Why is vma so insanely hard?

wishlist14 · November 2020

Im not too proud to admit that vma is crazy difficult.....it's NOT the mechanics that is hard it's the insane amount of damage and too many things happening at once.
Im stuck on arena 5 and i got to the 5th stage 4 times but i cant kill the boss she still has like 15% health left when she breaks the last ice island and i die.

I sometimes miss a troll so i just let myself die and start again.....BUT it's the exhaustion that wears me down. My hands get cramped and i physically feel shaky. I cant even go to normal ma and practice because the mobs die too fast and i cant practice....i think its more exhaustion...having to start from stage 1 of this arena to get to the final boss just tires me out.

Im playing on my cp 810 with 1 bar sorc and 1 added the interrupt skill on my second bar to range interrupt trolls easier too....i kill mages asap and the other casters then the archers and keep looking out for trolls but sometimes i get caught out and find the troll is right next to a boss and i interrupt but boss lays ground aoe and i cant see it with all those mobs on a lil island....

I cant ever see myself doing this.....ive done a few vet hm dungeons but this is beyond crazy. I thought i was an average good player but now that i see so many say this vma is easy i just want to die....im depressed cos i want to advance in this game...i want to do this.

Normal trials are too easy for me so i want to progress but i need my vma weapon......lots of progression guilds are insisting you have beat vma in order to join their progression team or even be considered as a bench warmer.😢

It would be helpful if there was an intermediate ma and if you could save each stage in vma not just each arena. Ty for reading

I MEANT 810cp ...i edited it was a typo....

Thank you so much for all the support and advice..ill keep trying.

zvavi · November 2020

vMA is balanced for 300 CP. While it is definitely possible to pass it before, it will be much harder, especially since you are still growing attribute wise up till 300 CP in addition to the strength of first CP points being much stronger than later ones.

In your case I would recommend slowing down and focusing adds (first two waves) then letting her come to 3rd platform while you kill the ghosty lady, and when matriarch reachs 3rd platform drop all your aoe+destruction ultimate to nuke her down.

Also nMA weapons are just as strong. Specifically the perfected fire staff gives you 0 damage increase on the perfected bonus.

Grandchamp1989 · November 2020

for me frustration arrives when I get the "Death bug" the game stops registrering after a death and I have to re-log due to DC.

Or when it freeze
Or when skills will refuse to fire or fire with a delay

The game is far too unstable to be an action based, reactionary game.

Firstmep · November 2020

The arena is more tuned towards cp 300( well to be fair it should still be challenging at that level).

To simply put it, you are too low level. From what youve said it looks like your dmg is too low.

Honestly i recommend just grinding up to 400-500 cp and then coming back, it will much easier.

Czekoludek · November 2020

Till cp 300 you dont even have your resources maxed out. vMA is all about practice, just use sigils now to boost your stats and later when you will be stronger, just drop them

Attackopsn · November 2020

Here is my full guide on how to complete vma the easiest way possible

https://youtu.be/r_rSyAw1uxg

MrBrownstone · November 2020

You're already an above average player for even attempting it and reaching stage 5 at cp180, don't worry you'll complete it. The others are correct, gain a bit more cp it helps a lot with survivability. That stage is hard, my first completion was at cp280 and it took me 8 hours. Now i can complete it in under an hour and it's always the stage 5 that ruins my no death attempts. People say it's easy because they completed it more than once, you'll feel the same on your 2nd and 3rd runs. It's only hard on your first completion. Guilds require a completion because the arena teaches you to be fluid with combat, mastering the core mechanics of the game. Which is required for endgame content.

Another advice from me would be using your second bar. You press like 10-15 buttons while playing the game and sacrificing half of your strenght just to press one less button is not an advantage in my opinion. It's more of a gimp than a simplification of gameplay. One bar builds make no sense to me. Barswap is not a huge distracting thing. Also let's not forget that you'll have to use both bars in trial content unless your guild is allowing meme builds so getting used to one will cause trouble in the future.

wishlist14 · November 2020

zvavi wrote: »

vMA is balanced for 300 CP. While it is definitely possible to pass it before, it will be much harder, especially since you are still growing attribute wise up till 300 CP in addition to the strength of first CP points being much stronger than later ones.

In your case I would recommend slowing down and focusing adds (first two waves) then letting her come to 3rd platform while you kill the ghosty lady, and when matriarch reachs 3rd platform drop all your aoe+destruction ultimate to nuke her down.

Also nMA weapons are just as strong. Specifically the perfected fire staff gives you 0 damage increase on the perfected bonus.

Im 810 cp it was a typo....so ive been playing eso 5 plus yrs ...its shameful i cant beat this when 300cp are beating it...

wishlist14 · November 2020

MrBrownstone wrote: »

You're already an above average player for even attempting it and reaching stage 5 at cp180, don't worry you'll complete it. The others are correct, gain a bit more cp it helps a lot with survivability. That stage is hard, my first completion was at cp280 and it took me 8 hours. Now i can complete it in under an hour and it's always the stage 5 that ruins my no death attempts. People say it's easy because they completed it more than once, you'll feel the same on your 2nd and 3rd runs. It's only hard on your first completion. Guilds require a completion because the arena teaches you to be fluid with combat, mastering the core mechanics of the game. Which is required for endgame content.

Another advice from me would be using your second bar. You press like 10-15 buttons while playing the game and sacrificing half of your strenght just to press one less button is not an advantage in my opinion. It's more of a gimp than a simplification of gameplay. One bar builds make no sense to me. Barswap is not a huge distracting thing. Also let's not forget that you'll have to use both bars in trial content unless your guild is allowing meme builds so getting used to one will cause trouble in the future.

Yes i use both bars and i have no issues with bar swap....id love if zos would watch my gameplay in vma and see if its me of my 230ms or idk maybe the reality is i just suck and i am less than average .....hence me depression over this i finally get the courgee to try this and i get my heart served on a platter 😣

Guyle · November 2020

As others have mentioned, cp is a big deal. Awhile back when I was doing a vMoL hm progression group, and was grinding vMA, I found that after we finished the vMoL prog, and I had changed my cp, that stage got a lot harder. I had been doing it with the vMoL red cp setup prior to that with a lot less struggle, then all of a sudden was struggling with different red cp. I swapped it back to what it had been, and cleared the stage no issues. That said, the increased damage and sustain from cp are no small thing either, they all combine to making it easier, if not possible period. I'm no expert on the arena, and haven't done it terribly much, but I'd hazard to say that beating it at cp 180 would only be possible with a certain class/build, and a really good player behind it, even then it would be a massive struggle.

Also, remember, the perfected versions of those weapons add a very very small buff compared to the non-perfected versions. If a vMA completion is required, thats one thing, but if you just want the weapons, do it on normal for now, go back to it later. Also, even if you were to complete it at cp 180, most trial guilds wouldn't take you because you simply don't have the cp to be able to hang with the big boys, survival wise and dps wise. Even someone who is an amazing player, at that cp, is more than likely a liability/carry.

spartaxoxo · November 2020

In this fight dps being too good can get in your way honestly. Try to keep boss out of dots. Dps her a little til adds come out. Kill only those and not her. Kill any trolls too obviously. Once they are dead then push her a bit more until she starts babbling and then move to next island. Kill adds she spawned without putting dps on her/plus kill trolls. Then push her a little more to get new adds too, kill them and only them+trolls. Push her again til she starts babbling, if you don't have ult yet just heavy attack her til you do and she starts babbling.

Once you get to final island, take both the attack sigil and the defense sigil and just nuke her down. Ignore any adds except bashing troll.

zvavi · November 2020

wishlist14 wrote: »

Im 810 cp it was a typo....so ive been playing eso 5 plus yrs ...its shameful i cant beat this when 300cp are beating it...

So? There are many CP 810 that can't, nothing to be ashamed of. Also I wouldn't go the heavy attack build way, just go false god's + whatever set+ iceheart and kill everything with surge ready heals. They can't kill u if they are dead

also regardlessly my suggestion on the 5th arena boss is unrelated to CP.

AndyMac · November 2020

wishlist14 wrote: »

zvavi wrote: »

vMA is balanced for 300 CP. While it is definitely possible to pass it before, it will be much harder, especially since you are still growing attribute wise up till 300 CP in addition to the strength of first CP points being much stronger than later ones.

In your case I would recommend slowing down and focusing adds (first two waves) then letting her come to 3rd platform while you kill the ghosty lady, and when matriarch reachs 3rd platform drop all your aoe+destruction ultimate to nuke her down.

Also nMA weapons are just as strong. Specifically the perfected fire staff gives you 0 damage increase on the perfected bonus.

Im 810 cp it was a typo....so ive been playing eso 5 plus yrs ...its shameful i cant beat this when 300cp are beating it...

It's meant to be hard - pretty much everyone who cleared struggled with the 5th arena. Upside is that if you beat the 5th, you can beat the whole thing - so don't give up.

I agree with the destro ult and aoe nuke - but I'd add to leave the island with the shield and axe sigil until last - when the boss is breaking the second island, get to that island and grab both.

When she comes to the island, drop a destro ult, all aoes and just focus on nuking - should be more than enough to burn her down.

oddbasket · November 2020

So are you following Alcast's guide for the 1 bar sorc? 1 bar sorc isn't as powerful as before in terms of dps anymore, but I'm not saying it's impossible to complete with it. It is now better to have a single target spammable and points into staff expert and master-at-arms.

Since you use 2 bars, u can have Structured entropy/consuming trap to keep dots up on the boss when u target adds or put dots on adds. You can use Crushing shock (don't use this for stage 7) as your spammable on that level, quite handy for the troll. I also find it's better to have false god's instead of plague doctor, since higher dps also reduces the need for more hp if you can kill fast enough, and the recovery is too useful in vma.

MrBrownstone · November 2020

You're not less than average, the average player can't complete it on normal trust me not kidding.

Guyle · November 2020

Even at cp 810, my statement about how that arena went from being easy to really hard, to back to being easy when I changed back to vMoL red cp setup stands. Try that out, see how it works. Also, you should really consider going to a 2 bar build. It can seem hectic and you wanna go all out on one bar, but slowing down for a second, bar swapping, applying some buffs, makes a big difference.

itscompton · November 2020

wishlist14 wrote: »

I sometimes miss a troll so i just let myself die and start again.....BUT it's the exhaustion that wears me down. My hands get cramped and i physically feel shaky.

I find when I'm stuck on a boss like this the longer I go in one sitting the less chance I'll have of beating it. Try for a bit then do something else for awhile and come back later or even the next day.
I'm working through the last boss of vVH right now and the first day I pushed and pushed and could barely get to stage 2 of 4 in the fight. I was thinking it was going to be impossible. But I took a couple of days off and when I went back in I was fresh, started figuring out patterns I had missed and now I can get to the final phase pretty reliably. I have no doubt on my next go I'll be able to push through and beat it now I've seen all the mechanics and had a little time to strategize and mentally refresh.

Herr_Flocke · November 2020

stage 5 is actually a kind of a rhythm breaker compared to the previous stages, as in doing too much damage to the boss makes it really really hard. So concentrate on adds, preferably kill all adds per platform spawn, before bringing the boss to the platform smash threshold. So be careful with aoe's !
Then on the last platform just fire away and if you struggle with dps use the dps enhancement. There's a rhythm to this fight, and once you get that you'll find it much more manageable in future runs.

And as always, getting obsessed doesn't help with vma, as you already noticed. Take a break for a while if you notice any further attemps don't get you closer to completing. You'll get there eventually as we all have. Don't worry.

Juhasow · November 2020

If You want the weapon simply complete it on normal mode. DPS difference between perfected and non perfected versions of the staff is non existant.

If You want to beat vMA judging from Your comments You'll have to practice and analyse game more because as a 5 years long 810CP + player fact You're struggling with vMA puts You under the average.

Few friendly advices I can give You for completing stage 5 :
1. Keep Your DoTs and surge always up to heal constantly , You can even try ring of the pale order. Most of the people fails because they think too much about defense and panic too much when their health drops so securing Your health bar is usefull.
2. On the 5th arena boss stage try to finish it on western platform. The best movment pattern is south -> east -> west. Western platform have most usefull relics to finish the boss , using both of them allows You to ignore all the adds (except troll ofc) and just focus all Your dmg on boss.
3. If You want boss to enter last platform with low health make sure that You'll refresh all Your DOTs and maybe drop destro ult on the 2nd platfom when boss is around 50% health. That way when he'll start procces of destroying 2nd platform and You'll be moving on 3rd ine he'll be still taking lots of dmg. Then You can use the relics on 3rd (western) platform and start damaging him when he's moving to You from destroyed 2nd platform , ignoring the adds since shield relic will protect You. Before boss will even reach last platform he should be at execute already if You'll do everything correctly so You'll have more then enough time to kill him before he'll start to destroy last platform.

belfong · November 2020

I applaud you for daring to try. I’m CP350 and I think I can only do Normal. I dare not even think of trying vMA after seeing the type of ordeals one have to go through in all these stages. I’m happy to find the Maelstrom Bow in Normal and I think I’m done, for the moment. No reason for me to try vMA.

Stanx · November 2020

I think builds aside (although someone above mentioned ring of the pale order which could help a lot) it's just practice. I know you say it's not the mechanics, but it will be. You can use sigils to great effect, I'd recommend getting used to which ones do what and when they'd be most helpful.

I used to take the vet quest, and then do an arena and leave. Then go do something esle. Then come back and just focus on the next arena. When you haven't done it before trying to tackle the whole thing in one go is soul destroying.

Unless you're looking to clear vet for the FLEX then you can always run normal which drops MA weapons. The destruction staves don't really benefit you that much when perfected.

belfong · November 2020

What is FLEX?

Stanx · November 2020

belfong wrote: »

What is FLEX?

It's like bragging rights, basically. Unlocks the conquerer achievement/title etc.

JellySunset · November 2020

Nothing to be ashamed about not being able to complete it or getting stuck on a certain arena, it took me SO long to do it on vet for the first time, you could always try messing with your cp try putting points into other categories you think would be more beneficial for you.
I used 1 bar pet sorc build to do mine using plague doctor/necropotence and iceheart but I swapped out some skills and added 2 plague doctor staffs so i could end up using 2 bars instead of just the one as I felt I wasn't doing enough damage.
Don't give up though you can do it (:

zvavi · November 2020

belfong wrote: »

What is FLEX?

Flexing is a thing you do with your muscles, to show them off. Generally can be used as a term to showing off skills/strengths.

ccfeeling · November 2020

Practices, practices, practices.

OlumoGarbag · November 2020

if you really really struggel try this:
https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/515104/the-easiest-veteran-maelstrom-solo-content-build-in-the-harrowstorm-patch#latest
its still more or less up to date
most people i know use it for easy vate/maelstrom runs

XxCaLxX · November 2020

If you can't beat vma with a cp810 1 bar sorc build then vet trials should be last thing on your mind. Sorry. Send hate messages but true. If it was like your 10th run and was still having issues then fine but everyone that ever ran vma had struggles on their first run so just practice and get it done. Btw no one uses a 1 bar sorc build in vet trials so it's not really doing any good unless just wanting a completion. Getting a perfected staff don't mean Jack if don't know how to use it.

mobicera · November 2020

I honestly didn't read all the responses, so sorry if this has been stated.
But I don't really see how a 1 bar anything would make it easier.
You have 2 bars for a reason...
If you are only hitting 15% on the last platform you have serious dps issues.
For me I can actually nuke the boss in 5 on the second platform and skip the 3rd all together.
Try using a real build and learning that.
It will make it considerably easier if you just nuke well everything.
These 1 bar heavy attack sorc builds are just a waste of time.
Even if you complete you failed to learn what vma can teach you.

nukk3r · November 2020

mobicera wrote: »

I honestly didn't read all the responses, so sorry if this has been stated.
But I don't really see how a 1 bar anything would make it easier.
You have 2 bars for a reason...
If you are only hitting 15% on the last platform you have serious dps issues.
For me I can actually nuke the boss in 5 on the second platform and skip the 3rd all together.
Try using a real build and learning that.
It will make it considerably easier if you just nuke well everything.
These 1 bar heavy attack sorc builds are just a waste of time.
Even if you complete you failed to learn what vma can teach you.

One bar means less room for error and more focused gameplay. You don't need a lot of DPS for the clear, it will be a longer run but completely doable. Mag socs and templars especially benefit from this because anyone can do 15k and focus on using one or two damage skills and have a shield on all the time.

>Try using a real build and learning that
Tell that to people who got Flawless Conqueror with one bar build. An achievement is an achievement, it's not like they were cheating.

>These 1 bar heavy attack sorc builds are just a waste of time.
This is just your opinion.

Herr_Flocke · November 2020

mobicera wrote: »

These 1 bar heavy attack sorc builds are just a waste of time.
Even if you complete you failed to learn what vma can teach you.

I've completed vma on different builds, mag and stam. But my first was on a slightly modified 1 bar pet sorc build.And from my experience it let's you learn exactly what there is to learn from vma. It's just that it is a build that is more forgiving while you learn and concentrate on the mechanics, the positioning, the priorities. Otoh, I fail to see what you can learn from avoiding all that by just outdpsing the mechanics.That's ok for going after the leaderboards, but not for a first completion.