The swamp, for some reason, was the hardest biome for me and my friend that I play with in OUR first run...even harder than mistlands.

Originally posted by Cap'n Bells:

Swamp is "the step up" i didnt like it when i only had swamp level gear.. but it forces you to play differently and be cautious.. i mean no disrespect but in hindsight its the first biome that separates the "wannabees from the warriors" and now i like that its a challenge and will surprise early players.. It doesnt work out at all well for "run n gunner" players in the swamp.. i suggest the hoe and the map being your friends .. i use the hoe to raise pathways to avoid the leeches. and i place the circle pin on the map frequently to pathway the raised ground for quick exits when .... stuff happens :-) GL and Skall !

I didn't use the hoe that much during my swamp trips(only for carting iron). Granted I played with a group, BUT I also had solo moments where others where offline and I was doing my thing in the swamps alone. I died a lot too.

What worked for me was a similar cautious strategy, but not as tedious as what you suggest. The swamp is basically a set of islands connected through shallow waters, with deep waters between them. The key for me was to walk not as 'the bird flies' but from place to place through shallow sections like a maze.

And while doing scouting intsensely and sniping mobs as much as I could, and at least let them come to me and fight melee on my terms. Then move on when a section was cleared. I only died due to panic runs after being surprised, drawing chains of more mobs while running and then getting stuck or getting into deep waters.

My advice would be to keep the topography of the swamp in mind. Snipe mobs from a distance as much as possible. Bring poison resist. Stand your ground and slowly retreat with your shield up if you get caught by a mob, don't panic run away. Be ready to parry or dodgeroll, and attack after.

the mace is your friend, and arrows for draugrs

You aren't going to get any sympathy. This place is filled with Masochists that derive their self esteem from video games. Your complaints just make them feel better about themselves.

Try running and climbing up those giant horizontal trees that are spread throughout the biome. A lot of them are high enough that only the ghosts can even attack you including the archers. Then you can snipe them all and clear the area unless you are near a spawner then you can snipe the spawner and destroy it then clear the area. Also only go into the swamp during the day at night I believe all biomes spawn MORE mobs than in the day. I run around in level 1 troll armor with only a club bow and stagbreaker, have no issues unless I act foolishly and allow the mobs to build up or get jumped by daytime ghosts I didnt see coming LOL Key is remembering that your stam doesnt recover as fast when you are wet so dont run everywhere and use up your stam cause everytime you are low on stam its gonna bite you with a mob.

Side note if you really feel its unfair you can open up console and devcommands and "raiseskill run some number" and then you are back to where you were before just an fyi if in single player. With console commands in single player you can "right the wrongs you feel" which is easier and faster and more effective than coming and dealing with the forum tbh

Originally posted by Damedius:

You aren't going to get any sympathy. This place is filled with Masochists that derive their self esteem from video games. Your complaints just make them feel better about themselves.

Its not really masochism. Most of the time its easy to get your stuff back. Make sure you eat before hand, pop bonemass/first bosses special, and go. I've only had once or twice where I ever died getting my stuff back, and that was because of mountains.

Don't die. It's a survival game. You're supposed to take your survival more seriously than most games, be willing to run away and give up on loot to stay alive, not rush into things you can't handle, etc.

Originally posted by Zelph:

Originally posted by Damedius:

You aren't going to get any sympathy. This place is filled with Masochists that derive their self esteem from video games. Your complaints just make them feel better about themselves.

Its not really masochism. Most of the time its easy to get your stuff back. Make sure you eat before hand, pop bonemass/first bosses special, and go. I've only had once or twice where I ever died getting my stuff back, and that was because of mountains.

Since he is having this much of an issue I doubt he has killed bonemass yet so cant use that skill.

Swamp is "the step up" i didnt like it when i only had swamp level gear.. but it forces you to play differently and be cautious.. i mean no disrespect but in hindsight its the first biome that separates the "wannabees from the warriors" and now i like that its a challenge and will surprise early players.. It doesnt work out at all well for "run n gunner" players in the swamp.. i suggest the hoe and the map being your friends .. i use the hoe to raise pathways to avoid the leeches. and i place the circle pin on the map frequently to pathway the raised ground for quick exits when .... stuff happens :-) GL and Skall !

Use Death Tweaks. Can't stand the game without it. Even if everything goes smoothly ill end up dying due to some stupid bug, like the time my boat froze for half a sec, unfroze and launched me into the air all the way above Yggdrasil. Having to go back for stuff when something like that happens AND having to grind back skills is a bit much.

Death is 5% of your current total skill, and the inability to lose skills for some time after that. If you're dying so frequently that you can't get your skills up... dude. Get some self preservation skills.

Skills don't matter, the proper gear and battle tactics matter. I've lost more skill points than what you've lost and my attitude is whatevs I'll get the skill back when I get better and don't make stupid choices

Originally posted by Fzanco:

Skills don't matter, the proper gear and battle tactics matter

True the game "skill" is just a numeric boost.. but the physical skill ie tactic is dont get into a fight u cant win.. and recognise {He/She /it/they/ them who runs away lives to fight another day !!:-) }

Don't go swimming in Dragur infested waters then.

The swamp, for some reason, was the hardest biome for me and my friend that I play with in OUR first run...even harder than mistlands.

Personally, I do mod out the skill loss but keep the corpse runs.

So, second issue, why are you being knocked into the water? That almost never happens to me.

Are you using the hoe to make dry paths? Any place you see cattails is shallow enough to make a path. The swamp becomes much easier to navigate when you make your own dry ground.

Are you trying to shield tank everything and they're pushing you around that way? If you are parrying, you should be pushing them around. If you aren't parrying then blocking with a shield is not the best way to fight. Get an atgeir, use the secondary attack, and knock them back instead. Or keep using your mace or sword and get mobile. The best way to mitigate an attack is to not be where it lands. You can do that by walking around like the greydwarves do. I only bring out my shield for archers, and then only to get behind a tree and make them come to me. Remember to soften them up with your bow from a distance whenever possible. Standing there with the shield up to block wastes your stamina for no gain on your part, and it is worse if you haven't eaten enough good food. If you haven't found turnips yet, then your food is not up to swamp level.