I did VMA! Still in Shock. Tips for Magplar (For what it's worth)

bhagwad

4 days ago, I posted on how I'm giving up on VMA. In all, I died over 400 times to the last boss, the f%$*ing "Voriak Solkyn". I spent all my money on repair costs, then a kind stranger donated 10k to me, and I went in again. I blew 9k out of that, and my total gold in inventory is now 1782. I also have just one Witchmother's Food left, and only 39 soulgems out of hundreds to start with (I learnt only later that you could wayshrine out and keep your in-stage progress ).

I am cleaned out. VMA broke me. I just have the rags on my body and nothing else.

Upon completion, I got three weapons:

1. Maelstrom Bow
2. Maelstrom Sword
3. Maelstrom Axe

I was hoping for a lightning staff, but no luck . Are these any good?

While it's fresh in my mind, here's what I learn about the last boss and how I finished him. Keep in mind that I died 400 times, so this "advice" should be taken with a pinch of salt. This is on a Magplar with 5 Julianos, 3 Willpower, 2 Valkyn Skoria

I also used trash stam pots for this fight.

1. Need to start with Ult up. But don't use it immediately. Use only if you can burst boss down to 70% WITHOUT using the force sigil before he teleports.
2. DPS and dodge skull.
3. He'll teleport. Shield up since you might have to run through a ghost to bash him and interrupt.
4. Walk away in anticipation of his "Impulse" like point blank AoE. Now use your Destro ult. This should catch the Daedra and hopefully the healer. Puncturing sweeps to stay alive.
5. Boss will now be 70% and port up.
6. Pan like crazy to find the "lit up" portal and kill clanfear near it. If you take too long, another Daedroth will spawn and you're screwed. So far, no sigils used.
7. DPS crystal on left. Dodge first skull. Keep moving from side to side as you continue DPS.
8. When he goes up, The wall will appear. Look at the position to see if it'll end up near you when he blasts. If yes, continue DPS. If no, move to the crystal where it will end up.
9. If the wall spawns immediately to your left, you can run after it (without using stamina)
10. Keep shielding. If you lose your shields, you will die to Soulchurn damage.
11. After blast, he will skull attack. Then around 7 seconds later, he will skull attack again. I drank a stamina pot after the first dodge to deal with this.
11. Once two crystals are down, jump down the inner ring as you can't keep up with soulchurn damage.
12. Upon falling, make sure you ROLL so that you need moving. Run to the healing sigil.
13. Use healing sigil to kill the fu%^ing Crematorium Guard without dying.
14. Kill clanfear again to go back up.
15. Kill last crystal as if you're going up for the first time. Make sure you have enough health and magicka before it goes down in preparation for the next phase.
16. You will get knocked down. SPRINT straight ahead for the defense sigil. This will reflect his channeled attack back to him. Good for us.
17. Run and get the force sigil now. Your Destro ult will be up again.
18. Wait for him to teleport. Unleash your destro ult on the as#&*le when he's in a new spot.
19. You might have to dodge his skull attacks. You might have to interrupt him again. But the 30s defence sigil might be up and allow you to reflect it back
19. I missed ghosts . But the destro ult boosted by the force sigil ate away at his health and I was then able to use Radiant Glory for the execute. I also had the speed sigil so I was able to move around while casting.

Again, take this hard earned knowledge with the understanding that I died 400 times. So this might not be all that good.

DocFrost72

Grats on the clear! The advice is pretty solid, and you can blow apart all 3 crystals in one go, it's just up to burst damage and practice.

Maelstrom bow is BiS back bar on all stamina setups and on proper toons adds 3-5k dps, so HUZZAH!

ArchMikem

For the amount of torture you've endured to get your first victory, Shia applauds you.

Ch4mpTW

Congratulations on your clear! Well done.

supaskrub

Well done @bhagwad , now go get some gold earned, buy/farm some soul gems and get back in there.. it really does get easier. gratz on the bow

bhagwad

DocFrost72 wrote: »

Grats on the clear! The advice is pretty solid, and you can blow apart all 3 crystals in one go, it's just up to burst damage and practice.

Maelstrom bow is BiS back bar on all stamina setups and on proper toons adds 3-5k dps, so HUZZAH!

supaskrub wrote: »

Well done @bhagwad , now go get some gold earned, buy/farm some soul gems and get back in there.. it really does get easier. gratz on the bow

Everyone's talking about the bow. Looks like I should create a stamina build next - never done it before. I heard stam classes have a harder time in VMA without shields, based on Alcast's opinion. Is this true?

DocFrost72

bhagwad wrote: »

DocFrost72 wrote: »

Grats on the clear! The advice is pretty solid, and you can blow apart all 3 crystals in one go, it's just up to burst damage and practice.

Maelstrom bow is BiS back bar on all stamina setups and on proper toons adds 3-5k dps, so HUZZAH!

supaskrub wrote: »

Well done @bhagwad , now go get some gold earned, buy/farm some soul gems and get back in there.. it really does get easier. gratz on the bow

Everyone's talking about the bow. Looks like I should create a stamina build next - never done it before. I heard stam classes have a harder time in VMA without shields, based on Alcast's opinion. Is this true?

Really difficult without vigor- I recommend running 2h for your first clear, great for burst and survivability.

Goshua

grats! but stuff that

SecretAtoz

Gratz....

I'm really getting pissed off now.... You can say I can keep trying but noooo, I am not getting any better, trust me.

I am not going to beg for nerf but damn it ZOS, why make stage 9 super hard? I can get past the first two phase with some struggle but once I hit the gold ghost phase, I am dead.

Bevik

SecretAtoz wrote: »

Gratz....

I'm really getting pissed off now.... You can say I can keep trying but noooo, I am not getting any better, trust me.

I am not going to beg for nerf but damn it ZOS, why make stage 9 super hard? I can get past the first two phase with some struggle but once I hit the gold ghost phase, I am dead.

Atleast you reached the last stage. I went up till the spider stage. Died 10-15 times and didn't go back yet since days. Rather farm trials (got VO dagger twice tho) and Wrothgar (got equips, motifs) than going back. For sure I will go back there and curse everyone but not just yet.

To the OP gratz for finishing vMA anyway.

Taylor_MB

Hold up.

Are you telling me you can have multiple Sigil's active at once? Cause that is how I'm reading it...

If that is true consider my mind blown, 100's of clears on 3 toons and never knew that.

Soleya

Congrats.

For me, in order of difficulty it is

Mag Sorc > Stam Sorc > Mag DK > Stam NB > Mag Templar > Stam Warden

I've gotten to final boss with Stam Warden and Mag Templar, but wasn't able to beat on either. Warden I rarely could even get to the upper level, Templar I had the boss below 30% but died. Gave up on both of those classes.

After getting more 2H weapons from this event and still no fire staff (any trait) I've given up on vMA completely.

12 - 2H
5 - 1H+S
6 - DW
3 - Bow
2 - Lighting
3 - Frost
3 - Resto
0 - Fire

FloppyTouch

Gratz ur better pve player then me I gave up due to being bored of dying lol.

Enjoy ur victory you worked hard for it. Now get back in there and get that staff!!!

MakoFore

well done!
i can relate to that feeling of not knowing what to do afterwards. the first run is so gruelling, i think for all- the first time i cleared i walked outside in a daze not knowing what to do. and for a good few times after that the last boss still got me shaking on the keyboard. i had that feeling recently going into a vMOL run with some experienced players and not wanting to expose myself as a noob in there.. didnt work.
.First time i went in with my stam dk at cp160, got one shotted by the first mob- and thought . "maybe not everyone is meant to do this ***- like a backflip, i mean its possible, but most will end up hurt trying"......but true enough- with perserverence, practise , a bit of cp, its not bad.
its awesome that the game can still provide a sense of adrenaline and accomplishement now and then, and its really cool to see others get it - knowing how hard it was for me personally, and how gratifying.

Malmai

Its good.

Morgul667

Congrats

coplannb16_ESO

grats.

regarding: 3. He'll teleport. Shield up since you might have to run through a ghost to bash him and interrupt.

--> use Crushing Shock and instead deal with the healer right away (Crushing Shock also comes in handy to interrupt the trolls on stage 5)

my event-summary:
1 x 2H
2 x Bow
1 x Resto
2 x 1H/S
9999 x DW maces and axes
0 x Destro

p.s:
as a templar the Crematorium Guards should be no prob with shield/double shield and Jabs + a HoT. I can burn them pretty good with my DK and Lightning Blockade + Whip/Embers and just suck it up (as a Vampire)

code65536

There are people who say that vMA is too easy. That it needs to be buffed. That it's a joke because it can be done with broom and bucket or no CP or even no armor.

But you know what? It's easy only because those people have cleared it hundreds of times. That first clear, though, is virtually always very difficult and trying, and those people in the peanut gallery tend to forget that.

I enjoy seeing people get their first clears. It reminds me of the hundreds of times that I died to Voriak when I got my first clear. And the elation that followed.

Congrats on this rite of passage!

MrGarlic

Well done. Congratulations

SecretAtoz

Those people that says vMA is too easy, well I completely agree with them, only from stage 1 to 8 though. I am not convince that stage 9 is easy, stage 9 is a nightmare.

Look at how many people struggling to beat stage 9 boss fight including myself and look how long it took them to beat it. I am not convince enough that stage 9 will get easier after beating it once or twice and so on. I spent a couple of hours beating stage 7, it was rough, but I learned what my mistakes were and able to beat it. I am around 9 to 10 hours in stage 9 and still not able to beat it.

I remember there was a poll on this forum long ago on which stage was the hardest and the most votes goes to stage 5, stage 7 took the second place and stage 9 took the third. I totally disagree with that poll, stage 9 is completely the hardest stage out of the three in my opinion. Stage 5 was legit hard at first but once you beat it, stage 5 became really really easy, same applies to stage 7.

Edit: Welp, I wasn't good enough to beat my first vMA before Wrothgar event ends. Oh well, I guess later I will just farm one weapon at a time. At least we have transmute crystals.

Fang_of_Lorkhaj

Now hmu when you're ready for that flawless conqueror build for a magplar

Vapirko

Nice! It gets easier but you can still get hung up on that last boss with some bad rng or a couple mistakes.

code65536

SecretAtoz wrote: »

I remember there was a poll on this forum long ago on which stage was the hardest and the most votes goes to stage 5, stage 7 took the second place and stage 9 took the third. I totally disagree with that poll, stage 9 is completely the hardest stage out of the three in my opinion. Stage 5 was legit hard at first but once you beat it, stage 5 became really really easy, same applies to stage 7.

I was one of those to say that 5 is the hardest, and I explained that conclusion in two separate threads. This is what I had to say:

code65536 wrote: »

My first time through vMA, I thought 7 was much harder than 5. And I spent more time on the final round of stage 9 than all the previous stages put together.

These days, I think 5 is the worst, and I almost always 1-shot the stage 9 boss fight, which, frankly, feels downright easy (unless I'm having a bad day, don't have focus, and am just making mistakes left and right, which happens now and then).

Why? Because 5's difficulty stems from brute force, esp. the amount of enemies and incoming damage in the penultimate round. There's really not much you can do about this.

Much of 7's difficulty comes from the random poison plants, and once you've had a lot of practice, the plants become easier to avoid. As you become more comfortable with that stage, you'll be able to devote more attention and focus to your surroundings, and death by poison plant becomes less and less common.

Similarly, the final boss fight is highly choreographed. There's a lot that goes on and a lot to pay attention to. And it's very unforgiving. One misstep is often all it takes to wipe. But once you've done it enough times, it becomes very, very easy. More than any other part of the arena, the final boss fight benefits the most from practice. What will almost certainly be the hardest battle of your first clear will turn into one of the easiest battles once you're on your 10th clear.

But since 5's difficulty is one of brute force, it doesn't really get easier like 7 and 9 does. Well, it does get easier, but not nearly by as much. Which is why 7 and 9 are much harder than 5 for beginners, but much easier than 5 for people who farm vMA.

code65536 wrote: »

The three contenders are Stages 5, 7, and 9.

Most difficult stage for a beginner: 9--There is simply no substitute for practicing and getting used to the choreography of the Voriak fight. It's very unforgiving, and newcomers who have not yet "paid their dues" will find it very difficult.

Most difficult stage for an experienced player going for a no-sigil score run: 5--The difficulty is one of brute force, so whereas stage 9 benefits a lot from practice, experience and practice has a relatively smaller impact on Stage 5. Also, the defense sigil makes a larger difference on this stage than on any other stage.

Most difficult stage for a stamina build: 7--Because mechanics that unfairly screw stamina.



Stage 5: The difficulty of this stage is one of sheer brute force. There is a lot of incoming damage--particularly strong ranged damage. It's very easy to get overwhelmed.

The mitigating factor, though, is that the round is not very mechanically challenging, and the defensive sigil is very strong in Stage 5. With some careful planning of sigil use, Stage 5 is pretty easy.


Stage 7: The poison plants are an annoying RNG difficulty, and it's particularly frustrating to die to bull---t mechanics like having a plant spawn under a shield.

But with practice, you will develop almost an instinctive ability to avoid the flowers, and if you're a magicka spec, poison plant mistakes are easy to correct with Harness.


Stage 9: The final boss fight is very unforgiving and very exacting. There is a carefully-choreographed dance that you must execute.

But with practice, the choreography becomes second nature, and the fight will feel very easy.

To add to that, when I watch people run vMA competitively--these are people who get runs that are well under 40 minutes, never touch sigils, and will immediately restart the arena if they mess up and die--the stage that most frequently cause them to restart is stage 5.

Ilithyania

nice job

MilwaukeeScott

Congratulations!!

Junipus

Posted this on guild forum a while back, might come in handy for future reference as a list of spawn points and locations for the more troublesome adds that need prioritisation but it is not comprehensive:

Stage 1: Stay around the far end from where you enter.
Stage 2: Use the lever and focus on the dwemer spheres first
Stage 3: Occasionally dodge roll the lamias and keep moving as their shockwave can kill
Stage 4:
Round 1: Stay towards the south.
Round 2: Dwemer sphere spawns at west, then at the east, then the mini-boss at the south
Round 3: First sphere is at North West, then two spheres at the South East, then the miniboss spawns at the North
Boss: Spawns at the West side
Stage 6:
Round 1: Atronach spawns at South
Round 2: First atronach spawns East, Second atronach spawns North West, Miniboss spawns at North and last atronach West.
Round 3: First lurcher spawns at the West, then two lurchers spawn at the North and South simultaneously.
Stage 7:
Round 1: Archer spawns at North, then South East, then troll spawns South
Round 2: Archers spawn at North and North East, then Troll spawns at South
Round 3: Archers spawn at North and South, followed by the Wamasu from the West
Round 4: Archer spawns at North, then South, then 3 at South East, West and North East. Two trolls spawn at North and South
Boss: Spawns at North.
Stage 9:
Round 1: Sword and Board (S&B) add spawns at East, then another at South West, then the Crematorial Guard (Guard) at the West.
Round 2: Guard spawns at the East, Ogrim spawns at the West.
Round 3: Guard spawns at the South, then an Ogrim from the West, then another guard from the North West
Round 4: S&B spawns at North East along with a Walker (those who go to the middle and summon) from the South. Next spawn has a Walker from the East, followed by another Walker from the West and a Guard rom the South East. This is followed by another Walker from the West and lastly another 2 Walkers from the North and South East along with an Ogrim.
Round 5: Guard spawns at the North and a S&B from the South, followed by a S&B from the South West, a S&B from the South East and finally an Ogrim at the South.

supaskrub

SecretAtoz wrote: »

Those people that says vMA is too easy, well I completely agree with them, only from stage 1 to 8 though. I am not convince that stage 9 is easy, stage 9 is a nightmare.

Look at how many people struggling to beat stage 9 boss fight including myself and look how long it took them to beat it. I am not convince enough that stage 9 will get easier after beating it once or twice and so on. I spent a couple of hours beating stage 7, it was rough, but I learned what my mistakes were and able to beat it. I am around 9 to 10 hours in stage 9 and still not able to beat it.

I remember there was a poll on this forum long ago on which stage was the hardest and the most votes goes to stage 5, stage 7 took the second place and stage 9 took the third. I totally disagree with that poll, stage 9 is completely the hardest stage out of the three in my opinion. Stage 5 was legit hard at first but once you beat it, stage 5 became really really easy, same applies to stage 7.

Edit: Welp, I wasn't good enough to beat my first vMA before Wrothgar event ends. Oh well, I guess later I will just farm one weapon at a time. At least we have transmute crystals.

Stage 9 is hard to you now and it will be until you consistently clear it and understand the mechanics.. stage's 5 and stage's 7 will never change.. I would wager that out of stages 5, 7 and 9 that stages 5 and in particularly 7 (damned those rng flower spawns) have broken more chances of flawless conqueror than stage 9 purely by bad rng than actual strategy.... But that aside my nemesis (other than stage 7 flower spawns) is stage 6... I've lost count of the times that the stam sorc mini boss has uppercut and stunned me into the spider swarm as they spawn in ....