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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: To solo or not to solo?
by Elizabeth Harper 
Dec 23rd 2008 at 8:00AM
To solo or not to solo, that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous Hunters (who sometimes seem to think they have a monopoly on soloing content) or to take arms against a sea of dragons (dragons, elementals, demons -- we're not picky), and by opposing, earn epic (albeit under-level) loot. So, tell us, what have you soloed lately?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics, Classes
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
horthas Dec 23rd 2008 11:57AM
I"m with Cetha
I'm a mage and in the lull between 3.0 and wrath i was (trying to) solo BC instances (still haven't got wrath yet, but don't have any time either...), went arcane spec to try a few things out and haven't gone back since, and while going frost gives you a better shield and a big blue buddy, unless you're critting through the roof I don't see it kiting a lot of bosses too well. (or maybe I"m just naive - I'd try it out but I'm just against frost lore-wise - hurling big bolts of ice/frost at your enemy? turn him into an ice block/give him hypothermia? Id prefer to burn him down with fire or pure magical energy, show 'em what a mage can really do before they're eviscerated)
Frost seems to have less of a kiting ability than arcane (or is this me just being naive again?)
Neirin Dec 23rd 2008 9:04AM
I soloed Ony at 70, but decided to never do it again since running with 2 other people was much easier and much more fun. ZG I 3-manned with the same 2 people at 70. Haven't gone back and tried some of the other stuff solo or with a small group (although I did run AQ 20 for fun with a motley group ranging from 59s to 80s). I really want to see if I can solo C'Thun. I doubt I can, but that would be as epic as possible in the pre-bc content now.
I wonder what the fewest number of people you can use to clear Sunwell is.
NeSuKuN Dec 23rd 2008 9:06AM
druids of any spec out there that have tried this? It's currently my only 80 (I'm leveling the rest of the alts at the same time so its slower but more efficient)
Quint Dec 23rd 2008 9:11AM
I solo'd Hogger at 75. The most difficult one-shot ever... ;-)
NeSuKuN Dec 23rd 2008 9:37AM
This is SO OP that blizz should instanerf your class with a hotfix in the following seconds
Amaxe Dec 23rd 2008 9:57AM
Enough people have joked about "Heroic Hogger" that if I was Blizz I'd do it just to screw with some 80 running through Elwynn killing things
Cyrus Dec 23rd 2008 10:07AM
"Enough people have joked about "Heroic Hogger" that if I was Blizz I'd do it just to screw with some 80 running through Elwynn killing things"
Actually, that seems like a great idea, because they could do it without messing with lowbies or anything. How? Phasing! Make it so that for anyone who has completed some common level 70 quest, entering that specific part of Elwynn Forest takes them to a different phase where Hogger has exactly the same model, but is a boss-level and has stats to match. Keep the drops the same so that people don't farm him or anything, just have him there as an Easter egg in-joke, and maybe catch a few bored level 80s by surprise. :)
hystalin Dec 23rd 2008 9:12AM
So far, he biggest i've soloed is normal MGT on my paladin. Kael'thas keeps pwning me with his phoenixes, but I'm sure given time, I'll be able to overcome that obstacle.
BCM Dec 23rd 2008 9:14AM
I have a 67 Enhancement Shaman and have also solo-ed all the way. I much prefer the stressless play style of soliong as you don't have to worry about "doing something wrong" and don't get told off or called a "n00b" by hardcore players in instances if you makea mistake. I play WoW to relax and find that a lot of players treat it like a job... I like to do lower level instaces on my own and enjoy getting loot to sell on the AH. I do have my own very small guild (The Tuss on EU Bronzebeard) and am happy to boost other lower level members when I can....
On the few times I have joined a party to do a raid/instance, I have not enjoyed it due to other members assuming you are as hardcore and experienced as them then shouting at you when they find out you're not.
So now I'm a happy loner :)
Salty Dec 23rd 2008 9:40AM
When you kick the 2nd person from the raid, it will give you the 1 min teleport message (you are not in this instance, yadda yadda). What works best is to ask a friend to log an unused alt, invite him to the raid, then he can log back to his main. As long as you and that character stay in the raid you can zone into anywhere.
stevens.ce Dec 23rd 2008 9:39AM
I spent a couple of years in a small family guild that became a large progression guild - saw nearly every instance and raid in vanilla and BC, and by the time Wrath came around, I'd had enough - too much time, too much work keeping up with everyone else (not to mention with 5 70s I was averse to just playing one role in the key raid group).
So since wrath, I've soloed everything - I think I've grouped once or twice to do Last Rites, but otherwise my lock and hunter (the two I'm playing now) have done everything on their own. If they can't pull it off, I move it to the side until I can come back and do it. I like soloing. Although I miss the camaraderie of a guild (I also transferred servers as mine had ridiculous queues), I like being able to log on when I want, log off when I want - if it's a bad day play-wise, I can just leave and come back when I want.
I've jumped into early BC five-mans and had little trouble (my lock and hunter are only 75 each, as I've had limited game time since Wrath's launch). I'm looking forward to making my way through all five-man BC content solo - I saw it all in groups, but I'd like to see it all again by myself, where I can take my time and see how stuff develops.
Cyrus Dec 23rd 2008 9:58AM
My main is a balance druid, and I've soloed one BC instance on him so far. I used to be feral, and it seems harder to solo instances as balance than as feral, but still very doable if you're careful. I've always thought druids are best for this (I'm biased, of course, but still) because while several classes have sufficient mitigation/avoidance, dps and healing for the task, we're the only one of them that can also stealth, both to save time and to avoid the mobs that would still be dangerous for some reason. Yeah, your aggro radius is small at 80, but there are still mobs here and there you can't walk by.
As balance, I'd still need to heal myself during or after each boss and multi-mob pull, and maybe the tougher single mobs too, like the felguard patrols in Shadow Labs, I don't know. I would be very surprised and impressed if a character with no out-of-combat healing at all ever manages to solo raid bosses. (Fortunately, characters with no out-of-combat healing at all are a minority. Even without counting bandages because getting hit once will waste a minute-long cooldown, everybody can heal somehow except for non-herbalist, non-draenei warriors, mages and rogues, right?)
cartman Dec 23rd 2008 9:59AM
I love to solo. Its so much easier to schedule things when its just you, its so much easier to decide who gets the drops, no ninjas, no arguments, just fun. Wish WoW would go this way.
hempnight Dec 23rd 2008 10:01AM
I recently solo'd Durnholde and then Dark Portal to get my alky his Elixer spec. I came along a little late and had'nt even done the follow quest for CoT. Its not a bad chunk of gold if you wanted to do that all day.
Blackhawk003 Dec 23rd 2008 10:09AM
Hogger.
jay Dec 23rd 2008 10:30AM
I have really enjoyed reading the posts in this thread. I have such an aversion to raiding and "raiders". Soloing and small groups are fun and less like my job (like trying to be in a raiding guild was).
shkss Dec 23rd 2008 10:35AM
Just about everything. Onyxia, bits of ZG, pre-wrath instances, etc. It's all good for money. In fact it got me doing all the old world instances I'd never completed for achievements.
CavalierX Dec 23rd 2008 10:45AM
When I began playing, my real-life friends convinced me to join their guild. They forgot to mention that most of its members were already L70, and spent all their time in high-level BGs, instances or raids, leaving me to solo everything or join PUGs, figuring everything out on my own. When that first character reached the high 60's and my guildmates finally deigned to notice my existence, I reamed them out with a vengeance and left the guild. None of my characters have joined one since. At this point I have several characters over L50 (and several more of lower levels), all happily soloing their way through game life, finding PUGs or a few friends when needed.
Retropally Dec 23rd 2008 10:55AM
This is interesting timing, this post. I've been really into solo'ing any sort of instance the past 2 weeks, and currently i'm trying to master parts of ZG and onyxia. I've yet to down onyxia, but day by day i'm getting better and I can feel my raiding skills improving every time I do it. The only thing thats letting me down is my mana, because paladins can only last for so long seeing as they nerfed the mana replenishment spells to the ground :P
Still, i'm really enjoying it and i'm starting to get that feeling of satisfaction when I finally down a boss after days of trying. I've not had that feeling since the start of kara with the guild.
Altairix Dec 23rd 2008 10:57AM
I recently solo'd onyxia as a disc priest. Heard about it on wowinsider so I went and tried it myself. It was a lot easier than I thought, but with my low dps it did take a while.