I need some help, I keep dying.

gregthewhat

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jan 2012

E/Mo

18 Jan 2012 at 03:44 - 1

Alright I've looked at the meta builds, and I don't have hardly any of those skills to put on my heroes.

I've tried the best to my knowledge to put the best skills with the heroes I have. It worked a little better, but so far no "winning team."

The last mission I did was in Vlox Falls named O Brave New World.
It was horrible, I kept dying. All I did was run back to barely damage the enemy's and die again.

My current team that I've been using is:

I'm a E/Mo
Gwen
Pryer
MOX
Ogden
Livia

and then a healing henchman and a fighter henchman.

Any advice on what my problem is I'd be extremely grateful, I love playing this game but I guess I just kinda suck at it.

What works for you guys?

I'm reading on the forums about how people have passed it on hard mode in 3 hours

and I don't know what I'm missing. Thanks

cosyfiep

are we there yet?

Join Date: Dec 2005

in a land far far away

guild? I am supposed to have a guild?

Rt/

18 Jan 2012 at 07:05 - 2

o brave new world is a hard quest.
what skill are you using? do you have max armor? what runes/insignia are you using for you (and your heroes)?

what are the skill set ups for those heroes?

leongrado

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jan 2011

18 Jan 2012 at 07:54 - 3

Necromancers heroes are EXTREMELY effective at just about anything. If you keep dying, I would suggest putting atribute points into soul reaping and either restoration or healing. Then add some cheap healing skills. They should be able to manage energy easily because of soul reaping. Also make sure your Ogden isn't using 10 energy healing skills because he will spam heals like all healers.

BladeDVD

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jul 2006

Hawaii

Clan Of Elders

18 Jan 2012 at 07:59 - 4

akelarumi

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Nov 2009

18 Jan 2012 at 08:36 - 5

Eye of the north is designed as an expansion to be challenging to players who played all three campaigns and have all the skills/builds for them. Though the main questline of EoTN can be done with lesser resources, the side quests can prove to be difficult and more challenging.

So if you don't have the right heroes yet (with the right skills), try focussing on that.

BrettM

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Aug 2008

Fuzzy Physics Institute

18 Jan 2012 at 11:37 - 6

Quote:

Originally Posted by BladeDVD

If you've just started playing, you might want to go back and follow the storyline of whatever campaign you started in. Eye of the North was designed with the expectation of being played by people who have already completed at least one campaign.

It helps a lot to learn about how the different skills work, how to call targets, how to pull and what enemies you should kill first. ^^ This.

Isn't this about the third or fourth thread we've had like this in the past couple of weeks? New player who jumps to EotN as soon as possible and gets trashed repeatedly, asking why? We really need a sticky somewhere pointing out that this is a very bad idea, and any guides on the forum or wiki that recommend it need to make it clear that this advice is for experienced GW players who have the basics down cold.

Kendil

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2009

Sweden

18 Jan 2012 at 15:06 - 7

gregthewhat

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jan 2012

E/Mo

18 Jan 2012 at 17:10 - 8

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosyfiep View Post

o brave new world is a hard quest.
what skill are you using? do you have max armor? what runes/insignia are you using for you (and your heroes)?

what are the skill set ups for those heroes?

I usually just spam my fire spells. I don't have prestige armor, but the armor below it. Runes/insignia? Oh boy... Yeah i just kinda ignored that part of the game... I feel kinda dumb now, I never actually looked at it...

The skill set ups for me heroes: i just give them the best skills that i had... the don't really have a whole lot of good ones :/

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Quote: Originally Posted by leongrado View Post

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Quote: Originally Posted by BladeDVD View Post

Quote:

Originally Posted by akelarumi

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kendil

Make sure you have max armor, otherwise you'll die like a fly. If you really want to have a good teambuild fast, I reccomend you look into unlocking skills for your heroes. I suggest zaishen elite. Otherwise I highly recomend that you go back to any of the other campaigns and aim to complete it. Skills will come in time. Another way of earning skills is to create alts, it's easier to get skills for yourself than for heroes, right? what do you mean by creating alts?

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Thanks everybody for the help and reply's so far... I didn't realize how much there was to the game. I Just remember starting out all I did was get a crap ton of henchman and spam skills. I guess I should have figured there was more to it Lol

Gabs88

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2011

18 Jan 2012 at 17:38 - 9

If you create an alt you can learn basic skills way cheaper for the first 10 skills or so (price goes up every time). Also the elites and skills further in to the campaigns you can unlock through PVP!

http://www.gwpvx.com/Build:Team_-_7_Hero_Discordway if youre a caster and

http://www.gwpvx.com/Build:Team_-_7_Hero_RoJway if you're melee are very good and forgiving builds! You'll be able to steamroll pretty much anything in the game with ease and a blindfold on.

Vampire of Bone

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Apr 2011

Desolation Lords [DL]

18 Jan 2012 at 18:29 - 10

I would suggest that the skills you don't have for the meta builds you have found, you get.
It will be a HUGE help, not only on the character you are on at the moment but in the future it means you will have good builds for your heroes no matter which character you are playing on.
I would also suggest that you kit your heroes out with runs and insignias as well as the best vigor runes and most effective weapons you can afford.

If you are going to progress through a campaign I would suggest Nightfall, getting the heroes, especially norgu and razah will allow you to abuse two of the strongest proffessions in the game, also if you can get Xandra from the norn fighting tourney. She is a great help.

All this might take you a while but once you have everything set up you will find things become a LOT easier and you will easily make back the time you spent doing this by just steamrolling mobs and enemies like they are delicious little traffic cones!

As for your build, as disappointing as it is for me to say one of the strongest builds you can run is:
*12 Deadly Arts, 8 Energy Storage, 10 prot
*Assassin's Promise, You Move Like a Dwarf, Ebon Vanguard Assassin support, Finish Him
*Any 4 other skills you like though as you are an e/mo I would suggest Aegis, Shield Guardian, optional, Res of any kind
*This will let you abuse these powerful and high recharge heals taking pressure off your team and doing kick ass damage at the same time

I hope this helps, good luck

gregthewhat

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jan 2012

E/Mo

18 Jan 2012 at 18:39 - 11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabs88 View Post

Thanks for the links! So wait though, I can learn hero skills through pvp???

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Vampire of Bone

That does help quite a lot, thanks

Vampire of Bone

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Apr 2011

Desolation Lords [DL]

18 Jan 2012 at 19:11 - 12

Quote:

I can learn hero skills through pvp??? Heroes can use any skills unlocked on your account, you can unlock skills using 1000 balthazar faction which can be obtained through pvp matches.

By obtaining a skill on any character you unlock it for use on all pvp characters and heroes (to use it on a different pve character than the one on which you originally obtained it you will have to use a tome).

Hope that clears it up.

Also try checking wiki's notes on the quest, often they have helpful hints about which skills might be helpful and the best route to take.

Frangeo Munda

Academy Page

Join Date: Nov 2007

Granitic crust

Killer Green Buddah

Mo/

18 Jan 2012 at 20:11 - 13

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregthewhat View Post

I usually just spam my fire spells. I don't have prestige armor, but the armor below it. Runes/insignia?

Originally Posted by gregthewhat View Post

oh ok, so i should give him mostly smiting skills???

I wouldn't. Smiting isn't all that powerful, and arguably its most powerful elite skill, Ray of Judgement, relies somewhat on burning for damage (which, as I said above, destroyers are immune to). Instead, slap a few heals on the necro, and make the rest of his or her skills Death Magic or Curses or Blood (choose one, don't go for all three). Death Magic means minions, good cold damage (Destroyers don't like cold), and poison. Curses means destroyers self-inflicting damage, and some nice AoE stuff. Blood means lifestealing and some decent spiking (quick damage) ability. Again, do not do smiting; do healing (monk), Soul reaping (Necro), and one other Necro attribute.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregthewhat

what do you mean by creating alts?

An alt is just an Alternate Character. You should have at least 4 character slots open on that account, with one being filled with the ele you're talking about.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregthewhat

I Just remember starting out all I did was get a crap ton of henchman and spam skills. No problem; that's how we all started, even if some of us don't always admit it!
Also, I'd like to remind you that EotN henchmen aren't all that bad. If you have a hero, for example MOX, for whom you really just can't put together a good build, consider dropping him and bringing a hero. For example, Destroyers are weak to Lightning damage, and Aidan (ranger hench) uses the skill Barrage with a lightning bow. That means some rather nice AoE Lightning damage. Lo Sha, the mez henchie, uses the skill Ineptitude, which will cause blind to all of the Destroyers. Destroyers have no condition removal, so a mob of blind destroyers becomes nearly harmless.
Veterans of GW, with all possible skills unlocked on their accounts, often immediately tell new players to get this hero bar and that hero bar. It's entirely possible, however, for a newer player to play through EotN with only three heroes and 4 henchies.

gregthewhat

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jan 2012

E/Mo

18 Jan 2012 at 20:14 - 14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vampire of Bone View Post

Heroes can use any skills unlocked on your account, you can unlock skills using 1000 balthazar faction which can be obtained through pvp matches.

By obtaining a skill on any character you unlock it for use on all pvp characters and heroes (to use it on a different pve character than the one on which you originally obtained it you will have to use a tome).

Hope that clears it up.

Also try checking wiki's notes on the quest, often they have helpful hints about which skills might be helpful and the best route to take.

Oh wow, ok thanks so much!

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Frangeo Munda View Post

Ok, so let's talk about Fire first. A lot of new ele players gravitate towards fire because it's, well, fire. It's big, explosive, does some nice AoE damage, and hey, you can rain down meteors from the sky! However, Fire is bad in this particular quest simply because Destroyers (the primary enemy of that quest) have incredibly high defense against it. They're all immune to burning (except for one, which I can't mention because it's a spoiler :P). They've also all got absurdly high armor vs. fire. For example, consider the elementalist skill Fireball, which does 91 Fire damage at 12 Fire magic. A Destroyer of Earth has 180 armor vs. fire damage, meaning that your big Fire spell will do a measly 11 damage (not taking into account level difference; because you're lower level than he is, you'll do even less damage!).

Next, get max armor. There's an armor trader in Boreal Station that can give you a relatively cheap set of max armor. Elementalists and other caster professions already have really low max armor. Having non-max armor basically highlights you as a great target for the enemy to whack.

When you can afford it, get a few runes. As an ele, you probably don't need the basic energy runes (Radiant, Attunement), as your primary attribute can compensate for that. I usually slap on a single Superior rune of my chosen element, a minor Energy Storage rune, and then whatever else. Need more health? Use a Survivor insignia. Are you always enchanted by something like Fire Attunement? Try Blessed insignae.

I wouldn't. Smiting isn't all that powerful, and arguably its most powerful elite skill, Ray of Judgement, relies somewhat on burning for damage (which, as I said above, destroyers are immune to). Instead, slap a few heals on the necro, and make the rest of his or her skills Death Magic or Curses or Blood (choose one, don't go for all three). Death Magic means minions, good cold damage (Destroyers don't like cold), and poison. Curses means destroyers self-inflicting damage, and some nice AoE stuff. Blood means lifestealing and some decent spiking (quick damage) ability. Again, do not do smiting; do healing (monk), Soul reaping (Necro), and one other Necro attribute.

An alt is just an Alternate Character. You should have at least 4 character slots open on that account, with one being filled with the ele you're talking about.

No problem; that's how we all started, even if some of us don't always admit it!
Also, I'd like to remind you that EotN henchmen aren't all that bad. If you have a hero, for example MOX, for whom you really just can't put together a good build, consider dropping him and bringing a hero. For example, Destroyers are weak to Lightning damage, and Aidan (ranger hench) uses the skill Barrage with a lightning bow. That means some rather nice AoE Lightning damage. Lo Sha, the mez henchie, uses the skill Ineptitude, which will cause blind to all of the Destroyers. Destroyers have no condition removal, so a mob of blind destroyers becomes nearly harmless.
Veterans of GW, with all possible skills unlocked on their accounts, often immediately tell new players to get this hero bar and that hero bar. It's entirely possible, however, for a newer player to play through EotN with only three heroes and 4 henchies. Oh ok. That's a lot of stuff I didn't know, I appreciate you going through all of that with me thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kendil

BrettM

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Aug 2008

Fuzzy Physics Institute

18 Jan 2012 at 22:26 - 15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frangeo Munda

Veterans of GW, with all possible skills unlocked on their accounts, often immediately tell new players to get this hero bar and that hero bar. It's entirely possible, however, for a newer player to play through EotN with only three heroes and 4 henchies. And not just EotN. My first character did the last half of Prophecies (including the titan quests) and all of Factions with just Ogden, Vekk, and Gwen. The heroes grew with my character as I acquired new skills for all of them, gradually got them equipped, and learned something about making builds.

For my tastes, one of the wrong ways for a new player to play this game is to look at a build, for yourself and/or heroes, and then direct all your gameplay to filling out that build. It sets the wrong goal, causing the player to jump around trying to get this skill and that skill, feeling as if they won't be able to really start playing until they've gotten the builds right. Yet they haven't really learned anything from the process, and don't really understand why or how the builds work. They keep finding themselves in impossible situations deep in the campaigns that they just aren't prepared to handle, leading to a very frustrating experience.

Following the storyline of a campaign is a better way, since you learn lessons of strategy and tactics in the order that the designers meant to introduce them. The earlier challenges gradually prepare you for the greater ones to come.

gregthewhat

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jan 2012

E/Mo

18 Jan 2012 at 22:33 - 16

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrettM

For my tastes, one of the wrong ways for a new player to play this game is to look at a build, for yourself and/or heroes, and then direct all your gameplay to filling out that build. It sets the wrong goal, causing the player to jump around trying to get this skill and that skill, feeling as if they won't be able to really start playing until they've gotten the builds right. Yet they haven't really learned anything from the process, and don't really understand why or how the builds work. They keep finding themselves in impossible situations deep in the campaigns that they just aren't prepared to handle, leading to a very frustrating experience.. Yeah... I'm realizing that Lol

Frangeo Munda

Academy Page

Join Date: Nov 2007

Granitic crust

Killer Green Buddah

Mo/

18 Jan 2012 at 23:53 - 17

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregthewhat View Post

Ok I got another quick question about that. So say I start an alternate character as a Mesmer. If I unlock panic with that character, will that also unlock it for any of my heroes on another character? Without a skill tome? Yep. As soon as you "learn" the skill on any character on that account, it becomes unlocked for all heroes on that account. You don't need a skill tome to use skills on heroes.

gregthewhat

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jan 2012

E/Mo

19 Jan 2012 at 00:25 - 18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frangeo Munda View Post

Yep. As soon as you "learn" the skill on any character on that account, it becomes unlocked for all heroes on that account. You don't need a skill tome to use skills on heroes. Awesome! Thanks!

BrettM

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Aug 2008

Fuzzy Physics Institute

19 Jan 2012 at 02:50 - 19

Don't forget about your hero skill points, which can get you free skills for any hero profession regardless of your own profession. Furthermore, if the skill is not for your primary or current secondary profession, it will still be available to you when you are able to switch secondaries.

Hero skill points are usable at any hero skill trainer in Nightfall or EotN, regardless of where you earned them. Different hero skill trainers have different skills, so be sure to see if there is one in any new outpost you reach.

Dar Drakor

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2008

Ancient Dragon Disciples [ADD]

N/A

19 Jan 2012 at 03:13 - 20

It's not just about builds. Anyone can find builds. Doesn't mean you really know how to play. Like has been suggested, start from the beginning, learn how to play first. There are plenty of threads within even just the last couple pages that go over basics of game play that people should know first and foremost. Search for them, read them, try them, learn them. Don't worry about cool armor now. No one is going to be impressed by it. What they will be impressed with are people who know how to play.

gregthewhat

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jan 2012

E/Mo

19 Jan 2012 at 03:19 - 21

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrettM View Post

Oh sweet thanks!

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Dar Drakor

IchibanK

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Oct 2011

E/Mo

19 Jan 2012 at 04:59 - 22

Can't help wondering if the wiki's Guide to earning Hall of Monuments rewards - prominently displayed on the front of the site is misleading a lot of newer players. Many of whom are likely to be here due to interest in Guild Wars 2.

It recommends the following order:
1. Eye of the North
2. Nightfall
3. Factions
4. Prophecies
Great for established accounts, but not necessarily for new players.

Meow Ren

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2011

Black Hand Gang

19 Jan 2012 at 15:42 - 23

@ original poster:

Few other questions / general tips (apologies in advance for the Wall 'O Text):

Attribute points. Learn about them, make sure your toon has all theirs (max of 200). All campaigns require a character to finish two side quests/missions to get the last 30 attribute points to round out their max 200. The link above has a section detailing where to go, depending upon what campaign your toon is originally from. General rule of thumb with attribute points, until you have a better handle on the game...don't spread your att points between more than 2-3 attributes. One of those should always be your primary attribute (for an ele, Energy Storage). Same rule applies to your heroes.

What level is your character? Max level in this game is 20. Everything up until that point is basically a tutorial

You can access EotN once a toon/character is level 10 and reaches a major port city where you can pick up the quest to get there. But as others have pointed out, EotN is an expansion and designed for players who have finished a campaign or have a much better idea of how the game mechanics work. There is a buff, Journey to the North, that boosts the attribute level for under-20 toons...but it won't keep you from dying if you don't know basics such as pulling, flagging heroes, etc.

When you engage red dots...how are you doing so? Rushing in because you're the Elementalist with FIRE? Or are you watching how the enemy patrols move, flagging your heroes back a bit, and then going in to ping a group to bring back to your party?

Is your toon's weapon max damage or as close as you can get in the area? Are your heroes equipped with their starter weapons or have you acquired better ones? As you play the game and once past the "starter" areas, foes will have a better chance to drop weapons (blue, purple or the rare gold) that you can ID and use on yourself or your heroes. Same goes for armor drops, which have a chance of containing runes/insignias you can use.

Are your heroes all set to "Fight everything in range"? Or to "Guard"? "Guard" is preferred since it means they won't go kamikaze on you and overaggro. Your healer hero(es) should always be set to "Avoid Combat" -- if your healers are fighting, they're not healing or protecting the rest of the party.

As others have also pointed out, you should also acquire max, non-elite armor for your toon and rune it up. Your heroes should also have runes and insignia on their armor. Check the forums here on guru for tips on how best to do so. Keep in mind that some runes/insig do not stack, so having multiples of the same rune won't work. And some, like Superior runes, decrease your overall health by -75. Pay attention to the description for each rune and insig before putting on armor.

Always carry an ID and a salvage kit on you. ID everything once you get past the starter areas. It will increase their merch value and you can use the funds to buy runes/insig/etc. for your use. A regular salvage kit should be used for getting common materials off armor/weapon drops, an Expert for getting runes/insig/weapon mods off drops.

I would also personally suggest joining a guild if you haven't already. A friendly guild will have members willing to lend a hand when you need help in-game, help with advice, answer questions you may have (in case you don't have time to ask and wait for replies here on guru), etc. They'll also provide a guild hall that you can pop to for quick access to NPC's such as a merchant, rune trader, materials trader, etc. There are many great guilds out there, many recruiting in the major towns/outposts. Don't be shy to ask the recruiter questions about their guild. And don't feel that you have to stay in a guild if it turns out that you don't "click" with the other members. Finding a good guild is a bit like dating :P

....o dear...Wall of Text again.... >.<

gregthewhat

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jan 2012

E/Mo

20 Jan 2012 at 02:37 - 24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meow Ren View Post

Ok, yeah that's pretty much what I've been doing with points.

Quote: What level is your character? Max level in this game is 20. Everything up until that point is basically a tutorial

I'm level 20, but haven't played in a long long time. Even then I still sucked, I just never asked for help. I never finished a campaign because I wanted to do EoTN so bad. What do you mean by pulling, flagging heroes lol?

Quote: When you engage red dots...how are you doing so? Rushing in because you're the Elementalist with FIRE? Or are you watching how the enemy patrols move, flagging your heroes back a bit, and then going in to ping a group to bring back to your party? I just kinda go all out bum rush...

Quote: Is your toon's weapon max damage or as close as you can get in the area? Are your heroes equipped with their starter weapons or have you acquired better ones? As you play the game and once past the "starter" areas, foes will have a better chance to drop weapons (blue, purple or the rare gold) that you can ID and use on yourself or your heroes. Same goes for armor drops, which have a chance of containing runes/insignias you can use. Mine's max damage. I'm pretty sure I've given the heroes better, but not the best... and oh ok thanks

Quote:

Are your heroes all set to "Fight everything in range"? Or to "Guard"? "Guard" is preferred since it means they won't go kamikaze on you and overaggro. Your healer hero(es) should always be set to "Avoid Combat" -- if your healers are fighting, they're not healing or protecting the rest of the party. Yeah, I actually just tried something in the game where I used all henchman... I was doing better

so I must be really out of wack with me heroes... I completely forgot about setting them Lol thanks

Quote:

As others have also pointed out, you should also acquire max, non-elite armor for your toon and rune it up. Your heroes should also have runes and insignia on their armor. Check the forums here on guru for tips on how best to do so. Keep in mind that some runes/insig do not stack, so having multiples of the same rune won't work. And some, like Superior runes, decrease your overall health by -75. Pay attention to the description for each rune and insig before putting on armor. Yeah I have max armor now, and I'm working on the runes. Thanks for the tips about them

Quote:

Always carry an ID and a salvage kit on you. ID everything once you get past the starter areas. It will increase their merch value and you can use the funds to buy runes/insig/etc. for your use. A regular salvage kit should be used for getting common materials off armor/weapon drops, an Expert for getting runes/insig/weapon mods off drops. Oh. Ok haha

Quote:

I would also personally suggest joining a guild if you haven't already. A friendly guild will have members willing to lend a hand when you need help in-game, help with advice, answer questions you may have (in case you don't have time to ask and wait for replies here on guru), etc. They'll also provide a guild hall that you can pop to for quick access to NPC's such as a merchant, rune trader, materials trader, etc. There are many great guilds out there, many recruiting in the major towns/outposts. Don't be shy to ask the recruiter questions about their guild. And don't feel that you have to stay in a guild if it turns out that you don't "click" with the other members. Finding a good guild is a bit like dating :P Lol, ok. I'll try some guilds out

Thanks for all the help I appreciate it!

Thowra Wildfire

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jan 2007

Australia

20 Jan 2012 at 12:12 - 25

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregthewhat View Post

What do you mean by pulling, flagging heroes lol?
'Flagging' is the ability to move either your team as a whole, or the 1st three heroe's individually to another position on the map. Particularly useful if you're fighting enemies with a lot of large AoE (area of effect) damaging spells. Your compass (shown below) has four buttons at the bottom - 1st button is for all your heroes, then 3 numbered buttons for individual flagging.I would suggest doing the "Hero Tutorial" quest in Boreal Station from Buroll Ironfist to give you some practice with it. (which will explain it far better than my attempt

)

Pulling is using a Flatbow or Longbow in order to 'pull' or single out targets in a large mob, so you only draw a few at a time to you rather than the whole mob .... pretty much the opposite of ....

I just kinda go all out bum rush...

... which is exactly what you don't want to do, otherwise yeah, on a squishy ele you're going to die pretty quickly

. Get yourself a longbow or flatbow (both have the same range, requirement doesn't matter as you're not using them for damage) and start practising pulling single targets from a mob, one or two at a time. Hmm, should also mention that even with pulling you don't to just rush in, best to observe the mobs movement for a moment or two. Often when mobs are bunched up, even if you pull with a bow the whole lot will still come after you. Many mobs aren't completely stationary and will move apart a bit, then bunch up again and so on. Ideally you want to try and pull a target away when the mob is more scattered.

By the way, this is also where you'll want to learn to position your heroes by flagging them - otherwise they'll just follow you and likely draw the aggro you were trying to avoid. Flagging the heroes will keep them in the spot you set the flag to.
It's sounding like it maybe might be useful for you to take a short break from this character, start up another one in Nightfall, and just play through the tutorial and 1st mission, maybe even follow the 1st few quests. Shouldn't take long, maybe 20 mins or so - or less.
Doing that will basically put into play many of the suggestions given on this thread and the tutorial/1st mission goes over much of the game basics mentioned eg pulling, allocating points etc. Granted much of it is very basic, as in movement keys, picking up stuff and whatnot, but some of the other may be of benefit - just try to resist the urge to tell Kormir where to go and just listen to her instead

Only suggest that because it seems there's quite bit you've skipped over... or maybe just simply forgotten, if it's been a fair while since you last played.

Have fun.
Cheers.