Official Feedback Thread for Maelstrom Arena

Ezareth · October 2015

Sharkano wrote: »

Even normal version is too long for casual players, and they have zero chance in vet. So let me get this right: the same company that refuses to let people get ahead by hard work via a CP freeze, then turns around and makes the top weapons only available to those who, by definition (because they can finish vet level), don't need them? Also, you can't save progress in vet? Who thinks up this stuff? Coco the Clown? Frankly, the maelstrom should be a two-person arena, or socialization is just heading out the window. Please allow good weapons to be potentially available to people who don't play 24/7, if not by trials then at least by purchase in guild stores. ZOS, you nerfbat the hexx out of your players regularly -- please nerfbat this ridiculous instance.

The "Top" weapons aren't even worth the effort in most cases. Look at Maelstrom staves....V16 Set staves with a spell power bonus and a flame enchant in Nirnhoned trait will outperform Maelstrom weapons.

You already know they're going to nerf it, just wait for those of us who enjoy a challenge to get a chance to beat it and have some sort of enjoyment out of it before it comes another borefest like the rest of the PvE when it's nerfed.

Arkadius · October 2015

I honestly suggest giving the player the opportunity to save his progress. For example, if the player leaves the arena or logs out, his progress is automatically saved. When he reenters the arena, he'll get asked if he wishes to continue his last run or to start a new one. I also wouldn't mind taking a score penalty for that.

asneakybanana · October 2015

WTB 3rd level of difficulty that brings it back to the 2.2.0 patch. Drops the same gear as vet but only with sbarpened/precise and infused/ divines. This way the hard core player has something really tough to work on and the rewards are still obtainable by everyone the hard version just has a better chance of dropping the item and trait that people really want.

Stikato · October 2015

I'm all for challenge, but this isn't particularly enjoyable. This is, memorize the encounter, execute repetitive action, get killed if you deviate.

Merlight · November 2015

So my journey through the veteran Maelstrom Arena ends in the Vault of Umbrage. It's simply too much for me.

Now I'd like to share some... concerns. I must admit that I had hoped to be able to beat the arena with the gear and CPs available on the PTS , despite the fact that I haven't even done all previous dungeons on live. Please don't take this as an attempt to gut the difficulty for easy gear grab. Take it as an opinion of someone who hasn't intended to buy the DLC.

Note: my latency on the PTS is usually between 200 and 300ms. Most of the time it plays fine, but in the 7th arena too much stuff appears to hit almost instantaneously. Randomly exploding mushrooms give little time to get away, and Venomcasters blow them up too quickly; on the other hand Venomcasters pose no threat beyond the initial explosion.

Meet the Argonian Behemoth and his Minders:

The numbers are approximate unmitigated damage, most of it was absorbed by a ward, the rest going into 5L/1M/1H so not much mitigation.

Staggering Stomp: 20-35k ... easy to avoid, unless you're too close, or the terrain obscures the animation.
Wrecking Bite: 31k + 8k/tick Bleeding ... the first tick is applied immediately, maximum number of ticks I managed to survive was 14; waiting for it to wear off doesn't work well.
Enraged Scream: 16k, 16k, 70k ... you're not supposed to survive the third tick. A couple times I went after a Venomcaster, leaving the Behemoth behind. When I heard him screaming, there wasn't enough time to turn around and interrupt.
Lightning Charge ... Minder teleports on me and before I can roll away I get 20-40k hit. If I survive that I'm stunned and to top it off the Behemoth throws a Lingering Spit, which is normally safe to walk away from before it deals damage, but in this case it deals 20k right away.

The message is simple: don't get hit. Difficulty is blown up by pushing incoming damage through the roof. Make one misstep and you're dead, try again. Is this the only way to create a challenge? Can't the scoring involve more than just the number of deaths and sigils used? Of course you should be punished for standing in red, but this feels like walking on rope (I can't do that, either).

I've been expecting more variability. For example the 6th arena, Champion of Atrocity. That's a great design ruined by putting it on rails. If you dare to divert from the scripted order of events, or linger with following it, you get a Spit in the face.

silkrwb17_ESO · November 2015

Vet Maelstrom Arena just isn't Fun challenging. It reminds me of the game Tera where everything needs to be perfectly executed. Playing from Australia with the best possible of ping of 243 I can only fluke pass the Vet levels. Too many times I've died well outside of red danger to cop the damage anyway. My 2 daughters in the next room shouldn't be hearing the words that have come out of my mouth at these times.

The phantom King hits gets really Frustrating and is not necessary to give challenge. Where mobs do light attacks of 10K+, darts for 12k+, 3 clawed swipes under a second that give almost 10k damage each swipe... I'm all up for a challenge as long as its that but... this isn't it. The reach of some of these mobs have left me speechless. I was so looking forward to this arena but as I'm now newly capped on champion points and so disappointed with the new DLC I can understand Deltia's lack of confidence with the direction of this game. Think it's time for time away.
So with my character sitting outside VMA stage 5 I'll be alt-f4'ing after I post this and walking away.

shadowcoder · November 2015

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

What was your class, build (active skills, Champion Point distribution) and level?

I played a vr 16 magicka nightblade centered around self healing and inflicting competitive ranged damage. This was the same build I used as a PvE DD and off-healer for Veteran dungeons and trials. Only some minor adjustments have been made depending on the arena stage.
The build is very roughly based on this one.

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Which version of Maelstrom Arena did you play: Normal, Veteran or both?

I played the Normal version once and afterwards only Veteran.

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

On a scale from 1 (very easy) – 10 (very hard) how difficult did you find Maelstrom Arena? Please indicate whether you were playing Normal or Veteran.

Normal: 2
Veteran: 9

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Which Arena was your favorite, and why?

I really liked the veteran spider stage. Interesting mechanics and once you figure them out it is extremely rewarding to beat the boss. But the final stage also has some cool mechanics.

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Which Arena was your least favorite, and why?

Veteran arena stage 7 was my least favorite. The fight is too random and even if you know all the mechanics you can end up having bad luck with the add that spawns the poison mushrooms.

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Which Arena gave you the most trouble?

Stage 6 (the spider) gave me quite some trouble, but once I figured the mechanics out it has been quite easy. Stage 7 still takes me three to four tries to complete it. Too many random factors, I absolutely don`t know how I can beat this with no deaths without having lots of luck.

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

If you could change one thing in any of the Arenas, what would it be?

Change the boss fight in arena 7 so the adds never spawn all at the same time. Having the two mages, the boss with his aoe roar attack and the mushroom summoner all at once is way too much.

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

How often did you receive a reward? Were you satisfied overall with the rewards you received?

So far I did four full Veteran Arena runs and received many of the set parts but no master weapon. Especially the reward at the end has been quite dissappointing. Only getting some lame necklace and sometimes only a normal set piece is quite sad.
I can also not think of many instances where I could use any of the new sets. The only useful reward may be the maelstrom master weapons, but their drop rates are too low and traits seem completely random

I am missing such awesome sets like healers habit or footmans fortune from dragonstar arena...

Another thing I really dislike about the loot is the fact they are all bound on pickup. How am I supposed to finance new armor sets, not to mention the high repair and tripot costs after doing a full arena run (even with no deaths).

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

What was your favorite reward?

The winterborn set pieces I think. I am curious if I am finally able to create an interesting ice mage build centered around this set.

Don't get me wrong, the Veteran Maelstrom Arena has been lots of fun. But I still think it needs some improvement, especially the rewards and some boss stages should be tweaked to make the whole experience more rewarding and less frustrating.

uso245 · November 2015

Teiji wrote: »

Can we please work together to get a consensus going visibly for the ZoS team so it's harder for them to justify not making a change for the long term health of the game?

For example; The Masters Sword is used for 1h & shield users, this is usually for durable characters, traits could be the following; Sharpened, Weighted, Defending and Precise. [Community please add suggestions too.]

Destruction staff? Weighted, Sharpened, Infused and Precise. [Community please add suggestions too.]

Resto staff? Weighted, Sharpened, Infused and Precise. [Community please add suggestions too.]

Dagger and 2h? Weighted, Sharpened, Infused and Precise. [Community please add suggestions too.]

Bow? Weighted, Sharpened, Infused and Precise. [Community please add suggestions too.]

Personally I'd prefer to not have Infused on the pool but this post isn't about what I want it's about what we all believe to be factually and most mathematically efficient with the thought of positive long term health of the game in-mind.

For Resto staff I'm a fan of Defending since usually when I'm swapping to that bar it is to heal. I do notice other builds that use it as part of a dps bar as well though.

Lord-Gibson · November 2015

@Sharkano I totally agree with this being a two person arena (since it is an mmo anyway), that would be cool and thus nothing would have to be done to difficulty of the vet arena. I am having a really hard time doing this arena and I keep getting drops that dont even apply to my character build. I have a friend and guild mate that I play with everyday. So we both know how we each play and to be able to do the arena with said person would be awesome.

YoNoLoCoNoCo · December 2015

Q: What was your class, build (active skills, Champion Point distribution) and level?

High Elf Sorcerer VR16 (All light armor Epic Quality, 5 pieces of VR15 Julianos [Destruction Staff nirnhoned trait disease enchantment and 4 body pieces], 4 pieces of VR15 Seducer [Restoration Staff precise trait random enchantment and 3 body pieces] and Willpower Jewelry [all Healthy and Magicka Regen enchantment] 3 body pieces infused trait and 4 divines and mundus stone The Atronach [also tried The Shadow/The Thief mundus stones but that wasn't the issue because I can manage pretty well my Magicka and Stamina pool, the only resource unmanageable to me in this arena was health/absorption bubbles, even though I got 18k health my absorption bubbles can't handle that much damage, even if I put all the points into Bastion, also tried to use Blessing of Restoration instead of Harness Magicka to get Minor Resolve/Minor Ward together with Boundless Storm's Major Resolve/Major Ward but still not enough...])

On the Destruction Staff bar I used:
Crystal Fragments, Streak, Crushing Shock, Structured Entropy, Pulsar and Ice Comet as Ultimate

On the Restoration Staff bar I used:
Boundless Storm, Critical Surge, Healing Ward, Harness Magicka, Hardened Ward and Energy Overload as Ultimate

On the Energy Overload bar I used:
Daedric Minefield, Streak, Mage's Wrath, Harness Magicka and Hardened Ward

My champion points are distributed like:

The Tower - 30 points into Magician
The Lover - 30 points into Arcanist
The Shadow - 1 point into Tumbling
The Apprentice - 20 points into Elemental Expert, 9 into Elfborn and 1 into Spell Erosion
The Ritual - 30 points into Thaumaturge
The Steed - 10 points into Spell Shield
The Lady - 10 points into Hardy, 10 points into Elemental Defender
The Lord - 31 points into Bastion

Which version of Maelstrom Arena did you play: Normal, Veteran or both?

Both

On a scale from 1 (very easy) – 10 (very hard) how difficult did you find Maelstrom Arena? Please indicate whether you were playing Normal or Veteran.

On normal mode I give it a 7, it's hard but not very hard, although I guess some stages shouldn't rely so much on the environment mechanics, but anyway... Now, for veteran mode I give it a 16, definitivelly IMPOSSIBLE, yes, you hear me, it's not "challenging" it's simply impossible to play the content, specially when you lack the ammount of champion points that older players does... I started playing ESO since it's launch for consoles (Xbox One) not only that I live in Brazil so yeah (high ping is real

) ... It's been less than 6 months playing but anyway I noticed that people who were able to actually play through the veteran content using a similar build than mine had AT LEAST 100+ champion points on each tree, which I won't blame because they deserve to be stronger since they play for a longer period of time but still I think that the new game content should scale off not only your veteran rank but also the ammount of champion points you have... At the moment I'm unable to have fun on veteran maelstrom arena because I didn't "grind enough"? What a shame ¬¬

Which Arena was your favorite, and why?

Normal arena, stage 5 because interrupting that troll so he won't break the icebergs is just a lovely mechanic

Which Arena was your least favorite, and why?

Normal arena, stage 7 DAMN THAT POISON!

Which Arena gave you the most trouble?

Normal arena, stage 7 DAMN THAT POISON!

If you could change one thing in any of the Arenas, what would it be?

As I mentioned above, I would love if the veteran arena scale not only of your veteran rank but also of the ammount of champion points you have, this way the content would be actually challenging instead of impossible and anyway I wouldn't bother if the rewards weren't as great as for the people with more champion points... Once I can actually complete the challenge I'm happy...

How often did you receive a reward? Were you satisfied overall with the rewards you received?

Well, it's not that bad for normal arena

What was your favorite reward?

Soul gems

Rayste · December 2015

Ezareth wrote: »

Sharkano wrote: »

Even normal version is too long for casual players, and they have zero chance in vet. So let me get this right: the same company that refuses to let people get ahead by hard work via a CP freeze, then turns around and makes the top weapons only available to those who, by definition (because they can finish vet level), don't need them? Also, you can't save progress in vet? Who thinks up this stuff? Coco the Clown? Frankly, the maelstrom should be a two-person arena, or socialization is just heading out the window. Please allow good weapons to be potentially available to people who don't play 24/7, if not by trials then at least by purchase in guild stores. ZOS, you nerfbat the hexx out of your players regularly -- please nerfbat this ridiculous instance.

The "Top" weapons aren't even worth the effort in most cases. Look at Maelstrom staves....V16 Set staves with a spell power bonus and a flame enchant in Nirnhoned trait will outperform Maelstrom weapons.

You already know they're going to nerf it, just wait for those of us who enjoy a challenge to get a chance to beat it and have some sort of enjoyment out of it before it comes another borefest like the rest of the PvE when it's nerfed.

@Ezareth Well said. I don't believe any of the weapons fit well with setups I am using. I recently finished vet maelstrom for the first time and actually received a 2hder sharpened axe. Might have to try this one out.....

That said, the focus required to complete this thing over and over just doesn't seem fun. It feels over tuned.

Ezareth · December 2015

Rayste wrote: »

Ezareth wrote: »

Sharkano wrote: »

Even normal version is too long for casual players, and they have zero chance in vet. So let me get this right: the same company that refuses to let people get ahead by hard work via a CP freeze, then turns around and makes the top weapons only available to those who, by definition (because they can finish vet level), don't need them? Also, you can't save progress in vet? Who thinks up this stuff? Coco the Clown? Frankly, the maelstrom should be a two-person arena, or socialization is just heading out the window. Please allow good weapons to be potentially available to people who don't play 24/7, if not by trials then at least by purchase in guild stores. ZOS, you nerfbat the hexx out of your players regularly -- please nerfbat this ridiculous instance.

The "Top" weapons aren't even worth the effort in most cases. Look at Maelstrom staves....V16 Set staves with a spell power bonus and a flame enchant in Nirnhoned trait will outperform Maelstrom weapons.

You already know they're going to nerf it, just wait for those of us who enjoy a challenge to get a chance to beat it and have some sort of enjoyment out of it before it comes another borefest like the rest of the PvE when it's nerfed.

@Ezareth Well said. I don't believe any of the weapons fit well with setups I am using. I recently finished vet maelstrom for the first time and actually received a 2hder sharpened axe. Might have to try this one out.....

That said, the focus required to complete this thing over and over just doesn't seem fun. It feels over tuned.

@Rayste

The only enjoyable aspect is the competition for me TBH but it is however far more enjoyable than it was when learning it. When you get the runs to 90 minutes or under it's not so bad.

I do have a sharpened inferno staff and as I suspected it is worse in PvP and equivalent in PvE.

Rayste · December 2015

Ezareth wrote: »

Rayste wrote: »

Ezareth wrote: »

Sharkano wrote: »

Even normal version is too long for casual players, and they have zero chance in vet. So let me get this right: the same company that refuses to let people get ahead by hard work via a CP freeze, then turns around and makes the top weapons only available to those who, by definition (because they can finish vet level), don't need them? Also, you can't save progress in vet? Who thinks up this stuff? Coco the Clown? Frankly, the maelstrom should be a two-person arena, or socialization is just heading out the window. Please allow good weapons to be potentially available to people who don't play 24/7, if not by trials then at least by purchase in guild stores. ZOS, you nerfbat the hexx out of your players regularly -- please nerfbat this ridiculous instance.

The "Top" weapons aren't even worth the effort in most cases. Look at Maelstrom staves....V16 Set staves with a spell power bonus and a flame enchant in Nirnhoned trait will outperform Maelstrom weapons.

You already know they're going to nerf it, just wait for those of us who enjoy a challenge to get a chance to beat it and have some sort of enjoyment out of it before it comes another borefest like the rest of the PvE when it's nerfed.

@Ezareth Well said. I don't believe any of the weapons fit well with setups I am using. I recently finished vet maelstrom for the first time and actually received a 2hder sharpened axe. Might have to try this one out.....

That said, the focus required to complete this thing over and over just doesn't seem fun. It feels over tuned.

@Rayste

The only enjoyable aspect is the competition for me TBH but it is however far more enjoyable than it was when learning it. When you get the runs to 90 minutes or under it's not so bad.

I do have a sharpened inferno staff and as I suspected it is worse in PvP and equivalent in PvE.

@Ezareth Understood. I made it onto the sorc weekly leaderboards with a score of 357 last week which I received the 2hder reward for. I was number 85 on the list of 86. That was sorc mind you, I didn't check the others. Either there are not enough people able to complete this or they just don't want to take the time to do it. Not sure, but when weekly leaderboards are not full for new content, it makes me wonder what is going on.

Edit: The competition thing I do get. I will actually give this another go this weekend now that I have the mechanics down.

Darsaga · February 2016

I didn't read every post to see if this was mentioned so I apologize if it has already been said. I have the frozen screen animation stuck on my screen from the Ice Round. It is making the already PITA spider arena worse because a lot of my field of view is a obscure from the ice graphic. Looks like I'm going to have to start over yet again due to a glitch.

actosh · February 2016

All drooped sets should be pushed a bit.
Some of em are just plain bad.

Glorious Defender should get its 5Piece increased to somethin like 18%.

Jingej · March 2016

What was your class, build (active skills, Champion Point distribution) and level?

DK Magicka VR 16. 253 Champion points.

Which version of Maelstrom Arena did you play: Normal, Veteran or both?
Veteran Arena

On a scale from 1 (very easy) – 10 (very hard) how difficult did you find Maelstrom Arena? Please indicate whether you were playing Normal or Veteran.

Veteran Arena 9-10. Last boss took me with this class and CP arround 15-20 hours of training.

Which Arena was your favorite, and why?

Stage 9 because of the complexity.

Which Arena gave you the most trouble?
Stage 9

If you could change one thing in any of the Arenas, what would it be?
I would not change anything. Its very hard and it should be very hard.

What was your favorite reward?

The first run I got an Inferno sharpened staff. Due to the efforts made for training, I was quite happy.

TheM0rganism · March 2016

How is the fact that the leaderboards are almost devoid of stamina builds not a pressing issue for ZOS at all?

Hortator Indoril Nerevar · March 2016

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

This is the official feedback thread for Maelstrom Arena. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes:
What was your class, build (active skills, Champion Point distribution) and level?

Which version of Maelstrom Arena did you play: Normal, Veteran or both?

On a scale from 1 (very easy) – 10 (very hard) how difficult did you find Maelstrom Arena? Please indicate whether you were playing Normal or Veteran.

Which Arena was your favorite, and why?

Which Arena was your least favorite, and why?

Which Arena gave you the most trouble?

If you could change one thing in any of the Arenas, what would it be?

How often did you receive a reward? Were you satisfied overall with the rewards you received?

What was your favorite reward?

its terrible. its not vet its just stupidly impossible for people with 300+ ping. Thanks..

Wollust · March 2016

Hortator Indoril Nerevar wrote: »

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

This is the official feedback thread for Maelstrom Arena. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes:
What was your class, build (active skills, Champion Point distribution) and level?

Which version of Maelstrom Arena did you play: Normal, Veteran or both?

On a scale from 1 (very easy) – 10 (very hard) how difficult did you find Maelstrom Arena? Please indicate whether you were playing Normal or Veteran.

Which Arena was your favorite, and why?

Which Arena was your least favorite, and why?

Which Arena gave you the most trouble?

If you could change one thing in any of the Arenas, what would it be?

How often did you receive a reward? Were you satisfied overall with the rewards you received?

What was your favorite reward?

its terrible. its not vet its just stupidly impossible for people with 300+ ping. Thanks..

You want content to be designed with people in mind who have a bad connection? In an online game?

Perwulf · August 2016

Hortator Indoril Nerevar wrote: »

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

This is the official feedback thread for Maelstrom Arena. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes:
What was your class, build (active skills, Champion Point distribution) and level?

Which version of Maelstrom Arena did you play: Normal, Veteran or both?

On a scale from 1 (very easy) – 10 (very hard) how difficult did you find Maelstrom Arena? Please indicate whether you were playing Normal or Veteran.

Which Arena was your favorite, and why?

Which Arena was your least favorite, and why?

Which Arena gave you the most trouble?

If you could change one thing in any of the Arenas, what would it be?

How often did you receive a reward? Were you satisfied overall with the rewards you received?

What was your favorite reward?

its terrible. its not vet its just stupidly impossible for people with 300+ ping. Thanks..

I second this, the problem is not the difficulty but the latency issue. When you dodge something or got out from a circle you still get hit so in order to dodge those you need to act before the skill even shoot/activates, it's kind of ridiculous that we Asian players had to pull more effort just to get those OP master weapons. ESO really need to get a look into this.

BuffaloBn · August 2016

ravenarc wrote: »

Hortator Indoril Nerevar wrote: »

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

This is the official feedback thread for Maelstrom Arena. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes:
What was your class, build (active skills, Champion Point distribution) and level?

Which version of Maelstrom Arena did you play: Normal, Veteran or both?

On a scale from 1 (very easy) – 10 (very hard) how difficult did you find Maelstrom Arena? Please indicate whether you were playing Normal or Veteran.

Which Arena was your favorite, and why?

Which Arena was your least favorite, and why?

Which Arena gave you the most trouble?

If you could change one thing in any of the Arenas, what would it be?

How often did you receive a reward? Were you satisfied overall with the rewards you received?

What was your favorite reward?

its terrible. its not vet its just stupidly impossible for people with 300+ ping. Thanks..

I second this, the problem is not the difficulty but the latency issue. When you dodge something or got out from a circle you still get hit so in order to dodge those you need to act before the skill even shoot/activates, it's kind of ridiculous that we Asian players had to pull more effort just to get those OP master weapons. ESO really need to get a look into this.

+1. I have completed vMA a few times in the past week. My first complete being two weeks ago. I play a magic sorcerer and I will agree that it is easy-mode compared to other classes. However, latency is the fundamental problem facing Australian players. It causes your UI to be slow or unresponsive. Making weapon swaps a chore. One is unable to DPS reliably. Weaving weapon attacks with skills/abilities works only half the time. A lot of cases I inexplicably die from multiple damage sources that get stacked. An insta-kill. (Like the old days of BF4 you die from a single shot in the foot at 1000m by a 9mm).

Then there is the leaderboard. Before people get really butthurt, let me say this - I know I am guaranteed a weapon upon completion of vMA. I have no complaints about that. However, I feel that 100 slots for a weekly coffer is a little too small. The sorcerer leaderboard is crammed with scores of 500k+ every week. Thus making a highly competitive. Dwarfing my score of 432k after my 5th completion of vMA. I feel that increasing that leaderboard slots to something like 150+ will give more accomplished players a chance to be rewarded. Since the RNG is biased and sucks, it would be nice to have a chance at a coffer to help increase the "chance" of getting the weapon you want.

silky_soft · August 2016

coming from pvp I know lags. Tried to finish this but it's impossible on 300ms. Sometimes like bloke above me, just get insta killed and dont know wtf just happened. Those freaking portals at last stage are a nightmare.

Perwulf · August 2016

I second this, the problem is not the difficulty but the latency issue. When you dodge something or got out from a circle you still get hit so in order to dodge those you need to act before the skill even shoot/activates, it's kind of ridiculous that we Asian players had to pull more effort just to get those OP master weapons. ESO really need to get a look into this.

+1. I have completed vMA a few times in the past week. My first complete being two weeks ago. I play a magic sorcerer and I will agree that it is easy-mode compared to other classes. However, latency is the fundamental problem facing Australian players. It causes your UI to be slow or unresponsive. Making weapon swaps a chore. One is unable to DPS reliably. Weaving weapon attacks with skills/abilities works only half the time. A lot of cases I inexplicably die from multiple damage sources that get stacked. An insta-kill. (Like the old days of BF4 you die from a single shot in the foot at 1000m by a 9mm).

Then there is the leaderboard. Before people get really butthurt, let me say this - I know I am guaranteed a weapon upon completion of vMA. I have no complaints about that. However, I feel that 100 slots for a weekly coffer is a little too small. The sorcerer leaderboard is crammed with scores of 500k+ every week. Thus making a highly competitive. Dwarfing my score of 432k after my 5th completion of vMA. I feel that increasing that leaderboard slots to something like 150+ will give more accomplished players a chance to be rewarded. Since the RNG is biased and sucks, it would be nice to have a chance at a coffer to help increase the "chance" of getting the weapon you want.

I knew sorcs are having good time in vma! i envy you guys

, sadly i'm a stamplar and without engine guardian set its punishing plus the dang undaunted chest keep giving me trash, just give me my engine guardian shoulders already!

Own · August 2016

•What was your class, build (active skills, Champion Point distribution) and level?
Imperial Stamina Sorc. bound armaments/basic 2h build.

•Which version of Maelstrom Arena did you play: Normal, Veteran or both? Veteran

•On a scale from 1 (very easy) – 10 (very hard) how difficult did you find Maelstrom Arena? Please indicate whether you were playing Normal or Veteran.
Veteran. 5. at First it was a 10 until I realized how important mechanics and shrines were.

•Which Arena was your favorite, and why?
6. This is so easy for a stamina sorc. Teleporting and charging to spiders and hoaravers *sp

•Which Arena was your least favorite, and why? 7. The rng poison can stack/spawn with a mages shield AFTER you have killed one mage. It's a guaranteed death with no options.

•Which Arena gave you the most trouble? 7. same.

•If you could change one thing in any of the Arenas, what would it be? make rng poisons not able to spawn near mages after you have killed one mage.

•How often did you receive a reward? Were you satisfied overall with the rewards you received?
•What was your favorite reward? I've been really lucky with rewards. Sharpened 2h axe.

code65536 · August 2016

Please stop necroing PTS threads from a year ago! Look at the date before you post!

BuffaloBn · August 2016

code65536 wrote: »

Please stop necroing PTS threads from a year ago! Look at the date before you post!

No offence intended - this thread is still open and for the purpose of feedback. Otherwise it would have been closed. However, the latency issue is still problem. Months have gone by without a fix for us peeps from down under.

Spliffo · August 2016

Man ZOS can't fix our ping we just have to have a quicker reaction time than Americans

ForsakenSin · August 2016

@ZOS_GinaBruno

Sorry not been able to complete vet maelstrom however i was just wondering is there any plans in future to make this two man ?

I do believe there are many many players who are unable to finish it and two man co op would be so much fun and allow those who are unable to finish to have a chance in finishing it.

For those who might say it would be too easy im sure then the arena could be scaled to be tougher for co op and it dose not need to be in the daily scoreboard.

The reason why i am asking for this is , im always having so much more fun when im playing with friends doing undaunted ect.

Anyway please do think about it as it would open up a whole new fun game play that i know i and rest of my guild would be looking forward in running it.

Perwulf · August 2016

code65536 wrote: »

Please stop necroing PTS threads from a year ago! Look at the date before you post!

Thread will get necroed as long as the problem persists and if ppl going to say this is an L2P issue it is not, because it's the latency that causes it for us aussie & asian players, and the only way to get pass vMA is to have the right class otherwise you need the best gear and 531 cp but even with those perks we still have to pull more effort than the locals (NA residence). I suggest to reduce the difficulty or just reduce a little bit damage dealt to us for high ms players with the consequence of not making it to the leader boards because some of us just want to get master weapons.

OsarMantrose · September 2016

Actually I think the new PTS has a good (potential) solution for players complaining about Maelstrom still. With Dungeons now having basically 3 levels, do the same with Maelstrom.

Normal Mode - Same as it currently is.

Veteran Mode - Slightly reduce the damage and/or difficulty of the entire arena to help compensate for players with latency issues, etc. This mode, however, will NOT reflect on the Leader Boards (or will have its own seperate board).

Veteran Hard Mode - Let's up the difficulty just a tiny bit for players who already have Arena down to a science. Change a few mechanics (make it something new/interesting), BUT, let's also add in a new reward: Tokens. You don't get a Maelstrom Weapon at the end of this difficulty mode, you get a Maelstrom Token. You then can redeem this token from the quest giver for a Maelstrom Weapon of your choice. The trait will be random (Nirn, Sharpened, Precise, etc), but this will let the player earn the ability to PICK what weapon they get. Non-Hard mode will still give the random weapon/random trait everyone is used to.

This should solve two problems in one: 1) Players complaining about the difficulty of Maelstrom as it stands due to uncontrollable issues (latency, slow computers on low settings, etc) and 2) Give those who have conquered Maelstrom the opportunity to do away with the randomness of "Oh look, I got ANOTHER sword & shield this week! Yay me?"