Is the veteran Maelstrom Arena much more difficult than the normal one?

El_Borracho

@Oreyn_Bearclaw That's right. You can bash her when she turns red though, right?

Oreyn_Bearclaw

El_Borracho wrote: »

@Oreyn_Bearclaw That's right. You can bash her when she turns red though, right?

@El_Borracho

Honestly, I have no idea. I am fairly sure bashing while enraged does nothing, but if you bash while she is red, it might not jump to the next level? Meaning that if careful, you could keep her out of enrage without the stun? That would make sense, but I really don't know. I havent done anything but straight nukes on every boss in VMA other than stage 5 in years, and she was one of the first bosses I started nuking. The stun just sets up so well for a nuke, its hard to play mechanics. Haha

waterfairy

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

El_Borracho wrote: »

Vigarr wrote: »

El_Borracho wrote: »

Vigarr wrote: »

El_Borracho wrote: »

Darrett wrote: »

El_Borracho wrote: »

Vigarr wrote: »

El_Borracho wrote: »

Just to add on to the great advice above, the more you run it, the easier it gets, except for the ####ing poison level and their RNG flowers, but I digress. DEFNITELY look up some guides online, Alcast and Joy's are my 2 favorite. I found a heavy attack petsorc with Undaunted Infiltrator, Infallible Aether, and Maw of the Infernal to be the easiest setup (swap out the Maw for something else on Stage 7). But everyone has their own preference for VMA.

But, above all, pay attention to where adds spawn and when. It is critical for Stage 4 and above. Losing track of important adds (Level 4 Sentries, Level 5 Troll Breaker, Level 6 Hoarvor, Level 7 Archers, Level 9 Narkynaz) is the easiest way to get overwhelmed and die.

You will hate it more than anything until you beat it. Then you'll keep doing it and wonder why you thought it was impossible.

I had a harder time with stage 6 then 7 trying to keep track of everything and getting the boss stun to pop but I play a harder way of being zoomed in close with vanilla red AoEs and whatnot

I play 3rd person and turned the "stupid" from red into bright pink. The color change helps immensely.

For a while 6 was my hardest stage until I found kiting adds in the middle, dropping AOEs in the middle and staying on top of the hoarvors was the key. Keeping all but one obelisk clear until the final boss is all you need to do, then burn that spider down as fast as possible.

I found 6 easier when I stopped trying to activate the obelisk stuns; keeping it one away from activating gives you a lot more breathing room so missing a web spinner doesn’t result in an instant death, and the actual stun doesn’t really provide much benefit.

Agree about the stun being a bit overrated, but it is enough of a breather to drop your ultimate and all of your DOTs to set up for the fight. You can easily kill her without it, its just become part of the routine for me.

it's been awhile so correct me if wrong but if you don't activate that stun doesn't she get increasing armor and damage reduction along with increased attack damage? I remember wailing on her armored form just to burn the last bit of hp she had left

One of her attacks, I think the spit, increases in strength and slows you down significantly until it kills you or the adds and her kill you. If you have high enough burn, the stun doesn't matter as much. If you have lower burn, you need the stun and the sigil to overcome that timer.

I remember the enraged 1 shot mech but I could've sworn she had super armor too during that phase unless they changed it. I gotta run it soon to see...maybe it's even easier now and I've been avoiding it for no reason

I think you're right. Haven't made it to the enraged in a while. I'll also have to go back and see.

@Vigarr @El_Borracho

The spider daedra that she spawns spit at you and are the source of the snare, which can get pretty nasty, making it hard to play the hoarvor mechanic. If not going for a nuke, these need to be taken out.

She also does enrage as you suggested. Her personal spit which does damage will get stronger and stronger (eventually a one shot), and I believe her resistances go up as well. She flashes red as her enrage status increases. The hoarvor stun mechanic will reset her enraged status back to baseline.

So theatrically, if you follow the mechanics, you can play the fight indefinitely. If you dont play the mechanic and go for a straight burn, it does become a true DPS check because she will ultimately one shot you with her spit. You can certainly just nuke her without stunning her, its decent amount of time before she will one shot you, and a good nuke can kill her while stunned.

That boss fight played perfectly goes something like this:

1. Start with 4/5 uncovered. Usually there is a hoarver that spawns between each round.

2. Light attack the hoarvor to bring it close to you without killing it (careful, they are squishy), and position yourself near the last statue.

3. As portal spawns, load with ground DOTs, and drop ultimate right as she spawns.

4. Kill Hoarvor either on top of last statue, or kill and throw it to the last one, she will immediately be stunned.

5. Nuke your face off, and you should be able to kill before the stun wears off.

If it doesnt, you probably have a lurcher you need to deal with, spawns at 50%, kill it and execute boss. If boss is not in execute range, play it safe. Kill lurcher, and follow the hoarver mechanic and repeat.

Sure you both know that, but OP is about to enter a world of suck. haha.

Also, now I want to go run VMA for the first time in like 2 years.

ha yea it's been a long time for me too so now I want to give it another go soon...good tips btw

Caligamy_ESO

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Typical Computer Desk after your first clear.

I don't think that's Powerade anymore..

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Caligamy_ESO wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Typical Computer Desk after your first clear.

I don't think that's Powerade anymore..

@Caligamy_ESO
The more I look at that pic, the worse it gets. I dont even want to know what is all over the walls.. LMAO.

Asardes

I do it whenever it's weekly on my Stamina DKs on PC-EU and PC-NA respectively, because I have guaranteed extra drop from leaderboard. For some reason people don't play DK that much in solo arenas. On NA I have far less time to play so I picked an easier to get setup which combines crafted and dropped gear. It has all buffs, debuffs, strong healing and high penetration:
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Special:EsoBuildData?id=308736 You can use Handing's Rage or maybe Diamond's Victory instead of New Moon Acolyte and it will probably work just as well.

SickleCider

Versispellis wrote: »

It took me a few months to do my first vMA clear. That was just last year iirc. Now I have Flawless Conquerer, a huge pile of perfected mauls and axes and have the luxury of lamenting the apparent non-existence of any kind of perfected destro staff.

When people say it gets easier it really do be like that.

I know this isn't about me but after I made this post I went into vMA and got my inferno staff. Complaining works!

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Versispellis wrote: »

Versispellis wrote: »

It took me a few months to do my first vMA clear. That was just last year iirc. Now I have Flawless Conquerer, a huge pile of perfected mauls and axes and have the luxury of lamenting the apparent non-existence of any kind of perfected destro staff.

When people say it gets easier it really do be like that.

I know this isn't about me but after I made this post I went into vMA and got my inferno staff. Complaining works!

I still dont have a perfected bow. When we first had to do the Perfected grind, I got back to back to back infernos. After 10 runs I think I had 6 of them. Oh RNG. At original VMA launch, I was swimming in Restos and Bows before I got a destro. Go figure.

Glad you got that extra spell pen for your back bar though.

PancakeHead

Vet Maelstrom is really hard for the majority of people the first time. I think it took me hundreds of soul gems to finally get a clear the first time and maybe twenty runs to get an inferno staff at the time. I stopped playing for a little over a year and came back maybe three months ago. I got very lucky, getting the perfected bow on my first run and perfected inferno on my second. Still, I died several times on the Rink of Frozen Blood and Vault Umbrage, which seems to be the main problem areas for a lot of players.

You may want to consider using a magicka templar or make sure your skills provide health back. Magplar isn't bad because you can spam puncturing sweep for a lot of it.

I would definitely encourage you to be patient. It's the type of thing that can lead to gamer rage and if you feel it coming on I would take a break.

Mitaka211

Yea it's a lot harder, even though the first half of it is only to decieve you and make you think you are doing really well.
I remember the first time i cleared it I had to free my entire day to set myself for the task. Felt really good, even though I sucked. But I still remember how I did the first arena , then the second then the third and how cocky I started feeling because I did not die but then it happened and MA planted my face into the dirt and draged my pride trough the sand. Haven't managed to get it without dying though, but my life has been too good lately I think it's about time I ruined it.

Girl_Number8

fetito666 wrote: »

Hello!

Is the veteran Maelstrom Arena much more difficult than the normal one? I am a stamina DK.

Can I do one part of the arena a day and then continue the next day? Does the game pause my progress?

Thank you!

You just need to know the mechanics. VMA is mechanic heavy and good DPS will help bypass some.

VMA is easy and there are plenty of builds out there if you don’t know how to make your own. Every stage has a guide, so just find those. The more you play it, you will start to finding some pretty handy tips and tricks.

Certain add-ons help greatly with changing gear for the best scores. Not sure if they are still working but check....

NMA is very easy but VMA is as well. If you mess up the mechanics it is far less forgiving.

Good luck and post an update when you clear it.... 😊

waterfairy

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Versispellis wrote: »

Versispellis wrote: »

It took me a few months to do my first vMA clear. That was just last year iirc. Now I have Flawless Conquerer, a huge pile of perfected mauls and axes and have the luxury of lamenting the apparent non-existence of any kind of perfected destro staff.

When people say it gets easier it really do be like that.

I know this isn't about me but after I made this post I went into vMA and got my inferno staff. Complaining works!

I still dont have a perfected bow. When we first had to do the Perfected grind, I got back to back to back infernos. After 10 runs I think I had 6 of them. Oh RNG. At original VMA launch, I was swimming in Restos and Bows before I got a destro. Go figure.

Glad you got that extra spell pen for your back bar though.

you were swimming in vMA rewards at launch?? What were you a solid v10?

fetito666

Is there also a Maelstrom Maul? Is is worth it for a Stamina DK?

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Vigarr wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Versispellis wrote: »

Versispellis wrote: »

It took me a few months to do my first vMA clear. That was just last year iirc. Now I have Flawless Conquerer, a huge pile of perfected mauls and axes and have the luxury of lamenting the apparent non-existence of any kind of perfected destro staff.

When people say it gets easier it really do be like that.

I know this isn't about me but after I made this post I went into vMA and got my inferno staff. Complaining works!

I still dont have a perfected bow. When we first had to do the Perfected grind, I got back to back to back infernos. After 10 runs I think I had 6 of them. Oh RNG. At original VMA launch, I was swimming in Restos and Bows before I got a destro. Go figure.

Glad you got that extra spell pen for your back bar though.

you were swimming in vMA rewards at launch?? What were you a solid v10?

Gosh, now I am questioning my memory. Pretty sure we had CP and Vet Ranks were gone (VR werent removed until may 2016, but we had a CP cap of 501 at VMA launch) by the time VMA launched. I do remember that VMA launched on my 35th birthday (Nov 2015), and I got my first clear right before (or right after) Christmas that year. I did have 5 VR 16 toons when we made the switch (1 of each of the 4 OG classes and 2 NBs).

Edit: Just checked, CP was March 2015, VMA was Nov 2015. VR and VMA weapons never overlapped (also not technically true, they scaled gear to CP before VR were completely removed). We had CP, just not a lot of it when it first came out (501 cap at VMA release). Pretty sure I was around 300 when I first cleared. Haha. And back then, Annulment wasn't a proper shield. It only worked against magic attacks (and for some reason, the spinning blades in stage 2, thank vivec for that).

Jaimeh

Yeah, the difference is pretty stark, and normal doesn't really prepare you for vet. This can sometimes dampen expectations when you first jump in, but no one should let that discourage them because vMA has a steep learning curve but once you get it, it quickly becomes much more manageable.

MrBrownstone

Veteran Maelstrom Arena has much, much better rewards. It is also the best place in the game to grind xp.

No, I don't mean the perfected weapons, I mean how it makes you a much better player after completing it. It forces you to learn the fundamental mechanics of the game effectively, like blocking, dodge rolling, dealing good damage and having strong self healing. You just come out as a whole different player.

And by xp I don't mean in-game xp, I mean the actual experience. You literally gain experience about how the game is meant to be played. Before completing the arena, you haven't been playing the game at all.

waterfairy

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Vigarr wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Versispellis wrote: »

Versispellis wrote: »

It took me a few months to do my first vMA clear. That was just last year iirc. Now I have Flawless Conquerer, a huge pile of perfected mauls and axes and have the luxury of lamenting the apparent non-existence of any kind of perfected destro staff.

When people say it gets easier it really do be like that.

I know this isn't about me but after I made this post I went into vMA and got my inferno staff. Complaining works!

I still dont have a perfected bow. When we first had to do the Perfected grind, I got back to back to back infernos. After 10 runs I think I had 6 of them. Oh RNG. At original VMA launch, I was swimming in Restos and Bows before I got a destro. Go figure.

Glad you got that extra spell pen for your back bar though.

you were swimming in vMA rewards at launch?? What were you a solid v10?

Gosh, now I am questioning my memory. Pretty sure we had CP and Vet Ranks were gone by the time VMA launched. I do remember that VMA launched on my 35th birthday (Nov 2015), and I got my first clear right before (or right after) Christmas that year. I did have 5 VR 16 toons when we made the switch (1 of each of the 4 OG classes and 2 NBs).

Edit: Just checked, CP was March 2015, VMA was Nov 2015. VR and VMA weapons never overlapped. We had CP, just not a lot of it when it first came out. Pretty sure I was around 300 when I first cleared. Haha. And back then, Annulment wasn't a proper shield. It only worked against magic attacks (and for some reason, the spinning blades in stage 2, thank vivec for that).

ha impressive that you remember. I thought vMA was older then CP but the only thing I'm certian about is I wasn't ready for it at release lol...couldn't even get past the traps on stage 2 at the time

Girl_Number8

fetito666 wrote: »

Is there also a Maelstrom Maul? Is is worth it for a Stamina DK?

@fetito666

Yes, there is a Maul, Battleaxe, and a GreatSword. It depends what content you are doing....

It was rather very good during the proc meta for a nice combo but now I would say the Vate 2h is much more viable.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Vigarr wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Vigarr wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Versispellis wrote: »

Versispellis wrote: »

It took me a few months to do my first vMA clear. That was just last year iirc. Now I have Flawless Conquerer, a huge pile of perfected mauls and axes and have the luxury of lamenting the apparent non-existence of any kind of perfected destro staff.

When people say it gets easier it really do be like that.

I know this isn't about me but after I made this post I went into vMA and got my inferno staff. Complaining works!

I still dont have a perfected bow. When we first had to do the Perfected grind, I got back to back to back infernos. After 10 runs I think I had 6 of them. Oh RNG. At original VMA launch, I was swimming in Restos and Bows before I got a destro. Go figure.

Glad you got that extra spell pen for your back bar though.

you were swimming in vMA rewards at launch?? What were you a solid v10?

Gosh, now I am questioning my memory. Pretty sure we had CP and Vet Ranks were gone by the time VMA launched. I do remember that VMA launched on my 35th birthday (Nov 2015), and I got my first clear right before (or right after) Christmas that year. I did have 5 VR 16 toons when we made the switch (1 of each of the 4 OG classes and 2 NBs).

Edit: Just checked, CP was March 2015, VMA was Nov 2015. VR and VMA weapons never overlapped. We had CP, just not a lot of it when it first came out. Pretty sure I was around 300 when I first cleared. Haha. And back then, Annulment wasn't a proper shield. It only worked against magic attacks (and for some reason, the spinning blades in stage 2, thank vivec for that).

ha impressive that you remember. I thought vMA was older then CP but the only thing I'm certain about is I wasn't ready for it at release lol...couldn't even get past the traps on stage 2 at the time

I only remember because it was either the worst (or best) birthday present I got that year. I was just getting into Vet trials at that point. I walked in on my Mag DK in pretty much a trial setup, and I don't even think I made it out of the first round. I got absolutely wrecked. Haha. I actually never even tried normal until I had done many vet clears.

I then came back about a month later on my mageblade. Made it to stage 5 on first try, stage 6 on second try, and the final boss on the third try. Back then your progress didnt save. Then I switched to mag sorc and after a very long and painful day on the last boss, I cleared, but barely (thank you OG Overload). Then went back on my Nightblade a few weeks later and it felt like easy mode. Once you do it, you have it. Especially early on, there was just no margin for error on the last boss. Once you figure out the dance, it can be repeated on any class/spec, but certainly, some are easier than others.

Asardes

Veteran Maelstrom was introduced in November 2015 with the Orsinium DLC
Veteran ranks were eliminated in late May 2016 and One Tamriel scaled the whole game in October 2016

Veteran Maelstrom was really hard at launch for a couple of reasons
- the game was much newer so people hadn't figured out rotations and builds to the same extent they have now
- most people had low CP - 300-400 on average for the top players, the cap was 501 as of Imperial City DLC
- the itemization was almost non-existant at CP160 - your options were basically Hunding/Julianos crafted armor, some of the few monster sets available at the time and either random weapons or the weapons you got from the arena itself, which weren't even a guaranteed drop at that time if I remember correctly; dropped sets capped at CP140.
So at most you could do around 25k DPS, which meant you had to do every mechanic.

Grandchamp1989

They are two different beasts.
But after you beat vMA for the first time, not only will your hands likely shake, but you will be a much better player.

Herr_Flocke

yes it is. While nMA is the lovely kitten, vMA is the full grown tiger

Doesn't mean though the tiger cannot be handled. It can. For first clears, I recommend getting really aquainted with the mechanics and use one of the many standard builds for vMA out there. And make good use of the sigils. Your first clear will most likely not be one for the leaderboards anyway

It gets much easier though the more often you clear it on vet, as you remember the spawn points and have internalized the mechanics and priorities, so you can act much more proactively and are much less likely to get overwhelmed. Evenually you also get a good feeling which mechanics you can ignore with your build and which you should follow.

One word of caution though. Even on vet, the first 4 arena's are more or less a breeze. Real trouble for most starts on the 5th arena (rink of frozen blood), only to get possibly worse on arena 6 and 7. Arena 8 then is for regaining some confidence , while the last arena is really able to bring you over the edge, bc it is rather long, and you have to take care of a few things simultaneously most of the time.

All in all great fun

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Asardes wrote: »

Veteran Maelstrom was introduced in November 2015 with the Orsinium DLC
Veteran ranks were eliminated in late May 2016 and One Tamriel scaled the whole game in October 2016

Veteran Maelstrom was really hard at launch for a couple of reasons
- the game was much newer so people hadn't figured out rotations and builds to the same extent they have now
- most people had low CP - 300-400 on average for the top players, the cap was 501 as of Imperial City DLC
- the itemization was almost non-existant at CP160 - your options were basically Hunding/Julianos crafted armor, some of the few monster sets available at the time and either random weapons or the weapons you got from the arena itself, which weren't even a guaranteed drop at that time if I remember correctly; dropped sets capped at CP140.
So at most you could do around 25k DPS, which meant you had to do every mechanic.

Man, now I am struggling with memory. I think everything you said is correct. In my head, they introduced CP and removed VR at the same time, but now I think about it, pretty definitely sure that's not how it went down. I think for a good chunk of 2015, we had both in play. 1.6 was beginning of 2015 and that introduced CP, and by may of 2016, they had removed VR entirely.

Now I think about it, it makes sense. Because I definitely used grinding some toons to VR16 to also get CP. Pretty sure at the outset, you accumulated CP once you hit VR1.

EDIT: Just looked at the Orsinium patch notes, dated Oct 2015.

"At this time, you will not be able to allocate more than 501 Champion Points.

-Anyone that has over 501 Champion Points when the Orsinium DLC game pack is published will have all their Champion Points reset, and will only be able to allocate 501 Champion Points.

-You will not lose any points over 501, you just won’t be able to spend them.

-You can continue to earn Champion Points over the cap, but won’t be able to spend them until the next time the cap is raised."

It all fits now. My last post had some bad info, I made some edits. Getting to old to remember all this. Haha

Herr_Flocke

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Now I think about it, it makes sense. Because I definitely used grinding some toons to VR16 to also get CP. Pretty sure at the outset, you accumulated CP once you hit VR1.

that is how I remember it too. It was a parallel system for a few months.

Malmer

the difficult between normal and vet is high but vet isnt that hard anymore than it was released.
on our powercreep high dps builds can skip all mechs and burn all bosses ist just routine clear vma

ZOS_Icy

Greetings,

As this thread was originally created in July 2021, we decided to close it down. In many cases, it's better to create a new thread on a topic that you want to discuss as opposed to bumping one that is rather old.

Thank you for your understanding.