Maelstrom weapons are WAY easier to get than lokke weapons.

Maelstrom is also fairly easy content. Especially compared to vet dlc trials (yes I know vSS is a joke but if you think that then you should be able to farm maelstrom at a 35-40 minute run rate)

Not saying I don't want maelstrom to be viable, I just don't think your reasoning makes much sense.

Hopefully they nerf the weapon damage but make it duration based

IMO, the hurdle is way too low to necessitate and sort of advantage. Chances are if you are smart enough to build a fortune to pay for carriers, you can figure out vMA.

Also - telling me you feel the drop rate is lower doesnt really convince me much. I have gotten more DW daggers than any other maelstrom item.

Just luck of the draw.

John_Falstaff wrote: »

SodanTok wrote: »

John_Falstaff wrote: »

SodanTok wrote: »

Can we go away with these arguments. VMA is snoozefest any average player even reaching reasonable DPS where minmaxing starts to matter can complete easily. They might not be getting flawless but they will have their axe and dagger sooner than perfected lokke dagger or even good old AY dagger.

Again, quite subjective. Not sure why'd you compare specifically to perfected sets while non-perfected are nearly as strong. As for "sooner", then you may have bias of someone who forgot how hard vMA is for players who're only beginning to run it. Precise data is hard to come by, but as of 5/14/17, on xbox platform, 0.23% of players have cleared vMA, and that says nothing about how many of those did enough runs to get dual wield. At the same time, highest challenge people see in nSS is the effort of running from chest to chest.

People that cannot complete VMA arent people in any way or shape affected by what is doing most DPS in endgame.

*Looks above.* Nobody in this thread is talking about endgame, even you before your last reply. Just comparing how hard it is to get them and whether people (not necessarily singling out endgame raiders) should be rewarded for doing something that's very hard for an average player and cannot be gained except by using own individual skill.

(Mind, that says nothing about me wanting or not wanting vMA DW to stay on top. To be frank, I don't want to, just because I find Flurry rotation - in fact the skill itself - hideously clunky, and I would loath to be locked into it. But I feel that in the list of endgame BiS gear, there should be both place for group-earned sets, and sets earned by individual skill. Then top DPS would reflect a well-rounded skilled player. But granted, if it was up to me, I'd prefer vMA bow to stay BiS instead of vMA DW rising to the top.)

Yeah but we arent talking shiny pony, we are talking set that decides gear, skills and rotation of every class. Maybe such set should be getting balance because of how it is used by people that can get these and any other weapons and sets in game, not by people that struggle finishing content designed to be difficult at 2015.

SaucyMcSauceface wrote: »

The proposed nerf to vMA dual wield is completely unnecessary. Was it outperforming other things? Sure. But equally, is it harder to get than other things? Yes. In this patch it is looking like axe/dagger is the ideal setup. So to get that, you have to keep running maelstrom until you get the right combination. It is easier than previously with the addition of transmute, but the drop rate of daggers is horrid. I have lost track of the bows and staves I have got trying to find a dagger, but for me at least, the rng has not been kind. There should be a benefit for running the harder solo content. Instead of nerfing the dual wield, perhaps it would be better to buff the other arena weapons that have been rendered even more useless than they were by the changes to skills, and fixing the math on the bow so that it actually deals comparable damage with live. Content that has to be soloed should always have rewards that outperform rewards for content that you can get by being carried.

In my opinion putting the best weapons in a solo arena is the biggest flaw in this game's combat. Why should THE best weapons in an MMO (!) be locked behind solo content. It simply doesn't make any sense. This game is heavily group focused if you go beyond questing, so why should a SOLO arena help be better in GROUP play?
Leaving that aside, the vMA dual wield rotation makes classes like necro incredibly easier and still give the most DPS. Sadly though it also makes all classes boring and feel the same, as we're ignoring many class skills simply because they're lacking behind.

SammyFable wrote: »

SaucyMcSauceface wrote: »

The proposed nerf to vMA dual wield is completely unnecessary. Was it outperforming other things? Sure. But equally, is it harder to get than other things? Yes. In this patch it is looking like axe/dagger is the ideal setup. So to get that, you have to keep running maelstrom until you get the right combination. It is easier than previously with the addition of transmute, but the drop rate of daggers is horrid. I have lost track of the bows and staves I have got trying to find a dagger, but for me at least, the rng has not been kind. There should be a benefit for running the harder solo content. Instead of nerfing the dual wield, perhaps it would be better to buff the other arena weapons that have been rendered even more useless than they were by the changes to skills, and fixing the math on the bow so that it actually deals comparable damage with live. Content that has to be soloed should always have rewards that outperform rewards for content that you can get by being carried.

In my opinion putting the best weapons in a solo arena is the biggest flaw in this game's combat. Why should THE best weapons in an MMO (!) be locked behind solo content. It simply doesn't make any sense. This game is heavily group focused if you go beyond questing, so why should a SOLO arena help be better in GROUP play?
Leaving that aside, the vMA dual wield rotation makes classes like necro incredibly easier and still give the most DPS. Sadly though it also makes all classes boring and feel the same, as we're ignoring many class skills simply because they're lacking behind.

Because they should be a reward for your own skill and practice rather than dumb luck that you happened to run with someone willing to give them up? For new players, maelstrom remains one of the things that pushes you to work out a rotation that works, and to pay attention to mechanics. The reward of the best weapons in the game is what keeps people trying. For all those noting that it is a 30-40 minute run and so not really a challenge, think back to how many deaths you had when you were first trying it. Without the weapons as a reward, there would be far fewer people willing to invest the time to learn it. We don't appear to have the same ability as console to check what percentage of the player base have beaten it, but I know a bunch of people in my guilds who have not yet completed it but are getting better and better at the game because of the potential reward.
It is an MMO, and as with any team activity, it is good that the members of that team should be capable in their own right so that they can best contribute to the group. As a stam sorc main, I would love were there class abilities that could compete. But the issue here is that the decision to nerf a reward for taking the time to learn how to contribute to your team better is being driven by the decision to create overpowered non-class abilities. If things like soul trap are massively over-performing when combined with vMA DW, perhaps the tuning of soul trap is the issue rather than a weapon set that has only recently actually become useful.

Obir wrote: »

Dagger and Axe are so rare i got it on my 3rd run the point is its RNG...i had everythign but what i need...

damn. Jealous.

The Gilliam Meta has returned

Zos can't even surprise smh

They cant be bothered to fix other problems that make vMA dual wields strong. So they nerf it. It's a simple balance change, made in other games aswell. Easily explained by lack of creativity in balance.