vMA

Ajintse

Hi all,

I have completed MA and tried the Vet mode. Well, that did not go as I thought. On the Toxic area they beat me to death. HOW is it that I can solo a world boss, solo a Vet Boss (example: Molag kena, Solo bosses in VR Spindleclutch (EZ), Banished Cells, etc etc etc. All easy. BUT, on vMA a single add hit like a tank. How is this configured? I mean, I think it scales to a VET II.

I do a lot of running and dodging (healing, absorbing 15k damage with Light Ulti) etc etc.

How is this vMA scaled? I am CP 607 and cannot beat it. I am survivable in PvE in General. Trials, dungeons Vet II etc. Cause of death is only happening if I don't pay atention to some elements or mechanics. But vMA? No idea what is happening but I keep dying. Can someone help me to understand?

Thanks.

Turelus

Is it the boss or the normal waves? Also are you using the sigils for buffs?

Are you doing the boss mechanics right in that one? If you're bashing the boss then you're doing it wrong.

You need to kill one add then use the second adds shields whilst he rages, then he expends the rage. If you bash he stays enraged and will wreck you.

Feanor

If you got to stage 7 you'll beat it. Just search for @Joy_Division s Guide here on the forum and you'll have it down pretty quickly.

Here is the link: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/233356/joys-now-updated-morrowind-guide-to-beating-maelstrom-arena

Ajintse

I use the shield sigil and I have trouble even with normal adds. Some bosses are okay but some are really hard.
Thanks for the info! I will follow the guide from Joy Division!

getemshauna

vMA bases on mechanics and skill, not overmin-maxed character. Peace. You need to put step forward and learn this place like ur own pocket.

akl77

Mechanics, that's why. Just watch utube videos, it explains the mechanics.

Malmai

I farmed vMA many times and i can still say some damage from mobs should be tweaked...

FriedEggSandwich

Ajintse wrote: »

I use the shield sigil and I have trouble even with normal adds. Some bosses are okay but some are really hard.
Thanks for the info! I will follow the guide from Joy Division!

The shield sigil is just a reflect, like DKs wings, it doesn't actually reduce damage afaik. vMA requires that you follow mechanics and jump through all the hoops, at the right time. Once you know what to expect and how to beat it it's not that difficult, it just needs some practice. Some of the mechanics are badly designed though and rng can screw you over even if you know what's going on.

LadyLavina

Ajintse wrote: »

Hi all,

I have completed MA and tried the Vet mode. Well, that did not go as I thought. On the Toxic area they beat me to death. HOW is it that I can solo a world boss, solo a Vet Boss (example: Molag kena, Solo bosses in VR Spindleclutch (EZ), Banished Cells, etc etc etc. All easy. BUT, on vMA a single add hit like a tank. How is this configured? I mean, I think it scales to a VET II.

I do a lot of running and dodging (healing, absorbing 15k damage with Light Ulti) etc etc.

How is this vMA scaled? I am CP 607 and cannot beat it. I am survivable in PvE in General. Trials, dungeons Vet II etc. Cause of death is only happening if I don't pay atention to some elements or mechanics. But vMA? No idea what is happening but I keep dying. Can someone help me to understand?

Thanks.

VMA is like playing the lottery , except you're on fire when you leave your residence to buy the ticket and you might die at any moment on the way to get it.

MakoFore

its just mechanics and kill order- vma has a ssytem whereby essentially you need to:

1. stand in exactly the right spot at the right time
2. kill a certain mob in exactly the right order -

in other words mechanics.
the damage that come in is just too much to handle as you would in pve, pvp
.those top players that clear it in like 30 minutes- theyre not doing it due to amazing skills and refelxes- sure they have those- but theyve memorized every single spawn and movement. so they know when the damage is going to come- when to buff, when to heal, when and where to be. there arent many surpises there that cause them to have to react - instead they aniticpate and plan.
theres some randomness in there- sure but most of it is actually in a way- choreagraphed.
breaking it down- each stage has 4/5 rounds. Each round has 3 stages.
each stage has 3 spawns most of the time- at the end of the stage is a mini boss.
with experience you ll set your AOE on the first spawn before they spawn, be moving to the 2nd spawn with ur spammable- adn then turn and kill the third . the basic philosophy everyone takes into vma is kill before they kill u- which is predicated on knowing when and where they ll be. it takes time but with practise you ll get it. but treating it like normal pve or pvp - where you might say- see what they do, block then heal then react to it, and counter - isnt a strategy that works here- cos u ll be hit with 3 daamge sources at once and die way often. if you look at videos of all the top times- its essentially that approach, trap 1-cover with aoe, start on 2, then turn and kill 3. for bosses- its a bit more complicated but those too have systems where if u follow them you l be ok.

tommalmm

Watching videos or reading guides does help, but not as much as you think. It will give you a hint as to what the mechanics are (so you have a chance to at least move forward if you have problems figuring it out on your own, giving you a proven strategy), but you'll still have to learn it the hard way, get used to it, prioritize, not panic, etc.

VMA is not about min maxing or DPS (it helps if you want to skip some mechanics and get better times, but isn't essential for completion). It's about learning the mechanics and getting accustomed to them to the point that you don't feel uncomfortable with them.

What helps the most, is taking your time after every death to analyze both your recap and previous actions, then pointing what has actually killed you. It's never just "adds jumped on me".

Have you left an archer alive too long that he took aim and one-shooted you? Either burst it faster or remember to bash while he channels the skill. Have you died to poison? Make sure to take a glance at the stage and notice where the plants are, then avoid... Or just "disarm them" (at the beginning of a round run to the one or two that are the biggest obstacle for you and just roll dodge out of it once you reach it - but this requires some practice too, otherwise you'll get poisoned). Did you die to a spontaneous poison explosion? You've probably left the venomcaller alive - kill it faster next time. Has the minder stunned you and you were finished off by the boss? Get it to 30-40% health next time during the boss channel to make it easier to kill once you don't need the shield anymore. Have you died to boss's lightning circles (sorry, can't recall the name of that attack)? Roll dodge to the back of the boss before it shoots them out... And so on and so forth.

By analyzing it, you'll figure the mechanics and stages of the fight one by one, and at some point it will become a walk in the park. Just a few clears were enough for me to NOT die in this stage in majority of the clears (unless I screw up big time). VMA is about not making mistakes. Quite often it's mistake = death (unless you're on magicka characters, which are privileged because of the shields, so you can afford minor to medium mistakes IF you know HOW AND WHEN to use the shields).

The other problem is that nMA doesn't prepare you for vMA. As little as 8-10k DPS is enough to skip pretty much EVERY mechanic on normal. To really learn something from nMA, you'd have to get there probably with lv15 NO CP character in non optimal gear (though even that won't probably be an issue for seasoned players).

Joy_Division

vMA is not scaled the same as world bosses.

Most world bosses are scaled such that their big attacks generally do about 80% of of a non-tanks health. Which is why anyone with good resource-management and some self-healing can solo just about all of them. World bosses also don't have deadly environmental hazzards and I don;t know a single one that is a "DPS check" (if you don;t kill it fast enough, you die from some mechanic).

Some bosses in even vet dungeons follow a predictable pattern that makes them relatively easy to solo with good resource management.

VMA requires more than good resource management, it requires good damage because without it you will get overwhelmed by high damaging adds (another difference from open-world PvE: mobs hit 4-5 times harder). You also need to be aware of all the mechanics, so there is also a learning curve.

Inarre

Vma is 100% mechanics. It is crazy. You have to know which mob to kill first, where to stand, where not to stand, when to block, dodge etc every moment, and if you miss one step, DEAD.

Joy divisions guide helped me through, also alcast has a few on youtube that help (sometimes the visuals are a nice supplement) if you keep dying in the same place, chances are you are missing a mechanic.

I literally died 30 times because i thought i had to kill the clanfear in stage 9 fast as possible, when actually i was supposed to kill it next to a portal. Always double check youre not missing a mechanic.

pdebie64b16_ESO

Stage 7 boss in Vma still gives me problems after completed it several times, even if you know the mechanics the rng gives you a hard time like the poison circles what can pop while you under the shield or when under the shield and that poison summoner spawns.

Biggest treats are the archers in the earlier rounds, they can one shot you so you need to kill them asap, high dps helps, the faster you can kill things the lesser the chance you got killed.

SoLooney

just because you can solo some vet dungeons doesnt mean you will faceroll vma, always seeing people completing some big feat like soloing this content or the common I beat all the dark souls games.

vma is independent from all that. mechanics are a big learning curve as well as sustaining resources, self healing, while putting out dps and knowing what enemies are biggest threats.

Ajintse

SoLooney wrote: »

just because you can solo some vet dungeons doesnt mean you will faceroll vma, always seeing people completing some big feat like soloing this content or the common I beat all the dark souls games.

vma is independent from all that. mechanics are a big learning curve as well as sustaining resources, self healing, while putting out dps and knowing what enemies are biggest threats.

I figured that out indeed. But it's too much mechanics. >.< I will look into it and be ready to do vMA. Just with doing it.
Thnx!

RANKK7

This has been the same situation of mine about 150cp ago, went in there quite confident since I was able to solo veteran dungeons and I enjoy solo, I got my [snip] kicked so much at last boss it's unbelievable.
I tried two days with that guy, it's not like I left after a few attempts, I got so pissed I do not enter the place from that time. The experienced players I know in game who finished countless times told me I must stay in there and get my [snip] kicked until I know the place at heart, learn the pattern, spawn points, I will be faster and the runs will be easier and easier.
Well, it takes time other than a patience pool it seems I have depleted last time, it's not fun, I like to enjoy a game not raging for that, not so much at least, those freaking rng ghosts doing 7k up to 11k damage I think that was the crap that really got me pissed above anything else, the ultimate trolling factor, I died from them countless times.
At present the idea to go back in there disgusts me, I've also spent a good amount of gold for repair (they could lower the repair cost in that place imo), I should go back I know and get it finished, all I can suggest you is what it's been suggested to me: keep going there; if you truly have the will and the time of course.

[Edited to remove profanity]

tommalmm

RANKK7 wrote: »

those freaking rng ghosts doing 7k up to 11k damage I think that was the crap that really got me pissed above anything else, the ultimate trolling factor, I died from them countless times.

Ghosts are actually the easiest to avoid part there. They're slow and once you see one, their path is absolutely predictable. They don't pop just anywhere, but at the edges so there is plenty of time to avoid them. Just put your camera far enough and simply pay attention to your surroundings, not just tunnel vision on a boss or whatever you're trying to kill.

Situational awareness is just one of the skills that it MANDATORY in VMA, as pretty much everything wants to kill you and CAN kill you.

But your friends are right. You pretty much have to get your [snip] kicked there a gaziilion of times until you learn that thing. Then it becomes easy all of a sudden.

[Edited to remove profanity]

RANKK7

tommalmm wrote: »

RANKK7 wrote: »

those freaking rng ghosts doing 7k up to 11k damage I think that was the crap that really got me pissed above anything else, the ultimate trolling factor, I died from them countless times.

Ghosts are actually the easiest to avoid part there. They're slow and once you see one, their path is absolutely predictable. They don't pop just anywhere, but at the edges so there is plenty of time to avoid them. Just put your camera far enough and simply pay attention to your surroundings, not just tunnel vision on a boss or whatever you're trying to kill.

Situational awareness is just one of the skills that it MANDATORY in VMA, as pretty much everything wants to kill you and CAN kill you.

But your friends are right. You pretty much have to get your [snip] kicked there a gaziilion of times until you learn that thing. Then it becomes easy all of a sudden.

Thank you for the nice tips, I guess I underestimated, made too little effort to avoid them and should have observed if there was a pattern in their movements, really there is a lot going on in there and their wandering just seemed random to me.
I will take this is mind for the time I'll return in there, I think I will at some point
Thx.

[Edited for quote]

Duvallkiin

I don't know if I have seen anyone say this in thread, but using the sigils in the right order is key for a first clear. So basically do everything they say above and use the sigils. No need to go for Flawless when it's your first clear.

BigBadVolk

Ye for first few clears its totally fine to use sigils, and later on if u want to go for Flawless but u still unsure because this *** is pure rng then its still good to use the sigils

Kneighbors

Ajintse wrote: »

SoLooney wrote: »

just because you can solo some vet dungeons doesnt mean you will faceroll vma, always seeing people completing some big feat like soloing this content or the common I beat all the dark souls games.

vma is independent from all that. mechanics are a big learning curve as well as sustaining resources, self healing, while putting out dps and knowing what enemies are biggest threats.

I figured that out indeed. But it's too much mechanics. >.< I will look into it and be ready to do vMA. Just with doing it.
Thnx!

After you pass it to final boss you will realize everything before was very easy :-D Stay strong

Lukums1

If u need help let me know I can help you one on one to get this done for you

Helped hundreds of people also watch my guides it explains a hell of a lot my offer stands let me know if you need me.

Luke

RANKK7

tommalmm wrote: »

RANKK7 wrote: »

those freaking rng ghosts doing 7k up to 11k damage I think that was the crap that really got me pissed above anything else, the ultimate trolling factor, I died from them countless times.

Ghosts are actually the easiest to avoid part there. They're slow and once you see one, their path is absolutely predictable. They don't pop just anywhere, but at the edges so there is plenty of time to avoid them. Just put your camera far enough and simply pay attention to your surroundings, not just tunnel vision on a boss or whatever you're trying to kill.

Situational awareness is just one of the skills that it MANDATORY in VMA, as pretty much everything wants to kill you and CAN kill you.

But your friends are right. You pretty much have to get your [snip] kicked there a gaziilion of times until you learn that thing. Then it becomes easy all of a sudden.

Yes, just want to let you know I went back to that place and finished recently, you and the friends telling me to stay in there and get rekt many times were right and the situational awareness is key as you wrote, very true; now I'm re-running for farming, though I still do not approve the rng trolling ghosts it seemed every time I missed to block or dodge a skull they were right behind me for screwing me up for good.
As you also said though, it's now way easier all around and progressively is becoming even pleasant to run, I wouldn't have imagined that.


[Edited for quote]

BNOC

I know everyone has tried to help r.e R7 but is this guy definitely talking about round 7?

Toxic is Round 3.

Nothing in vMSA hits harder than Molag Kena does in WGT with the 2/3 action combo.
I imagine you block that when you solo it.

Just get used to what you're fighting and block.

Also, try to learn spawn locations and pre-dot areas to clear adds before they become a problem.

If you can solo Vet WGT you can do vMSA easily.

EDIT: Didn't see it was an old post that someone dug up.

GrigorijMalahevich

BNOC wrote: »

I know everyone has tried to help r.e R7 but is this guy definitely talking about round 7?

Toxic is Round 3.

Nothing in vMSA hits harder than Molag Kena does in WGT with the 2/3 action combo.
I imagine you block that when you solo it.

Just get used to what you're fighting and block.

Also, try to learn spawn locations and pre-dot areas to clear adds before they become a problem.

If you can solo Vet WGT you can do vMSA easily.

EDIT: Didn't see it was an old post that someone dug up.

Toxic = annoying exploding poison flowers