What's wrong with soloing ^^s?

[AsheM]

<DIV>I've noticed that recently a lot of people are whining about classes being able to solo ^^s.  What is the problem with this?  Why do people believe a person should NEVER be able to solo a heroic monster?  At level 45 I have green cons that are level 39.  Are people really thinking that a character 6 levels higher than the encounter should not be able to solo it?  That seems absurd.  I can see people having a problem with other classes soloing blue^^ and even white^^s.  But I think to make statement like a character should NEVER be able to solo ANY heroic encounter is ridiculous.  I'll be honest, I constantly solo blue^^s for experience, and maybe that's excessive.  If you really break it down though, these encounters take 5-10 minutes and the XPH (Exp per hour) is nearly the same as killing tons of solo encounters.  Being able to solo ^^s simply opens up a lot more the game content.  There really isn't much solo content out there and taking away the ability to solo ^^s will limit us even more.  I hope the new defense changes won't completely destroy the ability to solo ^^s.  </DIV>

[English Da Gua]

<P>  Exactly, and it is far from just guardians, I see many classes doing this. How many levels should one need to be able to solo a ^^ normal mob or even a ^^ named?</P> <P>  Also, some SK posted here that he would solo blue named ^^ by kiting them. I can't solo a named blue ^^, but I am not here saying I need superb dots so I can kite.</P> <P>   Every class has a niche, and every class offers something. Some classes can solo better then others. A lot of people it seems came to EQ2 believing the hype about similarities and this is not, nor will it ever be the case. It can't be, because then you run into what sage calls same but different but same.</P> <P>    I understand some people never had first hand experience with SoE, but if you had, you have no excuse actually believing their PR people, you should have done your own research because every SoE game is the same. PR people lie and customer service sucks. I do not mind this, I rather enjoy their games, hardly need customer support and I understand nerfs will happen, if you can't handle this you ought to play a PS2 game and stay away from a live game.</P> <P>  OT ---- At 45 lvl 39s conned green, yet when I dinged 46 40s do not con green, it went back to a 5 lvl gap for rewards. At 50, does a 44 con green or is it also the 5 lvl gap?</P> <p>Message Edited by English Da Guard on <span class=date_text>03-30-2005</span> <span class=time_text>09:20 AM</span>

[Blat]

<DIV>Remember this post when they nerf the crap out of us.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV><p>Message Edited by Blatus on <span class=date_text>03-30-2005</span> <span class=time_text>09:28 AM</span>

[English Da Gua]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Blatus wrote:<BR> <DIV><FONT color=#ffff00>Remember this post when they nerf the crap out of us.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <P>Message Edited by Blatus on <SPAN class=date_text>03-30-2005</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>09:28 AM</SPAN><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <DIV><FONT color=#ffff00> </FONT>   If you thought you would go your entire EQ2 life without a nerf I want to live in your world hehe.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>  This will not be the last nerf for us either, not by far. Other classes will have them as well. Just common sense when playing a game by SoE, they always seem to do things to the extreme and then go back and patch it up. Just the nature of the beast.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>    Also, please do not misunderstand, guardians are not the only class who can solo blue ^^s, in fact other classes can do it better and faster. Also, like I said above, you got SKs supposedly (never saw [Removed for Content]) soloing blue ^^ named...I can't do that. Is nerfing an SKs ability to solo them the way to go?? No, I do not think so. After this whole buff stacking defense thing goes through I hope it makes encounters more difficult. I know they said this is not a group dependent game, and it shouldn't be. On the other hand though, I wouldn't have a need for a group if I could solo everything.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>    Nerfs on Everquest are kinda like death and taxes ya know.</DIV><p>Message Edited by English Da Guard on <span class=date_text>03-30-2005</span> <span class=time_text>10:19 AM</span>

[Pola]

<P>Soloing the lowest level ^^ green mob has never been an issue.</P> <P>Healers can do it. Tanks can do it, heck, I believe even some scouts can do it. When they are at the lowest level that is still green to you, they have a /very/ hard time hitting you. You should notice that they miss alot. When they do hit, it's typically fairly hard, but 90% of the hits are missed.</P> <P>The problem is, is finding an acceptable volume of these somewhere.</P> <P>For example, at level 30, I can kill level 26 Giant Shamens all day long with no worries. They take me down to about 2/3rds health, but it's not really a hard fight.</P> <P>If I pull a 27, I'm a deadman.</P> <P>The problem with finding low level greens is that they are always mixed with either greens of a higher level, or greys. Either way, it worse XP than you can get in a decent group.</P>

[Platinum]

Hey Asheman, do you play quake III? <div></div>

[Platinum]

<span><blockquote><hr>English Da Guard wrote:<div></div> <p>  Exactly, and it is far from just guardians, I see many classes doing this. How many levels should one need to be able to solo a ^^ normal mob or even a ^^ named?</p> <p>  Also, some SK posted here that he would solo blue named ^^ by kiting them. I can't solo a named blue ^^, but I am not here saying I need superb dots so I can kite.</p> <p>   Every class has a niche, and every class offers something. Some classes can solo better then others. A lot of people it seems came to EQ2 believing the hype about similarities and this is not, nor will it ever be the case. It can't be, because then you run into what sage calls same but different but same.</p> <p>    I understand some people never had first hand experience with SoE, but if you had, you have no excuse actually believing their PR people, you should have done your own research because every SoE game is the same. PR people lie and customer service sucks. I do not mind this, I rather enjoy their games, hardly need customer support and I understand nerfs will happen, if you can't handle this you ought to play a PS2 game and stay away from a live game.</p> <p>  OT ---- At 45 lvl 39s conned green, yet when I dinged 46 40s do not con green, it went back to a 5 lvl gap for rewards. At 50, does a 44 con green or is it also the 5 lvl gap?</p> <div></div><p>Message Edited by English Da Guard on <span class="date_text">03-30-2005</span> <span class="time_text">09:20 AM</span></p><hr></blockquote>Totally agree with ya man!</span><div></div>

[Colin MacLaren]

Wrong is being able to solo nameds, not having to share the loot.

[English Da Gua]

<DIV><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Colin MacLaren wrote:<BR>Wrong is being able to solo nameds, <FONT color=#ffff00>not having to share the loot.<BR></FONT> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>   If I had two accounts / computers and duo'd names I still wouldn't have to share the loot, is that wrong too?</DIV>

[Gno]

There's nothing wrong with soloing named and not sharing loot from my perspective, especially not given how quickly mobs go grey and no rewards are possible from an encounter that can still easily kill you. I found it particularly ironic when the "solo" and "group" schism was replaced by the "heroic" designation.  To me, being heroic is usually an extraordinary individual effort.  It's rarely a group effort.  The way I understand heroism, the heroic encounters should be soloable for significant reward and a piece of cake, with about that for reward, for a group.  I fear it's pandering to, er... attracting the mass market that keeps soloers from reaping the even greater rewards from heroic encounters than groups "should" get.<div></div>

[Haili]

<P>I have a 43 guardian, and I can solo 41st level herioc encounters, provided they are all melee classes. I can pull a shark in EF and batter him 4 or 5 times to run him oop, then it's pretty easy. Only thing is, it takes about 5 minutes to kill it. This is dual weilding SBD + SSoY, with FBSS and desperate flurry.</P> <P>I've never really compared the exp of soloing to the exp grouping, because I haven't ever soloed for long enough to get steady exp, but the few times i've gone off soloing blue double ups to close up that last 8% exp, it's seemed really, really slow. And the loot? Practically nothing. I've never found anything good off a blue double up, simply because the rate at which i kill them is too low. I get more stuff killing solo mobs.</P> <P>And yeah, i can solo named. If they're green and don't cast. They drop chests every time. But you know what kind of loot you get from green named? Green loot! Great, eh?</P>

[Colin MacLaren]

<DIV>Nameds drop rares, sometimes master chests, so even if the mob cons lower, you still have a good chance of a rare.</DIV>

[Platinum]

I've killed Varsoon 12 times 1 rare that sold for a 1p split = 50g each, all the rest junk!  12 x running to the zone waiting for the other player to arrive average time = 25 mins.  30 mins to kill encounter.  So 25 + 30 = 55 x 12 =660/60 =11hrs + selling mode 20hrs to sell item = 31hrs of character time active/inactive for 50g!  Now please point me to another mob!  Thanks.  Now if I would be able to solo him that would cut down on my travel time but would increase my fighting time!  Now where is the challenge of being able to solo named mobs?  I just don't undestand how its not a challenge.  I'd rather not have to wait for others.  I'm tired of the game being geared entirely toward group play.  Seriously making the game group based is pulling the sheep over your eyes to create a timesink.  Heaven forbid you can actually do something in the game yourself which would mean you are to powerful.  What's the point of f game if not to gain power and be able to do stuff you can't do? I pay to play not to sit and wait.  I have enough of that in the game already!  Now sometimes I do like to group but that's only sometimes!  Wouldn't it be nice if everyone could work to get something nice without having to be a Raid Guild?  I love the game the way it is now!  But as soon as its Gaged! I don't think I will. <div></div>

[Colin MacLaren]

<DIV>You don't have to wait for others in order to kill a named. I have to, like many classes, too. Where's the balance of this? I also do not like to wait, like most of the other classes have. When most of the highlevel tanks If you can kill stuff on your own other classes can't, no matter how uber their skill, strategy and equipment is, than <U>this aspect</U> of your class, not your class as whole, is overpowered. When most of the 50 tanks on my server are running around with full sets of ebon armor, and begin to consider jewelry made of rare gems, because there is no Tier5 spell below Adept3 left, and they keep telling which named they solo'd yesterday dropped the rare stuff, I feel something is out of hand. SOE added tons of solo content over the last weeks. If there is still nothing you consider worthwhile, then either you are too greedy and expect too much rewards for soloing, or the game is still lacking some real solo content. Underrot Caves/Dire Hollow are a good start, I'd like to see more of this.</DIV>

[Gno]

<div></div>I agree that there are serious inequities regarding the solo abilities of different classes.  I dabble with ten of them  Why should the classes which can solo enjoyably be nerfed rather than the classes which can't be improved such that they can?  Why should the excessive, buffed up abilities of high level characters have anything to do with what normal, mid-level characters of the same class can do?  Why should certain classes be wrecked rather than high level buffs and abilities changed?  Etc, etc.  Changes should only be made that resolve specific problems or improve situations without harming others.  Designing and implementing such positive changes is more difficult than quick fixes, but they're worth the effort. <div></div>