Level 29 getting owned - any advice?

[shortshanks]

<DIV>HI all, I have enjoyed playing a monk, but seem to be getting own lately.</DIV> <DIV>I have all the AQ armour, oakwood fighting batons, and all my core spells are adept 1s (can't afford anything higher).</DIV> <DIV>I use all the buffs (i prefer to use the defensive one (brawler's stance ???) rather than dragon stance as I find I live longer).</DIV> <DIV>And yet when soloing I am constantly owned by mobs. If I am aggroed by two greens (and I don't even mean heroics) I am killed.</DIV> <DIV>I was even killed by a single rabid shriller in CoB today - even though I could solo these when level 27.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Any ideas. Have we been nerfed and noone told me?</DIV> <DIV>I'd certainly be grateful for any advice.</DIV> <DIV>thanks in advance</DIV>

[Ashleyyy]

<DIV>Did you change to those weapons recently? </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I had a similar thing like this happen on a warrior alt I have, and it turned out that I had just changed from crushing to piercing, and my piercing skill was so low I could barely kill anything at all.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>FWIW, I haven't been having any trouble with my monk; we haven't been nerfed to my knowledge. </DIV>

[Nefari]

I felt there was a significant increase in my ability to solo once I hit 30th.  I don't think I can quantify or point to a specific reason/spell, it just seemed that way to me <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Nefalu 50th Monk <div></div>

[Dfoley3]

Sadly, i must ask, what race are you Frankly some races are far superior to others if you want to solo.  Also whats your self buffed agi?  A good solo class is either a race with the + 3 defense trait, or one with balanced sta and agi.  Sure ratonga have nice agi, but they have half the hp of a barbarian.  Soloing a green mob shouldnt be hard, at 50 i solo 5 at at time and could do more if not for the limit on engaged encounters. Aq armor is nice, and definatly should wear it till 30, at 30 do the mist hide armor quests, and at 35 the emerald hide armor in zek.  While going + str is definatly nice for raiding monks, tanking and soloing monks will be out done by + agi monks. With str gear i have 180 str 180 agi, with agi gear i have 130 str 250 agi.  at 50 that means im at 82% avoidance (ish) id recomend keeping a suite of both on u, so if u solo throw on the agi, if u group, get some str <div></div>

[NamaeZero]

<P>Sounds like you're using Dragon Stance. That buff will kill your ability to solo for XP in any meaningful way. Continue to use Brawlers Stance until you get Sweeping Crane. You should be able to take out two blue solo mobs, or one orange solo or very green group mob. That's about the level I'm at.</P>

[Alluna E]

All the "9" levels are going to be difficult, because they are the level before a new tier.   Once you hit 30, alot of new equipment will open up to you helping you to solo better.   Do some harvesting of rares so you can make some money and buy better weapons (Pristine Imbued Oak Cudgel/Batons) and you'll all set.  

[Cyngii]

<DIV>Hmm...I really don't know what to say other than check your buffs and make sure your armor isn't broken.  </DIV><p>Message Edited by Cyngii on <span class=date_text>06-08-2005</span> <span class=time_text>12:42 PM</span>

[Xita]

<P>29 is tough to solo at, might want to make sure youare using all buffs available to you, and the crushing vs peircing/slashing is the best other hint i saw here. I remeber outside of ROV there not being much worthwhile to kill at 29.</P> <P> </P> <P> </P>

[Morrolan V]

<DIV><FONT face=Garamond size=3>I had started to replace a lot of my AQ armor by 29.  It's going to be tough to solo with green/blue equipment at any level, and several pieces of the AQ armor are green or blue at 29.  You can change out all pieces except the chest, boots and shoulders and the look will not change.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Garamond size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Garamond size=3>As to things to solo, I soloed the entry areas of EL and Zek from 29 to 32 or so -- got a lot of my exp that way.  I think I had finished Hammer's quests by 32.  All those solo orcs right outside the fort and all the turtles, beetles, etc around the EL docks are great soloing at those levels.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Morrolan V]

<FONT face=Garamond size=3>Also, all monk weapons now use the crushing skill to determine attack value.  Even those that do slashing damage (cestii) or piercing (cestus) use crushing to determine whether they hit.</FONT>

[shortshanks]

<DIV>My thanks to you all for some excellent help and advice. I am doing my best to take all of the points you have made on board.</DIV> <DIV>As for the info you requested.  I'm actually a Kerra and have put all of my skill points into agility. I am using oakwood batons and seem to be doing a reasonable amount of damage - the problem is more one of durability in a fight. I think I should therefore invest my 25 gp in new armour and spells asap.</DIV> <DIV>I already have a complete suit of emerald armour from doing quests with friends at  Zek, but would love to know where to start the mist hide quests.</DIV> <DIV>My thanks to you all - it just proves to me that one of the strongest things about this great game is the community.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[zabor]

The Far Sea Recquisition Orders drop from various animals in Enchanted Lands.They are killtasks (Kill 10 badgers and stuff) and the reward is the Misthide armor set.You can buy them on the broker if you don't feel like hours of farming turtles for that drop. There are many classes that do these quests but few need light armor, so they are quite cheap.

[Ulkesh-Blackburr]

<P>As far as the armor, last time I checked the crafted stuff(non-rare) is slightly better.  Pristine Etched armor?  You could probably get a whole set for less than 5 gold on the broker.  Besides the advice already given, all I can tell you is some mobs I can beat down no problems and some(which are the same level) beat me down almost everytime.  When I was soloing in EL it was the Spiders that would destroy me when I could handle the turtles and the feral lashers no problems ever.  Try fighting different mobs and see if that makes a difference.  </P> <P>Also, I dont know if this will help but...  use rushing bear(mob cant turn around for about 2-3 seconds) and as soon as you do it start casting darting sparrow(or whatever flurry attack you are using at 29).  Run straight into the mob while turning around so by the time dart sparrow goes off you are behind the mob and it rarely blocks any of them.  That has helped me a lot soloing stuff.  Remember if the mob is non-agro you can start the fight with a free shot in the back! (not very honorable if you are a roleplayer though).</P>

[SykeAuttic]

<P>Good idea on the stun-flurry...never thought of that.</P> <P>I found a similar issue with getting my butt kicked by certain mobs...for me it was the impaler wasps in EL.  I could pretty much kill anything by the docks but those...drove me crazy for 4-5 levels...then I outgrew them and took revenge doing the buzz beer quest over and over...  <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P>

[joliver]

If you have a tolerance for boredom, I found that soloing spiders just inside Varsoons is an easy way to make 30.  You can single pull most spiders (there is one-pair), there is no comeptition for the area on my server, and there is little/no downtime.  Sadly, it seems that 90% of the groups I have been level slower than soloing at this point. <div></div>

[Momolicio]

I have always wondered if that is a bug when a stunned mob parries or ripostes my flurry attacks. <div></div>

[Computer MAn]

Also make sure they are not caster mobs. If I die solo it is usually to a caster mob. <div></div>