View Full Forums : How many of you actually solo? I guess what i read isnt right


Semvarian
12-14-2003, 04:43 PM
Do druids solo anymore? and if so..why is it groups im always hearing about?
Just wondering

Kerech
12-14-2003, 05:07 PM
Before I retired her, Khieran solo'd pretty much exclusively. She retired at 58.

Now Kerech is 36 and solo'ing pretty much. It's just a factor of my play time (an hour here, an hour there, etc.).

Semvarian
12-14-2003, 05:09 PM
hmm well im only a levl 4 so im not much help to groups anyway ....lol..thanks for the reply though

Seeker
12-14-2003, 05:50 PM
My non raid time is spent equally split between solo'ing & grouping. I prefer grouping as I get to chat with friends while we tear up the zone but there are times I prefer to hung out by myself.

I did spend levels 24 to 42 solo as HHK really put me off grouping (a zone I still hate with a passion).

Tiane
12-14-2003, 07:05 PM
I group. Soloing is a waste of time and boring as heck, and I prefer to log out and do something in RL instead.

Oryane
12-14-2003, 07:11 PM
I do a combination of both. My guild is very talkative and I'm in tell hell as it is so I never really get bored with soloing though. When I do solo I make sure it's worth it and quad though. If I'm going to exp I want to make sure it's fast. Why do something that is going to give you less exp? BTW, Tiane, How is soloing a waste of time? I could understand how it may be boring to some people, but a waste of time?

Seriena
12-14-2003, 07:22 PM
Never solo. I can't remember the last time I solo'd something. I'd rather duo, trio, whatever. If soloing is my only choice, then I'll just log.

Tiane
12-15-2003, 12:06 AM
Waste of time as compared to the xp/fun had while grouping, or by accomplishing anything else in RL.

I've done my fair share of it, though I never quadded. But I reached a point while solo root/rotting something when I realized how bored I was. So I logged and did something else instead, and havent been back.

(Charm soloing is almost the opposite... did a ton of that too, mostly in old PoM back pre-pop... cant even take a break to get a drink... also annoying. I dont want to be chained to the game.)

Seriena
12-15-2003, 01:22 AM
I agree with that Tiane. I like charm soloing to an extent but there comes a point where it chains you to the game, which I don't like at all. Makes me feel like I'm a cleric ;)

Koldriana
12-15-2003, 03:39 AM
I soled quite alot..I didn't learn HOW to quad until 58 or something like that - was always scared to learn and no one around to show me.

I probably went through a good chunk of my eq life root dotting..It never really bothered me all that much, but then again I was also in 'tells' ALOT. I don't find soloing as fun as a good group but I do find it WAYYYYY better than a bad group :p

At the lower levels...1-15ish you basically melee. Don't usually have alot of mana to do much anyways, maybe toss a heal on yourself from time to time and root a mob so you can gate to safety.

Being as low level as you are right now Semvarian you will not really be looking for groups for a while. Druids do still solo, but I think alot of us like to group when we can. It really depends on my time, I still solo in PoM or Dulak when I only have a short amount of time to play.

Suva
12-15-2003, 05:21 AM
I much prefer grouping to soloing. I rarely solo if I can get a group. Mostly if I solo it's because I am close to an aa or farming tradeskill stuff.

Tinsi
12-15-2003, 07:36 AM
I can't remember the last time I soloed for xp. I go on my own to farm greenies for tradeskill ingredients, but never for xp.

Kaige
12-15-2003, 07:55 AM
I do both, depending on the mood I'm in.

My AA are at a point where there's nothing really game-breaking to buy anymore, so grinding isn't that appealing anymore.

I only group in LDoN these days, since I feel that if I'm going to get some experience, I might as well earn some points on the side too.

If I solo, its usually for utility or entertainment purposes. I might attempt to quad in some indoor zones to farm tradeskill ingredients, or have some fun attempting to solo Western Waste dragons. Depends on what each day brings.

That variety of being a druid allows you to pretty much just do whatever you feel like doing.

Cloudien
12-15-2003, 07:57 AM
It's worth soloing up to about level 10 (definitely up to 4 hehe) then it gets real boring real quick.

Around the pre-Luclin era, maybe a little later, it was still boring but was sometimes (level,circumstances) far more efficient to solo. Then they brought all the new group EXP bonuses in and did various other tweaks that suddenly made it so much more efficient to group at all levels (post 10) that there'd never be a reason to choose to solo.

Group with friends and guildmates for best results.

For pickup groups, the usual rule of thumb applies: the better the exp+loot, the more morons it will attract and the worse groups will be. Typical examples: LDON raids, Paludal Caverns and HHK (not to forget how Oasis was, before the Luclin era)

Tiral
12-15-2003, 08:15 AM
I either solo or do ldon adventures with guildies and friends. I like soloing because I can do what I want, when I want to do it. Like go afk 15-20 mins to eat something, can't really do that in ldon.

Ladred
12-15-2003, 08:33 AM
The only times I solo now are when I log in, and before I log off. I usually log in at the picnic tables in fire. Do my quad, then head off looking for an LDoN adventure. Before I log off at the end of the evening I'll go to fire, do a quad, and log off. Rinse repeat.

I still get a rush quadding at the tables.

Sealody
12-15-2003, 10:16 AM
Solo almost exclusively til 60. Then started grouping. Power rushed to 65. And now I only group.

Also... I group because I want to... not because I have to. No group, /trader or /afk now.

Sea!

Jinjre
12-15-2003, 11:24 AM
I've solo'd once in my career, to hit 49 when that was a milestone level for druids.

I detest soloing. Just my opinion here, but if I wanted to solo I wouldn't be playing a multiplayer game.

Gaennen
12-15-2003, 12:15 PM
I soloed for the odd level earlier on, but to be honest soloing bores me to tears. I usually just go do something else till I can get a group now.

princess0fdiabl0
12-15-2003, 12:21 PM
lvl 1-18 solo
then i learned about paludal caverns lol
19-26 grouped in pc grouped
27-32ish in mseru grouped
32ish to 38 in dsp grouped

then i realized "hey, i can do damage to these things (zelniaks) and meditate at the same time while they are rooted, awesome!" (i was a true newb at the time)

so i did that for a bit, then i realized that my fear spell was faster casting than my snare/root spell at the time, and used that when i was in trouble. When snared mobs still ran away from me, but slower, omg so cool! Hmm i remember charming crocs and alligators back in the oasis, wonder if i can do that here.... zels are animals, yay! *cham a large zelniak, snare a zelniak, fear a zelniak, /pet attack, immolate, meditate, NEXT*

i charm kited like this till around lvl 46, when i went to teneborous mountains where i did a mix of charm kiting and first learned to quad. at 49 i went to cobalt scar and quadded there for a few levels. Spent another level or so quadding in katta... then i went on to charm kiting in the planes.

LFG for hours... unhappily soloing away, hearing of the awesome exp my monk friend was making in groups. finally got a group one time in PoD CY. wow i said to myself, this exp sucks! and i went back to charm kiting in pod/pon (after group disbanded of course). Soloed all my ethereal parchments that way too (lightcrawlers in pod) When i was 58 all of a sudden i started getting tells to be a healer.... interesting... same ppl that rejected me before, silly them, soloed smore. Right about when i turned lvl 60 they opened up planar acces depending on levels.

60-65 was a mix of charm kiting in pod, healing in pov/pos, kiting group in hoh/pos, and the one that netted me the most exp, duoing with a chanter in hoh/pov $$.

Now that im 65 and have ememental access i solo very little. Only when i really cant find a group, i solo in fire, but usually i try to get a kiting group in my guild at the tables, which is 5% aa a kill omg /cry.

In short, yes, a druid can still solo pretty much all their life. Hell if they put exp into the new zone nedarias landing (currently nets no exp atm for killing things) id be willing to wager you could solo from lvl 20 to 55+ in only 2 zone (nedarias and jaggedpine). Granted itd be boring as hell but there are still multiple ways of killing things there (charming, root rot, etc)

After about lvl 40 when our nukes become a bit sub par, and when we cant heal too well for a group higher than the dreadlands, druid arent often wanted in groups sadly, the utility doesnt fly, and i barely got invites when lfg till i got the iCH at lvl 58.

ugh remembering my druids life story wasnt a good idea......

alyn cross
12-15-2003, 12:25 PM
i solo for xp, i group for fun, i raid for excitement... i cackle for free.

/cackle!

vestix
12-15-2003, 01:46 PM
I solo almost exclusively, and always have. I'm level 59 now, and you can probably count on one hand the bubbles of xp that I've gotten while grouping.

Soloing suits my RL constraints and temperment. RL, I never know when I'll have to help the kids with their homework, fix a toilet, or whatever. EQ, I just like to solo. I like doing it all - pulling, splitting, crowd control, whatever. There are downsides. If I die, generally speaking I eat the XP loss. It can be boring at times, especially while medding, so I keep a book with me. There are zones I will never see and gear I will never get unless I decide to start grouping a lot. /shrug. C'est la vie.

I don't knock grouping at all. Generally speaking, the groups that I have been in have been made up of players that knew their characters and played well together. There have been exceptions, of course, but by and large I've had good groups.

So find out what you like to do, and learn to do it well.


Vestix 59 druid of Tunare

Chenier
12-15-2003, 01:51 PM
I soloed bunches through my 40's and 50's, solo'ed/duo-ed/grouped 60-65, soloed some before I left the game for a while.

Since I've been back, I've only soloed to farm. There's no need for me to solo xp since I get more group/ldon adv invites than I can participate in. And I'd much rather group.

Faedia
12-15-2003, 02:19 PM
I hate soloing.

I did 1-11, 29-30, 46, 52-54 and an AA here and there solo. Hate it, hate it, hate it.

My thoughts are basically that I'm paying $13/mo for a multiplayer game, and I wanna get my money's worth :p I'm also really chatty. As cute as a DC'd "A Wrulon Youngling" may be, it ain't gonna talk back to me.

Groups are where it's at. :cool:

Oryane
12-15-2003, 02:40 PM
Yeah, Soloing is a waste unless you are doing something like Quadding. At first I couldn't quad at all. It was very frustrating. Eventually, however, I began duo-kiting with Kodiak. Then I actually became very good at Quadding when I took over the Ulthork camp. It's hard at first, but if you can't get a group often it's something to learn.

Wildaiena
12-15-2003, 09:59 PM
Solod almost exclusively to 65 and most of 200 AA. I didn't mind grouping now and then, but it was usually a pain. Not that I sat LFG, no, I have the initiative to organize my own, but even waiting 30 min for people to organize etc was terribly boring for me, then often one person would leave or whatever and then you're back to finding a replacement. At least I could be primary healer most of the time and get a hybrid to tank, but even that was sometimes difficult, on Maelin anyway-not much of a grouping population to draw from. Heck anymore there may be all of 3 65's LFG on a weekend night.

Then they nerfed solo exp. While the group exp increase was nice, it destroyed my motivation to solo at all~once you get used to a certain amount of exp per kill, it sucks to lose it. That really blows when you get busy and don't have forever to find a group.

Arienne
12-16-2003, 03:07 AM
I solo once in a while now but haven't been too big on soloing since the early 50s. I solo when I have to be AFK more than at the keyboard. The catch to soloing these days is that SOE has pretty much cut out any decent solo areas by making them EXTREMELY rare and when you find one it's always overcamped.

Danixzzel
12-16-2003, 11:26 AM
I rarely solo anymore, and mostly when I do it's because I don't want to be tied to my keyboard, or I'm only logged in for an hour or so and do't have time to group.

Scirocco
12-16-2003, 02:07 PM
I still solo a lot. At least half of my time playing the game is soloing. It meets my scheduling requirements, and I often enjoy taking down something hard by myself (the informal Druid Solo-lympics, sponsored by D.U.C.K.!). I don't XP group, of course, so the rest of my time is spent raiding in some fashion.

I detest soloing. Just my opinion here, but if I wanted to solo I wouldn't be playing a multiplayer game.

Grouping is just a formal mechanism for splitting XP among a certain number of people. Multiplayer <> grouping. There are a lot of ways to interact with other players without formally grouping with them, of course.

Telaman
12-17-2003, 03:45 AM
When I was still xping with my druid waaay back I think I grouped/soloed to level 20 then grouped almost exclusively to level 51 at which time I found I was no longer wanted in groups so I had to switch to soloing. I didnt know much about charm kiting back then (shortly after velious came out) so I mostly quaded with some root/rotting to 60 and on the odd occasion grouped with friends in various spots or with others when they wanted a druid for evac in Velks pit mostly. When they did introduce the inCH I used to get great enjoyment from telling people who didnt want me before to kiss my ass when they couldnt find a cleric.. yes a lil jaded maybe hehe ;)

Dimorfia
12-17-2003, 06:43 AM
Solo is a nice alternative to LFG/LFA - before raid etc..
but it's ain't real soloing anymore ~ u end up in full group at tables PoFire very fast :cheers:

/e hands Ladred dyes
:rolling:

/smile Dimorfia

Patofnaud
12-17-2003, 04:22 PM
My 65 rogue on Morell Thule groups.
My 58 druid on Morell Thule solos.

My 53 druid on Tarrew Marr groups.

The reason Patofwaan exists, is I have a very low tolerance for logging on and sitting down with a /lfg tag on my head. If I am /lfg more than 10-15 mins, I solo and leave me alone cause now I want to be alone. ;)

Also all my friends know that if they need me, they just send me a tell and I'll play what toon they need, and it's usually the rogue.

Danae
12-18-2003, 03:18 PM
I love to solo. It's part of why I play a druid. I levelled my paladin to 65 and did AAs exclusively in groups, and I had no idea how much fun it was sapping from the game until I started levelling my druid (all solo). I will never, ever, level a group dependent class again.

I do LDON with guildies, and the occasional POE group (only because it's such fast xp, 5 AAs after dinner last night, thanks!) but my first love is still solo'ing. It was better xp before, but it's still good xp now, and it just fits my playstyle and personality better.

If I want to talk to people, all I have to do is say "BTW, I'm naked" in /gu chat. Alternately, theres chat channels and tells. I'm never lonely while solo'ing.

But then, isn't that part of the joy of our class? All that flexibility? Can't help but wonder why some people have to load their answers with attitude.

Ndainye
12-19-2003, 08:58 AM
I didn't start a druid in order to solo. I xp solo when I'm lfg or waiting for a raid to begin but it's rarely by choice.

MeridianAscendant
12-20-2003, 11:32 AM
Same as Ndainye, I didn't create my druid way back when so I could solo. I'm much too social of a person to do that.

However, I did solo much of my 40's and 50's because of a time limitation (due to real life work), but since about 58 I haven't soloed much at all. Part of it may be because I'm in an active guild that, even if we aren't raiding, we at least have groups available to join. I don't have to go LFG very often. If I did, I'd probably solo a bit more.

Someone else mentioned earlier that they didn't learn to quad until they were in their late 50's - I had to laugh, because I was the same way! Spent most of my solo time root/dotting until a friend caught me doing so in Cobalt Scar one day and took the time to teach me how to quad. That's probably why it took two years to get to 65!

Kytelae
12-20-2003, 08:59 PM
I always hated having to pay attention to other people's schedules. So I soloed, primarily, except for grouping with friends here and there.

DemonMage
12-20-2003, 09:30 PM
I soloed a lot until like 52 or 53, when my girlfriend started the game, and so I leveled up with her on my alts, and helped her level with a group of friends until we could group together, and then been duoing since, with some grouping.

RiverOtter
12-26-2003, 06:46 PM
maybe im just different ... i love the solitary feeling of soloing .... no one to blame but yourslef if you die .... have soloed my druid to 56 .... still prefer it to grouping ... can go slowwwwwww ...... Frisby Stout MM

Aerokella
12-26-2003, 09:57 PM
I soloed almost exclusively, until level 60. Bounced back and forth between grouping and soloing until 65. Guess it depends on my mood. My guild gets a bit yappy at times, so even when I'm soloing, I'm not really bored.

Nimchip
12-27-2003, 03:07 PM
I used to solo a lot!! I still solo a bit but i like the company of other people as well... and besides the solo exp was nerfed so badly i see it as an excuse not to solo.... :(

Dolgeruk
01-04-2004, 07:57 PM
Greetings,

Lvl 58 Druid here. I solo if i cant find a group in the early morning hours. Best spot for me now is POM at zone in.

TauTropfen
01-05-2004, 12:20 AM
Too talkative a person to solo if I can help it :) If there's no group I tradeskill or solo, depending on how I feel

Daggeniel
01-05-2004, 05:00 AM
I soloed to mid teens I guess and occasionally after that ... but pretty much grouped all the way to 65. Of my ~420aa I guess I got about 50solo, the rest grouped.

These days I only solo when there are no spaces in guild ldon groups (im allergic to ldon pick ups) and tend to go solo fun stuff rather than grinding out more usless xp. The dragons outside ToV, attempting to clear *insert zone here* of every single mob at once with ae's - stuff like that. I almost managed it with unrest... after running around punching mobs inside the house and in the gardens (procs from Hammer of Hours can kill em which creates respawn) I stopped in a corner and wiped them all out. Unfortunately I missed half a dozen mobs somewhere... next time.. next time :)

quinalla
01-05-2004, 04:35 PM
Sure I still solo, but only at certain times. I solo when I only have a small amount of time to play (less than an hour or whatever). I put LFG on and go solo while I am waiting if I am not in the mood to start my own group. I solo when I need tradeskill components or other specific drops from mobs that I can solo and when I just don't feel like grouping.

Having said that, I am a grouping druid at heart, usually the second message to guild chat after a "Hey folks" is "Anyone want to get a group going?". And I get a group much more easily with LDoN than the planes.

Anka
01-05-2004, 08:39 PM
There is nothing I can really achieve now soloing. I can get all the xp I want in dungeons, I can't solo for clothes upgrades, I'm not interested in tradeskills, soloing loot isn't fantastic, nothing social happens, and it's often pretty dull. Soloing for me is now something to fill time between raiding and dungeons, the things I want to do in EQ nowadays.

Unuca
01-06-2004, 05:59 PM
Recently, I've had to group because of my low conjuration level. Drones of doom fizzled all my mana away. But a few days ago, I took a visit to Crushbone, and spam summoned food and drink, and killed Dvinn when he popped. Now I can actually cast DoD, and solo.