VDSA group composition and gears

kylewwefan · October 2017

I’ve been in VDSA a few times recently and I’m trying to find info from those more versed in completing it and possibly getting on leaderboards. There were a few runs doomed from the start. 1 tank 3DPS round did not go so great. Warden tank was alright, but the chains were deeply missed.

I’ve got it in my head that tank, healer, mag DPS Stam DPS is would be the way to go.

I had an OK run with 3 DPS pet Sorc and 2 swapped to healing twilight.

Last time I tanked it with DK BS/Ebon/ tourgs Pact. It felt a bit not tanky enough on last boss, but fine for the rest. I was thinking of switching to
Resilient yokeda/leeching/BS or Chokethorn/shadowrend at least for the last boss.

I’ve read about tank wearing SPC/PA and I e tried it....I’m not good enough for that setup though. Maybe SPC Resilient could work? On console, so switching Gears around is major pain.

Also, every group has known of the healer taking taunt of main boss, and tank taking ads away. While this method does work, things can get a bit stressed in there. Is it possible to beat it the proper way? Killing ads then go back to boss? It doesn’t seem normal to me that less experienced players would have better more successful time doing an advanced method like this, but that’s how it is.

code65536 · October 2017

For 95% of people, vDSA should be done with a traditional setup of DK tank, a Templar/warden healer, and 2x DPS.

PA/SPC tank with 3x DPS is something people do when trying to get really high scores, but you shouldn't be even thinking about doing that until you are consistently getting 40K+ scores with little or no deaths in a traditional setup. You first need to get that level of familiarity and comfort with vDSA before dabbling in the more advanced setups.

WrathOfInnos · October 2017

I like having a DK tank for chains. A magicka nightblade with funnel health and refreshing path wearing SPC handles the healing over time while doing damage. Another mag DPS with a burst heal (sorc or Templar). The 4th can be any DPS really, usually magicka do better at surviving without a healer, and everyone having shields helps with the last boss (empowered pull drains health, but not shields). Coordinate Destro ultis so there's one for every wave of adds on boss fights.

Asardes · October 2017

Non-DK tanks can wear Swarm Mother monster set for trash pulls. Not sure if Warden gates are good enough since some pulls need to be quite fast. Any solid DDs capable of 30K+ will do with magicka at a slight advantage. Also the healer should be to pull 15-20K in the Daedra arena to kill the sacrifice and slot inner fire for the boss arena.

pizzaow · October 2017

An alternative method which is a little easier on the tank is:

* The tank taunts the main boss until "fire feet" then returns to the group
* Burn the attronach, and try to get the boss to 75%. If DPS is too slow (i.e. the group gets 'fire feet' before 75%), the tank needs to take the boss back to entrance so only they get fire feet. Rinse and repeat until 75%
* The healer takes one of the adds, and the tank will take the main boss and the other add.
* When the healer/dps finish the add, the tank will come back; the healer will then take the other add and (and the atronach(es)). The tank will take the main boss away.
* When the other add is dead, the tank will come back and remain there until the other 2 adds spawn. When they do spawn, the healer will taunt the main boss and the tank will take the 2 adds until the end of the fight.

The tank needs to be mindful of the "fire feet" when returning; if it's time to come back, but will get fire feet soon they should wait until it's safe then return with the new attronach.

Using this method, the tank only ever has 2 enemies to taunt.

kylewwefan · October 2017

Thanks for the insights. The sacrifice round and the golden boy rounds have been the most problematic with groups going in there. Biggest lesson learned, even if boss is almost dead, Kill the Sacrifice!

Then the last boss is something else. Usually all the groups I go with get him burned down to %75 quick. I started having the healer take the boss over to the left side at second ads spawn so I can grab the ads easier.

I’ll have to wait on the SPC tank for awhile I think. Best score so far is 15k. But not many run this very often, and it’s a big time commitment usually. I’ll probably not go 3 DPS either, rather a DPS that can heal a little.

Asardes · October 2017

One tactic that worked at some point is with the tank taking both sets of adds away and the healer tanking the boss at the gate. For some reason this tactic started failing at some point. When the 2nd add set spawn one of them either stays put and throws the negate even if it's taunted just like the other 3 I carried in tow or simply moves only a a bit with the others then returns to the group and throws the negate even if it had been taunted like 5s before (taunt lasts for 15s according to the tool tip). This has been driving me crazy for a few months and was the straw that broke the camel's back for me when it comes to tanking. I have since converted the Stam DK to DD and never tanked anything. I still haven't figured out what I was doing wrong. I even tried re-taunting all adds every 5-7s and it didn't help: one either stayed or returned.

idk · October 2017

DK tank is best. Healer ofc and prob best it be a Templar.

As for dps having at least one stam is beneficial but more for the final arena.

If the tank can handle it and dps has enough AoE then the tank can just pull everything together, including bosses from Arena 1-9. Stam can use acid spray which would do solo d AoE while increasing their survival. Melee due a lot in there unless they are very good at avoiding the damage.

Again. That's if one has enough AoE and the tank can handle if.

Final arena. Tank doesn't bring the boss to the group until he has fire. He runs over to the group, places the fire to the side. Group kills the atro then onto the boss. Just before boss hits 75% healer taints the boss (yes) and tank steps away.

Tank taunts the adds when they spawn and runs to the other side. When the boss is at 50% tanks runs over to grab the next set of adds and runs away. After 50% the dps and healed burn their ults and take the boss down to zero.

It takes some getting used to but that's the easiest way to finish the final arena. Healer will need to be used to healing while holding the boss. Also. Getting out of his nova is a big deal.

Tank gear. Ebon for first 9 arenas. Torugs would be good and if you need some extra mag regen Dragon would be fine. Any monster pieces your fine with. Final arena, whatever your comfortable with since you'll be alone. I like plague with dragon and 2 - 1 piece monster helms with magicka regen. Probably a little overkill.

SupremeRissole · November 2017

Dk tank with 2pc lord warden, 5 ebon and 5 plague doctor.
2 pet sorcs and 1 non pet sorc

If someone is struggling 1 pet sorc will slot matriach.

On last boss the non pet sorc with bound aegis will taunt the main boss when adds spawn.

Can't imagine running vDSA without chains that would be quite painful especially trying to get the leaderboards.

ARIES SERPICO · November 2017

Ive been using traditional DK setup w/ Ebon Alkosh and swap out helm/shoulder combo between Sellestrix, blood spawn and sentinel.
Last round I use histbark/dragon Guard/Bloodspawn
I would like to try resilient yokeda or other sets like hand of mephala

SoLooney · November 2017

until you and your grouo know vdsa like the back of your hand, stick with a traditional set up

also a stamplar wearing war machine is op in there. esp if its 3 dps 1 tank

ARIES SERPICO · November 2017

Questions? Anyone tried Alkosh w/Torugs

xRIVALENx · November 2017

kylewwefan wrote: »

Also, every group has known of the healer taking taunt of main boss, and tank taking ads away. While this method does work, things can get a bit stressed in there. Is it possible to beat it the proper way? Killing ads then go back to boss? It doesn’t seem normal to me that less experienced players would have better more successful time doing an advanced method like this, but that’s how it is.

Depends how you want to do the fight I suppose:

Healer and DPS stay near the door.
Tank pulls Main Boss to stairs until Atro AoE shows up.
Tank pulls Main Boss to Group near door.
Dps until Mini Bosses spawn.
Tank pulls Main Boss to stairs, waits until Mini Bosses are dead and Atro AoE shows up.
Tank pulls Main Boss back to Group, proceed to burn.
Tank shields group when the boss does his AoE that drops everyone down to 1 health.
Tank maintains taunt on Main Boss and both Mini Bosses that spawn at 50%.

If you can't burn fast enough you can pull the Main Boss to the stairs once more and kill the second set of Mini Bosses.

*EDIT*

Tanked this in Lunar Bastion, Imperium and Lord Warden. Shielding really goes a long way in this fight.

Takuto · November 2017

Whether you should go 1T/3D or 1T/1H/2D setup depends largely on the individual build of your DPS players. My most recent runs have been 1T/3D with the DPS running VMA style self-sufficient builds with moderate DPS output. This is because most of my guildies don't like to run very high DPS builds we tend to do much better with an extra DPS vs a dedicated healer.

As for the tank build -- I've been running a mWarden tank with 5 Plague Doctor 5 Alteration Mastery, and Swarm Mother (5h/2l, 8 sturdy).