SureAI

Hi all, I'm doing the side quest you get in the tavern in the foreign quarter that involves going into Fort Fogwatch in the Whisperwood. the problem is, both the Whisperwood and Fogwatch seem much harder than the rest of the game has been, so I'm wondering if I'm just not to the proper level - however I'm at the point in the main quest that takes you through that same area so . . .

I'm currently at Level 19, focusing on heavy armor and one-handed sword and shield combat and as such my appreciable combat skills have been raised to base levels of:

One-Handed 32
Block 27
Heavy Armor 30

and when combined with bonuses from wearing all of the Ratcatcher set (except for the body piece, I'm wearing Rune Armor there) they are:

One-Handed 33
Block 27
Heavy Armor 44

I can't recall off hand what my skill-tree assignments are - alot in the center and right branches of the "warrior" (I guess) skill tree. I don't have too much trouble taking on one or two enemies, but in Fogwatch you frequently get three or more pulled unless you game the AI - which I don't really like to do.

Shields seem so worthless in this game (I'm using a Rune Shield) I'm wondering if I should move on to focusing on two-handed weapons. It seems nearly every strike an enemy makes is a charge strike to knock the shield away, even with the "block arrows" skill unlocked I may as well not try to block arrows - feels like a wasted learning point - and archers keep to their bows even when you're right on them and then still have perfect on-a-dime tracking so they shoot you in the face the minute you stop trying to circle them (feels like I'm playing Dark Souls 2 here).

I don't know if I'm just misunderstanding combat, have screwed up a character build, need to find better armor (where? I've been exploring dungeons, mines, etc. for crying out loud), or just level up more, which frankly would be boring since all the sidequests I have left are at least (***) which tells me they're at the same difficulty level as where I am now, so I'm stuck just wandering hoping to come across an undiscovered mine or something.

Ambrosia is so expensive and non-existant as loot (in my experience, I can count on one hand the number of Ambrosia bottles I've found in all the caves I've been in), that I really feel this arcane fever mechanic is broken which makes any kind of healing during combat worthless.

Any suggestions?

Re Ambrosia, I have found quite a lot of it in the many dungeons, caves, forts, etc., usually one bottle in almost every one. Usually you have to search very carefully to find it, often in some place that is out of sight such as a ledge or pit, but I have more than I can use. I rarely use "found" or "bought" healing potions, I use alchemy to make my own which don't raise arcanic fever. I rely quite heavily on using food to restore health, especially the type you make at a hearth such as soups, roasts, etc., or the ones you can buy from a bakery such as nut rolls, etc.

If you are level 19, I would suggest you haven't explored as much as you might think. In my first play-through, I did all the side quests and explored everywhere I could, and I was about level 75 before I started the main quests (i.e. going with Jasper to the Sun Temple, etc.).

I don't know about shields, I just equip one for the armor bonus but I don't try to block. I mostly use bows & 2H, but I haven't used blocking in any of the Elder scrolls games, as shields don't impress me much.

You didn't mention what difficulty you are playing -- adept (normal) or one of the higher ones. I think the game is easier if you rely more on doing as much damage as possible at a distance (from stealth, with bows and spells). If you are having mostly close-up battles with 1H, for me that would be very difficult.

Re heavy armor, the Ratcatcher set is rather low-level. I checked my chest for "set" heavy armor for my old character, and found my heavy body armors as follows: Ratcatcher 34, Selna's 48, Fallen 58, Skaragg 78 (levels as shown in the chest, not as equipped).