Today is the day I finally stopped raging about vMA

Asardes

I completed the arena for the first time about 2 weeks ago, right before HotR dropped. The first few runs were brutal, I died a lot, but learned a lot in the process. I first tried on my stamina DK and reached the boss, but couldn't beat him because I simply lacked the DPS. Then I swapped to sorcerer and finally I was able to beat the boss after a few hours of trying non stop, failing every mechanic, being knocked down from the circle right into the daedroth etc. The runs have been getting much more smoother. The scores improved, and yesterday I was just a hair under 500K. Today I was close to Flawless but I failed in the execute phase at the boss, mistargetting my ultimate on one of the trash mobs close to him. And you know what? I'm actually happy I failed, because it would have ruined all fun way too early and made me self-complacent when there was still so much to learn. I know all the moves now and I can replicate my run with some degree of certainty, but frankly, running the same class over and over again just becomes boring. In the mean time I've already gotten more of a dozen weapons of almost all types in decent traits, and farming is no longer a priority so I've decided to retire the magicka sorcerer for now and move to a new class. So I brought my stamina NB, and got slaughtered, I couldn't beat the boss in the ice rink within an hour of starting the trial, so I've decided to call it a day and simply continue tomorrow. And in the process I didn't even feel any rage, I just failed and went on

But during my struggles I've learned a few important things, and I've done some changes to the way I play the game:

First, when I set foot there, I understood that learning well will take a lot of time, so I suspended all my other activities, except the essentials like doing the daily writs and feeding the horses. But I don't do trials, dungeons, I don't PvP and I don't do quests anymore, and that will last at least 2 months because changing role to DD and learning each class is more important than simply rerunning mostly the same content over and over - vHRC is not fun the 45th time. So the lesson I learned is that when you do something hard, it's better to just concentrate on that to make it happen and pretend that other things don't exist anymore, game-wise, especially if they have become boring.

Second, I had other sources of frustration in game, namely inventory management. One day, after a particularly bad run - was the 3rd in that day - I decided to simply close the game, I went on the web and got rid of that source of frustration by subbing for 6 months and being able to reorganize my inventory. I played for almost 2 years without subscription, but the game didn't get so tense before but never to the point I pondered quitting for good, multiple times per day. If I knew how much time and nerves it would spare me, I would have done it earlier, and also saved the pondering. So the 2nd lesson is actually to free yourself from tension, even if it costs IRL money.

Third, and most importantly, I cemented my determination of not quitting for good, but simply learning when to call it a day. I did that on multiple occasions, after I burned myself for 12-14h playing on end, then nagging my in game friends with questions about mechanics, or otherwise venting my anger in other ways. That's why if things don't turn out well, I simply close the game after 1-2 hours. After doing the same thing over and over again concentration does tend to fall off quite abruptly, and you won't really be able to bring any noticeable improvement. On the contrary, the attempts just get worse. I'll apply the same rule to any other end game content I'll progress from now on - I still have vMoL and vHoF to finish, as well as the 2 new dungeons I haven't been able to try, but I don't expect much of a challenge there as I've heard they are easier than the Hist ones.

Fourth - diversify. I would have struggled a lot more if I didn't already have another character trained and geared up to take over when I failed with my first. So if you fail at some content with a character, and you really can't find a way around it, simply switch to the next one and try again. Then switch to another when you feel confident about the mechanics and other stuff. This way you will get to experience the content from multiple points of view, don't get bored by it to the same degree and really get to enjoy the diversity this game has to offer. Not only that, but you will understand how other players play their characters, which is quite important both in group PvE and PvP.

So vMA did make me a better player, even in ways I didn't really expect.

M1SH3LL3

Thanks for sharing your vMA experience. I'm about to start attempting it myself so I'm making a point of reading others' experiences. I've leveled up two characters specifically for the purpose (magDK & Stamsorc), just for a little variety and also curiosity in how they'll handle different situations.

Honestly, after reading many players' accounts of vMA I'm struggling not to be dissuaded! I'm quite persistent and not prone to rage so I've got that going for me lol

Vapirko

@M1SH3LL3 go in with stam sorc. Those are my two vma toons as well. Stam DK is doable for sure but crit surge and hurricane just make it so much more forgiving. Just got my first clear finally the other day and have since breezed through it a few more times. Takes meabout 1.5 hours now. Kind of addicted to it now tbh. As many have said it's really just about learning the levels after that it becomes relatively easy.

Asardes

I've been steadily improving on my magicka sorcerer. My next goals are catching the leaderboards - the cutoff point is ~520K - and upping the clears from 12-14 to 20+ a week. My best score thus far has been 508K but the average is around 490K. I still need to optimize a lot. Further goals are 550K average score and under 50 minutes run times. I estimate it will take me about a month to reach that point. In the mean time I've completely stopped running any other content to focus exclusively on vMA and left 2 out of my 5 guilds with the 3rd to be vacated next week after the sales clear.

dpencil1

Congrats! I really enjoyed working toward my first No-Death run with about a 550k score. Been a while since I've been there since then, mainly becausrby the time I reached that goal I had basically all the weapons I wanted. Keep it up! (In moderation, of course )

cpuScientist

When you feel more comfortable, go in with stamblade. I've found that arena the funnest on stamBlade. You get sooo much burst, just a little squishy.

Asardes

I will go with another char actually since for some reason I've had a couple of really bad runs on my sorc. I mean really horrible with 10-20 deaths in places where I didn't expect. After almost flawless ones. My gameplay degrades abruptly if I start the run after 11 pm or so even if I don't feel tired and I'm usually a night owl. Mistakes just cascade from one to another. I guess it's more sensitive to my state of mind than other content. But probably the bad runs are also a sign I need to change characters.

The first char I tried with was my Stam DK in his PvP gear (5 Hunding 5 Bone Pirate 1 Kena 1/5/1 2H/Bow). It wasn't that bad once I started figuring out the mechanics but I simply didn't have enough DPS to bust the boss. The last time I tried with my NB I reached the Ice Rink but i was getting too much damage and died too much. It was getting late so I just left the quest there. I will try to play more aggressively with the adds and not block as much but stay on the offensive permanently to finish them off faster. I can always continue from there.

I don't plan on spending more than one hour at a time progressing since it may turn out to be time wasted. I just switch char and start where I left on that one. I have all the time in the world since I don't plan on running other content for months.

Asardes

Completed it today on my sorc twice. Again, pretty bad runs. Probably boredom is sinking in. But at the end of the day I decided to give it a go on my stamina DK again, in different gear. I bought 5 pieces of Briarheart for about 5K gold in total, combined those with VO jewels, shoulder and a greatsword, a Slimercraw helmet and Maelstrom bow on the back bar. It took me a little over 2h, about the same as my sorc on the first completion. I chose 2H for a number of reasons. First I don't want to waste weapon power pots while learning so I needed the major brutality from rally (I have ingenous wespons morph); it also gives a nice bust heal I can use in a pinch. Second for the mitigation from Brawler in some situations. Third Reverse Slice that can down multiple enemies fast, which is really nice to have because DK doesn't have an execute. Fourth the battle rush passive that boosts your recovery after each kill. As I get used to playing stamina I will probably switch to 2W and fully use Slimercraw.

Asardes

I did it with MagPlar today. Jesus tapdancing Christ I thought it would be easy but it was a nightmare. Sustain and damage are utter crap. By far the worst class to do it. I had 1.8K recovery and plenty of cost reduction (Breton, 5 light), applied magicka steal from radiant aura and weaved in between but still my magicka ran out in an instant. I struggled for 3.5h to finish, with a shameful 96K score. #35 on the leaderboard so it's clearly not just me.

SoLooney

it isnt really fun but that flawless title, idc how many people have it and how easy it is on sorc char, thats my goal. have it on mag sorc and now trying to get it on my stam sorc. lots of 13 and 14 lives out of 15 but ill get it eventually

tommalmm

The funny thing about vMA is that it's hard only the first time. Most people need ~4 hours for the first clear (I needed 4 days, ~12hours in total, but that was about a year ago, when I was ~200cp stamblade). The next time it's usually around 1 hour per clear until people get more familiar with it, think of better strategies and remember all the spawn points. Most people I know can do it casually just after 2-3 clears. The only thing they rage about is the RNG. I've completed it like a hundred times and I'm still to get ANY bow. Got a lot of 2h (I rarely play PVP), 1h and few staves, though, go figure... On the other hand, once I finally get all the gear I need, I'll probably quit once again (like the last time, when I got my staves and decided that's all I need). It's not challenging (save for the first time), it's not fun. Just "train you muscle memory and repeat" thing.

Asardes

I just completed mag Templar and stam NB over the week-end. Really different play styles from my Mag Sorc and Stam DK which I now do regularly. I have no wardens at 50 yet but I plan on leveling a stam one soon to bring it in. Out of 62 clears and a leaderboard reward I've gotten most weapons with good traits. I've noticed that the drops do tend to cluster depending on character if you do a lot of consecutive clears on the same. Probably the RNG seed is character based to some degree. That's one of the reasons I went in on 4 different ones. Also as DK and Templar it's easy to get a leaderboard score so it's like having two extra runs per week. My sorc is just 10-15K short so maybe a 3rd soon. In the long run I want to reduce the number of weekly runs since it has diminishing returns. I plan to run it for another month exclusively until I get decent scores on all then taper off to 4-5 per week; I did 21 this week.

Danksta

Asardes wrote: »

I did it with MagPlar today. Jesus tapdancing Christ I thought it would be easy but it was a nightmare. Sustain and damage are utter crap. By far the worst class to do it. I had 1.8K recovery and plenty of cost reduction (Breton, 5 light), applied magicka steal from radiant aura and weaved in between but still my magicka ran out in an instant. I struggled for 3.5h to finish, with a shameful 96K score. #35 on the leaderboard so it's clearly not just me.

I tried Radiant Aura a couple times but I much prefer ele drain. Also Channeled Focus is huge for sustain, it costs under 1k magicka and essentially gives you 480 magicka recovery, so it's worth casting even if you can't stand in it. Only part I have trouble with sustain for my magplar is the second stage boss, mostly because I have a hard time bursting them down then they start playing duck duck goose.

Asardes

Danksta wrote: »

Asardes wrote: »

I did it with MagPlar today. Jesus tapdancing Christ I thought it would be easy but it was a nightmare. Sustain and damage are utter crap. By far the worst class to do it. I had 1.8K recovery and plenty of cost reduction (Breton, 5 light), applied magicka steal from radiant aura and weaved in between but still my magicka ran out in an instant. I struggled for 3.5h to finish, with a shameful 96K score. #35 on the leaderboard so it's clearly not just me.

I tried Radiant Aura a couple times but I much prefer ele drain. Also Channeled Focus is huge for sustain, it costs under 1k magicka and essentially gives you 480 magicka recovery, so it's worth casting even if you can't stand in it. Only part I have trouble with sustain for my magplar is the second stage boss, mostly because I have a hard time bursting them down then they start playing duck duck goose.

I solved the issue moving from 2W to lightning staff on front bar and weaving with that. I can sustain just fine now. Unfortunately channeled focus is not much of an option, as you need to move a lot in every stage. Radiant Aura on front bar is quite good since it also boosts your recovery for slotting it. but for target which are worth it elemental drain performs better since it also strips 5.3K resistance. I already have plenty of penetration on front bar since I retained one of my older Julianos staves in Sharpened and have about 30 CP in spell erosion. Most of the gear I use has been re-purposed - it's mostly my PvP gear but with some pieces added from other parts. I've managed about 400K score last time and I can probably do better. I'll try again today to see how it works. In the mean time I've also managed to beat it on my Stam NB, which was the last of my vet chars. I will alternate between the two this week to learn their play styles better. Whatever classes I'll level next they will probably be close to some I have already done.

Danksta

Asardes wrote: »

Danksta wrote: »

Asardes wrote: »

I did it with MagPlar today. Jesus tapdancing Christ I thought it would be easy but it was a nightmare. Sustain and damage are utter crap. By far the worst class to do it. I had 1.8K recovery and plenty of cost reduction (Breton, 5 light), applied magicka steal from radiant aura and weaved in between but still my magicka ran out in an instant. I struggled for 3.5h to finish, with a shameful 96K score. #35 on the leaderboard so it's clearly not just me.

I tried Radiant Aura a couple times but I much prefer ele drain. Also Channeled Focus is huge for sustain, it costs under 1k magicka and essentially gives you 480 magicka recovery, so it's worth casting even if you can't stand in it. Only part I have trouble with sustain for my magplar is the second stage boss, mostly because I have a hard time bursting them down then they start playing duck duck goose.

I solved the issue moving from 2W to lightning staff on front bar and weaving with that. I can sustain just fine now. Unfortunately channeled focus is not much of an option, as you need to move a lot in every stage. Radiant Aura on front bar is quite good since it also boosts your recovery for slotting it. but for target which are worth it elemental drain performs better since it also strips 5.3K resistance. I already have plenty of penetration on front bar since I retained one of my older Julianos staves in Sharpened and have about 30 CP in spell erosion. Most of the gear I use has been re-purposed - it's mostly my PvP gear but with some pieces added from other parts. I've managed about 400K score last time and I can probably do better. I'll try again today to see how it works. In the mean time I've also managed to beat it on my Stam NB, which was the last of my vet chars. I will alternate between the two this week to learn their play styles better. Whatever classes I'll level next they will probably be close to some I have already done.

Casting Channeled Focus on the run gives you a net gain of about 1k magicka, but if you can place it strategically you can refresh that 8 seconds of major resistance buffs and magicka return by walking through it. For example, I'll start a round about half way between two portals cast my channeled focus then get into position to prep portals with DoTs. Then when I run back to the other portal I run through the rune to reactivate my buffs. I recommend you try it out but maybe when you get more comfortable on your magplar in there. Even if you aren't having issues sustaining you could drop some regen to get back some more power. Just something to think about.

Asardes

Well now I'm running with about 1.4K magicka recovery, 39K magicka and 3.1K spell damage. I don't have issues killing stuff, but killing them in a sustainable way. I don't know if I'll find the patience to run it on week days since time is pretty limited. I tried yesterday, first 3 arenas were pretty slow so I abandoned and went on my sorc instead: 14/15 55m with 518K score which was my best run so far. I've noticed that leaving one class, doing it with others then coming back leads to more improvement than simply running the same class over and over. I still have no will to play my stam NB again after a horrible first run. I barely finished on that after 3.5h and a lot of frustration because the tactic is a lot different than the other classes. So probably sticking to Sorc and DK for the next few days then run Templar and NB in the week-end. Hopefully the sorc will catch the leaderboards too.

ethanthefox

If I can give you a tip for your stamina nb...Slot soul harvest front bar for the ultimate generation and you just uses bow ultimate. The first run I did with this method...omg loved it and never looked back haha. Imo its the most pleasing class to run it, so bursty.

Asardes

ethanthefox wrote: »

If I can give you a tip for your stamina nb...Slot soul harvest front bar for the ultimate generation and you just uses bow ultimate. The first run I did with this method...omg loved it and never looked back haha. Imo its the most pleasing class to run it, so bursty.

Dealing damage or generating ult is not a problem for me. Dying very easily is. On other classes I have various kinds of mitigation, namely shields, that allow me to survive without bursting everything at once. For example on my NB I died countless times on Voriak at the start because I was used to let the crematorial guard spawn and burn it together with the healer and boss. I tried that but the incoming damage was simply too much, even with deadly cloak on and casting Rend over the whole bunch: Lich crystal, hits from both boss and add, and a flare from healer in a short time were putting me down instantly. How I managed to do it in the end is that I started bursting the boss right at the start to send him right up, using Ballista and a very fast rotation with LA weave on front bar. I only had to kill the healer, then the specter clannfear over the portal, go up, burst one of the crystals, DoT the 2nd, deploy ballista again on it to burst fast, then go behind the wall during the explosion, burst the 3rd and go down. The hardest pats were bursting right at the start and bursting the crystals upstairs since the soul churn DoT became too strong very fast, I was barely able to hold it at bay by having Vigor tick constantly, leeching strikes and even using killer blade on crystals. Probably because the spell resistance was low compared to other builds and I had no shield. On other classes I could survive mistakes there, for example being blown down, but not on NB. It requires much better coordination.

In any case I have decided that running the arena has diminishing returns at this point, since I have most of the weapons in the right traits, and subsequently decided to reduce the time allotted to it to 4-5 runs per week, down from 15-20/week for the last month. I will basically just do 1-2 runs per char in the week end. So the next time I'll run it with the NB is probably on Sunday. I will try to refine the tactics in order to reduce the number of deaths and bring a decent score. The Leaderboard cutoff is 450K but there's no chance I'll get there soon but 2/4 characters suffice.