Reading through this thread, I've noticed that everyone who says vMA is a cake walk is also running some sort of DPS build. I'm a Magicka Templar healer. Am I supposed to respec my entire build just to get this done? I'm somewhere around 380cp and have completed normal MA but vMA is a different beast.
You really should go back in right away. I initially tried to complete it when it first came out and was stuck at stage 5. Decided to try it out again in January and cleared it 21 times in a little over a week and got every weapon I wanted. The staffs did not add much dps but the bow was worth the grind
There are actually just 6 types of weapons according to enchant - Cruel Flurry, Rampaging Slash, Crushing Wall, Merciless Charge, Thunderous Volley, Precise Regeneration - which are further subdivided for the first 4 due to having multiple weapon types. The loot table was equally weighed according to enchant type, then subdivided further by weapon type in those cases. For example you have an 1/6 chance of getting a Crushing Wall weapon (destruction staff), and of that an 1/3 chance of getting an Inferno one. So the overall chance of getting an Inferno staff was 1/18. The chance of getting a Thunderous Volley (bow) or Precise Regeneration (restoration staff) is 1/6 respectively since that enchant type was only found on that type of weapon, so it's quite normal to get much more of those. The average chance of getting an inferno staff after 20 runs was 1-(1-1/18)^20 = 68.1% while the chance of getting a bow after 20 runs is 1-(1-1/6)^20 = 97.4% considering the chance of each drop independent from the previous ones. That's explains why Inferno Staff was much harder to get than Bow, and even more so without re-trait.
No rush there. vMA is for chilling..
Bobby_V_Rockit wrote: »You really should go back in right away. I initially tried to complete it when it first came out and was stuck at stage 5. Decided to try it out again in January and cleared it 21 times in a little over a week and got every weapon I wanted. The staffs did not add much dps but the bow was worth the grind
What changed? I am also stuck on stage 5 and no amount of build rejigging or youtube seems to help[/quote
A combination of my being a much better player and the arena being easier now. Just remember that you control the fight. Take it slow on the boss and stop damaging him when adds spawn. Burst down the adds and then resume damage on him. Use heavy attacks on the boss to get your resources back. The platforms break based on bosses health. Just make sure you don’t let the troll break a platform. Once you get to third platform use defense and damage sigils and ignore the adds and burn him down.
Bladerunner1 wrote: »It gets a whole lot better after a while, however the first run felt impossible for me after going through countless deaths over days. Don't wait for the Orsinium anniversary to start learning vet maelstrom, it won't pay off if you spend the week dying over and over.
I swapped from Sorc to Nightblade for farming because it seemed so much easier to focus down priority targets. Now the Nightblade is my go-to character for learning any dungeon.
I wrote down the loot from 17 runs on the same Nightblade recently:
7 two hand
3 resto
3 sword/board
2 lightning staves
2 fire staves
1 dual wield
1 bow
Two of those weapons were gold from weekly rewards even though I wasn't on the list. I think just finishing without logging off mid way is the requirement for a mail-in reward, but I can't say for certain. Maybe the requirement was the 500k score.
nalimoleb14_ESO wrote: »So, I finally beat Vet Maelstrom Arena for the first time. I did this on a melee magicka DK and had absolute rough time, and probably would have saved myself some headache by rolling a force-pulsing magicka Sorc specifically for the arena. I was hoping to acquire an Inferno staff, but something told me I wouldn't have that much beginner's luck. Sure enough, hours and hours and hundreds of deaths later, I walked away with a crummy Maelstrom axe - a nice, giant "F**** YOU for your participation".
The idea of being entirely reliant on crappy RNG to acquire the Maelstrom weapon that you need for your build is such a massive flaw. Now, certain people can grind Vet Maelstrom Arena in record timing and that is fine, very impressive even, but Vet Maelstrom Arena is not grind-able content. It's not meant to be grind-able content. Players should not have to grind through this arena tens or hundreds of times in order to have a chance at acquiring the one Maelstrom weapon they can actually make use of. It's not rewarding content to grind, it's not fun, and there are enough players who have either a) started Vet Maelstrom and have given up completely on beating it, b) beat Vet Maelstrom once and never went back, c) Won't even go near it at all, to realize that RNG just does not for this arena.
If you're able to make it through this arena then there is no reason why you should not have your pick at which Maelstrom weapon you want from the chest, after all the hours and potions you've burned getting through it. Content that you need to grind is not "new", and it's not "refreshing", it's more of the same tedious crap, and in Vet Maelstrom's case it's just plain torture to expect people to grind through the hardest single-player content in the game for a chance at the weapon they want.
Having completed Vet Maelstrom for a crappy axe I can honestly say that I will not be setting foot in this arena again until Zenimax rethinks the Maelstrom weapon drop system, and it blows my mind that it has been this way for years despite constant feedback from the ESO community year after year that it's not acceptable as is. I can guarantee that if players who clear Maelstrom can choose their weapon at the end, it would incentivize players to actually give Vet Maelstrom a go, or complete it, knowing that at the end of the torturous content, they're at least getting a reward that they can sink their teeth into.
In anticipation of the "LTP"s, I'm not here to listen to how easy it is to /faceroll Vet Maelstrom if you're breezing through the arena with your already-acquired Maelstrom weapons, or OP Sorc builds. None of that changes the fact that Vet Maelstrom arena is not content that's meant for grinding. In its current state Vet Maelstrom is good for one thing: title bragging rights.
Reading through this thread, I've noticed that everyone who says vMA is a cake walk is also running some sort of DPS build. I'm a Magicka Templar healer. Am I supposed to respec my entire build just to get this done? I'm somewhere around 380cp and have completed normal MA but vMA is a different beast.
Nothing radical, really. You just need to swap your mundus and your gear, skill bar, maybe your consumable too.
Reading through this thread, I've noticed that everyone who says vMA is a cake walk is also running some sort of DPS build. I'm a Magicka Templar healer. Am I supposed to respec my entire build just to get this done? I'm somewhere around 380cp and have completed normal MA but vMA is a different beast.
Nothing radical, really. You just need to swap your mundus and your gear, skill bar, maybe your consumable too.
Yeah... nothing "radical". You just need to change your buffs, your gear, your skills, your consumables....
Basically just everything there is about your character and own individual play style.
I think you're making our point for us without realizing it.
I’ve been trying to complete vMA for days now (the Orsinium event for double drops). Been playing for a couple years, but I’ve never tried it until now. I figured I have the gear to do it. I’ve been stuck on the final stage for over 2 days. I’ve watch every video I can get my eyes on. I know the mechanics. But I won’t be completing this content. I’ve been in such a foul mood because of this that I don’t even want to play the game anymore. And that’s crazy to me, because it’s been my favorite activity to do for 2 years now. Congrats to those that are able to clear this content. You peeps are awesome. But I’m not stepping foot in vMA until something changes.
I’ve been trying to complete vMA for days now (the Orsinium event for double drops). Been playing for a couple years, but I’ve never tried it until now. I figured I have the gear to do it. I’ve been stuck on the final stage for over 2 days. I’ve watch every video I can get my eyes on. I know the mechanics. But I won’t be completing this content. I’ve been in such a foul mood because of this that I don’t even want to play the game anymore. And that’s crazy to me, because it’s been my favorite activity to do for 2 years now. Congrats to those that are able to clear this content. You peeps are awesome. But I’m not stepping foot in vMA until something changes.
Mister_DMC wrote: »You guys are all right, VMA does need a buff. Make it relevant again Zos!
disintegr8 wrote: »
I've watched videos and to me it's like everything else in this game, a DPS race. Sure, there are mechanics you have to avoid but the sooner you kill the enemies, the less time you have to spend avoiding the mechanics and the less chance you have of running out of resources.