Finding VR hard without using the cheap cookie cutter builds...

dsalter

not exactly enjoyable when your forced to go Pulsar build or bat spam etc, just so you can level efficiantly, end up being hit to hard to level

Nickdorlandb16_ESO

This is not true, be creative

Grao

So... I am a sorcerer and I use the destruction staff... And I have pulsar... But I rarely use it. I am currently Vr5. Lving in the veteran levels is harder because the content wants you to partner up with other players to go through it ^^

Malirkeit

When leveling from VR1 - 10 I leveled with 3 different builds on my DK. The first one was a light armor destruction staff build. The second was a Vampire Bash and Drain build, and the third was a pure tank build that I was using for dungeons. All three of these builds were able to solo VR content without any issue.

You just need to realize that VR content isn't meant to be a mindless pull, kill, procede way of leveling like 1 - 50 were. You have to pay attention to the mobs you're pulling and pay attention to blocks and interrupts.

Lupinemw

Yeah I doubt any sane person would look at my build and go with it. So I'm so far from Cookie Cutter its a laugh.

The first 50 levels were a training guide, to get you to understand your class. the vet stuff is the masterclass. heck I go and do PvP for a relax after a run in the Vet stuff.

Pewpie

Malirkeit wrote: »

When leveling from VR1 - 10 I leveled with 3 different builds on my DK. The first one was a light armor destruction staff build. The second was a Vampire Bash and Drain build, and the third was a pure tank build that I was using for dungeons. All three of these builds were able to solo VR content without any issue.

You just need to realize that VR content isn't meant to be a mindless pull, kill, procede way of leveling like 1 - 50 were. You have to pay attention to the mobs you're pulling and pay attention to blocks and interrupts.

DK... doesn't matter what build you use :P Try a NB for a challange...

Yankee

I actually use Elemental Ring. Guess I am doing it wrong.

Jaxom

I've started picking up skills I never thought of using. Mass Hysteria for a NB makes any PvE fight a joke. You just need to play around with skills and see what works for you. I used to do the stealth, concealed weapon combo. After hitting Vr 2, that stopped working effectively. Now as a VR 4, I just pick mobs off 1 at a time while fearing everyone else. It's effective but slow. I don't die anymore, which is a plus....

superfluke

When facing adversity an intelligent player may asses the tools available and try to create a build that allows him the most efficient way to overcome said adversity.

Since there is more than one intelligent person playing this game, the optimum builds become cookie cutter. Its no big secret, the same skills are available to everyone.

You certainly have the choice to follow whatever build is fun for you. If something isn't fun because so many others are using it then you are facing a separate issue.

As a sorc I went to Pulsar aoe around vr 3 or so, but I also have nine other skill bars macro'd and I use them all every day.

FENGRUSH

dsalter wrote: »

not exactly enjoyable when your forced to go Pulsar build or bat spam etc, just so you can level efficiantly, end up being hit to hard to level

Why dont you share your build and thoughts behind it ?

darkdruidssb14_ESO

Yankee wrote: »

I actually use Elemental Ring. Guess I am doing it wrong.

Depends on the build. I personally like Elemental Ring on my Sorc running my Critical Surge/Inner Light build. DoTs can give more health over time as each damage tick can crit. Pulsar is really only good for knocking that first 13% off on the first hit in my opinion.

Bromburak

Jaxom wrote: »

I've started picking up skills I never thought of using. Mass Hysteria for a NB makes any PvE fight a joke. You just need to play around with skills and see what works for you. I used to do the stealth, concealed weapon combo. After hitting Vr 2, that stopped working effectively. Now as a VR 4, I just pick mobs off 1 at a time while fearing everyone else. It's effective but slow. I don't die anymore, which is a plus....

As long you play a magicka strong build there is no problem with that.
Stealth opener, spell crits and stuns is the way to go no matter if Vet 2 or Vet 10.

If i am in trouble because some groups kinda tricky I stay range. Anyway 80% of Vet Content i still play stealth opener to one shot first target or at least start stun lock chains. My health never drops lower than 75% and i always have magicka.

If your concealed opener fails use Soul Harvester , the ulti is ready after 2-3 Mobs anyway and gives you guaranteed one shots for 80% of Vet content including low bosses.

NB Vet content is easy going and for mission objectives you just run through with shadow disguise. Everyone else needs to deal with every single mob, you don't have to.

Veshal

Sorc Tank here with Mitigation and CC heavy build. Works fine. V9

elwhy

Bromburak wrote: »

NB Vet content is easy going and for mission objectives you just run through with shadow disguise. Everyone else needs to deal with every single mob, you don't have to.

I'm still respeccing and finding a "perfect" NB build for me in veteran, but this is one of my favorite things about NB. I love that I can just disappear and run past mobs that I don't wanna deal with to just get crap xp/loot.

alexj4596b14_ESO

Veshal wrote: »

Sorc Tank here with Mitigation and CC heavy build. Works fine. V9

How are you improving your mitigation?

Jaxom

Bromburak wrote: »

Jaxom wrote: »

I've started picking up skills I never thought of using. Mass Hysteria for a NB makes any PvE fight a joke. You just need to play around with skills and see what works for you. I used to do the stealth, concealed weapon combo. After hitting Vr 2, that stopped working effectively. Now as a VR 4, I just pick mobs off 1 at a time while fearing everyone else. It's effective but slow. I don't die anymore, which is a plus....

As long you play a magicka strong build there is no problem with that.
Stealth opener, spell crits and stuns is the way to go no matter if Vet 2 or Vet 10.

If i am in trouble because some groups kinda tricky I stay range. Anyway 80% of Vet Content i still play stealth opener to one shot first target or at least start stun lock chains. My health never drops lower than 75% and i always have magicka.

If your concealed opener fails use Soul Harvester , the ulti is ready after 2-3 Mobs anyway and gives you guaranteed one shots for 80% of Vet content including low bosses.

NB Vet content is easy going and for mission objectives you just run through with shadow disguise. Everyone else needs to deal with every single mob, you don't have to.

Yeah. I'm close to HP and Magicka cap. I would say it works for some mob packs but I've been coming across packs of 4 now (VR 4 EastMarch). The pack contains 3 mobs and a tiger is summoned mid fight (which doesn't unsummon). The fight is near impossible just using that technique. I've been pairing my stealth opener with Mass Hysteria and my life is much better now.

I've also been coming across Trolls which this just doesn't work for me. I've been enjoying Swallow Soul, with Crippling Grasp and Mass Hysteria.

Bromburak

Jaxom wrote: »

Bromburak wrote: »

Jaxom wrote: »

I've started picking up skills I never thought of using. Mass Hysteria for a NB makes any PvE fight a joke. You just need to play around with skills and see what works for you. I used to do the stealth, concealed weapon combo. After hitting Vr 2, that stopped working effectively. Now as a VR 4, I just pick mobs off 1 at a time while fearing everyone else. It's effective but slow. I don't die anymore, which is a plus....

As long you play a magicka strong build there is no problem with that.
Stealth opener, spell crits and stuns is the way to go no matter if Vet 2 or Vet 10.

If i am in trouble because some groups kinda tricky I stay range. Anyway 80% of Vet Content i still play stealth opener to one shot first target or at least start stun lock chains. My health never drops lower than 75% and i always have magicka.

If your concealed opener fails use Soul Harvester , the ulti is ready after 2-3 Mobs anyway and gives you guaranteed one shots for 80% of Vet content including low bosses.

NB Vet content is easy going and for mission objectives you just run through with shadow disguise. Everyone else needs to deal with every single mob, you don't have to.

Yeah. I'm close to HP and Magicka cap. I would say it works for some mob packs but I've been coming across packs of 4 now (VR 4 EastMarch). The pack contains 3 mobs and a tiger is summoned mid fight (which doesn't unsummon). The fight is near impossible just using that technique. I've been pairing my stealth opener with Mass Hysteria and my life is much better now.

I've also been coming across Trolls which this just doesn't work for me. I've been enjoying Swallow Soul, with Crippling Grasp and Mass Hysteria.

For that scenario i like volcanic rune on all classes and this actually triggers 20% more spell damage too on next attack.

Jaxom

Bromburak wrote: »

Jaxom wrote: »

Bromburak wrote: »

Jaxom wrote: »

I've started picking up skills I never thought of using. Mass Hysteria for a NB makes any PvE fight a joke. You just need to play around with skills and see what works for you. I used to do the stealth, concealed weapon combo. After hitting Vr 2, that stopped working effectively. Now as a VR 4, I just pick mobs off 1 at a time while fearing everyone else. It's effective but slow. I don't die anymore, which is a plus....

As long you play a magicka strong build there is no problem with that.
Stealth opener, spell crits and stuns is the way to go no matter if Vet 2 or Vet 10.

If i am in trouble because some groups kinda tricky I stay range. Anyway 80% of Vet Content i still play stealth opener to one shot first target or at least start stun lock chains. My health never drops lower than 75% and i always have magicka.

If your concealed opener fails use Soul Harvester , the ulti is ready after 2-3 Mobs anyway and gives you guaranteed one shots for 80% of Vet content including low bosses.

NB Vet content is easy going and for mission objectives you just run through with shadow disguise. Everyone else needs to deal with every single mob, you don't have to.

Yeah. I'm close to HP and Magicka cap. I would say it works for some mob packs but I've been coming across packs of 4 now (VR 4 EastMarch). The pack contains 3 mobs and a tiger is summoned mid fight (which doesn't unsummon). The fight is near impossible just using that technique. I've been pairing my stealth opener with Mass Hysteria and my life is much better now.

I've also been coming across Trolls which this just doesn't work for me. I've been enjoying Swallow Soul, with Crippling Grasp and Mass Hysteria.

For that scenario i like volcanic rune on all classes and this actually triggers 20% more spell damage too on next attack.

Yeah, Volcanic rune is nice as well. I suppose it's a matter of taste. Volcanic throws them around and increases your damage. Mass Hysteria fears them away, snares and reduces their damage. In the end, you get a similar result. I certainly prefer Volcanic rune in PvP on one of my bars.

Ragefist

VR content is hard indeed, however it is much easier than we were promised

I remember ZOS folk stating VR1-5 will be hard and VR6-10 for 2 people.

Its not. Its soloable with no problem (yes I die on regular basis, its perfectly normal in VR8+ content. The lag is often a cause, but diff. as well). I still use same 2 weapons I used whole time, 2h and Bow. I intended to use them for lvling only but I felt in love with the playstyle. Its not exactly cookie-cutter build. I havent seen anyone else using this combo

Yes I had to adapt my playstyle to use it efficently, yes I changed some morphs, use different skills for different scenarions ... but jesus thats the point of the game design. If you expected to use same skills with no spinoff entire game, you should be playing GW2 anyway

Yes it feels different from other mmos, you cant watch TV while grinding, but give it a bit of effort and you may actually grow to like the challenge

dsalter

FENGRUSH wrote: »

dsalter wrote: »

not exactly enjoyable when your forced to go Pulsar build or bat spam etc, just so you can level efficiantly, end up being hit to hard to level

Why dont you share your build and thoughts behind it ?

alot of replies i didnt expect, ok well from what i currently use (i mix it up alittle sometimes) is the storm attack damage + crit healing buf (forgot the name >< ) pulsar, vampire drain(the ulti morph) unstoppable/immovable (the one for heavy armor morph duration) and batswarm for the ulti

sometimes i'll swap bats for soul assault, the storm skill for destructive reach and pulsar with silver leesh. the first build works flawlessly, but if i switch it up, i can rarely handle a situation where theres 2+ mobs.

thing is, build one depresses me since it's just walk in, AoE spam, win, no targetting or anything, build 2 works ok 1v1 but beyond that it gets me killed.

been wanting to experiment with a 2 hand sword n caster combo of abilities but i'm actually terrified i'll be destroyed attempting 1v1 or group clearing with it.

Grao

Ragefist wrote: »

VR content is hard indeed, however it is much easier than we were promised

I remember ZOS folk stating VR1-5 will be hard and VR6-10 for 2 people.

Its not. Its soloable with no problem (yes I die on regular basis, its perfectly normal in VR8+ content. The lag is often a cause, but diff. as well). I still use same 2 weapons I used whole time, 2h and Bow. I intended to use them for lvling only but I felt in love with the playstyle. Its not exactly cookie-cutter build. I havent seen anyone else using this combo

Yes I had to adapt my playstyle to use it efficently, yes I changed some morphs, use different skills for different scenarions ... but jesus thats the point of the game design. If you expected to use same skills with no spinoff entire game, you should be playing GW2 anyway

Yes it feels different from other mmos, you cant watch TV while grinding, but give it a bit of effort and you may actually grow to like the challenge

Couldn't agree more with your post... Vr 5 sorcerer here and yes, I die leveling, but I do most of the content solo. For those having difficulty though, that is all you need to make thing easier... A partner, someone on the same quests you are! You don't need the game to be nerfed... Just need to ask for help. It doesn't kill... It may actually keep your character alive

Drekor

It's no different that any other game. Even if there are 10000 different choices for builds doesn't mean more than a handful are any good and if you balance for the ones that aren't good then you have the case where some builds just blow through content ridiculously easy... which is basically whats happening now that you see NB's and DK's solo'ing VR dungeons.

flintstone

I don't mind the hard fights, but I get a little sick of going all the way back in a dungeon after I die..... and all the mobs have already come back to life! I know I can use a soul gem........ but I only have so many to use.

Some of the mobs come back to life so fast you can't even stop and look at your map.

Grao

flintstone wrote: »

I don't mind the hard fights, but I get a little sick of going all the way back in a dungeon after I die..... and all the mobs have already come back to life! I know I can use a soul gem........ but I only have so many to use.

Some of the mobs come back to life so fast you can't even stop and look at your map.

I will agree that some mobs in this game do respawn a little too fast. That gets me killed sometimes too. As for having to run all the way back in a dungeon... Soulgems aren't that expensive ^^ buy empty ones, farm low level mobs... And you wont need to run back all the time. I try keeping close to one stack of gems in my bag at all times.

Calgrissom

1h/shield Templar V10 Max bow/Destro and resto secondary. This game is wonderful for giving you the option to use and skill into multiple weapon sets. I have yet to find anything I could not solo. Harvesters, Troll and Gargoyles are rough but doable. I did 1-V10 most only using 1h and shield.

Bhakura

flintstone wrote: »

Some of the mobs come back to life so fast you can't even stop and look at your map.

Wish i was you, thanks to bots and spammers i have to wait 10 minutes before i can loot a boss again, dungeon bosses respawn at around 7 minutes, so i either have to wait longer and sit around doing nothing or kill boss again and wait even longer.
try kill everything in the area but that only works for once after its wait wait wait wait wait, pfft.
Dont mind waiting at all, i do mind having an option to kill the boss but if i do i have to wait even longer to loot again.

Do i need to mention how i adore this loot rule?
Fine i could move on and do next stuff, but a dungeon complete achievement is not complete in my book if boss didnt drop anything. So i keep killing and kill it some more untill i know what the loot is, THEN and only then is dungeon complete.

Feidam

I've never used elemental ring/pulsar soloing nor have I become a vampire. There are a lot of options that work for leveling based on your play style. Just have to find them and then refine your tactics. Yes this is even true for vet content. I would also suggest being fluid with your set up so can change tactics when needed. Don't expect anyone set up to work optimally 100% of the time.

Sihnfahl

flintstone wrote: »

I know I can use a soul gem........ but I only have so many to use.

Only so many? I run around with 60 full 50+ soul gems (mostly for PvP and item recharge, since I die so infrequently in PvE, and the free res satisfies that) and 10 empty.

What are you spending your gold on?

Oh, as vet leveling goes - almost V8 here, and I mix up my skills - I balance stamina and magicka abilities on my bar, changing them out depending on the opponent types. Daedra and undead? Silver bolts goes in. Animals and humanoids? Silver bolts replaced by chains.

LunaRae

Say wwwaaahhh?! I've never looked up builds, I'm NB with Killers Blade, Shadowy Disguise, rapid strikes, veiled strike (swap out for Mirage/Elude for boss fights immune to CC) and Focus Attacks w/ bolstering darkness as my ult. If that happens to be a cookie cutter build then I just happened along it w/o knowing, but I doubt that.

And your post is so vague I have no idea if you're just simply trying to level from PvP ??? Cause I hardly ever see people bat swarming or using pulsar in VR questing. Definitely agree we need some leveling options that are viable, but it's wrong to call it hard and that we are forced into cookie cutter builds, nope.

Bhakura

Sihnfahl wrote: »

flintstone wrote: »

I know I can use a soul gem........ but I only have so many to use.

Only so many?

What are you spending your gold on?

never knew soulgems was an expense to be considered? Inventory has 100+ soulgems and when im selling shopfood im like why on earth keep that crap around watching multiple entrys of grand soulgems?

or am i missing something?

Sihnfahl

Bhakura wrote: »

why on earth keep that crap around watching multiple entrys of grand soulgems?

Heck, I make a good bit of gold just selling off the excess for those who don't want to pay vendor prices for a filled one, and don't want to bother with filling the empties.

I kill so many creatures soloing that I have no problem filling up stacks.