As a CP810 damage dealer who has sunk over 1000 hours into mastering Elder Scrolls Online, I‘ve painstakingly collected a vast arsenal of powerful gear. But few sets compare to the coveted Deadly Strikes – which offers substantial boosts to critical strike damage that can melt even the tankiest bosses.
However, Deadly Strikes weapons and armor don‘t simply drop from just any enemy. You need to know where to look if you want to get your hands on a complete 5 piece set with ideal traits. As an ESO veteran determined to pass on hard-won knowledge, I‘ve compiled every strategy I‘ve learned for obtaining Deadly Strikes gear efficiently.
Let‘s dive into the best farming methods, vendors to check, cost comparisons, and how to expand your collection once you‘ve started acquiring this elite light armor set!
Purchase From Specialized Deadly Strikes Vendors
The most direct way to obtain Deadly Strikes gear is through vendors stationed in Cyrodiil which only sell items from this devastating crit-focused set. Here‘s what to know:
Verify Cyrodiil and ESO Plus Access
Accessing these special vendors requires having an active ESO Plus membership along with entering Cyrodiil. Check your membership status and campaign availability.
Locate Vendors Based on Alliance Territory Control
Travel to the town of Bruma in Cyrodiil, then verify if your alliance currently occupies this territory. If so, the specialized Deadly Strikes vendor will be located southeast of Bruma‘s main square.
Be prepared to fight enemy players with PvP flagged if your alliance does not own Bruma on your campaign. Fortunately, vendor locations rotate alongside territory control bonuses.
Earn Alliance Points Through Various PvP Activities
You can purchase Deadly Strikes armor and weapons from these vendors in exchange for Alliance Points earned through various PvP activities like:
- Taking/defending keeps
- PvP daily quests
- Killing enemy players
If you don‘t already have sufficient Alliance Points stockpiled, play with PvP enabled for an hour or two to accumulate enough for a full 5 piece set purchase.
Upgrade to Purple Quality for Maximum Power
While the base quality Deadly Strikes gear sold at vendors is blue, you can increase individual items to purple quality for just a few thousand more Alliance Points. This provides a sizable stat boost and is highly recommended.
Compare Vendor Prices to Guild Store Listings
While specialized PvP vendors are guaranteed sources for Deadly Strikes sets, prices at guild traders can vary greatly and are often cheaper overall:
| Source | Price per Piece |
|---|---|
| PvP Vendor | AP Cost: 15k |
| Guild Trader | 3k-15k Gold |
I typically buy Deadly Strikes to fill out my set from traders first, then visit Cyrodiil vendors only if needed. Locations like Eldon Root, Shawn, and Summerset frequently have armor and weapon traders selling Deadly Strikes gear worth checking on your regular stops.
Sort guild listings by trait (Infused, Precise, Charged, etc) to match your build needs while comparison shopping to save gold!
Prioritize Lightning Staffs in Your Collection
While all Deadly Strikes weapons offer the same general crit boosting bonuses, lightning staffs are particularly desirable for maximizing critical strike chance.
I recommend players prioritize keeping any Deadly Strikes lightning staffs they acquire from drops or purchases by locking them to prevent accidentally vending or destroying them. Extra copies can be sold to traders.
You might also consider reconstructing spare lightning staffs through the gear collection system if you already have other Deadly Strikes pieces to complete a 5 set.
Optimize Use of the Gear Collection System
One of ESO‘s most valuable features allows tracking gear you obtain and reconstructing duplicates via item collections. Here‘s how I leverage this functionality to expand my arsenal of top tier equipment.
Whenever I loot or purchase a Deadly Strikes item, I go to my collections tab under Menu > Items > Sets to add it to the permanent collection. I can then effectively save loadouts of each unique traited piece.
Instead of paying to respec trait properties on dropped armor, I simply reconstruct an additional copy from collections if I want both a Precise and Infused version of Deadly Strikes gloves with the same appearance.
Reconstructed gear takes 50 transmute crystals per item – so I make sure to extract old glyphs, enchantments etc before breaking down unused extra gear rather than straight selling, to stock up on these crystals.
Traits to Focus Your Deadly Strikes Gear Farming:
- Weapons – Precise, Charged
- Armor – Infused, Impenetrable
What Makes Deadly Strikes Such a Powerful Set?
Now that you know where to obtain Deadly Strikes pieces efficiently as a new or casual player, let‘s discuss why this is must-have gear for damage roles. Here are the main perks:
- 5 item bonus grants 300 Weapon Critical (higher crit chance)
- Individual crits do an additional 20% damage
- Overall the highest damage set for critical builds
- Pairs perfectly with Bahsei‘s Mania, Relequen, etc.
In addition, Deadly Strike‘s individual item traits boost critical damage in various ways:
2 items: Adds 129 Weapon Critical
3 items: Adds 1096 Maximum Stamina
4 items: Adds 129 Weapon Critical
5 items: When you deal critical damage, you have a 10% chance to increase your Weapon Damage by 451 for 10 seconds. This effect can occur once every 10 seconds.Getting your hands on even just three Deadly Strike pieces with Weapon Critical towards a 5 set can help push damage to the next level. The full potential with all equipped bonuses culminates in massive single hit damage that disintegrates groups of enemies in seconds.
While the grind acquiring a perfectly traited, high quality Deadly Strikes loadout can feel arduous, the payoff for PVE and PVP builds is immense. Let my guide put you on the fast track to collecting your own formidable armor of assassination grade strikes!
I hope sharing my strategies as a devoted veteran helps newer players cut through the complexity and frustration of obtaining top tier gear. Please connect or DM me @Vyrilena in game if you have any other questions!