VMA Makes no Sense, and Here's Why

FrancisCrawford

I queue for dungeons only as a healer. I'm reasonably good at it. But when I do fail, it's generally because I screwed up situational awareness and died myself.

Also, when I do parse, I don't do well. Looking at the logs, it's clear that I fall far short of firing the maximum number of skills OR light attacks per unit of time.

When I fail in VMA, it's either because I took too much damage or did too little. That's a lot like the problems I have elsewhere in the game.

idk

FrancisCrawford wrote: »

I queue for dungeons only as a healer. I'm reasonably good at it. But when I do fail, it's generally because I screwed up situational awareness and died myself.

Also, when I do parse, I don't do well. Looking at the logs, it's clear that I fall far short of firing the maximum number of skills OR light attacks per unit of time.

When I fail in VMA, it's either because I took too much damage or did too little. That's a lot like the problems I have elsewhere in the game.

When we get more familiar with the mechanics we can be more proactive in approaching them which reduces the damage we take and makes our damage output more effective.

This is the case across the entire game with both getting familiar with specific content but also that many of the mechanics in the game are repeated elsewhere.

Matthew_Galvanus

if it took you 5 hours to reach round 7, then your damage sucks ass or you have all the survivability of wet tissue.

MojaveHeld

To be fair, in my current vMA run, stage 7 has been super buggy today. Lots of ridiculous stuff happening that normally shouldn't. One stage or the other of vMA is often so buggy that it really is often just luck of the draw in there sometimes. ZOS actually fully fixing it so that never occurs is obviously the best solution, but many players have no faith that they could or would be able to successfully do that. So, changing it so that it isn't that big of a deal even when it bugs out is the most realistic solution a lot of players have in their minds. Either that, or acknowledging that it's so buggy that it's not worth putting some of the best weapons in the game in there.

buttaface

There were two kinds of kids in my neck of the woods growing up, the ones who would stand and plug quarters in the Frogger (Ms. Pac Man, Missile Command, Joust) arcade game or console Donkey Kong until they learned it, and the ones who wouldn't. I was one of the latter, but didn't begrudge the former either. Some of them even had brace-wearing, cute groupies at the mall.

Seminolegirl1992

But you're not forced to be tanky. Or even a healer. All dps have at least one ability that heals while they do damage...you don't have to assume all three roles. In fact, VMA is supposed to be accomplished and even easier if you focus more on damage. People wouldn't complete the content if some of the best weapons in game did not drop for it...there would be no point. If you beat it, you absolutely deserve the VMA drops. You don't need bis weapons to be viable, so I think it's silly to suggest that VMA should be anything different from what it is. It's not a trial, it's a solo arena. Most of the bosses have less than one million health...extremely doable. It requires practice and memorization of mechanics.

SidraWillowsky

I've learned to appreciate vMA at this point. It's really helped me develop a sense of ownership over my character. Outside of vMA, I follow the meta Alcast et al. builds pretty religiously. vMA has been different- the build I run in vMA is mine, not in the "it's a super secret and no one can know it" sense, but in the sense that I selected skills, gear, and a setup that works for me, not because Alcast told me to. And that's turned out to be pretty cool and it really adds to the sense of accomplishment that comes with finishing

Ash_In_My_Sujamma

LEAVE VMA ALONE!

redgreensunset

Man this thread is filled with the condescending *** that makes me avoid group play with a vengance. Thanks guys for convincing me I've made the right choice in avoiding yoir arrogant asses.

idk

redgreensunset wrote: »

Man this thread is filled with the condescending *** that makes me avoid group play with a vengance. Thanks guys for convincing me I've made the right choice in avoiding yoir arrogant asses.

Odd to reply in such a condescending manner. More importantly, you clearly have not run with other people much in game if this is how you think group normally act.

EpicRekkoning

VMA is a pain in the rear until you complete it, and then it gets easier and easier. Learning spawn points and priority skills are essential.

I have to disagree with your initial point, it's really nice to have difficult single player end game content. Difficult content should reward top tier gear. And top tier gear should be behind a content wall that you can NOT get carried through.

I understand your frustration. I put in about 100 deaths when CP was capped at 300 before I beat VMA for the first time. It makes that reward worth it.

Try vengeance leach. It's a great 3 piece set that will help with health and resource management. Don't be afraid to use the sigils either. Good luck.

Drdeath20

VMA is a pain for sure but it will make you better at the game in every role.

Target prioritization
Damage avoidance
Proper build and swapping per level
Using mechanics
When to attack vs when to defend
Location and when to move
Knowledge of class strength and weaknesses
Ability to adapt

For sure some damage dealers play this game that dont have ability to finish VMA and it shows.

It gets easier and then at some point you will look back and realize that it made you a better player.

[Deleted User]

Hello everyone,

This post is to let you know that we've felt it necessary to put this thread down, as it seemed to have died some time ago. At this time we'd like to try and keep Draugr threads from roaming around the front page, pushing down newer and more lively threads. Please feel free to continue this discussion on a recent thread under the same subject, or create one if a recent one is not available.

Thank you for understanding!