VMA Poison arena (7)

Trundik

[snip] I try to do no death there and I sometimes it works to pass further but usually I die at 7th arena just because poison mushrooms spawn under my feet, or under sorcerer's shield, or exactly when troll stuns e.t.c. I know this arena better than my fingers already, but this unpredictable thing just random blows up everything. For example today mushrooms spawned under my feet 3(!) times in same round, so there was no green zone to cleanse at all. Besides I use ps4, and sometimes it just lags in time...

To Hell it. As I said its not about skill, but luck. Push it lower in ladder. Player shouldn't spend 30-40 minutes before entering this mess to find out that God of Random doesn't want to give his blessing this time. This arena could be easy swapped with 5-th or 6-th.

[edited for rude/insulting comment]

Bushido2513

Trundik wrote: »

[snip] I try to do no death there and I sometimes it works to pass further but usually I die at 7th arena just because poison mushrooms spawn under my feet, or under sorcerer's shield, or exactly when troll stuns e.t.c. I know this arena better than my fingers already, but this unpredictable thing just random blows up everything. For example today mushrooms spawned under my feet 3(!) times in same round, so there was no green zone to cleanse at all. Besides I use ps4, and sometimes it just lags in time...

To Hell it. As I said its not about skill, but luck. Push it lower in ladder. Player shouldn't spend 30-40 minutes before entering this mess to find out that God of Random doesn't want to give his blessing this time. This arena could be easy swapped with 5-th or 6-th.

[edited for rude/insulting comment]

It seems random but it's actually fairly skill based. The timing for the spawn that makes all the pools pop is static so you can know when to kill it. Also when the sorc spawns and is ready for the shields you just run get the one to near death then plot an empty course to the other while you kill the first.

See the poison blooms are somewhat magnetic to your position so the trick is to stand for a sec to let the game think that's where it should try to target you then make your way over to the second sorc and you will see there won't be as much of a chance of it spawning under their bubble.


At this point I can do it without really even thinking but I've run the arena just that many times and having increased access to dps and heals over the years makes it too easy actually.

Bat

You can trigger the flowers to release their poison by moving close to them. Do that, then move quickly away from them before they erupt, and you'll have fewer moments where you become locked in by them. Also keep in mind that you are allowed to use any and all sigils for the Flawless achievement, these might help you in tight spots.

Ishtarknows

Most annoying part of this round is when you're poisoned just as the boss dies and the cleansing pools disappear. The poison doesn't die when the boss does but you will. I've been caught out on no death runs a few times with this.

jaws343

One thing to note about any solo content. If you are able to pass the round, you are able to no death it. Since, by it's very nature, in order to pass the round you cannot die once.

Dagoth_Rac

Yes, the flowers spawn in random spots, but with preparation and situational awareness, you can have a lot of control over when the flowers spawn. And timing is more important than location. People think the problem is where the flower spawns. But problem is when the flower spawns. Don't let flowers spawn during shield phase.

Strategy:

Stand where there are no flowers.

Kill the venom caller from ranged when he spawns (bow, class skill, staff, whatever). But not too quickly! You want him to explode existing flowers, then die, then you can watch where new flowers spawn and find a new safe zone to center yourself in. Flowers will occasionally "expire" causing a new flower to replace it. This happens much less if you have fresh flowers after each venom caller. It seems like the flowers have to be around quite a while without exploding before they spontaneously explode. So you sort of want flowers to explode, but just make sure it is during a part of fight where you have freedom of movement.

When the shield minders spawn, see if either is near a flower. If yes, kill that one and move to the other for scream phase. Otherwise, if melee, kill one furthest from boss, so you can get under a shield that allows melee damage. If ranged, kill the one closest to boss. This way you don't have to worry about splash damage from lightning staff or AoE damage from Volley or Arrow Spray accidentally killing minder and his shield. If you have pets, make sure they are focused on boss, not the minder.

If both minders are near a flower (very rare), move farther away. They want to be a certain distance from you and will move to get closer to you, moving them away from flower.

Finally, consider chugging an unstoppable + speed potion right before scream ends. The shield minder likes to do a CC/knockdown when not channeling shield. Having the scream finish, the boss run to you and start slamming and chomping you, minder doing lightning attacks, a venom caller potentially spawning, all while you are on the ground and unable to react, is bad news. Unstoppable + speed will help you avoid knockdown and quickly position yourself for safely killing minder after scream phase ends.

I can't remember the last time a flower spawned under me during scream phase. This is not foolproof, but it makes it really unlikely you will get hit with a flower during shield phase.

Dr_Con

the shout phase happens immediately after a sorc dies, try to kill one after a venomcaller dies and the other sorc isn't near a mushroom.

Trundik

Thanks for reply.

But i want to make accent that my suggestion is about to place 7th arena with its mechanics to 5-th or 6th position in ladder. You see that its won't change anything in ways how to complete it, but will affect amount of time waste it takes to get there, because actually all your attempts is filtered by this one.

Vulkunne

Not a fan of VMA.

I would rather eat a jar of pennies than go back there.

Trundik

I just failed again, but this time at 9 arena, because exactly when I entered it the game started to freez at bar switches. Made short video about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTNb4--EqqE
Some heaven's trolling on me.

But just in case if someone knows is it safe to use /reloadui at vma? Maybe it counts as if player left location or something?

update: I sent ticket to support and they answered that /reloadui is safe to use. But also they said that freezes at 9 arena could be related to some known bug with necromancers enemy. They say it will be fixed next patch.

akdave0

For umbrage arena, I always watch for the summoner. There are two shield enemies, kill the one closest to mushrooms, the other is usually not close to them since there are usually only four that spawn. Use the haste sigil and zoom past them to get them to explode at the start of the round.

Hapexamendios

I haven't been able to get past the Ice Arena (5) yet. The poison sounds even worse.

Elvenheart

Hapexamendios wrote: »

I haven't been able to get past the Ice Arena (5) yet. The poison sounds even worse.

The poison one IS worse. It is my least favorite round in the entire arena, and it keeps me from doing this arena more often. I still don’t have all the sets in my sticker book full yet. The other areas are so fun! 🧙‍♂️

Trundik

Hapexamendios wrote: »

I haven't been able to get past the Ice Arena (5) yet. The poison sounds even worse.

Well I can show you how I do 5th boss. I made this clip for guildmate who stack there too. But must admit that I use vma set there (the one that gives shield) with brawl as spammable - this way is very forgiving since shielding is huge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzd8AdSCIYQ

In general you must move between ice platforms in order, where platform with shield and sword runes is last one. Its not necessary and sometimes trolls turn it in complete mess, but if you looking for best way this is it.

fizl101

Ice level is my nemesis for no death runs. I don't mind the poison level, but as a stamplar ice level is a pig lol

Trundik

fizl101 wrote: »

Ice level is my nemesis for no death runs. I don't mind the poison level, but as a stamplar ice level is a pig lol

At ice one you can control everything by skills, moves and equip. For example, before I used essence thief with sul-xan torment - its good and I will be back for it for solo play, but time to time I failed ice arena with this setup because a lot of damage incoming at 4th stage. So I changed ET for shielding set and now I never die at 5th. But you see, there is nothing you can change for 7th arena, that will effect mushrooms spawn when monk appears. I stick to green zones yes. but as i wrote at beginning even 2 zones used sometimes isn't enough.

mocap

The only way i see to adequately nerf this arena, is to make this poison effect purgeable via skills like Purge.

Blood_again

@Dagoth_Rac has made an awesome guide.

I could add just one thing. If it is hard to manage with flowers on mage-shield phase, you can choose killing both shield minders. Just interrupt the boss screaming and remember he's enraged after it.
It takes a bit more time as a result, because you skip the phase "stand and parse". But I found it easier for flowers control. All my flawless were made this way before achievements were melted.

Trundik

Blood_again wrote: »

@Dagoth_Rac has made an awesome guide.

I could add just one thing. If it is hard to manage with flowers on mage-shield phase, you can choose killing both shield minders. Just interrupt the boss screaming and remember he's enraged after it.
It takes a bit more time as a result, because you skip the phase "stand and parse". But I found it easier for flowers control. All my flawless were made this way before achievements were melted.

for how long he will be enraged? (to be clear)

The only way i see to adequately nerf this arena, is to make this poison effect purgeable via skills like Purge.

It will break whole mechanic.

Blood_again

Trundik wrote: »

for how long he will be enraged? (to be clear)

Not sure. I feel it about 10-15 seconds.
Also be ready to interrupt again. After enrage he can scream again before next minders spawn.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Blaming stage 7 on RNG that simply cant be avoided shows a lack of knowledge about the mechanics. Yes, sometimes you can get really unlucky, but if it is happening every time, you are simply doing it wrong. A few things you need to know.

1. Proactively triggering the mushrooms to keep the center of the room and where the boss spawns clear is really helpful.
2. A good heal can go a long way in buying you some time if you do get poisoned, it should not always be a death sentence.
3. There are two shield adds the spawn. You need to make the right choice as to which one to kill. Usually one option is better than the other (Kill the one near mushrooms). This is probably the most important thing.
4. If one does spawn under the shield, usually there is a safe spot, it is very rare a mushroom covers the entire shielded area.
5. If there is not a safe spot, then you need to interrupt the boss and kill him.
6. Best defense is a good offense. If there is any boss you want to take out quickly, its this one. Get your ground dots on the boss before he spawns, and do your best to put a dent in him before the shield phase. He doesnt move when he screams, so once under the shield something like a destro ult or perhaps a single target ult like the bow ult are very strong against him. If it is taking you more than one shield phase to bring him down, your DPS needs frankly needs some work. Not saying you cant clear or get flawless with lower DPS, but, the shield phase is certainly the most difficult aspect of the mechanic. No reason to do more than once.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

fizl101 wrote: »

Ice level is my nemesis for no death runs. I don't mind the poison level, but as a stamplar ice level is a pig lol

Ice level is definitely the place most people get really stuck the first time. Once I figured it out, it was not my biggest pain point when going for flawless on new class/specs, but ironically, it was my biggest pain point when I started trying to do nuke strats on the bossed for score runs, and round 4 of stage 5 was really bad when doing Thrassian runs. The ranged damage could drop you really fast with all the Thrassian debuffs. That was what really taught me just how good a dodge roll is for mitigating multiple ranged attackers.

If not going for score, the shield sigil trivializes stage 5. Also, if running a melee spec, chains/silver leash is a must IMO.

fizl101

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

fizl101 wrote: »

Ice level is my nemesis for no death runs. I don't mind the poison level, but as a stamplar ice level is a pig lol

Ice level is definitely the place most people get really stuck the first time. Once I figured it out, it was not my biggest pain point when going for flawless on new class/specs, but ironically, it was my biggest pain point when I started trying to do nuke strats on the bossed for score runs, and round 4 of stage 5 was really bad when doing Thrassian runs. The ranged damage could drop you really fast with all the Thrassian debuffs. That was what really taught me just how good a dodge roll is for mitigating multiple ranged attackers.

If not going for score, the shield sigil trivializes stage 5. Also, if running a melee spec, chains/silver leash is a must IMO.

Yeah, silver leash is my friend on that level. Arenas don't float my boat so i generally only go in there during double drop events, but that level particularly annoys me lol

Janni

I know that many people here suggest a lot of advice for the flower but despite understanding the mechs and following through on them it still really is a lot of luck. Ping times and connection stability are massively important in this stage and if you don't have really great internet there is just about no way of knowing exactly where your toon is on the server side. I've had times where the flowers spawned seemingly on the opposite side of the room. I also can't count the number of times I've been hit by them despite being far far away, though sometimes this also helps me when I DON'T get hit even though I ran right through them. And trigger the flowers to pop is basically just gambling as you cannot be sure when the server will register you running past them. I've had time where I ran through a flower 5 or 6 times and it didn't pop!

So yeah, I'm gonna say it was a bad move on zos to design such a mechanic that didn't take into consideration the fact that their game runs on the internet.

Trundik

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Blaming stage 7 on RNG that simply cant be avoided shows a lack of knowledge about the mechanics. Yes, sometimes you can get really unlucky, but if it is happening every time, you are simply doing it wrong. A few things you need to know.

Healing skill does slow down you on your way to green zone and basically is useless unless you can heal a LOT and even then its like 1-2 seconds benefit.

That "sometimes" part happens to me to often.
Today again it happened. Two Priestesses came, I ran and killed one of them, mushroom caller appeared exactly in time when priestess died and surprise - mushroom spawns under my feet, another priestess starts to make shield, but I had to run in cleansing zone. I made it, but died from roar, because zone was far away from priestess. And that is how it works, because mushroom caller spawn is not related to events on battlefield and her mushrooms spawn is random too.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

Janni wrote: »

I know that many people here suggest a lot of advice for the flower but despite understanding the mechs and following through on them it still really is a lot of luck. Ping times and connection stability are massively important in this stage and if you don't have really great internet there is just about no way of knowing exactly where your toon is on the server side. I've had times where the flowers spawned seemingly on the opposite side of the room. I also can't count the number of times I've been hit by them despite being far far away, though sometimes this also helps me when I DON'T get hit even though I ran right through them. And trigger the flowers to pop is basically just gambling as you cannot be sure when the server will register you running past them. I've had time where I ran through a flower 5 or 6 times and it didn't pop!

So yeah, I'm gonna say it was a bad move on zos to design such a mechanic that didn't take into consideration the fact that their game runs on the internet.

That is theoretically true for any AOE one shot. Sure desyncs happen, but if we eliminated any mechanic where a desync can get you killed, the game would be mind-numbingly easy.

Trundik wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Blaming stage 7 on RNG that simply cant be avoided shows a lack of knowledge about the mechanics. Yes, sometimes you can get really unlucky, but if it is happening every time, you are simply doing it wrong. A few things you need to know.

Healing skill does slow down you on your way to green zone and basically is useless unless you can heal a LOT and even then its like 1-2 seconds benefit.

That "sometimes" part happens to me to often.
Today again it happened. Two Priestesses came, I ran and killed one of them, mushroom caller appeared exactly in time when priestess died and surprise - mushroom spawns under my feet, another priestess starts to make shield, but I had to run in cleansing zone. I made it, but died from roar, because zone was far away from priestess. And that is how it works, because mushroom caller spawn is not related to events on battlefield and her mushrooms spawn is random too.

There are ways to move and heal. You can dodge cancel a burst heal in the direction of the pool. You can proactively cast a HOT when the summoner spawns. You can grab the healing sigil at the beginning of the shield phase. You can play the entire fight while never being a few steps from the pool. I wont say that there isnt some element of RNG to that stage, but I had FC on over a dozen character before AWA. 95% of stage 7 deaths are on the fault of the player, not RNG.

Necrotech_Master

for me its very rare the plants spawn under me

i always stand in an area as far from plants as possible, and prioritize killing the venomcallers as they come up (they may burst all of the plants once before i kill them)

the areas where the plants pop up is a little random, but if you dont move around as much then your less likely to step in one

mocap

Trundik wrote: »

The only way i see to adequately nerf this arena, is to make this poison effect purgeable via skills like Purge.

It will break whole mechanic.

DKs Magma Shell breaks down a lot of mechanics, and?

Rogue_WolfESO

Damn, there are so many players unable to complete vMSA maybe ZoS should allow grouping 4 like vDSA, you know, in the interests of accessibility.

Oreyn_Bearclaw

mocap wrote: »

Trundik wrote: »

The only way i see to adequately nerf this arena, is to make this poison effect purgeable via skills like Purge.

It will break whole mechanic.

DKs Magma Shell breaks down a lot of mechanics, and?

An ultimate breaking a mechanic and an insta cast skill breaking a mechanic are completely different things.

Rogue_WolfESO wrote: »

Damn, there are so many players unable to complete vMSA maybe ZoS should allow grouping 4 like vDSA, you know, in the interests of accessibility.

4 people in VMA would be laughable. I would not be opposed to two or a companion, as long as it was a separate leaderboard.

Casul

Trundik wrote: »

Hapexamendios wrote: »

I haven't been able to get past the Ice Arena (5) yet. The poison sounds even worse.

Well I can show you how I do 5th boss. I made this clip for guildmate who stack there too. But must admit that I use vma set there (the one that gives shield) with brawl as spammable - this way is very forgiving since shielding is huge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzd8AdSCIYQ

In general you must move between ice platforms in order, where platform with shield and sword runes is last one. Its not necessary and sometimes trolls turn it in complete mess, but if you looking for best way this is it.

I just finally cleared vVH using a setup with master 2h, plague break, and hexos ward. Those shields really come in handy.