Almost level 10.. move on? (Dillhole Blues)

So I am almost a Level 10 Elementalist/Mesmer and I am currently doing the mission at the Ruins of Surmia. I have started the mission about three times but I have run into nothing but the Dillhole Blues which include:

a. A healer who doesn't heal
b. A person who leaves the party right after you start the mission
c. A magic user who thinks he is a tank and aggros about 20 mobs at once

So my real question is, do I have to finish all these missions in Seared Ascalon (graphics are awesome but the whole sear look is getting depressing) or can I move on to the next area? A change of scenery would be nice...

It is storylined mission based. I believe you have to do the missions in order.

Best bet is to either party with friends, or just bring NPCs along instead of dillholes.

So I can't move on the other areas of the world without completing these missions first? Yeah, tried the NPCs... the highest I could find was Level 7 and that is kinda tough when you are taking on 7, 8 and level 9 mobs. Oh well, better try that again...

All my friends are WoW addicts and GW is not high on their priority lists. I personally like em both

I have found that Henchmen are 100% more efficient than pick up groups personally. Either game with your friends and guild, or use the henchmen

If you are really having a rough time of it, I've seen people that are offering their services as escort through certain areas. I helped some random person the other night do the Ruins of Surmia mission myself, for free. I was bored and all my buddies had crashed LOL

I have to agree with the Henchies comment. Some groups I'm in wipe way too often on quests (i.e. Altheas Ashes) but when I bring three Henchman along I do fine. I think the biggest reason is *usually* the henchman AI performs the designated role pretty well.

You can go through the explorable areas but you won't be getting as much experience as the mission because missions give a big bonus at the end. I usually do the missions with friends or with henchmen since with pick up groups there is always a possibility that someone will leave in the middle of the mission without any reason.

The first 3 missions are easily doable with the Henchmen. I rarely group with real people until the Nolani mission. The hench AI is smart enough to not aggro mobs onto you and the healer is really good at keeping everyone alive.

Cool -- I'll try the henchies again!

Thanks for your responses..

On a more general note, the burned out winding trails of these missions are kind of getting old, not trying to be negative, just looking for a change of scenery.

Are there some cool areas/quests/missions coming up at the Surmia mission?

Henchmen aren't so bad. Running with a fighter, healer and elementalist hench group (lvl 6) it perfectly safe to charge a group of six level 6-7 Charr.

I refuse to group outside of the people I know until I get past those first three or four missions. The start of the game is rife with dillholes.

You've still got a little ways to go, but the next change of scenery will be when you get to Yak's Bend. It's all snowy mountain passes, it's pretty neat. I agree though, the burned husk of Ascalon gets tiresome on the eyes after the splendor of pre-sear.

Yea I had 2 guildmates going through the missions with me last night and one of them just couldn't stop complaining about how sick he was with Charr and the whole burned out scenary thing. Personally I like it, but I guess I'm liking the lore more and not just looking at the scenery.

I think one of the things that makes henchmen effective is their propensity to attack the target you're attacking. This allows mobs to drop more quicky and hence their damage output is cut off, making the healer's job even easier.

Wouldn't it suck if the mob AI used the same logic as the henchman AI? =p

Oh, don't get me wrong, I like the missions now and I have taken about 50 screenshots of the place. The graphics engine is amazing and now that I have stopped comparing GW to WoW, it is much more enjoyable :-)

Just wondering when I get to see more beautiful scenery.. like ol' Ascalon!

lol, ya, the story line missions are a must do, their alot of fun to do IMO and the exp is really nice. i soloed most of the missions, from the great north wall to um... the Nolani Academy. granted, i didnt do the missions untill i was lvl 13 or so, but still, alot of fun for a w/mo

as for the henchs, heeeellllll ya!!!! they rule like no other most of the time, healer/fighter/mage are my fav 3 to carry with, and i its just me in the 6 limit group areas, i pick up both melee henchs and run through mobs lol

now i do love how henchs work, but the enemy mobs work just the same way, infact, ive noticed a few paterens with mobs as of late.

1) they seem to ignore higher lvls and love to beat down the lower lvl toons
2) seems like the best way to keep aggro on a tank toon, is to have that tank go in first.. waaaay first and then have all the range come in, but even that hardly works it seems.
3) mobs love to assist eachother!!!!! i hate it when they do that! even more when its 6 ganging up on my healer!!!!! its just RUDE!
4) if your ranged and have a tank in the group, run to the tank and try to use the tank to get in the mobs way, the mob will stop to attack the tank if you do it right.
5) mobs dont seem to give that big a chase if theirs other targets for them to attack are near, so its a good idea to run from the battle to lose the aggro, just realize they will prob go back to attacking you once your in their range agian, all depending.


if anything, ive learned that the mobs in this game are MEAN and just CRAZY. their just not predictable like other mmorpg mobs and i like that. ya, sometimes a party member gets the beat down, but hey, not like you exp on death