Can't tell how skilled I am anymore. (Maelstrom related)

ArchMikem

"I finished vMA!" threads are popping up more often lately, and even though after having a bad experience with my first run into nMA and declaring it a no-go zone since, I finally caved tonight and decided to take my MagSorc, which I'd been Soloing group Dungeons with into Normal Maelstrom Arena. And I don't even know how to feel about my result.

Completed, no deaths, and didn't take very long at all. Even got the title for it. The game tries to make it feel like an accomplishment, but I couldn't get past the thought of how "doable" it was. When I first went in, it was with my StamBlade a long while ago and I blazed through until Stage 7 with the Poison crap which kept wiping me no matter what I did, so I quit and never looked back. This time with my MagSorc was MUCH different. The lesser Mobs had such low health compared to Group Dungeons I only needed to cast Force Pulse twice to down them. I've even fought Normal Dungeon bosses solo with two and three times the health of these final round Maelstrom bosses. Yeah I can see how the environmental hazards and the chaos of multiple mechanics and threats coming at you can make it harder, but it just seems like there's too large a disparity in difficulty between Normal and Veteran. I've seen people's Vet runs. No way in Hell am I putting myself through that. But at the same time, Normal was an easier success than that time I soloed Normal Selene's Web, and that boss was a gigantic pain.

I guess this is why you don't get any good loot from Normal.

So yeah, I completed Normal Maelstrom Arena, if that even carries any weight. I wonder if Soloing Dragonstar Arena would be a better test, if you can even do that?

FloppyTouch

Yh nMA is very easy my mdk blew through that like nothing no deaths at all 1st try, but I can't get pass stage 5 in vMA and died at least 10x each round up to 5

derpmander

No lie, the disparity between nMA and vMA is huge. You could literally heavy attack my way through everything in nMA and not even break a sweat but in vMA you're kept on your toes about everything because everything you don't see could be a death. The mobs have huge amounts of damage (especially the 2H and the ranged adds) and the bosses are also pretty strong. The environmental damage is also maybe quadrupled or so.

soll

my friend finished nMA of lvl 5 mag blade (he reached lvl 9 when finished).

That's all you need to know about normal and vet difference.

Tempah

I did nma on my lvl 11 mag dk started it when I was lvl 8

Asmael

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axsgf6Ei_lU&t=338s

Shows the difficulty level of nMA.

Tempah

Asmael wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axsgf6Ei_lU&t=338s

Shows the difficulty level of nMA.

@Asmael
LMAO did you just only use strife? for self heals? no other skills? and no gear? xD
I think it is time for ZOS to make nMA atleast a little bit more difficult.

Artemiisia

The difference between vMal and everything else, is that you only have yourself to rely on inside that scary place, and it really makes you learn your class and skills for real.

I took like 12 hours first time I finished it, with rage quitting and trowing stuff at the screen in between, before that I went in and smelled the air, and didnt feel like I was ready.

The thing about that place is, even though u read guides, see videos and so on, you have yourself to learn the mechanics and what works for you in the end, and trust me after you have done this once, it will become easier to do after, since you have spend so many hours, learning your class, learning your skills and most of all learning the mechanics of the evil place we call malstrom

and hey, once you done it, you going to feel incredible, this is the hardest solo content there is, and wow what a feeling

pattyLtd

Yea, normal is way too easy makes no sense to me compared to vma.
The difficulty of VMA is ok but the gap between normal is insane there should be something in between IMO.

I really like maelstrom and use it to level alts haha but i stranded in vma at the final boss many months ago.
Several people offered to beat it for me when i was frustrated why i couldn't do it but i declined that. I never went back yet.

Ragnaarok

Unfortunately, it carries no weight. Anybody above 400cp can walk in on a fresh level 5 account and clear it with minimal deaths. Vet is a whole different ball park. Though you beat that so many times and it's just as easy as normal.

Asmael

Tempah wrote: »

Asmael wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axsgf6Ei_lU&t=338s

Shows the difficulty level of nMA.

@Asmael
LMAO did you just only use strife? for self heals? no other skills? and no gear? xD
I think it is time for ZOS to make nMA atleast a little bit more difficult.

Naaaaaah I didn't, I let @Strider_Roshin go through this. I did try something similar on a mag DK spamming Burning Embers, but got bored after 30 minutes. Normal MA is still a complete joke.

Artemiisia

when I finished normal mal as stam sorc at lvl 12 I only used the other morph of rapid strikes as self heals

ArchMikem

soll wrote: »

my friend finished nMA of lvl 5 mag blade (he reached lvl 9 when finished).

That's incredibly depressing.

I thought that even though I know I could never complete Vet Maelstrom, at least if I could finally complete Normal and have that achievement (didn't even know if there was an achievement attached to normal at the time) then I could be somewhat satisfied with my ability in ESO. But since Normal Maelstrom is apparently so easy I'm still left with the label "casual noob" plastered across my forehead. Good lord the achievement from this feels like basically a Participation Award.

Sovaso

NERF VMA!!!

Strider_Roshin

Tempah wrote: »

Asmael wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axsgf6Ei_lU&t=338s

Shows the difficulty level of nMA.

@Asmael
LMAO did you just only use strife? for self heals? no other skills? and no gear? xD
I think it is time for ZOS to make nMA atleast a little bit more difficult.

Lol I remember this. Yeah just I literally did nothing but spam Strife the entire time... While standing still. Normal MA is a joke. Oh, and I was wearing no gear as I was doing this.

DPShiro

When I had new characters to level up I jump right into nMA after character creation and snoozed through it without any deaths or complications.

nMA is not an achievement at all, it's as easy as story quests etc.

LMar

I don't see why people are weirded out by this fact. nMA doesn't provide leaderboards or Maelstrom weapons. It (used to scale to your level) so anybody can go in and try it. It is meant to just show you the mechanics so that you can test them out in an easy way and help you out later on. And there are plenty of people who just want to play for a couple of hours and then take a break.

It is also a good way to not waste your time by mistake. I once forgot to click on the vet mode icon and when i ported in i realised it was normal mode because the mobs were dying when I tickled them.

Luigi_Vampa

It definitely seems that there should be a level between nMA and vMA. nMA does not prepare you for vMA at all. You can ignore all mechanics in nMA and just out dps everything. Even on brand new characters with crap gear (or no gear) and few skills you can just mindlessly go through nMA. They should probably make nMA to be beginner Maelstrom Arena or bMA, then nMA with a increased difficulty and leave vMA as is. I have completed vMA and am working on getting Flawless, but my first trip into vMA was a shock because nMA is really not even in the same ballpark as vet. Maybe give the middle difficulty a small chance to drop a weapon, but I'd be fine if they left that for vMA only. I literally one shot mobs in nMA and that isn't right.

OldGamerESO

Ok, I am note sure if you guys are doing some sort of weird boasting. 'Mobs dying when you tickle them'? Really?

I had never done nMA but had heard you could make CP there with training gear and exp potions instead of running public dungeons. I went there with a CP 400 character with purple training gear, gold weapons and died twice in the first room and could not get past the spinning blade thing in second room. I left and never went back.

Clearly I need to try again. I like the idea of a solo instance for exp farming when I am in the mood for it.

Luigi_Vampa

OldGamerESO wrote: »

Ok, I am note sure if you guys are doing some sort of weird boasting. 'Mobs dying when you tickle them'? Really?

I had never done nMA but had heard you could make CP there with training gear and exp potions instead of running public dungeons. I went there with a CP 400 character with purple training gear, gold weapons and died twice in the first room and could not get past the spinning blade thing in second room. I left and never went back.

Clearly I need to try again. I like the idea of a solo instance for exp farming when I am in the mood for it.

Are you sure it was set to normal? No one here is boasting the mobs literally die to one or two hits.

Duckbutta

OldGamerESO wrote: »

Ok, I am note sure if you guys are doing some sort of weird boasting. 'Mobs dying when you tickle them'? Really?

I had never done nMA but had heard you could make CP there with training gear and exp potions instead of running public dungeons. I went there with a CP 400 character with purple training gear, gold weapons and died twice in the first room and could not get past the spinning blade thing in second room. I left and never went back.

Clearly I need to try again. I like the idea of a solo instance for exp farming when I am in the mood for it.

You must have been on vet mode, if you have 400 cp you would have been one-shorting everything on normal, it would be god-mode easy for you.

There is a YUUUGE difference between normal and vet mode. While vMA can be incredibly upsetting at first, if you have the patience and frustration tolerance for it, you will become a better player. It teaches you how to rely on yourself, and you will become more aware and capable of keeping yourself alive longer, skills that translate into other endgame scenarios, so keep at it!

miteba

Artemiisia wrote: »

... with rage quitting and trowing stuff at the screen in between, before that I went in and smelled the air, and didnt feel like I was ready...

That brings me awesome memories i never said so many "ugly words" in such a fast sequence

In one of the first tries i was in TS with a guildmember but a somepoint, in the middle of the raging action, i forget that she was there, for a couple hours probably, then she said something like : Miteba, you really need to relax! ... with a funny tone of voice like saying: i had 2 hours of pure delight at your expense

GoodFella146

Yeah normal is disturbingly easy lol

s7732425ub17_ESO

ArchMikem wrote: »

soll wrote: »

my friend finished nMA of lvl 5 mag blade (he reached lvl 9 when finished).

That's incredibly depressing.

I thought that even though I know I could never complete Vet Maelstrom, at least if I could finally complete Normal and have that achievement (didn't even know if there was an achievement attached to normal at the time) then I could be somewhat satisfied with my ability in ESO. But since Normal Maelstrom is apparently so easy I'm still left with the label "casual noob" plastered across my forehead. Good lord the achievement from this feels like basically a Participation Award.

Why don't you just go do VMA? If it really stresses you out too much you are pretty much going to be a casual for life. It's really not as difficult as you are making it out to be.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Funny story, I have never done a no-death on normal. I have several on vet. Haha. Admittedly I have only ran normal 2 or 3 times, but something always got me.

Maybe give yourself some more credit OP. If you are no-deathing normal, you at least understand the mechanics (which is about all normal mode is good for). Give vet a go. The difference in difficulty is night and day, but the mechanics dont change. Give yourself the goal of getting through one stage in each session. You might be surprised at how far you get.

Also, there is NOTHING in this game that will increase your own skill and understanding of your class than working through VMA. I made it a goal to do it on every class, and it has helped more than I thought possible.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Karius_Imalthar

It has been punishing for a templar. I know a lot of templars have accomplished this but I am well geared, max CP, i've done dps and healing in trials, vet dungeons, and pvp and I am finding vMA to be pretty difficult. Is it the class or just me?

Masel

I went in on nMA for the first time today with my lightning heavy attack dk build I use for the weekly vMA flawless runs, needed nothing but my left mouse button. The critheal cp passive is enough to counterheal the incoming damage. Even the higher health mobs die instantly from a fully charged heavy inferno attack and force pulse.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Karius_Imalthar wrote: »

It has been punishing for a templar. I know a lot of templars have accomplished this but I am well geared, max CP, i've done dps and healing in trials, vet dungeons, and pvp and I am finding vMA to be pretty difficult. Is it the class or just me?

Honest answer? Magic templar is one of the easier class combos to clear this place because you have so many heals and a great execute. I would suggest the healing morph of radiant until you are comfortable. They definitely are not the fastest, but I would say magic Templar is one of the easier clears save the very last boss.

GawdSB

Haha, before I knew there was a vet and normal maelstrom I walked in the normal and was just killing everything like wtf I thought people said this was hard... Then I Iater found out about vet, and was murdered on the first round lmaoo. Took me forever to finally beat VMA, now I can at least get it done in an hour lol. Which I know isn't great but it's a big step from the month it took me a week or two ago.

LadyNalcarya

ArchMikem wrote: »

soll wrote: »

my friend finished nMA of lvl 5 mag blade (he reached lvl 9 when finished).

That's incredibly depressing.

I thought that even though I know I could never complete Vet Maelstrom, at least if I could finally complete Normal and have that achievement (didn't even know if there was an achievement attached to normal at the time) then I could be somewhat satisfied with my ability in ESO. But since Normal Maelstrom is apparently so easy I'm still left with the label "casual noob" plastered across my forehead. Good lord the achievement from this feels like basically a Participation Award.

Well, on the other hand, not dying means that you understood the mechanics.
I think that ignoring them can still kill on normal?
Mobs on normal die super fast tho.