Let me begin by saying that I am not anywhere near a top-tier
player of this game. I had my first Hero in 2009. I also fully
and completely understand where you're coming from.

I remember having a utility/offense shifter back around then
and I landed what I thought would be a great form to get some
kills with. My "Victim" approached and two-rounded me. WTF?
This sort of thing was happening constantly.

So, I said "screw it," I want to learn how to fight. I decided to
learn from the best. I rolled up an Arial dagger-spec (ambitious for
a total noob), named him after a winner of The World Series of Poker
and struggled mightily to kill that first mage, but finally I did.


Being an applicant was awful, but I struggled through that as well.
Eventually Dastmalchi was inducted into The BattleRagers, Haters of
Magic (by an amazing Drillmaster I recently learned was played by
Borkahd) and I was head-first into the deep-end of CF.

Keep in mind that I didn't know how to get to the Nexus Island or The
Chasm or pretty much anywhere. I would grab onto a group and hang on
for dear life. Potions of Recall were out of the question, so getting
lost was a matter of sink-or-swim. The entire game had become
"no-recall" and that safety net was gone.

I now had Resistance, which all of a sudden made me at least 30%
tougher. I had Field Dressing, which meant I could flee, patch and
come back with another hundred HP. Basically, there were skills in
place that now made surviving possible much of the time. Granted, I
was still getting killed a ton, but no one was two-rounding me.

I was immersed into cabal politics and I RPed my heart out. I got
lastnamed, even. I fought in The Rites and even managed to almost
beat the character that would next become Commander. It was awesome.

Finally I deleted because Arial Dagger Defender was still to fragile
at Hero for someone as unskilled as I was, but I was fully cognizant
that I had taken a huge step forward. My next character was a Dwarf
Sword/Whip Berserker and I will never forget being summoned on
Eastern Road by an AP, spellbaning their first attack and
subsequently two-rounding them. Feels good, man.

Now, three years later I've had several well-regarded, well-liked
characters, one Drillmaster, a tattoo, two role-contest winners, and
the recent epiphany that once you get some key skills under your belt
you can make anything you want out of this game, which is what makes
it so great.

Playing Battle is playing CF stripped down. You don't prep, you can
only travel by foot, you can have very little progging-gear, you
can't heal at healers, you can't use half the items in the game,
but...you will learn how play.

My advice to you is to play a Villager to Hero. It really is a
sink-or-swim scenario and it's a fantastic way to join the fray.

Jump in headfirst.