What is the point of the Maelstrom Arena??

BeamsForDemacia · June 2020

5 times malestrom and complaining About loot xD, and i dont get why ppl farm bsw staff anymore or succession

Banana · June 2020

It's a keyboard and mouse durability test during the learning phase.

SmukkeHeks · June 2020

We all need to dance on the borders of insanity now and again?

So we got Maelstrom, and now, some of us can dance once (or a thousand times) more

ccfeeling · June 2020

Banana wrote: »

It's a keyboard and mouse durability test during the learning phase.

LOL , you are right XD

highkingnm · June 2020

Maelstrom made me a good DPS. In raid groups, I can often tell which people have done MA and which haven't simply because of their ability to follow mechanics and still put out decent damage. It is an important teacher and the main reason I am unhappy about normal now dropping weapons is that people will be less likely to go through something which is essential to becoming endgame-ready.

Varangian_af_Scaniae · June 2020

ckrobinson83 wrote: »

kargen27 wrote: »

I wanted a bow and an inferno staff. Ran it twice and got a bow and a lightning staff. I might be done. I will eventually run another character through once just to do it on that character. Going to be a while though because she has a lot of other content to do first.

Damn... you should buy a lottery ticket! LOL. Yeah, it just seems as if the game sees what your active tuns are, then doesn't give you what you need for the set. Of course, that's silly, since they can barely keep the game running at this point, but it does seem like it.

Conspiracy theory, I love them. What about if the game checks for what "UI tutorial build" you have set up on your skill page and intentionally give you a much lower chance to get gear for that build.

FatherDelve · June 2020

ckrobinson83 wrote: »

Seriously... you run this thing and run it and run it.... and you get the exact same set every time?? I know someone who wanted a staff. Took him 16 times through the thing. I'd like the bow, but out of 5 times I've gotten the sword and board THREE times. I don't run a tank, and even if I did, I wouldn't use that. I guess it's good that they made it easy enough the rest of us non-power players could get through, but there's really no point in running the thing in vet if the only things you ever seem to get are things that none of your characters can use. Same thing with City of Ash... my group ran it over a hundred times... never once got the BSW staff. There's grinding, then there's this BS.

Lemme guess, you are fresh from WoW and Azeroth ? From an expansion that had the problem that after a few weeks nothing was to do anymore ?

gatekeeper13 · June 2020

I ve done vMA 50+ times. And the bow dropped only once.

Now ZOS want's me to do this pointless arena another 50 times to get the "perfected versions", lol.

deLioncourt · June 2020

rumple9 wrote: »

I've got all the VMA weapons, but really they are largely crap and you're better off without them

nonsense

mairwen85 · June 2020

deLioncourt wrote: »

rumple9 wrote: »

I've got all the VMA weapons, but really they are largely crap and you're better off without them

nonsense

Not really. There are 2 notable weapons (OK, all 3 destros are useful with only a few k difference between them, inferno being the better one), the rest are niche to not useful at all.

As for OP and this thread... I can't imagine complaining about nMA in 2020. The only danger there is falling asleep.

CyberOnEso · June 2020

I always thought the point was to help that poor Bosmer get his memory back of the Barons Who Move Like This.

ckrobinson83 · June 2020

Moose_Scout wrote: »

I think there should be MORE end-game stuff like Maelstrom. Hard stuff keeps good players around. Also, it is nice to have better gear than someone who is wearing all hundings or julianos, etc. if you have been playing for a while.

That said, maybe a solution is that vet runs get you a "Maelstrom Ticket" and you can purchase any of the weapons with like 10 tickets. That way there is hope that the grind will eventually pay off.

See, here's the thing. If you're like me, you don't have a bunch of time or people that you can do the trials with. The arena is the only way to get even half-way decent gear.

Yusuf · June 2020

On a sidenote here: vMA is imho one of the best ways to improve/practice your gameplay and get ready for endgame content if you're relatively new to the game. That said, I understand that it sucks to run through there 10+ times.

In fact, if a DD hasn't cleared vMA yet and is trying themselves at endgame-content they are wasting everyone's time.

Vevvev · June 2020

Wish I could give OP my Maelstrom bow. I got 2 and never use them x.x

Reminds me of my City of Ash grinding for a Burning Spell Weave inferno staff. I'm almost, or over, 50 runs. I've lost count

butterrum222 · June 2020

Yep grinding sucks

maddiniiLuna · June 2020

I can do maelstrom by now, but i still die a couple of times in the ice arena. Those frost mages hit like a truck. Is there any trick of getting around them (besides obviously killing them first)?

Also as for this:

Yusuf wrote: »

On a sidenote here: vMA is imho one of the best ways to improve/practice your gameplay and get ready for endgame content if you're relatively new to the game. That said, I understand that it sucks to run through there 10+ times.

In fact, if a DD hasn't cleared vMA yet and is trying themselves at endgame-content they are wasting everyone's time.

I don't believe this for a second. The majority of the content is basically dodge the yellow crap and that's it. In the newest dungeons they've had a lot of new mechanics introduced, which was pretty cool but even those are often the same thing in a different color. Comparing it to vMA where you have to learn where each mob spawns is something completely different. Admitting - Learning to focus on a spider is not much different then learning to focus an overcharger, but trials are much more forgiving then vMA.

SolidusPrime · June 2020

I figured they adjusted the rates because pretty much everyone I know got their MA or new vMA weapons within 5 runs. I don't think I even know anyone that is still grinding it.

RNG is RNG I guess. Sorry for stealing all your good rolls.

SORjosh · June 2020

maddiniiLuna wrote: »

I can do maelstrom by now, but i still die a couple of times in the ice arena. Those frost mages hit like a truck. Is there any trick of getting around them (besides obviously killing them first)?

Kite mele adds on the pad while killing ranged adds first then kill mele. Ranged are always priority for me. 50% of the time it works every time

Shantu · June 2020

siddique wrote: »

Lol, I remember the early days when it was first released. I broke many things. But this is what makes maelstrom so good. The sense of achievement when I first completed it still lingers on.

Took me 3 months of rage quitting to beat vMA. When I finally did I just looked at the screen and said "God that sucked!" Didn't feel and iota of satisfaction.

Mortiis13 · June 2020

Yesterday I got into brp and *** I got overrun, barely reached the first boss. That *** was tough, am I rly that bad? . So I searched for a guide. What can I tell you, I should read it before, when I had known that it's for groups and I wasn't trying it for 3 h to clear it solo XD

So maelstrom then.
It was my first non vet maelstrom run. Cp 470 Magcro alfiq/brightthroad/mawl of infernal Everything I had to do was spamming la/bb (+ infernal) to clear trash. The 300k bosses melted in a few seconds. Only time I died was in this fungus phase cause of unpurgable dot (didn't read any guide before ^^)
Gladly I got a infused bow in the first run.
Going vet today, non vet bored me. But the time sink is annoying. Hope to get the fire or lightning staff today.
Then I won't enter it again I think.

I understand everyone that done it in the past in vet to get the weapon and now had to redo it after years.

Dracofyre · June 2020

this arena sucks, i cant get progress with massive cold damages, been building up cold resist for months, giving up as BS Scam con job, in fact i am playing Nord, still take cold damages, WTH?

gatekeeper13 · June 2020

Dracofyre wrote: »

this arena sucks, i cant get progress with massive cold damages, been building up cold resist for months, giving up as BS Scam con job, in fact i am playing Nord, still take cold damages, WTH?

Are you talking about Ring of Frozen Blood? I can give you some instructions if you struggle.

Dracofyre · June 2020

i also have been working on cold resist set. so hard to get other materials for upgrades. refused to play for upgrades that takes 2-3 years for arena. i was kinda expecting to beat full arena within 2-3 weeks.

gatekeeper13 · June 2020

Dracofyre wrote: »

i also have been working on cold resist set. so hard to get other materials for upgrades. refused to play for upgrades that takes 2-3 years for arena. i was kinda expecting to beat full arena within 2-3 weeks.

Do you mean ice damage build? I don't understand what your problem is exactly. Maelstrom Arena is mostly mechanics and there are several types of incoming dmg.

What class are you playing?

HouLiGaN · June 2020

ckrobinson83 wrote: »

Seriously... you run this thing and run it and run it.... and you get the exact same set every time?? I know someone who wanted a staff. Took him 16 times through the thing. I'd like the bow, but out of 5 times I've gotten the sword and board THREE times. I don't run a tank, and even if I did, I wouldn't use that. I guess it's good that they made it easy enough the rest of us non-power players could get through, but there's really no point in running the thing in vet if the only things you ever seem to get are things that none of your characters can use. Same thing with City of Ash... my group ran it over a hundred times... never once got the BSW staff. There's grinding, then there's this BS.

Well, imagine doing that a few years ago but x1k times just because you couldnt change the trait on an item...

The current state of loot is too good. Its an MMO supposed to somewhat of a grind.

Just hang in there.

Evilspock · June 2020

I'm in the same boat I did it over 100 times and never an inferno staff. They should change it so you get a token or something so you can get the drop you want after a reasonable amount of runs. 100 is far beyond being "fun", this is supposed to be a game.

I'll add that everyone is rerunning to get perfected but the perfected version of staff is nearly worthless, since most builds use on backbar with only your wall of elements gaining penetration.

siddique · June 2020

Shantu wrote: »

siddique wrote: »

Lol, I remember the early days when it was first released. I broke many things. But this is what makes maelstrom so good. The sense of achievement when I first completed it still lingers on.

Took me 3 months of rage quitting to beat vMA. When I finally did I just looked at the screen and said "God that sucked!" Didn't feel and iota of satisfaction.

That is sad, lol. But that is not the norm though, these forums are littered with posts of "finally beating vma," showing how people felt happy and satisfied.

Colinr1968 · June 2020

I ran maelstrom 2 times got the bow I rance coa 1 time got bsw inferno gave it to my friend why do people moan when they don't get the weapon they want ,if you got it on first try you just would not do it anymore same as a trial or dungeon

siddique · June 2020

Honestly I was dreading to refarm vma because my RNG just sucks. But I was lucky this time.

Got my first inferno on the third run. By the 10th run, I had a total of, 2 infernos, 2 lightning, 1 ice and 1 bow. So I'm glad I'm done.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · June 2020

ckrobinson83 wrote: »

Seriously... you run this thing and run it and run it.... and you get the exact same set every time?? I know someone who wanted a staff. Took him 16 times through the thing. I'd like the bow, but out of 5 times I've gotten the sword and board THREE times. I don't run a tank, and even if I did, I wouldn't use that. I guess it's good that they made it easy enough the rest of us non-power players could get through, but there's really no point in running the thing in vet if the only things you ever seem to get are things that none of your characters can use. Same thing with City of Ash... my group ran it over a hundred times... never once got the BSW staff. There's grinding, then there's this BS.

MMOs might not be for you.

The point of Maelstrom Arena is to give you a tuneup for Vet Maelstrom Arena. VMA is there to teach you to play. It's far more effective than any potential tutorial people fantasize about.