Always focus on your food buffs, be aware of your surroundings and build multiple rest-stop bases (a shed with a workbench for repairs). I realize you're on bronze gear but it's good to have secondary gear that can be repaired with the workbench alone. Not sure if you're leveraging portals either but that's important as well and they can give you a quick "out". Personally I build bases on top of swamp crypts as they're indestructible and keep me high and out of the way. Dropping a portal in there gives me easy access to the entire swamp and the first crypt for collecting iron.

I probably have it easier than most as I started out with bows and rarely did melee as I'm an avid FPS player (still 90% of the time use a bow). Always on the move and always looking around. Even after the bow nerfs I can get by with minimal gear and a finewood bow with wood arrows only (I mostly use wooden arrows even with the Draugr and focus on critical shots like the neck for trolls). If bows are a play style you see yourself getting good with or enjoy enough to work on it, I personally think that's the way to go if you get used to the timing.

And by all means abuse using the hoe to level out walkways throughout the swamp so you don't get stuck and assaulted by leeches and draugr wanting to join in on the kill. I usually restore 1 out of every 2 abandoned ruins, whether a tower or a house. Gives me a place to run away to, especially if I drop a portal in there.

Also everything that blankitosonic said :) Swamp is a game changer but you don't have to dive straight into the swamp. Once I got bored with just meadows and forest, I "baby-stepped" it by just skirting the edge and testing combat against skeletons, leeches and draugr.

If you could answer a few items we could help you with strategy:

1. How patient are you with building? With combat?
2. What are your main melee, shield and ranged items? Total armor score?
3. What food do you usually have on hand? Your best recipes?
4. Use portals often? Have you tried just dropping a portal shed quickly after exploring far?

So I've just did a complete wipe. I deleted my main character and all of my worlds and just starting fresh. Now using what I learned through playing I am going to use towards this new world.

I kill most things with a bow. When melee risks getting poisoned, better to kill with ranged. Draugr are really slow moving (until they see you), kind of a blessing for the bow. Can kill leeches with impunity from land that way. But in the swamp, you're always wet, so always in a bit of a weakened state. That's worse at night when both cold and wet, so I avoid the swamp at night.

I don't think 80 hours is that much. The elder is 2nd biome, so that's average 40 hours per biome. At that rate, you'll finish the plains (5th biome) at the 200 hour mark. That's way ahead of me! You might try just doing relaxing things for awhile. I hit a wall with Moder and took a break. I went exploring and sailing, and came back to it later.

The plains biome felt like the biggest difficulty jump for me. Critters are very tough there. I was averaging at least one death per day at first. It's a pretty place, looks very pleasant and tranquil. It is ironically just the opposite. If you are having trouble with the swamp, I fear your reaction to the plains... :)

Tar beasts are the ultimate troll enemy atm, leaping and a high rate of fire ranged attack with knockback, poison and slowdown debuff and both their movement and attack plaster the area in blackness which camouflages their outline against bows. At least their attack doesn't have AoE, it looks like it would.

the tar that they spew out, if you walk over it, It will make you slow down

Game is easy yell if you need help sometime, ill help if my GF doesn't have me held prisoner.

@OP, I totally understand your position. I need to take a break too. I got frustrated because I couldn't find a swamp crypt, spent hours and hours looking, even an entire weekend searching swamps, and was just moments away from using a map tool when I finally found one. it showed me Bonemass location, ok, great, progress again.
I've now finally traveled ALL THE WAY over to it's general location, to find that the it's spawn swamp is surrounded by large plains biomes on both sides. Frustration has returned. I'm in Iron, and can handle swamp mobs, but I'd prefer an outpost next to the swamp (Mead or BF), not at swamp's water edge. I wish the location rune stones would show all the summon locations (I know there's more than one for them). My frustration level is back up at the moment too, so time to take a break.

You can use the Stagbreaker 2-handed weapon to kill leeches with its AoE without having to go into the water.

Originally posted by Beckelhimer:

Thanks everyone!
I think I am just going to have to take a break or just create another world.
It is just getting too stressful for me now and that is something I don't need right now.
I LOVE the crafting and farming the mats but I just can't handle the stress right now.

New world is good idea. You should already have the swamp key. As long as you don't kill Elder you won't get troll raids in new world. Also, after you come back from a break. Take in game breaks too. What I mean is quit the iron mining slog for awhile and just do in game what is most relaxing. There are no deadlines here. My relaxers are sailing (safe routes) that border meadows, then a day or 2 of just hunting deer/boar and saplings for resin, lol.

Even is the sea gets rough, I can find a large rock and just wait it out, as long as I'm not near swamp/plains shoreline, perhaps forest too cause of trolls. But meadows is safe for you, still have to safeguard your boat from boars and necks.

I also find smelting very relaxing in this game for some unknown reason. MY base is also very safe from raids at the moment. I like to just sit up in a tower and wait for next raid when I want to chill.

Making your base as safe as possible is big, cause that gives you no stress unwind time. I honestly don't like the undead. Just find the swamp creapy as hell. Even though I am doing fine in crypts, don't like being in them and all the dreary water dripping. That is partly why 1st thing I did with iron is get 2 more forge upgrades and I plan on upgrading my bronze armour as high as it will go before I get iron. I'll probably be on the edges of mountain biomes before I finish smelting all my iron.

Please no difficulty settings, Diablo 3 is a failure in part because of it. I would suggest you to study the wiki and guides it might help

Well if you play with friends.. it will be harder if you guys are close to each other. My tip is build a base close to the Swamp. get that upp and running so you can smelt and craft Iron gear and weapons and always use good food, 1hp and 2 stam I use everytime and it works.
and yes use those HP and Stam and poisen potions. That is my tip :)

Have you found a turnip yet. If you have (or when you ) you can make a spice rack which opens level 2 cauldron. Then you can make much better food. Ooze shakes, something with blood bags. Helps to have something like 100 life and 110 stamina. Plus you need the mead that resists poison vs blobs.

I built an outpost next to a swamp and then made slightly raised wooden walkway right to a crypt there. Its only raised 1 length of 26 degree staircase, that is enough that axe wielding Draugrs can't attack over it. They have to get on same level as you first. Leeches and blobs were not bad as long as you don't take everything on at once. Only the bow Draugr is a serious threat, and of course bodypiles. Fire arrows work well s body piles.

Just take your time with it. Have a moat around your base for the raids, or a raised earth wall.

Always focus on your food buffs, be aware of your surroundings and build multiple rest-stop bases (a shed with a workbench for repairs). I realize you're on bronze gear but it's good to have secondary gear that can be repaired with the workbench alone. Not sure if you're leveraging portals either but that's important as well and they can give you a quick "out". Personally I build bases on top of swamp crypts as they're indestructible and keep me high and out of the way. Dropping a portal in there gives me easy access to the entire swamp and the first crypt for collecting iron.

I probably have it easier than most as I started out with bows and rarely did melee as I'm an avid FPS player (still 90% of the time use a bow). Always on the move and always looking around. Even after the bow nerfs I can get by with minimal gear and a finewood bow with wood arrows only (I mostly use wooden arrows even with the Draugr and focus on critical shots like the neck for trolls). If bows are a play style you see yourself getting good with or enjoy enough to work on it, I personally think that's the way to go if you get used to the timing.

And by all means abuse using the hoe to level out walkways throughout the swamp so you don't get stuck and assaulted by leeches and draugr wanting to join in on the kill. I usually restore 1 out of every 2 abandoned ruins, whether a tower or a house. Gives me a place to run away to, especially if I drop a portal in there.

You will be fine if u go with rested buff and anti poison potion ( and health potions for emergency ) , sword or mace are the best in swamp
Try to make your trips in boat ( first karv and build fast the longboat ) ,make a portal in the edge of a swamp or in the shore for emergency too
For food try carrot soup / deer stew / minced meat souce , after you get swamp ingredients : turnip stew / sausages / black soup

Thanks everyone!
I think I am just going to have to take a break or just create another world.
It is just getting too stressful for me now and that is something I don't need right now.
I LOVE the crafting and farming the mats but I just can't handle the stress right now.

Also everything that blankitosonic said :) Swamp is a game changer but you don't have to dive straight into the swamp. Once I got bored with just meadows and forest, I "baby-stepped" it by just skirting the edge and testing combat against skeletons, leeches and draugr.

If you could answer a few items we could help you with strategy:

1. How patient are you with building? With combat?
2. What are your main melee, shield and ranged items? Total armor score?
3. What food do you usually have on hand? Your best recipes?
4. Use portals often? Have you tried just dropping a portal shed quickly after exploring far?