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 will take a look at Zaan Monster Helm, which has a chance of doing heavy Flame damage  upon landing light or heavy attack.

Introduction To Zaan 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. Zaan Monster Helm drops 100% of the time from the final boss of Scalecaller Peak in Veteran mode. Shoulders have a chance to drop from Urgalarg Chief-bane’s Chest using Pledge Key.

Set comes in all weights with random Traits. Light version comes with Magicka, Medium with Stamina and Heavy with Health Enchantment. Drops are random so you will probably have to do Scalecaller Peak and open chest repeatedly to get weight and Traits that you want. Keep in mind that you can use Transmutation to change Traits if you wish, but you will need the Summerset expansion if you wish to Transmute Jewelry.

Zaan is a monster set so it comes with 2 piece set bonus. 1 piece adds 833 Spell Critical and 2 pieces give 20% chance to create Flame damage beam upon striking enemy with Light or Heavy Attack. Beam lasts for 5 secs and does damage each second. Every second beam does 50% more damage but beam is only active if it is inside 8 meters. If distance becomes greater than 8 meters then beam is canceled.

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 major Update (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 of Update 13 (Homestead) so as to reduce their effectiveness in Cyrodiil. 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 can apply it. Finding Sets with little or no cooldown is ideal, because it allows you to trigger them frequently. Zaan has a 18 second cooldown, however, it lasts 5 seconds, meaning it’s cooldown is effectively 13 seconds. This is one of the highest cooldowns for any Proc Set in the game.

How this set works is whenever you strike an enemy with Light or Heavy Attack there is 20% chance it will proc beam that does Flame Damage. What is interesting is that this beam does 50% more damage every seconds while its active to up to 5 seconds, and the beam can occur every 18 seconds. This can lead to some really high damage numbers. The downside is that any enemy affected needs to be within an 8m radius. If the distance becomes greater than 8m, the beam will automatically be canceled. You can dodge roll while the beam is active, but you have to be careful to not roll out of the 8m range, which can be difficult when things are chaotic.

Tooltip damage can be increased to maxmium of around 4500 with the Elemental Expert Champion Skill, Elemental Talent High Elf passive, and 3 pieces of Siroria set. That is only the tooltip damage for the first tick though. With Thamutaruge at maximum, which affects damage done every second, the last tick deals around 12k damage. This means the total damage from one proc, with everything maxed, comes out to about 46k–47k. On top of that, the flame damage can proc the Burning status effect, adding to the overall damage. That is really high damage if you can stay within 8 meters! Note that the beam cannot Crit because it is a Proc Set, and only one beam can be active at once. So attacking multiple opponents at once with light and heavy attacks won’t trigger multiple beams.

Notes for PvE Players

Zaan Set sounds amazing on paper, and it truly is, but it can be only used with very specific builds centered around Magicka and close combat. It is a DPS set so whoever wears this will need to stay close to enemies to maximize its effectiveness, and that can sometimes lead to quick death, if mistakes were made against powerful bosses on veteran difficulty. So to utilize this Set you are going to have to have some defensive abilities to help yourself in tough situations, and ideally know the mechanics of the boss you are facing.

Dragonknights and Templars that are Magicka based DPS roles will find this set to be extremely good since they have a lot of close combat abilities that complement this set bonus. Dragonknight abilities that are usually used in in dps rotations like Flame Lash, Burning Embers and Engulfing Flames have a range of about 8 meters, so they work well with Zaan. Also Dragonknights have lots of ways to say alive thanks to Green Dragon Blood, Obsidian Shield and Hardened Armor abilities, so they can reduce a lot of incoming damage and heal back up.

The Templar primary Magicka DPS ability is Puncturing Strikes, which is fantastic in combination with Zaan Set since it is a close combat ability. Other abilities such as Sun Fire have long range but that does not mean it can’t be used in DPS rotation with close combat abilities such as Puncturing Strikes since they are useful at all ranges.

This Set that works best with the Elf Bane Set. It increases the duration of the beam to 7 secs with its 5 piece set bonus, and that means 2 extra ticks with 50% increased damage. The total damage, depending on your build, can reach 70k in those 7 secs, which is just insane considering that you can spam close combat dps abilities to maximize damage output while the beam is active. The Elf Bane Set is important also because Zaan has a huge downtime of 18 secs, so shortening that time as much as possible is good optimization.

Notes for PvP

Zaan can be devastating in PvP. No matter the damage resistance, if you can get a full proc to hit, you can kill just about any player. The problem is, obviously, staying within those 8 meters to keep the beam going. The good thing is that you can dodge roll into another player when they are trying to roll out of the range, but it can be tricky to time that. That is why any immobilization abilities in combination with Zaan can be fantastic. If the enemy is not moving, they can’t get away. You can perma-root things with a Frost Staff, so consider using one in conjunction with Zaan.

Just like PvE, you’re probably going to want to use Elf Bane along with this Set to increase the duration and get 2 more powerful ticks at the end. All you really need to do, is immobilize players and let Zaan do the work. Also consider adding Sload’s Semblance to this combination for truly cheesy and devastating results. Oblivion Damage is OP in PvP!

Final Thoughts

Zaan is a great DPS Set for PvE and PvP when utilised correctly. It needs optimization through Elf’s Bane for PvE, but otherwise it can be used on anyone for anything to a certain degree. If you need to take down a boss quickly then any experienced Tank can take Zaan and contribute to overall DPS even without Elf’s Bane. Try it on your tank and see what you think.

The Spell Strategist Set is another great addition to Zaan. For Zaan to proc you need to strike an enemy with a light or heavy attack, and Spell Strategist marks an enemy you have struck with Light Attack, adding 500 Spell Damage to all magicka abilities for 5 secs. It won’t affect beam’s damage, but it makes sense for those players weaving Light Attacks into their rotation.

This Set can be used to great effect in Solo play, like Maelstrom Arena, since enemies will rush you all the time and stay within 8m for the most part. Just make sure to not dodge roll often (or you may lose the beam), and you will tear down even the mightiest of enemies in no time.

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Stay tuned as I’ll be covering the rest of the ESO Sets, and be sure to check out our other ESO Guides!