I'm actually amazed this thread is still going...

I also love that it goes in waves of people with reasons for it, then people who just say L2P.

The real question is why is BiS gear dropping from a singleplayer content area in an MMO. This is by far the most stupidest thing i have ever seen. Might as well play Dark Souls. It is just a boring grind.

nDSA drops masters weapons?!

No. Definitely not. To be honest, what's the point? If a player can't complete vMA, he most likely won't benefit from the weapons anyway. Some people just think vMA weapons are some magic way to exceptional DPS. The thing is, if you're doing 25k without vMA, you won't suddenly get 40k. It's more of a "cherry on a cake" thing and, as such, shoudln't really be easily available.

Say, vMA staff can add like 2.0-2.5k DPS (1.3k light/heavy increase plus spell damage increase, with proper CP, buffs and all), but only if you weave properly, keep up your buffs, etc. Most people that can't get their DPS past 20-25k struggle with proper rotation, don't keep their DoTs 100% of time, don't buff themselves properly, miss way too many weaves, etc. In their case the increase that comes with vMA staff can be as low as 0.5-0.7k (so it's nothing, really, I have bigger discrepancies between parses due to RNG and my performance!).

It's easier to benefit from the vMA bow, but it still won't get an average DPS to top tier only because of the bow (not to mention daggers, which require some very specific approach to make them useful at all).

On my petsorc (I'm CP capped on PC/EU) I can pull nearly 35k (if lucky, more often it's a little bit over 34k) in an easy to get gear (necro + julianos), ~37k when I switch to moondancer. Will a vMA staff with a proper trait help me? Sure it will. I hope to get to ~39k and with some practice (and luck ), finally break 40k on Morrowind without some cheesy builds (that work only on a skeleton). Is it really that important? No, definitely not. 30-35k is plenty, and absolutely enough to complete any content in the game - I quite often just use some easy, "press button to DPS" heavy attack build that does ~32k if I just want to have an easy walk). It's more a mental thing, I used to see these numbers on Homestead and I'm missing it .

Now, please note that this comes from a guy that has completed vMA maybe a dozen times, struggled for four hours at the last boss on the first playthrough, still can't get perfect run and didn't get his fav drop yet (I've got frost staff though, which is kinda useless to me anyway ). So no, I'm not one of the elite guys running it naked no death and still getting competitive score. TBH I totally hate vMA, it's PITA for me as it probably is for any of the guys that can't complete it at all. It has to be. First completion was so freaking rewarding... even though I had to split it into two days to complete (mostly to remain sane).

What I would actually like to see is better chances of getting useful traits on vMA weapons. Mmaybe not guaranteed, as there is no fun in it but grinding tens or even hudreds of hours to get the right weapon and trait is not so much of a fun either. The weapons are very good, but the increase is't THAT noticeable to justify so much wasted time (for many it will be like 6% - you can very easily get trial sets on normal, that give you +5% + resources + damage...).

Other. A token system is the only way to break this crazy grind.

No way should nMA drop weapons. Those who voted yes are mostly people who cant clear or dont want to put in the effort.
For most builds, it is best in slot, it should be awarded to those who took the time to get their builds and ability to clear it. Not to mention the bs rng to get their weapons in the desired traits.

Yea, learning the arena and clearing it for the first time, very painful and frustrating experience. I cried and swore a couple million times for my first complete.

After that, you clear it faster and with less deaths, soon you get vma on farming.

Theres a million guides out there, alcast puts out beginner friendly builds and shows himself clearing it using only 300 cp in basic crafted gear like seducers.

People like Gilliam beat the arena using only a broom and bucket.

Theres a french player beating each round using only weapons and in his undergarments.

If you dont take the time to beat vma, you dont deserve the weapons

Turelus wrote: »

SoLooney wrote: »

People like Gilliam beat the arena using only a broom and bucket.

People seem to ignore the bow and other sets which were used as well... It's not like they did it on a run with just a broom and bucket.

Also this thread getting bumped at least once a week still amuses me, mostly because no one reads any of the previous comments makes a post which has already been made as if they're declaring /thread then never come back.

Tempted to ask for a lock just so I stop getting notifications.

That may be true but the point is, people are using weak weapons and not wearing any gear and still beat vma.

Players like that show that you dont need the best gear or max cp.

and i read all the comments, very amusing.
The only thing needed is a token system. everything else can stay the same

tommalmm wrote: »

Turelus wrote: »

Also this thread getting bumped at least once a week still amuses me, mostly because no one reads any of the previous comments makes a post which has already been made as if they're declaring /thread then never come back.

Tempted to ask for a lock just so I stop getting notifications.

What would you expect? It's a poll. Vote, state your mind, forget... or not, if you prefer. I mean, it's kind of expected, happens in all poll threads on pretty much every forum I've seen. BTW. You can manage your subscribtions/notifications, without closing the thread.

Edit: quote mark misalaced

You can't just removed yourself from notifications about a single thread you created though right? If you can I have missed that and need to learn to forums.

ssewallb14_ESO wrote: »

Partial RNG Token system in addition to the current system. Something like 1-2 tokens from normal. 3-5 from vet. 100 tokens for specific item, RNG trait, 200-250 tokens for specific item/trait.

I like this idea, but would like to see 10 for vMA and 1 for nMA. It is a light at the end of the tunnel idea. After 10 vet runs you could pick any item you want with a range trait or hold on until you hit 20-25 runs and get the exact item you want. So this makes it a grind on vet yet allows at certain intervals of 20-25 runs the ability to get the exact item you want if range has been unkind.

Doing normal someone would have to run it 100 times to get anything at all. My feeling is that after somewhere in the 20 to 50 range they are going to know it well enough that they will start doing vet and succeeding at it with the reps they have put in on normal. Yes they could seriously grind normal out 250 times and get the weapon of their choice, but I don't really see anyone doing that without at some point feeling good enough about it to jump into vet and get 10X the coins per run.

No I wouldn't accept that; it drops at Veteran level for a reason as it is the hardest solo content and therefore you're rewarded with the hardest weapons. Am I right in thinking you've created this post as you cannot finish veteran Maelstrom Arena?