Total Solo Play

[Grayold]

Does anyone know how much total solo content the game has? I am at lvl 4 (Cleric) and wondered how may more solo quests are available.

[Ghoste]

Solo setting, or soloable?

Nearly everything is soloable, except for some raids and a small number of quests, but they sure aren't the same as solo setting.

[Grayold]

Can Dungeons marked with 3 or more players, which there seem to be a lot of, be played with a hirling and me solo? This is if I play on Normal mode.

[Visty]

if you have a hireling, you aren solo
/nipicking off

yes, you can enter a dungeon on any setting with only 1
you can even run elite solo (if you can survive it)

[Cedwin]

Can Dungeons marked with 3 or more players, which there seem to be a lot of, be played with a hirling and me solo? This is if I play on Normal mode.

The 3 or more players are the "suggested" number of players.

You can go into any quest by yourself, even raids.

Dungeon Scaling works on all quests, so if you go into a quest on normal, it will be scaled down to be easier if you are by yourself, effectively making Normal the new Solo mode.

[Montrose]

There are a handful of quests that are designed to require more people (VON5, the annoying one in the necropolis where you need 4 people to stand on 4 markers, etc)

Some of these can be done with hirelings and/or creative use of ddoor. Others can be done with summon monster+dispell+flesh to stone+ddoor (I'm looking at you Xorian Cypher).

Realistically there are very few quests that you can't eventually complete if you are willing to re-enter a quest.

[Schmoe]

I have a level 5 ranger, and so far I've been able to solo pretty much every quest I've tried. So far, the only one I tried that I couldn't solo was Kobold Assault when I was 3rd. That is a LOT of kobolds :)

Especially as a cleric, I think you'll be able to have a good time soloing new quests for a long time to come.

[MysterX]

I have a level 5 ranger, and so far I've been able to solo pretty much every quest I've tried. So far, the only one I tried that I couldn't solo was Kobold Assault when I was 3rd. That is a LOT of kobolds :)

Especially as a cleric, I think you'll be able to have a good time soloing new quests for a long time to come.

I finally managed to solo kobold assault elite on my cleric when I hit lvl 9 and picked up Greater Command & Flame Strike ... those little suckers are the death of 1,000 nicks with all their grazing hits, you need the right combination of buff spells to keep safe from the shamans, and I got worried when I ran out of mana at around 90 kills, but eventually I was able to sneak up to the shrine and refill....

it still took WAY too long, and I used up most of a CLW wand on myself trying to get back to the shrine, but clerics definitely have a nice toolbox for solo runs. One of these days I'll find a way to open that 4-rune door in that Necropolis dungeon... when I'm tired of patching people up, its always fun to go run some old quest full of Undead and just obliterate them all with holy power.

That being said, solo play is usually a pretty slow path to XP ... it's more about the personal satisfaction for having defeated a dungeon by yourself. Like being able to protect Baudry's crate on Elite with strategic usage of symbols and summons (which admittedly took a few tries). When I want quick XP, I'll try to find a group that needs healing.

[Arctigis]

I can't think of a single instance (i.e. not a Raid) which it isn't possible to solo with the right build and hirelings. I
haven't completed any of the new (Dreaming Dark) or all of the Shavarath quests though.

[VonBek]

To the OP: I doubt you'll get a solid answer, on this. We really have no Unified Coalition of of Soloists, here :) Solo modes on the quests are one thing. After that, all bets are off. Builds, quest design, gear, and player skill (from twitch to strategy) make these efforts highly subjective.

Quest designs that require party splits, synchronized levers/pads might stop some players cold, but a few intrepid types push through them. Hirelings help get past some of these; but, some see their use as grouping.
Some quests feel like a walk in the park when using a melee, caster, or rogue, but change to a character with a different class, and the effort can more than double.
Player skill, experience, patience, and perspective also play a huge part in the answer. Some have been in these quests so many times, they hold no surprises. Great Brains approach the game as chess-against-morons. And some of us ... well, we're just "quit challenged".

To date, I've never seen a single list ranking quests for soloability. It would have to include party separation, synchronized actuators, puzzles, Boss fight attributes and likely, much more. That's quite a bit of material to compile and maintain through observation, reports, feedback and (drumroll for the coup-de-gras) game changes.



So far, the only one I tried that I couldn't solo was Kobold Assault when I was 3rd. That is a LOT of kobolds :)

I finally managed to solo kobold assault elite on my cleric when I hit lvl 9
Stay away from the fort. They spawn in two areas in the northern half of the map. Kill them where they live, before they can form a unified front against you.

[Adengu]

The problem with soloing is that it there are too many factors that play into it. Class, build, player, gear, what buffs/potions you have access too. On my FvS/Monk splash I've solo'd alot of stuff I couldn't solo on other characters simply due to a) the build itself and b) the number of buffs I have access to that further increase the, already great a soloing, builds soloability.

One thing I'd suggest is just try and see, at worst you'll fail the quest. It's not really like you *lose* anything from dying except time. I like soloing on harder quests because I believe it pushes your abilities as a player and gets you to look at aspects of your build. I mean me and my GF (she plays a damage orientated ranger) smash our way through most quests and as such I don't really have to do much except heal and wave my swords. However when soloing, I have learnt the use of such spells as command, hold person and the like.

Regardless of all that, as the poster above me said: It's amazing how much more successful alot of people are when they actually stop and think about how to approach pulls rather then just running in and trying to kill stuff before it kills you. Use your character, your abilities and your skills as a player but foremost use your head and you'll go far.

[Montrose]

Regardless of all that, as the poster above me said: It's amazing how much more successful alot of people are when they actually stop and think about how to approach pulls rather then just running in and trying to kill stuff before it kills you. Use your character, your abilities and your skills as a player but foremost use your head and you'll go far.

There's not really a lot of thought about pulling required when soloing with a high level arcane. A good chunk of the time the easiest/fastest way to solo a lot of quests is to just run through as fast as possible and drop AOE when the mobs get to be too much.

Example 1: Bastion of Power, for example. A little invisibility, a little haste, and you're off to the races. If you slow down in here you're gonna get spotted by a mob and the quest gets a lot harder.

Example 2: Coal Chamber. Displace, stoneskin, haste, and once again off to the races. Drop AOE at doorways and kite mobs until they die.

Example 3: Vale slayers. Displace, stoneskin, haste, resist energy sonic, and run through the devil area dragging mobs until you get to yellow/red dungeon alert. Then circle strafe till you have them bunched and start casting banish

Going slow and steady will just run you out of mana. Group those mobs up and drop the AOE!