Their skills go up really slow unless, like I said being really familiar with them helps, you know specifically how to work on the really important skills. Orcs have lots of enemies and they mostly tank with their faces, so quite often times they can be a bitch to level up even with the low exp penalty. Orcs really are not for everyone, though I do think they are hellishly fun to plan, so understand what you mean when you say "can't I just play an orc and enjoy it?". Transmuters can be seriously one of the most annoying classes to deal with dude, that's nothing new. When I was in that imperial muter's range I had a separate set of gear on hand that I put if I ever noticed he was logged in. You just need to figure out how you're going to deal with them. Don't spam commands in fights, but do spam who and where as often as you can so they don't get the jump on you. CF always has been and always will be a tough game because of things like dangerous stealthy characters. Try to stay chill, stay frosty. Good luck.