Solo Missions as a Mage are RIDICULOUS

Tawn · May 2014

Come on guys, it's trollish to say "This game is easy mode after level x" or "I'm a sorcerer and had no issues" or "I've not died since level x" and then not actually give some advice on how you got past him. It invalidates your comment.

OP, I just turned 15 and tried him once. No time left to play now so don't yet know the full ins-and-outs of the fight, but what I have seen is that each boss has a strat, if you can work it out then you are home and hosed. Think back to Doshia and how you needed to kill her orbs.

Kiting is normally a must, but in this case it does seem like a knock back might be better as those green bolts he casts are pretty mean.

I note his flag, that can be killed it looks like. Not bothered yet looking what advantage it gives him. I note that if you pull him out of it he runs back. Possibly some sort of heal?

But there is good advice in this thread OP amongst the useless comments. You must dual build yourself, there are over 300 skill points to be had, well enough to have one melee and one ranged spec unless you are a min/maxxer.

If you have been reading your bookshelves as you have been going then you already have some stats in place.

7788b14_ESO · May 2014

As others have said you are free to adjust your skills. As a Storm calling mage with two summons the missions have been easy mode.

After early failures I was forced to adapt in order to overcome. Luckily after each defeat I could evaluate what the problem was and swap skills, weapons, and armor as needed. I can't tell you how often a healing staff has helped, even though that's not my regular weapon.

cisadanepajsuxrwb17_ESO · May 2014

There are steep learning curves for sorcs I agree having played one as vamp VR1 going thru stonefalls. The general response I get in zone chat is the usual duo : L2P or L2DPS, sometimes they are kind enough to not include 'noob' at the end of their contribution

Merlin13KAGL · May 2014

You made it through Gutstripper & you can't kill the guy in the cellar?

Eledra · May 2014

For this one i plan to use 2pet, silver bolt/morph storm cloak/crystal shard/one heal, maybe mutagen. Start with silver bolt to knock him out - pet attack, repeat knock out until out of stamina, then switch to crystal shard and knock him out - repeat, morph storm cloak for oh sh*t, mutagen for pet and me hp up and hope i kill him before run out of mana and stamina. Stat point 6/5/0 still two level to go, maybe level to 16-17 for first try (old lotro player no death before i hit 20lvl)

steveb16_ESO46 · May 2014

Kaisino wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

I'm so sick of all you elitists with your "I solo'd this level 15 boss at level 1 without any armor on, what is wrong with you?" attitudes. I also find this boss impossible and am frustrated with having to solo elite bosses for any quest line. That just doesn't make sense.

Give us bosses that you need to use the strategy of your class to kill but not one that 3 hits you and causes you to be stalled in your main story quest line.

Its easy, just use strategy.

I hate L2P responses but I got to agree. I've been in situations where I've been screaming with frustration when getting killed multiple times by bosses. But the key was always to stop and think. Look at what was going on, look at why I was getting killed, look at what unused skills I might have. There was always a solution.

I also find with ESO I have got to accept I'm not the greatest player in the world. I'm a pretty old guy playing a somewhat twitch based game on a US based server from the UK.

There's no shame in going into Main Story quests a few levels over if that's what it takes.

i've tackled this guy as a Nightblade first and then a DK fire mage in light armour. Didn't even notice he was the end-boss first time.

pronkg · May 2014

I'm Mage vet rank 3 at the moment.

I must agree playing solo as full damage light armor etc without summons it is really hard. Impossible absolutely not.

You really have to play with extreme tactics or you are dead in a sec. At vet rank a rogue throwing a dagger takes half my hp down with 1 hit. Imagine a group of 3 including one healer.
It's doable but extremely difficult.

I usually manage but in veteran questline bossfights I'm forced to use a healing staff to keep myself from dieing.

I'm not gonna be a summoner just to grind through vet ranks. Not my style and I like a good challenge.

Impossible, no

Fairydragon3 · May 2014

Im a crafter at 38 with only 13 points in combat abilities and perks( a hotbar and one passive).....takes some time, but solo missions are not so tough

paradoxorganisationb16_ESO · May 2014

This game is Ez-mode and if you have trouble with the normal content you will never be able to do VR content (which is also Ez-mode imo).

paradoxorganisationb16_ESO · May 2014

Ohh i'm sorry if i didn't get the correct title I normally try to concern myself with more challenging titles

Ps: There is also Hello kitty online if it has to be an mmo title.

Iselin · May 2014

Blocking, dodging and interrupting -- and no, you don't need a shield for those -- are part of the tutorial at level 2 for a reason.

If you think that as a DPS build, you can out damage every mob or group you run into, you're wrong. You'll get away with playing that way at times with some easy mobs and that might give you a false sense of confidence... and then you'll run into a slightly tougher solo instance boss and your bad habits will get you in trouble.

Block, dodge and interrupt are skills you'll need to be good at from level 2 to VR10.

Yankee · May 2014

Just about to hit V3 on my single target, mostly storm, 7/7 light armor Sorcerer. I found it so far pretty good going. None of the story quests gave me issues. However, I have been through most of them 3 times before so that is an advantage.

3+ mob pulls can kill me though if I get careless. You do not want to miss a block and get knocked down, losing the initiative.

I leveled up a destro staff AoE build to try, but so far do not like it. Maybe it just takes practice, but I seem to get hurt more. I hear there are people good at it can nuke down 8+ mobs at a time. That would not be me, and I will probably save that bar for grouping.

So back to my resto staff with lightning form, endless fury, crystal fragments, regeneration, restraining prison. and my "oh crap pulled 2 groups" and boss button storm antronoch. On my second weapon I just use GTFO bolt escape.

I nuke the ranged mob(s) first. That sends the melee at me whom I trap with prison, then finish off the ranged. After that the melee is retrapped, knocked down and nuked. Sometimes I will get in their face to let lightning form hit them too.

If I keep lightning form up my already overcharged spell resist goes from 1800 to about 2450, and armor is overcharged then too. That and Regeneration helps keep the ranged and those pita knife throwers from hurting too bad.

I will run into build issues at higher VR levels if stuff cannot be snared though.
I already swap out prison for the guild fighter crossbow for some undead that ignore my prison spell.

Looking around as I level, I do not see me struggling any more than other players I notice, and in fact sometimes I am popping regeneration on them and knocking a mob down so they can live.

I think the a "mage" is pretty fun and one of the more powerful classes solo.

Iselin · May 2014

Yankee wrote: »

I leveled up a destro staff AoE build to try, but so far do not like it. Maybe it just takes practice, but I seem to get hurt more. I hear there are people good at it can nuke down 8+ mobs at a time. That would not be me, and I will probably save that bar for grouping.

That can be done with any Sorcerer using a destro staff: you only need 4 skills to do it successfully even in VR zones:

Critical Surge, the morph from surge that heals you with every critical strike
Inner Light, the morph from Magelight that gives you +20% critical chance. This together with your light armor bonus results in a +30% critical rate.
Immovable, the heavy armor active skill - not just for the protection but for the knockback/knockdown immunity... you don't want to waste time blocking and dodging when focused on AOEing down a group. After you unlock it, you can stop using heavy armor. This will happen in your 20s if you just use 2 pieces of heavy.
And for damage, Elemental Ring, the morph from Impulse... I use it with a fire staff most of the time but you might want to occasionally swap to a different element due to mob resistances.

The 5th ability is whatever you want but I like also having Volcanic Rune, the morph from fire rune there. It does AOE damage but better yet, also knocks down and stuns a group of mobs for 3 seconds. I like opening with this to get a head start on the group of mobs.

paradoxorganisationb16_ESO · May 2014

Just to point out this is a support forum btw although atm it's mostly used a general topic forum where people goto whine about stuff.

And yeah i was quite serious too actually now that i think about it. If you find solo missions and just overall content hard I don't think ESO is for you honestly. Either your build or skill lvl as a player are horrible or both if you find this to be true and you will never be able to even get throug VR content.

This game is very easy and most people like myself find VR easy too. But like i said if you have trouble now you will never get through VR content or any dungeon. Anyways to stay specificly on topic I currently have 3 chars in VR content with 1 max and have done much of the solo quests and content easy where it was 3-4 lvls above me.

Fairydragon3 · May 2014

paradoxorganisationb16_ESO wrote: »

Ohh i'm sorry if i didn't get the correct title I normally try to concern myself with more challenging titles

Ps: There is also Hello kitty online if it has to be an mmo title.

naw all good, just a stickler for quotes, especially ones from south park and family guy

Darzil · May 2014

Also if you are struggling with double-tab dodge or both mouse button interrupts, you can remap the keys.

Has made a difference for me on interrupts, as the mouse hardware was only sending one button press through when I clicked both.

Yusuf · May 2014

Actually when you keep at it, you will get more and more professional with your skills, and i do know how you're feeling, buddy. The last harbourage mission was pure horror for me and i died like 15 times. But due to me being in tunnelvision, thinking every other veteran did it without breaking a sweat, i used entropy and just kited, kited, kited, healthpotion, bolt escape, kite x)
Reaching the Veteranzones was hard at first too, but now i'm only having problems in soloing public dungeons or when i accidentally bolt escape too far and pull another group of mobs.
Hang in there, you'll be a badass soon enough

Yusuf · May 2014

paradoxorganisationb16_ESO wrote: »

paradoxorganisationb16_ESO wrote: »

This game is Ez-mode and if you have trouble with the normal content you will never be able to do VR content (which is also Ez-mode imo).

Just to point out this is a support forum btw although atm it's mostly used a general topic forum where people goto whine about stuff.

And yeah i was quite serious too actually now that i think about it. If you find solo missions and just overall content hard I don't think ESO is for you honestly. Either your build or skill lvl as a player are horrible or both if you find this to be true and you will never be able to even get throug VR content.

This game is very easy and most people like myself find VR easy too. But like i said if you have trouble now you will never get through VR content or any dungeon. Anyways to stay specificly on topic I currently have 3 chars in VR content with 1 max and have done much of the solo quests and content easy where it was 3-4 lvls above me.

Some people have a life and not 3 veterancharacters

Yankee · May 2014

Iselin wrote: »

Yankee wrote: »

I leveled up a destro staff AoE build to try, but so far do not like it. Maybe it just takes practice, but I seem to get hurt more. I hear there are people good at it can nuke down 8+ mobs at a time. That would not be me, and I will probably save that bar for grouping.

That can be done with any Sorcerer using a destro staff: you only need 4 skills to do it successfully even in VR zones:
Critical Surge, the morph from surge that heals you with every critical strike

Inner Light, the morph from Magelight that gives you +20% critical chance. This together with your light armor bonus results in a +30% critical rate.

Immovable, the heavy armor active skill - not just for the protection but for the knockback/knockdown immunity... you don't want to waste time blocking and dodging when focused on AOEing down a group. After you unlock it, you can stop using heavy armor. This will happen in your 20s if you just use 2 pieces of heavy.

And for damage, Elemental Ring, the morph from Impulse... I use it with a fire staff most of the time but you might want to occasionally swap to a different element due to mob resistances.

The 5th ability is whatever you want but I like also having Volcanic Rune, the morph from fire rune there. It does AOE damage but better yet, also knocks down and stuns a group of mobs for 3 seconds. I like opening with this to get a head start on the group of mobs.

Ahhh Ha!

Nice I am keeping this post. Too bad my heavy armor is at level 6 or 8 lol. Oh well, will swap in some pieces to get high enough (38 isn't it?) for Immovable eventually.

I did notice that getting knocked down while in your face AoEing does not end well, and with all the fire effects it is easier to miss the warning.

Gives me something to work towards.

Thanks!

Edit: Immovable unlocked at armor level 22. Not so bad.

paradoxorganisationb16_ESO · May 2014

Yusuf wrote: »

paradoxorganisationb16_ESO wrote: »

pronkg wrote: »

paradoxorganisationb16_ESO wrote: »

This is a troll post right? And if not how is this going on for 10 pages? This game is Ez-mode and if you have trouble with the normal content you will never be able to do VR content (which is also Ez-mode imo).

Maybe computer gaming isn't for you or i might suggest title like Hello kitty adventure island. It might be a tad hard but if you practice hard with that kitty you might make it :P

This is a troll comment right? And if not how did you formulate this useless comment. This a serious post from a serious person asking for an answer. This forum is about discussions and answers to questions. You'll never be able to have a descent conversation (which is pretty easy imo)

Maybe having discussions isn't for you. I might suggest carry on talking with toddlers. It might be a tad hard but of you practice hard you might someday be able to talk like an adult

Nope not a troll comment. Just to point out this is a support forum btw although atm it's mostly used a general topic forum where people goto whine about stuff.

And yeah i was quite serious too actually now that i think about it. If you find solo missions and just overall content hard I don't think ESO is for you honestly. Either your build or skill lvl as a player are horrible or both if you find this to be true and you will never be able to even get throug VR content.

This game is very easy and most people like myself find VR easy too. But like i said if you have trouble now you will never get through VR content or any dungeon. Anyways to stay specificly on topic I currently have 3 chars in VR content with 1 max and have done much of the solo quests and content easy where it was 3-4 lvls above me.

So yeah maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all the suggestions i had. I hear Hello Kitty games have a significant lower skill bar then ESO.

Some people have a life and not 3 veterancharacters

Aww cute resulting to personal insults now which btw is against the forums code of conduct.

I'll tell that to my daughter and wife next time i spend time with them that some random dude on the interweb told me to get a life.

Or maybe it's just that easy to lvl up?

paradoxorganisationb16_ESO · May 2014

pronkg wrote: »

paradoxorganisationb16_ESO wrote: »

Yusuf wrote: »

paradoxorganisationb16_ESO wrote: »

pronkg wrote: »

paradoxorganisationb16_ESO wrote: »

This is a troll post right? And if not how is this going on for 10 pages? This game is Ez-mode and if you have trouble with the normal content you will never be able to do VR content (which is also Ez-mode imo).

Maybe computer gaming isn't for you or i might suggest title like Hello kitty adventure island. It might be a tad hard but if you practice hard with that kitty you might make it :P

This is a troll comment right? And if not how did you formulate this useless comment. This a serious post from a serious person asking for an answer. This forum is about discussions and answers to questions. You'll never be able to have a descent conversation (which is pretty easy imo)

Maybe having discussions isn't for you. I might suggest carry on talking with toddlers. It might be a tad hard but of you practice hard you might someday be able to talk like an adult

Nope not a troll comment. Just to point out this is a support forum btw although atm it's mostly used a general topic forum where people goto whine about stuff.

And yeah i was quite serious too actually now that i think about it. If you find solo missions and just overall content hard I don't think ESO is for you honestly. Either your build or skill lvl as a player are horrible or both if you find this to be true and you will never be able to even get throug VR content.

This game is very easy and most people like myself find VR easy too. But like i said if you have trouble now you will never get through VR content or any dungeon. Anyways to stay specificly on topic I currently have 3 chars in VR content with 1 max and have done much of the solo quests and content easy where it was 3-4 lvls above me.

So yeah maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all the suggestions i had. I hear Hello Kitty games have a significant lower skill bar then ESO.

Some people have a life and not 3 veterancharacters

Aww cute resulting to personal insults now which btw is against the forums code of conduct.

I'll tell that to my daughter and wife next time i spend time with them that some random dude on the interweb told me to get a life.

Or maybe it's just that easy to lvl up?

I hope you treat your wife and kid better than you treat us

Yes very lovingly though what does that have to do with this topic again?

Ps you resorted and started with personal insulting (I assume that's what it was). I didn't

ZOS_TristanK · May 2014

Hey, folks. We wanted to pop in and remind everyone to please keep this conversation civil and on-topic. Thank you.

Asava · May 2014

Soloeus wrote: »

esonlineub17_ESO3 wrote: »

It's not clear that these "solo" missions are even supposed to be solo.

You cannot bring other players with you for The Main Quest. I don't think you can bring them in for Mages Guild or Fighters Guild quests either, actually.

There is a way to do it though. Person with quest zones into quest area. Quest person invites a friend. Friend ports to group leader. Fight and enjoy the spoils.

AlliN · May 2014

Thundering presence+Critical Surge+7xmedium armor+1hand+shield and passives+Conjured Ward + Bash spam. Solo everything while healing like mad while capping both spell and physical resistance.

Tip, Bash damage does not scale with stamina at all but with weapon damage + bash buffs, so it's a top damage melee attack on magicka classes.

Really, try playing Shieldmage, nothing easier in this game, not even DK+obsidian+dragon blood.

Mind you, that is a single target build only, but you can withstand any number of 3x trash mobs anyways.

Ah, I forgot, alchemy 30% crit potion, thet is *** easy to make makes EVERY boss a joke. With it you have around 60% crit, and every shield bash heals you for around 200, while mob tries to go through your ward.

Artis · May 2014

are you serious?? Is that the game's problem?
Stop asking them to make the game easier, please

p.hurst1b16_ESO · May 2014

Early on the solo missions can be too hard if you are not on a very varied build. The ones around level 8 - 10 are a case in point.

Best thing to do is outlevel them by a bit, until they go green and preferably hit level 15 so you can flip to a heal or defensive build.

By the time you hit 30 then you can do most while still yellow as you can have put more points into survival without nerfing your dps.

By 40 you can do most as soon as you get them.

Mind you, I know some casters that never learn to block or interrupt.... there is no excuse for that.

Soloeus · May 2014

Every solo mission I have done as both templar and mage are easy for templar and near impossible for mage.

Balance issue.

Treluk · May 2014

I think he means ridiculously easy?

Obviously you're playing wrong because sorcerrer is OP as hell

AngryNord · May 2014

Asava wrote: »

Soloeus wrote: »

esonlineub17_ESO3 wrote: »

It's not clear that these "solo" missions are even supposed to be solo.

You cannot bring other players with you for The Main Quest. I don't think you can bring them in for Mages Guild or Fighters Guild quests either, actually.

There is a way to do it though. Person with quest zones into quest area. Quest person invites a friend. Friend ports to group leader. Fight and enjoy the spoils.

Are you absolutely sure this is possible for the MQ??

Blackwidow · May 2014

The solo quests are not too hard.

That said, solo missions are bad an idea.

Did I say bad, I meant one of the dumbest freaking ideas in MMO history.

It's right up there with tiny bank spaces for no good reason, leaving out dueling, no crime system, no underwater swimming, not being able to mail to ourselves, no bank permissions for guilds, not showing all the players stats on the character page, not letting us reply in mail...

What game am I thinking of that does all that? Oh, ESO.