Mission Guidance Needed

Are there any general suggestions as to what level you should be at during the various missions? I read in a post that you should be at level 20 by about the half point of the game.
I am a W/E level 9 and just got beat to a pulp in mission 3 (Ruins of Surmia). I was using only henchmen, maybe that's why???? Can you guys share what level you were at during various points of the game? Thanx I love this game but I am often times confused.

general rule of thumb ive used is to be about 3 levels ahead of the henchmen available. but you can complete the missions at lower levels as well.

knowledge of the missions > level of your char.

You can also see what level other players are in the outpost.

Another thing - did you upgrade your armor in Ascalon City? If not, it's something you should definitely do.

Yeah, you can buy armor with a base AL of 55 there (if I recall correctly), which is quite an improvement from what you get when you start your character.

The level difference is much more noticeable while you are at low levels, so you will feel a lot of pain from the charr in the early missions (masses of lvl 5 and lvl 8 charr will hurt).

I would suggest doing some questing and getting experience and extra skills there first. THEN go for the missions.

In my latest games, my structure for the Prophecies characters was:
-get as far as posible in presearing (I just HAD to see the corpses of the 4 charr bosses in the north ), leaving the area at at least lvl 8
-start off with ascalon delivery quests, then the piken square and similar
-start doing missions, making sure to get the bonus for hte extra XP
-make my way to Kryta ASAP, usually doing missions
-go to cantha/nightfall for the high armor and their much richer quests to get me to lvl 20

Not correct.
In pre, you start at lvl 5 armor, IIRC. (Or lvl10, been there too long ago)
You can get collectors up to lvl12, that's it in pre.
Once moved to post searing Ascalon, there are two armor guys, on with AL15 armor, the other with AL30 armor.

AL55 armor is obtainable in the Maguuma Jungle.

Just to get things correct.

/Santa

My general rule of thumb is simply to be at least the same level as the henchmen available for the mission. The higher your level is compared to theirs, the better off you are, naturally.

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Warrior..._Ascalon_Armor states that Banoit in Ascalon does have 35AL armor for warriors and that Corwen in Ascalon has 50AL armor for warriors. Note that this is in post-searing

Also maguuma Jungle armor is 59AL or 65AL depending if you are in Quarrel Falls or Ventari's Refuge

Currently at school so i can't go check that myself right now but usually the wiki is right.

Edit: If you go through the missions relatively easily, then your level is around what it should be if you have a hard time because you get killed too often it either means your armor is inadequate or you are too low level. Here's a list of armor crafters for prophecies that way you can find what armors you can get and where to get them.

Ruins of Surmia can definitely be done with henchies...I dont' remember what the hench levels are there, but you probably want to be a level or two above them.

As everyone here has said, be sure you've gotten your new armor in Ascalon. Some minor runes from the rune trader will also help boost the effectiveness of your skills.

There are also several easy quests you can take in and around Ascalon that will award experience points (and items).