Gear sets
Gear sets is the term the D3 Team uses to describe the different levels of armor in Diablo III.
There are going to be 18 gear sets in Diablo III. A "gear set" is not an Item Set, a group of themed magical items with interrelated magical bonuses. "Gear set" is just a term the developers use for pieces of armor of the same approximate level. The lowest level items, for each armor slot, would make up one gear set. As would the highest level items of each type, and the other 16 in between.
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Mix and Match Armor?
The Diablo III team has often stated their desire to avoid the mismatched, "clown suit" armor possible in Diablo II. They want the different items to mesh and blend together, at least somewhat, in Diablo III.
It's known that players will have the ability to use armor dyes to change the color scheme of their armor, but it's not yet clear just how gear sets and items worn determine what a character will look like. Gear sets are clearly matched in appearance, but what if you change out one minor items, like your shoulders, or bracers, or belt. Will that one item show up, looking mismatched? Or does the chest armor, or the majority of items, determine which look shows up on the character in the game?
It's also not known if there are 18 of every item, or just the chest pieces. If the chest piece determines the look, perhaps there are 18 chest pieces, but only say, 14 bracers, or 12 belts. After all, why bother making 18 of them, if the only difference would be the name and slightly different defense stats?
BlizzCon 2010 Gear Set Previews
During the weeks before Blizzcon 2010, Blizzard previewed six gear sets, two each for the Barbarian, Witch Doctor, and Wizard. They didn't include much information about the sets, but as seldom as new Diablo III visuals are released, fans were quite excited to see the new sets all the same.
Each one posted touched off extensive discussion and debate on the pros and cons of the armor, and there were frequent fan-recolorations and modifications of the more-controversial aspects of the gear sets (especially the male Wizard's helm). The news posts and a few related follow ups are listed below; click through to relive the delight and argument that these images spurred. The images themselves are displayed below, with the male and females combined by class.
- Male Witch Doctor gear set, September 30, 2010. The court jester style set went over well enough.
- Female Wizard gear set, October 5, 2010. The second gear set was well-received by fans, proving once again that everyone loves Asian girls.
- Female Barbarian gear set, October 7, 2010. The first gear set image
- It provoked major discussion about the remodeled (prettier) female Barbarian's face.
- A vote found that most fans approved of the new, prettier look.
- Female Witch Doctor gear set, October 12, 2010, was fairly well-received.
- A fan remake turned up a day later all the same.
- Male Wizard gear set, October 13, 2010, set off the biggest debate of all, about his huge "starfish" hat.
- Many fan complaints and revisions of his starfish hat.
- And yet more fan remakes.
- A vote found very mixed opinions about the helm, in contrast to the overwhelmingly negative fan comments.
- Male Barbarian gear set, October 18, 2010. The last of the sets, this one did not set off any big arguments with general approval of the ram's horns helm.
Blizzcon 2010 Panel Gear Sets
More Gear sets were shown off during the Crafting Sanctuary Panel at Blizzcon 2010. These images are compilations, showing several different gear sets in one large image for easier viewing.
There were three sets shown on the male Barbarian, with his animal-themed armors getting top billing.
The male Witch Doctor showed up in five interesting sets. Four are seen below; the fifth was shown in a small animated image, since the helm and shoulders were covered with waving tentacles. It did not translate well to a still screenshot, but can be seen here.
Diablo II Gear Sets
The term was not used by the Diablo II developers, but they clearly structured the armor in that game into gear sets as well, of a sort. They weren't like the Diablo III gear sets, since there are very uneven amounts of different item types in Diablo II (many more types of helms or body armor than gloves or boots, for instance), and they don't line up to create matching outfits. Armor items in Diablo II look different on each class, but not as different or stylized as the do in Diablo III.
Still, it can be useful to compare the D2 characters, as seen in the 3D models that the art was done in, before it was converted and compressed into the tiny 2D sprites that you see while playing the game.
File:Gear-set-d2-ama.jpg File:Gear-set-d2-barb.jpg File:Gear-set-d2-necro.jpg File:Gear-set-d2-pal.jpg
These images were posted in opposition/comparison to the first few Diablo III gear sets, in October 2010. See the original news post on Diii.net for the full debate and lengthy fan discussions.
