***Every Class can solo effectively***Follow

I just wanted to point out to everyone looking around that no matter what class you pick, you will be to solo effectively. Even the Priest, the premier healing class, has access to offensive magics that allow him to solo quite effectively. Mages, though weak to physical attacks, are able to use their ranged advantages and cold spells to give them time to damage monsters before they get in close.

So don't worry about wether or not you'll be able to handle situations on your own. You will.

Also, the con system works very well. If you see a monster of one above your character's level or less, then you'll be able to take it down. If it is one level above it will be a bit of a challenge, but you'll be able to handle it. Equal levels are typically not too difficult, and anything less is usually pretty easy. Though you have to make sure you are prepared with whatever buffs and other defenses you have.

Just something everyone should know. You can but pick the class you like the most stylistically, and no worry need be given to solo ability. : )

-Drachasor

i would agree that all classes can solo,however,the class you choose still effects how good at soloing you are. The best examples are hunters and rogues, who are the premium soloing classes. I played a rogue and can tell you, they are extremely effective at soloing. While a class like mage can solo, there is considerable more risk when mobs stack and more down time for mana regen. Just thought i would add this on because the class you pick does influence how much or how effective you can solo, even though the option is always available.



Edited, Mon Nov 22 00:20:55 2004 by arexx

i was thinking about starting a post like this... but i hate starting one "D good job man :D

Me too, you sticky monger you.

ROFL, nice.

I have no problem with his original post having the title and body edited so that it includes the sentiment of my original post here.

I did debate with myself about sending him a private message about it, but this seemed like a more effective way to go about making the point. Besides, I don't think you can edit a title without a mod/admin. So this is a stop-gate solution until Az and a Mod get together and modify his original post.

-Drachasor

It would seem to me that the Priest, though suffering a bit (but not terribly much) compared to the likes of the Mage in damage spells, makes up for it with debuffs and defensive magics. It seems to especially be the case by level 20 or so, though even early on a number of nice defensive options become available.

Reports I have read seem to confirm this.

-Drachasor

In the beta I spent most of my time solo or duo with my girlfriend. And all class/race combos I tried soloed quite well. The balance was a little different for each. For example, priests killed slower, but had versatile ways of dealing with enemies and no significant downtime. Likewise for druids and paladins. Other classes with less of a healing focus usually killed significantly faster but had slightly more downtime but then again, a tip for all would be solo-warrior types, the First Aid tradeskill is our friend.

Also, I should add, although every class can solo and gain substantial experience and complete quests and defeat big mean scary monsters, it was more enjoyable with some classes than others. Hunters and Warlocks really stood out solo in that they were more fun solo than in a group. Sure my priest could solo, but it felt kind of empty without a party to help support. For hunters and warlocks on the other hand I could really put my pets and other skills to thier fullest use while out on my own.

Bottom line: no matter the class you'll never feel unable to solo. But some class choices are certainly more at home solo while others are a more at home in a party setting.

Preists barely inch by with there lives at about level 30, because the monsters become much more intense and in the long run, fighting monsters to your equal level you usually finsih off a battle with half life to less, but luckily you have lots of extra mana to heal with.

The main thing for priests is you need a lot of intellect and armor boosts, those are the two things that will keep a priest alive.

I'd say this would be false advertising so to speak if this were stickied, sorry to be the bad guy here. :/

Kahrain

Kahrain, everything I have read on the matter indicates that Priests can solo effectively. To be very effective soloing you'll have to specialize your talents into Shadow tree, and reasonably effective if they don't. Of course, if they don't other classes will outshine them, and I was never saying all classes are equal to each other in PvE, but each class can do PvE effectively. Some classes are closer to being "monsters" in the PvE area, and the Priest that isn't specialized in Shadow Magic certainly isn't a monster, but he can perform effectively solo even so.

By effective I mean that you won't be going so slowly that you'll lose your mind, and you'll be able to survive against equal level foes if you are reasonably careful.

-Drachasor

I agree with this statement. I’ve played several classes to around 15th level, including a priest. And even though I was no expert with the class, I was able to solo effectively. As others have stated, some classes solo faster than others, but there’s no way to make everything equal. Having played other MMORPGs, I think the fact that every class can solo is an amazing feat in and of itself.

Another thing I’ve been happy about, at least at levels 20 and below, is that you can also solo without the best equipment in the game. Don’t get me wrong, equipment makes a huge difference, but it isn’t essential. Even with laughable equipment I found that I could solo mobs and gain experience. Better equipment made soloing easier and much faster, but I’m still extremely impressed with Blizzard for balancing the game so that someone can advance with nothing more than mob drops and quest items. Go Blizzard! *grins*

Among my various CB characters, I did level a priest up to 43. When talents for priests came out, I specced as shadow priest, and I could solo just as effectively as any other class I played (Warlock, Rogue, Shaman, and Mage). I even tried my priest again at the end of OB to see what the final build of a priest would be like, and it still was able to very efficiently solo even con to 2-3 levels higher with very little downtime.

I don't see where you're getting your information, but in my opinion, it certainly isn't accurate