VMA - am I doing something wrong?

eriklindham

Im a 300 cp pet magsorc who has decided to start VMA. I have prepared myself as good as I can, here's my setup:

5 necro
2 Ilambris (1div and 1 random)
4 Mothers Sorrow (1 destro staff sharpened)
1 random destro staff sharpened)

All enchants etc are pretty much what they are supposed to be. All gear is gold save for jewelry.

I haven't got all passive yet. Only rank 6 with Undaunted and 3 with Mages guild.

My hp is around 16.5, and sp around 2100

Skills I use bar one are volatile familiar, twilight mat, empowered ward, wall of ele and liquid lightning. Ult lightning storm

Second bar are the two pets incl surge, bolt esc and the spam dd from destro staff (forgot name). Ult storm atro

I'm completely stuck at the boss on stage 3. When the adds spawn I'm dead, i get wrecked after 2 seconds. I've tried being mobile but it doesn't really work.

What is your recommendation? Keep trying or wait until I have more cp/passives? I should probably change my jewelry for willpower?

Sigtric

The biggest thing with VMA is learning how the mechanics work. Normal MA does almost nothing to prepare you for vet because things you can survive and laugh at in Normal will clean the floor with you on vet.

You WILL die a TON. This is the first thing you need to learn.
Second is, you need to look at each death and figure out why you died. Then what you need to do to not die to that the next time.

Much of it comes down to knowing where things spawn and which things to kill first.

My sorc clears were on stamsorc, never tried mag so I don't know the differences there, but I am guessing you might look at using your negate ultimate to help through situations like this.

Avran_Sylt

One suggestion that I would give you: first run, don't worry about total dps.

as the post above me said, learning the mechanics is necessary. So debilitating skills are going to be a godsend as you learn each arena.

Take Rune Prison, normally that would be a skill considered useless, but, being able to lock down an enemy from range while you pick off the other guys means you're taking lower damage. I'd suggest using it on the ranged adds that spawn while you take care of the other adds.

Once you get to know the spawns of the adds, use skills like daedric mines to set up initial burst when the adds spawn so they die before they even get the chance to attack you.

If you're in a tight spot, remember:
You can pick up those power-ups for a fantastic bonus.

The Shield reflects all projectiles sent at you while active and greatly reduces incoming damage
The Chalice grants you incredible HP regen per second
The Sword increases your damage immensely.
The Feather grants you a speed bonus and an immunity to snares and stuns (great for round 3 where those chokethorns spawn and slow you)

Each of these re-spawns each round so make use of them heavily as you learn the arena.

Waffennacht

Run only familiar, rely on power surge and ward for survivability only - for now

Drop Boundless it's costing you.

Imo Infernal Guardian is great for vMA, allows you to be defensive and still deal lots of AoE damage.

VMA is all about knowledge and dps, you'll get there!

Joy_Division

You are going to wipe repeatedly on every round until you get accustomed to the mechanics.

You must use optimal skills because of the Morrowind nerfs. Streak is a "fun" skill. Replace this with elemental drain and use on any elite mob.

You can't kite ranged adds; just got to kill them (alternatively use the Defensive sigil when they spawn).

Oreyn_Bearclaw

I would simplify your build a bit. The gear is fine, but I would 100% front bar a lighting staff on a sorc. It is so strong in there.

There is nothing wrong with double pets in there, but the twilight matriarch is not needed. If you do run it, only cast it when you need a burst heal. As for the familiar, try to keep the DOT active the whole time. I think the easiest build (not the fastest) to complete VMA on a mSorc looks like this:

Lighting Bar: 2 Pets, Shield, Inner light, Elemental Blockade, Meteor.
Fire Bar: 2 Pets, Shield, Power surge, Liquid Lighting, Elemental Rage.

Your first priority is to NEVER let surge expire. Your second priority is to keep your shield up. I treat it almost like my health bar in there. You can replace the twilight matriarch for Bound Aegis (edit) if you think you can get away without your emergency heal. I realize you dont have meteor yet, but it will help your damage and the size of the shield. This build puts a shield on both bars so you always have it in the same skill spot.

I like this build because of its simplicity. You have 3 AOE Dots to put on portals, and then you can do full heavy attacks with your lighting staff, which is both crazy AOE damage and restores resources.

On round 3 in particular, I like to camp one of the islands. Every time portals spawn, put down LL, Blockade, and cast your Familiar on the island you are on. Then start attacking one of the two other adds, as the one closest to you will drop on its own. With a little practice, you can essentially spawn kill two of the three. Each stage has a mini boss, so drop your destro ult on them when the spawn, and try to stack things as best you can. The other min-mechanic in there are the stranglers that spawn. They will ruin your day if left up too long, so make them a priority.

Avran_Sylt wrote: »

One suggestion that I would give you: first run, don't worry about total dps.

as the post above me said, learning the mechanics is necessary. So debilitating skills are going to be a godsend as you learn each arena.

Take Rune Prison, normally that would be a skill considered useless, but, being able to lock down an enemy from range while you pick off the other guys means you're taking lower damage. I'd suggest using it on the ranged adds that spawn while you take care of the other adds.

Once you get to know the spawns of the adds, use skills like daedric mines to set up initial burst when the adds spawn so they die before they even get the chance to attack you.

If you're in a tight spot, remember:
You can pick up those power-ups for a fantastic bonus.

The Shield reflects all projectiles sent at you while active and greatly reduces incoming damage
The Chalice grants you incredible HP regen per second
The Sword increases your damage immensely.
The Feather grants you a speed bonus and an immunity to snares and stuns (great for round 3 where those chokethorns spawn and slow you)

Each of these re-spawns each round so make use of them heavily as you learn the arena.

Feather also grants resource regen. It is probably the most underrated sigil in there.

SirAndy

eriklindham wrote: »

My hp is around 16.5, and sp around 2100

Both of those seem low for an all gold CP160 char.

Are you running any food? What traits do you have on your armor? What are your resistance numbers?

Cameron991

Yeah I am in the same situation as you I can't complete it with my Stamblade

the_man_of_steal

Keep stacking your shields especially on stage 3... If ur sheilds go down at the wrong time and u get pulled or cc'ed ur dead. Also get the mages guild leveled up. That extra mag from inner light will make u powerful. Luckily Mag Sorc is the easiest char for VMA so just keep at it!!! even when you die a lot... I died hundreds of times maybe even 1000 on my mag templar in my first run.

DHale

Yes you are missing 330 cp come back then.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

DHale wrote: »

Yes you are missing 330 cp come back then.

That's not the issue. A lot of us were around 300 CP when we started VMA.