Ok, so I just hit level 45 as a Necro. My gear is all level 12 or so, which means I am getting absolutely obliterated in the second to last dungeon.
I am not sure if I am doing something wrong. The first hit by enemies are doing nearly 1000 damage to which my 300 armour isn’t helping at all.
I feel like I have been paying attention and leveling stuff up as I go, but this seems low and kind of backwards. I should have enough armour to last more than a hit and dying on the first enemy’s hit is getting old.
The damage enemies inflict on the player are a function of both the level of the opponent and the difference between your gear score and the gear score rating of the level you are attempting. If the enemy’s gear score is higher than yours, then the enemies in that level will receive a damage bonus based upon the that gap.
You can see that damage bonus by clicking/tapping on the “?” on the Enemy Score diamond before starting the level in question.
Looking at the second to last dungeon, Skullguard Keep, the base damage rating for non-boss opponents are in the 380-400 point range. If you are getting hit for almost 1000 damage (non-boss, non-crit), your gear score must be very far below the 1575 rating of the dungeon.
Gear score is a combination of all the player’s offensive item levels (weapon and equipped spells) and defensive item levels (shield, armor, accessories). You may need to work on farming specific weapon/spell/armor upgrades out of previous dungeons (and then leveling them up) to increase your gear score to reduce incoming damage to you. By the 2nd to last dungeon, you should be in at least a leveled blue-tier (Rare) set of weapons and armor at level 25. If you have access to Soulchaser (weapon/shield), Toragon (armor), Gemka (accessories), at Xione (spells) at level 35, you could also devote ore to them in an attempt for them to roll a purple (Epic) piece of equipment, which you could then raise to 35 for a greater advantage against the dungeon.
How in the world is it possible that I’ve progressed so far and am still using level 10 gear? I have everyone creating items all the time and still only getting common items.
If your follower levels are very low, then they will generate common things the majority of the time unfortunately.
Leveling up followers requires their crystals, which is their primary roadblock. Currently, the best way to obtain additional crystals is to replay story mode on other character classes. Although, there is supposed to be a new way to obtain follower crystals in the next update, which stands a good chance of arriving early this week.
Everything is really out of balance right now. So you are not doing anything wrong. It’s just early and weird. Until balance changes happen, you want to focus on your spell build. Your best best is mono color and 50 mana spells.
you either want a spell that may cause a stun, or spells that convert gems on the board to your main spell colors to get an 8 gem string across the board that will stun the enemy for a turn. chaining stuns is basically the only way to get through more difficult content.
I must have been in a hurry when I read this before, sorry. Anyway…
It sounds like your necro is your first hero to reach this point in the game? If so, you are not doing as bad as you think you are. The first playthrough is obnoxiously hard in the last two chapters, and necro is one of the harder classes to do first. It was my first hero, and I remember really struggling there at the end of the story
Can you survive the first (non critical) hit from the first enemy in the dungeon? If not, you have to find a way to improve your armor number and/or your starting mana. Dragonguard breastplate might help with starting armor and Dragonguard helm plus bone rings are the gear to seek to max your starting mana. Other helpful gear will be Savior’s shield and Dwarven necklace. For weapons, I like ones that raise your power via matching. Like Royal Longsword and Guard’s Broadsword. Basically, its not so much about the level of your gear, as it is about what your gear does. This is a handy guide for where to find specific gear: [GUIDE] Dungeon Gear Drops by Chapter
Once you’ve worked out surviving that first non critical hit… you want to shoot for a single color spell load out. That is tough to do on first hero without farming for spells. My favorite spell set for my necro is: Channel Ice, Cold Snap, Ray of Frost and Frost bolt. Legion of Doom could replace Frost Bolt, to make better use of your ultimate.
What you are aiming for is to end every turn with either a stun, a barrier, or a chip kill (kill from matching gems). Try not to kill with a spell if you can help it, because you hope to have full mana for the next enemy.
There is still going to be a luck factor, and some reloading to get good starting boards. Good luck! Edit: blurred some details that might be considered TMI/spoilerish.