Lead the Way, Part II
We've covered grouping enough, now it's time to look at the alternative: soloing. Most of the MMOs out there have a lot of solo content. Everquest 2 is known for the solo player content. Overall, if you are looking for a game with a lot of solo content with a decent level progression system, EQ2 is it. From level 1-9, which is referred as tier 1 amongst players, is relatively easy to get in an hour's worth of grinding if you are smart about it. I have been able to solo through the first 15 levels in about three hours before and up to 30 in a week with casual gameplay. This is best done when using grouped quests, those with similar mobs, and keeping an eye out for discoveries and collection quests which give additional experience (XP).
Knowing what gives better XP for the time involved also helps. Knowing the class before you create one also helps. This is where game related sites help greatly. If you are looking to solo for the majority of your time spent online, do not choose utility/support classes. They take way too long to level and they are designed for groups and this goes against what you are trying to achieve in soloing. Instead look for high damage per second (DPS) classes, like the scout, or mid-grade tank classes. Some magic-user classes are great at soloing, but beware they also can have a greater chance for you to bite off more than you can chew.
For the most part as a solo player you will need to worry about both giving and receiving blows. Since you are both the meat shield and the striker this makes things harder. Look to increase your agility and resistance stats, used in avoiding damage, and strength and stamina stats that allow you to hit harder and last longer. This will give you an overall good solo character. In the case of some games, rogues often are a good solo class to play due to their ability to use poisons and traps, causing more damage quickly, and stealth, allowing you to slip passed higher level mobs without getting aggro. These are two benefits that can be the difference between victory and certain peril in the field.
I talked before about grouping similar quests to level quickly. This is like using one shell to mortar a lot of enemies at once or as the civilians like to say: killing two birds with one stone. Except in this case I like to kill off two, three, even four quests with one mob. This is possible. Most of the rookie zones that you'll start with will have similar mobs needing to be killed to obtain the objective. This is good for us and bad for them. This means that by taking out one "lowland beast" we just took care of the requirements of three quests that each needed a "lowland beast" to be killed. By stacking similar mobs together you reduce your time and effort to complete more quests. Remember your drill instructor saying: "Work smarter not harder!" This is putting it into action. Collections are another way to gain XP quickly. Take the money you got from that quest and return your investment by purchasing a few of the collection items off the player broker. The broker system is great for both completing quests and generating coin with "useless merchant fodder" that you can't use. One man's trash loot is another man's treasure. You can often find something, for a price, on the broker that can help you out on a quest. The investment in coin can mean hours saved in hunting for the item on your own. These collections often provide decent loot and XP.
The down side to soloing is that you will have to gauge your battles wisely. You won't be able to take on the higher level mobs easily and you probably will be watching your health and mana bars due to the lack of a healer. But by picking your battles wisely you will also find more effective ways to hunt and kill your prey. In addition to that is the added loot that you find, meaning more bags and heavier burdens on your character. It is that or be more selective in your looting, meaning losing out on coin from the merchants back in town. Also you will be required to rest more; after all you are now the meat shield. Remember that often there is a penalty with dying, XP debt or otherwise, so don't make a habit of taking on the more elite mobs. That being said, there is a sense of accomplishment with soloing. The idea of having done it on your own is the biggest, though with a group you probably could've gotten there quicker. Not having to share the wealth is another. For some, that was a failing grade in Kindergarten and more power to them. I personally enjoyed the fact that soloing provides me with the "supermarket approach." This is where I can go down my list of things I need, go get them and not have to wait on four to five other members to get the same things while wasting ten minutes getting the updates. I just stab and go.
In the next "Gaming Behind Enemy Lines": Guilds, how they can keep you in the fight while giving you more troops on the ground.