Quests To Think Twice About Before Soloing

[h46av8r]

Quests To Think Twice About Before Soloing

Hi folks! I see individual threads and videos on how to solo certain particular quests, including raids, with hirelings, feats of acrobatic agility, self-resurrection, etc. but not any recent comprehensive compilation in a single thread of quests that maybe you should consider skipping if solo, or at a minimum be forewarned and prepared before starting. I see a couple older threads [ https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...ossible-quests and https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...712&viewfull=1 ] that sort of address this but, in my opinion, I think folks might it useful to have a list of quests that might not be straight forward or worth soloing. This is a good recent related thread on "nope" quests - just not solo specific: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...NOPE!!!-quests. So I suggest listing here quests that require some knowledge or preparation to solo or that just plain suck to solo either because they just aren't worth it from an XP/min perspective or from a pure aggravation perspective. (Of course if there is some specific gear you're farming then go for it.) With each new expansion including permanent hirelings, some of these quests have become much easier for those that have a couple/few permanent hirelings. Get the Starter Pack with Elieri Thistledown if you don't (or even if you do). Intent is not reproduce here the details of how to solo those quests - instead direct folks to the wiki or include links to appropriate forum threads if you'd like. Also, let's skip raids - a lot of good forum threads and youtube videos on those already. I'll start...

Madstone Crater - My personal least favorite to solo. Can be done easily enough with some practice and tips, especially in heroics when you can invis the giants, but very slow to solo for the XP you get. For a party this can actually be a great xp/min quest where the party can split up but soloing is just not worth it. However, it is a flagging quest. So I'll actually VIP skip it in the heroic saga to get elite credit then go run it in hard for flagging purposes. Later in Epics, I then just VIP skip it in the Epic saga (still flagged from the heroic completion but foregoing the quest arc end reward.) My Verdict: You're kinda stuck running it because it is required for flagging and for the saga but VIP skip it if you can. Maybe watch a couple vids first on how to prevent the giants from restarting. Bring invis spell, scrolls or wands on heroic.

The Crubile - I actually do solo this quest multiple times each life and, while it takes around 35 minutes solo (for me at least), unlike Madstone Crater, the XP is worth it. But you'll need at least one hireling, pet, etc. to pull levers which can be tricky since when pick up a crest in the maze, you're hireling will lose focus on the lever so it's dicely getting him/her to pull the lever you want... Learned a couple good tricks watching Strimtom's Crucible video. My Verdict: Learn it and do it since the XP is good and you'll need it for the saga - but bring hirelings.

Prison of the Planes - You'll need a hireling to pull levers. My tip here is to park the hireling back a bit from the lever so after you command him/her to use the lever, they will tend to step back from said lever after using it since, if you park them right in front of the lever, they have a bad habit of stepping into the barrier that goes up and kills them. Also make sure you target the lever not the orb in the socket or they'll take your orb (although you can then tell them to put it back in the socket). My Verdict: Simple enough with a lever puller - just make sure to bring one and manage them carefully.

Maze of Madness - You'll need a hireling to pull levers at a few points but easy to do - just park them, target the lever, you go ahead, have them use the lever, summon them to you, repeat. My Verdict: Simple enough with a hireling but make sure you bring one.

Gianthold Tor - Main quest can be done no problem. Just trying to kill giants + dragons near simultaneously in the subsequent optionals sucks. My Verdict: Just skip the optionals.

Necro 1 Tomb of the Burning Heart - starts with 4 pressure pads that need to be pushed simultaneously. If you bring a hireling, plus a couple permanent hirelings, and/or a pet, and/or dual-box and/or can place a flame turret on a pad, and/or can time a mob kill on one of the pads, i.e. somehow you get to four pads pushed simultaneously, then rest of quest is no problem. It is a flagging quest so you may want to do it at least once in order to, say, get an opener flagged for the Bloody Crypt. My Verdict: Bring three hirelings/pets/flame turret/dual-box then no problem.

Necro 2 Tomb of the Shadow Lord - Can be done with a hireling - fairly straightforward so not bad - see ddowiki. And you need this one to flag for Shadow Crypt so consider flagging an opener. My Verdict: Read the ddowiki ahead of time and bring hireling. Consider an opener so you'll only need to run it once.

Necro 3 Tomb of the Forbidden - This one takes either a hireling or, ideally, a dual-box. See ddowiki for details - more to it than, say, a simple lever puller like in Maze of Madness. Also see the comments at ddowiki regarding minimum times for certain doors to open - if you're not aware you'll be wondering what the h*ll you're doing wrong... Like the other Necro quests above, one option is to flag an opener and only ever do this quest once if you need it to flag for The Cursed Crypt. My Verdict: Pain in the *ss - do it once and then use an opener for The Cursed Crypt.

Necro 3 Tomb of the Tormented - I recall this one being a tremendous pain in the *ss but haven't run it in a very long time - perhaps others can comment. Is it easier with a group - or just a pain because I was soloing it?

Necro 4 Flesh Maker's Laboratory - Five runes have to be lit within a very short span of time. Normally you'd say fine - will bring permanent hirelings, gold seal hirelings, etc. except mobs continue to respawn the whole time. Avoid this one solo - extremely frustrating - unless you need it to flag. My Verdict: Skip it

Side note on openers - If you used the recent quest coupons so you have access to all non-expansion quests, and you can create level 4 and 7 characters, then openers are super easy for the Necro 1 and 2 chains. You'd need to level up the opener a couple levels for Necro 3 to meet min level requirement.

The Chamber of Raiyum (aka Wiz King) - Like Madstone Crater above, can be great XP/min for a party that knows it and can split up to tackle the objectives in parallel, but for a solo player, very long... My Verdict: Skip it solo.

Temple of Elemental Evil - Super long and XP not worth the time. My Verdict: Skip it.

Xorian Cipher - like Tomb of the Burning Heart in Necro 1 above, there are four pads that must be pressed simultaneously. see ddowiki, bring gold seal or permanent hirelings, pets, etc. Then you the party splits and you'll need a hireling to pull a lever then as well. Again, see ddowiki. My Verdict: Just read the ddowiki first and bring hirelings/pets/etc. then it's fine.

In the Demon's Den - Normal and Hard okay but nearly impossible on Elite. I think there is a post or video somewhere of this getting done solo on Elite but no point other than bragging rights. My Verdict: Skip it on Elite.

Monastery of the Scorpion - Long quest with a difficult final boss that ideally someone kites around while someone else completes a puzzle - neither role can really be done with a hireling or dual-box, at least that I've seen. I haven't returned to this quest in years (or any of the Reaver's Reach quests for that matter). My Verdict: Skip it.

The Pit - I've actually never tried it because folks say it's so difficult. But there are others who know it who love it. So thoughts on that one solo? Worth the XP/min?

Okay - what others have I missed?

[Halciet]

Necro 3 Tomb of the Tormented - I recall this one being a tremendous pain in the *ss but haven't run it in a very long time - perhaps others can comment. Is it easier with a group - or just a pain because I was soloing it?

The Pit - I've actually never tried it because folks say it's so difficult. But there are others who know it who love it. So thoughts on that one solo? Worth the XP/min?

Tomb of the Tormented:
Bring spells that hit through walls/floors (such as fireball or sonic blast) to kill Worgs.
In parts 2/3 you can use the Carcass Eaters in place of rats to hit pressure plates which cuts time in half. They will go after meat, but can be tricky to "capture" as they can get stuck on a corner if you try at the wrong time. Do NOT hit them with spells as they will stop working.
Trapper is a big help for part 3.
Rallying Cry works through floor to speed up your rat and can help a lot for part 3.

The Pit - Big chunk of xp, used to be a staple back when xp was hard to come by and still good xp if you learn the quest; however, if your character or player has no Mario skill or inclination it is a definite skip.

[Buddha5440]

Tomb of the Tormented:
Bard hireling Chantral can attack/kill all the mobs through the grates, so all you need to do is manage the zombies which you can kill permanently after the rat from their puzzle is done.

Crucible:
If you disable auto-targeting, you can pick up the crests and still keep focus on the lever next to your hireling.

The Pit:
Love it You must be comfortable jumping along pipes and will need a hire/pet for the 3rd furnace, but I love the design of this one. I just wish the rewards were on par with the newer stuff (could use a revamp).

[Mindos]

Crucible:
If you disable auto-targeting, you can pick up the crests and still keep focus on the lever next to your hireling.

Could you explain this one a little more? I have the lever hard targeted, I see the crest in front of me...

[Enderoc]

I would solo madstone crater all day before I would ever solo crucible..
For Tor optionals you can simply sword and board or twf even if not specced for either in order to get the two closer to death together. Not a big deal. I soloed that all the time.
Flesh maker you just need to be fast that's also not a big deal more so if you got Cannith boots, wings, etc or Ranged.

[Saekee]

I remember doing Xorian by backing enemy skeleton archers onto the plates

[Hobgoblin]

I remember doing Xorian by backing enemy skeleton archers onto the plates

artificer can do it as well with well placed turrets, hireling pet self

[vryxnr]

Could you explain this one a little more? I have the lever hard targeted, I see the crest in front of me...

Auto-targeting enabled: you target the lever, you go to the crest, you click on the crest with your mouse pointer, you now have the crest but it is also now targeted and you cannot get your hireling to pull the lever anymore.

Auto-targeting disabled: you target the lever, you go to the crest, you click on the crest with your mouse pointer, you now have the crest and the lever is still targeted, allowing your hireling to continue to operate it.

(note: you cannot q spam through the maze walls to re-target the lever anymore... at least I'm no longer able to do it, so you really do need to disable auto-targeting to "solo" the maze with hirelings)

[ElrondElfKing]

Tomb of the Tormented:
Bring spells that hit through walls/floors (such as fireball or sonic blast) to kill Worgs.
In parts 2/3 you can use the Carcass Eaters in place of rats to hit pressure plates which cuts time in half. They will go after meat, but can be tricky to "capture" as they can get stuck on a corner if you try at the wrong time. Do NOT hit them with spells as they will stop working.
Trapper is a big help for part 3.
Rallying Cry works through floor to speed up your rat and can help a lot for part 3.

I sincerely detest soloing this quest. the rats are a pain in the a**, the zombies are a pain in the a**- like, leave me alone so I can deal with these stupid rats already. I can remember spending hours in this dungeon.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

Stealthy Repossession : Do tht one only at a VERY HIGH level, at least, until to get to that stone/gem.

Is it even poossible to solo it through stealth ? I haven't found a way to do so so far.

[Alternative]

Tip for Crucible - there's Mikayl, a lvl 11 fighter hireling with dimension door, so if you mess up in the maze you can always ddoor; I also use him in Diplomatic Impunity.

Fleshmaker's Lab is fairly easy to solo if you have insta kills and one hire.

[Theolin]

Stealthy Repossession : Do tht one only at a VERY HIGH level, at least, until to get to that stone/gem.

Is it even possible to solo it through stealth ? I haven't found a way to do so so far.

Stealthy is pretty easy to solo, you just need invisibility
simple as open door, invis, open door, pull lever, invis, repeat ...
its even easier if you have sprint boost.

the pit isn't bad usually take 25-35 min to solo .... usually need a hire for the last furnace as i have bad luck with the jets and have to use 2 to get up

[Engoril]

Stealthy is pretty easy to solo, you just need invisibility
simple as open door, invis, open door, pull lever, invis, repeat ...
its even easier if you have sprint boost.

Can do it with something like 25 in both Hide and Move Silent, without invisibility. Did it recently that way on Elite using a Ranger at the correct level.

[GeneralDiomedes]

I sincerely detest soloing this quest. the rats are a pain in the a**, the zombies are a pain in the a**- like, leave me alone so I can deal with these stupid rats already. I can remember spending hours in this dungeon.

For part 2/3 bring the zombies to part 1 area and kill there. They will stay.

[Saekee]

Stealthy Repossession : Do tht one only at a VERY HIGH level, at least, until to get to that stone/gem.

Is it even poossible to solo it through stealth ? I haven't found a way to do so so far.

check out this from our ROGUE days. This is not me btw.

Not only does he stealth it, he gets 25 kills as per our ROGUE Quatre challenge.

[h46av8r]

Stealthy is pretty easy to solo, you just need invisibility
simple as open door, invis, open door, pull lever, invis, repeat ...
its even easier if you have sprint boost.

Can do it with something like 25 in both Hide and Move Silent, without invisibility. Did it recently that way on Elite using a Ranger at the correct level.

I must be doing something wrong - I go in there with a rogue with past lives, equipment, etc. and still get the red dungeon alert, then harried, then can't move... Like Alrik says, I only ever run this one over level if for some reason I want the favor.

[h46av8r]

Auto-targeting enabled: you target the lever, you go to the crest, you click on the crest with your mouse pointer, you now have the crest but it is also now targeted and you cannot get your hireling to pull the lever anymore.

Auto-targeting disabled: you target the lever, you go to the crest, you click on the crest with your mouse pointer, you now have the crest and the lever is still targeted, allowing your hireling to continue to operate it.

(note: you cannot q spam through the maze walls to re-target the lever anymore... at least I'm no longer able to do it, so you really do need to disable auto-targeting to "solo" the maze with hirelings)

I was wondering what I was doing wrong - gonna disable auto-targeting next time I go through that maze. Saw Strimtom pick up a crest in his video and still have focus on the lever and wondered how the h*ll he was doing that. Thanks!

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

Stealthy is pretty easy to solo, you just need invisibility
simple as open door, invis, open door, pull lever, invis, repeat ...

I alwqys get spotted in just the moment when I pull those door-opening levers ... Even when I'm quick with re-stealthing/hiding, I'm spotted, and they won't get away from me. Never. They often become rather more of them.

[Buddha5440]

Could you explain this one a little more? I have the lever hard targeted, I see the crest in front of me...

There is an option to disable auto-targeting ( I think "g" is the default key). This will allow you to pick up things without shifting your focus onto that item. You simply bring the mouse cursor over the crest and hit your left mouse button and the target window will remain on the lever you had hard targeted.

[Katalissa]

Definitely don't try to solo VON 5!

I actually did that, years ago, before I even owned the pack, when someone gave me a guest pass but the party dropped after Von 4. I was warned, but I was/am stubborn and wanted to get the most out of the pass... LOL.

I think I managed the tile puzzle, then got to the point where the runes and levers on two sides must activate simultaneously. I admit it took me a while to actually admit defeat and give up at that point...

(btw I think this was before I discovered this forum and the Wiki so I was flying blind too!)

Also I'll add my vote for Gianthold in general. I think I've done most, if not all of them solo, but it's a painful and frustrating experience for the most part. It's definitely not a solo-friendly pack overall.