Returning player question: Best class for solo

I play at odd times and for random periods (5 minutes one moment, 2 hours the next). So I am thinking I need a Archetype that is solo-friendly. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Hero or villain, pets or no pets, any Archetype is fine.

(Forgive me if this is an old, much-answered question. I didn't see any recent threads on it.)

Scrapper.

Brutes and Masterminds also solo well, redside.

Probably something with Willpower or Regen. Not counting Stalkers, since they don't get QR.

I've tinkered with fire & dark-melee scrappers, robot & zombie masterminds, and a few brute types (I forget which). Any particular type of Scrapper, Brute or Mastermind?

I suspect masterminds are probably the best soloers in the game, at least at pre-SO, pre-IO stages. I have never had a toon level up solo as fast as my MM's. Second I would say is brutes - fury makes 1-20 go extremely fast as you can slot your attacks for acc, end reduction and recharge - leaving the damage up to fury. You also benefit from the fact that the AT damage modifiers haven't fully kicked in yet so fury's damage increase is going to buy you more prior to about L15 than it does later. Finally I would say the third best soloer is a scrapper - they start out a little rockier than brutes pre-stamina, pre-SO but after L22 they are going to be roughly neck and neck with a brute, the brute will have higher HP's but the scrapper will not have to build fury to do good damage.

Blasters solo very well up to the mid 20's, then the mobs HP's start to pass the damage a blaster can dish out and soloing is a lot more on the knife edge - one screw up, a series of bad rolls in the RNG and you WILL faceplant.

With the proper build, there's no class in the game that can't solo quite well. Play what you enjoy!

My experience has been that I can solo most effectively on a Brute. I have my Electric/Invulnerability one set to -1/x3 and while I faceplant sometimes, it's definitely a fun smashfest all around.

I would definately suggest a scrapper. The difficulty remains roughly the same throughout all the levels right up to 50 so you won't really find a time when you feel weak, unlike I feel most other AT's give you.

Brutes are similar, but even then I feel they get hit with a stamina crunch much more since they can't stop to catch their breath like scrappers.

MM's are great solo, but face a power drop at some point I think in the 20's when mobs get harder and suddenly their pets drop a level.

Other AT's I think are fun to solo, but can die easily which can cause frustration, something you don't want if you are on limited time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aggelakis PrincessDarkstar: "RAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH SOMEONE IS *WRONG* ON THE INTERNET!"

I've just returned to the game too and have a similar play situation. I often have to get up and reach "tall" things or move "heavy" things or whatnot for the wife I knew there was a reason she kept me around. Anyway, hero-side, I think a scrapper is the best soloist. Certain builds of the other ATs can solo decently (subjective) as well, but will probably do so with more risk (blaster) or more slowly (tank, controller, defender).

Redside, I'm starting to form the opinion that just about anything solos just fine if you play to it's strengths. I've soloed a claws/wp brute to 20 (fighting -1/x4 or so), a fire/dark corruptor to 24 (about the same spawn size, it's a little more dicey with mezzes but she can wipe out 2-3 spawns in 2 AoE attack chains), a ninja/poison MM to 26 (he cranks through at +1/x1 or so- focusing on a few "hard" targets to take advantage of /poison's single target debuffs), and a ninja blade/ninja stalker (about the same as the single target MM spawn size wise). Of those, the stalker's probably the slowest if she hits a "kill all" mission. The other three or pretty comparable. Of course the stalker has the advantage that if you get called away, you can leave it idling and Hide will have your back I've never made a dominator so I can't speak about them.

So, TLDR version: Blueside - play a scrapper- any one will solo just fine although I'd bet Willpower is a nice secondary on a scrapper. Redside - play around with each AT long enough to get a sense of what they're about and pick the one that you find the most fun.

Of my 50s, I'd probably go something like:

Brute <> Scrapper > Mastermind > Dominator > Blaster > Tank > Controller > Corruptor >>> Defender

Brute - no real issue once I got past end problems (WM/Shield, so there were some issues)

Scrapper - built for it, and really not much of a difference in difficulty with a brute, just a different dynamic with Fury.

Mastermind - great to solo IMO, you just need to be careful of the AoE foes.

Dominator - slower maybe at first, but it picks up significantly later. Early going there might be endurance restraints.

Blaster - ok, fine, sometimes you'll faceplant. But with a few purples you're fine; both my Fire/Fire and my Ice/MM soloed Maria's arc with no real EB issues. Knowing your limits helps.

Tank - Was a long time ago, and my EM/INV was about as safe as you could get. Getting to a point where beating mobs wasn't "death by a thousand punches" seemed to take forever though.

Controller - might be higher were it not for the darned purple triangles. Doms I think are easier because they have more damage output and mez protection when Domination is up. Caveat: some controllers can do absolutely BEASTLY things (Ill/Storm, Ill/Rad?). My Mind/Kin was capable, but by no means beastly.

Corruptor - the lack of mez protection and lack of defense really hurts here. There were many times I might have been saved if I had the Blaster's ability to use Tier 1/2 while held - being chain-stunned by a Malta, for example. Also possible I picked a poor combo (NRG/Kin) for soloing, I need to try another soon.

Defender - soloing on my Emp/Psi just wasn't really the thing to do.


I have a Widow at level 45, and I'd put her up in the Brute/Scrapper group. Sure her defense fails sometimes, but she can also be pretty nasty.

First Welcome back.

And second... what everyone else said!

Thought don't rule out Stalkers with a good build they can kick butt.

My 50 Tanker does Solo well. He's a Willpower/Dark Melee/ Energy The Dark Melee attacks are more focused on single target so the build almost designed for Soloing. With Willpower End isn't a problem and if I do find myself loosing end I just trigger Dark Consumption. Add that to the Energy Mastery and I got a character that just won't stop. However his damage is like most Tankers weaker then other ATs but I do have fun watching the mobs try to take me down. I call it my Zombie build that what I had in mind when I made it "What powers are close to what a Zombie would have?" Yup my name sake Rotten Luck the Zombie Hero.

Mastermind

Brute or scrapper. WP is easy mode. When you get higher levels in many cases you can put your aoe attack on auto in the middle of a fight and afk if needed. Most times you will still be alive with all the mobs around you dead when you come back.

Kybarsfang, what does 'I have my Electric/Invulnerability one set to -1/x3' mean? Sorry, but I am a bit new...

Scrappers and brutes. They kill fast and are very durable. A Claws/WP or SS/WP Brute is a PvE killing machine, and I personally really like my Dual Blades/WP Scrapper.

I like WP in PvE.

If you want to PvP then you might want to go for a SS/Fire Brute, BS/Regen Scrapper, or Fire/Regen Scrapper.

For the past 5 years I've been a soloer mainly.
Mostly because my playtime is all over the place (like the OPs)
Slightly because my load times are horrendous and I don't like making people wait, but I digress.

In those 5 years I've had 3 builds turn out to be pure pleasure from a solo viewpoint.

Energy/Energy Blaster: The knockback proves to be great mitigation in the early game, access to Aim and Build up early also help. Late game this build blooms into a boss killer. Using Stealth and SS and focusing on melee burst damage.

Fire/Ice Blaster: This combo proves to be so powerful, you might regret rolling one up when you try to make others blaster.
Fire is an AOE monster right out of the gates while Ice gives you numerous mitigation powers. Ice Patch makes Rain of Fire actually useful and Shiver makes boss fights a breeze!

Necromancy/Dark MM: God-Mode for soloers. Dark provides enough tools to keep you busy so you don't suffer the worst fate a soloer can...

Tedium.

You see. This is why, as an avid soloer, I don't play many defense sets.
It gets mind numbingly boring.
I've got a DM/Regen Scrapper in the mid 40's that feels unstoppable and thats the problem.

I like to be challenged, I like having to pay attention to what I'm doing.
With Blasters I'm always thinking on my feet, planning battle strategies.
Deciding when and where to attack etc etc.

With Scrappers and Brutes I'm clicking, clicking, clicking attacks ad nasuem. Gets boring and repetitive very quickly. For me. YMMV