Struggling on VMA's final boss, Stam DK - looking for advice

iMuz86 · June 2017

Hi guys, I'm really struggling with the final boss of VMA (It's my first time running it) and I'm just looking for some advice because my guildies are saying with my skill setup and gear I should be destroying the Crematorial Guards, however this is just not the case at all. I've also been told that "if you can beat round 5, you'll destroy the last boss," and I seem to remember clearing Round 5 in under 10 attempts - however I am on +100 attempts of the final boss and am barely making it to the crystal stage. Its getting extremely disheartening now so I'm just looking for a bit of help or advice on things I can try differently. I'm using Alcast's Venom Build.

I am using the sigils as well.

Anyway - I'm a Redguard Stamina Dragonknight, around 450CP. I have all the passives in all the ability trees for DW/Bow/DK Skills/Fighters Guild/Undaunted ect ect - everything essentially. I'm using tri-stat food, and where I feel like I'm doing well enough I pop a weapon crit potion here and there (I don't have many as I'm hemorrhaging gold for repair bills so I try to save the ones I've crafted til I really get a good run going.)

At the moment I float aorund 18k health, 33k stamina (can't remember my magicka off the top of my head, but I'd guess around 16/17k.)

My Skillbars:

Front Bar:
Venomous Claw
Noxious Breath
Bloodthirst
Camo Hunter/Igneous Shield
Vigor
Flawless Dawnbreaker

Back Bar:
Poison Injection
Caltrops
Endless Hail
Igneous Shield/Dragon Fire Scale
Vigor/Green Dragons Blood
Corrosive Armor

The Gear:

Up until the final boss I was using 5xTwice Born Star, 2xVelidreth, 3xAgility, 2xSharp Hundings Daggers - Shadow/Thief Mundus. This setup served me well however once I reached round 9 - the day before Morrowind I might add - I found I wasn't pulling the damage and had no sustain (obviously because of the CP changes.)

I changed my setup and I am now using 5x Vicious Ophidian, 5x Hundings, 2x Velidreth (one axe, one dagger - both sharp, both gold) and an Agility Bow (It's the only bow I have - just had a thought I'll make a Hundings one when I get home.)

The Struggle:

So here's where I'm at. I find I am only really able to survive the Crem Guard's firebreath if I am using my Corrosive Armor or the Defense Sigil, because running tightly around him just doesn't seem to work for me. I tried using Dawnbreaker of Smiting, but of course the Crem Guards are immune to the stun it seems, so I went back. I'm finding when using the Power Sigil and Corrosive, I'm able to smash the boss to >70% very quickly, and deal with the Guard at the same time. Then I'm able to go upstairs and attempt the Crystals - however, by this point I'm almost completely out of Stamina, I'll pop a potion and do my best to deal with the Crystals - however, if I get knocked or choose to jump down to reset the Soul Churn, I find I'm simply not able to survive the Crem Guard at all.

My question is, are there any tips to survive their attacks, any skills I could replace out or try differently in my rotation to help me get more damage on them to dispatch them?

I'm just struggling with it and am slowly losing hope I'm going to ever finish this. Any suggestions or discussions would be awesome, and if you made it this far down thanks heaps for reading

Reorx_Holybeard · June 2017

Can't help you much since I've never run VMA on a DK but the first time through you generally have 100s of attempts on the last stage...far more than any other. The key is to find a consistent strategy for surviving and beating the guards, especially with all the other stuff going on at the same time in the boss fight. Once you figure the guards out the crystal phase and the boss mechanics are relatively easier.

For sigils I've always found using the power sigil first and trying to burn the boss down as quickly as possible works best leaving the other 3 sigils for the third boss stage after the crystals are destroyed. Or if you can't DPS the boss fast enough to avoid the first guard use the power sigil just before the guard spawns to help take him out quickly.

Lord_Eomer · June 2017

Recently i am having many lags with VMA final round (PS4 NA), which is giving me few deaths clearing VMA.

I have ran over 250 times VMA and still ranting for not having lighting sharpen staff. Well thats my own version of VMA story.

If you are able to get boss to 70% health then it should not be difficult for you, my suggestions for you:

1. Use tri stat potion and food (max stamina + health)
2. Maintain your stamina before boss health reaching to 70%, pop couple of pots in b/w
3. Use Speed sijil before go up
4. One you are up, run towards left crystal that is in 10 clock position, throw some aoe and dodge roll
5. Move across this crystal and do some damage, apply dot/aoe and then move with wall. Apply dot/aoe to crystal while passing
6. When wall finishes try to destroy this xrystal including heavy attacks
7. Now move to next crystal which is in 1 o clock position, try destroy this.
8. If you have to jump down then try in mid and recover ur health after jump or CG will kill you easily. You can try block his attacks while moving. Thow ultimate on him
9. Go up and destroy final crystal, before its almost destroyed apply dot/aoe and again junp down in mid
10. Boss will come down, try pickup shield sijil then power and start attacking boss. Interupt / block boss attacks. Try exexute him at this stage or if he mives 3rd time tgen CG will spaw and make sure you are collecting souls.
11. Use health sijil if required, explode souls and finish boss

This exexution phase is also very tough, you started VMA with hard class. Sorc is easiest!

Destroying crsytal in right order helps a lot passing this phase!

Beardimus · June 2017

Have you tried the defence sigil?

He spawns, DPS like crazy on him. When he teleports grab the defence sigil and he pounds him self (don't Interupt) you may not even need to deal with the CG.

That should reliably get you up top. Then its on to stage 2. (stage 3 is way easier once you drop down)

Also check out any advice from Lukums on here.

Lord_Eomer · June 2017

Beardimus wrote: »

Have you tried the defence sigil?

He spawns, DPS like crazy on him. When he teleports grab the defence sigil and he pounds him self (don't Interupt) you may not even need to deal with the CG.

That should reliably get you up top. Then its on to stage 2. (stage 3 is way easier once you drop down)

Also check out any advice from Lukums on here.

In phase 2 (after clearing crystals), defence sijil helps a lot getting down boss HP.

Glamdring · June 2017

Persistance is key here not the build. work on rotating around the CG while u hit them, that was the key for me. When i got that right things went alot smoother. Or get a sorc or magblade :P

Beardimus · June 2017

Appreciate that, however if the OP isn't getting to stage 3 its a mute point. Better to use it first, and consistently get up top repeatedly and get that phase sussed then worry about stage 3.

Easy mode to get up top is to use defence first. Final stage is a cake walk anyway you have the ghosts.

And i agree OP its not build etc its just sussing the mechanics a stimings. It all feels intense till you slow it down.

Getting up top calm is king.

I DPS boss, defence sigil so he bombs himself. Kill healer, gather myself as clannfear chases me, kill him and go up in control.

Up top you need to right to the right, maintain aoe on crystals, and keep an eye on him. If he does the shot put Move dodge roll, never stand still or back track. But worry about Cyrstals when you are consistently getting up there.

Morgul667 · June 2017

Turning around the CG makes it much easier as you avoid his damage

Just swing around him while DPSing, that helps a lot

Zodiac_ · June 2017

Read Joy's guide it really helps especially sigils management

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/233356/joys-a-bit-old-guide-to-beating-maelstrom-arena

I would drop noxious breath for deadly cloak in front bar and change my back bar to

Poison Injection
Caltrops
Endless Hail
Igneous weapons
Rearming trap
Ballista

With this setup you can use tri-stat pots that will help your stamina management but also buff your health regeb which will help you against CG and the churn

Grab the power sigil, apply uour dots and use ballista when fight starts. You will burn him below 70% and he will tp up meaning you wont have to face the CG

If you fall down before u finished second crystal or u do it intentionally to reset the churn (which personally i think its by far the best approach when you try to complete the arena first time) go and immediately grab the health sigil. You will be able to face the CG and the clanfear with the sigil

Learning to kill the CG is a key and something you need to learn in order to complete it. You have to 'dance' around them so u can avoid most of the fire dmg they do with their breath

Don't be frustrated is a key. EVERYONE and i mean everyone has dies more than 200 times when trying to complete the arena for the first time so keep it cool and try to practice your movement against then CG

Good luck

AverageJo3Gam3r · June 2017

On my first clear as a StamDK, I relied on corrosive armor for the CGs. No shame in that. With fighters guild passives you should have one up in time for the next one. The final boss only has 9k resist, so you might be over penetrating if you have points in erosion cp. you might drop noxious for rending slashes. It's a better dot with a strong heal.

Another thing to try is ballista. I found I could send the boss up top without having the CG spawn when I used ballista.

Resource management up top is difficult for any class. I lay down DoTs on the crystals then heavy attack only. I know someone mentioned igneous weapons but that's a mistake--it's too expensive to maintain for only major brutality as the only benefit. Molten arms, on the other hand, could be useful to maintain damage while heavy attacking.

SoLooney · June 2017

I wouldnt say your gear is top of the line, but its skill that beats vma and not necessarilly the gear. I will say you done well to get that far without using vicious ophidian, I find that set is almost a must for stam users esp after morrowind. I also found using two fanged snake or spriggans really helps with damage against the elites and bosses. Seems like your main problem is lack of sustain which leads you to being up top for way too long which eventually, soul churn just reks.

Also, beating stage 5 doesnt mean you will have an easy time on the final boss. you have to look at the final boss in a different way as his 3 phases are unique.

My advice to you if you cant deal the crem guard on the first part, burn the boss to 70perc before he can tele. You can probably do this picking up a power sigil and casting an ultimate.

once you go to the crystal phase, you are probably gonna have to weave heavy attacks once in a while while doing a normal rotation. always keep an eye on your health. Not much I can say on the crystals other than dont stop moving because of those comet attacks.

once you manage crystals, immediately run and grab the defense sigil, he will immediately do his necrotic swarm attack, dont interrupt, let him slowly kill himself while you dps him. you will also need to make sure you grab all the yellow ghosts. a crem guard spawns during a 3rd yellow ghost so youre gonna have to deal with that if you miss one. also, make sure you kill the summoner in the middle if your dps isnt high enough. last phase isnt hard, just need to pay attention to the bosses attacks, yellow ghosts, and summoner.

UrbanMonk · June 2017

good luck is all i can wish you at them moment.

Glamdring · June 2017

Some encouragement, its so much going on but for everytime you die u learn where and when things spawn. at this point in time i dont have to think when the golden ghosts come, which attack the boss are gonna do and when i shall dodge roll, i can just focus on one thing at a time since i know when everything will happen. As posters said above i also died in the hundreds first time and now im dissapointed if i die once. the key is to just keep getting in there again and again until you get all info into your subcouncious.

the_man_of_steal · June 2017

I cannot give you much advice as I have not played a DK... but FLAP YOUR WINGS so the projectiles get reflected all the time. This is probably the most essential skill any DK could use in VMA (like I almost leveled up a DK just because of their ability to reflect so much of the VMA sh*t.

Make sure all ur gear is golded out and you dont have useless PVE traits like impen. Especially after the CP nerfs its important to perfect every single part of your gear setup. Took me weeks to finish the last boss and when I finally got so desperate to finish it once before Morrowind I stopped being cheap and golded out all my gear... IT WAS EASY after that and I did it in one freaking try... Jokes on me.

Two things that really helped my slow mag templar during the crystals part were someone suggesting to me that I move in a semi circle moving right to left and then left to right around the crystals so the AOE is not on top of the crystals while I try to DPS them down. The second really amazing piece of advice I read in a post on these forums and they suggested blocking the Boss' projectiles while DPSing the crystals instead of dodge rolling which was my first instinct. HUGE difference in keeping my stam up especially for a 9k stam magplar that has a useless repentance skill at the crystal stage since dead crystals do not count as bodies.

Alcast's long guide on VMA really helped me as well with the little things like what NPCs to make sure I kill first etc. I would highly suggest watching his guide for the final stage part.

GOOD LUCK! ITS WORTH IT!

Joy_Division · June 2017

iMuz86 wrote: »

Hi guys, I'm really struggling with the final boss of VMA (It's my first time running it) and I'm just looking for some advice because my guildies are saying with my skill setup and gear I should be destroying the Crematorial Guards, however this is just not the case at all. I've also been told that "if you can beat round 5, you'll destroy the last boss," and I seem to remember clearing Round 5 in under 10 attempts - however I am on +100 attempts of the final boss and am barely making it to the crystal stage. Its getting extremely disheartening now so I'm just looking for a bit of help or advice on things I can try differently. I'm using Alcast's Venom Build.

I am using the sigils as well.

Anyway - I'm a Redguard Stamina Dragonknight, around 450CP. I have all the passives in all the ability trees for DW/Bow/DK Skills/Fighters Guild/Undaunted ect ect - everything essentially. I'm using tri-stat food, and where I feel like I'm doing well enough I pop a weapon crit potion here and there (I don't have many as I'm hemorrhaging gold for repair bills so I try to save the ones I've crafted til I really get a good run going.)

At the moment I float aorund 18k health, 33k stamina (can't remember my magicka off the top of my head, but I'd guess around 16/17k.)

My Skillbars:

Front Bar:
Venomous Claw
Noxious Breath
Bloodthirst
Camo Hunter/Igneous Shield
Vigor
Flawless Dawnbreaker

Back Bar:
Poison Injection
Caltrops
Endless Hail
Igneous Shield/Dragon Fire Scale
Vigor/Green Dragons Blood
Corrosive Armor

The Gear:

Up until the final boss I was using 5xTwice Born Star, 2xVelidreth, 3xAgility, 2xSharp Hundings Daggers - Shadow/Thief Mundus. This setup served me well however once I reached round 9 - the day before Morrowind I might add - I found I wasn't pulling the damage and had no sustain (obviously because of the CP changes.)

I changed my setup and I am now using 5x Vicious Ophidian, 5x Hundings, 2x Velidreth (one axe, one dagger - both sharp, both gold) and an Agility Bow (It's the only bow I have - just had a thought I'll make a Hundings one when I get home.)

The Struggle:

So here's where I'm at. I find I am only really able to survive the Crem Guard's firebreath if I am using my Corrosive Armor or the Defense Sigil, because running tightly around him just doesn't seem to work for me. I tried using Dawnbreaker of Smiting, but of course the Crem Guards are immune to the stun it seems, so I went back. I'm finding when using the Power Sigil and Corrosive, I'm able to smash the boss to >70% very quickly, and deal with the Guard at the same time. Then I'm able to go upstairs and attempt the Crystals - however, by this point I'm almost completely out of Stamina, I'll pop a potion and do my best to deal with the Crystals - however, if I get knocked or choose to jump down to reset the Soul Churn, I find I'm simply not able to survive the Crem Guard at all.

My question is, are there any tips to survive their attacks, any skills I could replace out or try differently in my rotation to help me get more damage on them to dispatch them?

I'm just struggling with it and am slowly losing hope I'm going to ever finish this. Any suggestions or discussions would be awesome, and if you made it this far down thanks heaps for reading

You have been told incorrectly by people who have the arena memorized it and can do it with their eyes closed. Of course they are going to say you should destroy the stage.

If people were honest, they would say they also died 100+ times to the final boss. I

at that poll where people claimed the average was like 12 deaths before beating him. Might as well ask for weight on an online dating site.

Anyway, I'm not sure tri-stat food is the best for stamina. I don;t run stamina, but the only magicka skill on your bar is igneous shield. I would run Dubious Camlorn Throne for the extra regen as you mentioned you are running out of resoruces.

You have got to learn how to kill the CG without using Corrosive. It's a losing battle because the only way you can guarantee corrosive being up is to die half the time you get into the arena just to build ultimate.

The best chance is to out DPS him. After you interrupt the boss and move out of the way of the lich proc, you have got to put down endless hail and caltrops on the portal spawn (that will hit the boss too). Poison inject the CG, pop vigor, and you got to trust bloodthrist to keep you alive. Note: either the defensive or the healing sigil will be enough in combination with the above. The dual wield ultimate heals. Most stam players ive seen use the bow ultimate. Use one of these I would slot flawless as the "other" ultimate because I like having a cheaper hard hitting ultimate in case the others aren't up. With this setup, you will be able to kill the CG: you're job is to avoid the first lich crystal and watch out for the boss's skull attack after he teleports.

For the crystals, you just got to get used to the timing, you dont want to start bloodlusting and then have the skull thrown at you. Probably use your bow dots and venom claw before the skull attack, and then bloodlust after. Only chase the first wall, the others are fast and it's more efficient to turn around and meet them. The thrid wall is really fast and the soul churn damage is very high; if you cant burn the cyrstals dont even try, just jump down. Yes the CG and clannfear are scarey, but you have:

either the heal of defense sigal (this is your priority)
a fully charged ultimate (dont waste it on crystals unless its like the first thing you do when you go up)
no boss to worry about

Just don;t get caught in a lich cystal and you'll take out the CG.

I have found it necessary to add about 300 regen from my homestead builds. Dubious camlorn is probably your friend here, also consider a cost reduction glyph on your jewlery if resource management is an issue.

bebynnag · June 2017

on my stam DK i use the dual weild (rend) & bow (balista) ultimates.

on the 1st section (pre crystal) i save my dual weild ult for when the crem guard 1st spawns, drop it on him - 99% of the time it also hits the boss and 75% of the time it will also kill the pesky healer who i have ignored until now

i prefer volatile armour to igneous not only does it increase my physical/spell resist, add a small dot but the passives give me 12% increased healing received at all times rather than major mending for 3 seconds

while upstairs i drop my dots and light/heavy attack i never use ultimates, my vigour & volatile are ALWAYS up

when i come back down the reflect sigil is my 1st priority
then i concentrate on gold ghosts & the summoner i try to apply some dots to the boss if i can, but im also making sure my balista is ready to drop the second i activate the ghost pin synergy

jkolb2030 · June 2017

When the boss drops down you should be able to DPS him down a good bit before the CG even spawns. I've always focused the boss until he goes up (at 76% i believe) and then worry about the CG and healer before killing the scamp by the portal pads.

The CG fire breath is a huuuuge killer though, you really want to avoid it at all costs - either burning him down before he does it or circling him while using blood thirst/rapid strikes on him to avoid getting hit by it. The fire breath does huge dmg and i believe puts a small dot on you.

Once you get up top then, take care of the crystals - but also remember there is an ongoing dot while you're upstairs fighting the crystals. Drop your dots on the crystals and keep your volatile armor/blade cloak up and hit vigor every so often. Stay relaxed upstairs and remember to dodge the bosses projectile attack and to hide behind the wall that begins to circle as the boss starts floating up in the air.

Once you get back down you should be able to straight burn the boss. I'd try to save an ulti for this, either corrosive or a rend/ballista, and just dig into him.

FYI - i found stamDK to be the most stressful class to run it on.