Solo quest question

[Alricstorm]

Are the quests flagged solo thatare 5th and higher supposed to be soloable by someone that is 8th level or do I need to be an over geared twink alt of my 4th 16th level character?

Hey if I suck that bad at playing this game just let me know up front and I can fix that little problem with one click.

[Magnyr_Delorn]

It depends entirely on the class you are soloing with first and foremost, then secondly the quest you are attempting to solo. Some classes just make LOUSY soloing classes at lower levels(casters in particular, rogues, etc) and at higher levels, that reverses so that casters reign supreme.

If you'd be willing to have a conversation with me, perhaps I can ameliorate your frustration.



P.S. I thought the word "ameliorate" was pretty much unusable in today's society, until Kate used it yesterday! I'm happy! "Ameliorate" is making a comeback, if I can just remember how to pronounce it... Is it "pronounce it how it looks?"

[Delt]

There is very little solo content out there (Depths, lotta undead stuff in K & J), but what is there I've tried. The only one I've missed is Ghost of a Chance.

It's about as easy as it gets...it should be doable by anyone. Unlimited shrines, low incoming damage, traps that barely scratch... I'm not goin to say you suck, but if you aren't elaborating, no one is gonna give you a constructive answer either.

Based on your previous posts, you have at least a rogue and a ranger...so I guess my original thought ("low con, non-warforged wiz/sorc with crappy spell selection might have trouble") is out.

Rogs can be terrible soloers if built incorrectly (or if you prefer, built as fragile trap monkeys with no UMD), but your ranger can self heal...so if it's your ranger that can't solo, something is definately wrong.

*shrug*

[geoffhanna]

It is my experience that the quests with Solo as an option are doable at the level they state. Not always easily and not always the first time, yet still, doable.

I used to solo a lot at those levels, but it has been awhile.

Which one is giving you trouble?

[Fenrisulven6]

Yes, which solo quests? I'm a noob with only one character so far [5th].

I can run it solo to confirm whether its broken or not.

[Draccus]

I would guess it completely depends on the class. My pure rogue couldn't solo some of the level 5-6 quests in House K when he was level 8. There are a few reasons I struggled:
1. Rogues aren't great soloists. Our primary attack is usually just useable once in a fight and isn't enough to make a huge difference when facing more than a couple monsters.
2. House K quests are primarily undead and elementals. Those are some of the toughest enemies for a rogue to fight because of their complete immunity to our greatest attack.
3. I wasn't geared for soloing. This is my one and only character so I didn't have an armory of quest-specific weapons to draw from when facing a solo quest.
4. 95% + of the dungeons in DDO have features which make it extremely difficult for a rogue to solo while barely impacting other classes. I don't think these features are intentionally designed to make it tough for rogues but it works. Those features include:
a) Dropping needless spiders or oozes into a dungeon. These monster types seem to be "filler mobs." When a designer has an empty spot in a dungeon, he drops spiders or oozes. These monsters prevent stealthing past many encounters.
b) Requiring a certain number of monsters to be killed to complete a quest. I'm not sure why the designers seem to be so dead set against "stealthing" a quest but there are a lot of quests with clear, interesting objectives ("Recover the stolen amulent!") which seem like perfect covert operations but then they throw in a needless manditory objective ("Oh, and while you're in there, kill 50 monsters!") Bah.
c) Tiny jumps. A stealthed character can't jump...period. It doesn't matter if the jump is 1 pixel higher than what can be climbed; a stealthed character cannot jump. Adding a spot that requires a person to jump forces the rogue out of stealth and then the entire dungeon population attacks.
d) Doors and levers with static mobs. Making a rogue open a door with non-moving monsters in front of it ensures a head-to-head fight that rogues try to avoid. These doors can easily be guarded by roving monsters that will at least give the rogue a shot to time his movements to avoid the guard...you know...kinda like a real thief.

I'm not sure why the DDO designers seem to have these things in place. Maybe it's laziness, maybe it's lack of understanding of how rogues work or maybe it's intentional. A solo rogue isn't going to destroy game balance. Stealthing a quest typically takes longer than waiting for a group would have but for some of us it's FUN. Playing a rogue like a ROGUE is slow and nerve-wracking but that's the wy some of us like to play. It's not like other classes can't solo more efficiently. I have a friend playing an untwinked, healer-spec'd cleric who solo'd Vile Apothecary on Hard at level 8. My rogue couldn't get past the third encounter on Normal at level 10.

(that being said, once I hit 12 and got the assassination ability, soloing slayer areas became viable again)

[Impaqt]

Its been my experience that "Solo" Difficuty can be solo'd by any class regardless of twink level by a level appropriet character. I generally dont twink my characters until level 4 or 5(Asside for a Healing wand or 2 and a few plat "Just in case") and generally hit everything on at least Normal Solo up my level.

[Leyoni]

IMO most low level quests are easily soloed by any class presuming the player has made provision for soloing in character design, spell selection and play style.

This continues to be the case thru the first 5 or 6 character levels provided the player is cautious and smart in what they are doing.

Obviously there are some quests where multiple players are required in order to work switches and such. But for the most part smart play and good character design will get thru without inordinate problems. This is especially true for quests labeled "solo".

Complaints about rogues not being able to solo reflects a huge misapplication of the rogue's abilities. I have absolutely no trouble soloing quests on my rogue as long as I don't get over-confident.