Welcome to another installment of a segment where we dive into one Elder Scrolls Online’s many Sets, and explore what sort of Builds you 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 at Trappings of Invigoration Set which helps greatly in managing Stamina.

An Introduction To Trappings of Invigoration Set

This set was added to the game with Dragon Bones DLC.  It launched on PC/Mac on 12th February 2018 and Consoles on February 17th 2018. Dragon Bones introduced two new dungeons (Scalecaller Peak and Fang Lair) which are Norse-themed.  This Set drops in Fang Lair, which is located in Bangkorai. Each Set item is bind on pickup, meaning you will have to run this Dungeon in order to obtain this Set. You can acquire heavy armor, weapons and jewelry of this set in the Fang Lair motif style. Fang Lair motif has a chance of dropping from last boss in Fang Lair, but it can be also purchased from Crown Store.

Weapon and Armor Traits are random, meaning you are likely to have to farm pieces for different Traits. This is Medium Armor set so enchantments on Armor and Weapon pieces are Max Stamina and Absorb Stamina. Jewelry comes with Robust Traits and Stamina Recovery Enchantments. Keep in mind that you can use Transmutation to change Traits if you wish, however the Summerset expansion is needed, along with 50 Transmute Crystals.

Trappings of Invigoration offers increased Max Stamina by 1096 and increased Stamina Recovery by 258 with 4 pieces equipped. The 5 piece set bonus restores 9000 Stamina every time any ability has been used when under 33% Stamina. This effect can occur once every 1 minute. Although the 5 set piece bonus has a long cooldown, the help you get in managing Stamina while wearing it is quite significant. Tanks can benefit the most to regain Stamina while blocking through 5 piece set bonus.

Reducing Your Block Cost

If you are a player focusing primarily on PvE, the first thing you’re going to want to do when using Trappings of Invigoration is reduce your Block Cost since you will need to Block a lot in order to make full use of this Set. The cost of Blocking is 1730 Stamina every .25 seconds currently (assuming you are being hit) and you will need to reduce that number significantly or you will not be able to Block more than a couple of seconds tops. Luckily there are many ways to do this.

For PvE players (tanks) you’ll want to have the Sturdy Trait on just about every piece of Armor you can, and since this Set is crafted, that will be extremely easy to do. PvP players will want Impenetrable, or else they will die quickly from Critical Damage, and they do not need to Block as often.

Secondly PvE players will want to invest heavily into the Shadow Ward star of The Shadow Champion Tree. There is no hard and fast rule here as to just how much you need to invest, but it is not difficult to get -20% Block Cost reduction from this star. PvE  players will also want to have the passive skill: Fortress  in the One-Handed and Shield Skill Line. Maxed out, it will reduce your Block Cost by 36% when you have a Shield equipped.

Finally, and most importantly, PvE players should put Glyph of Shielding on your Jewelry. If you play around with Blocking at all, you’ll find there is no way to make it sustainable without them. You don’t need to put them on all your Jewelry, but at least 1 or 2. It isn’t necessary to go for a “perma-block” build, but you will need to reduce Block Cost significantly for this Build to work. However, blocking effectiveness got nerfed in Dragon Bones DLC. With all factors affecting Block cost maximized it would cost around 250 Stamina more per block after the patch, which is quite a significant increase. Basically ‘perma-block’ got nerfed by reducing effectiveness of blocking cost reduction formula. For more information on Blocking please see this video.

What You Need To Know About Trappings of Invigoration

How this set works is that whenever ability is used and your Stamina is below 33% you get 9k Stamina but only once per minute. It does not have to be Stamina based ability that you use, as literally any ability will work. Something interesting is that Dodge Rolling triggers the effect as well. The amount of Stamina restored cannot be increased by any means nor can the cooldown be reduced.

Unfortunately the 1 minute cooldown is a serious downside that will immediately deter many players from using this Set. Stamina DPS Classes do not need such sets and Tanks do not benefit from Stamina Recovery set bonuses when holding Block. However, Tanks can benefit a lot from the 5 piece set bonus exactly because of the fact that there are only a few ways to regain Stamina while holding block (not including Potions). This can be very helpful in certain situations in both PvE and PvP.

Notes for PvE Players

This Set can be great for Tanks that struggle with Stamina consumption while Blocking, and need a way to replenish it. To be effective as a Tank Set, it requires optimization because on its own it just will not be enough. With the latest changes, block cost has been increased to make ‘perma-blocking’ builds less useful. However with this set, and couple of additions, this can be still achieved.

Considering that this is Medium Armor it is highly recommended to use 3 Jewelry pieces, Weapon and Shield from Trappings of Invigoration in order to leave armor slots to benefit from Heavy Armor Passives as well as mitigations, since those are extremely important for every tank.

These are all the factors in reducing the block cost:

• 3 Glyphs of Shielding reduce blocking cost by 609
• 8 Sturdy Traits equals 32% block reduction
• Defensive Posture when slotted gives 8% block reduction
• Shadow Ward Champion Skill reduces block cost by 25%
• Fortress reduces block cost by 36%

Knowing that base block cost is 1730, after incorporating all of these factors block cost would be reduced to 336 Stamina per block. With this math you can play around and switch some of the things that affect block cost to suit your playstyle better. 336 Stamina per block is not a small amount when attacked by huge number of enemies but this is where Stamina restoration comes into play. Having Stamina Potions is great boost already, and even though it has a lengthy cooldown of 45 seconds, it restores almost 7k Stamina instantly. Any decent tank should be able to hold with full Stamina bar for 45 secs without any issues unless there is really large group of enemies attacking at the same time.

War Horn Ultimate is always recommended to have with Tank so there is another way to restore Stamina. Every use of this ultimate restores Stamina and Magicka. Considering the fact that you are the frontliner and have shield up for most of the time, interrupting enemies comes naturally with tanking. When enemies have been interrupted they are set off balance. Hitting them with fully charged Heavy Attack when they are off balance restores 4k Stamina instantly without other boosts.

Some Sets work better with a Trappings of Invigoration based build. The Engine Guardian Monster Helm grants 10% chance to summon dwemer automaton that restores one random resource over 6.5 secs. This is great when it triggers because it will restore 1 resource while you go about doing your own thing. Unfortunately this effect is random so it isn’t as reliable as you’d like, but it is very helpful regardless. Aspect of Mazzatun is another nice addition since it restores all 3 resources when you fall below 30% Health. This can occur every 45 secs. It is a long cooldown but you should not fall below 30% Health that soon afterwards anyway. It is a great failsafe set because if you lose stamina your health will likely plummet and this set will give you a fighting chance.

Notes for PvP Players

Resource management is extremely important in PvP, and you use Stamina to Break Free and Roll Dodge often. Having Trappings of Invigoration can save you from certain death in these situations, and they shouldn’t come more often than about every 1 minute anyway, unless you are playing Battlegrounds. This Set will allow you to burn through your Stamina fast, taking down that one player, without as much cause for concern that you are depleted afterwards.

Because this Set is heavy on Stamina Recovery and it gives you Stamina, your second Set should be something that gives bonuses to Stats that increase damage like Max Stamina or Weapon Damage. Ideally it would just have those things and whatever 5 piece bonus it comes with. Some suggestions are Spinner’s Garments or Champion of the Hist.

Final Thoughts

War Horn is the most used Tank Ultimate in PvE. Having that huge restoration as many times as possible is extremely helpful, not only for allies but for your Stamina restoration as well. So pairing Trappings of Invigoration with any set that increases Ultimate Points gain rate is definitely an option. Blood Spawn, Akaviri Dragonguard, Shalk Exoskeleton and many others are great choices if going down that route.

By replacing Glyph of Shielding on Jewelry with Glyph of Potion Speed you can have similar effectiveness. 3 Glyphs reduce Potion cooldown by 15 secs to 30 secs which is significantly lower. It comes with downside of increased block cost, but the upside is Potions will be available much more often. It is just another gimmick that can be employed with this build if you are so inclined.

Having a high amount of Stamina is important when going for perma-block builds. That is why it is recommended to get The Tower Sign to increase Max Stamina. Be sure to use any other tools at your disposal as well such as Restoring Focus for Templars, or Adrenaline Rush if you’re a Redguard.

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