Tips for new vMA runners - Please share more!

GreenHere · August 2018

SidewalkChalk5 wrote: »

GreenHere wrote: »

What's with all these "secret builds" that people are always keeping so close to their chests, though? I don't understand the motivation...

I just don't want it to be nerfed. The sets I suggested are almost as good.

Haha, yeah, that I can understand. ZOS does kind of seem to have a "man, people are really enjoying and succeeding with this setup... we should fix that!" mentality sometimes. Thanks for answering.

noob in denial · August 2018

Ok, here's my easiest way to do vMA as magicka sorc; as an objective, i tried to maximize my hardened ward shield and i'm playing with AOEs. Rarely use single target, except when i wanna intrerupt or quick kill a specific target/boss.

1. Item build: necropotence+spinner's+infernal guardian's set. Having 51k magicka really helps, having very strong hardened ward also helps, about 30k absorbtion with some CP. Infernal guardian's set is really useful, it attacks/kills monster you have no ideea are spawned, like annoying/far away ones. Sometimes, like for round 7 it can be risky you'd have to be careful not to kill both monsters because of it, because then you'd have to intrerrupt the boss and fight it enraged. For this round/boss fight it can be replaced with ilambris/valkyn.

2. Skills/playstyle: single target bar with crushing shock, crystal fragments, hardened ward, matriarch and elemental debuff for boss fights ( don't intrerrupt boss at round 7 while channeling with crushing shock ). AOE bar with LL, blockade, hardened ward, matriarch and surge. Mostly i stay on the aoe bar and use a lightning staff, go near ranged monsters and aoe there, melle monsters will follow. Obviously also paying attention to key monsters, like the clockwork sentries for round 4/venomcaller round 7, summoners round 9.

Swifigames if you're at round 4, stay UNDER the boss until he stops, only then you run away. By simply moving with the boss all the time you'll dodge most of the spells. If you're at round 5, try to make the aoes as effective as possible; even if you focus boss, use the blockade in a way that it will damage the other far away units. You can even burst the boss in the beginning, as soon as you change the platform it will take him time to come to you so you'll have time to do some clearing.

Alcast · August 2018

I can always recommend my Maelstrom Gameplay list for ALL CLASSES with full runs, explanations etc if you want to take a look: https://alcasthq.com/maelstrom-arena-gameplay/

I also do have a beginners guide if people are interested:
https://alcasthq.com/eso-maelstrom-arena-introduction-pve/

My nr 1 recommendation: Do not tryhard it, if you keep failing on a certain stage, take a break for a day or two and then go back in there when you are refreshed and ready to roll.

GreenHere · August 2018

One thing I've always really like about @Alcast 's setups is that he makes the effort to give a beginner version for people who can't easily get the best gear. +1 vote for checking out his guides.

And the tip about not playing through the rage is probably the best one there is to give. Having fun is what games are about, and tackling challenging stuff like vMA works better when you're fresh and in a good frame of mind.

Stinkyremy · August 2018

sevomd69 wrote: »

Stinkyremy wrote: »

I don't understand why people say it is so hard.
I tried it at a stam dk at 300cp with mediocre gear, got to round 3 then gave up. Did it today with a mag dk (orc) 4 hours 15 mins, then just respec my main (nord) dk to get the achievement on my main, did it in 2 hours 10 mins.
I'm sure after perfecting the spawn and refining my build I could get the flawless and get my time down to at least 1 hour 30 mins after only a few more tries.

EDIT: I didn't touch a sigil in any of my runs too

I can say that about what I did for a living before retiring...but trust me...while I found it very easy after 25 years of doing it...you most likely wouldn't find it so easy...

Which brings me to my point...experience is the key to getting comfortable in vMA...

Its just like driving...it seems so easy when I saw others doing it, but first time I got behind the wheel...in NYC no less...it was slightly unnerving...

I have only done it 3 times now. 2 times when I wrote that post. It wasn't hard, yeah a few rounds were a bit frustrating learning mecs ( I had done it on normal but mechs are different a bit on vet) but i certainly wasn't hard. Mainly self healing is the hard part, prioritize targets, kite whatever you can. just basic learning like any dungeon.
I suppose "technically" I have a bit of a mental/muscle memory advantage as I am a tank main, so weighing up priority targets, being aware of the battle, looking 360 with the camera is second nature to me.
I litterally just did it again, my 3rd time, 1 hour 30 mins, 4 lives left. I wasn't rushing either, i made a few cups of coffee in that time.
So going by that progress by my 10th time (maybe luck dependant) i will have the arena down to at least 1 hour with flawless conquer.

It was the same for me for VDSA, did it once on normal, learnt mechs, did it on vet, learnt damage, after about 3 tries I'm semi pro, now I can storm through it in an hour, depending on the team.

Stinkyremy · August 2018

Raraaku wrote: »

If you've got tips to share then by all means share them; otherwise I'm not sure why you'd brag about how easy something is on a thread whose purpose is to help players struggling.

boombazookajd wrote: »

are you really e-peening on the forums about your vMA run dood?

I'm not bragging, I'm just surprised that all this "vma is the hardest solo content" or "vma is as hard as dark souls" is all BS, and actually it is no more or less difficult than a dungeon, other than you are solo. It's pretty straight forward:

Make a build knowing that you are solo, so you need to be able to survive hold agro and self heal.
Learn mechanics
?????
profit

It's not some extreme challenging content that people have made it out to be.
While I do know it is levelled to 160, so would be challenging as any dungeon at 160. In reality though, the mechanics are no more complicated than any base game dungeon. Heck you can kill mobs before they even spawn in vma.

As for my run/s
I am mag DK using desto/resto.
Just using the resto for healing ward and heavy attack for resources.
Builds are up to the player, though I would suggest a resto as healing ward is one of the best shields in the came, plus self heals.
Dps is second to survivability, you want to have like 20k health, self heal skills and sets that increase your health and/or resistances. I used chudan rather than a proc monster set, which saves you magika by not having to reapply a major ward/resolve skill as well as a skill slot, also some health and extra resistances.
I guess when you are skilled at it you can go in for mega dps.

Bladerunner1 · August 2018

The easiest clear I ever had was on the magblade, @Enigmatic, using this setup:

CP allocation was like the Alcast Magblade PVE, but a lot more into spell erosion, like 4000 penetration while having 28 Thaumaturge.

Mundus: Mage

Witch mother's brew

Pariah arcane jewelry + chest + one more heavy armor

I still use infused shock glyph on the inferno front bar + 3 light armor, any good magic set would work here.

Maw of the infernal light armor set since the big guy rushes ahead and tells me where to face for the next spawn xD

The biggest difference in surviving VMA comes from the skills, and this arrangement made it extremely survivable:

Front bar
Merciless resolve, Harness Magicka, Swallow Soul, Radiant magelight, Impale, Elemental Rage

Back bar
Elemental Blockade, Sap Essence, Twisting Path, Radiant Magelight, Siphoning Attacks, Soul Harvest

With harness magicka on the front bar alongside swallow soul as the primary spammable, it's perfect for surviving through the worst of the arena while tearing through priority enemies. You weave a light attack between everything to take full advantage of the merciless resolve procs.

Hurtfan · August 2018

Bookmarking this thread if I ever want to torture myself. Great info, thanks all.

DocFrost72 · August 2018

It is not a dps race.

I always wondered why people looking to clear (important: not leaderboards, just clear) wore 2 dps sets, 7 medium or light, and went 17k health. If you don't know the mechanics this mentality will get you killed.

For stamina classes I run VO and fortified brass until I am comfortable enough on that spec to run hunding's. For magicka, I always have a ward on front bar. Every. Single. Spec.

CC is actually useful in maelstrom.

Speed pots are amazing in maelstrom.

Tri foods for magicka toons, especially on round 9, are a viable option.

For the love of the divines, use the sigils. I cannot fathom seeing a perfectly good defensive sigil and then dying to ranged adds on round 5 because I didn't want to "use training wheels". I legitimately cannot.

Always face the boss. Even when you are doing important mechanics like catching golden ghosts, killing venomcallers, or killing stranglers face the main boss of the round. It absolutely sucks to die to a heavily telegraphed uppercut or skull because you didn't look.

@Alcast made a point better than any of mine though.

My nr 1 recommendation: Do not tryhard it, if you keep failing on a certain stage, take a break for a day or two and then go back in there when you are refreshed and ready to roll.

Don't give up. You can't lose to maelstrom, you can only lose to yourself.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · August 2018

The short guide on completing VMA:

Step 1: Pick a class that gives good passive healing, with high DPS. Best options include Mageblade, Magic Sorc, or Stam Sorc. Magic is certainly easier your first time because you have a shield.

Step 2: Make sure you can do at least 25k-30k DPS (3 mil dummy is fine). Sure it can be done with less, but it will introduce issues. A really good benchmark is the first boss. If he ports more than twice, go back to the drawing board for more damage.

Step 3. Dont overthink your gear, and use a proven build. There are hundreds of vidoes and guides out there, dont reinvent the wheel. Whether you use Julianos or BSW as your damage set isnt going to be the difference on your first clear. Just make sure your gear/build passes the smell test.

Step 4. Come prepared: food, potions, soul gems, at least purple gear, and a reasonable number of CP (300 is plenty).

Step 5. Learn the stage mechanics. Each stage has a basic mechanic that most be followed. Some are easier than others, but none are rocket science. All of them will kill you if ignored.

Step 6. Learn Kill priority. That is the core of the arena. As a general rule, Stage Mechanics>Healers>Archers>Casters>Melee.

Step 7. Grab sigils. If you havent cleared, grab every sigil you come across. You will find that you dont need nearly as many, but some sigils drastically simplify some of the harder stages. For example, one of the first real defensive checks is stage 5 when tons of things spawn. The shield sigil makes it laughable.

Step 8. ALWAYS look at your death recap. If you dont know what is killing you, you cant adjust.

Step 9. Dive in, but limit your play sessions to 2 hours max. Dont play angry, frustrated, or tired. If you get stuck, watch a video and make sure you understand why you are getting stuck. The amount of actual RNG deaths in this arena are minimal. If you died, you did something wrong.

Step 10. Profit.

NordSwordnBoard · August 2018

On Sorc, the Voriak Solkyn crystal phase and be made easier with Dark Deal (a pvp oriented skill) to give you health vs the dot and stamina to never miss a wall/barrier and roll dodge more. Same with lightning form, free dot on the crystals when near them and speed + resist.

I mention these because sometimes skills you don't normally use/consider can be useful in the arena.

MaleAmazon · August 2018

Understand your class. Understand the mechanics. Understand what kills you. Have self heal.

Some more specific advice;

The Matriarch Runa ice floe smashings are HP based (75%, 50% and I guess 25% but then you just burn her down). Kill the adds and make sure no troll smashes a floe. I go 1 boost per floe; regeneration boost -> health boost -> shield + weapon boost.

You can reflect some annoying attacks with shield boost, like the staff machine gun fire in the lava arena. There is one round towards the end when 3 of those enemies spawn at once, it´s useful to grab the shield boost right away there.

Some arenas are a *bit* of a DPS race. Not so that you need super DPS, it just helps a lot. If you can´t destroy the 3 crystals on Voriak Solkyn in one go, it might be better to plan to jump down and save a good ulti for the crematorial guard. Before I had enough DPS to do it in one sweep, the warden healing ultimate was a real life saver for me here.

Alcest · August 2018

my firsts VMA runs i finished with very easy sorc pet build: elegant+necropotence+monster set i dont remember what exactly it was.. it was super easy build cus all what i had to do is click left mouse button and empowered ward button so all my attention concentrated on environment, not on complicated rotations.on last arena i was using overload ulti to destroy those stones asap..

also, use blood mara for last 2 arenas...

colossalvoids · August 2018

Playing for a year almost and yesterday was my first vma clear. First time I went there as a stamina nightblade and was obliterated by centurions, stranglers and frost spears so I quit it and never looked back. I had probably hunding's and spriggan's at that time.
And now after some veteran hm trials, some vet maw attempts I decided it's time to go back.
I rolled my pvp mnb with mother's and julianos from my other character and swapped skoria for zaan from time to time. Fine addition was double take skill that helped a ton. So after two hours I was at the last boss raging at myself and lags so I went for a walk and completed it after in an hour or less. And today im on last boss and will probably do it again soon. Main tip is to be patient and really look around-don't depend on memory and look back all the time. Have priority targets that kills you most of the times. Don't spam skills like no tomorrow, only on stack'n burn stages. And if you enraged before your enemy does - just leave it for some time and get your head clear before stepping again. Drink something or go outside, it will really help to stay sane here;)

Camb0Sl1ce · August 2018

a simple tip if youre going through on a sorc, (if mechanics allow of course) try to keep your wall and/or liquid lightning down on less threatening ads with surge up and focus priority ads like archers and casters. like the frost atro round on stage 5 ill put wall down kite around the atro focusing high priority threats. with surge up the crit ticks on slow or stationary ads helps alot when facing multiple targets.

mocap · August 2018

colossalvoids wrote: »

And if you enraged before your enemy does - just leave it for some time and get your head clear before stepping again. Drink something or go outside, it will really help to stay sane here;)

good advice. More mistakes -> more rage -> even more mistakes. Take a lil break between stages.
Also, start arena only when login! Not after you already played like 3 hours )

I beat this arena today for the first time with idiotic gear and without using Sigils most of the time. It's not that hard, especially the fact that you continue from last round, not from the beginning.

Mothball888 · August 2018

I also am a recent 1st time vma’er (last Friday). OH the JOY! 1st pass took an insane amount of time, over many, many months. I got a Fire vma staff in my first drop, and with that finished it a 2nd time in under 3 hours. Since Friday, I’ve cleared it an additional 4 times. Still need that bow, but I’m starting a nice lightning staff collection.

Recommendations.

Learn the arena. For me this meant forcing myself to not focus on just the jerk infront of me. Always kite, while kiting, look at what’s going on in the arena. I typically don’t die from the jerk standing in front of me unless I run out of resources, instead it’s that jerk on the outside that I am not aware of yet. Some Arena’s have pass/no-pass mechanics. Learn what those are.
Ex: Troll Frozen Islands, Arena #5. You cannot allow trolls to destroy an ice island, one spawns at the start of each round. The final boss in this arena destroys 2 of 3 islands. If you do not have 3 islands at the beginning of the last round, you will never get past this arena. Once you learn the arena, you can the focus on the killing priority to get thru the round faster.

IG monster set is GREAT at removing those outside threats. OR at minimum. When it fires off and it launches fireballs behind you.. You know you’ve got something behind you.

Tri-stat health potion pots. Get them, use them exclusively once you feel you have a shot at passing the arena. (Use trash pots until you feel more conformable if you find them too expensive.)

If Vamp, drop to stage 3 with the mara pot, but I use the blue food afterwards. Lots of fire in the 8th and 9th arenas. Lots. Like a ton.

Take your time. Running to an objective is almost never more important that insuring you are buffed/debuffed/shielded.

I am a mag pet sorc. 2 pets w/ the healer matriarch. Neco + Juli + IG. 5/1/1. Power surge and the shield are on my front bar, LL and WoE on the back bar. Running Mage light and aegos as well. 54K mag. 18k H. It is not the perfect setup, but it’s what got me thru. I will be reading this thread closely to see where I can improve.

I have no-deathed in each arena (not in the same run though) except the 8th and 9th. Something I thought, could NEVER be possible. I truly believe, once you learn the arena, it does become a lot easier. Just for some of us, it takes a very long time to learn each arena! (as was my case).

Jaimeh · August 2018

These are some of my tips (mostly cateted towards magicka users):

1. Make use of the sigils: the power sigil is great for boss fights, the defensive sigil for mobs with projectiles (such as the chillbane huntsmen in stage 5, the final boss' skull attack, etc.), the haste sigil for when you are running out of resources, or when you need to move fast (like in arena 8 where you have to go around and kill the columns), and the healing one for some extra healing, as there's a lot of damage over time in vMA.

2. Use a simplified rotation: an AOE, a spammable, a shield, a self-heal, a burst or execute, and an ulti. Always have a realiable self-heal skill when you are still learning the arena.

3. Managing your resources is better than trying to burn and then coming up short. Low resources equal almost always death in vMA, because there is a lot of incoming damage. This includes not over-casting skills, or casting inappropriate skills, which can happen during the panic of the moment. Keep calm, and always be mindful of your stat pools.

4. Some specific skills and sets can come in handy: for example, having a ranged interrupt like crushing shock, at least while you are still learning, is very important, the sorc's Negate ulti can nulify the crem guard's breath, etc. It's good to read guides for a given class for this reason. I also found that the proc from the IG set is great for stage 6 because it can alert you to the presence of the webspinners if you miss them. Conversely, don't use a damage proc set for stage 7 because it might kill the minder.

5. Do watch videos and read guides, but the best thing is to just practice and keeping at it. For most people, their first clear is a months-long endeavour, with perhaps breaks in between, and definitely a lot of frustration, rage-quitting, and plotting the downfall of Fa Nuit Hen, but the good news is that your effort will pay off eventually!

LadyLethalla · August 2018

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Step 9. If you died, you did something wrong.

Or... you have lag issues like the clannfear killing you while invisible, spamming break free but it doesn't work for 2-3 secs, or else getting knocked back and sliding across the arena, helpless to react to anything.

Kaartinen · August 2018

Swifigames wrote: »

Any tips for getting the hair I pulled out doing VMA, back?
I still haven't completed the experience. I'm still working on stage 4 or 5 at the moment. It's certainly no joke.
I've spent the last two days golding out my Sorc gear and getting the set(s) I need for a better run.
I will look forward to more tips in here. I can't see how people can go through here so quickly and with no sigil's...that is insane to me & I'm convinced it's more of a gear situation than a level skill situation...though I'm certain skill is certainly a must have as well.
It's most positively very tough...very. It's no joke.

It's mostly a skill situation. I ran it for the first time to completion this week in purple gear with the 160cp health potions that drop in dungeons. Read Joy Divisions guide and then watch a video attempt, then make your attempt.

It's mostly a memory game. You learn the mechanics and react. Don't be afraid to use the buffs, as they respawn every round.

Keep in mind, stage 7 is the most rng based. Pray no mushrooms spawn in your pocket.

EDIT: I used necro/netch/skoria if you're curious about gear. It's nothing special, but it's all my Sorc was carrying from a couple patches ago.

Hostee · August 2018

Use the sigils if you need them! They can be the difference between a complete and a death... Don’t worry about your score.... you just need to focus on learning mechanics.... If you start to get angry, take a break and come back later.... We’ve all died millions of times same as you.

rumple9 · August 2018

Avoid ilambris it often misses the target in fights that are highly mobile. Also Infernal Guardian often kills targets you don't want it to or in the wrong place eg the hoavers on round 6, the second mage on round 7 or the ghost clanfear on round 9. I find Skoria to be the much better choice and you get extra health too.

Another tip - someone mentioned above the pesky archers on round 7. If you pick up the defence sigil when they spawn, their attacks will reflect back on them and they are an easy kill.

Also on round 7 if you have a bad RNG spawn placement of poison flowers you can dodgeroll past them at the start so they pop and respawn elsewhere

mocap · August 2018

i'm curious, is it possible to use Undo when you get kicked from the platform?

Oreyn_Bearclaw · August 2018

LadyLethalla wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

Step 9. If you died, you did something wrong.

Or... you have lag issues like the clannfear killing you while invisible, spamming break free but it doesn't work for 2-3 secs, or else getting knocked back and sliding across the arena, helpless to react to anything.

@LadyLethalla

Lag can always kill you in any online game, but I stand by my statement, especially when applied to first-timers. I have run this arena hundreds of times and I can count the number of lag or RNG related deaths on one hand (maybe two). It’s easy to blame those things, but a few second hiccup won’t typically kill you if you were on top of the fight. More often than not, these are excuses for and not the cause of deaths.

Enigmatic · August 2018

Thanks @Bladerunner1

FrancisCrawford · August 2018

notyuu wrote: »

Stinkyremy wrote: »

I don't understand why people say it is so hard.
I tried it at a stam dk at 300cp with mediocre gear, got to round 3 then gave up. Did it today with a mag dk (orc) 4 hours 15 mins, then just respec my main (nord) dk to get the achievement on my main, did it in 2 hours 10 mins.
I'm sure after perfecting the spawn and refining my build I could get the flawless and get my time down to at least 1 hour 30 mins after only a few more tries.

EDIT: I didn't touch a sigil in any of my runs too

becasue I'm a templar and get turned into a pincushon every time there's so much as 3 enemy archers..

General question: Why isn't Swarm Mother recommended more often for VMA? It would seem to be an obvious choice for characters who prefer not to fight at full range.

Runefang · August 2018

FrancisCrawford wrote: »

notyuu wrote: »

Stinkyremy wrote: »

I don't understand why people say it is so hard.
I tried it at a stam dk at 300cp with mediocre gear, got to round 3 then gave up. Did it today with a mag dk (orc) 4 hours 15 mins, then just respec my main (nord) dk to get the achievement on my main, did it in 2 hours 10 mins.
I'm sure after perfecting the spawn and refining my build I could get the flawless and get my time down to at least 1 hour 30 mins after only a few more tries.

EDIT: I didn't touch a sigil in any of my runs too

becasue I'm a templar and get turned into a pincushon every time there's so much as 3 enemy archers..

General question: Why isn't Swarm Mother recommended more often for VMA? It would seem to be an obvious choice for characters who prefer not to fight at full range.

Expending stamina to block unless absolutely necessary is a bad idea in the arena. You need to dodge, sprint so much.

Faulgor · August 2018

Another good monster set, especially when starting out, is Iceheart. Even if you're a veteran, the shield makes every stage much less stressful.

Jeremy · August 2018

If you're playing as a Templar - use the pokey stick move. Otherwise, good luck. You're going to need it.

And try to grab those floating symbol things that buff you during the hard parts. They actually do help.

Other than that: my only advice would be skip VMA and do something more enjoyable. But that's probably not the kind of advice you are looking for.

HatchetHaro · August 2018

These are going to be geared much more for inexperienced players.

Bloodthirst is better than Rapid Strikes in vMA. Spam that baby. It's how I got Flawless Conquerer on my stam DK.

Sustain, sustain, sustain. Go for the Serpent or Atronach stone if you have to.

Sorcerers make vMA much easier, both stamina and magicka. Surge is a wonderful ability.

Some enemies are more dangerous than others. Specifically, the spheres in round 4, the ice mages in round 5, the archers in round 7, and the daedroths in round 9. Kill them as quickly as possible.

People don't realize how useful mobility actually is in there. Vicious Serpent is very powerful for stamina characters in vMA for the speed it gives you along with the stamina return. If you don't have access to a Major Expedition buff through Vicious Serpent or abilities (forgoing Rapid Maneuvers), I can suggest you try using crafted speed potions.