How solo friendly is this game?

[PaxArcana]

A huge part of what makes this game so unique, is that it promotes teaming, which also promotes a strong community.

 

::ehem::

 

Allow me to correct that statement somewhat:

 

A huge part of what makes this game so unique, is that it promotes teaming without requiring it.

 

CoX is eminently soloable, straight to the level cap (and at least a little bit beyond).

 

The only content that used to require teams (and might still not be solo-able to all Archetypes and Powersets) are Task Forces, Trials, Strike Forces, and (most) Giant Monsters.

 

End of list.

 

...

 

As for it taking longer to get to 50 solo, instead of teamed up ... SO BLOODY WHAT?  Some of us absolutely do not mind taking the slow road, rather than blindly rushing as fast as conceivable for "the endgame".

 

So, please.  Stop trying to make it out like there's something intrinsically wrong (or objectively unenjoyable) about soloing in CoX.

[jubakumbi]

So, please.  Stop trying to make it out like there's something intrinsically wrong (or objectively unenjoyable) about soloing in CoX.

 

This. :)

[Solarverse]

A huge part of what makes this game so unique, is that it promotes teaming, which also promotes a strong community.

 

::ehem::

 

Allow me to correct that statement somewhat:

 

A huge part of what makes this game so unique, is that it promotes teaming without requiring it. 

 

Thank you for the clarification.

 

 

As for it taking longer to get to 50 solo, instead of teamed up ... SO BLOODY WHAT?  Some of us absolutely do not mind taking the slow road, rather than blindly rushing as fast as conceivable for "the endgame".

 

So bloody what? Not sure why you had to come at me like that, but whatever. People get way too excited on forums. You need to settle down a bit and just have a conversation instead of getting your feathers ruffled. The way some people get all hot headed on these forums is just silly. Relax, enjoy a conversation, sip some coffee, or if you rather, sip some brandy. It's just a conversation. Nobody said anything out of the way. Nothing for you to get your feathers ruffled over for sure.

 

So to answer your "So bloody what?" question. It was information for a new player, my man. Just like "Some of us absolutely do not mind taking the slow road" you need to stop and think that not everybody wants to take forever to level either. Some people like to speed to the end, some people, like myself, like to find a nice middle ground. I do not power level, but I am a TF fanatic. So my leveling will not take as long as a solo player, but it will not be as quick as a power leveler either.

 

Just because I made the OP aware that leveling solo is a very slow way to level, does not mean I am against people who do so.

 

So, please.  Stop trying to make it out like there's something intrinsically wrong (or objectively unenjoyable) about soloing in CoX.

 

I never said a thing was wrong with it... please try to remain calm, lol.

[Solarverse]

So, please.  Stop trying to make it out like there's something intrinsically wrong (or objectively unenjoyable) about soloing in CoX.

 

This. :)

 

"This" nothing...I didn't say anything was wrong with it...

[PaxArcana]

Not sure why you had to come at me like that, [...]

Because you were quite plainly coming down on the idea of people who want to solo (instead of teaming up), making it out to be a bad way to play CoX.

 

You need to settle down a bit [...]

"Not agreeing with you" != "getting riled up".

 

So, please.  Stop trying to make it out like there's something intrinsically wrong (or objectively unenjoyable) about soloing in CoX.

I never said a thing was wrong with it... please try to remain calm, lol.

Explicitly, no.

 

Implicitly ... several times.

 

Your post positively reeked of condescension towards slow-road soloists.

[Solarverse]

Not sure why you had to come at me like that, [...]

Because you were quite plainly coming down on the idea of people who want to solo (instead of teaming up), making it out to be a bad way to play CoX.

 

You need to settle down a bit [...]

"Not agreeing with you" != "getting riled up".

 

So, please.  Stop trying to make it out like there's something intrinsically wrong (or objectively unenjoyable) about soloing in CoX.

I never said a thing was wrong with it... please try to remain calm, lol.

Explicitly, no.

 

Implicitly ... several times.

 

Your post positively reeked of condescension towards slow-road soloists.

 

Clearly you are highly overly sensitive and read what you want to read in to people's posts as if you are some kind of victim of persecution. Funny, not once have I ever seen anyone get persecuted because they like to play solo and level slowly. Not one single time from the time I was 28 years old (when this game came out) to now, at my nice ripe 44 years of age. You victim status here was overboard...and the fact you have to make something out of my post to fit your agenda proves it to me.

 

Sorry, pal...can't be bothered with you. Read in to it whatever you like then... I won't be fighting with you over it. You win by default, because I forfeit.

[PaxArcana]

You victim status here was overboard...

Wow.

 

And people have said that I can come off as arrogantly snarky .... son, you just took the prize for that.  All the prizes, past present and future.

[justicebeliever]

So, please.  Stop trying to make it out like there's something intrinsically wrong (or objectively unenjoyable) about soloing in CoX.

I never said a thing was wrong with it... please try to remain calm, lol.

Explicitly, no.

 

Implicitly ... several times.

 

Your post positively reeked of condescension towards slow-road soloists.

 

Pax, I'm working on a character right now who 90% soloing all the content...Doing every mission from every contact...He's level 9 and my favorite character.

 

I'm a diehard "Go Slow" kinda guy and I spend 50% of my time soloing and if you don't count my son playing with me in the same office, then I play 85% of the time solo or just with him.

 

I did not see ANY condescension towards soloing or level speed.  He did point some truths:

The game used to encourage teaming, which was why there was a min team size on live (Homecoming did away with that)

Teaming can be very fun...which is why you started Temporary Powers channel...

You do miss out the team XP buffs which means you will lvl slower...

 

I can't disagree with any of those, can you?  Stop and reread his post, but do it without emotion and take the words at face value.  There are so many nuances that face to face or voice to voice conveys, that are lost on the internet.  You really can't tell on the surface is somebody is serious, condescending or sarcastic.  Why not assume the best?  We are heroes after all.

[Solarverse]

You victim status here was overboard...

Wow.

 

And people have said that I can come off as arrogantly snarky .... son, you just took the prize for that.  All the prizes, past present and future.

 

hey, serious, man. I am not against soloing in this game. I believe people should be able to play in any way they see fit, as long as it does not negatively impact another player's ability to play in the way he/she likes...in which case compromises can be made by two mature players in order to meet half way.

 

I have no issues with how other players play, I honestly wanted the OP to go in to this with a bit of knowledge.

 

So I love teaming? Hell yes I do. Am I partial to it>? Sure, if I had to answer honestly I would say yes I am. However, I do not, nor would I ever knock somebody who prefers solo play. Hey, it's their game, their lives, their time spent playing, not mine, right? There is nothing wrong with it at all. Everyone enjoys the game for a different reason. I know this. And I love the game because it accommodates this. Trust me, my man...you and me fight for the same thing and are on the same side. You are preaching to the choir here. 

 

If you still chose to believe in what you believe about my post, I can't stop that, but I am here to put the record straight on my post, and what I am all about on these boards and in game.

 

Either way, take care, my man.

 

[Konru]

I just want to clarify the comment ‘do something else for a while’.  Missions will not level with your character.  So if you get you backside kicked by an elite boss at the end of a story arc, don’t abandon or complete the mission.  Run other missions or street sweep for a level or two and then go back an you should be able to handle him.

 

For example, if at level 14 you can’t beat the final boss, leave him until you get to level 15 or 16 (or more).  Then when you go back he is still level 14 and you should be able to beat him.  I solo a lot and use this trick often.  Obviously it won't work at level 50.  ;D

 

Haha, yes.  I've done that a few times myself.  But honestly, I do consider myself one of those people who just can't skip that one or two paragraphs in the story.  I'm terrible as a team leader most of the time since people are always waiting for me to finish reading.

 

To answer the OP's question, this was never truly meant to be a solo game.

 

The default difficulty is also rather ironically very close to the original difficulty settings.  If you turn story bosses and archvillains on then you have the difficulty that the game originally came with (ignoring the newer inherent powers).  But back then as long as you were solo, you wouldn't even see a boss unless it was part of the story.  Scrappers did solo better than the other original 4 archetypes, but that just meant they were faster to progress more than being easier.

 

 

Here are some of my impressions of the archetypes as they are currently implemented.

 

Tankers: 70% of base damage of a scrapper, but more powerful defense sets and better HP to make up for it.  The inherent that gives a 20% resist debuff to the target of the first attack in the secondary power set does help a lot, bumping damage to 80% to 84% of a scrapper.  It only loses in comparison to scrappers solo because of the slower kill times.  At the same time, they are actually safer than scrappers.  Fire/Spines tankers actually were very infamous for a while as powerleveler builds who can gather up lots of mobs at a time and just burn them all down at once.  Effectively making up for their "low" DPS by taking on more opponent at once safely.  Other power sets can also do something similar if you look for the right powers.

 

Defenders: Your mileage may vary, a lot.  They have only 60% of a blaster's base damage and that +30% solo bonus doesn't help as much as it sounds.  It adds to the enhancement value instead of actually multiplying damage like the tanker does.  Some of the defender power sets are infamous for only affecting allies without doing much for the defender herself.  However only a couple of the defender sets actually have powers that work like that.  PBAoE healing and buffing powers fully help the defender, and anything that debuffs the enemy helps the defender as much as anyone else.  Kinetics best power is an ally-only power but the rest of the powers can buff the defender to blaster levels of DPS while buffing her team just as much.  Radiation is also famous for doing insane things like soloing proper archvillains because of a combination of damage, recharge, and endurance recovery buffing, accuracy, recharge and resistance debuffing, PBAoE healing, and even a way to keep the archvillain's insane regeneration turned of mostly.  It requires Hasten to work fully, but it feels overpowered.  Other sets will probably feel slow.  But most of them are also pretty safe, too.

 

Blasters: Soloing is as fast as scrappers, but more dangerous because they don't have any proper defense, resistance, or healing.  But they do have the advantage of range.  Hover can be a blaster's best friend sometimes as they can stay out of range of the ground-bound melee types (which hit hard) and only worry about the ranged attacks.  It's a high risk but also high reward playstyle.

 

Controllers: Primary set is a control set, secondary set is a defense set.  This means that they fall into the slow but safe category, but may actually be the slowest out there without relying on very specific mechanics.  Even though it was one of the original five, the Controller (along with Mastermind) eventually got locked behind the paywall.  I presume because it wasn't really beginner friendly and the Devs wanted to cut down on complaints.

 

Brutes and Stalkers: Both are close enough to scrappers in power to be interchangeable.  Stalker powers actively shed aggro instead of drawing aggro, which becomes a real pain when your current mission is to escort a berserk NPC to the target or exit.  But that's just play style and hardly a drop in the XP faucet.

 

Corruptor: Practically the same as a defender.  If it isn't Kinetics, Radiation, Sonic, or Poison, a corruptor will solo slightly faster and riskier than a defender, but the differences are really small.

 

Dominator: The base damage of the dominator is only second to the scrapper and blasters, in spite what the character creation stat graphic says.  With no defense, they can feel like nerfed blasters when facing an Elite Boss or Archvillain.  But fighting lots of minions and lieutenants does make soloing fast and safe as they have the ability to actually kill stuff quickly while it's locked down.

 

Mastermind: The mastermind by herself is like a defender with a defense set slightly worse than what controllers and corruptors get.  But the catch here is that the mastermind is never alone.  Right from the start they can pull out their own team of pets and can replace any losses every 2 minutes or faster.  So the mastermind with their entourage of pets can actually be safer than a tanker while better than a blaster at DPS at the same time.  It is not newbie friendly.  But it is overpowered once you learn to manage the pets.

 

Some choices are better at soloing than others.  But I haven't really found anything that absolutely can't solo unless you are trying to solo the really tough stuff that wasn't meant to be soloed to begin with.  Regardless, there is enough soloable and solo-friendly content to get you to the end of the game just fine.  With the sheer quantity of low and mid level content, City of Heroes is the only game of it's type that allows you turn off XP gain and where people have good reason to do so.

[PaxArcana]

I did not see ANY condescension towards soloing or level speed.

The problem is the dismissive tone of what he said.

 

Stop and reread his post, but do it without emotion and take the words at face value.

Likewise, please?  A few specific phrases fair leapt out at me, and did not paint a rosy picture.

 

Is it solo friendly? I guess you could say it is now, but your content will be limited.

 

The ambivalence here is thick enough to cut with a knife, and the outright misleading falsehood about solo content being "limited" implies a lack of potential for fun: "there won't be much here for you to do if you play solo".

 

It can be soloed just fine if all you want is to reach the max level.

 

And here we are again, suggesting that there isn't much to do if you play solo.

 

That dismissive tone is what I took exception to.

 

Is teaming potentially fun?  Yes, absolutely.

 

Is teaming the only way to access the majority of CoX's content ...?  Absolutely not...!

 

Why not assume the best?

Because: humans.

 

Also, because the phrasing used above, I have seen many times before, from people who yes, absolutely did look down their noses at anyone who wanted to play an MMO solo.  Often strenuously and with much vitriol.  That phrasing has become a very large yellow flag, as a result.

 

Also also, pessimism has this as an advantage: if you expect the worst, the only surprises are happy ones.

 

We are heroes after all.

Speak for yourself; Redside is my home, cape.  :D

 

(Well, it used to be, back when the only MMs were villains.  Now I'm about evenly split for characters, but weighted heavily Blueside for levels ...)

[Solarverse]

You can't expect people to walk on eggshells on how they talk. That is just not going to happen, my man. There are lines you don't cross, obviously...but I said nothing out of the way. Sure, my post sounded like a sales pitch, but in no way sounded like I was trying to put him down for soling....come on, man...I have better things to do with my life.

 

Also: Humans. Well guess what, I feel the exact same way with you...I don't know you from Adam. I remember your name on live, and honestly I never gave you a second thought, you and I didn't have any interactions. So I had no opinion of you. Of course on live, maybe you weren't this overly assertive either. So who knows. People change.

 

However, you came at me like you were ready to pick a fight...and dude, I'm a fighter. So picking a fight with me is only going to get you what you came looking for. It wasn't going to work from the get-go. I'm getting old...and the older I get, the less I tolerate people with attitude. I come at people with respect until they come at me with disrespect. I didn't come at you in any kind of way, you came at me. You picked my post apart. Anybody can add intent when you pick apart a post. And I'm sorry, I will NOT walk on egg shells on these forums. That will NEVER happen. I'm no special snowflake, my man....I grew up to say what you mean and don't hold back...I grew up to be real, not to be all passive aggressive. I hate passive aggressive people. I refuse to become one. So trust me, if I had something to say about people who solo...I'd say it....just like what I said to you was nothing I held back on.

 

This whole thing was completely unnecessary. It is getting to a point that you can't say anything on these boards without SOMEBODY having some issue with it and putting words in to your mouth. This needs to stop. We were all friendly on CoH Facebook over the years....why does the community have to be at each other's throats all of a sudden? We finally got back what we wanted, and now we are going to treat each other like crap? Makes no sense, man...we are supposed to be better than this.

[PaxArcana]

You can't expect people to walk on eggshells on how they talk.

I don't.

 

But you, in turn, cannot expect people to not speak up when they hear/see you say something they object to.

 

That's how debates and discussions work.

 

However, you came at me like you were ready to pick a fight...

... no I didn't.  I replied with vigor, period.  Not all strong emotions are fighting emotions.

[Ele]

You can play solo but it is definitely a game meant for teams.  However, with a durable, damage dealing character you can solo *most* things.  There are going to be times when you need a team. 

[Solarverse]

You can't expect people to walk on eggshells on how they talk.

I don't.

 

But you, in turn, cannot expect people to not speak up when they hear/see you say something they object to.

 

That's how debates and discussions work.

 

However, you came at me like you were ready to pick a fight...

... no I didn't.  I replied with vigor, period.  Not all strong emotions are fighting emotions.

 

Fair enough, let's call it a day. There is a game I would like to play, and it requires me to put on some tights and get levels, heh.

[Legree]

Most ATs with most powersets can solo most content.  Inspirations can be used to power through any real problems and there's always -1/x1/no bosses for the notoriety settings.

 

For an MMO of this era - back when grouping was still the norm rather than the exception - CoH is incredibly solo friendly.  Very little of it is gated behind team requirements and if you really want to do a TF or SF it's not hard to just hop onto a PUG.

 

No question the experience will vary.  ATs without mez protection will have to rely on Break Frees more to avoid being chain held by some enemies (unless you hit them first - that CoT Mage isn't going to be holding anyone if you blow him away with a Snipe in your opening shot) and there is a few ATs and powersets I'd be reluctant to solo on, except as a self-imposed challenge.  In the low level to mid level game most Controllers have very low damage, and there's some powersets where 2/3 of the powers don't work on yourself so you won't get much utility out of them - Thermal, Empathy and so on.

 

But those are the exceptions.  Assuming you don't expect a ranged AT to be as resilient as a melee AT (or a Mastermind) then you can have a rewarding and interesting solo experience with just about any character.

 

As an aside I'd add that while I do mostly solo this is also the game in which I've most often teamed.  It's easy to jump onto a PUG and run some missions, and it's fun too.  Even a familiar story arc can be a whole new experience if you're running it as part of a full team.

[THEDarkTyger]

So, please.  Stop trying to make it out like there's something intrinsically wrong (or objectively unenjoyable) about soloing in CoX.

I never said a thing was wrong with it... please try to remain calm, lol.

Explicitly, no.

 

Implicitly ... several times.

 

Your post positively reeked of condescension towards slow-road soloists.

 

He's got a thing for implying stuff, then coming out with "I DIDN'T SAY THAT!" when called out on it...

[jubakumbi]

So, please.  Stop trying to make it out like there's something intrinsically wrong (or objectively unenjoyable) about soloing in CoX.

I never said a thing was wrong with it... please try to remain calm, lol.

Explicitly, no.

 

Implicitly ... several times.

 

Your post positively reeked of condescension towards slow-road soloists.

 

He's got a thing for implying stuff, then coming out with "I DIDN'T SAY THAT!" when called out on it...

 

Yup.

[MrAxe]

Any Archetype with a Defense primary or secondary - Scrapper, Sentinel, Brute, Stalker, Tank - is going to be very, very solo-able.

 

Masterminds, also, because you can usually avoid being in personal danger (until all your pets die, but, well, nothings perfect).

 

Once you learn the gameplay a little better, you'll find that almost any archetype can be played solo - some are just a bit slower, and need to be played a bit more cautious, than others.

 

 

Tanks are an example of slow solo. They're fine later on but if you're going solo with defence and melee on a toon, best go for Scrapper or Brute.

[Thorazine]

Welcome Rick, you will find it hard to leave now! :)

[Solarverse]

So, please.  Stop trying to make it out like there's something intrinsically wrong (or objectively unenjoyable) about soloing in CoX.

I never said a thing was wrong with it... please try to remain calm, lol.

Explicitly, no.

 

Implicitly ... several times.

 

Your post positively reeked of condescension towards slow-road soloists.

 

He's got a thing for implying stuff, then coming out with "I DIDN'T SAY THAT!" when called out on it...

 

Yup.

 

The only people who believe I am implying stuff are people who are over sensitive and need their safe spaces. I'm finished tip toeing around you guys and trying to explain myself. This is me giving the three of you the middle finger. You little sweeties are just going to have to get over yourself, and find somebody else to put words in their mouth and put them on the defensive...I see you for what you are....witch hunters.

 

 

[THEDarkTyger]

The only people who believe I am implying stuff are people who are over sensitive and need their safe spaces. I'm finished tip toeing around you guys and trying to explain myself. This is me giving the three of you the middle finger. You little sweeties are just going to have to get over yourself, and find somebody else to put words in their mouth and put them on the defensive...I see you for what you are....witch hunters.

Know what, nevermind. You've devolved into outright namecalling. And we're the bad guys here. ::)

[Abraxus]

Suffice to say that the game is a solo friendly as one chooses to make it.  If you know the game well enough, and choose a character that can both take damage, and do damage, you will go through the content, and have fun.  If you choose an archetype that excels in buff/debuff, or healing others, then you will have made it difficult for yourself, and the inevitable frustration of piles of life debt will become a reality. 

 

Some archetypes are initially pretty difficult, until they reach a certain level (like controllers), then they are much more solo friendly.  So, you could team until you get to that level, then solo.  But, the bottom line is that "solo friendly" does not mean that any archetype will plow through any content with ease.  It really means, if you choose well, it is quite solo-friendly.  If not, then quite the opposite will be true.

[Widower]

Please stop attacking each other; I should rather like to ensure that the OP is not left with the impression that the community is nasty.

[PaxArcana]

[...]

 

Please stop attacking each other; [...]

 

.... with much difficulty: by your command, m'Lord.