Stam DPS - need guidance (vMA)

Edegas

As the tittle says, i could use some help to increase my DPS over all.

Im tryn to do vMA, im at 10-12k dps atm. Using 5NMG + 5VO and 2xKra'gh.

Im using Ducks STAM DK setup :

Bar 1 (DW): Rapid Strikes | Noxious Breath | Venomous Claws | Igneous Shield | Vigor Ultimate: Flawless Dawnbreaker

Bar 2 (Bow): Poison Injection | Caltrops | Endless Hail | Wings | Rearming Trap Ultimate: Corrosive Armor

I cannot seem to go above 12k, any hints ?

OrphanHelgen

Penetration is most importent when it comes to dps. Your sets are very good, all though spiggans would be slightly better I believe, but thats expensive. Night mother works very well. You use noxious breath too, which is 5k armor reduce, and based on your gear / setup, you should pull very high dps. I honestly don't think there is anything wrong with your setup, but its very importent to track your dots and have a proper rotation. Also, if your dps addon doesnt reset, you will not get accurate dps.

I recommend buff yourself up and place all ground aoe's before boss spawn, then start your rotation. This should give you high burst. Also practice your rotation on skeleton if you have one.

Edit: You have both weapons sharpened and use major brutality right?

Vapirko

It's also hard to maximize dps when you have to move to dodge/have moving targets. Proper rotation, dot tracking, weaving are all major components but often mean less solo because your dealing with selfs heals and dodging a lot more. I think 10-15 on your own in vMA is decent? Idk that's where I was when I tried it, didn't succeed though.

Asmael

First thing first: use Bloodthirst, not Rapid Strikes, the difference in damage is too negligible to be worth the loss of survivability (which also allows you to be on the offensive more).

For vMA, DPS isn't a reliable metric (we now have target dummies or the old Bloodspawn / whatever test for that).

Now to check the damage part (DPS and straight burst). Do you have:

• Proper CP distribution & CP count?
• Max health / stamina food?
• Thief mundus? (I noticed he uses Serpent, which is a sustain overkill with VO and Igneous shield)
• Are the enchants similar to said build? (max stamina on all armor pieces, weapon damage on jewelry)
• Are you using weapon power / weapon crit potions? His setup is meant specifically for this (not way to get Major Brutality / Savagery without potions). If not, you might want to go the "budget" way and slot Expert hunter on your main bar and get a way to buff yourself with Major Brutality (shrouded daggers for instance, Igneous weapons work as well).
• Do you "prepare the ground" for a fight - do you drop Rearming trap & Endless hail on portals before mobs spawn? Do you move mobs out of your ground dots?

All I can think of right now. If you have a recording and / or My build addon (PC only), you can post them here, see if we're missing something.

xblackroxe

In vma perfect knowledge of mechanics is the key to sucess. Not only bosses but also what attacks of normal mobs can you survive and what you have to dodge/block. Knowing what spawns when also helps. Normally its best to dot up the small mobs first then focus the big guys.
Its just practice all the way.

Your setup is fine though having noxious and nmg is overpenetrating so you could either use another skill or use hundings for example instead if nmg. But thats just fine tuning. Just keep with what you have now it will be good enough for sure.

Edegas

OrphanHelgen wrote: »

Penetration is most importent when it comes to dps. Your sets are very good, all though spiggans would be slightly better I believe, but thats expensive. Night mother works very well. You use noxious breath too, which is 5k armor reduce, and based on your gear / setup, you should pull very high dps. I honestly don't think there is anything wrong with your setup, but its very importent to track your dots and have a proper rotation. Also, if your dps addon doesnt reset, you will not get accurate dps.

I recommend buff yourself up and place all ground aoe's before boss spawn, then start your rotation. This should give you high burst. Also practice your rotation on skeleton if you have one.

Edit: You have both weapons sharpened and use major brutality right?

Yes , but with the potions i am carefull , thats the raw dmg i pull out

Edegas

Asmael wrote: »

First thing first: use Bloodthirst, not Rapid Strikes, the difference in damage is too negligible to be worth the loss of survivability (which also allows you to be on the offensive more).

For vMA, DPS isn't a reliable metric (we now have target dummies or the old Bloodspawn / whatever test for that).

Now to check the damage part (DPS and straight burst). Do you have:

• Proper CP distribution & CP count?
• Max health / stamina food?
• Thief mundus? (I noticed he uses Serpent, which is a sustain overkill with VO and Igneous shield)
• Are the enchants similar to said build? (max stamina on all armor pieces, weapon damage on jewelry)
• Are you using weapon power / weapon crit potions? His setup is meant specifically for this (not way to get Major Brutality / Savagery without potions). If not, you might want to go the "budget" way and slot Expert hunter on your main bar and get a way to buff yourself with Major Brutality (shrouded daggers for instance, Igneous weapons work as well).
• Do you "prepare the ground" for a fight - do you drop Rearming trap & Endless hail on portals before mobs spawn? Do you move mobs out of your ground dots?

All I can think of right now. If you have a recording and / or My build addon (PC only), you can post them here, see if we're missing something.

Thank you , i shall take a look. Will reply after.

Edegas

Beandre wrote: »

It's also hard to maximize dps when you have to move to dodge/have moving targets. Proper rotation, dot tracking, weaving are all major components but often mean less solo because your dealing with selfs heals and dodging a lot more. I think 10-15 on your own in vMA is decent? Idk that's where I was when I tried it, didn't succeed though.

Its the first time i got in , took 4 tries for stage 2 , 5 tries for 3 and 4. Im a little stuck at 5 now , only 2 tries tho.


Should work out fine after this discussion here.

My goal is to reach at least 15k dps , so i can drop bosses in less then a minute. Now it takes 70-80s for a 700-800k boss (obviously).

jeskah

Edegas wrote: »

OrphanHelgen wrote: »

Penetration is most importent when it comes to dps. Your sets are very good, all though spiggans would be slightly better I believe, but thats expensive. Night mother works very well. You use noxious breath too, which is 5k armor reduce, and based on your gear / setup, you should pull very high dps. I honestly don't think there is anything wrong with your setup, but its very importent to track your dots and have a proper rotation. Also, if your dps addon doesnt reset, you will not get accurate dps.

I recommend buff yourself up and place all ground aoe's before boss spawn, then start your rotation. This should give you high burst. Also practice your rotation on skeleton if you have one.

Edit: You have both weapons sharpened and use major brutality right?

Yes , but with the potions i am carefull , thats the raw dmg i pull out

Use "budget" build then, with igneous weapons and the inferno or what (the weapon crit passive ability), and flap your wings, like a happy little bird when there are many ranged mobs

DRXHarbinger

Dps won't be a huge number for each round due to waiting about during spawns. Just focus on memorising what's coming each round and you'll breeze it. Tip for round 2. Just use a bow. Weave spam injection and that's it for trash. Vigor in between. Does it far quicker that running around all over the place.

Round 5 is all about sequence. For instance the frost Atro round. Each wave spawns off the frost casters. So nuke the Atro 1st and them the rest and you won't get overwhelmed. Start on the starting platform aoe up and crush it. Personally I use dawnbreaker of smiting. The knock down is so much much better than a mediocre 5% weapon damage. Esp on last two rounds where it's all daedra anyway. Literally stack the trash up and smash them down.

HatchetHaro

You don't have to care about DPS in vMA too much. I pull the same 10-15k as well, and heck, I can pull 33k on a target skeleton solo.

Edegas

DRXHarbinger wrote: »

Dps won't be a huge number for each round due to waiting about during spawns. Just focus on memorising what's coming each round and you'll breeze it. Tip for round 2. Just use a bow. Weave spam injection and that's it for trash. Vigor in between. Does it far quicker that running around all over the place.

Round 5 is all about sequence. For instance the frost Atro round. Each wave spawns off the frost casters. So nuke the Atro 1st and them the rest and you won't get overwhelmed. Start on the starting platform aoe up and crush it. Personally I use dawnbreaker of smiting. The knock down is so much much better than a mediocre 5% weapon damage. Esp on last two rounds where it's all daedra anyway. Literally stack the trash up and smash them down.

Hahl, good idea thanks.

Wrecking_Blow_Spam

I run VMA yesterday on my stam dk for the first time in over 5 months, got flawless conqueror too. Not to bad considering I'd literally just set up my bars.

Anyway I wasn't running fancy pots, just trash stamina pots.
So I using igneous weapons. Also I used spiked armour over igneous - reasoning was major resistances and also it gives 12%healing received. Not as much as igneous but my vigour crit over 4K so it worked out for me. Also it lasts 20 secs, pretty good imo.

Your build sounds solid so not sure why you're not pumping out more DPS than you are.

Edegas

Posting this for @Asmael

http://imgur.com/a/C5Oee

Asmael

Edegas wrote: »

Posting this for @Asmael

http://imgur.com/a/C5Oee

Pretty good setup, should be able to pull some nice sustained DPS.

The biggest thing that makes "TILT" is your max magicka - are you running tristat food by any chance? Max health / stamina food will grant less overall stats, but max magicka isn't as significant, so that'd help you get a tiny bit more sustain, survivability and damage. Swapping out 1-2 health enchants for stamina ones as you get more CPs and feel more comfortable with vMA will also help you push your numbers higher. In case you don't know, 10.5 stamina is rougly equivalent to 1 weapon damage.

You can absolutely stick to a 6 medium / 1 heavy setup (preferably heavy chests, legs or helm if possible) for the extra survivablity since the difference in damage is also negligible.

To maximize your damage potential, you'll want to drop caltrops, trap and Endless hail on portals, start by applying Venomous claw and Noxious breath. To make sure you get the most out of Trap / Hail, dodge roll through your enemies or turn around them in circles instead of a straight line - it'll help damage application plenty.

Since you mentioned being careful on potions usage, you could slot Shrouded Daggers instead of Noxious breath, which has the double benefit of providing you with what is basically a ranged version of steel tornado (only against 3 targets, but you rarely get more than that in vMA and it hits harder anyway) as well as getting Major brutality for free.

CP distribution is good (dat derp Elfborn point tho )

Last advice for when it's needed: use a glyph before some bosses. Nothing like a Defense glyph on round 5 after the 1st platform has been destroyed for instance, allows you to go almost full out on boss safely - thus pushing your damage further. That remains true for all specs.

Other points to work on (not critical):

• Switching Hunding's bow to NMG
• Updating dat cp130 Kra'gh shoulder

Edegas

Asmael wrote: »

Edegas wrote: »

Posting this for @Asmael

http://imgur.com/a/C5Oee

Pretty good setup, should be able to pull some nice sustained DPS.

The biggest thing that makes "TILT" is your max magicka - are you running tristat food by any chance? Max health / stamina food will grant less overall stats, but max magicka isn't as significant, so that'd help you get a tiny bit more sustain, survivability and damage. Swapping out 1-2 health enchants for stamina ones as you get more CPs and feel more comfortable with vMA will also help you push your numbers higher. In case you don't know, 10.5 stamina is rougly equivalent to 1 weapon damage.

You can absolutely stick to a 6 medium / 1 heavy setup (preferably heavy chests, legs or helm if possible) for the extra survivablity since the difference in damage is also negligible.

To maximize your damage potential, you'll want to drop caltrops, trap and Endless hail on portals, start by applying Venomous claw and Noxious breath. To make sure you get the most out of Trap / Hail, dodge roll through your enemies or turn around them in circles instead of a straight line - it'll help damage application plenty.

Since you mentioned being careful on potions usage, you could slot Shrouded Daggers instead of Noxious breath, which has the double benefit of providing you with what is basically a ranged version of steel tornado (only against 3 targets, but you rarely get more than that in vMA and it hits harder anyway) as well as getting Major brutality for free.

CP distribution is good (dat derp Elfborn point tho )

Last advice for when it's needed: use a glyph before some bosses. Nothing like a Defense glyph on round 5 after the 1st platform has been destroyed for instance, allows you to go almost full out on boss safely - thus pushing your damage further. That remains true for all specs.

Other points to work on (not critical):

• Switching Hunding's bow to NMG
• Updating dat cp130 Kra'gh shoulder

Rofl , you have paid more attention then i did. Awesome comment over my gear, im glad people like you linger those forums.


I had no idea the shoulders were CP130 , rofl. WIll change them , thats the derp moment )

Izaki

OrphanHelgen wrote: »

Penetration is most importent when it comes to dps. Your sets are very good, all though spiggans would be slightly better I believe, but thats expensive. Night mother works very well. You use noxious breath too, which is 5k armor reduce, and based on your gear / setup, you should pull very high dps. I honestly don't think there is anything wrong with your setup, but its very importent to track your dots and have a proper rotation. Also, if your dps addon doesnt reset, you will not get accurate dps.

I recommend buff yourself up and place all ground aoe's before boss spawn, then start your rotation. This should give you high burst. Also practice your rotation on skeleton if you have one.

Edit: You have both weapons sharpened and use major brutality right?

Penetration for everything aside vMA. Only 2 bosses are at 18k penetration, 3 are at 12k and the rest are at 9k (including the final boss). So there's no point in having penetration on top of sharpened and major fracture.

Edegas

Mhm, something happent after todays patch , i get destroyed faster then usual in stage 5 )

Edegas

I managed to get more dps out of it.

When you swap builds like there is no tomorrow (i play main as tank), there are high chances that you would miss something.

Shoulders were CP130 - fixed
Poison Injection wasn`t morphed - fixed
Swaped Noxious Breath with Shrouded Daggers

It seems that my overall dps is way higher.

Thank you everyone for the help provided. I shall give it another try to Stage 5 and if anyone cares enough, update how it went.

@Asmael , i was using Bloodthirst. Forgot to modify it from the copy paste text i provided.

GreenhaloX

Edegas wrote: »

As the tittle says, i could use some help to increase my DPS over all.

Im tryn to do vMA, im at 10-12k dps atm. Using 5NMG + 5VO and 2xKra'gh.

Im using Ducks STAM DK setup :

Bar 1 (DW): Rapid Strikes | Noxious Breath | Venomous Claws | Igneous Shield | Vigor Ultimate: Flawless Dawnbreaker

Bar 2 (Bow): Poison Injection | Caltrops | Endless Hail | Wings | Rearming Trap Ultimate: Corrosive Armor

I cannot seem to go above 12k, any hints ?

I am in no means a vMA guru; however, you have similar setup as my DW DK. How about switching up your skills and rotations a bit and see if it would fair any better. On your front bar, move Noxious Breath to your back bar, and add Rending Slashes (or Bloodcraze, if you prefer getting a bit of health back) to the front bar. Also, move Vigor to the back bar and add Lightweight Beast Trap to the front bar. Forget Rearming Trap, now that it has been nerfed to hell. On your back bar, try replacing the ultimate with Toxic Barrage or the Balista. To me, this is one of the better ultimate for a stam DK. Particularly, against world bosses and dungeon bosses, you're getting almost 76k damages (with DoT) with the Toxic Barrage. You're still getting in the mid-40k with the Balista while it is hands-free. What about Igneous Weapon or similar for major brutality?

So looks like this:

Front Bar (DW): Rapid Strikes | Rending Slashes | Lightweight Beast Trap | Wings | Igneous Shield
Ultimate: Flawless Dawnbreaker

Back Bar (Bow): Poison Injection (but, I prefer Venom Arrow, as it disrupts) | Igneous Weapons | Noxious Breath | Endless Hail (but, I prefer Arrow Barrage, as it cover a wider radius) | Vigor
Ultimate: Toxic Barrage (or Balista)

I don't know what your rotations are, but try these out (on mobs, adds or bosses outside of vMA, first to see how you would like, if you wish):

(Start with Igneous Weapon with higher hp adds or boss); otherwise, start with Endless Hail (or Arrow Barrage), then Poison Injection (or Venom Arrow), then Noxious Breath, then switch bar and (hit Igneous shield or wings as needed) throw down the beast trap, then followed by Rending Slashes and then the Rapid Strikes. Of course, the Toxic Barrage/Balista ultimate, when needed.

So, right of the bat, you're basically laying down combination of DoTs with Endless Hail/Arrow, Poison Injection/Venom Arrow, Noxious Breath (also applying major fracture), and Rending Slashes, then followed by the brutal flurries of Rapid Strikes. I don't know.. some do prefer the Bloodthirst, because it gives back more health. I just prefer putting out more damages; the faster to take out the target (s), the lesser chance damages are being inflicted on you. With this rotation, I go through adds and bosses like butter, even world and dungeon bosses. Outside of vMA and trials, I also like to use the Steel Tornado.

Also for the CPs, lots of folks like more into the Thaumaturge for increased DoTs, but, although DoTs are necessary, I prefer more for face value or upfront damages, like for the Mighty and Piercing (for stam toons.) My Mighty is maxed out and have about 55 on my Piercing; whereas, I still have a 7% increase with my Thaumaturge. I have tested it out with more CPs into Thaumaturge versus the Mighty and Piercing, but I am throwing out more damages/dps and taking out targets quicker with the latter. The rest of CPs into Precise Strikes.

Lastly, I haven't played with NMG, but with the addition of the 5-pieces Spriggin, I am seemingly going through targets a lot quicker and like butter. I don't know, what you think of a 2H greatsword build, and many do frown on that (I guess, it's because greatsword swing/strikes are a bit slower), but I love it. Man, it does some brutal damages when hit. I am putting more damages and taking out targets even faster with my 2H build and rotations. Anyways, hope this helps in any way, shape or form. Good Luck..

Edegas

GreenhaloX wrote: »

Edegas wrote: »

As the tittle says, i could use some help to increase my DPS over all.

Im tryn to do vMA, im at 10-12k dps atm. Using 5NMG + 5VO and 2xKra'gh.

Im using Ducks STAM DK setup :

Bar 1 (DW): Rapid Strikes | Noxious Breath | Venomous Claws | Igneous Shield | Vigor Ultimate: Flawless Dawnbreaker

Bar 2 (Bow): Poison Injection | Caltrops | Endless Hail | Wings | Rearming Trap Ultimate: Corrosive Armor

I cannot seem to go above 12k, any hints ?

I am in no means a vMA guru; however, you have similar setup as my DW DK. How about switching up your skills and rotations a bit and see if it would fair any better. On your front bar, move Noxious Breath to your back bar, and add Rending Slashes (or Bloodcraze, if you prefer getting a bit of health back) to the front bar. Also, move Vigor to the back bar and add Lightweight Beast Trap to the front bar. Forget Rearming Trap, now that it has been nerfed to hell. On your back bar, try replacing the ultimate with Toxic Barrage or the Balista. To me, this is one of the better ultimate for a stam DK. Particularly, against world bosses and dungeon bosses, you're getting almost 76k damages (with DoT) with the Toxic Barrage. You're still getting in the mid-40k with the Balista while it is hands-free. What about Igneous Weapon or similar for major brutality?

So looks like this:

Front Bar (DW): Rapid Strikes | Rending Slashes | Lightweight Beast Trap | Wings | Igneous Shield
Ultimate: Flawless Dawnbreaker

Back Bar (Bow): Poison Injection (but, I prefer Venom Arrow, as it disrupts) | Igneous Weapons | Noxious Breath | Endless Hail (but, I prefer Arrow Barrage, as it cover a wider radius) | Vigor
Ultimate: Toxic Barrage (or Balista)

I don't know what your rotations are, but try these out (on mobs, adds or bosses outside of vMA, first to see how you would like, if you wish):

(Start with Igneous Weapon with higher hp adds or boss); otherwise, start with Endless Hail (or Arrow Barrage), then Poison Injection (or Venom Arrow), then Noxious Breath, then switch bar and (hit Igneous shield or wings as needed) throw down the beast trap, then followed by Rending Slashes and then the Rapid Strikes. Of course, the Toxic Barrage/Balista ultimate, when needed.

So, right of the bat, you're basically laying down combination of DoTs with Endless Hail/Arrow, Poison Injection/Venom Arrow, Noxious Breath (also applying major fracture), and Rending Slashes, then followed by the brutal flurries of Rapid Strikes. I don't know.. some do prefer the Bloodthirst, because it gives back more health. I just prefer putting out more damages; the faster to take out the target (s), the lesser chance damages are being inflicted on you. With this rotation, I go through adds and bosses like butter, even world and dungeon bosses. Outside of vMA and trials, I also like to use the Steel Tornado.

Also for the CPs, lots of folks like more into the Thaumaturge for increased DoTs, but, although DoTs are necessary, I prefer more for face value or upfront damages, like for the Mighty and Piercing (for stam toons.) My Mighty is maxed out and have about 55 on my Piercing; whereas, I still have a 7% increase with my Thaumaturge. I have tested it out with more CPs into Thaumaturge versus the Mighty and Piercing, but I am throwing out more damages/dps and taking out targets quicker with the latter. The rest of CPs into Precise Strikes.

Lastly, I haven't played with NMG, but with the addition of the 5-pieces Spriggin, I am seemingly going through targets a lot quicker and like butter. I don't know, what you think of a 2H greatsword build, and many do frown on that (I guess, it's because greatsword swing/strikes are a bit slower), but I love it. Man, it does some brutal damages when hit. I am putting more damages and taking out targets even faster with my 2H build and rotations. Anyways, hope this helps in any way, shape or form. Good Luck..

I shall try bud, i do hate 2h and only use it for pvp.

But i will use the bars you suggested and see how it goes. What could go wrong, die again on top of the other 10s of deaths ?

Thanks