Progression by zone?

I found a thread over a year old where the OP was having the same problem I am today :

Where can I go after North & South Valeway / Kingsroad where I'm just not flat getting my *** handed to me and where I can maybe do a little mining?

Someone mentioned Vertas Pass? What are you guys doing, surely not fighting bears and wolves for weeks?

This is the thing about the game that is definitely not Ultima-like ; it looks like it's open world and non-linear, but in reality, if you are a lowbie, you can get your butt chewed off by 5 wolves and a bear just zoning INTO a map. So I guess this is the game flow they'll need to figure out, and why I'm here asking. I am enjoying the game so far, but what was NOT fun this evening for me was having to run like Forrest Gump through 20 different maps of certain death, only to conclude I should have stayed in the Valeway. Sigh. It made me think we need a "Screw It" button that just immolates your character and boots him to the overland map. If I'm gonna die just at least save me the time LOL

 

East perennial trail ?
Solace bridge?
Low level bandits in Ardirus sewers?

Solve all the mini quests in Soltown to get your XP up so your skills start building?

But the best advice is to group up. Not only will it be less deadly you'll also gain XP faster.

 

Solace Bridge is a good scene to start out with. For mining, Owl's Nest is good for newbies. When you enter the scene you are immediately attacked by deadly spiders and bears, so hit the ground running, dash up the hill past the mobs and dive into the bandits' cave. Once inside, as long as you don't attack anyone you will be left in peace to mine. There are only two wolves in the main mining chamber, but if they are a problem it is possible to lure them out and enlist the aid of the bandits in killing them.

I share your frustration. I spent all of R22 and most of R23 in beginner areas.

 

Yeah the mob density needs work. East perennial trail is too easy after a short while and is tiered as 1 skull, not nearly enough mobs. Then the Swamp right next to it is tiered as 2 skulls, has way too many mobs, and all the mobs are 10x as hard as tier 1. Doesn't make much sense. Exploring around it seems like everything is too easy or was waaaaaay too hard. Honestly..... I remember a much earlier release that actually had a smooth zoned progression, what happened?

Why not make tier 2 the same mobs just in higher density? Or at least not mobs that are 10x harder... progression seems all kinds of out of whack....

 

Remember that most things are not balanced in pre-Alpha. Those wolves may be having their day, for now. But the nerf stick will come some day.

I agree with the progression question though - it is not been clear to me either. I do what the others above suggested.

 

I found the Etceter crag mines to be good for 'improver level' adventuring, the downside being that I have to run as fast as possible through the foothills scene because I can't touch anything there. Haven't checked this release but those bandits and slimes were about the right level when I got tired of skinning baby wolves.

 

Hahaha well I think THAT is exactly what prompted me to belly-ache about where I'm 'supposed' to be. I'm all about challenges but the game should be more tactical and exploratory and less about getting ganked by NPCs 2 seconds upon entry. Part of me says, "balance is what IS" too, so I'll accept whatever.

I guess one thing that I'm having trouble wrapping my head around is why a creature of a given type and description can vary so widely in difficulty between maps. I like named classification, "Large, Elder, etc" but what I don't like is knowing that despite being able to kill a "Large Grey Wolf" in "Valley X", I may not be able to kill a "Large Grey Wolf" in "Valley Y". What exactly is it about my physical location that's making me competent or inept?

If you think about the Ultima games, an orc is an orc, and ettin is an ettin. These creatures probably had some variability, but more than likely conformed to a template in a table that prevented them from ranging widely between infantile weakness and god-like ability. I like a sense of Oh OK I can defeat a common Orc but maybe not an Elder Orc or a named boss yet.

Anyway! I've found myself in the Spectral Mines but I think I'll head over and try Etceter Crag Mines. I'm getting rolled where I am now hehe.

 

I thought the Hidden Vale would be a similar place to UO's Haven were you could learn the game a little within an area with newbie quests and monsters that were testing until your Young status ran out to move on, and also you would free repairs to armour & equipment while still in Young status, so you had a chance to survive in the wider world.

 

I really have no clue how balancing between the modes will be achieved. Do I have to grind in order to be able to enter and survive some zones when I am playing in SPO? If so, why? I thought that this game was not about grinding. Didn't RG say that he hated not being able to enter areas in games because he wasn't good enough yet and thus had to grind?
What about offline mode? Wasn't it said that there would be no respawning in this mode so how do I get good enough to enter high level areas? Again some kind of grinding?
I HATE grinding! I want to have a natural flow in my game. I want to do quest after quest and continue the story without having to grind in between! I don't know how this will work...

 

It is because the way "mobs" work right now is... may I say... BS.

Ideally a wolf you encounter will be the same as a wolf you encounter anywhere. But it is not. So you're never sure if you're walking in to a zone of level 5 wolves or a zone of level 50 wolves.

In a WOW environment that is ok - you always expect the stuff in say... Westfall to be ten levels above what you fought in Elwynn Forest. In SOTA... well I always felt they were aiming at something more natural. If not then they need to be more explicit about it.