The Flawless Conquerer

kylewwefan · May 2018

So. When I started realizing I was still having vitality at the end of a run. I know I’m getting better. At least at this.

Now The time has come. I’m running through here often and getting better every time I go. Making leaderboards. Getting pretty far without a death. Then the thaught starts occurring. Could I actually go Flawless? Nope. No. Nope. No. Not today mister. Try again. Maybe some other time.

Maybe I need some more CP.....better gear? Better internets? Better RNG?

After passing the 5th round unscathed, I'm shaking. It’s a unique feeling getting through that on one quarter. It’s happened once or twice now.

I’m sure you already know it was the 7th round at the boss poison spawn by bubble that did me in. It all goes to hell after that.

How do you Flawless conquerors out there do it? Is it by accident? We’re you actively pursing Flawless when it happens? Are you just that good that like every run is flawless? Change gear out? Do you do anything different to prepare? Do you stop and start over at that point?

I might be getting close to 100 runs through there now. Spread out over 4 toons. It’s quite possible I just need more experience. Or sticking to one toon.

Once upon a time I would have been happy just being able to beat this place one time. Now running through here like...I really don’t even know why I’m running through here? Already got everything I’d ever need or want.

But that title.

I can tell you that staff isn’t gonna magically get you 30k DPS and I am by no means a great player either.

Anything else I can buy, but that flawless conquerors has got my eye for now.

greenmachine · May 2018

I believe in you! Go get it!

IlCanis_LupuslI · May 2018

What helps is investing into a bit more defence(i tossed out velindreth on my stamblade/stam dk and used 1 pc chudan/1 pc skeleton pirate) and using defensive ultimates only(Soul Siphon/Corrosive armor), S. Oh yyes and at the beginning of each round i grabbed the HoT-Sigil and as it expired or when a difficult boss spawned i used the defensive sigil......

That helped me get it on my 2 stamina Characters despite a suboptimal race choise for pve....

Only downside, you have to be able to nuke bosses without help of ultimate so your rotation should be pretty solid since you do loose a bit of damage by investing into your survival...

XxCaLxX · May 2018

The biggest obstacle that was in my way for flawless was lag. It would usually happen after round 5 constantly. It doesn’t really do it anymore now. I had so many runs with 1 or 2 deaths that I almost gave up and I finally got it when I was doing a leaderboard run one day. Since then I get it about every run. I’ve never used sigils, never needed too because lag was my most difficult enemy. But running it enough times to know all spawn points and having the damage to instakill stuff when it spawns is best way to do it imo.

jeo329 · May 2018

Your doing it right my first flawless was with my mdk on there second run but had practice with my mag sorc which is not flawless.
It was not suppose to be a flawless run but after the 7th with no bad rng I went try hard sigils every round resource and defence most of the time on hard waves and it just happened

GrigorijMalahevich · May 2018

After magsorc flawless run at 327cp I did flawless (probably about 20-25 runs) on other characters from 1st/2nd try.

Don't bother with vMA guides as they will be more focused on dealing damage and skipping mechanics. First flawless is much easier to do with a more defensive/sustain setup. My magsorc did flawless with seducer/lich healing pet; magplar with 15khp did it with only field heal using bsw/lich s&b/ice heart did flawless on first attempt; magdk elegance/lich s&b heavy attack build flawless on second attempt.

Take sigils and don't worry about dropping some damage for sustain and for melee characters without major defensive buffs - you can take chudan monster set, makes a difference

but if you ask me what is the most important thing in vma to do flawless - I would say sustain every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

kylewwefan · May 2018

Thanks for your replies and advice. I’m gonna start concentrating more on my StamBlade main. It’s funny, I’m already using defensive monster 1 pieces on this guy. It may be how I’ve been getting to this point. Guess I need to get the RNG to line up better for me.

I’ve seen a top score run where Doobie just nukes the Argonian behemoth and doesn’t even have to worry about getting in the bubble. It seems like an extremely advanced technique...I probably can’t pull that off. Have to get them mechanics down a bit more solid and maybe pray.

BNOC · May 2018

kylewwefan wrote: »

Thanks for your replies and advice. I’m gonna start concentrating more on my StamBlade main. It’s funny, I’m already using defensive monster 1 pieces on this guy. It may be how I’ve been getting to this point. Guess I need to get the RNG to line up better for me.

I’ve seen a top score run where Doobie just nukes the Argonian behemoth and doesn’t even have to worry about getting in the bubble. It seems like an extremely advanced technique...I probably can’t pull that off. Have to get them mechanics down a bit more solid and maybe pray.

Don't sacrifice damage for survivability.

Just pay attention to what's killing you and nuke that first / avoid that mechanic.

Sigils are your best friend and are seriously OP.

With the Behemoth, chances are you won't be able to ignore the adds and that'll just add extra difficulty that you don't really need. Nuke the boss at the start until the adds spawn, kill one of the adds and get your dots/ranged attacks on the boss whilst you're safe - Finish off that last add - Pick up atk and defence sigil. Take the boss until you're standing just next to a green pool (just incase so you can dip in and out - But make sure boss isn't in the green at all) and finish him there.

His attacks are the same, there's like 4 attacks total with 1 Stun/Bleed.

But seriously - For a FQ run, just sigil whenever you think it's getting tough.

R5 for example can be made really easy by:
Nuking the boss on the first platform
Kill 2 adds as you move to next platform
Nuke boss on second platform
Ignore the 3 adds that spawn and run to the last platform (Leave ATK & DEF SIGIL platform until the end)
Pick up the sigils and just absolutely nuke everything in an ult.

Same with things like R7 W4 (3 archer spawn) etc or R8 W4 (5 add spawn) - Defence sigil makes those all really easy and attack sigil is just extra damage so, no brainer.

kylewwefan · May 2018

Thanks BNOC. The R8 W4 5 ad spawn is what got me to drop vamp and start using defensive monster pieces all the time.

Them guys would spawn in and insta jib me. Also the crematorial guards on 9. I can fairly easily face tank them, circle and burn them down now.

I saw a tip from the great Oeryn Bearclaw to use sigils freely if it’s taking you longer than an hour for a run. So I did start doing that some time ago. I don’t usually need a sigil for the first 4 rounds, but I’m not ashamed to grab one just because either.

My scores are averaging right around 400k Highest has been 450k on Stamplar. It has become one of my favorites. I’ve tried going all Damage, but it’s much better for me using Chudan. For some reason the game bugs out more with Stamplar than all other toons.

Merlin13KAGL · May 2018

It's a different playstyle and method. Just like Hardmode, No Death, and Speed Run are generally exclusive, this works much the same.

As has been mentioned, in the 'dangerous' rounds, you're going to tend to play more conservatively. You're not worried about time, except for the already determined DPS checks. You're not worried about score ("swing sigil away, Merrill.") Hots, mitigation, gear that helps with one or both.

kylewwefan wrote: »

After passing the 5th round unscathed, I'm shaking. It’s a unique feeling getting through that on one quarter. It’s happened once or twice now.

@kylewwefan you know the pups on here will have no idea what you mean by that

Best of luck!

mr_wazzabi · May 2018

kylewwefan wrote: »

So. When I started realizing I was still having vitality at the end of a run. I know I’m getting better. At least at this.

Now The time has come. I’m running through here often and getting better every time I go. Making leaderboards. Getting pretty far without a death. Then the thaught starts occurring. Could I actually go Flawless? Nope. No. Nope. No. Not today mister. Try again. Maybe some other time.

Maybe I need some more CP.....better gear? Better internets? Better RNG?

After passing the 5th round unscathed, I'm shaking. It’s a unique feeling getting through that on one quarter. It’s happened once or twice now.

I’m sure you already know it was the 7th round at the boss poison spawn by bubble that did me in. It all goes to hell after that.

How do you Flawless conquerors out there do it? Is it by accident? We’re you actively pursing Flawless when it happens? Are you just that good that like every run is flawless? Change gear out? Do you do anything different to prepare? Do you stop and start over at that point?

I might be getting close to 100 runs through there now. Spread out over 4 toons. It’s quite possible I just need more experience. Or sticking to one toon.

Once upon a time I would have been happy just being able to beat this place one time. Now running through here like...I really don’t even know why I’m running through here? Already got everything I’d ever need or want.

But that title.

I can tell you that staff isn’t gonna magically get you 30k DPS and I am by no means a great player either.

Anything else I can buy, but that flawless conquerors has got my eye for now.

Shields and heals are ur best friend, which is why you should attempt flawless on magicka first.

On my sorc I did hit the poison, but spammed the shield until I hit the cleansing pool.

code65536 · May 2018

So first, use sigils. But don't mindlessly spam them, either. Plan out their use and use them wisely. You mentioned the start of stage 8, round 4 as being problematic. That's a good place for a defense sigil at the start, which trivializes that spawn (plus the defense sigil is in the middle of that spawn pack). Plus a healing sigil to help deal with the miniboss's DoT, if you're having trouble with her.

Second, do damage. When I first went for Flawless, I did it very defensively. I used Iceheart (lol) and front-barred my shield. After I got Flawless, I decided to ditch all that and play more aggressively. My second Flawless came much more easily. The best defense is a good offense. Dead things can't hurt you. I wish I had gone offense instead for that first Flawless, because having done it both ways, defensive Flawless is just so much harder. (At the same time, I wouldn't go too extreme into the offensive side; I still like having 17K health, for example, instead of the 15K that's more in vogue these days.)

Third, stop thinking about Flawless. It's a distraction. Just try to do better and let it come naturally. Overthinking it makes it harder, in my experience.

Fourth, try to clear the arena faster. With fewer sigils. To put it bluntly, 400K is a terrible score. Sorry. You should be getting 500K or higher--with 400K, you're going too slowly or relying on far too many sigils. The most reliable way to get Flawless is to just get better at the arena. Once you're down to 1-3 deaths per run, then ramp up the sigil use and go for Flawless. But until then, overuse of sigils just reinforce bad practices and make it harder to get better at the arena. Once you're able to clear consistently under an hour with minimal sigil usage, then you'll be in striking distance of Flawless and then being liberal with sigils at that point will easily bridge the gap.

BNOC · May 2018

code65536 wrote: »

Second, do damage. When I first went for Flawless, I did it very defensively. I used Iceheart (lol) and front-barred my shield. After I got Flawless, I decided to ditch all that and play more aggressively. My second Flawless came much more easily. The best defense is a good offense. Dead things can't hurt you. I wish I had gone offense instead for that first Flawless

This.

It's your first time so don't go crazy, but definitely do not sit about with adds alive. If you absolutely need to recover/a breather, leave a melee add out and pick up the haste sigil and just stay away from him until you're good.

But again, definitely don't try and play too slow and steady with multiple adds up or you'll get caught out.

Honestly and I know this sounds stupid but, as you're going for an FQ run, I'd just pick sigils up like they were free, forget the score, it's not important right now

Good luck, I'll keep an eye on this.

kylewwefan · May 2018

I wish I could go on a mag toon and do it. But I’m not that good on magic toons. I can’t even beat Maelstrom on MagBlade and that’s supposed to be the easiest class to do it on. PetSorc was pretty rough for me too.

I beat it on every Stam character I have though and started doing leaderboard runs. It’s very easy with only about a dozen of us on the board. Hehe.

On PS4, my 400k scores aren’t anything to brag about, but I don’t think they’re really terrible. I don’t even bother with Sorc for leaderboards though.