I don't really understand the damage system anyway.. Does my Ash Tail Coat and Dusker Cap (normal + piercing) now prevent more, less, or the same damage from jellies??

What it really comes down to is that you're probably going to need is a set with well rounded defense in all 4 areas for status effect stratums, and different pieces for monster stratums. I believe this is how it was always intended though. It was really due to an oversight that jellies, wolvers, and devilites weren't doing their correct special damage... which led to the rise of everybody in their brother using Vog Cub as it was the only really viable option since elemental damage sources far out numbered the shadow and piercing damage sources combined.

~Gwen

Then don't. You can just mash, for example, Volcanic Demo Helm and Radiant Silvermail together to have a good chunk of all resistance types. It wasn't as useful back when Piercing barely existed, but now it's more viable than just focusing in on Elemental and Shadow as before.

'Course, the best defense was, is, and always will be "get outta the way!" If you are good enough at dodging and blocking, your chosen armor type will hardly be vital.

Vog Cub and Volcanic Demo armor are popular in the Citadel, despite neither of them having the slightest scrap of Shadow defense. (Though maybe that's not the best example since zombies are pretty predictable anyway, and their fire resistance is helpful when the floor is made of lava.)

UVs will help. Trinkets are an (expensive) option. Radiant Silvermail will be popular, I'm sure. Divine Veil gives shadow/elemental so many of the normal/piercing armors that have been neglected will pair with that; but if you don't have multiple 5* sets then you will be hurting when you go into areas that are all the same type of enemy (and so predictably the same type of damage).

The Firestorm Citadel standard set (Vog Cub cap and coat, grey owlite shield, or possibly volcanic demo if you're going to be the one carrying shivermist buster) is still going to be the firestorm citadel standard set.

Even before this update I was working on two helms anyway, now I'm going to want two or three helms and two or three armors.

T3 levels are a nasty business when you have the wrong protection, it's the same as going into them unarmored.

@Loki: Like everything else with special damage, jellies and wolvers do normal damage in T1, split damage in T2, special damage in T3.

I think OOO smiled at whatever complaints they got of lack of piercing damage, it is a great opportunity to get players to spend more on crafting or at least give people the perceptions that they need to craft new gear and what they have in inadequate.

It is a sad choice to be a sword user having to get face to face with stuff. Although instead of full damage protection with various combinations of gear, which is very costly to people who have to start from scratch to make, the alternative could be to just get better with fighting techniques and teamwork.

Bombers can roll with the patches with the same 1 or 2 options of helm and armor and the same bombs.
Kinda makes me wish I began as a demo user rather then wolver back before AH/crafting cost increase/4,5star binding patch.

It's possible for any enemy to do pure non-normal damage in T3, I think.
So yeah Tenlki, I think they can. In T2 it's supposed to be split, in T1 it's supposed to be normal-only.

I've been doing Tier 1 and have noticed all Jelly Cubes, Lichens, and Wolvers have been doing pure Piercing damage. Only the Chromalisk was doing Normal-type damage.