Thread: Skirmishes - am I not getting it?

I just decided to start skirmishes at lvl 55 on my burg. So I do the tutorial, no problem. Then I pick my first skirmish, The Icy Crevasse. My Warrior pulls every mob into full aggro at once, i get killed ten times in a row. Then at the end, two 11K+ morale elites that eat us for lunch.

This is supposed to be a one person skirmish? I picked one person option, and level one, but it seemed a little um, well, challenging considering I died ten times by getting mobbed and couldn't finish at all.

Yeah, warriors = bad.

Also, your warrior was essentially level 20, presuming you didn't have marks to buy it skills to bring it up to your level.

Although technically a burg can get along with a warrior and many use them (burgs are one of the few classes that work well with any of the skirm soldiers), check the burg forums for recommended soldiers (herbalist is a popular choice, archer too, protector allows you to get positional advantage on MOBs).

Your play style will dictate which you prefer. I use an herbalist mostly to supply me with power and heal the NPCs, run in Mischief, mezzing the lieutenants until I've taken out the adds.

The other solution? Run skirms under your level (on Tier 1, one-person), but you'll get fewer marks.

Ultimately you'll need to earn enough marks to get skills and traits for your soldier that are your level.



"Sometimes survival comes down to not being hit. Actually, most times." -the chicken skill, Bob and Weave

The Icy Crevasse is one of the harder skirmishes to do. For someone that has not done skirmishes before, it is definitely not the one to cut your teeth on.

Secondly, you will probably need to make sure you have a suitable soldier, with appropriate traits before tackling harder skirmishes (don't ignore your personal skirmish traits either). You will need marks to do this, so start with a few easier skirmishes with the level set from 2-4 levels below your level. Use the marks to beef up your soldier.

Lastly, make sure your gear is decent. A lot of people ignore their gear while leveling, but it can make a big difference if it is outdated.

Originally Posted by Puravidaman

I just decided to start skirmishes at lvl 55 on my burg. So I do the tutorial, no problem. Then I pick my first skirmish, The Icy Crevasse. My Warrior pulls every mob into full aggro at once, i get killed ten times in a row. Then at the end, two 11K+ morale elites that eat us for lunch.

This is supposed to be a one person skirmish? I picked one person option, and level one, but it seemed a little um, well, challenging considering I died ten times by getting mobbed and couldn't finish at all.

Plus Icy Crevasse is prob not the first skirm you want to try. Do thiervy and mischief or Tuck to get your feet wet.

I hate that skirmish & dont even bother with it. Way to difficult even duoing it.

My theory is that your soldier is way under leveled, Like RJFerret said. You need marks/medallions to upgrade your soldier so they are more in line with your level. The way to do that is running skirmishes. The higher level you go the more you will get but your soldier is to weak so I think you are stuck doing skirmishes a bit under your level until your soldier can handle the harder stuff.

My views, others may differ.

1. The Warrior is one of the less helpful soldiers, he is a bit overenthusiastic. Think of him as a champion played by a 14 year old with more testosterone than is good for him (or anyone else). True he brings AoE to the party which as a burglar you don't, but he is part of the problem, not the solution, until he has some survivability. Just because he is the default soldier form the training run does not mean you have to keeop him.
2. Icy Crevasse is one of the, if not the, hardest skirmishes, with significant regular need to deal with mutliple mobs at once (this is NOT the same as doing big AoE, but is close to it in a skirmish). Couple this with a soldier that you could have been developing for the last 30 levels or so and the thing is way off the pace. No problem, you will get there.

Try Thievery and Mischief, or the Weathertop one. T&M is an offensive run so you can take it at your own pace. True, counterattacks are multiple mobs, but otherwise the pulls are simple and usually only one or two opponents. The end boss is susceptible to interrupts and, while he hits hard, if you get a decent flag off the encounters, he is a doddle, otherwise interrupt his self heals and dps him down. Weathertop has the advantage that the npc will shoot down most things for you, just keep an eye on Candaith and pull away/riddle/stun anything giving him trouble.

Build marks and spend them wisely.

Icy Crevasse is an example of Turbine listening to its customers. Turbine was getting a lot of noise about how easy all the skirmishes were. Please put one hard skirmish in the game.

Turbine - Done - Enjoy Icy Crevasse.

IMHO - It is the hardest skirmish available.

Originally Posted by Yula_the_Mighty

IMHO - It is the hardest skirmish available.

With the mob density being bumped down in Attack at Dawn, I would agree.
(Unless you're counting The Rift, because although it's pretty easy solo, doing the CJs on the final guy in a group can be quite a pain.)

The previous posters are on the money in terms of the Icy Crevasse being by far the most difficult skirmish. I also fully agree that the warrior is not an ideal soldier choice for a burglar. Warriors do a lot of damage, but so do you. Unfortunately, warriors are quite fragile, they run ahead of you irritating mobs before you have a chance to use stealth or intitate crowd control, and -- worst of all -- warriors are AOE specialists and can wreak havoc with your CC efforts.

I just resumed skirmishing on my level 63 burglar, in preparation to complete the epic volumes in Moria and Mirkwood (mostly so I can add those skirmishes to my available skirmish list). Following advice from the burglar forums, I have been deploying an archer as my skirmish buddy. So far, I am very pleased. The archer is cooperative enough to fire only on my chosen target and does not release my CC'd targets. Because the archer trails behind me, I do not often suffer from combat intitiated by my soldier moving prematurely into aggro range.

In the long run, pretty much every class will want an herbalist for large group skirmishes. But for soloing on my burglar, I am currently a fan of the archer.

EDIT: I should mention that a minority of burglars advocate the protector as a good choice of soldier for soloing. The protector can be quite effective at gaining and holding aggro, allowing the burglar to enjoy the benefits of positional damage. But most burglars felt that this combination resulted in far longer battles and skirmishes, as the protector does very little damage when maximized for threat generation. Still, the protector may be worth considering, depending upon your play-style.

When running skirms solo on my burg I always use warrior...whilst in QK stance may I add. As long as your soldier is levelled properly you shouldn't get to many problems. On occasions Ill run ahead of the warrior, riddle a lieu as soon as it's in range, then fight where I stand; I don't experience issues with warrior interruption riddles.

I love trying to beat my skirm times so find warrior aoe dps really useful for running skirms quick. Finally, I always run solo skirms having eaten for out of combat regen food to help with power restore between mobs groups.

[QUOTE=TinDragon;6200882]With the mob density being bumped down in Attack at Dawn, I would agree.[/aquote]I always thought this one is easier than Icy Crevasse. Especially if you were doing Attack at Dawn in a group. Icy Crevasse is challenging solo. It is a brutal six person skirmish.

Originally Posted by TinDragon

(Unless you're counting The Rift, because although it's pretty easy solo, doing the CJs on the final guy in a group can be quite a pain.)

I have fond memories of everybody but me doing a red on Golodir as a six person. Dead Golodir.

I do not consider The Rift Skirmish that hard. It has scripting elements that you really have to do the correct response. Protectors are such a Pain In The Tail because of the inability to drag the Final Boss to a trap. Which was the norm for the group instances in Epic Volume 1 before the great nerf to allow for Inspired Greatness to work.

Ok great responses, thanks for all the advice. I was not getting it obviously, I didn't know that the Icy Crevasse was the hardest one. Also didn't know about having a choice of adds, I'm going to change to an herbalist. And will change the level I am doing until my add is more effective.

I kept getting told I'm missing out on good gear by my kin by ignoring skirmishes. So I'm attempting to make a go of them.

Originally Posted by Puravidaman

I kept getting told I'm missing out on good gear by my kin by ignoring skirmishes. So I'm attempting to make a go of them.

You are not.

Sure there's some good gear available in end game skirm raids, but it's comparable essentially to gear gotten elsewhere. The investment in tedium in skirms is a FAR greater cost than gear available any other way IMO.



"Sometimes survival comes down to not being hit. Actually, most times." -the chicken skill, Bob and Weave

Originally Posted by Eartholloth

I hate that skirmish & dont even bother with it. Way to difficult even duoing it.

In my experience, duo skirmishes are harder than solo. Mob density goes way up.

Originally Posted by Killien

In my experience, duo skirmishes are harder than solo. Mob density goes way up.

Having lots of experience in both solo and duo skirms, I can say this is correct. If you go solo, you are presented with a range of easiest lieutenants only, and various group-skirmish mechanics are turned off. Taking a duo skirm immediately adds more dangerous lieutenants to encounters (like Brothers of Destruction, Frigid Squall and Priest/ess of Flame) and certain mechanics are turned on. For example, Gondamon: solo you have all the time in the world against each enemy wave, but duo and up the next wave will wait only a set amount of time before it comes in, whether you're ready or not. Mob group size goes up too, but not very much.

Originally Posted by Zetsubousensei

Having lots of experience in both solo and duo skirms, I can say this is correct. If you go solo, you are presented with a range of easiest lieutenants only, and various group-skirmish mechanics are turned off. Taking a duo skirm immediately adds more dangerous lieutenants to encounters (like Brothers of Destruction, Frigid Squall and Priest/ess of Flame) and certain mechanics are turned on. For example, Gondamon: solo you have all the time in the world against each enemy wave, but duo and up the next wave will wait only a set amount of time before it comes in, whether you're ready or not. Mob group size goes up too, but not very much.

true! I'd say for the most skirms you have to find your way of dealing with it.First times i did Ford of Bruinen Elladan or Elrohir always ran to attack the orc-Defilers in the middle.Mostly at the worst time possible.So he died and skirm was over.Now i kill them before he makes something stupid^^

Originally Posted by Puravidaman

I kept getting told I'm missing out on good gear by my kin by ignoring skirmishes. So I'm attempting to make a go of them.

As per Henny Penny, I would also differ on that opinion. If you are at lvl 55 or thereabouts and have access to the Moria instances, then go for the teal quality gear that you can use at lvls 58-60 which you can barter for from your class trainer in the 21st Hall. It is good stuff and will last you several levels. A few quick GS runs will get you plenty of Moria medallions
as long as people know what they are doing. You don't necessarily have to run loads of tedious skirms to gear up - I have never done.

And if your kin aren't offering to help make a few pieces of gear for you, then maybe you are in the wrong kin!

Originally Posted by Eartholloth

I hate that skirmish & dont even bother with it. Way to difficult even duoing it.

Either it has become a lot easier lately or the rumors are not true.
I tried it alone and with a partner lately and it's really no big deal.

We DID get killed when we tried it a few months ago, but that might also be because we have been stupid.

Originally Posted by Puravidaman

...And will change the level I am doing until my add is more effective.

Be aware that if you play skirmishes at a lower level you won't get many marks to upgrade your soldier.
Do it at the highest level you can survive to get them faster.

The best thing would have been if you started at level 20, so you would get marks to upgrade your soldiers AND survive But it's not a big deal, try to group up to get them faster.

Originally Posted by Neumi

Be aware that if you play skirmishes at a lower level you won't get many marks to upgrade your soldier.

As long as you only put them down 2 levels below you, you still get a good amount of marks (around 80% of on-level skirmishes if I remember correctly) but the mobs have a noticably lower chance to hit you due to level difference, making things much easier and especially faster (which in the long run more than makes up for the difference in marks). I've sucessfully done this with several characters that were a pain to skirmish solo on-level.

Another thing you may want to consider is trying the instance finder for duo- and 3-man-skirmishes around your level. I've had some great skirmishes with my low- and mid-level-characters this way and they all turned out to be easier than going solo (except for my warden maybe, she can easily rush through any skirmish she has tried so far ) and gave more marks, too.

A warrior is not a friendly choice for a burglar. They always rush out in front and do AOE damage, pulling many enemies and breaking any stuns you have on.

I suggest an archer. They stand behind you and will only attack un-stunned targets.

Also, as said, Icy Crevasse is the hardest one. Do Tuckborough or Thievery and Mischief to get used to things. And level up your soldier!

To OP:

assuming you don't have a lot of marks, check your wallet. If you've been questing during the anniversary-event there should be loads of metal (tin, iron, gold etc.) tokens there which you can turn in for marks at Tad Leafcutter's in Bree. Gave me around 20k marks

Originally Posted by Cras

To OP:

assuming you don't have a lot of marks, check your wallet. If you've been questing during the anniversary-event there should be loads of metal (tin, iron, gold etc.) tokens there which you can turn in for marks at Tad Leafcutter's in Bree. Gave me around 20k marks

This is a very important way to leap ahead in the mark department. The more valuable the token, the more marks - and I scored more than 25k myself with my Withywindle cast of toons. Then medalions become more of an issue for gear and you can train your add till your heart is content.

BTW if you haven't trained your soldier, this is a great time to switch away from Warrior if you want to and to choose different skills. The Warrior I still use was on my first character (a Champion, terrible choice but I was starting out back in the day) - but I found he was a lot more survivable if I gave him the defense skill for morale regeneration.

Originally Posted by Neumi

Either it has become a lot easier lately or the rumors are not true.
I tried it alone and with a partner lately and it's really no big deal.

We DID get killed when we tried it a few months ago, but that might also be because we have been stupid.

Really depends on your class, gear and 'skill'.

I can solo most small fellowship skirms on my champ, duo is just plain simple and I don't even bother with solo skirms at all. I also know some Raid skirms have been 4 manned.

If you're doing the Moria epic, then you will need a solder that's up to level or nearly so - worst case choose a herbalist or an archer - at least they won't screw things up.

As for Moria gear, the quest rewards were revamped enough to make most of my Loth rep recipes obsolete - it's really, really nice stuff. And as other folks have said, you can get a 5-piece (or if you're very short of Moria medallions) a nice 3-piece armour set - combine that one with the teal epic rewards - at 60 that can take you to 75.

Some kins insist on a minimum of skirmish raid jewellry to start to do raids with them, but I expect that's because they haven't looked much at either end-game crafted or rep jewellry, both of which will stand you in good stead to start raiding.

Originally Posted by Cras

To OP:

assuming you don't have a lot of marks, check your wallet. If you've been questing during the anniversary-event there should be loads of metal (tin, iron, gold etc.) tokens there which you can turn in for marks at Tad Leafcutter's in Bree. Gave me around 20k marks

Ok thanks, great tip!!! I had no idea that I could do that.