Is the Armadillo set worth it?

talien · September 2016

I figured out that I can get 1 piece every 4 days or so if I do the 8k max refine on one character and 2k on my other character. I know a lot of people are going to suggest just going for the Mercenary gear, but honestly I'm just looking for stuff that I don't have to constantly worry about replacing every couple levels while I'm building my character.

I figure by the time I get to 40 and can actually start using the merc gear I'll still be trying to find decent mods for it so I might as well get something decent in the meantime. I'm playing "The Mind" and so far I'm leaning toward Armadillo because I already have a defense aura so why not more? The low HP makes me lean that way as well.

pantagruel01 · September 2016

talien said:

pantagruel01 said:
Armadillo secondaries are handy. I wouldn't bother with the primaries.
Could you give a bit more detail?

Armadillo gear has stats but doesn't have specials (+crit, +offense, +healing, +cost reduction, +cooldown). This isn't a big deal for secondaries until you're looking at very high end gear, but it's a problem for primaries early.

I missed that you aren't level 40, though. Honestly, I would not worry heavily about gear until you reach level 40, just use quest green trash and replace it every few levels.

pantagruel01 · September 2016

Armadillo secondaries are handy. I wouldn't bother with the primaries.

talien · September 2016

pantagruel01 said:
Armadillo secondaries are handy. I wouldn't bother with the primaries.

Could you give a bit more detail? I was thinking on the whole set for the extra 25% defense, and having gear that will always boost my primary/secondary stats seems good but if there are better options I'm open to suggestions.

talien · September 2016

pantagruel01 said:

talien said:

pantagruel01 said:
Armadillo secondaries are handy. I wouldn't bother with the primaries.
Could you give a bit more detail?
Armadillo gear has stats but doesn't have specials (+crit, +offense, +healing, +cost reduction, +cooldown). This isn't a big deal for secondaries until you're looking at very high end gear, but it's a problem for primaries early.

I missed that you aren't level 40, though. Honestly, I would not worry heavily about gear until you reach level 40, just use quest green trash and replace it every few levels.

That's what I've been doing so far, the green/blue stuff from quests and random drops. I forgot about extra stats, so yeah I think I'll just go with the secondaries and save up for merc gear at 40.

Thanks for the info.

markhawkman · September 2016

Some quest gear is actually REALLY good... It often has a limitation imposed by a bizarre lack of a proper item level though.

Mods slotted into quest gear actually have reduced stats simply due to the lack of an item level on the gear. So using high rank mods is futile, as you get the same bonus from low level "junk" mods.

magpieuk2014 · September 2016

The thing about having the full Armadillo set is that the additional powers are hopeless, and that the Defense isn't as good as you might think. (It's not 50% DR bonus, it's 25%+25%, which isn't as good). Better to go for a damage increase set of Q gear earlier on, and then shift to Quest gear after that. Do the Elder Worms chain of missions on MI or the Vibora Bay Apocalpyse late on, some good mission rewards there.

pantagruel01 · September 2016

magpieuk2014 said:
The thing about having the full Armadillo set is that the additional powers are hopeless, and that the Defense isn't as good as you might think. (It's not 50% DR bonus, it's 25%+25%, which isn't as good).

No, 25% + 25% is exactly the same as +50%; it's just that +50% is "+0.5 to your damage divisor", so if you've already got, say, 30% from Defense, the two Armadillo bumps change your damage taken from 77% (none) to 65% (one) to 56% (two).

magpieuk2014 · September 2016

Oh, Ok. It displays as 2 x 25% in the Game UI, but if all the elements in that level of defence are aggregated in the game's calculation, then that makes sense. The point for the thread starter, though, is that the effect of the second half of the Armadillo set is less significant than the first, and that in survivability terms, it might be better to boost damage or healing in the Primaries rather than going for all six pieces of Armadillo gear.

decorumfriends · September 2016

Leveling up, I use the starter gear, and then regear from the Auction House about 25 on about every five levels or so (usually plenty of adequate stuff there reasonable to cheap, especially after 30). I can't stand "only Super-Stats" gear. I never build that way, too restrictive.

markhawkman · September 2016

Also, those SS mods seem to be weaker than regular mods.

riverocean · September 2016

I've paired Questionite primaries with purple secondaries to good effect. I use the secondaries to buff up other stats (like recovery, crit chance, bonus healing, dexterity, hit points, con etc...). The stats I've received are close to Mercenary gear at level 40. So not terrible.

But at the current pricing — forget it. Questionite gear is much too expensive now. Your better off using the good leveling gear that drops in the game. Or buying decent blue level gear from the AH.

magpieuk2014 · September 2016

The Armadillo Primaries are as much as a set of Merc gear. I'm sure that was intentional, but it's ham-handed... most would get a set of Blues at 40 anyway.

catstarsto · October 2016

The old leveling sets are overpriced now, they used to be be able to be helpful for new players after a couple weeks of daily's...but id recommend saving your Questionite for the merc set instead. The prices for gear on the exchange can be bought at a decent price too in the mean time.

nepht · October 2016

Its a funny set meant for a laugh with a derpy roll attack and costume power but like some have said the secondary ones are good until you get cosmic or the like.

markhawkman · October 2016

also... what does the defense bonus actually protect against? Last time I looked I think it said "Physical resist"...

pr0fp0tts · October 2016

When these things were cheap I often used to slap them on a newly created character just so that I could be lazy and sell everything I picked up without having to check the stats until that character hit 40 and needed 'real' gear. Now they're far too expensive to do that (since they bind to character, so you just toss them when you get real gear).

The Armadillo Roll power I've actually found useful on melee characters who lack a decent lunge power - especially on Tank characters who need to beat the suicidal zerg-rushing DPS guys you tend to PUG with in Grab Alerts into the fray. The power has a long-ish charge time, but for a lunge it has an insanely long range, so it's a good opener. However, again, probably not worth the investment these days.

zamuelpwe · October 2016

One thing of note is that while the price was raised, they were also converted from BoP to BoE. May not mean much within one's own account but might make it something nice a high level player could give to a lowbie or possibly toss onto the auction.

supersharks · October 2016

I would use the 3 secondaries, even at 40 if you are interested in a survivability build. The 25% is quite worth it for anything short of cosmics. AFAIK the 25% applies to all damage, not just physical damage, though I could be wrong.

Is the Armadillo set worth it?

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