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Running solo...

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
hudds_magruder
Dec 19, 2009 19:06:06 What class stands up the best on it's own? I was thinking about trying to run through some premade adventures on my own since I can't find a group in my area. I could throw together a party, but I'd like to see how well one character can run through.

Just looking for opinions of what might have the best chance of living through on it's own.
#2
Igfig
Dec 19, 2009 20:10:00 As a general rule, it's better to be defensive than offensive if you're a solo character. You're going to be fighting lots of minions, after all, so there's less incentive to max out your damage. At the same time, minions tend to have a pretty good damage output; a minion deals about half as much damage as a standard, but you get four times as many of them. That makes good defenses and HP vital.

On the other hand, the more defensive roles (defender and leader) tend to place much more emphasis on a class's place in the party. Defenders are all about keeping other people from getting hit, and leaders, well, 80% of what they do is directly related to helping their allies. In a party of one, suddenly a lot of those abilities look less desirable.

So, what do I recommend? Three things:

1. Take classes that give you more hits without superfluous abilities. Wardens are tough and have nasty marks, but they only trigger when allies are attacked. Fighters would be a better choice, since they can also trigger their marks off of movement. Rangers and avengers get twice as many attack rolls as most other strikers. Anyone with area attacks can mow down minions like nobody's business.

2. Play a hybrid of some sort. Tacking a leader onto another class is a great way to add survivability without forcing you to please some imaginary group of "allies".

3. Play a pet class! If you're a shaman, beastmaster ranger, or summoner wizard, you can have a party of your own. Suddenly defenders and leaders look really attractive.

For the recent solo adventure in Dragon, I played a swordmage | shaman, and it was awesome. I'd drop my spirit companion next to enemies and they'd have to attack it, because if they tried to move away they'd suffer a nasty attack of opportunity. Because they were minions, an attack like that would kill them. Of course, because they were minions, they'd never deal enough damage to disperse my companion. Then, if they hit, I could just teleport in and give them a nasty slash for their troubles, killing them anyway. It was pretty fun. I cleared a room of eight minions in two rounds like that.
#3
l00mx
Dec 22, 2009 5:06:03 lgfig raises some good points, survivability is key, but you do want to be capable of churning out some damage of your own.
I'm assuming it's the 4th ed modules you're planning on running. I'm not as familiar with 4th ed as I am 3.5, but it seems to me that something like this would be very level and module dependant.
Which one(s) were you thinking of running and at what levels?
#4
adyan
Dec 22, 2009 5:23:48 Personally I would just go with a straight up paladin. You have access to very high armor and shield, a minor action heal, and your two channel divinity abilities can help you in a pinch depending on the situation. Depending on your race you can become quite a force to be reckoned with.
#5
hudds_magruder
Dec 22, 2009 9:39:28 I'm either going to run through the Scales of War from the beginning or through Keep on the Shadowfell and continue on through all the published campaigns from there. I was considering starting at level 2 for the slight boost over the encounters, maybe taking a low level magic item or two in an attempt to balance out a single character against a gang of monsters.
#6
TelinArtho
Dec 22, 2009 11:00:13 As an alternative - if you are interested in getting into a group - you can leverage the Play-by-post groups around here. Real Adventures caters to a wide variety of 4e and 3.5e games (as well as a few others), Play-by-Post Haven is another option.

If you want to try out arena fighting, the Core Coliseum might be your cup of tea. Check out some of the other PbP groups in my sig if you are inclined - there's plenty of action on offer.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 hudds_magruder Dec 19, 2009 19:06:06	What class stands up the best on it's own? I was thinking about trying to run through some premade adventures on my own since I can't find a group in my area. I could throw together a party, but I'd like to see how well one character can run through. Just looking for opinions of what might have the best chance of living through on it's own.
#2 Igfig Dec 19, 2009 20:10:00	As a general rule, it's better to be defensive than offensive if you're a solo character. You're going to be fighting lots of minions, after all, so there's less incentive to max out your damage. At the same time, minions tend to have a pretty good damage output; a minion deals about half as much damage as a standard, but you get four times as many of them. That makes good defenses and HP vital. On the other hand, the more defensive roles (defender and leader) tend to place much more emphasis on a class's place in the party. Defenders are all about keeping other people from getting hit, and leaders, well, 80% of what they do is directly related to helping their allies. In a party of one, suddenly a lot of those abilities look less desirable. So, what do I recommend? Three things: 1. Take classes that give you more hits without superfluous abilities. Wardens are tough and have nasty marks, but they only trigger when allies are attacked. Fighters would be a better choice, since they can also trigger their marks off of movement. Rangers and avengers get twice as many attack rolls as most other strikers. Anyone with area attacks can mow down minions like nobody's business. 2. Play a hybrid of some sort. Tacking a leader onto another class is a great way to add survivability without forcing you to please some imaginary group of "allies". 3. Play a pet class! If you're a shaman, beastmaster ranger, or summoner wizard, you can have a party of your own. Suddenly defenders and leaders look really attractive. For the recent solo adventure in Dragon, I played a swordmage \| shaman, and it was awesome. I'd drop my spirit companion next to enemies and they'd have to attack it, because if they tried to move away they'd suffer a nasty attack of opportunity. Because they were minions, an attack like that would kill them. Of course, because they were minions, they'd never deal enough damage to disperse my companion. Then, if they hit, I could just teleport in and give them a nasty slash for their troubles, killing them anyway. It was pretty fun. I cleared a room of eight minions in two rounds like that.
#3 l00mx Dec 22, 2009 5:06:03	lgfig raises some good points, survivability is key, but you do want to be capable of churning out some damage of your own. I'm assuming it's the 4th ed modules you're planning on running. I'm not as familiar with 4th ed as I am 3.5, but it seems to me that something like this would be very level and module dependant. Which one(s) were you thinking of running and at what levels?
#4 adyan Dec 22, 2009 5:23:48	Personally I would just go with a straight up paladin. You have access to very high armor and shield, a minor action heal, and your two channel divinity abilities can help you in a pinch depending on the situation. Depending on your race you can become quite a force to be reckoned with.
#5 hudds_magruder Dec 22, 2009 9:39:28	I'm either going to run through the Scales of War from the beginning or through Keep on the Shadowfell and continue on through all the published campaigns from there. I was considering starting at level 2 for the slight boost over the encounters, maybe taking a low level magic item or two in an attempt to balance out a single character against a gang of monsters.
#6 TelinArtho Dec 22, 2009 11:00:13	As an alternative - if you are interested in getting into a group - you can leverage the Play-by-post groups around here. Real Adventures caters to a wide variety of 4e and 3.5e games (as well as a few others), Play-by-Post Haven is another option. If you want to try out arena fighting, the Core Coliseum might be your cup of tea. Check out some of the other PbP groups in my sig if you are inclined - there's plenty of action on offer.