Set The Usurper - Conquest Guide

Hello I am Coldstreet, a Set enjoyer and Set main. I play since season 8 and have 15 stars on Set. I've hit MASTERS multiple times playing Set and other gods. I was number 1 Set for a couple months but am currently number 2 as I've taken a break from ranked.

Pros

+POKE DAMAGE
+GOOD INTO MAGES
+GOOD MOBILITY
+GOOD AT FARMING

Cons

-REALLY VULNERABLE TO CC
-NO ONESHOT POTENTIAL
-ALL IN NO BACKING OUT
-DIFFICULT TO PLAY LATE GAME

Reading this guide, you might ask yourself where Set lies in this current meta we find ourselves in. The answer to that is, at the bottom of the ocean together with the titanic. Set currently has the worst Winrate in the entire game. Nonetheless winning is still possible. One of the reasons he is bad right now is the recent nerfs to Set reducing his clone damage and Skewer to the point where it's almost irrelevant.

1st Item - JOTUNNS
Pretty self explanatory. The cooldown item is a good early start for you to get your farming up, as well as early damage with some flat pen.

2nd item - SOUL EATER
Soul eater is what I go in this current meta, as it just got buffed and has decent stats for a decent price. You could also go brawler's beatstick or bloodforge here but I just prefer buying cheaper items especially with how jungle feels right now (not a lot of farm).

3rd Item - SERRATED EDGE
A good mid-game item and very much needed. It allows you to kill tanks and deal good damage to them in your Ult. Why not Titan's Bane when it gives you similar stats? Because Titan's Bane's passive is usually gonna proc on your 3 when diving.

4th Item - HEARTSEEKER
Heartseeker adds extra damage to your poke ability, skewer. Late game with full build that would be about 100 extra damage on hit. Why Heartseeker and not crusher? Because even though Heartseeker is normally an anti tank item, it still does more damage to squishies than Crusher would.

5th Item - MAGI'S REVENGE
This is more of a defensive slot for you to buy whatever will help you to survive late game when diving the backline. How does Magi's Revenge work and how is it helpful when diving the backline? You're gonna find yourself often using beads when diving and late trying to poke can get you in a sticky sitaution where you may have to beads to get out safely. With this item you can poke and dive with the insurance of having cc immunity due to the lack of cc immunities in Set kit. Beads duration is not enough sometimes against high cc comps which are super common right now, especially in ranked. If magi's isn't needed and it rarely isn't but other viable options are Crusher, Brawler's Beatstick or Bloodforge

6th Item - PROTECTOR OF THE JUNGLE
Why Protector and not Bumba's? Protector, even though it has lost its attack speed, is still good on Set. The protections are useful combined with the passive and magi's cloak. It can help you live longer when you're diving the backline.

Set is an unusual Assassin due to him having a poke ability that feels more like a mage ability except it doesn't have mage ability damage. I see him as a Hybrid for his Mage-Assassin playstyle.
You wanna pick a target and make sure to keep poking them with your Skewer and Spawn of Set clones. Once the target is low enough and a good Opportunity presents itself, use your 2 combined with your sandstorm to teleport on top of the target and finish them off with basic attacks (use ult if needed). Be on the lookout for blink users when trying to get some poke damage in and always keep 1 clone as reserves so you can still escape in case of an emergency. Usually it's really hard to poke the backline from the front as the tanks will stand there and scare you off. Try to flank your target with some poke before diving. Try not to dive alone and wait for your solo laner to go in first so you don't get blown up immediately. It's all about teamwork late game as Set doesn't have any oneshot potential or immediate burst like other typical Assassins.

EARLY GAME
Set early game is really bad and not a lot of kill potential yet. Focus on farming and getting your levels up. Give ganking a shot but don't overstay and fall behind. If other enemy jungler is overstaying, make sure to invade their XP camp. You will have mana issues so use your abilities savingly.

MID GAME
This is where you hit your first power spike and are now able to make proper ganks. Now is where usually Set feels strongest, so make big use of it. After getting a kill in a lane go ahead and make an objective call and let them know that you're ready for your side laners to rotate.

LATE GAME
We've reached late game and while some other Assassins are able to get picks, you aren't. Everybody is grouped and all you can do at this point is just pick yourself a target, that you wanna keep poking with skewer and Set clones. Once your frontline went in, follow them and eliminate your target. Always let your team know when you are going in, so they can follow up and help you get the job done.

Set best role right now is mid, even though he is an Assassin meant to be played in the jungle. The reason is bluestone or sigil, as well as your good matchups into mages.
Bluestone helps your poke deal a lot of damage where your jungler can easily finish them off, while sigil lets you get the job done yourself by diving and having a lot of mitiagions from your 3 as well as your upgraded starter. Ideally you'd want sigil of the old guard over bluestone but sometimes it can make you lose too much in the early game.
You probably won't have pressure the first levels and you'll barely be able to clear so it's all about surviving in the early. Later on once you can clear, make sure to get the mid camps as you should have pressure on them over most mages. If they do challenge you for it, all in them. The rest of the game is pretty much as if you were a late game Set jungle with the exception of an actually good starter item.

Now I do not recommend this at all. Especially in the current solo meta where there's so much farm and everything is about pressure. However... Set has been seen in solo quite a few times in the past. His pressure is non existent and there's a good chance you're gonna be invaded and lose your tower pretty fast or die a lot. Set is bad into most warriors but late game he can shred them with ult but they won't be your target by then anyway. If you do decide to play him in solo, do go bluestone over sigil because u wanna be able to somewhat clear and not lose your gold to the tower. I suggest going Breastplate of Valor first item to survive the jungle ganks as well as your laner that's gonna be bullying you into tower most of the time. For relics I would get beads if there was kill potential on the enemy laner, otherwise get teleport fragment.

I don't recommend playing Set in this current ranked meta if you are looking for MMR or trying to rank up. Often people will try to counter pick you, an already bad non-meta god.
Try avoiding first picking Set as he has many bad matchups. Most likely you will still run into bad matchups and counterpicks even if you are last pick. Set ranked play isn't too much different except that you play a lot more careful and focus on your farm more than in a casual. People in ranked will know how to counter you and avoid dying too much to you. They will usually stick even closer to their support for peel and safety, making it really hard for you to dive them. Split pushing is an option, Set is decent at it as he has good mobility and a far teleport. Use your 2 for vision on objectives as you are able to steal some of those. Most of the time you will be outsecured by mages but I've definitely stolen fire giants and gold furies as well as pyromancers before with my skewer.

That is my guide, thank you for reading. Appreciate any feedback (especially positive ones)
-Coldstreet/Sandstorm