Help with an Older Character Dying

tymora11

I keep having trouble with being killed and/or being unable to defeat enemies, even in areas actually below her current level. For example, she's a level 70 Hunter Ranger, but today I got killed no less than two dozen times while trying to complete the second set of vigilance quests of the Fiery Pit--she couldn't complete any at all when I tried it as the level it's supposed to be. I gave up on Castle Never's Vault after being killed 6 times in 3 encounters. It's more than a little ridiculous, and certainly not particularly fun to 'play'.

The trouble started with--and, I suspect, originates in--the Elemental Evil module. When it was released, she was not only already level 60, but had been for a while--specifically, long enough to have unlocked most of Sharandar, but not long enough to have collected most of the campaign rewards. Ever since, the only places she hasn't been chronically dying is when I backtracked through Tyranny of Dragons (i.e., when she's suppressed by 10+levels).

So I have some questions I'd like feedback on.
1) Did or does anybody else have similar problems with characters like this?
2) Does anybody have any suggestions to help and/or fix the problem?

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micky1p00

How much HP you have ? Did you replace the old gear for the new ?

silence1x

My HR is dusty from lack of use for this very reason - Archery is not the best path any longer. It is however my favorite path hence I haven't bothered to level him up until it again becomes viable.

Having said that, if you do want to try, I'd suggest (as micklp00 did) you:

1. Increase your HP by getting HP-centric gear
2. Increase your Power
3. Increase your Crit
4. Run a striker companion that will take some of the aggro away from you
5. Post in LFG - "LFG quest group for xxxx quests." or kill stuff when other players are around.

As an HP, Armor Pen shouldn't be an issue for you. Soloing as an Archery HR these days is an exercise in testing your patience.

tymora11

Thanks for all the quick replies! At least now I know it isn't just me.

magenubbie said:

1. yes, the HR, especially archers, are in a bad spot soloing, especially with certain skills not doing damage. It's not impossible, but definitely not easy. I know, I have one. Trappers have it easier, but it's a rather fixed rotation you're tied to. As I don't play trapper, I would suggest looking at the HR forums to see how it's done.
2. Hard to answer without knowing your gear, build and rotation. I think you'll get the most useful answers by asking in the HR forums if you include that information in your posts. Personally, I can manage at 2.2k IL with a lot of kiting, but it takes practice. And I still don't like doing CP alone on it, even with almost every boon there is to be had. Not much I can advise without more information.

I will definitely check out the class forums. Just so I'm clear, what are IL and CP short for?

micky1p00 said:

How much HP you have ? Did you replace the old gear for the new ?

Not sure my HP, but I did replace my gear once I got better stuff.

silence1x said:

My HR is dusty from lack of use for this very reason - Archery is not the best path any longer. It is however my favorite path hence I haven't bothered to level him up until it again becomes viable.

Having said that, if you do want to try, I'd suggest (as micklp00 did) you:

1. Increase your HP by getting HP-centric gear
2. Increase your Power
3. Increase your Crit
4. Run a striker companion that will take some of the aggro away from you
5. Post in LFG - "LFG quest group for xxxx quests." or kill stuff when other players are around.

As an HP, Armor Pen shouldn't be an issue for you. Soloing as an Archery HR these days is an exercise in testing your patience.

I'm seriously thinking of shelving her until Cryptic repairs some of this myself. I don't want to restart her entirely, especially since it now appears that would provide only limited benefit anyway.

As for the strategy, I'll have to look at trying that. I usually prefer Defense, HP, and Regen/Recovery, but I could certainly look at trying some more Power/Crit-based gear. I've been running a Defender companion (a Neverember Guard I picked up last summer), but I have several strikers I could also try--actually, having a handful of unusual/rare companions is part of why I don't want to replace her.

I have mixed feelings on the LFG, since the results seem to be kind of mixed, but I may well get some results with my guild.

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beckylunatic

tymora11 said:

I will definitely check out the class forums. Just so I'm clear, what are IL and CP short for?

Item level, which is a rough (but imperfect) measure of how good your gear is. Characters with higher IL should be able to kill things faster and survive better than characters with lower IL, if only by virtue of having more stats. If the character is built badly, higher IL still may not help much.

Cult Prison, one of the lairs in Well of Dragons. The boss fight here and in the Drake Pens can both be tough even for players who have little trouble with any other solo content, due to limited dodging space, and adds that interrupt/debuff/DoT/get in your way/etc. The bosses themselves hit hard, but these two fight designs in general are a challenge.

tymora11

beckylunatic said:

tymora11 said:

I will definitely check out the class forums. Just so I'm clear, what are IL and CP short for?

Cult Prison, one of the lairs in Well of Dragons. The boss fight here and in the Drake Pens can both be tough even for players who have little trouble with any other solo content, due to limited dodging space, and adds that interrupt/debuff/DoT/get in your way/etc. The bosses themselves hit hard, but these two fight designs in general are a challenge.

Well, I can't even kill the normal opponents in the Well, so that's kinda irrelevant right now. Same for the Stronghold, Icewind Dale, or any Cult dungeons.