Guild Wars.

[Swiss Mercenary]

Sometimes. I'll have to experiment with this more. I'm still not ready to go back to the game yet, but maybe in another week I'll give it one last try before shelving it for hibernation. :P

Usually, I don't get overhwelmed so much as my Henchmen just get slaughtered, and THEN I get overwhelmed. Before, I could overcome this because I was so much stronger, but now that I'm facing mobs in the 8 - 10 range (IIRC I'm 11), they're getting too tough for me to take down in seconds, and Healers only make this situation worse. More often than not, I end up dying trying to save my henchmen, or because I get caught up inbetween a pair of ass-kicking meleers that knock me down over and over - one does it, then the other does it, back and forth like I'm a damn ping-pong ball. That's a surefire death for me, and I usually can't get out of it, or if I do, I die running away. :P Of course, at this point the Warrior is usually dead, which is why I'm getting nailed so bad in the first place, so it's just a matter of seconds before the rest of the henchmen crumple like wet paper bags in a hurricane.

One thing I forgot to mention is reponse to the AI - when the target they are chasing is faster then they are (Read - when you use Dodge), they switch to their next target.

Which is why I always try to bring a speed skill on my character - if I am getting hammered, but the rest of my party is allright, I use it to run away a few meters, the monsters switch target, and I use my self-heals.

You sound as if you are (When you weren't trying to do Althea's Ashes) in the... Shiverpeaks? Yak's Bend? If so, then there's a few basic things to note:

The ice golems are a joke. You can largely ignore the damage they deal.

The Stone Summit Sages really like casting Empathy, which deals BIG (For your level) damage whenever you attack... Since you aren't a monk, and you can't remove it, you are best off not plinking your bow when its on you.

The Stone Summit... Necromancers... Have nasty health-stealing skills that they use when they are injured - so, kill them last.

The rangers and warriors deal average damage. The Snow Ettins deal quite a lot of damage.

The Dolyak Masters can heal others, but not themselves. Two of them can be a problem, but they tend to not use their healing spells very often.

The Beastmasters use an area-of-effect knockdown early in the battle, AND have attacks that knock you down if you try to run away. So, ah, either don't run, or time your escape to be right after they use "Bull's Strike".

The order in which I kill them:

Dolyak Masters
Stone Summit Sages
Snow Ettins
Beastmasters
Rangers
Warriors
Necromancers

Right now, though, it's more a matter of mobs being too closely clumped together than patrols. Patrols I have learned to deal with, through much hard-earned experience (read: I died a LOT). But when there's three groups of mobs all within a very small radius, each comprising of 3 - 4 mobs themselves, it can get VERY tricky to pull them apart, especially if the Warrior rushes off to hit them. Worse, if they're ranged, then it's almost a certainty that the Warrior will end up aggroing the rest if I'm not careful. So, it's more a limitation of my party and the setup of the monsters than anything else. I can't do anything about that - it's part of the challenge of the game, and poor henchmen... well, that's not MY fault. :P I need to try more to get a PuG, but got sick of waiting around trying to get one when no one wanted to go.
There is such a thing? Besides, I'm at the end of the quest by the time I hit the biggest wall right now. The problem is I die too many times getting there that me and my whole party die in 3 hits, period, because we have -60% on us. :P I need to try that quest more (Althea's Ashes) to try and make it through alive more. Maybe gain some levels first so I'm tougher?

Each level is +20 health, and a few attribute points. Insignificant. What skills you have access on will make the biggest difference, character-power wise, and the tactics you use will have to make up for the rest.

Healers usually only prove a problem if I can't take them down easily.

Distracting Shot - if this shot hits, it deals 1-9 damage, and disables the skill the target is using for 20 seconds.

You should really look into this skill. It should have been given to you after you completed the Charr Supply Lines quest in Piken Square.

Takes care of Healing Signet and Heal Area - the two most powerful self-heals that you will encounter in this point of the game.

"Named Mobs", or what I think are, generally are nigh-impossible without help due to self-healing. Otherwise, sooner or later they will crumple to the Warrior's blows backed by my repeated use of Lava Font and Flare. The problem is getting to them, when they're perched on ledges surrounded by un-aggroed mobs, as my arrows don't do enough damage (even enchanted) to outweigh their healing.

Hence, rather then trying to overcome their healing, try to use what I have outlined to disable their healing.

Note - Althea's Ashes is a special case. It's a very, very evil level design. It really is. I once again implore you to return later.

As another note, I do not advise using Flare on a R/E. It's really a second-rate damage skill for a primary elementalist, let alone on a character with less mana, and natural bow attacks. I do recommend Fire Storm. Lava Font is nice at this point in the game.

If for whatever reason you want something else, then get Pheonix from a trainer in Grenditch Courthouse - an outpost a little ways west of the entrance into the Charr Flame Temple (Where Althea's Ashes are kept). Don't be afraid to buy it - I do not believe any of the skills there can be gotten for free through quests.

If you want to take a look at where it is exactly, there is a map of the area surrounding Ascalon here:

*SPOILER - EVERYTHING AROUND ASCALON IS FULLY UNCOVERED - SPOILER*

http://www.gwonline.net/images/cartography...lonoutlined.php