dead again

[cindiann]

I'm new to EQ2 and have just started a swash toon but I keep getting killed any time I have to go up against more than one opponent.  I'm getting some skill at sneaking up behind somebody and back stabbing them followed by a quick swipe and then on to some melee fighting.  That has been working for me when one-on-one but I've been trying to do the quest in the Peat Bog where I take out the machines and there are three targets around each machine.  I'm only lasting about long enough for my cloaking to disappear.  Tried sneaking up behind one of the guys to back stab before my stealth went away followed by a circle attack on all three but that only extended my life expectancy for about 5 more seconds.  Any advice?

[alch4mist]

<p>Crowd control is a problem with most toons at early level so you are not alone - for the Swash you get 2 advantages as you increase in level - AoE spells (first at lvl 14 with Circle Blade) and then later at 26 a mez spell (disarming grin). Think you can upgrade the CB to a master 2 which is worthwhile... these will help you give damage and control some agro but ultimately its style of play such as stealth attack with stun and keep the mob occupied, use ranged and kite them (we are not rangers so maybe use this a bit less), having decent gear (mastercrafted if you are serious) together with stats in agi,  using poisons to slow /stun etc .... theres no one single solution but down to experimentation and ultimately learning and enjoying the class.</p>

[Ookami-san]

<p>First, taking on two mob of similiar level (not down arrows) is risky.  But, make sure you are using the best poison you can - the best poison for mutiple opponents is the high DoT poison, because you can hit them with your AoE, poison them and the poison continues to do damage while you concentrate on one opponent.</p><p>When dealing with multiples, you REALLY need to take them down fast because in general, we don't have the mitigation to take a pounding.  So, do the classic sneak up, stealth attack (with stun), back attack, when they spin use your AoE attacks, then your frontal attacks, then stun them, jump behind and use your back attacks.</p><p>The key to successful soloing of multiple mobs is... good gear/good CAs... </p><p>1) You want the best armor you can get (mastercrafted imbued at low level with adornments).  Good armor means more mitigation, which means less damage - so you live longer.</p><p>2) Make sure you get the best weapon you can (or two of them) - most times that will be mastercrafted imbued at low levels - and add a vampiric handle so you can proc a lifetap and get more health.  Better weapons means more damage faster, which means they die quicker and you live longer.</p><p>3) Make sure you have your CA's upgraded to Adept IIIs or Masters - they will do more damage, be resisted less and you will do more damage, more quickly - and live longer.</p><p>4) Use the best poison you can get - buy player made poisons.  When you get to the right level, start stacking them - you can have one red, one purple and one blue poisons (bottle colors, not buff color) running at any given time.  I personally like lifetap (vitality drain), gracelessness (defense debuff) and stupefying (stun).  Better poison = more damage = you live longer.</p><p>5) Use potions or any other buffs.  If you know you are going to be fighting multiple opponents, use potions.  Good ones to use are ones that increase max health and ones that give you a damage shield.</p><p>6) Use ubber items - if you play LoN, you can get some very nice items that will enhance your experience.  There are several illusions that give damage shields continuously and there are fast mounts that give bonuses to attack skills (piercing, slashing, etc.).  </p><p>7) Know when to walk away, know when to run.  As Keeny Rogers sang, you need to know when to run.  If the fight is going poorly and you're at 25% health after killing one mob and there's still two mobs left... there's nothing wrong with living to fight another day.</p>

[asmiro]

<p>i would just like to reiterate what the previous poster said. all good points there.</p><p>as for sneaking up behind a mob, i find i rarely have to do that. the reason being is that if you use the cheap shot CA (if swash has it, i know brig and assasin do for sure), it usually lets you get in 2 attacks instead of the usual 1 on the backside of a mob. couple that with putting another 8 aa when you can into walk the plank, and you have a pretty MEAN combo for keeping the mobs back turned to you. </p><p>now this is on a brigand, but it should be similar for a swash, so keep this in mind what i describe next wont be exact for a swashy.</p><p>what i do on my brig is use a ranged attack to pull with, if mobs are social, pull with the deagro CA called evade and whatever are its upgrades. alot of times with evade, i can single pull mobs that are close together and social without getting a bunch of other adds. it is similar in principle to a wizzy pulling the same way with concussive.</p><p>after i pull the mob i want with ranged/evade, i immediately (while the mob is running at you) hit the HO starter and then cheapshot, run behind the mob fast and then hit 3 (on a brig you can do 3 with the cheapshot enahncement AA in EoF tree) back/side positionals. after that, i can usually determine if i need to use walk the plank followed by another stun (which by the time you get walk the plan you should have something similar to a brig's blackjack). if i do seem to need to use walk the plank, i will just continue to melee till i have 2 back/side attacks up at the same time, so i dont waste walk the plank on just one attack (maximise your DPS while the mob is stunned is the name of the game here). </p><p>let me describe what walk the plank (in the KoS tree under agi i believe) does. what it does is do a small ammount of damage (increases as you level though) and also turns the mob to face away from you. thats right, the mob actually TURNS ITS BACK to you. if you use your longest duration stun after you hit walk the plank, you can then get in a good number of attacks without taking any damage from a mob's parry or riposte. i cant tell you how imensely helpful this aa alone is.</p><p>hope this helps a little.</p><p>edit: looked up swash EoF aa tree online and noticed it does not have a cheapshot enhancement.  suprising.</p>

[Sanamien]

<cite>asmiro wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>as for sneaking up behind a mob, i find i rarely have to do that. the reason being is that if you use the cheap shot CA (if swash has it, i know brig and assasin do for sure), it usually lets you get in 2 attacks instead of the usual 1 on the backside of a mob. couple that with putting another 8 aa when you can into walk the plank, and you have a pretty MEAN combo for keeping the mobs back turned to you. </p><p>now this is on a brigand, but it should be similar for a swash, so keep this in mind what i describe next wont be exact for a swashy.</p></blockquote>Swashbucklers have a from-stealth attack that knocks down the opponent for 2.5 sec, which means you can get two CAs off (3 with sailwind), and then you have cheap shot for 2-4 sec stun after that. And then you (might) have Walk the Plank for an added 2-3 seconds of backstabbery goodness.So, always sneak up behind the mob as a swash.