Mobs in solo instance spawning too high - trouble finding level appropriate content

Zultamou · July 2015

I'm not what one would consider a pro gamer, but I'm not a total noob either, I have played many MMO's just fine, played Skyrim and Oblivion, but I am struggling with quest content in this game. It says on the tips of the day that solo instances will scale to your level, but I'm level 17, and the quest will say level 17, but when I go inside the mobs are level 25 and in groups, it makes it quite difficult. If they were my level it would probably be fine.

I guess I'm mostly curious if anyone else is experiencing this to, or if maybe my dungeons are spawning incorrectly at too high of a level. I have not skipped quest content along the way so I'm doing all the quests I can to get exp but I've come to a point where I have a bunch of high level quests somehow that I snagged along the way, cannot find any other lower quests and the few lower quests I do have are bringing me into areas with mobs almost 10 levels higher than me.

Feeling pretty frustrated about my ability to get anywhere in this game.

helediron · July 2015

Usually this is either that
- you have skipped many quests.
- You don't kill mobs.

When experienced players level their alts, they usually get badly over-leveled. I suggest you go back to area where mobs match your level and grind the mobs, look around more quests and soon you get this fixed.

When advancing an area, then difficulty increases from start to end point. If e.g. in Auridon you start from south and end at north, go east-west to search places. Look everywhere and visit all delves.

Daveheart · July 2015

Instanced quests can scale up to your level. They will not however scale down below their original level. It sounds like you're definitely in a level 25 quest.

Zultamou · July 2015

No you can look at my quest Log, it shows the quest is level 17, yes I do have some quests that are higher level but I have not even attempted those, I'm doing the lowest ones first. I have not intentionally skipped any content and I definitely kill alot of mobs (and that nets hardly any exp). The idea about looking east and west, I guess I can try to go to more out of way places I may not have already covered, but I have been all over Auridon. I do find it challenging getting anywhere fast though, so many mountains and unpassable walls in the way, which I assume is to slow us down and make us enjoy the scenery, which is quite nice.

Zultamou · July 2015

My Boyfriend didn't believe me either (though he is a better gamer) but he looked at mine and saw too that it was supposed to be my level. He's level 35 already and not really having any of the issues I am though.

Daveheart · July 2015

What's the quest?

Zultamou · July 2015

The quest that is spawning to high (I'm working now so I dont have it right in front of me) but it was a mage guild quest and If I'm not mistaken the level of the quest was changing with my level but still had level 25 mobs inside. However, I did not try it again last night but I did some other questing last night and I did not run into same problem with my solo instances, so now I wonder if maybe it was just isolated to the one I was trying (or it was maybe intentional).

I did make some progress last night and now I'm about 21 and things getting a bit easier and with equal level mobs I can actually do quests that are a couple levels higher than me.

Thanks!

UrQuan · July 2015

Zultamou wrote: »

No you can look at my quest Log, it shows the quest is level 17, yes I do have some quests that are higher level but I have not even attempted those, I'm doing the lowest ones first.

What @Daveheart is talking about is that the quest will appear to scale to your level whatever your level may be, but the enemies in the quest will not scale down below the original level that quest was intended to be (although they will scale up). What's unfortunate about that is that, as you've discovered, you can't tell by looking at the quest in your quest log that you're not really supposed to be doing it yet.

Zultamou wrote: »

I have not intentionally skipped any content and I definitely kill alot of mobs (and that nets hardly any exp). The idea about looking east and west, I guess I can try to go to more out of way places I may not have already covered, but I have been all over Auridon. I do find it challenging getting anywhere fast though, so many mountains and unpassable walls in the way, which I assume is to slow us down and make us enjoy the scenery, which is quite nice.

Hmm, what quests are you seeing that are above your level? If you're AD and you've completed all of Auridon (which, if you did the starter island first, should get you up anywhere from level 16-18) you should be questing in Grahtwood. I'm wondering if you're in a higher level portion of the map than you should be yet? In Grahtwood it's best to quest along the road to the West of Haven first, and then after you've worked your way along through that area and done all of the quests in that portion of the map go North of haven up towards Elden Root, and start questing from there and the surrounding areas.

Nestor · July 2015

Zultamou wrote: »

I have not intentionally skipped any content and I definitely kill alot of mobs (and that nets hardly any exp).

Look in your Journal, in the Achievements section and under Quests is an Adventurer Achivement for each zone. If you have completed that, then you have 90% to 95% of the quests for that zone done. If not, then you have missed some content. And, that is easy to do in this game, quest givers are tucked all over the place.

Auridon is probably the most difficult zone to get around in with all the Cliffs and such, but most of them are easier to navigate.

See this for my thoughts on combat in this game, it will help you with higher level mobs. You can go 10 over on the mobs if you approach them the right way.

Nestor wrote: »

Tactics are very important in this game. This means the skill rotations you use, the mobs you take on and in what order etc. A single player at low levels can really only handle 2 or 3 mobs at once. And, most of the 3 mobs groups will send a mob on a path out of aggro range. So you can take out the single, then go after the two.

Pick a skill rotation that builds off itself. In other words lead with a Crowd Control skill (like one that snares or stuns), then one that gives damage and makes the next attack more powerful or a Damage over Time attack, then hit them with your most powerful skill. Repeat this as necessary.

As for combat, you need to use mostly your skills, with weapon attacks being the filler between skills. This is because your weapon attacks don't do that much damage, but the time spent on them allow your stats to regen some so you can last longer in the battle. There is also Animation Canceling, but that is not as easy to do on the Consoles, if that is your platform.

Go all in on either Stamina or Magic as all damage scales from one of those two. Weapon damage is in there too, but Mag and Stam are the most important. This means all your attributes and glyphs and jewelery into one stat. Then your skills will really have power. Yes, your ignoring health, but if you play right, that is not an issue.

And, please, move around in battle, standing in once place is not the best tactic, you need to move around, learn how and when to block, how and when to dodge roll and most importantly, how to Interupt or Bash (either from a distance or up close).

That should get you going.

Zultamou · July 2015

I'm now 25 and struggling again to find stuff my level that I can actually do, every area is overwhelming me. I'm obviously missing quests along the way that I cannot find, I don't get why they are so hard to find. I try to explore areas that seem to not have been hit on the map but there are walls in your way every time you turn around which makes it quite frustrating.

At this time now I'm so frustrated don't know if I will keep playing (maybe after a few hours away from my Xbox I'll feel differently!!). BUT...Nestor thanks for pointing out the achievement check thing. I think that may actually help. I've obviously got to be missing a lot of content in each area I go through because I complete the stuff in my journal that I can, but if I was getting it all then I'd probably not be struggling with too high of mobs, all the quests I'm doing now are giving me level 29 mobs and I'm 25, which in singles would be okay but it is not.

I will try to work from my achievement journal and see what I can do.

Thanks for all the help.

WyldfireWyrm · July 2015

Daveheart wrote: »

Instanced quests can scale up to your level. They will not however scale down below their original level. It sounds like you're definitely in a level 25 quest.

Exactly this. Each solo quest has a minimum level it can be done at.

ADarklore · July 2015

Trying to figure out how the OP is having this issue as I have done the AD missions at least four times with different characters and never had this problem. I've never, ever, had any content in Auridon scale that high. Makes me almost wonder if the OP is 'grouped' with someone who is at a higher level... I know a lot of people will 'group' in order to gain XP faster, but it can have an adverse effect in scaled content if the group leader is a higher level- as content will scale to them in instances.

In open world Auridon, there should be nothing at level 25, I think the highest I saw was level 17 on NPCs.

helediron · July 2015

Zultamou wrote: »

I'm now 25 and struggling again to find stuff my level that I can actually do, every area is overwhelming me. I'm obviously missing quests along the way that I cannot find, I don't get why they are so hard to find. I try to explore areas that seem to not have been hit on the map but there are walls in your way every time you turn around which makes it quite frustrating...snip...

You should be now in Grahtwood and just passed Elden Root, maybe searching the mantle (avoiding spoilers). If you are further north or even in Greenshade, i suggest you do some grinding. I don't know your attitude to grinding, but few hours of killing overland mobs that are a bit below your level in good place should give few extra levels. Slowly your level and mob levels should get closer to each other and you can again do more quests.

When wandering around, look at your compass. New possible quests appear first in your compass as black quest marks some distance away from the questgiver. Get closer and pick it up. Also make sure you finish your quests. Normally you should have less than ten quests open in the area. The map is also helpful. Assuming you have eplored the area completely, you should see all quest hubs. A black hub icon tells some quests are still unfinished while white icon means completed hub.

Your earlier mage guild quest may have been an exception to area quests. Earlier the guild quests were at fixed level, five levels apart. It's long time since i did them, but it may be they still have the minimum level. You can just take the guild quests slower. Their story lines can wait until you are closer to level 50.

newtinmpls · July 2015

Zultamou wrote: »

No you can look at my quest Log, it shows the quest is level 17.

Yes ... I submitted a ticket on this a while ago and the info I got from ZoS was that IF the quest has a minimum level (The particular problem I had was Tempest Island; my character was underleveled and the journal still was saying my level - and when I cursor-ed over any opponent they displayed the actual level), anyway IF the quest has a minimum level it will still show your level (glitch apparently), despite the fact that this is not an accurate reflection of the dungeon's difficulty.

So points to you for noting the disparity. It is a real one.

If you are soloing this content at your level - you have missed a lot.

Zultamou · July 2015

I'm level 28-29 now so things are going much smoother. I backtracked and found a few delves I had missed, but surprisingly not that many. I have the quest achievement in each area and currently working in Greenshade, Grahtwood is completed. And to an earlier question, I always solo. My BF already outleveled me so we don't group unless he's coming to kill something for me.

datwitty · July 2015

Zultamou wrote: »

The quest that is spawning to high (I'm working now so I dont have it right in front of me) but it was a mage guild quest and If I'm not mistaken the level of the quest was changing with my level but still had level 25 mobs inside. However, I did not try it again last night but I did some other questing last night and I did not run into same problem with my solo instances, so now I wonder if maybe it was just isolated to the one I was trying (or it was maybe intentional).

I did make some progress last night and now I'm about 21 and things getting a bit easier and with equal level mobs I can actually do quests that are a couple levels higher than me.

Thanks!

I had a feeling it was this quest. This happened to me with this particular quest, as well as a friend of mine last night. I don't know if you have experienced it with other solo instances, but it seems that with this particular quest it is possibly an issue of the quest showing too low in your log. I haven't seen this happen with any other quest than this one. Hopefully knowing someone else has experienced this helps in some way