For vMA - Not Much DPS/Sustain Difference Between Magicka Sets?

bhagwad

I've finally decided to give vMA a run, and started my research. I've checked out Alcast's site which gives ideas for beginner vMA builds, and they all have the following:

1. Seducer's
2. Julianos
3. Willpower

Since I've been doing a lot of veteran dungeons lately, I've also collected a bunch of otherpurple magicka/dps sets like:

1. Burning Spellweave
2. Scathing Mage
3. Amber Plasm
4. Wormcut
5. Lich
6. Overwhelming Surge

etc etc.

I thought I might be able to replace either Julianos or Seducer's with one of the above sets to get better damage, since I assume that these sets from Alcast are geared towards beginners without access to vet dungeon purple gear. The only armor sets I don't have are trial sets (I only use the dungeon finder, and can't run trials).

What I found in my research was that there doesn't seem to be a consensus of some DPS sets being way better than others. Julianos and Seducer's are both easy to craft, and no one seems to be saying "If you can manage it, replace Seducer's with X, for much better DPS/sustain". Same with Julianos.

So is this analysis correct? That there's no clear winner for DPS/magicka builds and that easy to craft sets like Julianos are pretty much as good as harder to farm sets like Amber Plasm? Should I just slap on whatever combination of these sets I can find instead of thinking too much about what is the "best" DPS set?

getemshauna

Earlier you will learn to beat vma as full glass cannon, better for you, imho.

Dubhliam

Yes, pretty much all sets are viable.
Some are better than others, but vMA can be beaten in a plethora of different sets, if you know your way around ESO and how the mechanics work.

My 2 cents:
Go with a tanky and sustained build. 12k single target DPS is enough to beat the arena.
You will do far better with your first clears if you survive long enough to actually learn the mechanics of the Arena, and hone your situational awareness.
Use Sigils!

Once you get familiar with the arena, then you can swap into something more damage oriented for faster clears.

Reorx_Holybeard

Ingoring trials sets Julianos is a very good DPS set. The difference between it and other sets is only a few % in ideal situations and BiS sets are generally only for specific builds and combat situations anyways.

Similarly, Seducer is a very good sustain set that is going to be hard to beat. I think the other sustain sets you list (Amberplasm, Lich, Worm) would be comparable. I'm not sure which set, it any, would win the BiS sustain battle.

Ultimately, vMA depends more on the skill and experience of the player than the exact build details. Certain builds will definitely help you in one way or another but not by huge margins.