I Finally Got the Maelstrom Arena completed!!!!

Kalante · July 2017

Checks picture thinking he did vet maelstrom.

"Maelstrom Arena Champion"

That's cute.

Runschei · July 2017

GZ mate!

For veteran mode I suggest you take your time to read up on some guides on the arena, especially for your class. No need to do all 9 stages in one day, just don't abandon the quest and you can spend as many days as you need. The sigils are great and nothing to avoid.

Good luck!

Oreyn_Bearclaw · July 2017

Trolly comments aside, you have to start someone. People love to joke about how easy normal is, but it is an accomplishment nonetheless. My candid advice is to now look for a concrete guide for you class for Veteran Arena. Magic Sorc is certainly the best class to tackle the challenge. Find a build that looks appealing and get your gear together (purple armor and gold weapons). I highly recommend a pet build for a brand new sorc. Not only is the damage good, but they will draw aggro which means you take less damage as well. Big fan of this guide:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/302925/infallible-infinite-wizard-magsorc-vma-build-video-homestead-ready/p1

Then.... Go right back into normal mode. Practice with your refined build until you can cruise through normal with 2-3 deaths and really understand the mechanics, which really dont change on vet. If you are dying 20 times on normal, vet will make you rage quit the game.

After That... Dive in to vet. DO NOT expect to beat it on your first second or even 10th try. Some do, most do not despite how easy they say it is on the forums. Take the arena in stages, 1 or 2 at a time. Come prepared and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS look at your death recap. Take a deep breath, analyze what killed you, and make adjustments. Look to guides for certain stages, but be careful of videos of people like Andy S or Streak. They dont play the same game as the rest of us. Haha.

Sigils are your best friend. They are insanely powerful. If you are playing a sorc, no chance your score will stick on the boards your first dozen or so clears anyway. Trouble Killing a boss fast enough? Power Sigil. Getting Pecked to death by ranged enemies? Shield sigil. Struggling with resources? Speed sigil (it boosts all stat regen). Just want a bit more of a cushion? Healing Sigil. You can grab all 4 of them, every round, of every stage.

strikeback1247 · July 2017

Jeremy wrote: »

Zuboko wrote: »

It is amazing how much skill and strategy this game requires.
What are some tips for running the veteran mode next?

Proof in screenshot

Unfortunately normal mode does not in any shape, form, or suggestion prepare you for veteran mode. They just aren't even comparable on any level.

So if you thought normal mode took an amazing amount of skill and strategy - you may be looking forward to the same kind reception I had on my first attempt in VMA. And it wasn't pretty.

My tips on running veteran mode would be not to run it. It's frustrating, exhausting, annoying, repetitive, cheesy, and shuns any build that is not capable or large amounts of damage. It really is basically everything I can't stand about what I would consider shoddy gameplay combined into a single soul-melting experience. But good luck

Sure it is easier to run with high damage, but I have seen people get flawless in full heavy armor.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · July 2017

lnsane wrote: »

Congrats!

I'm still stuck on The Rink of Frozen Blood..
Teach me your ways, sensei!

The simplest way to handle this fight is to grab the shield sigil and power sigil at the beginning of each round. They both spawn on the same island, so its a great place to call home base. Stack ground DOTS on the island you are standing on, and alternate between shields and heavy attacks with a lighting staff. Dont hesitate to drop a destro ultimate on the Ice Attros, they really dont like that.

Really try to avoid running from island to island if possible. You just need to be able to finish of the trolls from range.

Toc de Malsvi · July 2017

Oh Bless your heart.

QUEZ420 · July 2017

Gratz bruh!!!

Tornaad · July 2017

Chufu wrote: »

Zuboko wrote: »

It is amazing how much skill and strategy this game requires.
What are some tips for running the veteran mode next?

Proof in screenshot

The most important thing to decide first as a sorc is for you: Do I want to complete the vMA with Magicka or Stamina Sorc?

Both is possible, I tried it and successfully completed it. If you have a minimum of 14k DPS, you will complete it. The more DPS, the better it is.

These things are very important in every stage of this arena:
1. Learn where and when mobs will spawn and which mobs are more dangerous than other
2. Use sigils when needed, no reason to save them (when you don't want to get into the solo-trial of the week)
3. Have always a ward up (tip: Addon "Wardhelper"), so if you are Magicka = Magicka Shield, if you are stamina = Blade Cloak
4. Make sure to have "Surge" on your bar (Sorcerer-Skill), this skill is OP in the arena
5. Have enough patience
6. Enough Buffood, pots, Soulgems
7. NEVER stand in a red circle --> ouch

As a magicka char, just make sure to have your ward up, heavy attack.
As a stamina char you need more movement, but it's easier to run out of the red circles, just always Blade Cloak up and do it!

If you have further questions, don't be afraid, just ask!

Asking questions is how I got it completed in the first place.

Tornaad · July 2017

Niuby wrote: »

Before joining the vMA elite scum team, u will need
1. Food, drink and potions, both in game &real life, lots of them...lots
2. Backup monitor, keyboard/mouse, or game pad, in case you have failed to control your rage...
3. Tissue, so ur tear won't float you of of vMA
4. Avoid putting sharpen object near yourself except your sharpen staffs(soon u won't need them)...you will be surprise how much u will hate urself over somethings...
5. If u find urself in rage, sad, upset, disapperation, vomiting, crying, yelling or any sight of going berserk, go do something else and come back a day or a week or even a month later.
6. Seek help from close one, friends or family, friends for build, setup, mechanics and rotation, family for emotion control and mental support. Do not follow the YouTube Vedio for build!
7. Go to here, and pray like this is your last day!

Don't get mad get glad and fill it with jello and then drop it off the top of a 4 story building with a high speed camera ready.

Tornaad · July 2017

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Trolly comments aside, you have to start someone. People love to joke about how easy normal is, but it is an accomplishment nonetheless. My candid advice is to now look for a concrete guide for you class for Veteran Arena. Magic Sorc is certainly the best class to tackle the challenge. Find a build that looks appealing and get your gear together (purple armor and gold weapons). I highly recommend a pet build for a brand new sorc. Not only is the damage good, but they will draw aggro which means you take less damage as well. Big fan of this guide:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/302925/infallible-infinite-wizard-magsorc-vma-build-video-homestead-ready/p1

Then.... Go right back into normal mode. Practice with your refined build until you can cruise through normal with 2-3 deaths and really understand the mechanics, which really dont change on vet. If you are dying 20 times on normal, vet will make you rage quit the game.

After That... Dive in to vet. DO NOT expect to beat it on your first second or even 10th try. Some do, most do not despite how easy they say it is on the forums. Take the arena in stages, 1 or 2 at a time. Come prepared and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS look at your death recap. Take a deep breath, analyze what killed you, and make adjustments. Look to guides for certain stages, but be careful of videos of people like Andy S or Streak. They dont play the same game as the rest of us. Haha.

Sigils are your best friend. They are insanely powerful. If you are playing a sorc, no chance your score will stick on the boards your first dozen or so clears anyway. Trouble Killing a boss fast enough? Power Sigil. Getting Pecked to death by ranged enemies? Shield sigil. Struggling with resources? Speed sigil (it boosts all stat regen). Just want a bit more of a cushion? Healing Sigil. You can grab all 4 of them, every round, of every stage.

@Oreyn_Bearclaw I think you win for the most helpful and insightful response.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · July 2017

Zuboko wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Trolly comments aside, you have to start someone. People love to joke about how easy normal is, but it is an accomplishment nonetheless. My candid advice is to now look for a concrete guide for you class for Veteran Arena. Magic Sorc is certainly the best class to tackle the challenge. Find a build that looks appealing and get your gear together (purple armor and gold weapons). I highly recommend a pet build for a brand new sorc. Not only is the damage good, but they will draw aggro which means you take less damage as well. Big fan of this guide:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/302925/infallible-infinite-wizard-magsorc-vma-build-video-homestead-ready/p1

Then.... Go right back into normal mode. Practice with your refined build until you can cruise through normal with 2-3 deaths and really understand the mechanics, which really dont change on vet. If you are dying 20 times on normal, vet will make you rage quit the game.

After That... Dive in to vet. DO NOT expect to beat it on your first second or even 10th try. Some do, most do not despite how easy they say it is on the forums. Take the arena in stages, 1 or 2 at a time. Come prepared and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS look at your death recap. Take a deep breath, analyze what killed you, and make adjustments. Look to guides for certain stages, but be careful of videos of people like Andy S or Streak. They dont play the same game as the rest of us. Haha.

Sigils are your best friend. They are insanely powerful. If you are playing a sorc, no chance your score will stick on the boards your first dozen or so clears anyway. Trouble Killing a boss fast enough? Power Sigil. Getting Pecked to death by ranged enemies? Shield sigil. Struggling with resources? Speed sigil (it boosts all stat regen). Just want a bit more of a cushion? Healing Sigil. You can grab all 4 of them, every round, of every stage.

@Oreyn_Bearclaw I think you win for the most helpful and insightful response.

I always try to be helpful. I had a feeling the trolls would be swarming on this one...

Capsaica · July 2017

First, congratulations! Despite what some folks on here are saying, completing nMA is an achievement to be proud of. If you found it to be challenging, you worked through it, learned the fights and have succeeded in improving your play and skills. This, too, is something to be proud of.

As far as taking on vet mode, @Oreyn_Bearclaw has given you some solid advice. I highly recommend that you dive right back into normal mode until it becomes easy for you. Learn the mechanics. Even if you get to where you can ignore them, you won't likely be able to ignore them in vet mode for quite a while. Learn the spawns, learn the bosses, learn the mechanics. Gain CP in the meantime. Once you can blast though nMA with zero/few deaths and are just essentially standing around waiting for mobs to spawn, then you are ready to start working through vMA.

There are a number of solid videos and guides for vMA as well. I recommend taking a look at @Joy_Division 's guide here on the forums. This is a guide for completing a flawless vMA run, but the advice he gives is helpful for just completing the arena as well.

You may need to adjust your gear, CP and skills as well. There are numerous guides out there for that too. Personally, I find magsorc to be the easiest class to use to clear vMA. I've done it on magNB and magDK as well, but the sorc is easy mode relative to the others for me.

If I remember correctly, you may be able to have two separate instances of the MA quest active at once - both the normal version and the veteran one. In that case, you can start working your way through the vMA arenas slowly, while continuing to practice in normal mode whenever you are stuck or too frustrated for vMA.

Good luck! And try not to smash your mouse/controller into anything of value. Or, just don't smash the mouse at all. Try keeping a stress ball handy. Don't throw it though your monitor/TV...deep breaths are your friend.

Tornaad · July 2017

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Zuboko wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Trolly comments aside, you have to start someone. People love to joke about how easy normal is, but it is an accomplishment nonetheless. My candid advice is to now look for a concrete guide for you class for Veteran Arena. Magic Sorc is certainly the best class to tackle the challenge. Find a build that looks appealing and get your gear together (purple armor and gold weapons). I highly recommend a pet build for a brand new sorc. Not only is the damage good, but they will draw aggro which means you take less damage as well. Big fan of this guide:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/302925/infallible-infinite-wizard-magsorc-vma-build-video-homestead-ready/p1

Then.... Go right back into normal mode. Practice with your refined build until you can cruise through normal with 2-3 deaths and really understand the mechanics, which really dont change on vet. If you are dying 20 times on normal, vet will make you rage quit the game.

After That... Dive in to vet. DO NOT expect to beat it on your first second or even 10th try. Some do, most do not despite how easy they say it is on the forums. Take the arena in stages, 1 or 2 at a time. Come prepared and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS look at your death recap. Take a deep breath, analyze what killed you, and make adjustments. Look to guides for certain stages, but be careful of videos of people like Andy S or Streak. They dont play the same game as the rest of us. Haha.

Sigils are your best friend. They are insanely powerful. If you are playing a sorc, no chance your score will stick on the boards your first dozen or so clears anyway. Trouble Killing a boss fast enough? Power Sigil. Getting Pecked to death by ranged enemies? Shield sigil. Struggling with resources? Speed sigil (it boosts all stat regen). Just want a bit more of a cushion? Healing Sigil. You can grab all 4 of them, every round, of every stage.

@Oreyn_Bearclaw I think you win for the most helpful and insightful response.

I always try to be helpful. I had a feeling the trolls would be swarming on this one...

I was expecting that when I thought about making the post.

seedubsrun · July 2017

Zuboko wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Zuboko wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Trolly comments aside, you have to start someone. People love to joke about how easy normal is, but it is an accomplishment nonetheless. My candid advice is to now look for a concrete guide for you class for Veteran Arena. Magic Sorc is certainly the best class to tackle the challenge. Find a build that looks appealing and get your gear together (purple armor and gold weapons). I highly recommend a pet build for a brand new sorc. Not only is the damage good, but they will draw aggro which means you take less damage as well. Big fan of this guide:

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/302925/infallible-infinite-wizard-magsorc-vma-build-video-homestead-ready/p1

Then.... Go right back into normal mode. Practice with your refined build until you can cruise through normal with 2-3 deaths and really understand the mechanics, which really dont change on vet. If you are dying 20 times on normal, vet will make you rage quit the game.

After That... Dive in to vet. DO NOT expect to beat it on your first second or even 10th try. Some do, most do not despite how easy they say it is on the forums. Take the arena in stages, 1 or 2 at a time. Come prepared and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS look at your death recap. Take a deep breath, analyze what killed you, and make adjustments. Look to guides for certain stages, but be careful of videos of people like Andy S or Streak. They dont play the same game as the rest of us. Haha.

Sigils are your best friend. They are insanely powerful. If you are playing a sorc, no chance your score will stick on the boards your first dozen or so clears anyway. Trouble Killing a boss fast enough? Power Sigil. Getting Pecked to death by ranged enemies? Shield sigil. Struggling with resources? Speed sigil (it boosts all stat regen). Just want a bit more of a cushion? Healing Sigil. You can grab all 4 of them, every round, of every stage.

@Oreyn_Bearclaw I think you win for the most helpful and insightful response.

I always try to be helpful. I had a feeling the trolls would be swarming on this one...

I was expecting that when I thought about making the post.

Glad you posted anyway. There's a ton of trolls but a lot of us like to help. @Oreyn_Bearclaw has helped improve my skill quite a bit. I'd always take their advice. I'm bored at work most days so someone looking for a little magsorc or vMA help is quite appreciated from me. Keeps me awake and sane.

Olupajmibanan · July 2017

timb16_ESO85 wrote: »

Be a ranged, preferably magica, dps. This arena is in no way made for low dps and melee characters. While it is possible to complete it in normal mode, the ground effects combined with the required amount of mobility and ranged enemies mean you would have a much harder time as melee compared to ranged.

I have to disagree. Magicka templar is melee and it is one of the easier setups to complete VMA with. You can basically sweep through whole arena.

pieratsos · July 2017

Zuboko wrote: »

It is amazing how much skill and strategy this game requires.
What are some tips for running the veteran mode next?

Proof in screenshot

First get a good build. Necro, pets, gold weapons and then just go straight to vMA. There is no point doing normal mode again. No matter how many times you beat it, it will not prepare you for vet mode. The mechanics are the same but a mechanic that barely touches ur hp bar in normal mode and you dont even pay attention to it, its gonna probably one shot you in vet mode. The difference is day and night. Dont bother with normal again and just go straight to vet mode and keep trying till u beat it. Its going to be very painful but vMA will make you a better player.

Nighn_9 · July 2017

grats

Bobby_V_Rockit · July 2017

Nice, take the win and revel in it for a little while

Robo_Hobo · July 2017

Congrats! And hey, don't let the other comments about Veteran mode being too hard for you, discourage you.

I struggled to complete normal maelstrom mode at one point too, and when I first set foot in Veteran mode I couldn't get past the first arena after hours of trying, but I eventually got better and better and can complete Veteran mode now completely too. Even got me a sharpened inferno staff on my third run

Practice makes perfect, just remember to take breaks if you need them. It took over a year if on and off attempts with month breaks for me to do Veteran mode anyway, but if you want it enough and can put in the time and effort, you can do it.

Tornaad · July 2017

Robo_Hobo wrote: »

Congrats! And hey, don't let the other comments about Veteran mode being too hard for you, discourage you.

I struggled to complete normal maelstrom mode at one point too, and when I first set foot in Veteran mode I couldn't get past the first arena after hours of trying, but I eventually got better and better and can complete Veteran mode now completely too. Even got me a sharpened inferno staff on my third run

Practice makes perfect, just remember to take breaks if you need them. It took over a year if on and off attempts with month breaks for me to do Veteran mode anyway, but if you want it enough and can put in the time and effort, you can do it.

I don't believe in discouragement. It annoys me.

Saturnana · July 2017

Vipstaakki wrote: »

lnsane wrote: »

Congrats!

I'm still stuck on The Rink of Frozen Blood..
Teach me your ways, sensei!

Get the icebreaker trolls first. Disregard everything else.

Thanks! I've given that a go but I think I need to take them down a lot quicker.
I end up dying because I've got no ice left to stand on..

Will try to add some more ranged attacks to my bars as I'm currently very melee.
Which isn't making things much easier xD

Tornaad · July 2017

lnsane wrote: »

Vipstaakki wrote: »

lnsane wrote: »

Congrats!

I'm still stuck on The Rink of Frozen Blood..
Teach me your ways, sensei!

Get the icebreaker trolls first. Disregard everything else.

Thanks! I've given that a go but I think I need to take them down a lot quicker.
I end up dying because I've got no ice left to stand on..

Will try to add some more ranged attacks to my bars as I'm currently very melee.
Which isn't making things much easier xD

@lnsane The last boss breaks the ice too and will break it at certain health intervals and so it is possible for you to end up with no ice to stand on because of him.