Set Items

Set Items make up Item Sets; groups of similarly-named, consistently-themed items that grant the player additional bonuses when two (or more) of them are worn at the same time.

Item Sets return in Diablo III, but with major changes to their stats and classification. Most set items can be found across multiple base item types, many set items can be made by artisans via recipes, and set items are no longer their own item type; they are simply legendary items that gain extra bonuses when worn in a group.

• Diablo II Item Set information.

Item Sets Confirmed

Diablo III Community Manager Bashiok essentially confirmed Item Sets for Diablo III, likely functioning much as they did in Diablo II, in a forum post in early November, 2010.

It's looking more and more likely that set items will simply be something you chase in the end-game. And realistically that's really where they simply work the best.

We have a few ideas still that could allow them to be available while leveling, but each of them have sticking points that would require their own solutions. One is expanding sets out so that it isn't just one item in each slot, but a group of items all separated by level requirement. So there could be, say, five pairs of pants that all work as part of the set and are each better than the last. While leveling you could be wearing the first pair of pants and then find a new and better pair that still work to benefit your set bonus. That isn't without its problems though.

We of course like and intend to keep partial set bonuses, by the way.

Anyway, sets are actually in the game right now in very limited forms, there's a bit of design left on them yet, but as I said they work very well at end-game and that's where we're leaning toward them appearing.

In an early 2011 update, Bashiok gave more information about set bonuses in a battle.net forum post :

Set items are now legendaries defined by a set bonus. They're crafted items while leveling (recipes can be found that grant the ability to craft all the items in a set), which allows someone to really invest in filling out a set before they out-level it. Then at max level we'll drop set pieces normally.

Diablo III Item Set Development

The D3 Team has said that they want to include item sets in Diablo III, but that there are still some problems to surmount. Jay Wilson spoke on this point in August, 2010:

'''Jay Wilson: '''We understand the problems with item sets. We want to solve them. Set items are under work now, if we can't find a way to solve the problem it won’t be in the game. But we’ve got a couple of ideas on the table and we think it'll work out.

Their solution is to make multiple different types of items work in the same item sets. There are 18 levels of armor (gear sets) in Diablo III, so one low level item set that included a belt might allow that belt to drop from gear sets 4-9. This would be the same item with (presumably) identical same stats; it would just be able to spawn (from drops or crafting recipes) on multiple different types of base item, keeping the item and the item set viable for longer.

Bashiok explained this in a forum post in April 2011.

No set item parts/pieces? Or to clarify, will set pieces only be useful if the whole set is completed?

Bashiok: Set items are now legendaries defined by a set bonus. They’re crafted items while leveling (recipes can be found that grant the ability to craft all the items in a set), which allows someone to really invest in filling out a set before they out-level it. Then at max level we’ll drop set pieces normally.
Leveling up you will find recepies that will enable you to make a set. Every item in that set will be in the recipe list, enabling you to craft the set one piece at a time. When you hit max level, you will find the actual set pieces, not the recipes for the complete sets… That’s how I understood it.

Bashiok: Yeah, that’s it. Although recipes aren’t planned to actually stop dropping. You’ll just also have the items themselves drop in addition.

This item system works very differently than it did in Diablo II. There are no "set items" in Diablo III. There are only legendary items, some of which are grouped into item sets. These items will have attractive stats on their own, and can be used piecemeal, but when a character equips multiple items from the same set, additional bonuses will be generated.

Diablo II Problems

Item Sets and Set Items were a nifty idea in Diablo II, but the execution was not perfect, especially in D2C, where Item Sets were generally underpowered and not worth wearing. There were no partial set bonuses in D2C; a character had to wear the entire set to receive any bonuses, and these bonuses were generally quite small.

D2X introduced much higher quality item sets, including ones comprised entirely of exceptional or elite items, some of which were comparable to the best Rare or Unique items. D2X also incorporated a variety of partial set bonuses, where characters drew extra bonuses for wearing two or more items of a set.

The main problems, though, of characters finding it too difficult to find some or all of the same set, remained. Jay Wilson spoke to this in a December 2008 interview with 1up.com.

'''Jay Wilson:''' There're still a few things that we haven't made decisions on yet -- set items, for one. I didn't like the way they worked in Diablo 2, as by the time you finally got a set together, you generally leveled beyond the use for it. So you might save them for alts, which is OK, but I'd rather that they be useful for you to begin with. We haven't really decided how we're going to fix that.

Green Items in Diablo III

Set Items in Diablo III are not green, since that color is now used for Lore/Quest items, none of which are usable/equippable.

In the Blizzcon 2008 demo, King Leoric's Crown had a name in bright green, just like a set item from D2. It couldn't be equipped, though, and was purely an object used to complete the the Skeleton King quest.