Survivor title guide

Overview
The Survivor title is currently unique among the titles in that progress may be forever halted, thus making the title unobtainable for that character. To obtain the title, one must earn a number of experience while having the /deaths command return 0. In order for a death to count, damage or degeneration must take the character to 0 Health. Thus, the following are known exceptions in which your character "dies" but does not count against the title: Note that you do not lose an aquired title upon dying. After your first death, the progress bar simply will no longer move.
 * The forced death during the Mantid Hatchlings quest.
 * Losing a mission due to a failed mission goal (such the death of an NPC or a timer running out).
 * Your team using the /resign command.
 * Forced deaths during cinematics such as at the end of the Vizunah Square mission. (although there are multiple reports that unbound minions during the cinematic have caused actual deaths).
 * Being crushed under the smashers in Sorrow's Furnace.

The experience levels for the various tiers of the title are as follows:

! Title || Experience gained without dying:
 * - align="center" valign="top"
 * - align="center"
 * Survivor || 140,600
 * - align="center"
 * Indomitable Survivor || 587,500
 * - align="center"
 * Legendary Survivor (Max level) || 1,337,500
 * }

The Survivor title is achieved at level 20. The higher titles seem to be gained near "virtual" levels 50 and 100, although Legendary is off slightly to align with the "leet" aspect.

While these numbers may seem daunting to achieve, there are ways to improve both your survivability and speed.

Practice Makes Perfect
Nothing will improve your ability to survive better than playing the game before attempting the title. Battle tactics and build strategies improve, thus enemy mobs die faster. You also begin to memorize skills enemies use and the best way to counter them. You also learn to recognize a losing battle and how to react before falling dead.

If you want to survive, know what you're up against. Learn how each mission operates before trying to take your Survivor through. Many explorables and missions have tricks and traps that can easily doom an unexpecting character. With practice, you'll notice missions that you used to fail over and over are no longer as hard. Read the associated wiki pages to pick up tips and tricks others have found to make missions easier and try them with another character until you feel comfortable with them.

Leave an escape route. While it may be tempting to logout when it looks like death is near, your character may be sitting on the server for a few seconds helplessly being attacked and perhaps killed before the final cutoff message is processed. Also, most players do not appreciate their team mates quitting. Learn to leave plenty of running room, perhaps killing enemies you might otherwise be able to avoid just to make sure you have somewhere to run in a later battle. With practice, you'll learn to recognize when things are turning for the worse and when to pull back.

Note: Calling targets will make you the prime focus of the enemies initial attacks in most PvE situations. This can prove especially challenging for players who use henchmen rather than other players as party members, as you have to initialize combat. If you are the target caller, you will need to target foes, and pull back immediately after the first hit (leaving team mates to absorb the melee assault, and minimize the damage you take from casters and rangers). Preparation is not an option. Leave yourself a clear escape route, and be prepared to use it at any given moment. Be mindful of team mates's positions, and hold your retreat once you are out of the main fight, to provide some support for your team mates, henchmen and/or minions. This approach may not be acceptable to many players in your group, so it is a good idea to confirm your intentions with your team before venturing into combat. Alternatively, It would be better to simply avoid being in a group that requires you to call targets.

Choose Your Companions Wisely
If you want to stay alive, you'll need dependable teammates to help you through. Even the best players will fall if not properly supported. You do not know the skill level of most of the players in the game, so if you join a random group, you may be placing your character's life in the hands of someone inexperienced. Thus, it is recommended to travel with a group of friends, guild mates, or alliance mates you trust. Let them know you are going for the Survivor title and thus want to avoid any risky maneuvers. If starting a fresh character, friends may also want to try for the title as well and thus you can put together a group of trusted individuals with the same goal.

For those comfortable using them, henchmen can also provide reliable support. While the AI is notorious for poor decision making at times, it does operate in a very predictable manner. They always follow the player, follow targets quite well, and usually disengage from battle when the player runs away. However, to use them effectively requires a good amount of practice in itself, as you act as a commander in battle as well as a participant in it (see note on calling targets). Henchmen healers also have an advantage over human monks because they have instant reflexes and usually start casting the healing spell that could save your life before a human ally would.

Choose Your Role
Depending on your profession, different play styles may increase your risk. A frontline assassin is at much greater risk getting caught in multiple Afflicted Soul Explosions than the same profession playing a A/R Critical Barrager. Likewise a necromancer with touch skills is much more likely to be overwhelmed by melee foes than a minion master who has an army of undead meatshields. Learn what you can do with your profession to reduce the general risk of dying while still making yourself an asset to the team.


 * Rt/N: The Ritualist primary profession is useful for protective Binding Rituals (e.g. Union, Shadowsong, Recuperation, Shelter, and the elite Preservation) along with Weapon Spells (e.g. Resilient Weapon, Weapon of Warding, Vengeful Weapon, Vital Weapon, and the elite Spirit Light Weapon). Bring Generous Was Tsungrai for massive self healing (always a must for Survivors). The Necromancer secondary is useful for Blood Magic skills (e.g. Life Siphon, Unholy Feast, Vampiric Swarm, Well of Blood, and the elites Well of Power or Life Transfer); but for offensive power, Curses, such as the elite Spiteful Spirit are recommended, as few other strategies can help you survive better than killing off a mass of creatures quickly.

Tips on Gaining Experience

 * Scrolls: These will give you extra experience while adding no more risk to your battles for a moderate cost in gold.
 * Elite skill captures: At 5,000 xp each, a mere 20 elites will give you 100,000 towards your title. Once you can change your secondary, constantly swap it to capture what you can.
 * Augury Rock (Mission): Aim to complete this mission, as it is unique with a 50,000 xp reward. Make sure you read the associated Guide to defeating doppelganger before attempting it with an unfamiliar class.
 * Raze the Roost: This quest has a high 10,000 xp reward at the cost of two platinum.
 * Befriending the Luxons and Befriending the Kurzicks both reward 10,000 xp, and the work may be done with other characters on your account.
 * Reduce your group size: If you travel with a smaller group, you will gain more experience per kill. Keep in mind this may greatly increase the chance of death, so only do so at your own risk.
 * Quest hoarding: Experience from monster kills is relative to your own level, while experience from quests and missions is always flat. If you delay accepting quest rewards until level 20, you will have slightly more experience than someone who immediately accepts all rewards. However, this may also cause you to be a lower level for longer, thus slightly increasing the risk. After level 20, there is no reason to do this.
 * Farming: After all the missions and quests are done, find a place and build you can use to safely gain experience. Methods include performing Repeatable Quests or finding a group of high-level critters you can consistently kill (such as the Mountain Trolls in Talus Chute). This is most likely the most boring method, so it is highly recommended to find alternate means of gaining experience first.
 * Faction farming: Faction farming on the Kurzick side include doing the quest Securing Echovald Forest over and over. In such faction farming groups, a player can perform the role of a door man (see the article Team - Lutgardis FFF, for details). This provides the player with 2,000 experience every 3-5 minutes... One of the fastest rates of experience gain out there. There is a similar quest on the Luxon side named Scout the Coast.

Warning About Lag/Health Buffer Zone
The survivor titles have been jokingly referred to as a second Lucky title due to the belief by many that you are more likely to lose this title due to lag than you are by lack of skill when trying. It is important to note that if you start experiencing any type of lag while playing towards this title, you should quit immediately and spend your time with another character until the lag subsides. Even though the game is instanced, a player can still (and many often do) experience lag in a solo instance with no other players in it. The belief that a solo instance operates solely on your own computer is incorrect.

It is also recommended that you keep some sort of pre-determined buffer zone in your health bar, such as 1/4 health left. If you go below your buffer zone, you should map out of the area (if that was your plan), because that is probably the worst time (and most likely time) to experience lag.

Heed this warning. Many people have lost their title (or subsequent title) purely due to the game's various lag spikes, even on a single-player instance. It could mean the difference between having the title and not having the title.