How hard is VDSA?

SirAndy · December 2017

rteezy wrote: »

that means i can farm my own weapon and soon enough start pvp'ing"..

Wait, you've been waiting on a vMA/vDSA weapon drop to go PvPing?

I leveled my main PvP character in Cyrodiil from level 10 to VR14/16, there is absolutely no reason to wait before joining in ...

Left4Daud · December 2017

Robo_Hobo wrote: »

If any healers want to try running it, I have a partial group for it on PC/NA. 2 dps's and a tank wanting to run it. Trio'ing it didn't go too well for us Xd

@Robo_Hobo

I would be interested in joining! Been trying to get into the arena for a while with some friends but our schedules never lined up. Sending you a PM with my info.

s7732425ub17_ESO · December 2017

The problem with VDSA is that most of the bosses are damage sponges. They have around 5 million HP, and sometimes there are even two bosses at the same time, AND there is always an enrage timer. You won't immediately wipe once a boss enrages, but unless you have a really good tank, it'll be tough to complete.

Rounds 7 and onward are very difficult to complete for low DPS groups. The daedra round is definitely the hardest- there are two bosses, and one of the bosses must be interrupted constantly or else it will heal up to full, and once that boss enrages, it will continuously one-shot the DPS members with ranged attacks.

I would say two DPS that can consistently pull at least 20k each in all circumstances will be able to do it. However, it will be very difficult.

Strider__Roshin · December 2017

mb10 wrote: »

All down to your tank on the last boss and knowing the mechanics of the other rounds before

I do enjoy VDSA but definitely feel like it drags on a bit too much with all those rounds

Yeah VDSA is definitely dependant on a strong tank. It's actually one of the very few things I'll bring my tank in for.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · December 2017

Well, you can pug anything. Not sure I would recommended it for your first shot. 4 people that can clear VMA can certainly clear VDSA with a little practice. Like VMA, there are several mechanics in VDSA that are simple once you get the hang of them, but will one shot you if you ignore them.

One person that really knows the arena and can make calls can carry a very mediocre group through VDSA if they follow directions, but 4 good players that havent been in their before are certainly going to struggle the first time or two..

My advice: Do not run VDSA without voice communication, and make sure at least one person, preferably the tank, is knowledgeable and can make calls. If I have a good tank (I usually DPS), pugging the rest of the group is not much of an issue.

Insandros · December 2017

With a few good friends you are used to play with, a few time invested on reading some stuff or watching video, it's pretty easy, by easy i don't mean no death runs on first try etc.. but able to complete, i do it mostly on each friday with the 3 same freinds, we clear in inbetween 1h30 and 2h, depends of all the breaks we often takes, two of my friends are a couple and have young baby, so lots of baby agro, or we ended up being 5 minutes once in a while etc... if your goal is clearing it to get stuff, it's sorta easy, if it's going with best score and no death, needs lots of practice i presume but so far it ain't my goal.

LeagueTroll · December 2017

Why would you use vma destro staff in pvp, it was not good even b4 the vma staff change, also why don’t you get a perfect asylum staff

deathcoyrwb17_ESO · December 2017

vDSA is easier than vMA imo, the last stage/boss is like 90% of the entire difficulty of vDSA and the highlight of the dungeon. You don't need max CP but i feel 300 is a good start. Good dps is the most crucial part, like everything else, encounters increase in difficulty exponentially with weaker dps. Having a reasonably experienced tank also helps a lot.

malicia · December 2017

A bit off-topic, but the replies here generally seems to say that a good tank is needed. I'm in a group who've recently started running it, with me as tank. We've cleared it a few times already, but we still have wipes in some of the rounds - I'd guess roughly six wipes per run.

Why the focus on the tank? I haven't felt particularly special in our runs, so chances are that I'm missing things that I should be doing that will benefit the group. Any good guides focussing on tanking vDSA out there?

@OP - In the group I run vDSA with, all feel pretty confident about doing vDSA. Of the four, though, I think only one has actually completed vMA. The difficult part for you will be finding a good group to run it with, more than the actual dungeon itself. On what server are you playing?

rteezy · December 2017

malicia wrote: »

A bit off-topic, but the replies here generally seems to say that a good tank is needed. I'm in a group who've recently started running it, with me as tank. We've cleared it a few times already, but we still have wipes in some of the rounds - I'd guess roughly six wipes per run.

Why the focus on the tank? I haven't felt particularly special in our runs, so chances are that I'm missing things that I should be doing that will benefit the group. Any good guides focussing on tanking vDSA out there?

@OP - In the group I run vDSA with, all feel pretty confident about doing vDSA. Of the four, though, I think only one has actually completed vMA. The difficult part for you will be finding a good group to run it with, more than the actual dungeon itself. On what server are you playing?

PC-Na

Congrats on your runs

malicia · December 2017

We're on EU, so I won't be able to invite you if we need a DD, unfortunately.

f047ys3v3n · December 2017

VDSA, as it is usually done, requires much less skill and mechanics play than VMA and much more dps. You also do actually need a group of other good players.

As for the weapon. LOL, I have it and choose to use a crafted one in PVP over it. The buff to clench (already an under-powered ability) is laughably small. You are better off just adding a 1 pc kenna to your 2 5pc sets instead of a Masters staff. The only vMA or vDSA weapon I use any more on my toon that is specked out is the vMA resto in PVP for my back bar. All the other weapons I worked so hard for are now on alt toons.

If your going to do vDSA, do it for the complete. The weapons are garbage (the resto might still have some use for 12 man raid healers but all other are without value.)

Moltyr · January 2018

VDSA is cake! There are guides you can follow along with on your first time through. I think my first clear took a little over an hour back in the day? IMO it's pretty fun to run as well.

glavius · January 2018

First clear in little over an hour definitely sounds like a very experienced/high damage group, that has spend a whole week watching videos of the mechanics. Don't expect this going there first time.

LadyNalcarya · January 2018

malicia wrote: »

A bit off-topic, but the replies here generally seems to say that a good tank is needed. I'm in a group who've recently started running it, with me as tank. We've cleared it a few times already, but we still have wipes in some of the rounds - I'd guess roughly six wipes per run.

Why the focus on the tank? I haven't felt particularly special in our runs, so chances are that I'm missing things that I should be doing that will benefit the group. Any good guides focussing on tanking vDSA out there?

@OP - In the group I run vDSA with, all feel pretty confident about doing vDSA. Of the four, though, I think only one has actually completed vMA. The difficult part for you will be finding a good group to run it with, more than the actual dungeon itself. On what server are you playing?

Because chaining adds/positioning is very important (if we're talking about speedruns). Some adds should be chained asap, for example those ice mages, you cant chain tehm through their ice shield. Its also worth mentioning that in DSA spawns are triggered by killing certain mobs, so you have to take care of that as well.
If we're talking about first runs... Well, not all newbie tanks can handle DSA bosses. Once I was helping a guildie with the last boss, and it was the first time for the tank.Our tank couldnt survive at all. Even the first bit of the fight, when he was supposed to aggro the boss and take a flame circle, was too difficult for him. When the adds spawned, he would get rekt almost instantly. So... Yeah. If tank is having troubles, the last boss becomes insanely difficult.