VMA, And why you should not give up for good

Datthaw

So I'm writing this since it is orsinium event with double drops in maelstrom.

Vma, this solo trial was he bane of my existence forever. Like forever. When I first started to run it I couldn't get past frozen rink, I did not have enough dps to burn the boss before he smashed last platform. I died alot, like spent 500 gems probably died alot. So I give up.

About a year goes by and I decide to try it again only on magnb instead of magdk. I make it all the way to final level last boss. Massive improvement from my last performance. However I died, and I died, and died, and died. I spend maybe another 500 gems trying to kill the first final boss. After this defeat I did not run vma for another year, until this event.

So this event starts and I decide to give it another try, I still had the quest so I go right back to final lvl. Would you believe it I clear final level with only 1 death to boss. I am pumped at this point, adrenaline is up, and I decide to run it again. An hour and a half later I have cleared vma again with maybe 10 deaths. Since event has started I have cleared it 7 times and each time it gets easier and easier. I look back at how much of a struggle I had and can't help but laugh, I don't even find it hard anymore, and it caused me so much anguish in the past.

So the point I'm making is don't give up. It will get better and easier if you are having trouble. I have faith in you.

Ragged_Claw

Congrats! I'm still plugging away at it, stuck on the Vault of Umbrage atm which everyone says is an easier round lol. I'm just making stupid mistakes and getting spaghetti fingers, so I'm taking another break from it. I am determined to do it though and I love reading stories like yours because it gives me hope!

TheDarkoil

Ragged_Claw wrote: »

Congrats! I'm still plugging away at it, stuck on the Vault of Umbrage atm which everyone says is an easier round lol. I'm just making stupid mistakes and getting spaghetti fingers, so I'm taking another break from it. I am determined to do it though and I love reading stories like yours because it gives me hope!

Vault of umbrage is the reason I can't get a flawless in there, can literally walk through all the other stages, some reason though now I find it easier to bash the boss, got it down to 5 deaths but that's still 5 too many.

Juhasow

Vet maelstrom becamed simply easy content because power creep goes up with every year when vMA dufficulty stays the same. If You have max CP and proper gear You are most likely going to finish it anyway after few tries even if You're weak at the game. Experienced players can clear it literally naked just with weapons+jewelery or with 0 CP spended and brum as a weapon. That would be impossible 2 years ago when vMA had some difficulty level.

Ragebull

I can complete every dungeon and trial in the game but this stupid thing is impossible for me with my stamblade. I’ve only had the last stage left for months but I abandoned the quest a few days ago because I’m never going back, it’s just not fun content imo

boombazookajd

Datthaw wrote: »

So I'm writing this since it is orsinium event with double drops in maelstrom.

Vma, this solo trial was he bane of my existence forever. Like forever. When I first started to run it I couldn't get past frozen rink, I did not have enough dps to burn the boss before he smashed last platform. I died alot, like spent 500 gems probably died alot. So I give up.

About a year goes by and I decide to try it again only on magnb instead of magdk. I make it all the way to final level last boss. Massive improvement from my last performance. However I died, and I died, and died, and died. I spend maybe another 500 gems trying to kill the first final boss. After this defeat I did not run vma for another year, until this event.

So this event starts and I decide to give it another try, I still had the quest so I go right back to final lvl. Would you believe it I clear final level with only 1 death to boss. I am pumped at this point, adrenaline is up, and I decide to run it again. An hour and a half later I have cleared vma again with maybe 10 deaths. Since event has started I have cleared it 7 times and each time it gets easier and easier. I look back at how much of a struggle I had and can't help but laugh, I don't even find it hard anymore, and it caused me so much anguish in the past.

So the point I'm making is don't give up. It will get better and easier if you are having trouble. I have faith in you.

As someone who was stuck on stage 6 for a good week, I completely agree. I refuse to lose to the game. Now I just have to figure out my way past these stupid exploding poison plants

NordSwordnBoard

Lag deaths are less crushing after you beat the arena a bunch of times.

Beardimus

Congrats dude. I say the same to many who get frustrated. But you only know when you know

ReachHalo

Yep everyone. Don't give up. Watch, learn, die, learn, die, try something different, die, learn...

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Bottom line is that you WILL finish it. Maybe not in 30 minutes, 30 hrs or even 30 weeks.

But you will complete it eventually.

Going for flawless though... as i currently am... well that is a whole different world of s**t and frustration. @Ragged_Claw how is Vault of Umbrage stage the 'easy' one??? Easily the hardest and the one that screws my flawless chances

Gedalya

Exact same experience. I will be on run number 4 today. I had so much trouble on level 5 on my Mag Sorc and level 6 on my Mag DK. I finally started studying walkthroughs and also found a great Sorc build and it literally was like night and day with all the new info I had and changes I made to my build. At this point I expect to push through 3 to 6 more runs before the event ends easily.

Gigglez

Awesome work. It's is amazing how after you complete vMA for the first time you suddenly have the confidence boost because you KNOW that you can do this. There is no question anymore. And the next run is so much easier.

Not a cake walk but the weight is lifted and your attitude is better and you don't question your ability every death.
You still make mistakes and need to evaluate your performance to improve but it's an accomplishment.

Sure game changes over time have an effect but both negative and positive. It's still challenging and it makes you a better player, more aware and plenty of the mechanics that you learn to deal with are found in trials and dungeons.

Anyone who looks down on someone for completing it because they've already done it is a small person trying to make themselves look big in front of others. Weak character. IMHO

Ragged_Claw

ReachHalo wrote: »

@Ragged_Claw how is Vault of Umbrage stage the 'easy' one??? Easily the hardest and the one that screws my flawless chances

A couple of guides I've read reckon that this round is easier than some because the mechanics are more obvious I guess. I think maybe that 'easy' statement has dented my confidence lol. I get exactly what you are supposed to do but there are so many horrible ways to die... Glad to hear that it's not just me!

CultOfMMO

as someone who cleared vMA within a weekend start to finish as a cp274 khajit stamblade running 5 NMG, 5 viper, 2 leki well before orsinium was even a year old, i'll never understand ppl's struggle with this solo trial -_-

but yea dont give up...but also, think about whats really killing you and how you can overcome it

taking a break to clear your mind then come back and repeat the same mistakes is not gona get you anywhere.

Datthaw

Good to hear alot of people have had the same experience as i have.

boombazookajd wrote: »

Datthaw wrote: »

So I'm writing this since it is orsinium event with double drops in maelstrom.

Vma, this solo trial was he bane of my existence forever. Like forever. When I first started to run it I couldn't get past frozen rink, I did not have enough dps to burn the boss before he smashed last platform. I died alot, like spent 500 gems probably died alot. So I give up.

About a year goes by and I decide to try it again only on magnb instead of magdk. I make it all the way to final level last boss. Massive improvement from my last performance. However I died, and I died, and died, and died. I spend maybe another 500 gems trying to kill the first final boss. After this defeat I did not run vma for another year, until this event.

So this event starts and I decide to give it another try, I still had the quest so I go right back to final lvl. Would you believe it I clear final level with only 1 death to boss. I am pumped at this point, adrenaline is up, and I decide to run it again. An hour and a half later I have cleared vma again with maybe 10 deaths. Since event has started I have cleared it 7 times and each time it gets easier and easier. I look back at how much of a struggle I had and can't help but laugh, I don't even find it hard anymore, and it caused me so much anguish in the past.

So the point I'm making is don't give up. It will get better and easier if you are having trouble. I have faith in you.

As someone who was stuck on stage 6 for a good week, I completely agree. I refuse to lose to the game. Now I just have to figure out my way past these stupid exploding poison plants

You can do it man, that stage is tough. You have to keep an eye out on the perimeter for the spawn that channels the explosions. If you catch it you can kill them before they really start blowing up. Also if you're a mag toon moving shield to front bar helped alot. You get the Poison affliction and just shield up while you haul butt to the purge.

Datthaw

Ragged_Claw wrote: »

Congrats! I'm still plugging away at it, stuck on the Vault of Umbrage atm which everyone says is an easier round lol. I'm just making stupid mistakes and getting spaghetti fingers, so I'm taking another break from it. I am determined to do it though and I love reading stories like yours because it gives me hope!

Yeah that one is tough man. Last boss I found I can stack boss on one of the shield minders and dps them both to kill one shield minder. I take cover in the other one while he screams, while still keeping up dps. After scream ends I stack boss on remaining shield minder, grab damage sigil, and burn them both with ult.

Sheezabeast

I'm stuck on the ice stage When I was running it, I was on a stam DK, before the sustain nerfs happened...now I'm worried I'm never going to finish it

Datthaw

Juhasow wrote: »

Vet maelstrom becamed simply easy content because power creep goes up with every year when vMA dufficulty stays the same. If You have max CP and proper gear You are most likely going to finish it anyway after few tries even if You're weak at the game. Experienced players can clear it literally naked just with weapons+jewelery or with 0 CP spended and brum as a weapon. That would be impossible 2 years ago when vMA had some difficulty level.

Idk man I mean dps does make it easier but what kills people are all the 1 shot mechanics, alot of mechanics to learn. Experienced players can clear this easy because they know the mechanics.

Datthaw

Sheezabeast wrote: »

I'm stuck on the ice stage When I was running it, I was on a stam DK, before the sustain nerfs happened...now I'm worried I'm never going to finish it

I wish I could give you some advice but I don't play stam toons that level comes down to a dps race on the last boss. I'm sure someone here could help you out with a stam spec though, and there are always guides

Juhasow

Datthaw wrote: »

Juhasow wrote: »

Vet maelstrom becamed simply easy content because power creep goes up with every year when vMA dufficulty stays the same. If You have max CP and proper gear You are most likely going to finish it anyway after few tries even if You're weak at the game. Experienced players can clear it literally naked just with weapons+jewelery or with 0 CP spended and brum as a weapon. That would be impossible 2 years ago when vMA had some difficulty level.

Idk man I mean dps does make it easier but what kills people are all the 1 shot mechanics, alot of mechanics to learn. Experienced players can clear this easy because they know the mechanics.

These mechanics are getting much easier with more CP since You simply take less dmg and deal more dmg. Since vMA is prepared for players with average 300 cp having 750 cp there is just making it easy. Also dying to one shot mechanics is more of a l2p issue. There isnt many of extremly one shotting mechanics there most of them just require thinking what someone is doing and keeping defense upplus coming there properly prepared gear/potion/food/stat wise. If someone with cp higher then lets say 500 is dying there repeatadly to the same mechanic that is huge l2p issue since there are even sigils on every stage of arena making it easy mode to complete and preventing from most of tough mechanics.

BuddyAces

Datthaw wrote: »

Sheezabeast wrote: »

I'm stuck on the ice stage When I was running it, I was on a stam DK, before the sustain nerfs happened...now I'm worried I'm never going to finish it

I wish I could give you some advice but I don't play stam toons that level comes down to a dps race on the last boss. I'm sure someone here could help you out with a stam spec though, and there are always guides

Actually what w

Sheezabeast wrote: »

I'm stuck on the ice stage When I was running it, I was on a stam DK, before the sustain nerfs happened...now I'm worried I'm never going to finish it

On last boss only use the sigil things when adds spawn to help with them. When you learn which set of adds pop next, its going to be easier. Ignore the boss and take them out first. The shield and healing ones will make a world of difference.

Soleya

Datthaw wrote: »

Sheezabeast wrote: »

I'm stuck on the ice stage When I was running it, I was on a stam DK, before the sustain nerfs happened...now I'm worried I'm never going to finish it

I wish I could give you some advice but I don't play stam toons that level comes down to a dps race on the last boss. I'm sure someone here could help you out with a stam spec though, and there are always guides

Stage 5 boss isn't a dps race. The boss breaks the islands at 75% and 45% health, so take your time till final island. Final island is a DPS race, but you can do it with 10k dps. So take your time on the first 2 islands and make sure you clear the adds (especially ranged ones)

Start on the starting island, grab speed sigil when boss hits 75. Go to island with health and grab that. When boss hits 45, move to the last island and grab both sigils, ignore adds (defense sigil will reflect caster abilites killing themselves.) Nuke boss.

Save ultimate for final island.

21:33 I do the above strategy.
https://youtu.be/q6-TUFPPDK8?t=1293

The only issue here is if the troll runs to the wrong island, you may kite the boss to the wrong one and mess up the order, so be careful of that.

After you complete, thank @Joy_Division for the guide that helped me beat that stage.

I haven't beaten it on Stam DK so I don't have any DK specific advice. But I have done it on Stam Sorc, NB and Warden. Heavy attack a lot, potions, and the speed sigil give you regen.

Agenericname

Juhasow wrote: »

Vet maelstrom becamed simply easy content because power creep goes up with every year when vMA dufficulty stays the same. If You have max CP and proper gear You are most likely going to finish it anyway after few tries even if You're weak at the game. Experienced players can clear it literally naked just with weapons+jewelery or with 0 CP spended and brum as a weapon. That would be impossible 2 years ago when vMA had some difficulty level.

If you're running it naked with a brum and jewelry with no CP allocated, where's the power creep coming from? How did the difficulty deflate?

Sheezabeast

Thank you for the advice and encouragement

Soleya

Agenericname wrote: »

Juhasow wrote: »

Vet maelstrom becamed simply easy content because power creep goes up with every year when vMA dufficulty stays the same. If You have max CP and proper gear You are most likely going to finish it anyway after few tries even if You're weak at the game. Experienced players can clear it literally naked just with weapons+jewelery or with 0 CP spended and brum as a weapon. That would be impossible 2 years ago when vMA had some difficulty level.

If you're running it naked with a brum and jewelry with no CP allocated, where's the power creep coming from? How did the difficulty deflate?

Agreed. The arena gets easier cause the more you do the the better you are at it. You go from being reactionary to preemptive.

My first vMA complete took 8 hours, my 2nd one a few days later took 2 hours. That wasn't power creep, I didn't suddenly get 4 times more powerful from the powered 1h axe I got.

Diddly_D_Potatoes

Once you get that first clear, it becomes so much easier. You have the psychological edge in knowing that you can beat it rather than the flagellation it can sometimes feel like in learning VMA.

I had six toons stuck on the final boss for about a month before I had my first clear. After I finally cleared it on one character, I was able to do it on the others without too much difficulty.

I had a big problem with shaking hands before my first clear. Not sure if it was adrenaline or I was too excited or keen to kill the boss, it really impacted my playing ability. After the first time, it didn't affect me as much.

Did anyone else have problems with shaking hands? If not, are you a lizard person?

Agenericname

Diddly_D_Potatoes wrote: »

Once you get that first clear, it becomes so much easier. You have the psychological edge in knowing that you can beat it rather than the flagellation it can sometimes feel like in learning VMA.

I had six toons stuck on the final boss for about a month before I had my first clear. After I finally cleared it on one character, I was able to do it on the others without too much difficulty.

I had a big problem with shaking hands before my first clear. Not sure if it was adrenaline or I was too excited or keen to kill the boss, it really impacted my playing ability. After the first time, it didn't affect me as much.

Did anyone else have problems with shaking hands? If not, are you a lizard person?

I'm on stage 9 now. That happened at stage 5 for me. By far that has been the most challenging round for me.

I spent more time there than anywhere else, combined...until 7, I spent a little time there as well. I had the boss down to the 3rd platform several times and died. I read the guide @Soleya referenced before I went to bed. Woke up, made a pot of coffee, went back and used that exact strategy and much to my surprise I completed the entire stage in 2 attempts. At the end my hands were shaking.

I left there, went straight through stage 6 in an hour or so, to the boss at stage 7. I struggled with guy, but I havent been nearly that frustrated or anxious since. After that it become a matter of when, not if.

We'll see what happens in 9.

Keileon

This makes me want to take another shot at normal Maelstrom; I'm not really the best player and use a lot of off-meta builds because I usually care more about thematics than function. I'm CP500-something and the last two times I tried to clear Maelstrom I got stuck at the Frozen Rink.

Between my off-meta StamBlade and my healer MagSorc without enough DPS to clear that level quickly I just could not progress. This was a few hundred CP ago though so it's probably worth another shot.

boombazookajd

Keileon wrote: »

This makes me want to take another shot at normal Maelstrom; I'm not really the best player and use a lot of off-meta builds because I usually care more about thematics than function. I'm CP500-something and the last two times I tried to clear Maelstrom I got stuck at the Frozen Rink.

Between my off-meta StamBlade and my healer MagSorc without enough DPS to clear that level quickly I just could not progress. This was a few hundred CP ago though so it's probably worth another shot.

Tbh, you should be breezing through nMA like it was nothing at CP500ish.

Diddly_D_Potatoes wrote: »

I had a big problem with shaking hands before my first clear. Not sure if it was adrenaline or I was too excited or keen to kill the boss, it really impacted my playing ability. After the first time, it didn't affect me as much.

Did anyone else have problems with shaking hands?

I had this issue on stage 6. I was often so worked up that I would just start hamfisting the buttons and then die. I've learned to relax a lot more and have gone off to do other things like solo skyreach and world bosses, learning to play solo more.

rumple9

My experience is same as Op. VMA is simply a brilliant piece of content. Just wish the weapons were better

Juhasow

Agenericname wrote: »

Juhasow wrote: »

Vet maelstrom becamed simply easy content because power creep goes up with every year when vMA dufficulty stays the same. If You have max CP and proper gear You are most likely going to finish it anyway after few tries even if You're weak at the game. Experienced players can clear it literally naked just with weapons+jewelery or with 0 CP spended and brum as a weapon. That would be impossible 2 years ago when vMA had some difficulty level.

If you're running it naked with a brum and jewelry with no CP allocated, where's the power creep coming from? How did the difficulty deflate?

I see learn to read issue. I said quote "Experienced players can clear it literally naked just with weapons+jewelery OR with 0 CP spended and brum as a weapon". You know what "or" means ?

HiLyfe808

dude i feel you pain i had similar experiences when i first started. Hated the ice stage but that's awesome you got your clear and then some!!! Hope VMA blesses you with all the weapons you need.