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We aren't levling up fast enough.

AuthorMessage
Ensign
May 29, 2011
38
In my opinion, we aren't. Once I got to cool ranch at lvl 15, the monsters and ships greatly out lvled me and my companions. The problem is, there's no bazaar so I can't get the best gear available to me. And gold is so scarce I cant even buy a ship without spending everything I have. Right now I'm getting 3 companion points a level, I can't get them all up to my lvl. And I can't buy them cause gold is so scarce.

Its a cycle.

I can't lvl up cause I can't defeat enemies, I can't defeat enemies cause My companions and ships aren't high enough level, There not high enough level cause gold is so scarce, gold is so scarce cause I can't defeat enemies.

Without a bazaar, cool ranch is going to be really frustrating for casual players.

I think before we get to cool ranch, They need to level us up faster. I didn't gain one level in all of valencia part 1.

Ensign
Dec 13, 2008
2
Not only that, but the main quest doesn't give a lot of gold Making it hard to buy more powerful things But, a way you can get around that is getting some buddies together and fighting together Especially in ship battles

Ensign
Jan 05, 2009
37
If you do the side quests you will gain not only money and some exp pts, but also companion points to train them.

In Cool Ranch, money starts to become better...the quest line hunting criminals (side) gives you 1000s of gold. The quest line in San Pollo from the Dos Amigos y Uno give an awesome level 20 sword (about the level as crown gear...

My guess is that you have about 3 or 4 levels of side quests to go...also will add to Nautical Level.

Ensign
Oct 23, 2011
9
Here are a few ideas for at least getting some exp for leveling up and for getting gold.

1. (Battle) weaker enemies, land and/or sea.

2. Try doing some side (Quests).

3. Sell unwanted items to get gold for buying better (gear) and other needs.

4. Do the latest (dungeon) you did and did fine on.

5. Get some (friends) to help you

Ensign
Sep 22, 2012
34
If you do all the side quests you can see you will level up a lot faster. I learned that lesson the hard way when my witch doctor did all the main quests with no side quests and got stuck in Monquista of all places! Do your side quests and manage your gold carefully and you should be all set. Happy pirating!

Ensign
Jun 08, 2009
13
this topic was brought up today by my friend that told me that compared to wizard101, here we do not level fast enough. in wizard101, we leveled so fast that we were maxed before new updates and got bored. in terms of the gold and no bazaar yet, I do agree. I do all quests because side quests award xp, gold, companions and best of all Unit training points. As of now I have 25 points. With no Bazaar yet, I agree we don't have better gear to help us survive in battles but KI is working on it. at least here i think it is annoying but we just have to wait. I am lvl 15 and still using a few lvl 5 gear....sad I know lol

Ensign
Oct 16, 2012
3
Hi. Yes it does seem very hard once you get to Level 15! I have made it to lvl 18 now, but it has not been easy! The Ship to Ship Battles have been hard, but i finally got that " Collect Info Quest " done. After that i made it through some tough battles to get to lvl 18. It is hard to keep my Companions leveled up! I can't seem to earn enough Gold to keep up with them. My weakest Companions show up a lot when i don't want to see them! I do all the side quests that give me a Companion Training point, but the T- Points do not go very far with all of the Companions that i have. I have 11 Companions now at level 11. Well my point is " Too many Companions " not enough T-Points! How are we supposed to do it? I really like the game, but i am disappointed with how our Companions are managed! I feel we should have more control over how we manage our Companions. After all they are " Our Companions " Deleting the ones that are weaker would be great, but i don't think that will happen. Something has got to give, or players might be quitting if they lose too many battles because of " Weak " Companions! Thank you! Michael

Bosun
Sep 08, 2008
388
Credit to Darthjt.

A very good way to spend companion points is to wait until a single point can level your companion at least one level.

When you get to the point where you have a lot of companions, wait until a single point can level your companion at least TWO levels.

Darthjt said that he waited for each point to level his companions two levels right from the beginning. Which would mean he would have a HUGE number of companion points to level up all his companions he built over time.

I am at level 16 now, and my lowest companions are all at level 13. My companions I have recently gotten through the story are at 17 and 16, so I do not have to worry about leveling them up, yet. I have 10 companion points left, and I do have over 18,000 gold saved up. (Which will go to a new ship.)

I did, occasionally, buy me a companion point or two from the tavern, throughout the early levels. But even if you don't, spending your companion points similiar to Darthjt's companion management strategy will let you companions keep up with you a good long way.

Gunner's Mate
Oct 22, 2011
210
It is best to do side quests all the way up to Cool Ranch so you will hit level 18 when you start there. There is quite a leap in difficulty once you hit Cool Ranch.

Pick side quests that give companion points & nautical. Don't do side quests that give you companions yet. Hold off until you are a much higher level. That way, it will be easier to train your main companions.

Don't use tomes until your companion can level up at least 1 level. Keep your best companions at the top, so they will be more likely to be in the battle with you.

If you are a low nautical level, go back to the last level of ships and fight those for a while to gain nautical. This will help you tremendously in obtaining/purchasing better gear for your ships to fight the ones in Cool Ranch.

I do a little bit of questing with my friends, but I've pretty much soloed. Since I am a higher level (and in many cases much higher), I can help my friends with tough battles on land as well as with ships. I also take my friends to higher level ships, so they can get great nautical to move up fast.

Questing with friends will get you more gold when you fight. It also helps to have friends to do ship battles with whenever possible.

I'm currently at level 50, and several of my companions are now level 48-50. For my weaker ones, I waited until I could level them up 2-4 levels before I used a training tome. That helped a lot, plus the fact I didn't do the side quests to obtain companions until I was around level 45.

Hope this helps!

Lazy Lenora Leech
Buccaneer L50
Nautical L50

Ensign
Oct 09, 2011
17
Indeed even if it is a simple drop down menu for what companions we wish to leave on the boat/tavern...it would be a great change to the game.

Otherwise the grind is so boring it will just deter people from wanting to play. I have already stated I would buy just about all the companions on crowns if we could manage them better etc..

Ensign
May 29, 2011
38
Thanks to some of you who tried to give advice, but i'm going to be honest, none of it actually worked. It sounded good on paper, but when you put it into action it didn't work out that well.

I don't have enough patience to do side quests, after all, there side quests. We shouldn't have to do them to get through the game.

I'v gotton every class to level 8, but I didn't like any of them really besides privateer. And right now , i'm flopping. Everything was fine, until... Cool Ranch.
My problems:
1. Why is my pet adding extra monsters? I have me and my 3 companions, vs 5 monsters. Thats 4vs5. My pet doesn't really help against a monster with twice as much value. Not only that, but sometimes when its me and 3 companions, I get 5 monsters. Now it really IS 4vs5. My companions are already not as high as the monsters due to lack if companion points, why add an extra to the plate? I am chewing more than I can swallow with this game, and i'm only lvl 24.
2. Why am I losing to MONSTERS. There's a difference between challenging and hard, 2 different words. Monsters are supposed to be CHALLENGING, not hard. I shouldn't be dying to monsters. Bosses I can understand, but monsters? This needs to be toned down EVENTUALLY.
3. How should the monsters be toned down you ask? Well, for one, there dodge and block is incredible. They have 2 times as much dodge as my companions.( talking about snakes, buffoloon, scorpians) Not only this, but to my companions without a promotion, the monsters have WAY to many abilities. Monsters shouldn't have more than one epic talent. Thats beyond frustrating. They also have twice as ,any critical as me and my companions, also higher lvl. Monsters shouldn;t critical 3 times in a row or dodge abd block 5 ataccks in 2 turns.

So, if you really want long term members,( talking to you pirate101 staff ) I suggest you tone down the Cool Ranch diffuculty. I plan on being a long term member. ( notice I said plan ) But if I'm dying 5 times a day, I'll reconsider.

Developer
Quick Mycin Ashbur... on Oct 25, 2012 wrote:
Thanks to some of you who tried to give advice, but i'm going to be honest, none of it actually worked. It sounded good on paper, but when you put it into action it didn't work out that well.

I don't have enough patience to do side quests, after all, there side quests. We shouldn't have to do them to get through the game.

I'v gotton every class to level 8, but I didn't like any of them really besides privateer. And right now , i'm flopping. Everything was fine, until... Cool Ranch.
My problems:
1. Why is my pet adding extra monsters? I have me and my 3 companions, vs 5 monsters. Thats 4vs5. My pet doesn't really help against a monster with twice as much value. Not only that, but sometimes when its me and 3 companions, I get 5 monsters. Now it really IS 4vs5. My companions are already not as high as the monsters due to lack if companion points, why add an extra to the plate? I am chewing more than I can swallow with this game, and i'm only lvl 24.
2. Why am I losing to MONSTERS. There's a difference between challenging and hard, 2 different words. Monsters are supposed to be CHALLENGING, not hard. I shouldn't be dying to monsters. Bosses I can understand, but monsters? This needs to be toned down EVENTUALLY.
3. How should the monsters be toned down you ask? Well, for one, there dodge and block is incredible. They have 2 times as much dodge as my companions.( talking about snakes, buffoloon, scorpians) Not only this, but to my companions without a promotion, the monsters have WAY to many abilities. Monsters shouldn't have more than one epic talent. Thats beyond frustrating. They also have twice as ,any critical as me and my companions, also higher lvl. Monsters shouldn;t critical 3 times in a row or dodge abd block 5 ataccks in 2 turns.

So, if you really want long term members,( talking to you pirate101 staff ) I suggest you tone down the Cool Ranch diffuculty. I plan on being a long term member. ( notice I said plan ) But if I'm dying 5 times a day, I'll reconsider.
Pets don't add any additional monsters. They never count against you.

That said, sometimes when you fight you'll be outnumbered by 1, regardless of whether your pet shows up or not.

You may not like side quests, but you really need to at least promote your companions. By the time you hit Cool Ranch, Bonnie Anne and Ratbeard should be promoted.

You really shouldn't be losing to monsters, assuming your Avatar is fairly close to them in level, and assuming your companions are fairly close in level to you. Within 2-3 levels.

If you're still having that much trouble, I would guess that your combat tactics need some tweaking. The single best piece of advice I will give you is, "Don't spread your damage around." Focus on taking out one enemy at a time.

I am sure other folks here will have more detailed battle tips.

Bosun
Sep 08, 2008
388
** scratches head

You don't do side quests? The whole game's progression is based on quests, nothing else. If side quests had the potential to make you strong enough to pass Cool Ranch, you should do them.

Now, as for difficulty. If anyone has ever read any of my Wizard101 'difficulty' posts, anyone will know I am the most hung up on that kind of that. Difficulty factor can turn a game into not a game, especially for me. Hence the reason I no longer play Wizard101.

Now, I apparently was imagining things, because no one except me thought Wizard101 Celestia+ was getting difficult, so, I am BAFFLED as to how people think this game gets too difficult if this game already has level 50 pirates running around.

Oh, LOL, if you find Darthjt around (forums or otherwise), have a good talk with him about difficulty. He'll know what to say. (So do I, in fact.)

Ensign
Jun 08, 2011
25
I'll second Ratbeard's advice to promote Bonnie Anne and Ratbeard - as soon as possible. It is well worth it in terms of combat capability. Also, promote your starting companion as soon as you hit level 13 if you can manage it, and have your companion who owned Gunn's Will before Ratbeard stole it promoted before you reach level 20. It's because I had these four upgraded that my buccaneer could handle several of the Cooper's Roost catch-that-crook quests from the sheriff when he was just level 23 or 24 (the Crane Brothers were the first that stopped me - a pair of level 30 bosses in one fight).

As far as gold... there's a fairly easy solution. Mr. Harker is in Avery's Court, and if you teleport to your Home, you can visit his wagon without losing the mark to teleport back to your departure point. Play a few mini-games to fill up your mojo potion bottles, and while doing it, earn gold and equipment. I play Coin Drop myself, because I'm fairly good at it - my best game garnered me an outfit that gave 22 armor and +7 strength, along with a decent amount of gold.

Whenever possible, find NPCs offering side quests. Even if they are too hard now, you'll have them activated to work on later, and they will be there if you blunder into the kind of creature or item being collected in some other situation.

Ensign
Oct 04, 2010
2
EcoMagic853 on Oct 22, 2012 wrote:
Here are a few ideas for at least getting some exp for leveling up and for getting gold.

1. (Battle) weaker enemies, land and/or sea.

2. Try doing some side (Quests).

3. Sell unwanted items to get gold for buying better (gear) and other needs.

4. Do the latest (dungeon) you did and did fine on.

5. Get some (friends) to help you
Thanks

Ensign
Aug 17, 2011
1
I am level 14 and have not killed Gortez yet - it is the only thing left now for me to do - so you can definitely level up a lot more than you think in Skull Island. I have done every side quest I came upon and have done little else. I have fought maybe about 8 other battles to test out strategies but no farming or anything like that. The side quests are pretty annoying sometimes for the measly amount of reward they give, but it you are struggling, it is your only option besides getting a tiny amount of experience for battles that you can handle.

I am glad to hear that Cool Ranch is hard because my Witch Doctor is seriously overpowered - I get hit in only 1 out of 5 fights and I can only remember 1 fight in all having been brought down below half health.

Ensign
May 21, 2008
12
Hey gang, to put a fine point on things, let me say: we watch the data on a daily basis; this tells us how quickly people are going through the content, where there are problem spots, etc. A few things that might suprise you:

- levels 1 to 10 in Pirate take (on average) about the same amount of time as Wizard
- levels 9 to 15, do take a bit longer in Pirate, but not a lot longer
- levels 16 and up are much faster than Wizard. You can gain a Pirate level in about 50% to 75% the time it takes you to gain a level in Wizard

We also track the % of player lost combats, and across the entire game players lose less often in Pirate than they do in Wizard (as a % chance of battles at any given level.)

In fact, most of the game (and in particular the latter half, levels 20+) the player loss rate in Pirate is far lower then the loss rate in Wizard. and by far lower, I'm not saying "players lose half as much", but rather "players lose a fraction of the time" compared to Wizard.

There are individual fights (and levels) that are still too hard, and need to be adjusted -- but the overall difficulty of the game, in terms of lost combats, is certainly not "much harder than Wizard."

If you are reading this and thinking, "there is no way! my play experience isn't like that AT ALL" -- then I would strongly suggest you look at the strategies that you are using, because the game was balanced to assume that players could make it through the game (albeit with some difficulty) without taking any side quests. As Ratbeard said:

1. in combat, team up your companions against one target at a time, to take them out as quickly as possible
2. don't spend all your training points to pull a few companions up to your level. spread your training points out, and try to get as many of them as possible within a few levels of you (but not equal to you, it's too expensive!)
3. promote your companions (by visiting a cellar in any Tavern) as soon as possible. The power level of a companion goes up dramatically when you train them.
4. don't forget to visit your trainer!

Hope this helps. Good luck!

J Todd Coleman

Ensign
May 01, 2011
11
First, I did many side quests in Skull Island and Monquista to earn gold. Then, I used my gold to buy a Frigate and 2 Skiffs and I still have the raft from the beggining. Then, while I has lots of gold from side quests I bought training points and got all my companions to my level and did side quests that gave me companions. This is preparing my for Cool Ranch and higher worlds.

Ensign
Mar 14, 2009
5
I haven't made it to Cool ranch yet, and just hit 15 today. Find and do every side quest, it makes a big difference in any game you play if you do that.

Gold is a bit tight for me, but that's my own fault, not any game mechanic. I tend to try to keep my companions 1 or 2 levels lower then my own at all times. Those books will chew up the gold fast. Never try to get the companions to your level until you have lots of gold to throw around, or max yourself out. The xp gains get smaller from the books the closer they are to your level.

I've only died in combat when I take on something a few levels higher then myself, or get unlucky during ship combat and have another ship spawn near me so there is now two ships firing on me. And so far, I've had very little trouble with the boss fights.

Ensign
Oct 27, 2009
38
@jtoddcoleman
quote:
"We also track the % of player lost combats, and across the entire game players lose less often in Pirate than they do in Wizard (as a % chance of battles at any given level.) "

Are you also keeping track of the number of flees? If not the death data is corrupt. Because of the 'you failed to ____" message that pops up and permanently stays in our notifications I flee when I'm about to lose a battle instead of trying to fight it out. I know I can't be the only one who does this. (Could you make that message invisible to players please? ^_^ )

quote:
"the game was balanced to assume that players could make it through the game (albeit with some difficulty) without taking any side quests."

I'm assuming this means we are suppose to get through ship quests by letting them board us if we skip sides? I'm finding that I don't have enough gold to upgrade my ship as often as needed without sides. I have no problem with that, just wondering if it is suppose to be that way.

Ensign
Dec 27, 2008
13
There are plenty of ways to level up in the game. The side quests are there for a reason. It really doesn't make any sense to be skipping them. Completing side tasks are a win-win situation. Not only do you get experience for them, you earn more gold and have the chance of getting equipment drops. If you don't want the items, you can always sell them for even more gold.

Another way to level up (although it is not the fastest) is farming. I have been farming for the armadillo pet from Johnny Ringo in Cool Ranch. Being that he still has yet to give the armadillo up to me, I have leveled my Privateer up 2 times from all the farming and have purchased over 120,000 gold worth of training points. At about 20 avg experience per battle, takes a little more time.

If you are having a problem with ship battles being too difficult, find some other people that are working on the same ships as you are. There is definitely strength in numbers.

Time to go back to Johnny and that blasted armadillo.......................

Ensign
May 02, 2011
36
at like lvl 15 it becomes easier

~SneakyBlakeHolystone~
with great power becomes less responsibility :D

Ensign
Oct 14, 2012
3
its tottaly true we arent leveling quick enough like im facing way hard bosses and i feel like i should be like 5 levels higher just to make a scratch! maybe kingsisle could increase the amount of the quest xp by maybe 5-10%

horrifingly yet nicely

Loyal Angel Everhart

THE WITCHDOCTOR MUAHAHAHAHA

Lieutenant
Jun 16, 2009
133
I was actually surprised at how fast I seemed to level up. Now I do all of the side quests, so that may be it. It also could have been my imagination, but I thought I made it to level 18 very quickly.