Is It Normal...

Is it normal for me to be dying so much? I'm level 24 and I'm being killed by mobs that are level 16-17! What am I doing wrong? Is it because I'm not using the pre-made AA build or something?

First thing I'd look at is your gear. Is it appropriate for your level. Also, what class are playing? Casters of all sorts are squishier than the rest. AA spec can make a huge difference too. So, to make a good guess, we probably need more info from you.

You shouldn't be dying to that level unless you are over pulling and using old gear.

Well I'm playing a Shadowknight at level 24 all my gear is level 20 except a few bracelets and such. What other kind of information do you need? You could look my character up on EQ2U. Zamoth Tyrant Level 24 Shadowknight.

No you shouldnt died that much at 24 except for 3 things i can think of: pulling excessive amount of mobs, dont have a mercenary or using wrong spells those that take hp from them and give to u specially r important.They just change the AA formula so more is better but u should have enough that green dont hit u that hard.

Yeah I should probably try using a mercenary...

Your armor has no stats on it. That's a huge issue and you've got a bunch of empty slots.
Hand crafted armor at lvl 20 has 10 str and 10 sta and 150 mitigation for the breastplate. Your current one has no str or sta and only 108 mitigation. The rest of your armor is similar.
Your jewelry is equally important. Also get yourself a bow (for the stats, at least) and some food and drink.

There is no need for mercs at lower levels unless you're vastly undergeared or pull lots of mobs above your level.

So should I buy new armor from an armorsmith or find some while questing?

Either would be better then what you've got. If you know an armor smith, I'd start there. That will give you an easier time while you quest for better.

EQ2 is a very gear centric game. As you quest in the level that you are now, you’ll pick up quest gear that may or may not be better. But find a source for armor or level a crafter up and make your own.

Example of Mastercrafted Jewelry http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Pristine_Fashioned_Palladium_Bangle

Level 22 (Rare) Master Crafted Steel Vanguard Plate http://eq2.eqtraders.com/articles/article_page.php?article=g371&menustr=065000000000

Level 20 (Common) Handcrafted Carbonite Vanguard Plate http://eq2.eqtraders.com/articles/article_page.php?article=g348&menustr=065000000000

You can compare the difference to what you are wearing / using. Go for Strength and Stamina as the main stats for your SK

Question. Why did you not use the 1-20 starting gear that is given for quests? Even the 1-10? By default it has stats, is enough for a new player and is continued in bucher block and can be supplumented with gear from agnostics...but just doing the quests they reward class gear even the 1-10 give stat gear. Then there is the level 20 armor quests. Also buck naked with say vitta you wont die. Cant unless you work at it.

I dont mean to imply your a troll, but if say your in darklight woods where you apear on starting, and you kill a few things and kick a small rock in a hole for a quest, you get stat gear. If what people in this thread are saying is true you have none. I dont see how this could be.

Unless...your vendoring the quest gear and random chest drops you would get even if you ignored all quests from level 1.

I should have look at your armor its like you didnt do the questline in darklight wood gear is level 20 for the most part but pratically no strength or stamina which is what u need as a sk. Even where u appear in hate's fury the first few quest give u gear with stats.Since u r in the 20s i would hurry to start doing quest in butcherblock which is where u should be at ur level. you can also start the questline in nektulos forest where the globe brings u first. Look for feathers on the map the main questline is mostly done by the dark elf just at the fringe of the beach before you enter the path going inland.

No your right, I just assumed if I made my own armor it would be better... turns out I was wrong.

I'll have to get back on track with my quests, I looked up the custom fitted armor quest timeline that begins in Freeport. You think that's a good place to get back on track? Or should I go back to neriak and darklight woods?

I honestly just don't play a whole lot of MMORPG's... complete rookie.

Looks like you need help. Ok many choices. First did you level your crafting.If yes, to what level if you scroll up this thread one person link some gear that was crafted. You can go to a forge and see if you can make some of those armor.Might be a bit difficult since your new. Second choices might be to delete this character and start over with a new sk and this time do the questline either in gorowyn or darklight wood. 3rd choice would be to use a chronomage and lets say lower ur character to level 5 and start the questline again.If you choose the crafting part you gonna need to learn to harvest also unless u want to buy the whole thing who might be expensive since u just started.Might be a good idea to find a casual guild that can help you. Can be overwhelming at first because theres so much to learn.

These days I consider merc a necessity as far as having a healer and tank type of combo. If your a healer you get a tank type merc and any other class get a healer merc to heal and rez you then its pretty hard to die even killing yellow and some barley red mobs and long as you dont over pull and know how to setup and play your duo. There will be people saying you dont need a merc and they are right for most classes but not as fun to me taking on the harder mobs. There is very little xp taking from kill with a merc and you get 100% of quest xp when you turn them in. The merc are cheap at low levels to use!

Actually, if you've got a mec up, you lose about 50% of the kill xp.

That crazy I use mercs all the time Bro!

Crazy or not, it's true. Kill a mob with the merc up then kill the same mob without the merc up. You'll see the difference. It's part of the reason I never run with mercs unless I need to. I've got friends who always run with them though. No right or wrong way,just however you have the most fun.

Again I have more fun and kill much harder content when I am playing solo and that my preferred method, I never use in groups unless group needs one to do well and I agree most fun would be having people running me around and power leveling me but I was taking ops post on dieing solo situation. I like see those 50xp loss numbers can you post them?