Breakfast Topic: Do you enjoy soloing instances and raids?
by Brian Cutaia 
May 31st 2011 at 8:00AM
It all started one lazy Saturday afternoon when I decided to head into Karazhan alone for a shot at my very own Fiery Warhorse. Attumen went down easily enough, and I didn't have much else to do, so I decided to see just how much of the raid I could solo. A couple hours later, I had cleared the entire place -- even soloing the chess event after a bit of trial and error.
Suddenly, I had the soloing bug. I was compelled to see just how many old raids I could clear all by my lonesome. Molten Core and AQ10 both fell effortlessly before my wrath, and most of AQ40 went down until I was blocked by the twin emperors. Perhaps I was feeling a little overconfident when I stopped by Icecrown Citadel, because I ended up a bloodstain on the floor before even reaching Lord Marrowgar.
Now, I'm no Raegwyn or Jider, but I'm having a lot of fun anyway, so I forsee a lot of solo attempts in my future. I'm looking forward to seeing which bosses I can kill and which ones have mechanics I simply won't be able to overcome.
So, I'm curious how many of you have ever taken a stab at extreme soloing. If you have, what drew you to it? Do you have any favorite moments to share from your exploits? If you haven't, is it because of the class you play or does the idea just not interest you?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
cyanea85 May 31st 2011 8:03AM
I enjoy it from time to time..
I wish Blizz would drop the Raid group requirement for entering raids though. That bugs the crap out of me.
And I know that this is pie in the sky, but I wish they would alter some mechanics of older fights so that they could be soloable, like fights with mind controls or whatever.
Zankoku May 31st 2011 8:13AM
Some of the Mind Control fights are already solo-able (1st boss in AQ40). Others are just..... pains....
Pally solos: MC, TK 3/4, Hyjal, Mags, Kara, Some AQ40, AQ10, SSC 2/6
Some fights are just impossible to solo, because of mechanics (Vashj, Twins, Most of BT)
Different classes can solo different things too. Hunters and locks can solo Gruul's, but other classes just get ROFLstomped
Elmouth May 31st 2011 10:39AM
It used to be my favourite thing until blizzard decided to gutting pallies and hunters would be fun. Hell, even DKs got raped after that video was released.
Vitos May 31st 2011 11:56AM
While you do have to be in a Raid Group, all it requires is a friend for a good ten seconds or so. If you invite them, convert to raid, enter the instance and then kick them, you'll still be in the raid and you won't need to keep them from going about their business.
loop_not_defined May 31st 2011 12:09PM
Elmouth, you might want to reconsider your choice of words, next time.
Vorken May 31st 2011 1:14PM
Maybe I'm the only one this bothers....but its AQ40 and AQ20....to my knowledge there isn't a 10 man version....
thedoctor2031 May 31st 2011 1:46PM
@Vitos This works except if you wipe you cannot reenter the raid. What I suggest is logging on an alt, inviting a friend/guildie and switching to your main. Have them invite your main and then convert to raid. Your guildie is free to leave while you can still reenter the raid.
@Vorken AQ20 was changed to a 10 man raid in a recent patch.
Therfana May 31st 2011 6:27PM
How about Blizz settign up a whole new set of acheievements for Soloing old Raids? The Lonley Raider - Complete All Vanilia Raids in Solo.
Nina Katarina May 31st 2011 8:09AM
I like soloing instances; I was actually a bit sad to get the Baron's horse, then I realized I had other characters who could benefit from it. Haven't soloed any raids, but I do like to go in with one or two people and roflstomp. We 3-manned Sarth0d the other day, that was fun!
Marshall May 31st 2011 10:51AM
Baron's mount was what got me going on Soloing; still have yet to get any of the other major dungeon mounts though not for lack of trying.
wow May 31st 2011 11:01AM
I love ROLFStomping older content. I even Stomped Wrath instances with ease.
LONG LIVE ROLFSTOMPING!!!!
Shinanji
paul May 31st 2011 8:11AM
definitely. I'm a child of WOTLK, so bar any pug vanilla and BC raids, it's the best way to see old content. Soloing older 5mans can be good as well as you can take your time and properly understand the mechanics.
Zankoku May 31st 2011 8:17AM
Thats one of the reasons I've gone back to solo old content. I dinged 70 5 months before LK, so other than a Kara PUG and ZA PUG, never saw any of the old stuff.
Shadowwind May 31st 2011 12:27PM
Lol, I'm technically a vanilla oldster, but BC dropped before I was lvl 60 and the guild I was in during BC never got past Kara. I think it's safe to say that it marked me for life. My extreme-soloing toon is actually my hunter alt (because Frostheim showed me that hunter soloing is AWESOME!!!), but my shaman main has gone in and farmed ZG for rep, is farming MC for rep, and randomly runs old instances/raids in the hopes of getting to see one of the mounts.
It's a nice way to just hang out by yourself and relax, blow through some content without having to worry about screwing up on a split-second timing (unless you're on one of the difficult bosses, in which case you get to figure out a solo strat for a boss never meant for one player. Also fun!)
Tricia May 31st 2011 8:15AM
The only raid I've soloed is Zul'Gurub, before it became a 5 man. I really wanted to be able to say I was exalted with the Zandalari.
I have been slowly working my way through the Northrend 5 mans, running guildies as they level and seeing just how high I can go. And sometime very soon I'm going to start taking down BC content I never saw, since I began play right before the Sunwell patch so never got a chance to see the end game content of BC before Wrath came about.
Plus, I want a phoenix hatchling :)
TY May 31st 2011 8:15AM
Good times indeed on soloing. Was great when i was doing a MC run for fun and started the legendary questline!
uldmail May 31st 2011 8:30AM
I'd love to but i'm a clothie and can't heal myself... guess what, not feasable :-(
Nina Katarina May 31st 2011 8:58AM
What do you mean, not feasable? I know someone who solos a bunch of opening trash and intro bosses on his mage; he says it just takes luck, persistance and a lot of mirror images/blink/kite until mirrors come back.
pandaba May 31st 2011 1:18PM
Definitely feasible. I assume you're a mage so go Frost, for most fights, and have fun. Get the glyph of Evocation so you can have one healing spell available for those clutch situations. Race change to Draenei and you can have another clutch heal as well. Get the glyph of Ice Barrier to have a bubble even a paladin would envy. And remember you can layer ice barrier over mana shield for some double-layered bubble goodness.
Out of all the classes I've soloed with, mage isn't the easiest (easiest would be a prot pally), but it's definitely the most fun. Tons of utility spells for rooting, CC, and aggro dumps. Great damage shielding. A pet for occasional tank duty - yes, I know the water elemental isn't optimal for tanking, but sometimes it's better him than me for starting an encounter. The lack of any serious self-heal adds some real risk to the challenge.
terrorspakk May 31st 2011 8:22AM
As a warlock my options are somewhat limited, but i do solo old content to farm old enchanting mats when i'm getting a tad poor. I enjoy doing old content with others though, beats sitting around in org wondering what i'm going to grind next XD