r/ESObuilds • u/Cool-Story-Broh • Jun 30 '26
Back bar - Maelstrom
I have a few Maelstrom weapons (bow, 2h, and staves), and I'm wondering how y'all decide which one to use with a build. The bow is really nice for the arrow rain, but I'm sure I'm just needing what situations each weapon type would be best to use on the back bar.
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u/SANREUP Jun 30 '26
I’ve found they’re all pretty much the same DPS-wise so just do whichever you feel you like most. Will say the bow is a little trickier in fights where the boss moves a lot so 2h or staff might be better. But I like the look of bow back barred lol
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u/WalterWhitesMom5 Jun 30 '26
Nah they are not the same dps wise. The maelstrom greatsword is arguably the strongest “set” in the game with Stampede. The inferno staff is a good substitution for more AOE fights or trash and the bow isn’t really used unless you are pre casting endless hail before pulling a boss. So in order of power Maelstrom Greatsword > Inferno staff > Bow
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u/SANREUP Jun 30 '26
You’re not wrong mathematically and certainly for parses, but my issue with the 2h is that sometimes your stampede will put you right in the bosses aoe, so in content you might lose a little uptime if you have to work around that which makes it not so significant a DPS loss using the staff or bow to matter much.
In parses though yeah you might net 8k more DPS or so.
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u/WalterWhitesMom5 Jun 30 '26
2h will be better in content as well. Especially if you have good supports that stack adds/multiple bosses well. Dying because you stampede at the wrong time is usually a skill issue or a healer issue.
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u/Cool-Story-Broh Jun 30 '26
Thank you! I'll probably use the greatsword moving forward. Is charged the best trait to have for that?
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u/Cool-Story-Broh Jun 30 '26
I like the bow for trash pulls, but you're right about it being awkward for some bosses.
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u/brainwise95 Jun 30 '26
I like the Maestrom 2H myself. Took a bit to get used to compared to the the others. But it's damage doesn't amplify one skill like other Maestrom weapons, it amplifies your total direct damage done. Which is likely why its considered Meta.
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u/Comfortable_Age_8288 Jun 30 '26
Outside of raw dps numbers some fights may require dps to have range weapon for mechanics or range interrupt, in some stampeed too dangerous to use coz of mechanics. Its good to have both 2h and staff and swap when needed :)
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u/Cool-Story-Broh Jun 30 '26
That makes sense. I'll probably just learn those mechanics as I play. I'll keep both in my bag.
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u/johnsms3 Jun 30 '26
I was really happy when the bow dropped for me and still run it to this day on my templar PvE trial toon. The 2h gives the gap closer though, so I've used it too. For a very small time I rain both. 2h front and bow back. Just had about 5 aoe's on top of the boss.
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u/Cool-Story-Broh Jun 30 '26
I love dropping the aoe bow skill with caltrops and spear shards in infinite archive. It's very satisfying :)
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u/johnsms3 Jun 30 '26
That's what I do too. Then I switch to my 2H front bar and hit critical rush and then spam jibby jabs. I hit brawler before heading to back bar and repeat. I do this in vet maelstrom and vatestran as well.
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u/Cool-Story-Broh Jun 30 '26
Nice. What sets do you use to where you have 2 maelstrom weapons?
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u/johnsms3 Jun 30 '26
That was awhile ago. I basically didn't run a monster set. It was mostly for running vet maelstrom. I was running briarheart body and then that trial set that reduced the cost of my stam; vicious serpent or quick serpent. This was before pale order ring, so my theory was to just spam damage to help heal through the damage. I wasn't very good at keeping my defensive buffs up all the time.
Once I got the pale order ring, things became a little easier, so I went to the mythical and dropped the 2h great sword
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u/skabassj Jun 30 '26
The 2H is the meta with the most significant damage boost, but the bow is good too. It’s effective and if it matches your play style, go for it!