My StamNB WAS incapable of clearing the Frozen Rink in VetMA

ArchMikem

I've tried years ago to zero success. I've tried again tonight, after years of playing, build refinement, combat mechanic familiarizing etc. I still get overwhelmed with the frozen water damage, ranged attacks, knockbacks, fears. To think I somehow did this on a StamSorc years ago. I thought the Defense Sigil would help but what else must I do.

Update: Welp I did it, check my post further down.

fizl101

when I did it on my stamplar I slotted silver leash on that round to pull the ranged adds to me to kill them off. Its still my least favorite round in the whole arena though

Braffin

Try to prioritize adds (they spawn based on boss-HP) and don't do too much dps on the boss while on the first and second platform. Then nuke her at third platform.

And don't try to fight in the water or running after the troll. So some ranged dmg is adviseable (although you don't need much, as the trolls die rather quick).

Galeriano

I will brag a bit and say that a week ago I did vMA naked (no armor), with no CP and no sigils on both sorc and nb with sorc's run having only 3 deaths. Base power creep is now really high so it's just a matter of practice to complete vMA. Certain items can also boost Your chances a lot. On stam nb I would reccomend starting with vicious ophidian set and pale order mythic. Reviving barrier ulti from alliance war skill line is a great tool for "oh crap" moments. Now You can also boost Your defense by slotting dark cloak to gain minor protection passively on both bars.

Necrotech_Master

Galeriano wrote: »

I will brag a bit and say that a week ago I did vMA naked (no armor), with no CP and no sigils on both sorc and nb with sorc's run having only 3 deaths. Base power creep is now really high so it's just a matter of practice to complete vMA. Certain items can also boost Your chances a lot. On stam nb I would reccomend starting with vicious death set and pale order mythic. Reviving barrier ulti from alliance war skill line is a great tool for "oh crap" moments. Now You can also boost Your defense by slotting dark cloak to gain minor protection passively on both bars.

why use VD in pve? lol, that proc only works on players

ArchMikem

Braffin wrote: »

Try to prioritize adds (they spawn based on boss-HP) and don't do too much dps on the boss while on the first and second platform. Then nuke her at third platform.

And don't try to fight in the water or running after the troll. So some ranged dmg is advisable (although you don't need much, as the trolls die rather quick).

Does the Boss break the platforms based on missing Health or a timer?

KlauthWarthog

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

Galeriano wrote: »

I will brag a bit and say that a week ago I did vMA naked (no armor), with no CP and no sigils on both sorc and nb with sorc's run having only 3 deaths. Base power creep is now really high so it's just a matter of practice to complete vMA. Certain items can also boost Your chances a lot. On stam nb I would reccomend starting with vicious death set and pale order mythic. Reviving barrier ulti from alliance war skill line is a great tool for "oh crap" moments. Now You can also boost Your defense by slotting dark cloak to gain minor protection passively on both bars.

why use VD in pve? lol, that proc only works on players

Probably meant to say Vicious Serpent/Ophidian.

Braffin

All based on missing health in there, except the trolls (they are on timer).

Try to avoid using DoTs while learning the HP-thresholds, it's easier to see this way.

Necrotech_Master

ArchMikem wrote: »

Braffin wrote: »

Try to prioritize adds (they spawn based on boss-HP) and don't do too much dps on the boss while on the first and second platform. Then nuke her at third platform.

And don't try to fight in the water or running after the troll. So some ranged dmg is advisable (although you don't need much, as the trolls die rather quick).

Does the Boss break the platforms based on missing Health or a timer?

i believe the 3rd platform is on a timer if you dont kill the boss fast enough it will still destroy the last platform and you would be basically SoL at that point

Dagoth_Rac

The adds, and the ice smash, come at certain boss health percentages. DPS really, really slow. As soon as you see adds, ignore boss and kill them. Back to boss and very slow DPS. Except final ice sheet. That is a DPS burn.

Trolls are not at health percentages. They keep coming no matter what. A ranged sticky DoT is often enough to kill them. They are pretty squishy.

Start on island with speed sigil. Then move to island with health sigil. Then move to island with shield and damage sigils.

Take shield sigil immediately upon reaching final island, so you can ignore ranged adds. Then grab damage sigil and burn her.

Galeriano

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

Galeriano wrote: »

I will brag a bit and say that a week ago I did vMA naked (no armor), with no CP and no sigils on both sorc and nb with sorc's run having only 3 deaths. Base power creep is now really high so it's just a matter of practice to complete vMA. Certain items can also boost Your chances a lot. On stam nb I would reccomend starting with vicious death set and pale order mythic. Reviving barrier ulti from alliance war skill line is a great tool for "oh crap" moments. Now You can also boost Your defense by slotting dark cloak to gain minor protection passively on both bars.

why use VD in pve? lol, that proc only works on players

Oh lol my bad I meant vicious ophidian.

Galeriano

ArchMikem wrote: »

Braffin wrote: »

Try to prioritize adds (they spawn based on boss-HP) and don't do too much dps on the boss while on the first and second platform. Then nuke her at third platform.

And don't try to fight in the water or running after the troll. So some ranged dmg is advisable (although you don't need much, as the trolls die rather quick).

Does the Boss break the platforms based on missing Health or a timer?

First and second are on a HP treshold (75% and 50%) and last one will be destroyed after certain time period.

El_Borracho

@ArchMikem Congrats. Now have fun with Level 7 on a stamina character.

ArchMikem

So this is stupid, but I beat it after another attempt.

Ice Giant lady still threw me around several times until I decided to start the fight on another platform saving the one near the shield sigil for last. I barely beat her on low health and an empty Stamina bar, but it was barely enough. Then all the rounds after that were easy compared. Even the final round? I only had to go up top once, AND never got to use the spectral explosion.

El_Borracho wrote: »

@ArchMikem Congrats. Now have fun with Level 7 on a stamina character.

The Umbrage arena with the exploding plants? Oh yeah, those got me a couple times, but when I realized Venom Arrow interrupts the Boss's shout AoE I had surprisingly little trouble.

And weirdly enough the Igneous Cistern's final Boss fight was a cake walk. Completely ignore while breaking the wards, then dps burn unopposed a couple times? If it weren't for the Ice arena I'd maybe keep going back for more runs if not just for the weapons. I got a two handed Axe this time, like I'm ever gonna use that.

SeaGtGruff

ArchMikem wrote: »

The Umbrage arena with the exploding plants? Oh yeah, those got me a couple times, but when I realized Venom Arrow interrupts the Boss's shout AoE I had surprisingly little trouble.

I'll have to look into that, because that's where I get stuck. Thank you for mentioning it!

pelle412

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

The Umbrage arena with the exploding plants? Oh yeah, those got me a couple times, but when I realized Venom Arrow interrupts the Boss's shout AoE I had surprisingly little trouble.

I'll have to look into that, because that's where I get stuck. Thank you for mentioning it!

I believe the intended way to do this fight is to kill one argonian minder and leave the other alive. When the boss starts his shout, the minder creates a shield you can stand under taking no damage. Interrupting the boss enrages him. It may not be an issue these days with the massive power creep but 6-7 years ago I couldn't burst him down without doing the intended mechanics.

Necrotech_Master

pelle412 wrote: »

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

The Umbrage arena with the exploding plants? Oh yeah, those got me a couple times, but when I realized Venom Arrow interrupts the Boss's shout AoE I had surprisingly little trouble.

I'll have to look into that, because that's where I get stuck. Thank you for mentioning it!

I believe the intended way to do this fight is to kill one argonian minder and leave the other alive. When the boss starts his shout, the minder creates a shield you can stand under taking no damage. Interrupting the boss enrages him. It may not be an issue these days with the massive power creep but 6-7 years ago I couldn't burst him down without doing the intended mechanics.

when i was clearing vMA on my mag warden, i always ended up interrupting him because i had enough aoe that both of the adds would end up dying, it was easier for me to deal dmg in melee range too with arctic blast and iceheart lol, netch purge is enough to remove the bleed he does

this was several years ago now too (somewhere between 2017 and 2019), i never actually knew people would stand under the shield and DPS him, ive literally always interrupted the boss lol

ArchMikem

pelle412 wrote: »

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

The Umbrage arena with the exploding plants? Oh yeah, those got me a couple times, but when I realized Venom Arrow interrupts the Boss's shout AoE I had surprisingly little trouble.

I'll have to look into that, because that's where I get stuck. Thank you for mentioning it!

I believe the intended way to do this fight is to kill one argonian minder and leave the other alive. When the boss starts his shout, the minder creates a shield you can stand under taking no damage. Interrupting the boss enrages him. It may not be an issue these days with the massive power creep but 6-7 years ago I couldn't burst him down without doing the intended mechanics.

Oh is that what happens? I noticed toward the end of the fight I had a REALLY strong DoT on me, had to grab the shield sigil and spam Vigor.

Necrotech_Master

ArchMikem wrote: »

pelle412 wrote: »

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

The Umbrage arena with the exploding plants? Oh yeah, those got me a couple times, but when I realized Venom Arrow interrupts the Boss's shout AoE I had surprisingly little trouble.

I'll have to look into that, because that's where I get stuck. Thank you for mentioning it!

I believe the intended way to do this fight is to kill one argonian minder and leave the other alive. When the boss starts his shout, the minder creates a shield you can stand under taking no damage. Interrupting the boss enrages him. It may not be an issue these days with the massive power creep but 6-7 years ago I couldn't burst him down without doing the intended mechanics.

Oh is that what happens? I noticed toward the end of the fight I had a REALLY strong DoT on me, had to grab the shield sigil and spam Vigor.

his one bite attack applies a bleed (the attack where he slightly staggers you and then bites) (if you manage to ccbreak and block before he does the bite, the bleed is not applied, but it does require some quick reaction to do that)

if you dont have a purge, the bleed does hurt a good bit, it was actually causing issues on my mag dk when i tried to do vMA with that character

tincanman

Old but classic vMA guide, still good(by @Joy_Division ):

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/381682/joys-new-and-improved-guide-to-beating-maelstrom-arena/p1

I think around the time it was written stam nb was one of the easiest classes for completion, but I may be wrong about that.

pelle412

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

when i was clearing vMA on my mag warden, i always ended up interrupting him because i had enough aoe that both of the adds would end up dying, it was easier for me to deal dmg in melee range too with arctic blast and iceheart lol, netch purge is enough to remove the bleed he does

this was several years ago now too (somewhere between 2017 and 2019), i never actually knew people would stand under the shield and DPS him, ive literally always interrupted the boss lol

Yeah when I was a noob I had a Stam DK so I tried to learn the designer's intended way. Kill one minder instantly as they spawn in different spots, leave the other and while under the shield you can go to town with ST target burst and ults.

Necrotech_Master

pelle412 wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

when i was clearing vMA on my mag warden, i always ended up interrupting him because i had enough aoe that both of the adds would end up dying, it was easier for me to deal dmg in melee range too with arctic blast and iceheart lol, netch purge is enough to remove the bleed he does

this was several years ago now too (somewhere between 2017 and 2019), i never actually knew people would stand under the shield and DPS him, ive literally always interrupted the boss lol

Yeah when I was a noob I had a Stam DK so I tried to learn the designer's intended way. Kill one minder instantly as they spawn in different spots, leave the other and while under the shield you can go to town with ST target burst and ults.

i think i still usually just interrupt him, because i usually have enough aoe most of the time both menders just die on their own lol

outside of the bleed i dont really notice much of a difference between the enrage and non-enrage dmg

SeaGtGruff

pelle412 wrote: »

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

The Umbrage arena with the exploding plants? Oh yeah, those got me a couple times, but when I realized Venom Arrow interrupts the Boss's shout AoE I had surprisingly little trouble.

I'll have to look into that, because that's where I get stuck. Thank you for mentioning it!

I believe the intended way to do this fight is to kill one argonian minder and leave the other alive. When the boss starts his shout, the minder creates a shield you can stand under taking no damage. Interrupting the boss enrages him. It may not be an issue these days with the massive power creep but 6-7 years ago I couldn't burst him down without doing the intended mechanics.

Massive power creep isn't a thing for me in ESO because I go for "tanky wet noodle" solo builds, so the old-fashioned way of clearing MA from the pre-ppwer-creep days should be perfect for me!

Necrotech_Master

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

pelle412 wrote: »

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

ArchMikem wrote: »

The Umbrage arena with the exploding plants? Oh yeah, those got me a couple times, but when I realized Venom Arrow interrupts the Boss's shout AoE I had surprisingly little trouble.

I'll have to look into that, because that's where I get stuck. Thank you for mentioning it!

I believe the intended way to do this fight is to kill one argonian minder and leave the other alive. When the boss starts his shout, the minder creates a shield you can stand under taking no damage. Interrupting the boss enrages him. It may not be an issue these days with the massive power creep but 6-7 years ago I couldn't burst him down without doing the intended mechanics.

Massive power creep isn't a thing for me in ESO because I go for "tanky wet noodle" solo builds, so the old-fashioned way of clearing MA from the pre-ppwer-creep days should be perfect for me!

if your tanky then you really dont need to worry about the enrage on that boss lol

on my mag warden i didnt really notice for sure (on that toon im sitting at 32k armor in 5 pc of light armor so at one point i was still hitting 20-25k dps, but due to all the changes for wardens im usually doing like 15-20k now)

El_Borracho

@ArchMikem I just hate the RNG on that level, and with a stam character the sprinting while spamming Vigor when a flower gets you can be enough to do you in, especially when one of the pools fails to spawn. The boss isn't tough at all under the normal mechanics. Other than the flowers, the only thing you really have to worry about are the archers.