I can't beat vMA. I need advice.

Ragnarock41

I'm gonna get so much hate for this, but have you tried the good old L2P method?

It took me more than 200 deaths for my first victory back in one tamriel. I was around cp 250-270 as a stamDK, I had a heavy armor PvP build with impen traits, had no idea how any of it works. around 150 deats or so, I decided to read a bit about it, and then on the forums I came across this gem:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/381682/joys-new-and-improved-guide-to-beating-maelstrom-arena

Thanks to @Joy_Division , I was able to actually beat it after 5 hours of suffering and pain.

And after my first victory I never ever had any issues with vMA. So just read the guide on how mechanics work, then get back in there and give it a real try.

Checkmath

the trials are located in craglorn and since the best guildstores are located there (at least on PC EU) a lot of people are on the map. and its also kind of meet point for said trial farm groups, who mostly look out for more to join their group. you even can open a group yourself, if nobody is shouting out for more people.
in the meantime you can go buy stuff, do daily writs or you can farm mats.

SoLooney

eew to mundus and sets

two fanged, and vicious ophidian with lover or warrior mundus

sub two fanged for nightmothers gaze if you dont have it

if you dont have vo, ur gonna be on the struggle bus

Asardes

Actually NMG is better in vMA than TFS because:
- it applies the full debuff right away, while TFS takes a few seconds to fully stack penetration, some mobs die from HA+Skill, they move out of your AoE and the proc may not be always reliable; TFS is maybe good in boss rounds, where there are usually few adds and you can keep damage on boss constantly.
- you can have NMG on a single bar, and still get the full benefit since you spend less than 6s on the back bar, so the debuff won't fall off, unlike TFS which starts losing stacks after 1s and will lose at least 4/5 by the time you would have switched to front bar; the only way to combo TFS with VO is to have VO weapons on front bar, and that's a huge grind.

driosketch

Uviryth wrote: »

Vahrokh wrote: »

Uviryth wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

In terms of sets, you cant beat Vicious Ophidian. It is not hard to farm on normal, and even blue jewelry is perfectly acceptable.

How do you "farm" that set? Dont you need a Raid for that?
Is there some kind of Dungeonfinder for Raids?

Go to Craglorn, wait for one of many "LFM HRC x,y,z" a day

Why Craglorn? Is that some kind of Hub for LFG/LFR?
Plus what do you do while waiting.

Looking for Group in Chats, damn I hated that even 18 years ago.

HRC = Hel Ra Citadel. It's one of three 12 player trial dungeons in Craglorn, the other two being Aetherian Archive (AA) and Sanctum Ophidium (SO). Vicious Ophidium, (Serpent) will drop in each of those.

On normal they aren't hard, if you have a group familar with them they can be preet fast to run. It's not always easy to get 12 people, so groups often turn to zone chat, which is in Craglorn to fill up the party. You can do writs in Belkarth while you wait.

Of course it might be easier to go through a guild. I don't know if you're on PC NA, but I'm doing runs of all three this Sunday for a couple guilds, geared towards first timers. Just hit up @Drio in game and I'll save you a spot.

Either way just let the group you run with know you are looking for the set. Some players will give you what drops for them, reducing the number of times you need to run it.

Asardes

A caveat about Craglorn trials that normal mode drops mostly the sets specific to that trial. For example:
nSO will drop Aether Strategy, Two-Fanged Serpent, Immortal Yokeda more frequently
vSO will drop Infallible Aether, Vicious Serpent, Eternal Yokeda more frequently
So per number of runs you will probably take longer to get hold of Vicious Ophidian in nSO, compared to vSO, but easier to get hold of Twice-Fanged Serpent. But per length of run, especially with a low quality groups - most PuGs are really bad - normal is still good, since those groups would have virtually no chance clearing the veteran version. If you've done nMA and compare to vMA you can get an idea of the discrepancy between trial difficulties.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Uviryth wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

In terms of sets, you cant beat Vicious Ophidian. It is not hard to farm on normal, and even blue jewelry is perfectly acceptable.

How do you "farm" that set? Dont you need a Raid for that?
Is there some kind of Dungeonfinder for Raids?

You are going to have to run craglorn trials on normal. Since the trials are located in craglorn, that is the most likely zone you will find groups forming in zone chat. Normal trials really can be completed by just about any group as long as at least the tank can perform thier basic function. Only blue jewelry drops, but blue is enough for a clear. And when summerset comes, you can make it shiny.

The better option is certainly to find a PVE guild for two reasons. First, more likely to have smooth clears (possibly vet clears) , and second, more likely that your guild mates will just give you what you are after. Most of us that have run these trials hundreds of times, decon or vend most of what they find. And if you get really lucky and get a VO dagger or axe, you can either sell it for a few hundred K or do the smart thing and keep it. Haha

Violynne

Checkmath wrote: »

4th point, you stated that you cant heal up. do you have the skill vigor? this is the best stamina heal in the game and really is crucial form vMSA. the skill can be unlocked with doing some pvp. if we already are at this point of doing pvp, you also should unlock the skill caltrops from the same skillline.

THAT is the spell I've been looking for! Vigor! I've watched stamBlades take on world bosses solo because this thing is basically a health restore.

PvP is the only way to get it?

I'm buying a ticket to Cyrodiil immediately!

Masel

Go get yourself vengeance leech and vicious ophidian and go for full damage setup. Can do two handed and dual wield.

Vengeance leech is the poor man's vicious ophidian, gives you 1400 stamina, magicka and health whenever you kill something. It is purely great to learn because it lets you use utility skills more often and also heals you on kill. Combined with vicious ophidian you have so much resources...

Trust me, I flawlessed 12 characters in there and had scores beyond 570k on all of them.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Masel92 wrote: »

Go get yourself vengeance leech and vicious ophidian and go for full damage setup. Can do two handed and dual wield.

Vengeance leech is the poor man's vicious ophidian, gives you 1400 stamina, magicka and health whenever you kill something. It is purely great to learn because it lets you use utility skills more often and also heals you on kill. Combined with vicious ophidian you have so much resources...

Trust me, I flawlessed 12 characters in there and had scores beyond 570k on all of them.

Totally forgot that set existed. I swear, this guy makes me farm more random sets than I can possibly remember. haha

GrigorijMalahevich

What is your health? Stamplar is easy. I would go VO with hunding and chudan for first clear. Everything else is just mechanics

W0lf_z13

Violynne wrote: »

Checkmath wrote: »

4th point, you stated that you cant heal up. do you have the skill vigor? this is the best stamina heal in the game and really is crucial form vMSA. the skill can be unlocked with doing some pvp. if we already are at this point of doing pvp, you also should unlock the skill caltrops from the same skillline.

THAT is the spell I've been looking for! Vigor! I've watched stamBlades take on world bosses solo because this thing is basically a health restore.

PvP is the only way to get it?

I'm buying a ticket to Cyrodiil immediately!

yes you get vigor from pvp in cyro

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Violynne wrote: »

Checkmath wrote: »

4th point, you stated that you cant heal up. do you have the skill vigor? this is the best stamina heal in the game and really is crucial form vMSA. the skill can be unlocked with doing some pvp. if we already are at this point of doing pvp, you also should unlock the skill caltrops from the same skillline.

THAT is the spell I've been looking for! Vigor! I've watched stamBlades take on world bosses solo because this thing is basically a health restore.

PvP is the only way to get it?

I'm buying a ticket to Cyrodiil immediately!

Oh man, forget everything we have said and RUN to cyrodiil. I am not saying you cant clear VMA without Vigor on a stamina toon, but its like showing up to a gun fight with a baseball bat. Vigor is the best stamina heal available to you.

One thing to note on vigor. It is actually not a burst heal. It is a short duration Heal Over Time (HOT). Practically speaking, that means the skill is FAR more effective when cast it right before you take damage than after you have already taken it (much like a shield). Knowing when to preemptively cast it obviously only come with experience and knowledge of the mechanics.

KingYogi415

How far did you get using this build?

I really doubt anyone who’s not a pro can beat using 1h 1s.

Poison inject plus volley is best dps you can get.

If you really want to beat. Farm VO, roll a stamsorc. Best way to run!

drake88131

LuxLunae wrote: »

I can't seem to get through vMA. It's not a sustain problem either. I can't heal my low health.

My build

Redguard Stamina Templar CP 720

5 Medium 2 Heavy.

Health Mundus

Morag Tong with bone pirate. (sustain)

DW

1h+1s


What am I doing wrong?

I WILL NOT CHANGE CHARACTER OR CLASS!!! I WANT TO WIN IT WITH THIS ONE ONLY.

Get VO body pieces and jewels (weapons if you can). Purple gold or blue will do it. Then gold out hundings daggers and bow to complete your sets. Use velidreth for more burst. Use valkyn on last boss if you have issues surviving. Get vigor. Just do it. Finally? TRI-POTS!!!!! You're welcome.

Checkmath

KingYogi415 wrote: »

How far did you get using this build?

I really doubt anyone who’s not a pro can beat using 1h 1s.

Poison inject plus volley is best dps you can get.

If you really want to beat. Farm VO, roll a stamsorc. Best way to run!

I am definitely not a pro msa player, but i accept your challenge

Juju_beans

Violynne wrote: »

Checkmath wrote: »

4th point, you stated that you cant heal up. do you have the skill vigor? this is the best stamina heal in the game and really is crucial form vMSA. the skill can be unlocked with doing some pvp. if we already are at this point of doing pvp, you also should unlock the skill caltrops from the same skillline.

THAT is the spell I've been looking for! Vigor! I've watched stamBlades take on world bosses solo because this thing is basically a health restore.

PvP is the only way to get it?

I'm buying a ticket to Cyrodiil immediately!

Do the tutorial and that should get you to rank 2.
Check out the scouting mission board..sometimes your faction owns the mission location making it an easy quest.
Join up with a zerg group and take a few keeps.

That should get you to rank 5 in no time along with the extra skill points to put into vigor.

firedrgn

Just get a resto staff and spam heals on anyone in the action. Quick way to lvl up alliance in cyrodill.

Mister_DMC

Pure bait thread

Uviryth

driosketch wrote: »

Of course it might be easier to go through a guild. I don't know if you're on PC NA, but I'm doing runs of all three this Sunday for a couple guilds, geared towards first timers. Just hit up @Drio in game and I'll save you a spot.

Either way just let the group you run with know you are looking for the set. Some players will give you what drops for them, reducing the number of times you need to run it.

Thank you for the offer, but I´m on PC-EU.
And for guildraids. Since I dont do Voice-Chat, structured gameplay is always kind of a challenge.

driosketch

Uviryth wrote: »

driosketch wrote: »

Of course it might be easier to go through a guild. I don't know if you're on PC NA, but I'm doing runs of all three this Sunday for a couple guilds, geared towards first timers. Just hit up @Drio in game and I'll save you a spot.

Either way just let the group you run with know you are looking for the set. Some players will give you what drops for them, reducing the number of times you need to run it.

Thank you for the offer, but I´m on PC-EU.
And for guildraids. Since I dont do Voice-Chat, structured gameplay is always kind of a challenge.

Understandable. Though for all others, with regards to something like Discord, you just need to plug the address into a browser at least so you can listen to instructions. Mic is not required.

mastoeb

Asardes wrote: »

Actually NMG is better in vMA than TFS because:
- it applies the full debuff right away, while TFS takes a few seconds to fully stack penetration, some mobs die from HA+Skill, they move out of your AoE and the proc may not be always reliable; TFS is maybe good in boss rounds, where there are usually few adds and you can keep damage on boss constantly.
- you can have NMG on a single bar, and still get the full benefit since you spend less than 6s on the back bar, so the debuff won't fall off, unlike TFS which starts losing stacks after 1s and will lose at least 4/5 by the time you would have switched to front bar; the only way to combo TFS with VO is to have VO weapons on front bar, and that's a huge grind.

If u have VO weapons TFS is THE way to go

TFS is a buff for yourself and not a debuff for enemies meaning u will have it fully stacked and benefit from the penetration the whole stage aslong as u keep doing dmg

Actually alot of your kills comes from Bow HA + PI and spawn u preped with endless hail trap etc so the time u spend on ur frontbar is not as much as ppl think it is in which case nmg does nothing

TFS just gives plain more pen which is esp nice for classes lacking major fracture like stamplars