What is the best class/build to farm VMA?

Tornaad · March 2022

I am planning on farming Veteran Maelstrom Areana to get all the sets from it. What class/build would you say has the easiest time running Maelstrom Areana and why?
Thank you in advance.

colossalvoids · March 2022

Honestly speaking it depends. If you can already clear arena more-less comfortably and don't want to be too slow just go magicka sorcerer or nightblade, with Pale order, Medusa and (p)False god's it's really comfortable. Would work on any class anyways, pick one comfortable for you.

colossalvoids · March 2022

Zuboko wrote: »

colossalvoids wrote: »

Honestly speaking it depends. If you can already clear arena more-less comfortably and don't want to be too slow just go magicka sorcerer or nightblade, with Pale order, Medusa and (p)False god's it's really comfortable. Would work on any class anyways, pick one comfortable for you.

I can clear it easily on normal, but not veteran yet.

You can definitely try something like I mentioned to see how it goes for you, but some might prefer a one bar sorcerer or stamina build with 2h for brawler skill for permanent shield on you all the time.

Necrotech_Master · March 2022

i use a mag warden setup to do the solo arenas on vet, good heals, good dmg, good survivability, and netch can purge to help remove dots

the bear also helps make it similar to a sorc in some ways

i might need to take a look at a few skill morphs for him since the update but otherwise build is still pretty solid

El_Borracho · March 2022

I used to run a heavy attack pet sorc build that is pretty effective. Moved on to a magplar. Easy mode.

tsaescishoeshiner · March 2022

I recommend magden for two reasons:

1. Ample self-healing. Each cliff racer heals you, each light attack with Lotus heals you, and Living Trellis is amazing. This synergizes well with damage shields (Iceheart, Hardening Enchant, etc.), because you can heal up under your damage shield and stay on the offensive without stopping to heal.
2. Weekly leaderboard! Every other week, vMA is the weekly solo arena. If you place in the top X players, you get some free gold gear at the end of the week. So few people do it on warden, that you often place JUST by finishing all in one go (no breaks). I've seen people place with only 500 points! In comparison, the minimum for sorc, nightblade, and templar is like 60k sometimes. Depends a lot on the week and the patch.

Lenny_linguine · March 2022

Zuboko wrote: »

I am planning on farming Veteran Maelstrom Areana to get all the sets from it. What class/build would you say has the easiest time running Maelstrom Areana and why?
Thank you in advance.

I Have vMA no death on a boat load of classes and can say the easiest time I had was on a heavy attack mag sorc. Good dps, all ranged which is very useful on ice arena crit surge plus pale order makes life very easy and the HA mean you never worry about sustain.

fred4 · March 2022

I am late to the party here. When you say all the sets, do you mean the weapon sets or also the 5-piece sets? The latter take a long time to fully complete, as you drop only one weapon from the last boss, but you can farm those on normal of course.

The answer is probably "whatever you're most comfortable playing" and "whatever you do the most damage with". Single target builds tend to be fine, except maybe in the ice stage. You'd have to say ranged classes must be easier, but that's not how I feel. I guess I'm a melee player. Pet sorcs should be easy, maybe one of the easiest ways, but I've never tried that.

Magblade has the self-heals on paper and is ranged, but it always feels less tanky and less easy to get damage out of than my magplar. The latter is decent. If in doubt, wear Hexos Ward and maybe Iceheart along with everyone's favorite solo damage / sustain set, False God's Devotion. Or skip Iceheart for Pale Order and 1x Slimecraw. That's kind of the boilerplate for any magicka build. You can go full crit / full damage, of course, but if you're still learning the arena, the above will be better.

I know exactly where the guy who recommended magden is coming from, but for me it's a horrible class, because of the delayed skills. Cliff Racer has a delay. Deep Fissure has a delay. These delays can get you killed. Maybe not, if you play the class well, you are used to it and you really like it. I don't. There is no execute but the unwieldy bear. It's not a very direct class compared to a nightblade or templar, which are IMO both more straightforward (aside from the Merciless mini-game). The weekly rewards for warden sound very enticing, though.

In terms of melee playstyles, you can't beat a stamina Brawler build. In terms of Brawler builds, you can't beat my tank. I did vMA in 1 hour 10 min on it. The "rotation" is simple, yet it kills everything but bosses quickly. The latter take some time, though IMO not excessively so. You can stand in red. You can ignore half the mechanics, because of how tanky you are and how much self-healing this build has ... and I'm not even using Pale Order. This is what indirectly gains you some time against bosses. When the Dwarven construct in round 4 goes into it's fire AOE phase, you can keep standing under it and keep hitting it, ignoring the fire and the adds. No, I'm not a DK using Corrosive Armor. This is a permanent state of being. When the Wamasu in round 7 generates lightning ground AOE, you can stand in it. Just keep hitting it. When the final boss spams you with ranged stuff, you can largely ignore that. When there's a Daedroth, you don't need to prioritize it. This build is that forgiving, because it was designed as a veteran dungeon solo / carry build and it works. What it's not, of course, is fast. Being faster than 50 minutes in vMA, though, is about knowing all the spawn points, covering them with ground AOEs. You have to use the time while you're waiting for spawns and you have to be a really good DD when it comes to nuking bosses. Anyway, here is my tank build:

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Special:EsoBuildData?id=421256

First thing to note is that this is an actual tank. It's got taunts. It uses the Tormentor set. It uses the Undaunted taunt. I didn't bother changing that. You can, if you want. Use the 2H execute, for example. I just hit everything with Stampede and Brawler. That's it. The Tormentor set gets you to the resistance cap. It's not just about the taunt. The meditation went largely unused. When you're soloing stuff, it's better to get resources on the move via Dark Deal.

I guess I'm using some fairly exotic gear, so there is that. Been running this for a while. The build is, at this point, highly optimised to balance tankiness, sustain and damage. Markyn is there for the resistances as much as for the damage. Vicious Ophidian is indispensible for crit, damage and sustain. Very high crit for a tank (45%) keeps Crit Surge healing activated. There is method to the madness. The Precise Master's Greatsword is as indispensible as VO, for the AOE damage, but doesn't need to be perfected and doesn't strictly need to be a sword.

Why is this build so hard to kill? Self-healing underneath the Brawler shield. You have 3.7K health regen with potion, which should be Weapon Crit / Health / Stam, Dragonthorn / Mountain Flower / Water Hyacinth. You are at the resistance cap (33K). You constantly heal from Hurricane / Crit Surge. You have a guaranteed crit / heal with the gap closer, which always crits. You have a shield from Brawler every second. You heal from Dark Deal. You take reduced damage from Revealing Flare and from Temporal Guard. You never use your ultimate, thus retaining 1500 health regen from CP permanently. I soloed City of Ash 2 hard mode with this (Skoria) the other day. Yeah, the islands got destroyed. It did not matter, because this build can withstand being bombarded with the lava when the islands disappear.

Some mechanics in vMA will matter, of course. If you get poisoned in round 7, that will probably still kill you. I know the arena well enough to always be near a cleanse pool when it matters, so I haven't tested that. You do need to know mechanics in vMA, but the build should allow you to recover from mistakes like no other.

Danel_Vadan · March 2022

I think one-bar sorc might be the easiest to use but not the most efficient. I personally suggest the class you handle the best + ring of the pale of order.

Tornaad · March 2022

Danel_Vadan wrote: »

I think one-bar sorc might be the easiest to use but not the most efficient. I personally suggest the class you handle the best + ring of the pale of order.

What would be the most efficient?
I have one of each class and plan on practicing with each until I master it.

Tornaad · March 2022

colossalvoids wrote: »

Honestly speaking it depends. If you can already clear arena more-less comfortably and don't want to be too slow just go magicka sorcerer or nightblade, with Pale order, Medusa and (p)False god's it's really comfortable. Would work on any class anyways, pick one comfortable for you.

I can clear it easily on normal, but not veteran yet.

Tornaad · March 2022

colossalvoids wrote: »

Zuboko wrote: »

colossalvoids wrote: »

Honestly speaking it depends. If you can already clear arena more-less comfortably and don't want to be too slow just go magicka sorcerer or nightblade, with Pale order, Medusa and (p)False god's it's really comfortable. Would work on any class anyways, pick one comfortable for you.

I can clear it easily on normal, but not veteran yet.

You can definitely try something like I mentioned to see how it goes for you, but some might prefer a one bar sorcerer or stamina build with 2h for brawler skill for permanent shield on you all the time.

Thank you.

UntilValhalla13 · March 2022

I've always found magblade to be the easiest, especially if you have the pale order ring on. XD

Tornaad · March 2022

UntilValhalla13 wrote: »

I've always found magblade to be the easiest, especially if you have the pale order ring on. XD

Thank you.

Tornaad · March 2022

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

I recommend magden for two reasons:

1. Ample self-healing. Each cliff racer heals you, each light attack with Lotus heals you, and Living Trellis is amazing. This synergizes well with damage shields (Iceheart, Hardening Enchant, etc.), because you can heal up under your damage shield and stay on the offensive without stopping to heal.
2. Weekly leaderboard! Every other week, vMA is the weekly solo arena. If you place in the top X players, you get some free gold gear at the end of the week. So few people do it on warden, that you often place JUST by finishing all in one go (no breaks). I've seen people place with only 500 points! In comparison, the minimum for sorc, nightblade, and templar is like 60k sometimes. Depends a lot on the week and the patch.

That is incredibly insightful. Thank you.

Tornaad · March 2022

fred4 wrote: »

I am late to the party here. When you say all the sets, do you mean the weapon sets or also the 5-piece sets? The latter take a long time to fully complete, as you drop only one weapon from the last boss, but you can farm those on normal of course.

The answer is probably "whatever you're most comfortable playing" and "whatever you do the most damage with". Single target builds tend to be fine, except maybe in the ice stage. You'd have to say ranged classes must be easier, but that's not how I feel. I guess I'm a melee player. Pet sorcs should be easy, maybe one of the easiest ways, but I've never tried that.

Magblade has the self-heals on paper and is ranged, but it always feels less tanky and less easy to get damage out of than my magplar. The latter is decent. If in doubt, wear Hexos Ward and maybe Iceheart along with everyone's favorite solo damage / sustain set, False God's Devotion. Or skip Iceheart for Pale Order and 1x Slimecraw. That's kind of the boilerplate for any magicka build. You can go full crit / full damage, of course, but if you're still learning the arena, the above will be better.

I know exactly where the guy who recommended magden is coming from, but for me it's a horrible class, because of the delayed skills. Cliff Racer has a delay. Deep Fissure has a delay. These delays can get you killed. Maybe not, if you play the class well, you are used to it and you really like it. I don't. There is no execute but the unwieldy bear. It's not a very direct class compared to a nightblade or templar, which are IMO both more straightforward (aside from the Merciless mini-game). The weekly rewards for warden sound very enticing, though.

In terms of melee playstyles, you can't beat a stamina Brawler build. In terms of Brawler builds, you can't beat my tank. I did vMA in 1 hour 10 min on it. The "rotation" is simple, yet it kills everything but bosses quickly. The latter take some time, though IMO not excessively so. You can stand in red. You can ignore half the mechanics, because of how tanky you are and how much self-healing this build has ... and I'm not even using Pale Order. This is what indirectly gains you some time against bosses. When the Dwarven construct in round 4 goes into it's fire AOE phase, you can keep standing under it and keep hitting it, ignoring the fire and the adds. No, I'm not a DK using Corrosive Armor. This is a permanent state of being. When the Wamasu in round 7 generates lightning ground AOE, you can stand in it. Just keep hitting it. When the final boss spams you with ranged stuff, you can largely ignore that. When there's a Daedroth, you don't need to prioritize it. This build is that forgiving, because it was designed as a veteran dungeon solo / carry build and it works. What it's not, of course, is fast. Being faster than 50 minutes in vMA, though, is about knowing all the spawn points, covering them with ground AOEs. You have to use the time while you're waiting for spawns and you have to be a really good DD when it comes to nuking bosses. Anyway, here is my tank build:

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Special:EsoBuildData?id=421256

First thing to note is that this is an actual tank. It's got taunts. It uses the Tormentor set. It uses the Undaunted taunt. I didn't bother changing that. You can, if you want. Use the 2H execute, for example. I just hit everything with Stampede and Brawler. That's it. The Tormentor set gets you to the resistance cap. It's not just about the taunt. The meditation went largely unused. When you're soloing stuff, it's better to get resources on the move via Dark Deal.

I guess I'm using some fairly exotic gear, so there is that. Been running this for a while. The build is, at this point, highly optimised to balance tankiness, sustain and damage. Markyn is there for the resistances as much as for the damage. Vicious Ophidian is indispensible for crit, damage and sustain. Very high crit for a tank (45%) keeps Crit Surge healing activated. There is method to the madness. The Precise Master's Greatsword is as indispensible as VO, for the AOE damage, but doesn't need to be perfected and doesn't strictly need to be a sword.

Why is this build so hard to kill? Self-healing underneath the Brawler shield. You have 3.7K health regen with potion, which should be Weapon Crit / Health / Stam, Dragonthorn / Mountain Flower / Water Hyacinth. You are at the resistance cap (33K). You constantly heal from Hurricane / Crit Surge. You have a guaranteed crit / heal with the gap closer, which always crits. You have a shield from Brawler every second. You heal from Dark Deal. You take reduced damage from Revealing Flare and from Temporal Guard. You never use your ultimate, thus retaining 1500 health regen from CP permanently. I soloed City of Ash 2 hard mode with this (Skoria) the other day. Yeah, the islands got destroyed. It did not matter, because this build can withstand being bombarded with the lava when the islands disappear.

Some mechanics in vMA will matter, of course. If you get poisoned in round 7, that will probably still kill you. I know the arena well enough to always be near a cleanse pool when it matters, so I haven't tested that. You do need to know mechanics in vMA, but the build should allow you to recover from mistakes like no other.

WOW!!! @fred4 With how amazing your answer is, I don't care if you're late or not. #BestAnswer

fred4 · March 2022

Hey, I'm still editing that

. Thanks, though.

Tornaad · March 2022

fred4 wrote: »

Hey, I'm still editing that . Thanks, though.

Noted. I will check back later then. And that puts you even higher on the list for best answer.

fred4 · March 2022

Zuboko wrote: »

fred4 wrote: »

Hey, I'm still editing that . Thanks, though.

Noted. I will check back later then. And that puts you even higher on the list for best answer.

The answer you copy pasted was the final one. I was just finished.

Tornaad · March 2022

fred4 wrote: »

Zuboko wrote: »

fred4 wrote: »

Hey, I'm still editing that . Thanks, though.

Noted. I will check back later then. And that puts you even higher on the list for best answer.

The answer you copy pasted was the final one. I was just finished.

Awesome! That was incredibly well thought out. Thank you.

tsaescishoeshiner · March 2022

fred4 wrote: »

I know exactly where the guy who recommended magden is coming from, but for me it's a horrible class, because of the delayed skills. Cliff Racer has a delay. Deep Fissure has a delay. These delays can get you killed. Maybe not, if you play the class well, you are used to it and you really like it. I don't. There is no execute but the unwieldy bear. It's not a very direct class compared to a nightblade or templar, which are IMO both more straightforward (aside from the Merciless mini-game). The weekly rewards for warden sound very enticing, though.

Lol I find people's class preferences for vMA so interesting! It's so different for everyone.

People mention the delay on Cliff Racer, but I actually got my first-ever Flawless Conqueror (no death) run in vMA completely by accident—on magden. I can't explain rationally how the delay wasn't a problem for me for priority adds like the poison casters, the frosty archers, but I've never noticed it being slow. I didn't have any burst heal, just heals-over-time, Iceheart, and I eventually switched in Dampen Magic. I thought Templar was a breeze, so I was surprised that wasn't my first flawless.

And that's an interesting build you described. Just goes to show you have to find what works for you! : P

fred4 · March 2022

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

fred4 wrote: »

I know exactly where the guy who recommended magden is coming from, but for me it's a horrible class, because of the delayed skills. Cliff Racer has a delay. Deep Fissure has a delay. These delays can get you killed. Maybe not, if you play the class well, you are used to it and you really like it. I don't. There is no execute but the unwieldy bear. It's not a very direct class compared to a nightblade or templar, which are IMO both more straightforward (aside from the Merciless mini-game). The weekly rewards for warden sound very enticing, though.

Lol I find people's class preferences for vMA so interesting! It's so different for everyone.

People mention the delay on Cliff Racer, but I actually got my first-ever Flawless Conqueror (no death) run in vMA completely by accident—on magden. I can't explain rationally how the delay wasn't a problem for me for priority adds like the poison casters, the frosty archers, but I've never noticed it being slow. I didn't have any burst heal, just heals-over-time, Iceheart, and I eventually switched in Dampen Magic. I thought Templar was a breeze, so I was surprised that wasn't my first flawless.

And that's an interesting build you described. Just goes to show you have to find what works for you! : P

Couple of things. Cliff Racer was speeded up slightly a few patches ago. I'm not sure how much of a real impediment the delay is or whether it just feels annoying. I was also thinking back to running Skyreach when I wrote that. Warden is so rotation focused. If you're using Deep Fissure, you better run it every 3rd cast or your damage falls off in AOE fights. You're in your own little rotation world on magden, more so than on other classes. That's why I don't like it.

In terms of running vMA myself, I wouldn't go in with my tank. I did so in order to see whether it was viable and boy was it ever. It's a tank / DD hybrid, leaning on the tank side. The point was to prove it had enough DPS. To farm vMA I'd use my magplar, simply because I'm a PvPer and not terribly invested in PvE damage rotations. I find it easiest to generate a lot of damage on my magplar, but I don't play every class, only around half of them. Among the characters I play, the magplar gets me through the quickest. Then again, my quickest time is not 1/2 an hour, it's more like 50 minutes. Given that, I was surprised at just how effective the tank was. Of course a Master's 2H Brawler "tank" slays groups of mobs, so that's one of the reasons why.

fred4 · March 2022

Have now played my magden in vMA. I still don't think it's great, but the ranged playstyle has some merit, even though the damage of the spammable can't hold a candle to Sweeps. On the subject of that spammable, I settled on Crushing Shock. I still don't like the delayed action of Cliff Racer and the ranged interrupt is worth more to me than the heal from that skill. I also found it necessary to slot Pulsar. I still have Deep Fissure as well, but scratching my head as to why. If I could only slot one of those two in vMA, it would have to be Pulsar. The only good damage skill magden seems to have is Winter's Revenge.

Necrotech_Master · March 2022

fred4 wrote: »

Have now played my magden in vMA. I still don't think it's great, but the ranged playstyle has some merit, even though the damage of the spammable can't hold a candle to Sweeps. On the subject of that spammable, I settled on Crushing Shock. I still don't like the delayed action of Cliff Racer and the ranged interrupt is worth more to me than the heal from that skill. I also found it necessary to slot Pulsar. I still have Deep Fissure as well, but scratching my head as to why. If I could only slot one of those two in vMA, it would have to be Pulsar. The only good damage skill magden seems to have is Winter's Revenge.

i would agree ive tried both the stam and mag morph of the bird attack skill, but i just dont like it, feels way too slow

my mag warden setup right now is using for gear:

iceheart (dot + shield)
ice furnace (weapons/jewelry) (this procs off constantly on mag warden due to all the frost dmg)
icy conjurer (more frost dmg, and decently high uptime on dot, downside is only single target but it does good dmg)

my front bar is fetcherflies (mag morph), unstable wall of elements (using frost staff, more stuff to proc ice furnace), winters revenge, shalks, and arctic blast (heal + dmg + stuns on trash)

my back bar is setup mostly for buffs (lotus, netch, crystal shields (helps protect from range and deals moderately good return dmg too), vines (the one that applies minor lifesteal, helps proc icy conjurer), and ice fortress (armor + minor protection)

dps generally runs around 17k, but i also have some more tanky setup (defending weapons + lady mundus stone for resist, so im sitting almost 30k resists)

kringled_1 · March 2022

Of the two dlc classes, I find magden more reliable and less frustrating than magcro in either solo arena. My skill bars are kind of generic, though, as in I'm not using as many class specific skills as I might. Front is bird of prey, deep fissure, force pulse, inner light, living trellis, and flawless dawn breaker. Back is netch, winters revenge, unstable wall, fetcher flies, light armor shield, and destro ult. I don't usually use crushing shock; almost everything that needs an interrupt can either be bashed or just killed.

That being said, for vma I personally now find that necro is my poorest experience, but it's still OK. There are a couple of areas that can be tricky on melee builds to get through without dying (arenas 5 and 7) but I've adapted by going semi ranged for those.

The Elder Scrolls Online

What is the best class/build to farm VMA?

Best Answers