I'm Kayla Swiftrider, a lvl 79 Balance wizard. I am currently working through the Wild in Avalon (so still pretty early on in the world) but I am consistently having trouble with boss battles. I can't solo anything despite my relatively high level for the world. Does anyone have suggestions for what to do with my deck, gear, etc to make this go better?
Also, I've been attempting the lvl 78 Balance pet quest "It!" and have been repeatedly dying. If anyone has advice for that specific quest, too, I'd love to hear it.
My humble apologies for the rather uncomforting experience you've been having so far. You mentioned a few issues you believe are the root of the problem. So, let's divulge into these, shall we?
Gear - Do you've waterworks gear? If not, I recommend it. Otherwise, you've a few other options. If you're into farming, try running House of Scales and giving Ammit the Devourer a round or two. He drops decent level 60+ Balance Gear as well. You can also look into crafting for more than acceptable gear for your level as well. Lewelyn in Dun Dora has two level 76+ balance hats (each giving resistances to either of the elemental or spiritual schools) and a level 74+ robe. I recommend purchasing and crafting all three pieces of gear. The reagents are a little hefty though requiring some amounts of sunstone, but, it worth it!
Shoes from the Professor Hoard's Pack or Gulture Hoard's Pack complements the set really well. Your wand is also important. If you've crowns, try investing in the above mentioned packs, or simple the Immortal Lore Pack etc. Finally, for jewelry, I recommend the Courtly Dirk from Shane MacGobhann or just simply get the level 56+ school only athame and ring from the Bazaar which gives good boost to pips, health and damage. Crafted rings and athame from Vestrilund is also a good option. Space....
I soloed a Balance through Avalon ... but that was way back when the world was first released. A lot has changed since then. Currently, I have an Ice and Myth in the Wyrd and the Wild, respectively. What is working for them is to have the best possible gear, and a helpful pet.
If you don't already have it, you may want to get Waterworks gear. It's a popular farming place for level 60 gear. Having at least the robe and hat will greatly improve your accuracy, resistance and critical/block. Boost up your crafting levels, then consider crafting one of the rings/athames from Grizzleheim's Vestriland ... or one of the rings/athames for sale by the leprechaun in the Wild. Both are good options.
The next step is working on a pet that will help you in battle. The fashionable thing right now is pets with all damage, all critical or all resistance talents. Don't buy into the hype! Because you are soloing the game, you will find that a pet with a combination of resistances (Spell Proof, Spell Defy,) and "may-cast" talents does you the most good. Try to find a pet that combines spell proof with defense talents such as Fairy, Spritely, Unicorn, Energizing Battery, Tower Shield, etc.
Having a healing/support pet will give you breathing room to set up a slower but high damage hit.
Use your high health, your resistances (like the triple-shields), and your healing spells to keep yourself alive while you patiently wear the enemy down. That's how Ice wins, and Balance is well-positioned to play an Ice-like strategy. Be sure to kill the minion first.
Hopefully someone else will chime in with battle tactics for your level. It's been so long I don't remember how I played my Balance at that point. (I do recall she struggled a lot in Azteca and Khrysalis, however. It does get rough for Balance until we get Nested Fury at level 110).
Now that you've a blueprint for your gear, now comes your deckS
Noticed, I've the 's' there capitalized, this is because of the importance of having more than one deck. You'll need a deck for:
Bosses Mobs Support
So, about three decks. You can take it a step further and have one specifically for elemental bosses and the other for spiritual bosses.
Boss Deck - Your boss deck should comprise of all the tools needed to not only efficiently defend yourself from incoming attacks, but tools needed to build up and dish out massive outgoing attacks. It should never be a goal to fill all card slots within PvE Decks, no. You're aim is just to place the spells necessary to dispatch the enemy in the shortest amount of time possible.
Mob Deck - You only need a few cards here. Couple enchants, AoE's (Sandstorms, Nova, Ra), charms (Balance Blades, bladestorm), traps (Feint, hex), a available hands or two if things get sticky, and berserk. Nothing more really. One or two Judgement and Scorpions too in case enemies survive with low health.
Support - You may at times find yourself working within a team, as such, you may need a deck solely geared at helping your teammate(s) out. Here, you would make use of all your blades, shields and heals. Weaknesses too.
The issue with balance, is they have to power build due to low boosting blades and no way to cleanse them off without blowing your power stack. Have Cleanse Charm in your TC deck, use the L56 WT crafted hat to give you another blade, use a pet that gives you a blade, and now you have 3 stacking blades for free (0 pips). You could also use bladestorm, of course, but that eats a pip.
Alia Misthaven, 124