Joy's New and Improved Guide to Beating Maelstrom Arena

Merlin13KAGL

@FrancisCrawford Correct, it's a bonus to remaining lives. Obviously you'll also get a higher score from reduced time of not dying.

It's not like the sigils or anything. Die none, die 100 times, it will not affect anything other than score.

rumple9

What happens if the last boss gets a gold ghost? Does he get stronger or is there no effect until he gets 3 ghosts?

Merlin13KAGL

@rumple9 He gets empowered a bit each time. If he gets three, well, the same thing happens as when you get three, except his is a one-shot.

Locriana

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

Regarding Pet aggro, go into your Controls and (re)bind Command Pet. You can always hold this key and Left click a target and your pets will go after the one of your choosing. Use this in circumstances where you have time to redirect them without using a heavy attack. I rebind this to Caps Lock, as it's in easy reach from the movement keys and my hand never has to shift. Pick a key that works best for you. (You can also Right Click and Command Pet to recall them for certain fights, but you won't need to worry about that here.) Use Command Pet in addition to the Heavy attack aggro, not just as a replacement for.

@Merlin13KAGL first, thanks for all the tips on the crystals. I’ll go over it several times I’m sure. Maybe post a video where I’m going wrong, I have plenty of them!

Second, oh wow. You’re obviously not on Xbox if you have Command Pet and can bind it to a keyboard!!!. I’m flipping out right about now. You computer eso guys have it SO much better than We Who Use Controllers.... if you could only see the struggle... ha ha ha...oh wait, it isn’t funnny...it’s awwwwwffffuuullll. But then I don’t like to sit in front of a computer so there’s that. But um, if there are any Xbox folks who know something no one I hav ever play with knows, as in is there something called Command Pet we can use and if so how (besides heavy attack of course), -lease let me know!

Thanks for all the friendly advice though, from everyone. The timings and such are really useful to hear, though a bit hard to get a handle on unless I see them.. I have a good bar setup now I think , and a respectable burn, which is what makes for survivability for me. I just need the timing down on the crystals, and I am definitely not there yet because I get knocked down too much and that is just too exhausting after awhile to make for a good clear head upstairs. I get the feeling that if I could be transported in fresh to the final boss with a ready ulti to get upstairs fast as soon as I get in there, I could do this thing.

But also, the lag is so real lately that my liquid lightning circle won’t go down and runs around with me. And I have it set to instant ground cast.

Merlin13KAGL

Locriana wrote: »

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

Regarding Pet aggro, go into your Controls and (re)bind Command Pet. You can always hold this key and Left click a target and your pets will go after the one of your choosing. Use this in circumstances where you have time to redirect them without using a heavy attack. I rebind this to Caps Lock, as it's in easy reach from the movement keys and my hand never has to shift. Pick a key that works best for you. (You can also Right Click and Command Pet to recall them for certain fights, but you won't need to worry about that here.) Use Command Pet in addition to the Heavy attack aggro, not just as a replacement for.

@Merlin13KAGL first, thanks for all the tips on the crystals. I’ll go over it several times I’m sure. Maybe post a video where I’m going wrong, I have plenty of them!

Second, oh wow. You’re obviously not on Xbox if you have Command Pet and can bind it to a keyboard!!!. I’m flipping out right about now. You computer eso guys have it SO much better than We Who Use Controllers.... if you could only see the struggle... ha ha ha...oh wait, it isn’t funnny...it’s awwwwwffffuuullll. But then I don’t like to sit in front of a computer so there’s that. But um, if there are any Xbox folks who know something no one I hav ever play with knows, as in is there something called Command Pet we can use and if so how (besides heavy attack of course), -lease let me know!

Thanks for all the friendly advice though, from everyone. The timings and such are really useful to hear, though a bit hard to get a handle on unless I see them.. I have a good bar setup now I think , and a respectable burn, which is what makes for survivability for me. I just need the timing down on the crystals, and I am definitely not there yet because I get knocked down too much and that is just too exhausting after awhile to make for a good clear head upstairs. I get the feeling that if I could be transported in fresh to the final boss with a ready ulti to get upstairs fast as soon as I get in there, I could do this thing.

But also, the lag is so real lately that my liquid lightning circle won’t go down and runs around with me. And I have it set to instant ground cast.

Well... Yeah, I give kudos to all console types. I suppose part of it comes down to what you're used to, but I don't want to think how fumbley I'd be if I ever tried to switch platforms. (Let's just say you'd feel a whole lot better real quick, I'm sure.)

The timing just takes practice, and I've still been known to mess it up here and there. The wall can be picky ~ if you're big toe is out, it will still knock you off. The main thing is don't be afraid to leave your DoTs working on one crystal and head to the next (towards the wall) early. Most of your ranged attacks can hit any crystal from any other cyrstal.

You are correct about the content right now. The good side is the double drops. The bad side is the bugs get buggier and sometimes even new ones crop up. (I've thought about making a post just as a bittersweet amusing collection of what people have experienced in there. (Venom calls with no venom caller is my most recent favorite, I think.)

Raraaku

I'm doing vMA for the first time on a Magblade, I have gotten to arena 7 (poison plant arena) and the last boss but one thing I fear is happening is that I'm not doing enough DPS within vMA due to going full-on turtle the vast majority of the time so far. The side-effect of this being that the longer it takes to kill a final boss or wave within an arena, the more likely the arena mechanics will kill you. My DPS while turtling drops to around 8-10k; which is not good at all.

I know that part of the problem is that I'm wasting magicka reapplying DoTs before they run their course (it derives from button smashing because I'm too busy rolling/running for my life) and I'm also not really using a spammable skill (like crushing shock) often because I fear of running out of resources for my shields/heals which means I'm dead.

Here is my set-up:

EDIT: Updated my bars with a set-up that's helped, but still having some trouble.

Race: Altmer || Vampire

Magicka: 36k || Health: 17k || Stamina: 9k

Gear: Law of Julianos (all divines) || Mother's Sorrow || Valkyn Skoria || Destruction (shock) & Restoration Staff || Mundus: Lover

Bar 1: Crushing Shock || Elemental Blockade || Swallow Soul || Harness Magicka || Dark Cloak || Ultimate: Elemental Rage

Bar 2: Merciless Resolve || Refreshing Path || Impale || Healing Ward || Siphoning Strikes || Ultimate: Soul Harvest

I'm an okay DPS player (within a normal PvE setting), but I main a tank/s. I'm not slotting Inner Light since I'm using Magicka Flood passive from Siphoning skill line and for some reason when I try and take advantage of both; it doesn't seem to work in terms of the magicka boost. Plus I like the extra survivability over the 10% critical increase, I'm around 58% without Inner Light slotted. I am comfortable running dual Destro Staves if needed, I've played a couple of rounds with that set-up as well.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Joy_Division

@Raraaku - You shouldn't have to turtle the big argonian boss. Sure, he'll chomp and stomp, which takes away a bunch of your health, but between Swallow Soul and Refreshing path, within a few seconds you should be up to 100%. If you realy low, a single cast of healing ward and go right back to DPSing. It sounds like you are playing to conservatively. A Mageblade big advantage is the multiple HoTs going that should allow for aggressive play.

I'd only opt for crushing shock on rounds which you need a ranged interrupt (not stage 7). Use Cripple for the extra Dot and speed.

Raraaku

Joy_Division wrote: »

@Raraaku - You shouldn't have to turtle the big argonian boss. Sure, he'll chomp and stomp, which takes away a bunch of your health, but between Swallow Soul and Refreshing path, within a few seconds you should be up to 100%. If you realy low, a single cast of healing ward and go right back to DPSing. It sounds like you are playing to conservatively. A Mageblade big advantage is the multiple HoTs going that should allow for aggressive play.

I'd only opt for crushing shock on rounds which you need a ranged interrupt (not stage 7). Use Cripple for the extra Dot and speed.

@Joy_Division Thanks for the advice! I ended up going dual destruction staves and you're right I am playing conservatively, I finally beat the last boss after playing more aggressively than I have been. I'm also getting more comfortable with the pace of Maelstrom which is helping resource management with less shield spamming and panic modes. Here's my new slotted bars along with your suggestion:

Bar 1: Merciless Resolve || Elemental Blockade || Swallow Soul || Harness Magicka || Dark Cloak || Ultimate: Elemental Rage

Bar 2: Cripple || Refreshing Path || Impale || Siphoning Strikes || Double Take || Ultimate: Soul Harvest

I'll try to play more aggressively and see how it goes!

HidesFromSun

Yay! I just completed Veteran Maelstrom Arena for the first time, and I couldn't have done it without your guide @Joy_Division Thank you!!!

Locriana

@Raraaku I guess you figured it out but just to concur...I had a lot of trouble on that one until I went in his face aggressive and didn’t overthink it. If you fight him against the wall at his spawn point (be ready for him there with your aoes and buffs) and keep him in that area one of the argonian shielders tends to spawn there, then killing that one and saving the other comes kind of naturally.
Before I got that I tried to separate everyone so o could see who was in a good position and that was just...no...
After going aggressive in this one I made it on like the second try.

Locriana

What is Necrotic Pulse? Final Boss attack. After he teleports, at the beginning, I interrupt boss. Then I drop ulti on him and spawning Crem Guard, kite around and between them to keep CG in ulti. it usually burns CG, he dies and Boss burns down to 70 quickly and I have no trouble getting to platform, killing clanfear quickly, and portalling to top.

Other times I die instantly and ‘Necrotic Pulse’ is the culprit at 25k+ damage. I have been sure to interrupt boss, so this makes no sense. I know his ground aoe but i have to stay in it to keep CG in ulti. And that usually works. My shield is up and so is power surge so I don’t get why sometimes this works so perfectly and sometimes I’m instakilled. Which sucks when I’ve just dropped the ulti and I’ll have to spend a crazy exhausting round or two getting ulti back.

Anyone know?

Locriana

@kerp I’m getting interested in your approach and thinking of 2 pet build again (even though I can’t direct pets on Xbox except with heavy attack, which is not always possible or advisable, but whatever...)

I’m just not making progress on final boss, last round, and it’s really depressing.


Wonder if I could ask you a few questions?

kerp wrote: »

@Locriana
Well, I made it with petsorc with 2 pets after Summerset.
Necro + Spinner + Grothdarr, all gold, all divines, for the final round nirn front and sharpened backbar, both lightning Spinner staves.
Mage Mundus

Is high magicka from Mage Mundas for shields? Is it equivalent to apprentice for damage? Pets still scale off it right? So, basically your damage is coming all from magicka? This is interesting..

About 20 attributes on health, blue food, about 22k health and 49-50k magicka. Purple jewelry, two rings transmuted to Swift (definitely much more comfort in the pillars stage, it's almost as if you have Haste Sigil). All armor and jewelry with Magicka enchants, staves with Lightning.

Do you have attributes in stamina to be able to use blue food? What is your stam pool? I need stamina in that last round. @Joy_Division is so right about that.

I tried one swift traited ring and 9% was not even noticeable. 18% from 2 is only about half the 30% you get from boundless storm, but if it’s permanent effect I can see it could help. But I’m still going to need stam. Not for running, I’m not in that habit, but for blocking and roll dodge and break free...how do you get stamina? I guess I asked that but it’s a big question for me as I find I don’t have enough with best purple food.

So...you have no spell power in this setup, right? You feel magicka does equal damage?
How are you getting magicka recovery or do you not need it because of high magicka pool? (interesting concept really)
What does your character sheet stats look like because I want to be sure I’ve got it correct if I try this.

I’d be using one fire enchant because grothdarr seldom seems to proc for me and when it does I’m not near enemies. Just bad luck with it. Tried it on crystals and it only procced when I was far away from them. Illambris double procs on everything, with one fire enchant, enemies that are close or distant, and does a lot of damage. I wanted grothdarr to work, I really really did....
Any reason no spell damage enchant on rings?
Wait, how do you get magicka enchants on rings? You mean magicka recovery?

Skills:
Front: Elemental Blockade, Empowered ward, Volatile Familiar, Twilight Matriarch, Inner Light + Elemental Rage
Back: Liquid Lightning, Daedric Prey (or Elemental Susceptibility for rounds 7-8), Volatile Familiar, Twilight Matriarch, Power Surge + Storm Atronach (never use this one in vMA).

Okay wait a minute...you list storm atro as what you use and then say never use it in vMA, which is what this is, so I don’t understand...

I prefer empowered Ward too because it lasts longer, so with more magicka the shields would be comparable to hardened Ward on other builds....this is good! I’m liking it....

The final round:
if your ulti is full:
1. Call 2 pets, Power Surge, Elemental Blockade, Liquid Lightning, pulse, (the boss appears in the middle), Daedric Prey, ward, heavy attack and block the skull.

if not: rez at shrine, fill the ulti, return, you already have the pets, go on with Power surge.

2. Boss teleports: bash, ulti (with 22k and ward you don't have to go away from the boss' DoT circle), pulse, some AoE, circle around the Guard. Boss is 65-70% and goes up, Crema Guard is dead.
3. Go near a glowing portal and kill the daedroth. If there are healers can kill them too. But if you are too slow the Crema Guard will appear.

Up:
1. Power Surge (can be done before climbing too), Elemental Blockade, ward, step aside from the comet and block. Don't have to look at the boss. Can start pulse too, depends how away you have to go to escape the comet circle.
2. Liquid Lightning, Daedric Prey, pulse and go here and there trying to use Grothdarr damage. Can cast some Heavy attack, but escaping the comet circles is the first priority. Renew Blockade, ward, pulse and Liquid lightning, it takes 20-30 secs per crystal to break. Just escape from comets and reapply dots, pulse and ward. Of course, take care for the wall and hide behind it. Behind it you can still use Liquid Lightning, pulse and Daedric Prey.
3. After 1st wall run to the second crystal, you'll have to block the boss twice, so after the first block just look at the boss, escape the comets and block him for the second time. Then the same - apply Power Surge, ward, DoTs and pulse.
4. Normally here I fall down, kill a daedroth (if you are fighting near a portal and the daedroth dies you can climb even if the Guard is still alive) and then take the last clystal, have to block one skull and the wall moves slow.

Is this where the 18% extra speed from Swift helps you? If I can do without boundless storm that’s great.ill have to I guess with no spaces on the skill bar.

Can you please list what your champion points look like? I’ve changed these up a lot, I understand them pretty well, but this is an unusual set-up to me so I’d like to know what you do.

Back down:
2. Ward, return to the ground, Power Surge, get the Defence and Power Sigils.
3. Attack the boss, take care for the gold ghosts only if they are around the boss and can raise his defenses. Don't care about the walkers.
4. Wait the boss to teleport and throw your ulti and everything you have. Here Defense Sigyl helps a lot, can do this without Power too. Here the important thing is to throw the ulti just after the teleport, if you are too slow the boss will teleport and your Elemental Rage will fall in the empty ground. If needed wait for him to teleport again (this time I think the Crema Guard apperas too), this is not a problem, you have 30secs for the Defense and Power sigils and the boss is dead in 10secs if he is under your ultimate.
5. This is enough, the boss is dead.

Made 5-6 runs, the first was with Elemental Susceptibility only, now I use only Daedric Prey and only nirn staff. Got nice Maelstrom Inferno infused staff and now it is on my backbar, elem blockade and Liquid Lightning are switched. No other changes.

With this setup I make about 25K on the dummy while filling my ulti (displayed as 20-22k after the battle because I just run away when my ulti is full and additional 10secs are added to the time).
You are more experienced than me, I have never tried vet trial.

Hope I get there, back down ready to burn final boss. That would be awesome.
This is obviously a character crafted for vet Maelstrom. It would be interesting to try in trials. Though 2 pets would definitely be frowned upon there and the extra health would be a waste. So, a Maelstrom build for sure but that’s fine with me if it works!

Thanks and I hope you don’t mind answering these questions so I can give it a good try!

kerp

@Locriana

Is high magicka from Mage Mundas for shields? Is it equivalent to apprentice for damage? Pets still scale off it right? So, basically your damage is coming all from magicka? This is interesting..

With 49.8k magicka I have 24k ward, my familiar reports 4.1k damage in the popup of the skill and I can do 22-23k damage on dummy when filling my ulti (hitting more than 23k is really hard, but for filling the ultimate this is not needed). 1985 Spell damage, 41.9% spell crit.

Do you have attributes in stamina to be able to use blue food? What is your stam pool?

Nope, nothing on stamina. 10.1k stamina, 616 stam recovery. If you really struggle for stamina maybe you can use tri-stat potions.

Wait, how do you get magicka enchants on rings? You mean magicka recovery?

Yep. Sorry for not expressing myself clear enough. Just checked - two mag recovery and one spell damage. 1233 mag recovery and the poor 376 Health recovery.

Okay wait a minute...you list storm atro as what you use and then say never use it in vMA, which is what this is, so I don’t understand...

It stays there from the previous setup, I don't use this slot, only destro ultimate.

How are you getting magicka recovery or do you not need it because of high magicka pool? (interesting concept really)

From heavy attacks, however in the final round this is clearly not enough, but magicka restore potions do help (the simplest ones, which are looted from dead bodies).

One hint: when you kill the clannfear and the portal opens you can use a potion and wait a bit to fill your magicka before going up, the portal is active at least 15-20secs. You can kill the dremora (if there is one) and clear the field for later, the nastiest situation is when you fall down, Crema Guard and the clannfear are waiting for you, and there is some Gandrakyn near the center to add some unpredictable damage. In this situation if you go through a ghost you are just dead - the ghost damages and slows you, Crema guard reaches you with his fire breath, your ward goes down in no time and here comes the extra damage from that dremora just enough to kill you... Much better to clear the field before climbing.

And another one: if you are a vampire feed yourself to level one.

Is this where the 18% extra speed from Swift helps you?

It helps in the whole round:
1. When I fall down I can run (not sprint, run, I am faster than Crema Guard) to the portal to accept the fight there, when I am there I have a couple of seconds to cast LL or Ele Blockade, Power surge and pulse before starting the fight (ward is cast during the run, it is the first) and I have good chances to kill the clannfear and jump back up even if the Crema Guard is still alive. When I fight the Crema Guard I can circle around him while holding Attack button (i.e. doing Heavy attack) and his fire breath almost misses me.
2. When I go up there is no problem to catch first two walls (my sprint is fast enough to catch the second one) and the faster movement saves me from sprinting or dodging away from the comets.

Can you please list what your champion points look like?

Blue: 81 Thaumaturge, 49 Staff expert, 65 Elem expert, 35 Spell erosion, 20 Elfborn.
Green: 66 Tumbling, 16 Shadow ward, 81 Tenacity, 32 Arcanist, 44 Warlord, 11 Siphoner.
Red: 81 Bastion, 37 Hardy, 37 Elem defender, 37 Thick skinned,11 Light armor focus, 47 Ironclad.
Maybe not perfect but good enough for me

This is obviously a character crafted for vet Maelstrom.

No, I made it for soloing normal dungeons because it take at least hour to form a group if you want to farm specific ones. For vMA I only transmuted the jewelry. Currently farming Automation set (swords and divines armor) for my Stamblade. Much easier now because vMA learned me to keep my ward always up.

[EDIT]
Did some minor changes, still not familiar with these drafts and edit the comment after posting.

Locriana

@kerp thanks very much for these answers. I’m working on a version of your approach. I don’t have a gold sharpened in these sets right now, and can’t afford the mats, so will go infused and nirnhoned, maybe move nirn to the front bar, for the moment. Had a gold sharpened Julianos on the set I was using, and used it on my main dps bar, so I get the reason, as I added up the spell pen and all that...

Just a note, don’t know if you noticed but on your back bar you don’t have a destro skill so you won’t get any of the destro staff passives. Unless you’re using ele drain of course.

I may have some trouble with this skill setup as I don’t want to fail due to not being able to get to the boss to interrupt, especially at the end...without crushing shock (or decent stamina) that’s going to be very difficult for me.
I suspect you are a much more agile player than I am! Don’t know what I would sub out for crushing shock without loosing serious dps, so I’ll give it a try.
I do prefer a flex spot for this stage, as I need rune cage on round 4 for the summoners (makes all the difference for me), and switch to Crushing Shock for final round.
If you have any ideas for that please let me know.

Will test in some solo dungeons for practice..that sounds like a good idea. .

Im going to really miss Mages Wrath!

You sure have a different take on CP than I do...I’ve never heard of putting so many pts in staff expert, and none in Master at Arms for direct damage. The first tick of dots, or just about anything (as it’s been explained to me) is DD as is the Daedric Prey explosion. So I might adjust that some.
Are you relying a lot on light and heavy attacks? That could explain why this works.
Also, usually people put more into arcanist, less into tenacity , then you only need one recovery glyph. More reliable than being able to heavy attack when you need magicka.
Also, siphoner only works in pvp.
Just some things I know about.
Some of it no doubt about play style. Like, I’m better at blocking than roll dodge.so I may adjust those. I often do a jump/block when I’m trying to roll dodge. (Like especially when it’s really crucial) Just not coordinated enough I guess.
Of course there may be very good reasons why you make most of this CP setup work...

One more important question...Are you on Computer or Xbox (console)? As there seems to be a ‘command pet’ that one can bind to a key on computer and we console users have nothing like that....
It would be great to know if you’re making the two pet setup here work on console.

Thanks again!

kerp

@Locriana

Just a note, don’t know if you noticed but on your back bar you don’t have a destro skill so you won’t get any of the destro staff passives.

I switch to front bar as soon as possible, just cast the skill and go back to front.

I do prefer a flex spot for this stage, as I need rune cage on round 4 for the summoners (makes all the difference for me), and switch to Crushing Shock for final round.
If you have any ideas for that please let me know.

Just an idea: the summoners move really slow so what will happen if you slow them down a bit more using Blockade of Frost? Theoretically the one in the ice blockade will practically stop and you will have enough time to deal with the other one if any, or just to finish him. I mean ice destro staff for the back bar. You run two destro staves, don't you?

You sure have a different take on CP than I do

Maybe you are right, I selected them myself so as I said maybe they are not distributed perfectly. Got enough sustain for vMA and to solo normal dungeons which I made this build for.

BTW I made my first score in vMA 3-4 days ago - 147k Took me 3 1/2 hours and ton of deaths, that 15 bonuses for not duying ended on round 7. Normally I play vMa in 2-3-4 days, 1 - 1 1/2 hour per day, in the morning before going to work (thanks again @Joy_Division for the advice to play some rounds without little kids around ) and that was the first time I finished vMA in one try. If you leave vMA for tomorrow you don't receive any score. Now I have plenty of destro staves - fire, lightning and ice, nirn, sharpened... but still no bow. So I suppose the farming will continue.

Are you relying a lot on light and heavy attacks? That could explain why this works.

Heavy attacks, I run Lightning staff on my front bar and I don't attack with my back bar.

Also, usually people put more into arcanist, less into tenacity , then you only need one recovery glyph.

All my skills are AoE/DoTs so I place them and put some heavy attacks between renewing. The nastiest target for this build is a world or dungeon boss (1.8 - 2M HP) which moves really fast and makes my ele blockade and liq lightning almost unusable. And if he is an uppercutter too I have real troubles jumping here and there and blocking and rolling. Doable, but boring. Someone like High Kinlord Rilis (Banished Cells I) or Uulgarg from Wayrest sewers. Snapjaw is an uncomfortable target too with all that stuns while the Nestmother in Auridon (and Bone Grappler in Malabar Tor, and that spider in Rivenspire, Aesar) is a piece of cake.

One more important question...Are you on Computer or Xbox (console)? As there seems to be a ‘command pet’ that one can bind to a key on computer and we console users have nothing like that....

Computer. But isn't Light attack enough to send the pet to the right target? On that video I posted (1bar petsorc) there are some moments in the icy round - the guy there attacks with LA the troll, then stops attacking to get to the island where the troll is to bash him and then finish him, and the pet headed directly to the troll because he was the last one attacked. Think that in Round 8 (fire round) there were some LA moments too, pets got dizzy from all that broken pillars there.

Locriana

AAAUUUUGHHHHH!

I almost did it. Twice!!!!

If I’d only thought to grab the power sigil before I dropped destro on the boss, but I wanted to get to him to interrupt because I don’t have crushing shock anymore, and didn’t want to look around for Power sigil....

He was down to soooo little health, even though he got a ghost.

At least I got the crystals twice. In a row.

Two swift rings really helped, thank you @kerp
As does grabbing the haste sigil before I go up. And several other tips here...

I think it’s doable now that I’ve passed this particular hurdle.

Joy_Division

You've got this! Don't be hesitant to just bash him if you're that close.

Locriana

@Joy_Division @kerp

I DID IT !!!!!!!!

Got the resto staff and greatsword. Don’t know if those are any good, but who cares. I finally did it.

Thanks for all the advice here, interesting approaches, some very different from each other, and putting up with all my questions and angst.

In spite of all the seemingly impossible obstacles, it’s actually really fun to do this. In between the miseries...
Especially when you finally get past each obstacle, one at a time, each is a milestone.

In my recent bout of attempts, I found one thing really helpful, psychologically. When you just go in and practice a stage over and over, it helps to appreciate just getting an inch or two farther along, not to expect too much. That way I stopped wanting to throw the controller across the room and acknowledged the little victories. Sometimes very little...lol...
And when you get to the point where you can sail through everything but the boss round of a stage each time, you know you’ve learned something that’ll help later.

Looking forward to getting somewhere with my Magblade now...

Oh and @kerp , no, light attack isn’t enough to send the pets to a target. I just let them do their own thing, and simplified my thinking. Your advice about up top was helpful. Keeping it simple helped me focus on the mechanics up there, when to get to the walls, etc.

I got so used to being thrown off and fighting CGs that it became routine. I don’t even know how many times on the successful run.
I’ll have to review the video. Some weird stuff was happening in there tonight, lol!

Lag was so bad that I pretty much gave up on liquid lightning and just used wall of elements and pulse. Whatever Sparky was doing worked eventually, if I could keep alive. Sloppy win I’m sure, but at least I DID IT!!!!!

coplannb16_ESO

congrats, healing staff is actually quiet good. helps with sustain, also useful in pvp for that reason (on my DK Iam always resource starved, other classes probably not so much). 2H is okay, could use some buff, but at least works reliable in difference to dual wield weapons. 2nd run will go much smoother/faster.

btw, if you got a projectile reflect skill (defensive sigil, dk wings, s/b ulti) you can also reflect the channeled attack from the final boss (it doesnt work in round 8 versus fire-casters, but works in round 9, at least it did when I ran it the last time). so if you can maintain the reflect you do not need to interrupt/bash him, just kill the healer+CG, keep evading the skulls and pressure the boss from afar). ofc Ulti+burn to 70% is the fastest way, easiest maybe too IF you manage to get him to 70%, e.g. your dps is good enough. I for my part usually avoid this and just take it slow (even waiting for the 2nd CG and killing it before going up). As a DK the Ult it also part of my sustain, so I tend to keep it for when I need it for sustain, not to boost my damage mainly.

Locriana

coplannb16_ESO wrote: »

congrats, healing staff is actually quiet good. helps with sustain, also useful in pvp for that reason (on my DK Iam always resource starved, other classes probably not so much). 2H is okay, could use some buff, but at least works reliable in difference to dual wield weapons. 2nd run will go much smoother/faster.

btw, if you got a projectile reflect skill (defensive sigil, dk wings, s/b ulti) you can also reflect the channeled attack from the final boss (it doesnt work in round 8 versus fire-casters, but works in round 9, at least it did when I ran it the last time). so if you can maintain the reflect you do not need to interrupt/bash him, just kill the healer+CG, keep evading the skulls and pressure the boss from afar). ofc Ulti+burn to 70% is the fastest way, easiest maybe too IF you manage to get him to 70%, e.g. your dps is good enough. I for my part usually avoid this and just take it slow (even waiting for the 2nd CG and killing it before going up). As a DK the Ult it also part of my sustain, so I tend to keep it for when I need it for sustain, not to boost my damage mainly.

Thanks I’ll try the staff I have 2 healers, one pve, one pvp. They can argue over it.

I tried the ulti burn at the start once or twice, he would go down to about 74% before he teleports, I’d assault him for a second down to 70 but the CG came out anyway. I guess you have to get him to 70 before he teleports? Probably can do it will have to figure what best to combine with destro ulti, he does teleport pretty quickly. I lay down dots, use power surge, throw daedric prey, pulse, don’t know what else really in that time...Fire staff m9ght burn faster...I’ll let my dark elf Magblade try it when she gets there!

kerp

@Locriana

Congrats!

I got so used to being thrown off and fighting CGs that it became routine

Yes, and when you are able to constantly go up and destroy at least one pillar your ulti will be full, so even if you die it will be easier on the next try.

he does teleport pretty quickly

One question: When a portal appear I can place LL, and ele blockade. When do they take damage? When the boss appears or even before it, when they are placed on the portal? In some cases the boss started not on 100% but 99% or 98%, but I am not sure when exactly he took the damage. Can anyone clarify this?

Never tried to place the ulti so early, i.e. tried it once, when the boss has appeared, and the result was not good - he was about 75% and I had to fight the Crema Guard avoiding his necro attacks.

[EDIT]
Just noticed this:

Whatever Sparky was doing worked eventually, if I could keep alive.

Well, my familiar never dies, obviously my ward is enough to protect him. My Martiarch dies from time to time and this is one more reason to try with only one pet.

I recall the familiar only on Round 6 (I think this is some bug, pets are gone when you start the round) and on Round 7, when the boss screams. They just jump/fly here and there producing sounds that are sometimes funny and sometimes awful

Raraaku

I finally did it

Thank you so much Joy and all the other's who are active on this thread and for the guide itself; it makes all the difference in the world!

I ended up respeccing my Argonian Sorc tank that I rarely play and I was able to get to Round 9 in 3 hours instead of 3 days (as you said, once the mechanics are learned it's a lot easier), and the Argonian's resourceful passive allowed me to have a tri-pot even with just using blue pots.

Last boss killed me 100+ times; but I was slowly able to get further and further along with each death. DPS wasn't there to be able to get all 3 crystals down before the second wall exploded, but jumping down definitely helped make that stage a lot easier.

Here was my final set-up:

Gear: Julianos || Mother's Sorrow || Infernal Guardian/Valkyn Skoria || Destruction Staff (lightning) & Restoration Staff

Bar 1: Crushing Shock || Elemental Blockade || Liquid Lightning || Hardened Ward || Inner Light || Ultimate: Elemental rage

Bar 2: Endless Fury || Haunting Curse || Power Surge || Healing Ward || Inner Light || Ultimate: Greater Storm Atronach

and I got lucky in that I got a bow as well!

Joy_Division

Nice!

Locriana

kerp wrote: »

@Locriana

Congrats!

Thanks! You helped a lot! Never used mage stone before but it makes perfect sense with a pet sorc in this situation. And spinners when solo? Excellent. Even without sharpened staff.

Whatever Sparky was doing worked eventually, if I could keep alive.

Well, my familiar never dies, obviously my ward is enough to protect him. My Martiarch dies from time to time and this is one more reason to try with only one pet.

I meant if I could keep my character alive! Ha ha...Which is easier when I don’t worry what the pets are doing. At one point up top with the crystals I noticed Sparky just standing there looking at the boss...kind of in awe...wondering why he couldn’t get to him...lol...While Matriarch was always on point somehow, attacking crystals. He got to it, just took his sweet time about it..

You’re right the wards to keep them alive, I’m accustomed to that in trials. Which is why it didn’t hurt to ditch harness magicka here. Relying on Ward keeps pets alive, also, with that much magicka I could use empowered Ward, which I prefer for its length of time active and less cost plus 10% magicka recovery. . I didn’t put as many points as you did in Bastion though. I wanted more protection when the Ward slips — I’m not perfect with that by any means!

I recall the familiar only on Round 6 (I think this is some bug, pets are gone when you start the round) and on Round 7, when the boss screams. They just jump/fly here and there producing sounds that are sometimes funny and sometimes awful

Ha ha! Well they do keep you company in there...though I was having trouble sometimes distinguishing Matriarch from the white ghosts....just a fleeting perception, but occasionally confusing. She does decent DPS (especially with high magicka pool) without having to be pulsed, so I appreciated that in this situation.

EDITED because....I make a lot of mistakes and so does autocorrect

Koovster

Just beat vet Mealstrom for the first time a couple hours ago, don't think I would have been able to make it without this great guide to help my along, it's been absolutely invaluable!

I went in with my stamblade, and despite me internally freaking-out about how I'm going to actually do this, I managed to get through most of the early stages with only a few deaths and without much headache. Stages 5 and 6 had me worried for a few runs, but managed to eventually get through them.

Stage 7 was def a tough one for me, and not just for the poison plants. Had trouble dealing with the boss' piling on bleed damage and the adds spawning and attack at once, often had me going from near full health to critical, died quite a few times there, especially with that damn stomp cc and bite it does.

And stage 9 was hell for me, I felt like I had to focus on so much at the same time, I had the keep healed, check my resources, burn any deadroths that spawned, keep an eye on the boss, block/interrupt his attacks. And up top with having to dodge aoe, block the skulls, get behind the walls, all while keeping health up and dpsing the closest crystal... What really got me thru in the end was slotting Blood Craze instead of Blade Cloak. Survive and dps got much easier with it, and managed to clear it on the next attempt Felt SOOO good!

Thanks again for your hard work on maintaining this guide, you can count me as another happy customer! Now i'll have to try for a second run soon...

Joy_Division

Koovster wrote: »

Just beat vet Mealstrom for the first time a couple hours ago, don't think I would have been able to make it without this great guide to help my along, it's been absolutely invaluable!

I went in with my stamblade, and despite me internally freaking-out about how I'm going to actually do this, I managed to get through most of the early stages with only a few deaths and without much headache. Stages 5 and 6 had me worried for a few runs, but managed to eventually get through them.

Stage 7 was def a tough one for me, and not just for the poison plants. Had trouble dealing with the boss' piling on bleed damage and the adds spawning and attack at once, often had me going from near full health to critical, died quite a few times there, especially with that damn stomp cc and bite it does.

And stage 9 was hell for me, I felt like I had to focus on so much at the same time, I had the keep healed, check my resources, burn any deadroths that spawned, keep an eye on the boss, block/interrupt his attacks. And up top with having to dodge aoe, block the skulls, get behind the walls, all while keeping health up and dpsing the closest crystal... What really got me thru in the end was slotting Blood Craze instead of Blade Cloak. Survive and dps got much easier with it, and managed to clear it on the next attempt Felt SOOO good!

Thanks again for your hard work on maintaining this guide, you can count me as another happy customer! Now i'll have to try for a second run soon...

Good to hear!

jlb1705

Koovster wrote: »

Just beat vet Mealstrom for the first time a couple hours ago, don't think I would have been able to make it without this great guide to help my along, it's been absolutely invaluable!

I went in with my stamblade, and despite me internally freaking-out about how I'm going to actually do this, I managed to get through most of the early stages with only a few deaths and without much headache. Stages 5 and 6 had me worried for a few runs, but managed to eventually get through them.

Stage 7 was def a tough one for me, and not just for the poison plants. Had trouble dealing with the boss' piling on bleed damage and the adds spawning and attack at once, often had me going from near full health to critical, died quite a few times there, especially with that damn stomp cc and bite it does.

And stage 9 was hell for me, I felt like I had to focus on so much at the same time, I had the keep healed, check my resources, burn any deadroths that spawned, keep an eye on the boss, block/interrupt his attacks. And up top with having to dodge aoe, block the skulls, get behind the walls, all while keeping health up and dpsing the closest crystal... What really got me thru in the end was slotting Blood Craze instead of Blade Cloak. Survive and dps got much easier with it, and managed to clear it on the next attempt Felt SOOO good!

Thanks again for your hard work on maintaining this guide, you can count me as another happy customer! Now i'll have to try for a second run soon...

What was your setup? How did you stay alive? I'm trying to run it with my stamblade and I'm stuck. Most of the help that I find out there is geared toward magicka users, so it would be good to find out what it took on the class that I'm actually using.

Koovster

jlb1705 wrote: »

What was your setup? How did you stay alive? I'm trying to run it with my stamblade and I'm stuck. Most of the help that I find out there is geared toward magicka users, so it would be good to find out what it took on the class that I'm actually using.

My gear setup is actually very basic, running 5x Hunding. 4x Nightmother's (the crafted set) and Agility jewels. One of those pieces heavy for undaunted passive. On front I ran with Killer's Blade, Surprise Attack, Blood Craze (or Blade Cloak), Resolving Vigor, Relentless Focus. Back was with bow, Endless Hail, Rearming Trap, Poison Injection, Caltrops, and Leeching Strikes.

I would try to keep at least Leeching up 100%, the health return is a good buffer, and Blood Craze helps with both DoT and heals. I would use Vigor whenever my health dropped below 50%, and often when multiple enemies were all attacking at once. I quickly learned you have to be smart with picking your targets.

Oh, and speed pots. Once I started learning the mechanics, they made the mobility part much easier.

Hope this is of use, I now know the hell people can go thru on this thing, I'll try to offer anything that can help

Merlin13KAGL

Gratz @Locriana @Raraaku @Koovster and everyone else that got their clears!

It will get better the more you do it and you can testify to all those that still think it impossible. With the event over, it will go back to the normal bugs vs the special event bugs

kerp wrote: »

@Locriana

Congrats!

I got so used to being thrown off and fighting CGs that it became routine

Yes, and when you are able to constantly go up and destroy at least one pillar your ulti will be full, so even if you die it will be easier on the next try.

he does teleport pretty quickly

One question: When a portal appear I can place LL, and ele blockade. When do they take damage? When the boss appears or even before it, when they are placed on the portal? In some cases the boss started not on 100% but 99% or 98%, but I am not sure when exactly he took the damage. Can anyone clarify this?

Never tried to place the ulti so early, i.e. tried it once, when the boss has appeared, and the result was not good - he was about 75% and I had to fight the Crema Guard avoiding his necro attacks.

[EDIT]
Just noticed this:

Whatever Sparky was doing worked eventually, if I could keep alive.

Well, my familiar never dies, obviously my ward is enough to protect him. My Martiarch dies from time to time and this is one more reason to try with only one pet.

I recall the familiar only on Round 6 (I think this is some bug, pets are gone when you start the round) and on Round 7, when the boss screams. They just jump/fly here and there producing sounds that are sometimes funny and sometimes awful

@kerp , they'll start taking damage a couple seconds before they actually visually spawn in, but they'll be immune prior to that. For your regular AoE's, it doesn't hurt anything to place them early and get a head start. If you're using ult, you want to be a little more precise, but remember, Destro Ult has a 2 second wind up anyway, so that will help with not losing any damage from it.

You used to be able to full on burn the portals in various content. Fortunately they fixed this (it was cheese) and now they can neither deal, nor receive damage nearly as long as they once could. The collision is placed before the actual enemy is, though, so you can still get physically hung up on the location where they will be. Something to keep in mind.

Also, you can keep pets up with Hardened if you time it right, just don't run yourself out of magicka in the process, when you can just resummon instead (this mostly only applies to the Behemoth)

jlb1705 wrote: »

Koovster wrote: »

Just beat vet Mealstrom for the first time a couple hours ago, don't think I would have been able to make it without this great guide to help my along, it's been absolutely invaluable!

I went in with my stamblade, and despite me internally freaking-out about how I'm going to actually do this, I managed to get through most of the early stages with only a few deaths and without much headache. Stages 5 and 6 had me worried for a few runs, but managed to eventually get through them.

Stage 7 was def a tough one for me, and not just for the poison plants. Had trouble dealing with the boss' piling on bleed damage and the adds spawning and attack at once, often had me going from near full health to critical, died quite a few times there, especially with that damn stomp cc and bite it does.

And stage 9 was hell for me, I felt like I had to focus on so much at the same time, I had the keep healed, check my resources, burn any deadroths that spawned, keep an eye on the boss, block/interrupt his attacks. And up top with having to dodge aoe, block the skulls, get behind the walls, all while keeping health up and dpsing the closest crystal... What really got me thru in the end was slotting Blood Craze instead of Blade Cloak. Survive and dps got much easier with it, and managed to clear it on the next attempt Felt SOOO good!

Thanks again for your hard work on maintaining this guide, you can count me as another happy customer! Now i'll have to try for a second run soon...

What was your setup? How did you stay alive? I'm trying to run it with my stamblade and I'm stuck. Most of the help that I find out there is geared toward magicka users, so it would be good to find out what it took on the class that I'm actually using.

Koovster, brave soul starting out on a stam character, but it comes down to what you're most comfortable with. I haven't gone in on Stamden or StamNB yet myself.

@jlb1705 , on other stam characters , Vicious Ophodian helps a lot with sustain. Much of the rest of it involves preemptive Vigors (have it running before you need it) and lots of roll dodging to give yourself some brief immunity while you burn stuff down or let DoTs do their thing. Also, if you take the healing morphs of the first two DW skills, and even the healing morph of the DW ult, if you wish, those will help a lot at first too.

Last thing I'll pass on for everyone: Don't be afraid to adjust your setup. Whether that's a skill tweak, an enchant, even the order you have things slotted in. All the guides are just that. Adjust what you need to to your own playstyle and you can make it work.

Kudos, again, to @Joy_Division for such a thorough guide and keeping people inspired!

jlb1705

I did get my 5th piece of VO, so I've tried running that with Hunding's and that pushed me through one more stage.

I'm thinking my problem at this point is more with damage output and combat style. I play on Xbox, and barswapping when I often can't do a set rotation is a real PITA. The other problem I'm having is that AOEs like Caltrops and Endless Hail are useless in highly mobile fights or against ranged mobs who stay spread out. I've figured out that I need to use AOEs that aren't placed on the ground, so that I'm always doing damage where the fight goes, rather than in the spot that I just left. For me this has meant swapping from DW/Bow to DW/2H. It's an unorthodox combo that I don't ever see folks talk about, but it has worked for me before when I soloed some of the low-level normal dungeons.

Here's my bar setup for the moment:
DW: Deadly Cloak, Relentless Focus, Vigor, Blood Craze, Bloodthirst
2H: Rally, Leeching Strikes, Vigor, Power Extraction, Brawler

I spend more time on the 2H bar, but swap to DW to apply buffs whenever the fight resets. If I get stuck on the wrong bar for combat, at least I have a couple skills there that will help keep me alive. Yes, I double-bar Vigor. There is nothing more frustrating than smashing the "oh sh*t" button and not getting a heal. I've also found playing with the controller that in VMA at least I have to have vigor on an actual button and not on one of the bumpers. When it's on a bumper I don't maintain my uptime like I need to. I plan to swap out Relentless Focus for Dark Cloak. I'm not using the bow proc like I do in other content, and getting another heal that taps into my completely unused magicka pool seems like it could be helpful. Also, it would bring back my Shadow passives. I'm also planning to replace Power Extraction with Reverse Slice. It's not a true AOE, but it's cheap and has splash damage that travels with me.

I'm also now planning to craft a set of NMG and using 5 pieces of that in place of Hunding's Rage. Between that set and slotting Dark Cloak to keep my passives, I can afford to ditch Surprise attack and spam other skills like Brawler or Bloodthirst that offer something to help keep me alive.