Levels 8-12

[Ravynclaw]

Whats the deal??? I have 4 characters level 9-10 now and it was super easy to find groups to get to this point, but now there is a massive void. I login and put /lfg and search the lists for 30-45 mins or so. After no luck I'll start a group and put up a /lfm and I'll get 1-2 hits in 30 minutes and then folks leave the group because we can't fill it.

So then I think to myself, I've got a ranger, I've got a sorceror, both of which can solo well. I head to Sorrowdusk, Deserts, and assorted instances and solo and the time/money investment is not worth the miniscule amount of exp achieved trying to do this.

Its like this EVERY SINGLE DAY.

For me this is game breaking.

So again, whats the deal?!?!
Where are all the 8-12 players?

All groups are low level, 13+, or simply doing favor faction.

Very frustrating...

[Jhoran]

ya;

it sucks...but been levelling up a barbarian and just hit lvl 11

level 9 was the WORST for me.

my groups have actually filled up fairly quickly when i put up an lfm....but trying to join others is
often futile.

i've expected that at 10 or 11 i'd see people running orchard stuff...but i haven't
also no one ever runs necropolis stuff

gianthold is run....but get in the wrong pug and it is going to be PAINFUL

[Arnya]

This is always a dead spot - 4 levels below cap, for 4-5 levels is always the most difficult to PUG.

I have had to PUG my cleric to 15 and that was easy...

But my WF fighter is stuck at 12....

Look me up on any of my characters in my sig, I would be happy to get Pinetree thru the doldrums

[dragons1ayer74]

I have noticed this too it is a result of the level cap being increased and it will only get worse IMO when the CAP goes to 20 lvl 8-16 will be the hardest to level. I am not sure they can fix this but they could likley make it less painfull by reducing the power leveling hit so you can group with characters 4 or 5 levels higher and earn decent xp. Also reducing the xp penalty for doing quests above your level would help because then you could solo or small group quests quite few levels below and still make forward progress in the xp department.

[jkm]

i agree - there needs to be at least 3 more sorrowdusk level explorer areas that aren't sickenly hard for the level like ataraxias (razor cats with knockdown? wildmen with feeblemind? rust monsters everywhere? duegar with acid attacks and an insane rate of fire on their bows?

the biggest downfall to the explorer areas are the xp gaps. you can clear the map in some areas 20 times between rewards. yes its a large reward, but most people shouldn't have to have the patience for it. realistically, it should be configured to give XP every 100 kills, plus a small optional bonus on clearing the entire map.

tips:

learn the crucible - take every chance you get to run it and learn the maze. it is a really easy quest on normal for up to 20k xp your first time.

you can get xp at level 10 on 5th level quests - go back and run some stuff you are going to have to run for favor anyway

get a 6 man group for the desert - a lot of xp but it'll be tough with the xp gaps. nothing like the expense of killing 200 gnolls and looking up and seeing you have to kill 1300 more for your next xp level.

[xynxie]

and my highest toon is level 11 pally now, and the only reason that its that high is my brother that has several capped toons took me through some quest to show me them...then I milked them for xp.

Mostly since I hit 9 folks just don't want to take a noob....Putting up an lfm for a quest and not havng any clue what the quest was or is a bout won't get ya anywhere....tried that. Trying to join groups without knowing what the quest is or about doesn't seem to work either....as most folks doing these level quest know them and want to zerg them and truly don't want folks they may have to turn around and get cause he wasn't twinked and couldnt keep up then took a wrong turn at Albuquerque....I have had only 2 invites out of the blue at this level and that was from a WF uber nice player named XXI...naming him caused I greatly appreciated it....took me thru the X cipher and Von 1-4....the second was the other day when another guy asked me in to von5 and killing vellah....totally awesome.

I understand I could join a guild and this may help me past these rough spots...but thats not an option for me....as I am a Alehound...which is basically my brothers(2 play capped toons...can't get me xp) and a few folks we have met playing around. Guilds don't understand that you gotta go or are playing with your brother and ya can't just pop out and join them.

Anyway I feel your pain.....however, in 300 more favor I will have 32 pt builds and Denta will become a mule and I will be back in newbie harbor....hopefully meeting folks along the way....showing them and helping them through the beginning at a reasonable pace....then we may come up together a work our way thru this dead spot together.

[Mockduck]

Word. This is definitely the dead zone. I'm working to get my fighter up to 13 finally, after sort of giving up for a few months.

Best advice I have is to give the outdoor areas a try. They can be good for small-group xp.

[Cowdenicus]

My advice, once you hit 10, find a friendly sorc (that you know) to power level you to 13 via gianthold public area and the public area by the abbot.

Go on TAPS runs even if you dont need the taps.

My barabrian has currently hit the dead spot of 10.... my wifes new cleric is just about 12. when she hits 12, i am throwing s potency 6 item her way parking my barbarian in the adventure area entrances, and just gonna have a marry time power leveling my barbarian with her cleric.

[Zenako]

Part of the reason is by the time most players get characters to those levels, they are actively running them with guilds. At lower to mid levels, good twinkage can let you safely overpower most quests so you do not care who is alone and more readily pug quests. Around the time you hitting the Desert and Axtarias, and the Von's and even the Threnals, those quests often can be either very easy with a well playing group, or nightmares if you get even one jerk. A lot of players choose to avoid the risk of getting the jerk. Once you near cap levels, again you are often less concerned about group play since most players at that point have mastered the characters (usually) and know what to do and what NOT to do, and or will listen.

The upper mid levels are often the time someone who has been running solo feels forced to group up and they often have a very different idea about play style than someone who groups all the time. It is a matter of comfort zone. For example, last night I was semi pugging and had a wizard join the quest. Nice enough guy it seemed and they had most of the expected spell, but had did not have two spells I would have considered a staple (Knock and Dim Door). Finished the quest ok, just meant we skipped a couple of chests that we a) could not get to (knock) and b) considered not worth the time/risk having to fight our way out of the hole after getting the chest (it was also late). Just kept on rolling and killing the mobs and generally handling the quest. The Box of CHocolates syndrom...you never know.

[Caelan]

it is a tough to level at this time. i don't think raising the level cap does it as much as ppl having new content. they want to hop on their capped characters and do new stuff and level up and so they aren't playing the lower levels as much. i think between the live event and the new content/level cap increase, ppl, myself included, just didn't log onto their non-capped characters. there was too much to do. after things calm down a bit, it will swing back. and when monks are released lvl 16's will be running favor only because there will be no one for them to group with (everyone will be on their lvl 1 - 3 monks)!

put up an lfm. when ppl join, let them know you haven't done this one before. i was in a pug last night that was quite nice. everyone was decent. we did stk and 2 of the ppl had never done it before, so we were doing all the optionals and trying to just really show them the quest, on normal. we did the side quest and when one of the group didn't want to be in that it actually worked to our favor. he hung out in stk while we did the side quest and we didn't have re-kill those mobs. after the fact, i realized that doing that gave me the 2 pts favor i needed for my next coin lord favor level. extra back pack, thank you very much! so be patient and you'll find decent groups. they do exist!!

as for not joining a guild bc most ppl won't understand you having to go to go play with your brother? i think either you've met up with the wrong guilds or misunderstood something. sure, most won't be happy you leaving mid-quest. but finishing the quest and then going or just not joining a guild-thing shouldn't be a problem. and what's wrong with these guilds that they wouldn't invite your brother? and the friends you made? i mean - to me, that's what a guild is about. grouping with ppl you game well with and meeting new ppl to group with through them.

feel free to send me tells/PM if you want to group up. I have a lvl 11 fighter (Ryann) and lvl 8 rogue (Tierney) that could use grouping. and i have no problems if you don't know the quest. sometimes, that makes quests i've done way too many times, fresh again.