Lion Arch quests ... hard?

i just got to lion arch, and i am a W/Me lvl15 nearly 16
now ive tried teaming up with a whole group of 6 players to try to do quests like merchant's plea and orrion-something, but we get massacred by large groups EVERY single time. now dont get me wrong the game is supposed to be hard at a point like this but not THIS hard, where making any progress at least for me is impossible
how did anyone who has got to or past this point dealt with this? or am i the only person hu is finding this stupidly hard?

You need to learn how to pull mobs away rather than aggro all of them at once. The Tengu are a real challenge if you don't do this because they always seem to hang out in large death squads.

haha, wait till you start getting swarmed in the desert :X

Agreed the fine art of pulling is essential and also watch their movement patterns they usually group then desperse

Just keep in mind that a lot of other people have made it.
Consider what it would take to win and see if you are doing it.

If you think it would take more damage, look at how you have your Attributes distributed. Sometimes you have to wait until you have more points before you try using a skill that you "like" as opposed to one that is more effective.

If you think it would take fewer opponents, try moving around so that you can take them in a row instead of in the middle. Also try using a long bow to draw a few at a time. The bow damage doesn't matter, it's just to draw them to you so your "danger zone" doesn't include extra opponents.

If you think it would take killing them faster than they can heal (before other opponent "patrols" arrive.) Make sure you include an interrupt skill. Again, the damage is not the point, stopping a Troll Ungent or other heal is.

If you think it would take waiting until you have recharged your energy before taking on more opponents. Consider getting a new team.

On playing the area on my second time through, I am finding Lion's Arch to be more difficult than it was the first time. I don't recall all the Bog Skales respawning on top of you and behind you like they do now. In any event I haven't been able to do the the quests that head straight NORTH from lions arch with henchmen. The Signet persons quest, or reversing the skales.

My two cents.

If you mean the field of Tengu ... There are other ways to get where you want to go. Sometimes going a new direction leads you back to where you want to be. I can make it to the Settlement with only a couple of team members. By myself if I use Sprint. (at level 12)

Yeah that field of Tengu can be downright brutal at times. You just need to be aware and only take one mob at a time.

Its that freaking Pig Quest that pisses me off. Damn thing always gets stuck and on top of it 1. Getting a group in Lions Arch seems nigh impossible and 2. Those freaking Ettins.

You don't HAVE to do that quest, you know?

Yes, Lion's Arch is really the first place where the game basically says "You made it here, deal with it!" and then goes all out to gank you. Up until that part it's been pretty nice, widely spread out mobs, casters that don't use too much stuff on you, but in Kryta things get going, and going hard.

It's definitely necessary though, because once you reach the desert (and don't even get me started on the southern shiverpeaks), there really is zero percent mercy in the mobs anymore. They will rush in, and if you don't know what you're doing, you'll be dead in about ten seconds.

Try to adjust your strategies a bit, be more careful about roving patrols, observe and target the most dangerous enemies first (the tengu archers are FAR more dangerous than the Tengu melee), and finally, if you're getting ganked, RUN.

Creston

If you want tough, just wait until you get to the Amnoon Oasis and get mobbed by disrupting/poisoning devourers and scarabs just 100 feet from first stepping out into the desert!

That first step out of Amnoon heading ANYWHERE seems to kill more adventurers than all other parts of the trek once you get past the teleporter to go to Augury Rock or Hero's Audience.

Whew, I thought it was just me.

Since henchmen are my only option, the most advanced tactic I can attempt is "aim for the most dangerous and work my way down, hoping we survive". Sometimes the instance is nice enough to spawn the groups far enough apart that I can take each one down before the next group gets in range. Other times it's impossible to move anywhere without getting the attention of two or three at once.

Last night I managed to clear the entire field of Tengu, only to get clobbered by three ettins and a couple of those mesmer thingies. I really hate Kryta.

No...I can get by the Tengu just fine and get to the settlement. Its all those bog skales. I was fighting about 16 or so at once because they would spawn behind me and run after me and my henchies, and then the battle would just get longer, and more would spawn..ugh.

Maybe give it a try when I get out of work again

Bog Skales tend to attack from a distance. This usually means they will stand in AoE.
Smite Hex and Convert Hexes are a Wonderful things too.

Just learn some new strategies.

There are a few places in the game where there is a distinct step up in difficulty. Lion's Arch is probably the first of those.

This is a good thing though, because Guilds Wars isn't just about creatures taking more damage as you level and become able to deal more damage, it's about strategy. As the game develops, strategy becomes more and more important, and the increase in difficulty forces you to learn.

Learn how to protect your tank. Learn which targets to take down first and to concentrate fire on them. Learn how to deal with hexes and conditions. Most importantly, learn what those little boxes in the top left hand corner mean. If you don't react to the likes of Backfire or Empathy being cast on you, then you are going to suffer.

Oh, and avoid the swampy areas full of bog scales. There are better routes going North you know

I don't want to show off, but to let you know it can be done, my second char, a E/N 12, is currently working on the Lion's Arch quests with just henchmen.

What do you mean they spawn behind you. Unless the update has made mobs respawn after dying, I thought they just die and that is it.

If you mean you have died and respawn and they happen to be where you respawn, then it could just be there were a bunch of mobs near the respawn point.

I will agree it is a hard area and those Tengu are tough buggers, but it is all in the Pulling Techniques. If you have John Rambo in your Party, then prepare to die a lot in the future missions, as Rambo'ing the mobs and causing Big Agro is the best way to keep getting yourself killed and the whole group a lot.

Lion's Arch is the first place that people will start appreciating rangers (if they are smart)

a good ranger is your best friend from here on out (besides a good monk )

anyway find a ranger that knows how to pull mobs and you will be fine. slow goingn at times but you should stay alive.

No he means that little lake / swamp area just to the north and a bit to the east of Lion's Arch. There are about 25 bog skales there, and as soon as you start fighting a few of them, the others come running. (Not always, but most of the time).
And 25 is just too much to handle in one go.
I've come close one time, I got about 20 or so down before the attrition due to all those mesmer spells just got too bad (and Alesia had died long before...)

My advice, ignore that area. You can get to the end of it other ways. Some areas just aren't meant to be trodden


Creston

I second that. I have a w/mo ascended and a ele/N who just got to amnoon oasis as well as my ranger. I have found that my ranger had a far easier time getting from Lion's Arch to Amnoon Oasis then my other 2 chars. Also when I first stepped out of amnoon oasis as an earlier poster stated, with henchmen, my warrior and elemental got owned like nobodies business. I had to get a guildmate to help with my warrior so he could travel around the desert. My elemental gets treated like a 2 dollar hooker at congressional convention. My ranger, on the other hand, has had no problems whatsoever and hasn't died once. He's now tooling around Augry Rock with only henchmen and doing well.

Lions Arch is first time a decently played Ranger starts getting his/her respect and folks begin to see the power of a Ranger or at least his potential in helping the group.

You can actually cut through that area fairly well if you work your way along the right hand side of the swamp hugging the hillside/cliff face, since a majority of the skale are gathered to the far left. You may still run into some resistance, but I've always survived it.

The road, however, is generally a much safer alternative, as everyone has said.