My take on maelstrom arena so far

Aspi90

But tbh, if any developer wants to do something challenging or difficult in any game, purely making the damage incredible high isn´t the way to go. This is the easiest, cheapest and most stupid way.
Challenging mechanics or something like that would be fun, but that would have required to much effort to make i guess.

TheShadowScout

I found maelstrom fun...
...until I hit the Rink of Frozen Blood.
That one... meh.
Still haven't gotten through it... maybe a ranged damage build can do it, but for me its just too much when I get to the boss stage, adds standing in the deadly water and firing off attacks, trolls trying to sink my ice shoals, AND the darn boss doing the usual boss level damage while eventually auto-breaking the ground I stand on... how's some poor melee character supposed to deal with all that???
Oh, well, it has just been half a dozen tries yet, maybe someday I'll figure something out...

Julianos

JacobyRust wrote: »

Currently bashing my head against level 5. Thus far it's just been artificial difficulty (mobs one shot, or hit incredibly hard) and make whatever you're standing in or near cause insane amounts of damage. It's very poor design for difficulty. Blah, blah, blah learn mechanics, change your build, L2P, yeah I'm a demon souls, dark souls 1 and 2, and bloodborne veteran. I know bad mechanics and artificial difficulty pretty well and I know great design and actual real AI programmed difficulty. This is not it.

You are so right man, VMSA is not about difficulty or technique mobs just hit too hard you have to memorize everything and repeat same moves until your body make those moves auto its just mindless for my taste.

DRXHarbinger

Hardest part of round 5 is the atronarch round. Requires saving the shield for the 2nd bunch of mermaid whiney things to kill themselves. Last boss is actually a go slow. Kite it around and around and kill the ads first. Harm the boss a little and move platform start with the entry one first and the sigil of haste 2nd and shield and damage last. Focus on mobs first and ignore the boss. When there are no ads just burn the boss. Trolls any interrupt attack will sort them out. Crushing shock is brilliant. Last platform shield sigil kill the ads ASAP then damage sigil burn the giant. Welcome to round 6 of stupidly op ads...

Didgerion

I agree that vMA's difficulty is poorly designed and here are the facts:
1. It is much more range friendly than melee friendly. (I would understand it if ranged abilities would hit less hard but they don't)
2. The difference in by class passing rating - it is an obvious fact that VMA difficulty is poorly designed.
3. Average players should be able to pass VMA too but with less score (renewable sigils would help fix it)
4. You have to have X set with Y traits and Z abilities and there is no challenge in VMA anymore.

Molag_Crow

bchulettub17_ESO wrote: »

CrowsDescend wrote: »

I kinda like vMSA but I have to admit, my first clear took me over 500-700 deaths, and you can say that many of them were caused by not doing the mechanics right, but actually, a lot of them were caused by really cheesy combos. For example, a Crem Guard spitting fire all over me while clawing me at the same time for 7k+ melee hits and 30k+ fire DoTs as I'm healing through it, while the boss is casting at me, forced me to totally rely on my ultimate (nova.)

Without Nova, I couldn't get passed that stage and it was holding me back for hours upon hours until I figured it out and timed my Ultimate correctly, which sound reasonable right? but the physical damage in there is a bit too extreme for the majority of us who aren't shield-stacking Sorc's.

That is the exact point where I broke down and used the healing sigil Died many times to that.

I don't blame you, I did the same on many attempts too it's crazy!

Molag_Crow

And for Stage 5, I get through it by always circling around the main boss to avoid most of his melee attacks. With the adds, I try to run as far away (but not too much in the water) as I can so they come closer and closer to the platform with the boss, while I circle the boss and nuke the adds. Proxy det helps a lot on them too.

SirDopey

TheShadowScout wrote: »

I found maelstrom fun...
...until I hit the Rink of Frozen Blood.
That one... meh.
Still haven't gotten through it... maybe a ranged damage build can do it, but for me its just too much when I get to the boss stage, adds standing in the deadly water and firing off attacks, trolls trying to sink my ice shoals, AND the darn boss doing the usual boss level damage while eventually auto-breaking the ground I stand on... how's some poor melee character supposed to deal with all that???
Oh, well, it has just been half a dozen tries yet, maybe someday I'll figure something out...

Take ya time. As long as you kill the trolls you have all the time in the world on that round. The arches and mages, if you stand on the very far edge of an iceberg they will come towards you and exit the water, then you can run up and kill them easily. Though, I found the best way was to simply learn the spawn cycles, be standing where the archer or mage would spawn and kill them immediately. The adds always spawn at certain levels of health left on the big boss, learn the spawn triggers and location cycle and then you can make sure you have all your resources up to be able to dps the adds down quickly, this makes the round much easier.

I also firmly believe anyone telling people to L2P or to stop complaining should sign their posts with the name of the toon they have completed it on, I'm so sick of seeing people on these forums that I know, from having done dungeons and pvp with, that don't have the skill to complete vMA, yet they're on here telling other people to stop being whinges.

ZOS_GregoryV

JacobyRust wrote: »

If

KoshkaMurka wrote: »

JacobyRust wrote: »

Currently bashing my head against level 5. Thus far it's just been artificial difficulty (mobs one shot, or hit incredibly hard) and make whatever you're standing in or near cause insane amounts of damage. It's very poor design for difficulty. Blah, blah, blah learn mechanics, change your build, L2P, yeah I'm a demon souls, dark souls 1 and 2, and bloodborne veteran. I know bad mechanics and artificial difficulty pretty well and I know great design and actual real AI programmed difficulty. This is not it.

That round is like eso' version of Bed of Chaos - clearly not the best design, but at least oneshots are avoidable. Stage 6 is like Bed of Chaos with rng.

*** I think I'll just quit now

[Post edited to remove profanity]

Mivryna

I'm not fond of one-shot mechanics that can only be avoided through RNG. That title that comes from Vet MA is not a badge of honor; it's a badge of luck.

Trenia

There is very little RNG in VMSA, and what is random can be countered by knowing the mechanics. Everything that one shots you has a counter, just like the soul series. VMSA is very well designed, and actually balanced for stamina and magicka. No death runs are achievable with every Stam/mag/class combination if you know the mechanics and perform.

JacobyRust

I'm glad to see more people share my same view. Any game that offers unavoidable damage as a "mechanic" isn't good design.

Artjuh90

this QQ still going on. they are not going to nerf it. can't deal with vMSA. don't do it!

Joy_Division

NativeJoe wrote: »

I still can't make it past stage 6 and have been trying since pts...so don't feel to bad x.x ... I've watched videos, copy pasted builds, gone crazy trying my own different solutions. and yeah... just can't get the 1 hoarver I need to complete it before the boss goes all agro and nukes me for 69k

Without a doubt that was the most frustrating fight outside the final boss.

You have to prioritize:

1) Heal / shield yourself
2) Kill webspinners. Never stop looking for these. When you kill one, another will pop up in like 7 or 8 seconds.
3) Kill Horvors next to webbed pillars. Take the time to do this because interacting with it and trying to throw it will get you a 20K ground AoE spawning under you.
4) Stop DPS the boss and look for webspinners. Really look for them.
5) Kill the little spider add. It super snares you.
6) DPS boss.

You can only miss one horvor/webspinner or else you are pretty much screwed.

This round requires more regen because you cannot avoid the spit damage.

Grab the defense and the haste buff when the lurcher spawns. You will reflect all the spits and can kite/kill the lurcher.

RinaldoGandolphi

I just don't care enough about VMSA. There is nothing in there I want. I got to the spider daedra round on my 1st try but after a few deaths I just asked myself why I was wasting time, pots, and gold for a solo arena with terrible loot.

its not hard it's just tedious, and I simply will not waste my time on something tedious that offers me nothing...put loot in there I can actually use and I'll def go in there and finish it, until then...meh

yake82

If you had ask me week ago how i felt about Rink of Frozen Blood, i would have said the same things.

Yesterday i made it to the Vault of Umbrage, only around 10ish deaths.

Pepper8Jack

For those struggling to make it through:
http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/233356/joys-guide-for-players-wanting-to-beat-maelstrom-arena

It's an incredibly thorough write up of each round, of every arena with tips for magic builds. I was pounding my head against the wall for hours on end on rounds 1-4 until I find this.

After I read it, I spent about 15 hours persevering to the last boss before calling it quits at 6 a.m. The next attempt, it only took me about 3 hours to clear 1-8, then I spent another 6 doing the final boss over and over again until I finally beat him. Very next attempt, took me 3 hours total to clear and I'm now sub 2 hours.

It's just a super steep learning curve. There really is no other content that you could compare it to or practice for it with.

For those stuck on round 5, don't dps the boss until you're on the last platform. Focus on the trolls, they're on a timer for their spawns. Adds and platform destruction happen at fixed health percentages. I seriously just heavy attack the boss to pull back resources and heal the entire fight and haven't died to her in a long time. Joys guide gives a much more detailed strategy for her if you're still having trouble

Fecius

Ty for topic, LoLed a lot

timidobserver

ESO has a ton of content, and even more is coming with Thieves' Guild. If you can't handle Maelstrom, just skip it.

pronkg

Joy_Division wrote: »

NativeJoe wrote: »

I still can't make it past stage 6 and have been trying since pts...so don't feel to bad x.x ... I've watched videos, copy pasted builds, gone crazy trying my own different solutions. and yeah... just can't get the 1 hoarver I need to complete it before the boss goes all agro and nukes me for 69k

Without a doubt that was the most frustrating fight outside the final boss.

You have to prioritize:

1) Heal / shield yourself
2) Kill webspinners. Never stop looking for these. When you kill one, another will pop up in like 7 or 8 seconds.
3) Kill Horvors next to webbed pillars. Take the time to do this because interacting with it and trying to throw it will get you a 20K ground AoE spawning under you.
4) Stop DPS the boss and look for webspinners. Really look for them.
5) Kill the little spider add. It super snares you.
6) DPS boss.

You can only miss one horvor/webspinner or else you are pretty much screwed.

This round requires more regen because you cannot avoid the spit damage.

Grab the defense and the haste buff when the lurcher spawns. You will reflect all the spits and can kite/kill the lurcher.

The boss actually follows you after you stand close to her, lead her to a pillar and destroy the hoarvers next to it. She'll get the poison and her Rage will reset. Once you get the hang of that it's pretty easy. If you keep her rage down she goes down really quick actually.

Islyn

ShadowDisciple wrote: »

omfg...you ppl..what do you consider hard but not "artificial"

just get a grip..one shot is a mechanic you need to learn to circumvent...and yes its hard, just keep at it and youll do it..

ppl are doing no death runs and there you are a special few who consider VMA *** and artifical cuz YOU cant beat it with you precious WB or whatever

Post your complete screeny before talking trash to people in the middle of it.

TY!

Marrtha

Islyn wrote: »

ShadowDisciple wrote: »

omfg...you ppl..what do you consider hard but not "artificial"

just get a grip..one shot is a mechanic you need to learn to circumvent...and yes its hard, just keep at it and youll do it..

ppl are doing no death runs and there you are a special few who consider VMA *** and artifical cuz YOU cant beat it with you precious WB or whatever

Post your complete screeny before talking trash to people in the middle of it.

TY!

If everyone did that, the world would be a much nicer place.

Islyn

Marrtha wrote: »

Islyn wrote: »

ShadowDisciple wrote: »

omfg...you ppl..what do you consider hard but not "artificial"

just get a grip..one shot is a mechanic you need to learn to circumvent...and yes its hard, just keep at it and youll do it..

ppl are doing no death runs and there you are a special few who consider VMA *** and artifical cuz YOU cant beat it with you precious WB or whatever

Post your complete screeny before talking trash to people in the middle of it.

TY!

If everyone did that, the world would be a much nicer place.

@Marrtha
OMFG MELLLLLLYYYYYYYY!! xD

Textual_Sphinx

Trenia wrote: »

There is very little RNG in VMSA, and what is random can be countered by knowing the mechanics. Everything that one shots you has a counter, just like the soul series...

I completely agree. For those people complaining of one-shot mechanics that are only avoidable by RNG, can we have some examples please? The only time I have ever encountered something unavoidable was on Stage 3 when I got pulled by a strangler into the electrified water and a poison AOE at the same time. This happened once in 20-30 runs and would not happen nowadays due to the changes made to the strangler mechanics.

Jura23

ShadowDisciple wrote: »

omfg...you ppl..what do you consider hard but not "artificial"

just get a grip..one shot is a mechanic you need to learn to circumvent...and yes its hard, just keep at it and youll do it..

ppl are doing no death runs and there you are a special few who consider VMA *** and artifical cuz YOU cant beat it with you precious WB or whatever

Numbers, there should be more weaker mobs. It doesn't really make sense to have the same daedroth 100 times stronger than in other parts in the game. And yeah, I know ppl would nuke them with AoE. That's why AoE needs fixing, cause it's simply too strong in this game. My opinion.

NewBlacksmurf

Textual_Sphinx wrote: »

Trenia wrote: »

There is very little RNG in VMSA, and what is random can be countered by knowing the mechanics. Everything that one shots you has a counter, just like the soul series...

I completely agree. For those people complaining of one-shot mechanics that are only avoidable by RNG, can we have some examples please? The only time I have ever encountered something unavoidable was on Stage 3 when I got pulled by a strangler into the electrified water and a poison AOE at the same time. This happened once in 20-30 runs and would not happen nowadays due to the changes made to the strangler mechanics.

THis is on XboxOne....perhaps crazy stuff like this occurs and kills them.
For me its EXTREMELY frustrating but maybe its just a console problem

vid1 - http://xboxclips.com/NewBlacksmurf/73fce0d5-70b8-4548-8e8e-b5b7ca652af4

vid 2 - http://xboxclips.com/NewBlacksmurf/23881645-fa1d-4b1c-900a-41e1a5dd3e1b

I hope you can view them both

LadyNalcarya

Textual_Sphinx wrote: »

Trenia wrote: »

There is very little RNG in VMSA, and what is random can be countered by knowing the mechanics. Everything that one shots you has a counter, just like the soul series...

I completely agree. For those people complaining of one-shot mechanics that are only avoidable by RNG, can we have some examples please? The only time I have ever encountered something unavoidable was on Stage 3 when I got pulled by a strangler into the electrified water and a poison AOE at the same time. This happened once in 20-30 runs and would not happen nowadays due to the changes made to the strangler mechanics.

Aoes occasionaly hitting me when I'm nowhere near red circles. Especially on stages 7 and 8, but for me it can happen on all stages. And since on round 7 there's only 2 poison removal thingies, there's some serious rng. Yeah, I have 100-200 ping (which is stange because I dont have any issues in other games), but if it's so ping dependent, then what about those who have worse latency issues than me?
Also, boss on round 6 likes to use lightning aoe at the pillar when you have tor run to it. Usually its possible to scare off the spiders and avoid the aoe, but not always, especially with a problem I mentioned above.
Also, once I had an archer on stage 7 that spawned and shot me at the very second he appeared, even though that attack usually has a long animation. Can be also related to latency.

Textual_Sphinx

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

THis is on XboxOne....perhaps crazy stuff like this occurs and kills them.
For me its EXTREMELY frustrating but maybe its just a console problem

vid1 - http://xboxclips.com/NewBlacksmurf/73fce0d5-70b8-4548-8e8e-b5b7ca652af4

vid 2 - http://xboxclips.com/NewBlacksmurf/23881645-fa1d-4b1c-900a-41e1a5dd3e1b

I hope you can view them both

I'm guessing that neither of those would happen any more because the stranglers no longer pull you, though it may occur with the last mini-boss of that stage. I've had the first one happen to me numerous times but never seen that second one before! On topic, you didn't die either time, so while they may be frustrating they don't necessarily cause a death. You just need to react accordingly and move on, as you demonstrated in the videos.

NewBlacksmurf

Textual_Sphinx wrote: »

NewBlacksmurf wrote: »

THis is on XboxOne....perhaps crazy stuff like this occurs and kills them.
For me its EXTREMELY frustrating but maybe its just a console problem

vid1 - http://xboxclips.com/NewBlacksmurf/73fce0d5-70b8-4548-8e8e-b5b7ca652af4

vid 2 - http://xboxclips.com/NewBlacksmurf/23881645-fa1d-4b1c-900a-41e1a5dd3e1b

I hope you can view them both

I'm guessing that neither of those would happen any more because the stranglers no longer pull you, though it may occur with the last mini-boss of that stage. I've had the first one happen to me numerous times but never seen that second one before! On topic, you didn't die either time, so while they may be frustrating they don't necessarily cause a death. You just need to react accordingly and move on, as you demonstrated in the videos.

Just to be clear...these are recent clips on console, so maybe PC has fixes that have not landed on console yet.
OR....the console fixes aren't working as intended.

This is one example but the acid clouds stack at times and don't clear
There are more issues but it sounds like Xbox one doesn't have the fixes PC has....I might try it on PC this week and compare.

Textual_Sphinx

KoshkaMurka wrote: »

Aoes occasionaly hitting me when I'm nowhere near red circles. Especially on stages 7 and 8, but for me it can happen on all stages. And since on round 7 there's only 2 poison removal thingies, there's some serious rng. Yeah, I have 100-200 ping (which is stange because I dont have any issues in other games), but if it's so ping dependent, then what about those who have worse latency issues than me?
Also, boss on round 6 likes to use lightning aoe at the pillar when you have tor run to it. Usually its possible to scare off the spiders and avoid the aoe, but not always, especially with a problem I mentioned above.
Also, once I had an archer on stage 7 that spawned and shot me at the very second he appeared, even though that attack usually has a long animation. Can be also related to latency.

That sounds frustrating, but I would argue that your problem is a latency issue rather than a mechanics issue. Also, the lightning aoe and archer damage can be avoided or mitigated.