Consensus on which Velious Plate is best?

[Danth]

As a rule of thumb, any of the velious quest sets (thurgadin/Kael/Skyshrine, as well as the Growth set) are of similar tier and could all be considered mid-range for the Velious expansion. The difference is that the Thurgadin/Growth sets are lower midrange while the Kael/Skyshrine sets are upper midrange. It's not really all that big a difference between them however; the better sets are an incremental upgrade over the others, nothing dramatic. It's good itemization and all four of the sets serve a purpose.

--Kael set is usually nicest for players who act as a tank due to it having the highest armor rating.
--Skyshrine set is usually nicest for anyone who doesn't get hit much. Typically it has the highest overall statistics.
--Thurgadin set is easiest/cheapest to obtain by far and is therefore usually best for more casual players who have neither the time nor the inclination needed to obtain one of the above sets.
--Growth sets usually win for appearance because these sets often have a totally unique look relative to the other sets except for helms.

Full sets are typically unnecessary as for some slots alternate non-set pieces can usually be found of similar or superior quality. My Shadow Knight on "blue" wears fulltime 1 Skyshrine item, 1 Thurgadin item, and 1 Growth item, and occasionally swaps in a second Thurgadin item. Otherwise he uses mainly non-set items.

Danth