(edited by Vindicus.2130)
Solo friendly?
You can solo much of the content in HoT. Elite specializations are earned in HoT outside of vanilla GW2. That must be the “pay wall” they refer to, you have to have Hot. Elite specializations are an upgrade in terms of available skills, traits and weapons available to your character. I’ve soloed (didn’t join any group) all professions(9 now) to their complete elite specializations on 12 characters. While some were easier than others, it is very doable. There are some hero point challenges and events obviously that will require more than yourself, but you can get there by yourself without the need to join a group. I’m 50 with two kids,so take that apparent skill level and available time for what it is worth
It depends on what you mean by solo. Think of the temples in Orr. You can’t solo them, but you can still do them, because other people do them.
There are plenty of people running around the new zones, doing the events you can’t solo. Much like Orr. There are also plenty of events you can solo.
I run around solo in the new zones all the time.
It may take a bit of build finagling, depending on how you were built before, but it’s definitely doable.
Almost everything in the HoT areas is not solo-friendly, in the sense that a single player wouldn’t be able to complete those events and would likely die constantly to event mobs.
You don’t need to join parties, there are (almost) always people around doing events and you just have to do your part.
So I would say that it is playable solo, but it’s not exactly solo-friendly.
Paywall? Sort of. It’s an expansion. Buy it and you get everything included in the expansion. The elite specs and all that comes packaged with them should definitely be considered a power upgrade, though. And they are only available by purchasing the expansion.
Predicting whether or not you’ll enjoy HoT is difficult because to many players it’s a “love it or hate it” kind of thing. A few things to know about HoT:
If you dislike exploration challenges and find yourself easily frustrated when lost, you may not like HoT.
If you consider yourself on the lower end of the skill spectrum when it comes to combat, you may find the difficulty is a bit much for you.
If by “solo” you mean 100% solo, you won’t like HoT’s event-based maps. Many of these events actually can be done solo and entire event chains progressed from 0-100%, in fact. But you can only do so much to progress events map-wide yourself. Inevitably, you will have to cooperate with other players. Fortunately, GW2’s system makes it easy to play solo and still seamlessly cooperate with other players without having to interact with them.
If none of that sounds like a barrier to your enjoyment, I would say HoT is worth the money. For me, it doesn’t get any better for open world PvE than the expansion maps.
I did most of the HOT stuff with another friend, and we both co oped alot of the content. When she wasn’t around I did alot of it either myself or with random people showing up or posting on the LFG for help. But I eventually just got really good with my class and soloed some of the group stuff when no one was around to help.
I usually see squads getting formed in LFG, advertising for players to join them for hero point runs.
I think that in a game that only charges one time for the game and once for the expansion the word “pay wall” is undeserved.
Although there is a lot you can solo in this game, I will say that it’s not a solo friendly game. Being able to solo a lot doesn’t make the game automatically solo friendly, just solo able. There is a difference.
My feeling is that the game is built around more people being around and therefore it is possible to solo stuff but certainly not always easy. I find for example that playing my guardian, the HoT areas are a pain as a melee (still working on getting my bow skills) because there are so many circles being dropped constantly and the endless knock backs that I have to wait for other players or I have to play ranged so I can pick mobs off one at a time because you can los a lot of other mobs throwing circles.
Also visiting Orr last night, there really aren’t a lot of people there anymore and since those areas are still rather a pain in the butt to go through I’d say that it’s not that great to go there. Still, the lower level zones are better. I think you can safely state that the higher level the zone the less solo friendly it is. At the same time even the higher zones are in large parts soloable, just not as friendly. You could argue though that this is ok in an MMO that doesn’t even require you to group up to do content together.
It’s a game forum. The truth is not to be found here.
Most of HoT can be done solo except for half the HP’s, group events, and anything with elites/champs. This is based on the average player. More skilled players can accomplish more.
I’ve run solo exclusively for all professions except thief/warrior.
Now, “solo” in my case specifically means no organized groups,
tagging along with the mass zergs that accumulate for the larger
group activities. Some classes were easier than others (strangely,
for me, engineer was easiest, followed by necro, both not my
favorites though). All of them were fun. Elites are not required.
You have to be more cautious when you’re unfamiliar with the
maps. Ask in general if you think you may need help, if you’re
getting ready to take on a champ that looks super tough, just
ask for help in general. People will show up.
It does not require great gear. I’ve never raided in gw2, have no
desire to do so. Just a casual off/on again player that takes breaks
for other games.
I think that in a game that only charges one time for the game and once for the expansion the word “pay wall” is undeserved.
Although there is a lot you can solo in this game, I will say that it’s not a solo friendly game. Being able to solo a lot doesn’t make the game automatically solo friendly, just solo able. There is a difference.
My feeling is that the game is built around more people being around and therefore it is possible to solo stuff but certainly not always easy. I find for example that playing my guardian, the HoT areas are a pain as a melee (still working on getting my bow skills) because there are so many circles being dropped constantly and the endless knock backs that I have to wait for other players or I have to play ranged so I can pick mobs off one at a time because you can los a lot of other mobs throwing circles.
Also visiting Orr last night, there really aren’t a lot of people there anymore and since those areas are still rather a pain in the butt to go through I’d say that it’s not that great to go there. Still, the lower level zones are better. I think you can safely state that the higher level the zone the less solo friendly it is. At the same time even the higher zones are in large parts soloable, just not as friendly. You could argue though that this is ok in an MMO that doesn’t even require you to group up to do content together.
On the other hand there are plenty of stuff that scales poorly so having more people around is actually bad in those cases.
Thanks all for the responses they were very helpful mostly!
Also visiting Orr last night, there really aren’t a lot of people there anymore and since those areas are still rather a pain in the butt to go through I’d say that it’s not that great to go there.
And yet the other day I was there and someone commented they hadn’t expected to see so many people and were pleasantly surprised.
So I guess it’s timing. I was there last night (about 10pm UK time) to do the daily vista and stayed to get in a giant/ooze, rotbeard, couple of hallas, half an Arah defend and then ran round gathering. Fairly busy, suspect most people are doing the LS3 story which is where I’d just come from after doing a bunch of achievements.
Blame Abaddon, he loves your tears.
pve, raid, pvp, fractal, dungeon, world clearing, legendary questing.. Zapped!
pve, raid, pvp, fractal, dungeon, world clearing, legendary questing.. Zapped!
Sounds to me like you were reading a rather negatively biased review … The expansion is no more a paywall than anything else in the world. You buy it, you get access to the content. Meta events are intended to be done with a team.
I read all the text here and it is like every single one of them trying to sell a product and telling you all the benefits you’ll get by buying it.
I re-started playing game about a year ago (few days more or less) and get my only toon to level 80. I played Trade post very well and now I have 10 character slot which I didn’t pay money for it. I could use that gold to BUY ascended but right now I only have 2 ascended pieces which I bought half their material from TP. Here is Pay Wall if you want to go fast you need to pay, buy gem, change to gold, buy material. If you don’t you’ll have a year to make your ascended gear.
Solo means solo, you enter a zone, there is an event going on, nobody is there and you can do the event by yourself. because you are not in a group doesn’t mean you are soloing the content.
many of comments saying it is possible to solo events. if there aren’t champions. legendary in there. how about a group of 3 mobs, one stun/tangle you and the other one bombard you with poison and next one who slam you so hard that before you be able to move, you are downed? if you ask me, it is possible to solo the content in some extent if you are wielding Legendary weapons, and full Ascended armor. Which exotic armor and weapon or below, forget about it. And by the way the events that doesn’t involve a legendary or champion or (at least two veteran) in some stage are very rare, may be in Verdant brink.
People commenting above might be from a server full of people. I am from Anvil Rock server. Most of the time my server is empty, Even in Auric Basin. Sometimes we can find a group of 5~10 people to do the some of event which most of the time at the end fails. If we get lucky and find an LFG we can move to other server and it is IF MAP in that SERVER is not already FULL. In past few weeks I go to dragon stand at least 3 times a day on start of events and even on the day that is was part of daily there weren’t enough people to activate the 3 posts (13 players). On that day there were 6 LFG groups at each start and every single one of those maps were full. I managed to get in a group at night and reach the dragon’s gate. As soon as we pass the gate, game crashed, I re-logged in and I was in a different map and my squad map was full so I couldn’t join them again until they finished the event.
As for elite specialization, I just needed two or 3 hero points in HoT to fully unlock it (only available if you buy HoT). If you have map completion (both PVE and WvW), you should be able to unlock it. I have 364 unused Hero Points after fully unlocking all the tracks.
Conclusion:
1- if you don’t have Ascended armor and weapons, don’t buy the expansion yet, the will have discount in future again.
2- However, Glider makes your life a little easier in old world. if you are interested buy HoT.
3- Season 3 is here and if you have HoT you can unlock it for free (I’m not sure if you need to have it to unlock it others might comment on this)
4- Some of Hero challenges will spawn a freaky Champion and you will need a group of 3~4 people to complete it. The later you buy the expansion, people will get tired of HoT areas and move on to new areas, so you won’t be able to find enough people and will take longer to complete maps.
(edited by bobsort.4097)
many of comments saying it is possible to solo events. if there aren’t champions. legendary in there. how about a group of 3 mobs, one stun/tangle you and the other one bombard you with poison and next one who slam you so hard that before you be able to move, you are downed? if you ask me, it is possible to solo the content in some extent if you are wielding Legendary weapons, and full Ascended armor. Which exotic armor and weapon or below, forget about it. And by the way the events that doesn’t involve a legendary or champion or (at least two veteran) in some stage are very rare, may be in Verdant brink.
Legendary weapons does not provide any combat advantage over ascended. Most of my characters are still using exotic gear in HoT. One was even running around with some masterwork trinkets for a while until I finally remembered to change it. There was a bunch of non-champ events added in the April patch. They were added to VB, AB and TD. Sometimes the amount of CC output from HoT mobs does feel excessive but that is also partially countered by bringing your own.
People commenting above might be from a server full of people. I am from Anvil Rock server. Most of the time my server is empty, Even in Auric Basin. Sometimes we can find a group of 5~10 people to do the some of event which most of the time at the end fails. If we get lucky and find an LFG we can move to other server and it is IF MAP in that SERVER is not already FULL. In past few weeks I go to dragon stand at least 3 times a day on start of events and even on the day that is was part of daily there weren’t enough people to activate the 3 posts (13 players). On that day there were 6 LFG groups at each start and every single one of those maps were full. I managed to get in a group at night and reach the dragon’s gate. As soon as we pass the gate, game crashed, I re-logged in and I was in a different map and my squad map was full so I couldn’t join them again until they finished the event.
Megaserver happened long ago. Your choice of server matters very little outside of WvW. I have done the meta in random instances I’ve joined from doing other stuff(even for TD) but LFG is the only option if you want certainty.
As for elite specialization, I just needed two or 3 hero points in HoT to fully unlock it (only available if you buy HoT). If you have map completion (both PVE and WvW), you should be able to unlock it. I have 364 unused Hero Points after fully unlocking all the tracks.
364 is world completion + WvW + extra maps(dry top, sw, southsun)
Fully unlocking elite spec without any of those requires roughly half of the hero challenges in HoT which is also about the same number of soloable ones(not sure if that is counting the ones in DS that require meta completion).
many of comments saying it is possible to solo events. if there aren’t champions. legendary in there. how about a group of 3 mobs, one stun/tangle you and the other one bombard you with poison and next one who slam you so hard that before you be able to move, you are downed? if you ask me, it is possible to solo the content in some extent if you are wielding Legendary weapons, and full Ascended armor. Which exotic armor and weapon or below, forget about it. And by the way the events that doesn’t involve a legendary or champion or (at least two veteran) in some stage are very rare, may be in Verdant brink.
Legendary weapons does not provide any combat advantage over ascended. Most of my characters are still using exotic gear in HoT. One was even running around with some masterwork trinkets for a while until I finally remembered to change it. There was a bunch of non-champ events added in the April patch. They were added to VB, AB and TD. Sometimes the amount of CC output from HoT mobs does feel excessive but that is also partially countered by bringing your own.
People commenting above might be from a server full of people. I am from Anvil Rock server. Most of the time my server is empty, Even in Auric Basin. Sometimes we can find a group of 5~10 people to do the some of event which most of the time at the end fails. If we get lucky and find an LFG we can move to other server and it is IF MAP in that SERVER is not already FULL. In past few weeks I go to dragon stand at least 3 times a day on start of events and even on the day that is was part of daily there weren’t enough people to activate the 3 posts (13 players). On that day there were 6 LFG groups at each start and every single one of those maps were full. I managed to get in a group at night and reach the dragon’s gate. As soon as we pass the gate, game crashed, I re-logged in and I was in a different map and my squad map was full so I couldn’t join them again until they finished the event.
Megaserver happened long ago. Your choice of server matters very little outside of WvW. I have done the meta in random instances I’ve joined from doing other stuff(even for TD) but LFG is the only option if you want certainty.
As for elite specialization, I just needed two or 3 hero points in HoT to fully unlock it (only available if you buy HoT). If you have map completion (both PVE and WvW), you should be able to unlock it. I have 364 unused Hero Points after fully unlocking all the tracks.
364 is world completion + WvW + extra maps(dry top, sw, southsun)
Fully unlocking elite spec without any of those requires roughly half of the hero challenges in HoT which is also about the same number of soloable ones(not sure if that is counting the ones in DS that require meta completion).
There isn’t one single hero point in DS that requires meta completion if you have lean gliding unlocked. You can get to the canopy at any time.
I re-started playing game about a year ago (few days more or less) and get my only toon to level 80. I played Trade post very well and now I have 10 character slot which I didn’t pay money for it. I could use that gold to BUY ascended but right now I only have 2 ascended pieces which I bought half their material from TP. Here is Pay Wall if you want to go fast you need to pay, buy gem, change to gold, buy material. If you don’t you’ll have a year to make your ascended gear.
What? You only have one toon and yet managed to play the TP enough to buy 10 character slots (why when you only have one toon??) and your conclusion is that if you want to go fast you’ll need to pay and buy gems? How is that your conclusion when you just said you earned enough to buy 10 character slots? So confused.
Blame Abaddon, he loves your tears.
pve, raid, pvp, fractal, dungeon, world clearing, legendary questing.. Zapped!
pve, raid, pvp, fractal, dungeon, world clearing, legendary questing.. Zapped!
Conclusion:
1- if you don’t have Ascended armor and weapons, don’t buy the expansion yet, the will have discount in future again.
2- However, Glider makes your life a little easier in old world. if you are interested buy HoT.
3- Season 3 is here and if you have HoT you can unlock it for free (I’m not sure if you need to have it to unlock it others might comment on this)
4- Some of Hero challenges will spawn a freaky Champion and you will need a group of 3~4 people to complete it. The later you buy the expansion, people will get tired of HoT areas and move on to new areas, so you won’t be able to find enough people and will take longer to complete maps.
You don’t need ascended armor for anything other than high level fractals. Exotic gear is plenty good enough for raids and open world HoT. If you want ascended items, go for the collection weapons. That’s worthwhile and you get to explore the new maps and familiarize yourself with the events!
I agree that the glider is just great to have even in the core maps, but it’s especially nice in HoT!
I believe much of the storyline takes place in the new map, which is decidedly vertical. They also added gliding to the storyline instances. I’m not sure at this point whether the story is designed to allow players to access it without access to HoT and HoT masteries. Does anyone know the answer to that?
Most of the HP champions can be beaten solo or in a small group (1-3 players). There are a few that might require up to 5, if the group skill level is fairly low. Even assuming a low future population, finding 1 or 2 other players to show up for a champion shouldn’t be difficult and there are more than enough communes, veterans, and easier champs you can complete if you just want your elite spec right away.
There isn’t one single hero point in DS that requires meta completion if you have lean gliding unlocked. You can get to the canopy at any time.
DS has a canopy? O_o
There isn’t one single hero point in DS that requires meta completion if you have lean gliding unlocked. You can get to the canopy at any time.
DS has a canopy? O_o
lol wow I need to stop answering posts at 4 am. hahaha
You an solo HoT, some classes make it easier than others. I know that I can solo almost anything short of the champions, elites, and the normal things you cant solo in vanilla GW2 with my Engineer but not my Ele.
Slyvari Engineer | Scarlet Mara
I was reading reviews on metacritic, but they’re from a year ago. Most of the negative reviews cite the complete lack of ability to play solo, requiring “elite skills” or something that are behind a paywall (p2w game now??), and being unable to even progress really unless lots of people are around.
…..
BTW I don’t intend to partake in PvP/WvW, I’m only interested in the PvE side. Can I play and enjoy the game solo in PvE or is there a bunch of stuff gated behind PvP as well?
Dont need any of the hot content to play the pve of the base game effectively. I mean all of it was there before hot came….if ur playing solo pve of the base game there is absolutely no reason to buy hot to get the most out of it. infact id argue u get a much better experience doing the base game without any of the expansion’s content. buy hot if u want a bit more pve content (its a very small amount of new pve content compared to the base game that u have access to)….otherwise avoid it.
I kill you in one gunflame, or I kill you in two.
The Tiny Yuno Sniper of Ebay [EBAY]
The Tiny Yuno Sniper of Ebay [EBAY]
I was reading reviews on metacritic, but they’re from a year ago. Most of the negative reviews cite the complete lack of ability to play solo, requiring “elite skills” or something that are behind a paywall (p2w game now??), and being unable to even progress really unless lots of people are around.
…..
BTW I don’t intend to partake in PvP/WvW, I’m only interested in the PvE side. Can I play and enjoy the game solo in PvE or is there a bunch of stuff gated behind PvP as well?Dont need any of the hot content to play the pve of the base game effectively. I mean all of it was there before hot came….if ur playing solo pve of the base game there is absolutely no reason to buy hot to get the most out of it. infact id argue u get a much better experience doing the base game without any of the expansion’s content. buy hot if u want a bit more pve content (its a very small amount of new pve content compared to the base game that u have access to)….otherwise avoid it.
Yeah. It’s not like HoT brings anything new to the table for PvE. It’s just something you buy if you want a bit more of the same, right? Really? I think that’s a little misleading.
There are only 4 maps. Well, 5ish, depending upon whether you consider Bloodstone Fen a proper map. Personally, I’d call it about a third of a map that’s like nothing I’ve seen before. But, if you look at the full package, you see that Bloodstone Fen is like HoT in general: It’s small and it isn’t for everyone, but unlike yet another core Tyria map, it brings some big ideas with it.
I’m talking about the vertical maps, the exploration challenge, the masteries, gliding, and now turning the glider into a legitimate weapon set (loving this so far! You can even incorporate it into ground combat easily by utilizing the terrain!). HoT brings so many new ideas to the table. To refer to it as “just a bit more PvE content” as if they had done nothing more than add 4 new versions of Queensdale with slightly different shades of grass really doesn’t do it justice.
Also visiting Orr last night, there really aren’t a lot of people there anymore and since those areas are still rather a pain in the butt to go through I’d say that it’s not that great to go there.
And yet the other day I was there and someone commented they hadn’t expected to see so many people and were pleasantly surprised.
So I guess it’s timing. I was there last night (about 10pm UK time) to do the daily vista and stayed to get in a giant/ooze, rotbeard, couple of hallas, half an Arah defend and then ran round gathering. Fairly busy, suspect most people are doing the LS3 story which is where I’d just come from after doing a bunch of achievements.
Possibly. Of course I cannot say if I had bad luck or if you were lucky. However, for the topic this is beside the point, because it still means that the areas are not solo friendly. You need to have other people there and so you are dependent on other players being there.
For an MMO that is understandable but at the same time I do believe it’s a trend that a lot of people do like the MMO set up but prefer to play mostly solo in it. I have no idea how many people are like that in GW2 but when such a player asks if the game is solo friendly, saying that there usually are enough people around is not the point.
All in all when I am progressing story I find myself with very few people around because the story parts are instanced and people tend to gravitate to specific events in each area. Going through a zone alone as a solo player can be quite tedious or challenging. I am not saying an MMO has to be solo friendly but this game is not specifically solo friendly the higher level the areas are. Orr and HoT are the best examples there. I tend to spend my time dodging combat or running through mobs and hoping I’ll lose them before I die rather than engaging in this tedious combat. It’s just a matter of mob spacing and health bars of enemies more than anything.
I can live with it but as such the higher level zones are solo able but not solo friendly in my view. Having enough people around makes it easier but the default position of a solo player is that you don’t need other players to experience the game as fun as per the individual’s definition.
So it’s not about convincing people that their definitions are wrong or coming up with answers which don’t actually apply to solo play but the simple admission that the game is indeed an MMO and not always solo friendly and that a person can then decide what to do with that.
It’s a game forum. The truth is not to be found here.
Also visiting Orr last night, there really aren’t a lot of people there anymore and since those areas are still rather a pain in the butt to go through I’d say that it’s not that great to go there.
And yet the other day I was there and someone commented they hadn’t expected to see so many people and were pleasantly surprised.
So I guess it’s timing. I was there last night (about 10pm UK time) to do the daily vista and stayed to get in a giant/ooze, rotbeard, couple of hallas, half an Arah defend and then ran round gathering. Fairly busy, suspect most people are doing the LS3 story which is where I’d just come from after doing a bunch of achievements.Possibly. Of course I cannot say if I had bad luck or if you were lucky. However, for the topic this is beside the point, because it still means that the areas are not solo friendly. You need to have other people there and so you are dependent on other players being there.
For an MMO that is understandable but at the same time I do believe it’s a trend that a lot of people do like the MMO set up but prefer to play mostly solo in it. I have no idea how many people are like that in GW2 but when such a player asks if the game is solo friendly, saying that there usually are enough people around is not the point.
All in all when I am progressing story I find myself with very few people around because the story parts are instanced and people tend to gravitate to specific events in each area. Going through a zone alone as a solo player can be quite tedious or challenging. I am not saying an MMO has to be solo friendly but this game is not specifically solo friendly the higher level the areas are. Orr and HoT are the best examples there. I tend to spend my time dodging combat or running through mobs and hoping I’ll lose them before I die rather than engaging in this tedious combat. It’s just a matter of mob spacing and health bars of enemies more than anything.
I can live with it but as such the higher level zones are solo able but not solo friendly in my view. Having enough people around makes it easier but the default position of a solo player is that you don’t need other players to experience the game as fun as per the individual’s definition.
So it’s not about convincing people that their definitions are wrong or coming up with answers which don’t actually apply to solo play but the simple admission that the game is indeed an MMO and not always solo friendly and that a person can then decide what to do with that.
Well it also depends on how well you know the game. It depends on whether or not you’re the type of person that frequents sites like Dulfy, or looks up videos on how to do stuff, which also makes things a lot easier.
If you’re a casual player who doesn’t pay attention to builds, and you don’t look up stuff on sites that advise you how to get through stuff, it’s going to be harder for sure.
On the other hand, I have very little difficulty soloing the new zones on almost any profession.
When I want to do big stuff like metas, I always use LFG because there’s almost always a big group doing those big meta events. But the rest of the time, I don’t care what server I’m on. I just know my characters well enough to get through hard content.
On a profession like thief for example, I tend to use stealth more to get past stuff that I can’t take. On other professions I kill my way through instead of trying to run, because I find it easier. But I can do it.
There are hero points I can do and hero points I can’t do solo. Some are easier and some are harder.
And a lot of times, even though I’m soloing I can call out in map chat for something like a hero point and someone will show up, or in a lot of cases many someones.
When most people are talking about solo in the open world though, they’re not really talking about doing stuff with no one around. Because if that’s the case there has been stuff in Guild Wars 2 you can’t solo for a very long time, including most of the temples in Orr.
I’m pretty sure no one could open the Temple of Balthazar solo. There are many group events that would be really hard to do solo as well, if not impossible.
I don’t know that I’d like to try the champion risen knight solo, the one who’s often guarding a hero point in Malchor’s Leap.
This game has always had stuff you can’t solo, but most people don’t say the game isn’t soloable in those areas. They treat HoT differently because it’s more difficult to solo. You have to know your profession, and you have to learn a few tricks. That’s all.
Sounds like a debate about the definition of the word “solo”. To me, solo play is not about shutting all other players out and participating in the game purely by myself. It’s about being able to log in and go off on my own doing whatever it is I want to do.
In the context of open world PvE (HoT specifically), I don’t need to be able to literally solo every single event on every map to consider it “solo friendly”. This game has a seamless group combat system where players can easily cooperate without coordinating. The fact that I don’t need to join a group or ask other players for help because it’s in their best interest to just join in makes the game that much more “solo friendly” to me.
The issue then becomes skill/comfort level. So maybe I find it “solo friendly” because I can complete a larger portion of the events on my own than some players and hold out long enough on events I can’t complete on my own, that other players usually happen along to lend a hand. I can understand why the game would appear unfriendly to solo players if that’s the case.