Devourer ambushes all the time?

Just got this game last weekend. Already gotten a couple characters into Post-Searing Ascalon (one by mistake, oh well.)

But I have a question. Whenever I start a fight in Post-Searing Ascalon, two devourers burrow up from the ground at my feet and add themselves to the combat. This happens no matter where I'm fighting, and no matter what I'm fighting, and happens every single friggin time.

Is this normal? Am I bugged? Cursed? Is it because I'm soloing? What the hell?

It's very frustrating, and if it's the game designers' idea of how to make the game difficult, I'm not impressed.

Post-Sear Ascalon is infested with devourers...they become less common later in the game

I think you are speaking of the trip from Ascalon to Sardelac Sanitarium. No it doesn't happen the whole game. You have barely scratched the surface on a monstrous game.

It happened on my walk from Ascalon to Sardelac, and it happened on my walk from Sardelac to that Fort to the east. (I'm looking for better spells.) If I didn't bring a full complement of henchmen with me, every fight would be disaster because I'm always fighting 2 more opponents than normal.

Maybe the game is penalizing me for soloing?

you aren't supposed to be going at it alone....the game is designed to be played with a group. It has a focus on cooperative play. Without some creative play and a good knowledge of the game(which you aren't expecting to have your first time through this area) soloing isn't an option. It's not that you're being penalized for it...it's that the game was designed around a group effort to complete goals.

No the game isn't penalizing you for soloing, it's the same with henchman or human players. This is only really going to happen in Old Ascalon, other zones this won't happen. As far as a full compliment of henchman, I do the same thing. The only penalty you incur while doing this is you will get less items because the game distributes items to henchman too. I wouldn't really worry about it, I always take full henchman everywhere and my level so far seems to be keeping up just fine with where I am at in the game. I bet if you truly soloed with no henchies you would end up bored because you will always be far above the level you should be at and everything would be too easy.

Well, I understand that it's going to be difficult, but I prefer to learn on my own. (And I'm already, after only three days, sick of people asking 'do u want 2 join a guild?' )

So this only happens in Ascalon? Okay. You don't get ambushes of other things in other areas, do you? I mean, it's tiresome. It happens every single time I fight. It really pissed me off when I started fighting something on a bridge, and the 2 devourers popped up from the bridge surface. :P

Well the devourers kinda become less common, but you'll love the grasping ghouls

That's just the way Devourers are, sometimes they roam, sometimes they are buried under the surface. They are lying in wait to ambush their prey. Monsters will all act differently, I think it's rather interesting. Devourers will become less common but there will be other monsters that will have things that will be far more upsetting to you than popping up from the ground. Hehe.

the game was designed to be played in a group....you won't be able to solo this game without an amazing amount of frustration. The henchman don't have a guild

I've solo'd it for most of the game I have gotten to so far. Hench are annoying but so can the group you end up with. Plus hench go where you wanna go. As for Devouer, they do just pop up verywhere. Just wait till later on other areas, spiders drop down, just as annoying.

Later on, you'll get ambushed by spiders, scarabs, plant creatures, wurms (or are they worms...?), assorted roaming creatures who lover to blunder into an existing fight, etc. Trust me - you will always have to keep on your toes as you travel (and fight).

'eh, I get made at 'em because I think I'm all clear and these things pop outta the ground... but it makes the game incredibly realistic, we'd probably complain if they didnt have it, then when we got it we'd complain that we dont like it

If you thought the Scorpions were annoying so early in the game, be prepared.

They're all over Ascalon. They're throughout the whole jungle (well, only the sandy parts with hardly any vegetation) and they're throughout the whole desert. Enjoy. I really hate em.

Oh no -- far from it. You will be ambushed by something popping out of the ground in very nearly every environment in the game.

It won't always be Devourers in some areas (never seen them where it's snowy), but I'd say they are the most prevalent type of monster that ambushes you like that (although the Scarabs tend to show up in greater numbers when they appear).

Post-searing around Ascalon they are frequently linked to the Gargoyle mobs you'll see patrolling the area, so one way to avoid the occasional encounter with Devourers is to avoid the Gargoyles as well.... but you'll still step on your fair share of lurking Devourers.

Things ALWAYS pop out of the ground in this game though. If you're moving through an area that seems strangely devoid of mobs, you can virtually guarantee it'll happen in the next 10-15 steps.

Just wanted to let you all know that I think I figured it out.

There's an escort mission -- I think the name is 'Military Matters' -- that you get early on in Post-Searing Ascalon. When you're on that mission, devourers ambush you in *every* fight you get into.

I started the mission by finding the guy I was supposed to escort and trying to take him back to Ascalon, but we got our asses kicked. After I died, I gave up and just started walking to Ft. Ranik. But the mission was still in operation, so I still got ambushes everywhere and every time. I went back last night and finished that mission, and now ambushes are much less frequent -- maybe 1 in 4 fights, instead of all the time.

Apparently the soil of Tyria is so fertile that whole animals grow out of it. And for some reason, they always pop up just as you come near. Anyone would think they designed the game to make no sense and to drive you completely nuts...

If you travel through a route often enough you 'll also learn where the ambushes are placed, because they don't change, at least, not that I've seen. I took the north road from Ascalon to the gate and on to Piken many times and soon I knew exactly where the Devourers were going to pop up.
But I do hate those demmed spiders, going through the jungle was hell, especially after I'd just cleared the area, gotten back to town and then received a quest that meant I had to mosey on back to where I had Just cleared up all the gngnggngn spiders...

You don't truly solo in this game, except for certain builds such as warrior/monk that can solo certain areas. Most builds, unless your character level is much higher than the enemies, will need some henchmen with you when exploring the world to survive. There are certain builds that can safely run through areas without fighting by their lonesome as well.