the last time we talked that will make a set more efficient.
When does the Writing or Content team get involved in the process?
Nadav: With the Art team working on final effects, the engineers giving us their blessing, and Systems having created the items, we begin talking with our Editorial and Lore team.
We always think about the content when we create new sets, but we don't have the expertise of our Lore team, so they will come up with cool names that are thematically appropriate for the sets and content.
I rely on our Loremaster's knowledge, and I push back on something only if the name has a conflict. Examples include if it's too similar to a different item set name or something that already exists, or if the lore name implies something about the set that is inaccurate in terms of what it actually does.
How does the QA Team contribute to the creation of an item set?
Nadav: Our QA Team takes on a big chunk of the work, and they aren't just looking for bugs with each item set, but they are also testing these item sets as if they were players.
We hold both PvE and PvP playtests where they are given the sets in their early prototype form, and they provide feedback on the power level and feel of the items.
Clearly, it takes a village to build an item set in ESO, but we've just begun to explore their development with Part 1. Keep an eye out for Part 2 in the coming weeks where we'll dive deeper into how item sets are balanced internally and how the team reviews and updates them after they are live.
Have you learned a little more about how item sets are developed in ESO? What's your current go-to set for your playstyle? Let us know via X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, or Facebook.