Please help.... Im just not sure if I should pick a: Pure Elemental set (shield is not included) or a mix of Piercing and Elemental.
Please help.... Im just not sure if I should pick a: Pure Elemental set (shield is not included) or a mix of Piercing and Elemental.
Why not shadow? That's just as valuable as piercing or elemental protection. In the shallow parts of the Clockworks, monsters deal primarily normal damage. But as you go deeper into the dungeon, monsters increasingly deal their preferred damage type:
* slimes and beasts: piercing
* gremlins and constructs: elemental
* fiends and undead: shadow
(See the wiki page "Damage".) So, in short, you always want normal protection, and you also want to protect against a second damage type, based on the type of monsters that you're facing. You also want status protections and offensive bonuses.
If you're going to sacrifice any damage type, it would be piercing, because beasts and slimes are among the easiest monsters. If you're going to bolster your protection against any damage type, it should be elemental (which is very common) or shadow (which is dealt by some of the nastiest monsters, including fiends). If you want a single, general-purpose armor set that's okay (but not perfect) in all situations, then try Divine Veil with Skolver Coat.
If you want a more specific answer to your particular question, then tell us exactly which pure elemental or mixed piercing/elemental set you're considering. Also tell us what kinds of weapons (swords, guns, or bombs) you use.