VMA as DK

D0ntevenL1ft

So I've ran VMA on my sorc about 5 times now and I'm wondering how much more difficult it would be if i attempted on my DK. I want to try because the leader boards don't ever fill up for DKS on PS4 so if i beat it its basically a free second weapon, but I'm wondering if its worth the headache doing it on a harder class? MagDK BTW not crazy enough for stam

jakeedmundson

It's definitely a little harder than the mag sorc. but absolutely do-able.

Maybe not even harder... it just depends on your comfort level with the rotations and healing.
sorc has the HUGE benefit of surge... auto healing and when you need it... the class shield (ward) for that "oh $4i7" button.

I switched to a heavy attack build for my DK vma runs...

Build basically how you want to... but there a few must haves.

Lightning staff on at least 1 bar.
dampen or harness magicka on at least 1 bar.
Dragons blood heal
burning embers
Entropy (degeneration morph)

You can get through the WHOLE place just doing this...
drop elemental blockade
degeneration on an add or two
burning embers on an add or two
heavy attack until things are dead
use your ward/shield as needed.

Just slowly worked my way through yesterday and ended up with 430k score (1.5 hours)
i'm sure i could get it faster.. but really no point when a completion means a leaderboard reward either way.

strikeback1247

Just look up a heavy attack dk build. It's really easy.

This is what I recommend:
http://tamrielfoundry.com/topic/masels-elemental-fury-pve-dps-dk-build-1t-ready/

code65536

Disclaimer: My personal experience with DK is quite limited, having only done it a handful of times.

First, stam DK is easier than mag DK, IMHO. It plays a lot like stamsorc, except you don't have Surge (more reliance on Vigor) but you also have range immunity (from flappy wings) (particularly nice in Stage 5).

The main advantages of sDK over mDK is the availability of Vigor--a strong on-demand HoT that isn't tied to a particular weapon type, and the mobility and resource sustain from Vicious Ophidian.

If you're going mag, there are a number of variants, based on how you deal damage...

• Heavy attack: easy sustain, but takes getting used to and isn't score-competitive
• Embers-spam: easy survival, but very low DPS and definitely isn't score-competitive (also, the low DPS makes certain fights harder)
• Force Pulse: range and more similar to how a sorc would do it, plus the sustain isn't too bad thanks to the destro staff passive that returns magicka if a target dies to a destro staff attack/ability
• Whip: elemental drain is a must for sustain if you use whip

DRXHarbinger

Heavy attack build will do 550K. It's what mine sits at. Just one bar..blockade, embers, eruption, harness and inner light. Just drop eruption and blockade and hold trigger. Embers for heals. No need to get too complicated. Leap on from bar for easy trash killing and destro ult back bar. So stupidly easy on a magdk.

If you want a whip build, use power lash and lit staff back back bar. Set off balance and spam whip. It's free and sustain isn't an issue.

ducket1

I run VMA all the time on my MagDK to get on the leader boards as its easier and you can pretty much take it easy get a score and land a place.

I use 5x Burning Spellweave
2x Grothdar
3x Willpower

this gear isn't too hard to get, I swap out grothdar with Skoria sometimes which is good too! You will find Spellweave is pretty much always up with the MagDK

Get used to spamming Burning embers as you pretty much continuously heal your way through the rounds (as long as you know the mechanics and know where to stand). Coagulating Blood is handy now too!


I use VMa Flame destro and VMa resto staff

I throw down blockade and eruption hit with burning embers and molten whip and it does me fine and can walk the rounds.

If needed you can add Dragon fire scale in as its a great shield when used well especially on stage 5. Obviously keep harness magicka up and molten weapons.
Like others have said get used to heavy attacks as it will help with sustain.

I like to use crushing shock too as it is a nice ranged interrupt and saves me running all over the place

D0ntevenL1ft

Thanks guys all good tips. Ive recently gotten a flame staff vma should i slot blockade on flame staff on back bar for extra heavy attack dps, or should i keep blockade on lightning staff for the off balance?

jakeedmundson

DRXHarbinger wrote: »

Heavy attack build will do 550K. It's what mine sits at. Just one bar..blockade, embers, eruption, harness and inner light. Just drop eruption and blockade and hold trigger. Embers for heals. No need to get too complicated. Leap on from bar for easy trash killing and destro ult back bar. So stupidly easy on a magdk.

If you want a whip build, use power lash and lit staff back back bar. Set off balance and spam whip. It's free and sustain isn't an issue.

Interesting idea with leap... never really tried it after they made it flame damage.
But yes... forgot to mention eruption earlier... blockade and eruption will kill pretty much any add quick.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

There is a reason the boards dont fill up. I have had absolutely terrible runs on my DK stick, and have had flawless runs on sorc fall of the weeklies at the last minute. mDK is the hardest of the 4 magic classes in the arena, and I think that is hard to dispute. Sorcs have power surge, which is the number one reason they shine in the arena. DK's are pretty much forced to run a resto staff, as they dont have a great way to get passive heals while they do damage. Templars and NBs do, but I dont think they are quite as good as surge.

That said, if you are comfortable in the arena, it is perfectly doable. You just need to be a little more aggressive about your heals and mitigation. There are heavy attack builds for DK that people have had success with, but I recommend a more traditional Destro/Resto build. Also for what it's worth, I think stam DK might be easier than magic DK. It is certainly faster. I would probably run a stam sorc through once before I did stam DK.

The biggest difference with DK compared to other classes is your kill priority. Typically I suggest taking out your ranged adds first, and kiting the melee characters. DK is the opposite. You use wings to let the ranged adds kill themselves, which leaves you to focus on the melee. Wings are incredibly strong in their, but you need to be careful about when/where to use them. Also, dont be afraid to use your ultimates. DKs struggle to sustain when solo, and ulti dropping is your best recovery tool.

GrigorijMalahevich

With my magdk I did vma 5 times and have easy >500k score with heavy attack build. It is much easier than on magsorc...

Just blockade -> heavy attack -> new blockade on cd -> heavy attack. Sometimes add eruption, ult on mini bosses and bosses...

DRXHarbinger

jakeedmundson wrote: »

DRXHarbinger wrote: »

Heavy attack build will do 550K. It's what mine sits at. Just one bar..blockade, embers, eruption, harness and inner light. Just drop eruption and blockade and hold trigger. Embers for heals. No need to get too complicated. Leap on from bar for easy trash killing and destro ult back bar. So stupidly easy on a magdk.

If you want a whip build, use power lash and lit staff back back bar. Set off balance and spam whip. It's free and sustain isn't an issue.

Interesting idea with leap... never really tried it after they made it flame damage.
But yes... forgot to mention eruption earlier... blockade and eruption will kill pretty much any add quick.

Yes and remember you can easily get a 20k tooltip unbuffed. Add 8% lit staff bonus and a further 10% if you put flames on a mob (round 5 on wards) and boom you can easily crush a mob straight away and get an 18k shield for your efforts. Also comes in handy as a gap closer for chasing trolls, poison minders etc.

GawdSB

Beat it on my MagDk last week, it's a lot harder than other classes imo.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Valera Progib wrote: »

With my magdk I did vma 5 times and have easy >500k score with heavy attack build. It is much easier than on magsorc...

Just blockade -> heavy attack -> new blockade on cd -> heavy attack. Sometimes add eruption, ult on mini bosses and bosses...

That's interesting. I have done heavy attack builds on mSorc and mDK. I have run both classes in more traditional builds many many times. I found the sorc heavy attack build to be a complete game changer. It was not only easier, but it was faster. The single target was nuts and the trash just melts.

I found the DK version to just be frustrating and slower than what I was use to. It might have fallen into the "easier" category as you didnt have to push as many buttons, but I could never get the single target DPS i was used to in order to skip boss mechanics. I did see that @Masel92 posted an updated version of the build with different gear and flame lash. I definitely want to give that a try.

jakeedmundson

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Valera Progib wrote: »

With my magdk I did vma 5 times and have easy >500k score with heavy attack build. It is much easier than on magsorc...

Just blockade -> heavy attack -> new blockade on cd -> heavy attack. Sometimes add eruption, ult on mini bosses and bosses...

That's interesting. I have done heavy attack builds on mSorc and mDK. I have run both classes in more traditional builds many many times. I found the sorc heavy attack build to be a complete game changer. It was not only easier, but it was faster. The single target was nuts and the trash just melts.

I found the DK version to just be frustrating and slower than what I was use to. It might have fallen into the "easier" category as you didnt have to push as many buttons, but I could never get the single target DPS i was used to in order to skip boss mechanics. I did see that @Masel92 posted an updated version of the build with different gear and flame lash. I definitely want to give that a try.

I tried that flame lash build... either i wasn't doing something right... or lash hardly ever procs.

Maybe i missed something there.. i even tried it out on the test dummy and it only proc'd a few times.

Masel

jakeedmundson wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Valera Progib wrote: »

With my magdk I did vma 5 times and have easy >500k score with heavy attack build. It is much easier than on magsorc...

Just blockade -> heavy attack -> new blockade on cd -> heavy attack. Sometimes add eruption, ult on mini bosses and bosses...

That's interesting. I have done heavy attack builds on mSorc and mDK. I have run both classes in more traditional builds many many times. I found the sorc heavy attack build to be a complete game changer. It was not only easier, but it was faster. The single target was nuts and the trash just melts.

I found the DK version to just be frustrating and slower than what I was use to. It might have fallen into the "easier" category as you didnt have to push as many buttons, but I could never get the single target DPS i was used to in order to skip boss mechanics. I did see that @Masel92 posted an updated version of the build with different gear and flame lash. I definitely want to give that a try.

I tried that flame lash build... either i wasn't doing something right... or lash hardly ever procs.

Maybe i missed something there.. i even tried it out on the test dummy and it only proc'd a few times.

Shock enchant and charged staff and lightning blockade. Just that.

jakeedmundson

Masel92 wrote: »

jakeedmundson wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Valera Progib wrote: »

With my magdk I did vma 5 times and have easy >500k score with heavy attack build. It is much easier than on magsorc...

Just blockade -> heavy attack -> new blockade on cd -> heavy attack. Sometimes add eruption, ult on mini bosses and bosses...

That's interesting. I have done heavy attack builds on mSorc and mDK. I have run both classes in more traditional builds many many times. I found the sorc heavy attack build to be a complete game changer. It was not only easier, but it was faster. The single target was nuts and the trash just melts.

I found the DK version to just be frustrating and slower than what I was use to. It might have fallen into the "easier" category as you didnt have to push as many buttons, but I could never get the single target DPS i was used to in order to skip boss mechanics. I did see that @Masel92 posted an updated version of the build with different gear and flame lash. I definitely want to give that a try.

I tried that flame lash build... either i wasn't doing something right... or lash hardly ever procs.

Maybe i missed something there.. i even tried it out on the test dummy and it only proc'd a few times.

Shock enchant and charged staff and lightning blockade. Just that.

Ha fair enough... i did not have a charged staff OR a shock enchant. Attempt #2 comin up...

Oreyn_Bearclaw

jakeedmundson wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Valera Progib wrote: »

With my magdk I did vma 5 times and have easy >500k score with heavy attack build. It is much easier than on magsorc...

Just blockade -> heavy attack -> new blockade on cd -> heavy attack. Sometimes add eruption, ult on mini bosses and bosses...

That's interesting. I have done heavy attack builds on mSorc and mDK. I have run both classes in more traditional builds many many times. I found the sorc heavy attack build to be a complete game changer. It was not only easier, but it was faster. The single target was nuts and the trash just melts.

I found the DK version to just be frustrating and slower than what I was use to. It might have fallen into the "easier" category as you didnt have to push as many buttons, but I could never get the single target DPS i was used to in order to skip boss mechanics. I did see that @Masel92 posted an updated version of the build with different gear and flame lash. I definitely want to give that a try.

I tried that flame lash build... either i wasn't doing something right... or lash hardly ever procs.

Maybe i missed something there.. i even tried it out on the test dummy and it only proc'd a few times.

Interesting. I know he uses some unusual weapon traits, wonder if that has something to do with it. I dont think I have a charged Moondancer staff, haha.

It's just so hard for me to care too much at this point. There really isnt much in there I need, but wouldnt mind a little easier way to get on the weeklies. Having a 550k+ flawless run on your sorc not stick on the weekly is rather frustrating...

Masel

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

jakeedmundson wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Valera Progib wrote: »

With my magdk I did vma 5 times and have easy >500k score with heavy attack build. It is much easier than on magsorc...

Just blockade -> heavy attack -> new blockade on cd -> heavy attack. Sometimes add eruption, ult on mini bosses and bosses...

That's interesting. I have done heavy attack builds on mSorc and mDK. I have run both classes in more traditional builds many many times. I found the sorc heavy attack build to be a complete game changer. It was not only easier, but it was faster. The single target was nuts and the trash just melts.

I found the DK version to just be frustrating and slower than what I was use to. It might have fallen into the "easier" category as you didnt have to push as many buttons, but I could never get the single target DPS i was used to in order to skip boss mechanics. I did see that @Masel92 posted an updated version of the build with different gear and flame lash. I definitely want to give that a try.

I tried that flame lash build... either i wasn't doing something right... or lash hardly ever procs.

Maybe i missed something there.. i even tried it out on the test dummy and it only proc'd a few times.

Interesting. I know he uses some unusual weapon traits, wonder if that has something to do with it. I dont think I have a charged Moondancer staff, haha.

It's just so hard for me to care too much at this point. There really isnt much in there I need, but wouldnt mind a little easier way to get on the weeklies. Having a 550k+ flawless run on your sorc not stick on the weekly is rather frustrating...

You only need a charged spinner staff, 5 PC Spinner is a replacement for sharpened. What you get with 75 in thaumaturge is 18% flat damage increase through concussion and exploiters and a crazy hard hitting free spammable flame lash

D0ntevenL1ft

WOOOO SHARPENED 2H GREATSWORD SEE YA LATER MAELSTROM

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Masel92 wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

jakeedmundson wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Valera Progib wrote: »

With my magdk I did vma 5 times and have easy >500k score with heavy attack build. It is much easier than on magsorc...

Just blockade -> heavy attack -> new blockade on cd -> heavy attack. Sometimes add eruption, ult on mini bosses and bosses...

That's interesting. I have done heavy attack builds on mSorc and mDK. I have run both classes in more traditional builds many many times. I found the sorc heavy attack build to be a complete game changer. It was not only easier, but it was faster. The single target was nuts and the trash just melts.

I found the DK version to just be frustrating and slower than what I was use to. It might have fallen into the "easier" category as you didnt have to push as many buttons, but I could never get the single target DPS i was used to in order to skip boss mechanics. I did see that @Masel92 posted an updated version of the build with different gear and flame lash. I definitely want to give that a try.

I tried that flame lash build... either i wasn't doing something right... or lash hardly ever procs.

Maybe i missed something there.. i even tried it out on the test dummy and it only proc'd a few times.

Interesting. I know he uses some unusual weapon traits, wonder if that has something to do with it. I dont think I have a charged Moondancer staff, haha.

It's just so hard for me to care too much at this point. There really isnt much in there I need, but wouldnt mind a little easier way to get on the weeklies. Having a 550k+ flawless run on your sorc not stick on the weekly is rather frustrating...

You only need a charged spinner staff, 5 PC Spinner is a replacement for sharpened. What you get with 75 in thaumaturge is 18% flat damage increase through concussion and exploiters and a crazy hard hitting free spammable flame lash

@Masel92

You are one of the few people on the forums that could talk me into buying a charged staff and making it gold on a whim. Haha

So basically, You would go: Moondancer Jewelry and one armor piece, Spinner armor times 4 and a charged lighting staff, 2 Ilambris, back bar VMA lighting? I have a Sharp, precise, and Charged VMA light staff. Any thoughts on which?

Does the charged enchant make flame lash proc more?

Masel

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Masel92 wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

jakeedmundson wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Valera Progib wrote: »

With my magdk I did vma 5 times and have easy >500k score with heavy attack build. It is much easier than on magsorc...

Just blockade -> heavy attack -> new blockade on cd -> heavy attack. Sometimes add eruption, ult on mini bosses and bosses...

That's interesting. I have done heavy attack builds on mSorc and mDK. I have run both classes in more traditional builds many many times. I found the sorc heavy attack build to be a complete game changer. It was not only easier, but it was faster. The single target was nuts and the trash just melts.

I found the DK version to just be frustrating and slower than what I was use to. It might have fallen into the "easier" category as you didnt have to push as many buttons, but I could never get the single target DPS i was used to in order to skip boss mechanics. I did see that @Masel92 posted an updated version of the build with different gear and flame lash. I definitely want to give that a try.

I tried that flame lash build... either i wasn't doing something right... or lash hardly ever procs.

Maybe i missed something there.. i even tried it out on the test dummy and it only proc'd a few times.

Interesting. I know he uses some unusual weapon traits, wonder if that has something to do with it. I dont think I have a charged Moondancer staff, haha.

It's just so hard for me to care too much at this point. There really isnt much in there I need, but wouldnt mind a little easier way to get on the weeklies. Having a 550k+ flawless run on your sorc not stick on the weekly is rather frustrating...

You only need a charged spinner staff, 5 PC Spinner is a replacement for sharpened. What you get with 75 in thaumaturge is 18% flat damage increase through concussion and exploiters and a crazy hard hitting free spammable flame lash

@Masel92

You are one of the few people on the forums that could talk me into buying a charged staff and making it gold on a whim. Haha

So basically, You would go: Moondancer Jewelry and one armor piece, Spinner armor times 4 and a charged lighting staff, 2 Ilambris, back bar VMA lighting? I have a Sharp, precise, and Charged VMA light staff. Any thoughts on which?

Does the charged enchant make flame lash proc more?

Sharp lightning to keep pen on back bar, other than that exactly like you said. Shock enchant on the spinner staff has an 84% proc chance to apply concussion each four seconds. Concussion turns flame lash into power lash which has a great self-healing added to it and is free to cast.

You'll basically set everything off-balance as soon as you touch it because blockade has an increased chance to proc it too.

And 40% more damage on heavy attacks against off-balance enemies and permanent stunning through flame lash and last ticks of heavies. It stuns everything except bosses, even ogrims and other things.

You have to bar swap a lot but I don't think that will be an issue for you

Joy_Division

D0ntevenL1ft wrote: »

So I've ran VMA on my sorc about 5 times now and I'm wondering how much more difficult it would be if i attempted on my DK. I want to try because the leader boards don't ever fill up for DKS on PS4 so if i beat it its basically a free second weapon, but I'm wondering if its worth the headache doing it on a harder class? MagDK BTW not crazy enough for stam

Not much difference. MDK is more than competitive in vMA. I recommend anyone "farming" it should run it on their DK and not even both with sorc or NB

Anhedonie

Not worth it imo.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Masel92 wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Masel92 wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

jakeedmundson wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Valera Progib wrote: »

With my magdk I did vma 5 times and have easy >500k score with heavy attack build. It is much easier than on magsorc...

Just blockade -> heavy attack -> new blockade on cd -> heavy attack. Sometimes add eruption, ult on mini bosses and bosses...

That's interesting. I have done heavy attack builds on mSorc and mDK. I have run both classes in more traditional builds many many times. I found the sorc heavy attack build to be a complete game changer. It was not only easier, but it was faster. The single target was nuts and the trash just melts.

I found the DK version to just be frustrating and slower than what I was use to. It might have fallen into the "easier" category as you didnt have to push as many buttons, but I could never get the single target DPS i was used to in order to skip boss mechanics. I did see that @Masel92 posted an updated version of the build with different gear and flame lash. I definitely want to give that a try.

I tried that flame lash build... either i wasn't doing something right... or lash hardly ever procs.

Maybe i missed something there.. i even tried it out on the test dummy and it only proc'd a few times.

Interesting. I know he uses some unusual weapon traits, wonder if that has something to do with it. I dont think I have a charged Moondancer staff, haha.

It's just so hard for me to care too much at this point. There really isnt much in there I need, but wouldnt mind a little easier way to get on the weeklies. Having a 550k+ flawless run on your sorc not stick on the weekly is rather frustrating...

You only need a charged spinner staff, 5 PC Spinner is a replacement for sharpened. What you get with 75 in thaumaturge is 18% flat damage increase through concussion and exploiters and a crazy hard hitting free spammable flame lash

@Masel92

You are one of the few people on the forums that could talk me into buying a charged staff and making it gold on a whim. Haha

So basically, You would go: Moondancer Jewelry and one armor piece, Spinner armor times 4 and a charged lighting staff, 2 Ilambris, back bar VMA lighting? I have a Sharp, precise, and Charged VMA light staff. Any thoughts on which?

Does the charged enchant make flame lash proc more?

Sharp lightning to keep pen on back bar, other than that exactly like you said. Shock enchant on the spinner staff has an 84% proc chance to apply concussion each four seconds. Concussion turns flame lash into power lash which has a great self-healing added to it and is free to cast.

You'll basically set everything off-balance as soon as you touch it because blockade has an increased chance to proc it too.

And 40% more damage on heavy attacks against off-balance enemies and permanent stunning through flame lash and last ticks of heavies. It stuns everything except bosses, even ogrims and other things.

You have to bar swap a lot but I don't think that will be an issue for you

@Masel92

I play so much sorc that I bar swap every 8 seconds for blockade, even when I am offline. Haha

Wrecking_Blow_Spam

jakeedmundson wrote: »

It's definitely a little harder than the mag sorc. but absolutely do-able.

Maybe not even harder... it just depends on your comfort level with the rotations and healing.
sorc has the HUGE benefit of surge... auto healing and when you need it... the class shield (ward) for that "oh $4i7" button.

I switched to a heavy attack build for my DK vma runs...

Build basically how you want to... but there a few must haves.

Lightning staff on at least 1 bar.
dampen or harness magicka on at least 1 bar.
Dragons blood heal
burning embers
Entropy (degeneration morph)

You can get through the WHOLE place just doing this...
drop elemental blockade
degeneration on an add or two
burning embers on an add or two
heavy attack until things are dead
use your ward/shield as needed.

Just slowly worked my way through yesterday and ended up with 430k score (1.5 hours)
i'm sure i could get it faster.. but really no point when a completion means a leaderboard reward either way.

The whole point of heavy attack build is to use molten armaments 40% heavy damage over entropy.

Ep1kMalware

D0ntevenL1ft wrote: »

So I've ran VMA on my sorc about 5 times now and I'm wondering how much more difficult it would be if i attempted on my DK. I want to try because the leader boards don't ever fill up for DKS on PS4 so if i beat it its basically a free second weapon, but I'm wondering if its worth the headache doing it on a harder class? MagDK BTW not crazy enough for stam

Tried it on magdk, will never do again. I'll stick with doing it on stam storc or stamtamp.

HatchetHaro

Here are my tips for stam DK vMA'ing just for the forum peeps that are browsing. Stam DKs are much better than mag DKs in vMA. Don't mind me if you're going mag.

Go ahead and re-morph your Rapid Strikes to Bloodthirst.
It is insanely useful health sustain, and the damage loss is minimal.

I don't recommend Blood Craze over Rending Slashes; the heal from Blood Craze is pretty much negligible.

Resolving Vigor is your friend; put it on your main bar.

Dragon Fire Scale is amazing, especially for round 5 and round 9 (stop hitting yourself!).

Green Dragon Blood provides you with a great emergency heal as well as stam recovery.

Igneous Weapons buff you up, but the Helping Hands stam-return passive is the main thing you want here. If you chug weapon power pots, you can replace this with Igneous Shields for that sweet survivability.

Gear:
At least 3pc VO for the slayer passive, 5pc if possible; that stam cost reduction and extra movement speed is great.

5pc TFS/NMG; TFS outdamages NMG by a tiny percentage, but a benefit to NMG is you don't have to step foot in the (literal) toxic crapfest that is Sanctum Ophidia to acquire.

If you have sharp VO/TFS/NMG weapons, use them. This way, you can free up your head and shoulder pieces for a monster set: Kra'gh's, Velidreth, and Engine Guardian are all viable sets here. If not, go for 5pc VO + 5pc TFS/NMG because those bonuses are so good.

vMA DW weps really don't matter when actually doing vMA; things die way too quickly for the Flurry procs to actually be useful. Instead, invest in VO, NMG, or TFS dual sharp daggers/swords, depending on your builds. If you're already running 5pc TFS/NMG and 5pc VO on your body and jewellery, go ahead and use your vMA weps as long as they're sharpened. Do run a vMA bow, though; Endless Hail is the strongest DoT you have with the vMA bow.

Wrecking_Blow_Spam

HatchetHaro wrote: »

Here are my tips for stam DK vMA'ing just for the forum peeps that are browsing. Stam DKs are much better than mag DKs in vMA. Don't mind me if you're going mag.

Go ahead and re-morph your Rapid Strikes to Bloodthirst.
It is insanely useful health sustain, and the damage loss is minimal.

I don't recommend Blood Craze over Rending Slashes; the heal from Blood Craze is pretty much negligible.

Resolving Vigor is your friend; put it on your main bar.

Dragon Fire Scale is amazing, especially for round 5 and round 9 (stop hitting yourself!).

Green Dragon Blood provides you with a great emergency heal as well as stam recovery.

Igneous Weapons buff you up, but the Helping Hands stam-return passive is the main thing you want here. If you chug weapon power pots, you can replace this with Igneous Shields for that sweet survivability.

Gear:
At least 3pc VO for the slayer passive, 5pc if possible; that stam cost reduction and extra movement speed is great.

5pc TFS/NMG; TFS outdamages NMG by a tiny percentage, but a benefit to NMG is you don't have to step foot in the (literal) toxic crapfest that is Sanctum Ophidia to acquire.

If you have sharp VO/TFS/NMG weapons, use them. This way, you can free up your head and shoulder pieces for a monster set: Kra'gh's, Velidreth, and Engine Guardian are all viable sets here. If not, go for 5pc VO + 5pc TFS/NMG because those bonuses are so good.

vMA DW weps really don't matter when actually doing vMA; things die way too quickly for the Flurry procs to actually be useful. Instead, invest in VO, NMG, or TFS dual sharp daggers/swords, depending on your builds. If you're already running 5pc TFS/NMG and 5pc VO on your body and jewellery, go ahead and use your vMA weps as long as they're sharpened. Do run a vMA bow, though; Endless Hail is the strongest DoT you have with the vMA bow.

Good advise except the part I bolded.

The damage of the initial hit difference is less than 1% of your overall DPS compared to the healing morph.

The healing morph can crit for over 2k, nice heal over time.

The heal is far better imo than the very minuscule damage gain.

jakeedmundson

Wrecking_Blow_Spam wrote: »

jakeedmundson wrote: »

It's definitely a little harder than the mag sorc. but absolutely do-able.

Maybe not even harder... it just depends on your comfort level with the rotations and healing.
sorc has the HUGE benefit of surge... auto healing and when you need it... the class shield (ward) for that "oh $4i7" button.

I switched to a heavy attack build for my DK vma runs...

Build basically how you want to... but there a few must haves.

Lightning staff on at least 1 bar.
dampen or harness magicka on at least 1 bar.
Dragons blood heal
burning embers
Entropy (degeneration morph)

You can get through the WHOLE place just doing this...
drop elemental blockade
degeneration on an add or two
burning embers on an add or two
heavy attack until things are dead
use your ward/shield as needed.

Just slowly worked my way through yesterday and ended up with 430k score (1.5 hours)
i'm sure i could get it faster.. but really no point when a completion means a leaderboard reward either way.

The whole point of heavy attack build is to use molten armaments 40% heavy damage over entropy.

Sorry i forgot to mention using molten armaments.... i use entropy (degeneration) for a small dot with some passive healing (since you'll be heavy attacking most of the time anyway) I mostly use it on the bosses.

HatchetHaro

Wrecking_Blow_Spam wrote: »

HatchetHaro wrote: »

Here are my tips for stam DK vMA'ing just for the forum peeps that are browsing. Stam DKs are much better than mag DKs in vMA. Don't mind me if you're going mag.

Go ahead and re-morph your Rapid Strikes to Bloodthirst.
It is insanely useful health sustain, and the damage loss is minimal.

I don't recommend Blood Craze over Rending Slashes; the heal from Blood Craze is pretty much negligible.

Resolving Vigor is your friend; put it on your main bar.

Dragon Fire Scale is amazing, especially for round 5 and round 9 (stop hitting yourself!).

Green Dragon Blood provides you with a great emergency heal as well as stam recovery.

Igneous Weapons buff you up, but the Helping Hands stam-return passive is the main thing you want here. If you chug weapon power pots, you can replace this with Igneous Shields for that sweet survivability.

Gear:
At least 3pc VO for the slayer passive, 5pc if possible; that stam cost reduction and extra movement speed is great.

5pc TFS/NMG; TFS outdamages NMG by a tiny percentage, but a benefit to NMG is you don't have to step foot in the (literal) toxic crapfest that is Sanctum Ophidia to acquire.

If you have sharp VO/TFS/NMG weapons, use them. This way, you can free up your head and shoulder pieces for a monster set: Kra'gh's, Velidreth, and Engine Guardian are all viable sets here. If not, go for 5pc VO + 5pc TFS/NMG because those bonuses are so good.

vMA DW weps really don't matter when actually doing vMA; things die way too quickly for the Flurry procs to actually be useful. Instead, invest in VO, NMG, or TFS dual sharp daggers/swords, depending on your builds. If you're already running 5pc TFS/NMG and 5pc VO on your body and jewellery, go ahead and use your vMA weps as long as they're sharpened. Do run a vMA bow, though; Endless Hail is the strongest DoT you have with the vMA bow.

Good advise except the part I bolded.

The damage of the initial hit difference is less than 1% of your overall DPS compared to the healing morph.

The healing morph can crit for over 2k, nice heal over time.

The heal is far better imo than the very minuscule damage gain.

Actually, a 2k heal every two seconds really isn't that much. Vigor and Bloodthirst provide enough heals already.

It can be a respectable heal-over-time, but in vMA it really doesn't matter much since things die way too quickly for it to actually take effect. It can be useful, but that heal is still pretty low compared to the other stuff you can use.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Masel92 wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Masel92 wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

jakeedmundson wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Valera Progib wrote: »

With my magdk I did vma 5 times and have easy >500k score with heavy attack build. It is much easier than on magsorc...

Just blockade -> heavy attack -> new blockade on cd -> heavy attack. Sometimes add eruption, ult on mini bosses and bosses...

That's interesting. I have done heavy attack builds on mSorc and mDK. I have run both classes in more traditional builds many many times. I found the sorc heavy attack build to be a complete game changer. It was not only easier, but it was faster. The single target was nuts and the trash just melts.

I found the DK version to just be frustrating and slower than what I was use to. It might have fallen into the "easier" category as you didnt have to push as many buttons, but I could never get the single target DPS i was used to in order to skip boss mechanics. I did see that @Masel92 posted an updated version of the build with different gear and flame lash. I definitely want to give that a try.

I tried that flame lash build... either i wasn't doing something right... or lash hardly ever procs.

Maybe i missed something there.. i even tried it out on the test dummy and it only proc'd a few times.

Interesting. I know he uses some unusual weapon traits, wonder if that has something to do with it. I dont think I have a charged Moondancer staff, haha.

It's just so hard for me to care too much at this point. There really isnt much in there I need, but wouldnt mind a little easier way to get on the weeklies. Having a 550k+ flawless run on your sorc not stick on the weekly is rather frustrating...

You only need a charged spinner staff, 5 PC Spinner is a replacement for sharpened. What you get with 75 in thaumaturge is 18% flat damage increase through concussion and exploiters and a crazy hard hitting free spammable flame lash

@Masel92

You are one of the few people on the forums that could talk me into buying a charged staff and making it gold on a whim. Haha

So basically, You would go: Moondancer Jewelry and one armor piece, Spinner armor times 4 and a charged lighting staff, 2 Ilambris, back bar VMA lighting? I have a Sharp, precise, and Charged VMA light staff. Any thoughts on which?

Does the charged enchant make flame lash proc more?

Sharp lightning to keep pen on back bar, other than that exactly like you said. Shock enchant on the spinner staff has an 84% proc chance to apply concussion each four seconds. Concussion turns flame lash into power lash which has a great self-healing added to it and is free to cast.

You'll basically set everything off-balance as soon as you touch it because blockade has an increased chance to proc it too.

And 40% more damage on heavy attacks against off-balance enemies and permanent stunning through flame lash and last ticks of heavies. It stuns everything except bosses, even ogrims and other things.

You have to bar swap a lot but I don't think that will be an issue for you

@Masel92

So I bought a charged Spinner lighting staff and made it gold, just for you. I only had time to do the first 3 rounds last night, but I like this version a LOT better. Basically, I use the first 2 stages as a test. If I can't get the first boss before he ports a second time, I dont have enough single target for my taste. If I struggle with regen on the 2nd stage bosses, I also know I will have problems. Neither was an issue at all. Will do a full run or 2 later this week.

The rotation is a little trickier than the sorc version, but I think I got it figured out. The one change I might try is putting CDB in place of IL on the back bar. You dont really need IL there, and an oh crap heal would be nice.