I have been a solo wizard for years. First it was because I had menu chat, and then it was just because I was shy and didn't really want to have to talk to people. However, I didn't like playing alone.
Now it's different for me. I actually like being solo. Yes it's more hard work, and yes it takes longer, but it gives you this sense of accomplishment like "Yeah, I just beat this boss all by myself! Look at that!". I find playing solo very rewarding. However I know that it is basically impossible to solo some parts of the game.
Over the years I have come up with strategies for myself as a balance wizard (certain decks, spells, pets, clothing combinations I stick with), to survive a boss with three times the health I have.
What is your soloing style? Defensive? Offensive? Don't heal until the last moment? Spam shields and minions?
I started out as a solo player as well~ I was brand-new to gaming then. And, over the years, I've figured out what works for me and what doesn't. It took me running out of cards during a boss fight in Avalon and having to start over, but I've finally hit my stride .
Balance was my guinea pig. I tried out all of my crazy experiments on her first, and I now use a similar setup for all of my wizards (and I play all 7 schools at various levels).
I prefer to play offensively (probably why I like Storm so much, lol), while still covering myself~ tower shields and Satyrs in my sideboard have saved me more than once. But I've gotten to a point that I don't have to sacrifice offensive stats for good defense; even my Storm wizard's stats are rather balanced.
Gone are the days that I played with a full deck. I don't carry heals or shields for mob fights, and stun block has become a good friend of mine in the second arc; I don't use minions, except in pvp.
I have been a solo wizard for years. First it was because I had menu chat, and then it was just because I was shy and didn't really want to have to talk to people. However, I didn't like playing alone.
Now it's different for me. I actually like being solo. Yes it's more hard work, and yes it takes longer, but it gives you this sense of accomplishment like "Yeah, I just beat this boss all by myself! Look at that!". I find playing solo very rewarding. However I know that it is basically impossible to solo some parts of the game.
Over the years I have come up with strategies for myself as a balance wizard (certain decks, spells, pets, clothing combinations I stick with), to survive a boss with three times the health I have.
What is your soloing style? Defensive? Offensive? Don't heal until the last moment? Spam shields and minions?
What do you guys do? What is your strategy?
-Morgan Stormheart
Strategy depends on the wizard's school and mobs/boss. I usually play on the offense with most wizards. I'll shield if I need to or if I'm just waiting on pips. I heal when I need to...I don't wait until the last moment unless those cards just refuse to come up.
and those impossible duels? They need to be changed so the game can be soloed by anyone, even if it's an option (which would be really easy to add: "your are about to enter a dungeon. Do you wish to solo?).
I'm surprised this post never got a reply, and it may be ludicrous to be responding so late, but I wanted to.
I'm an introvert, and I got into the game originally to help out a friend. I got hooked, but I've never had a desire to replace my friend with anyone else, although I've met some funny, friendly people.
I think that what I do isn't really considered "soloing". I play alone, but I have the money for crowns and bundles, so I equip my characters well, and I use that wonderful thing called henchmen. (My hat is off to anyone who duels solo without them.)
I'm an aggressive person. I do protect and heal myself, and if the boss is a big one, I bring in a life henchman, but I generally play with the philosophy that the best defense is a good offense.
Haha, when I solo I never have a strategy! I used to be a solo player until I got to Dragonspyre and then I started getting quest buddies. I find working with a partner both strengthens bonds and gives you someone to talk to. Every once in a while I do a quest solo but for the most part I've forgotten what its like! Currently my questing partner and I have such a strong bond that we are willing to wait days for the other one to get on, so they don't have to quest by themselves.
But I do recall that whenever I have to do a quest by myself that my strategy is mainly offense. I try to defeat the enemy rather quickly, and never have to heal myself. (Also my pet can cast fairy so he periodically heals me) And I am death school so with every spell cast I get health back. I've never really needed to use defensive magic and rarely cast shields or healing spells.
Oh yeah, and the part about you being shy, at first I was shy and never talked to people. But now ... I'm quite the social butterfly!
- Elizabeth DeathRiver (P.S. Sometimes I cast a minion just to keep me company. Shhhh...)
My first several years, I had a strict no-crowns policy, so no shortcuts -- except the Bazaar when they added that. I felt guilty using it, but that didn't stop me. I eventually got a Balance Mastery Amulet and the Sidhe Staff, and established a 5,000/month Crowns budget. But no Crowns for a long time.
Every five levels I was in the Bazaar. Best Pips gear, then Damage. Health and Mana after. I was the king of the gold pip.
I also discovered Keen Eyes very early on. I would make a few hundred Keen Eye Satyr at a time down on Unicorn Way, and that was the only thing in my sideboard. 100% reliable emergency heal.
Main deck was all attacks, including Monstrous. Life and Spirit blades and traps; one Reshuffle. Hit when I can, heal when I must. I was unstoppable. Rarely had to do a battle twice.
It is of note that this was done before they fixed Reshuffle, so I only needed one.
I also spent a lot of time porting to friends to dig them out of trouble, so I leveled ahead of my quest line. That helped, too.
Level 58 brought Forest Lord ("Fluffy"), and everything changed.
Many, many trips through Water Works honed my attack style. With 100% power pips and somewhere around 60-80 damage bonus, it was "Two blades and a Fluffy" and on to the next battle. Lather, rinse, repeat. I was king of the short deck, and a frequent tour guide in Water Works. Soloed it once just to see if I could. Took me about four hours.
Then I hit Tower of the Helephant. Full stop. To this day I cannot conceive of a way to solo Helephant at level 60. Not even a theoretical approach. That was the first time I hit something I couldn't solo -- couldn't even see a way.
I eventually decoded its secrets and helped many get through it, but that marked the beginning of the end of my solo career.
I stopped counting Water Works runs at 2,200, and Helephant at about 800.
But I rarely get to run solo anymore -- too many friends.
for me it all depends on the fight if its against my own school i turn into a bit of a turtle and just run down their health with time.
If its against my opposite schools ice and later on life i just put pn some critical gear and have at it unless its a boss in which case i just put on some balanced gear and efreet the ever loving out of it
Myth and storm school i go blade less just because they knock them off so much and just use the 50 other damage boosters at my disposal
Death i shield and efreet them because they suck out soooo much health if you dont keep an eye on the little leeches
Balance is just put on my universal armor and hope for the best
I run a Fire/Life setup. Fire itself is great for drawn out battles as you're able to constantly deal damage through DoT spells and also heal yourself with some of them(Link, Power Link) but it can't do anything when faced with certain foes which is where life comes in to help you survive long fights.
Now this doesn't work for everyone. In fact I'm not even certain it'd normally work but I'm able to work out long strategies in PVE easily due to my personality. I have enough Fire spells and Life spells to balance eachother out in terms of healing and fighting and my sidedeck is filled with TC that can help turn the tables on any enemies I face. But even so I rarely solo when it comes to dungeons these days. CL is a pain in the rear end.
I have solo most of the worlds in w101 but it got kinda hard at celestia for me but i have learned how to setup decks, gear,pets and all that stuff for certain bosses i am in the last world now and i dont really solo that much its gotten allot harder but i still give it my best shot Tristan soulcatcher level 100 exalted
Balance was my first wizard, and she soloed all the way through Azteca. She's on hold right now. I love my Balance, but it is frustrating because of the little extras you need to do to get them through a battle sometimes.
My second is an Ice wizard, which quickly became my favorite. Except for her wand, her gear is crafted. I've honed her gear to get the right balance of offense/defense. She has soloed the entire game up to Khrysalis. The only reason she didn't solo Khrysalis, is because it was so boring and monotonous, some of my friends (including Dr. Von) came to keep me company. My Ice is a tank (just ask Dr. Von). Super high health and other stats make her nearly impossible to beat.
My Death and the rest of my wizards pretty much solo the game, except when random people want to join in questing for a while. My Death just did Xibalba solo two nights ago, so he's in good shape.
I do love to solo, but I also love it when I'm hanging around and questing with a few friends.
I have worked hard on all of my wizards to get the best balanced gear possible for offense and defense. I hate the stats on crown shop/pack clothing, so I stick with the crafting starting at L56, and the Bazaar for lower levels.
I keep the very basics in my wizard decks, sometimes forgoing shields (my Ice doesn't need them). I know what I need and I want access to spells, wards, and charms as soon as possible.
My first several years, I had a strict no-crowns policy, so no shortcuts -- except the Bazaar when they added that. I felt guilty using it, but that didn't stop me. I eventually got a Balance Mastery Amulet and the Sidhe Staff, and established a 5,000/month Crowns budget. But no Crowns for a long time.
Every five levels I was in the Bazaar. Best Pips gear, then Damage. Health and Mana after. I was the king of the gold pip.
I also discovered Keen Eyes very early on. I would make a few hundred Keen Eye Satyr at a time down on Unicorn Way, and that was the only thing in my sideboard. 100% reliable emergency heal.
Main deck was all attacks, including Monstrous. Life and Spirit blades and traps; one Reshuffle. Hit when I can, heal when I must. I was unstoppable. Rarely had to do a battle twice.
It is of note that this was done before they fixed Reshuffle, so I only needed one.
I also spent a lot of time porting to friends to dig them out of trouble, so I leveled ahead of my quest line. That helped, too.
Level 58 brought Forest Lord ("Fluffy"), and everything changed.
Many, many trips through Water Works honed my attack style. With 100% power pips and somewhere around 60-80 damage bonus, it was "Two blades and a Fluffy" and on to the next battle. Lather, rinse, repeat. I was king of the short deck, and a frequent tour guide in Water Works. Soloed it once just to see if I could. Took me about four hours.
Then I hit Tower of the Helephant. Full stop. To this day I cannot conceive of a way to solo Helephant at level 60. Not even a theoretical approach. That was the first time I hit something I couldn't solo -- couldn't even see a way.
I eventually decoded its secrets and helped many get through it, but that marked the beginning of the end of my solo career.
I stopped counting Water Works runs at 2,200, and Helephant at about 800.
But I rarely get to run solo anymore -- too many friends.
- Stephen Earthmender Life Wizard, Pixie Realm
Ah, Stephen, I know you rarely get to solo anymore, but where would I (and many others) be without your help and guidance. I for one, appreciate everything you do for everybody a great deal. I use to solo all the time, but got stuck on BriskBreeze Tower, which is where I met you. Kept soloing after that (I actually prefer to solo the game), with occasional help if necessary, but am at a standstill in Avalon now.
As to the original poster, as a solo player, how I play depends on what school I am facing. If facing my own, I crawl into a corner and whimper because I know I am going to be there for a while. I don't use shields anymore (going to have to with the Juggernaut though), but, mainly, I try to put up every kind of blade possible (and sometimes traps) while waiting for pips to charge up, then I strike. If the bully is still there, rinse and repeat, with a heal thrown in here and there if necessary.
Autumn FairyDreamer Level 79 (on my way to being the Juggernauts permanent chew toy)
For me, I pretty much have soloed everything in game. Being a death, is probably the best soloing school in my opinion. Mid-range stats, and you have the spells where you do good damage, then get half of the damage back healing you. For me, it's great. I never worry about healing, I don't even put them in my deck! I usually leave every battle with full health.
You say you whimper and go into a corner when you face anyone of your own school? Do you have a special set of gear you use for going against them? I'm level 68 and still use my WT balance gear for going against my own school. It has something like 18 percent balance resist, 20 block, and 30 balance block on the robe and the same kind of thing for the hat and the boots. It really helps. Otherwise if I'm just going up against another school I just use my WT crafted gear (level 68 and still using it ).
-Morgan Stormheart level 68 (and still on the Zamunda outskirts)
You say you whimper and go into a corner when you face anyone of your own school? Do you have a special set of gear you use for going against them? I'm level 68 and still use my WT balance gear for going against my own school. It has something like 18 percent balance resist, 20 block, and 30 balance block on the robe and the same kind of thing for the hat and the boots. It really helps. Otherwise if I'm just going up against another school I just use my WT crafted gear (level 68 and still using it ).
-Morgan Stormheart level 68 (and still on the Zamunda outskirts)
I don't have any Waterworks gear (I have only managed to run that dungeon one time), but I have a variety of good gear and clothing that I mix and match to use depending on what school I am facing. If the enemy I am facing are all from one school, I use gear that has great resist and block for it. If the enemy I am facing is from a variety of schools, I have gear that has really good universal resist and block. I just hate fighting my own school because, inevitably, up come the tower shields , and then I have to waste a turn getting them off with a wand blast (because I have to solo everything most of the time), and then waste another turn putting up the converts to change my ice spells to fire. I do use a storm mastery amulet when I am fighting against my own school but need to draw storm spell cards from my treasure card bank, because I don't want to waste the training points I have left buying spells from the storm school this late in the game, so I have to put up the converts in case the storm spells don't come up in time (and, the way my luck runs, the heals come up when I need an attack spell, and the attack spells come up when I need a heal )
Balance was my first school as well. In the very beginning I always had lots of cards in my deck but soon I learned that a small deck is the best way to defeat those mobs and do the nasty collecting quests.
My strategy is very simple, I always have a very small deck with only: 1 blade, 1 sharpen, 1 balance aura, 2 colossal, 2 RA and 1 sandstorm, the amount of attacks change according to the mobs I'm facing. Street battles became way faster by using this deck because having a large deck is very time consuming whereas a small deck allows you to pick the card you're looking for very quickly.
When I am facing a balance mob, though, it is rather frustrating. Formerly I used to kill either using Hydra or using Chimera, but then I found it very slow because it felt like I was going back to a time when I didn't have any multi attack spell. Before getting Shrike, I would use Infallible TC (the additional 5% is nice) and feint. It worked well for me as I pierced away 31% of the enemy's resistance and was left with 9%, which was very low resistance. Now that I got Shrike everything go swimmingly!
All in all, the best advice I could give is: stick with small decks and you will succeed!
When I had a young Balance wizard, I noticed that you can fly through quests very fast if you enchant your hits, so I got a pet that gave me a Gargantuan card, carried a small deck, and started using Sandstorm on everything. It worked great all the way through WeaknessSpyre (aka Dragonspyre).
After that, I didn't need a Gargantuan pet anymore, I learned the sun spell and looked for better gear. And that's been pretty much the course of it from Wintertusk/Celestia onward, getting better stats, better stats, better stats. No bosses really challenge you again until Azteca if you have comprehensive gear and a pet.
I got bored with the lack of challenge though, so I've shifted my Balance to be a critical sandstormer, right now doing about 80% damage with around 75% critical chance. Round 1 in pretty much all fights, he can score 2050 damage to all. He hasn't got much resist, but Balance has a ton of health, which is great. Questing is a lot like being a Storm with medium range damage, but no health penalty.
Well as a Promethean I like to stick on the offensive side. I didn't start a solo player, but as I stopped playing for a while due to my loss in membership once I came back barely anyone was playing. I don't know if either new people are still coming or just everyone had beaten the game waiting for the updates. But for that reason I was forced into being a solo player. It wasn't easy, but I did come up with a strategy I cannot live without. My goal was to be able to kill my opponent in one hit (I am referring to boss battles). I would max out in blades (and once in a while some traps) and go all out with a colossal version of my strongest spell, which is currently Sun Serpent. Here is the core to my strategy; Backdraft. When it comes to massive damage, I don't have feint and all those cool traps. I would put shields of the enemies types and heal when really needed, and attack. But then I began to realize, the more I solo, the more worse I become in a cooperative match. But whatever, being a solo player is fun.
Justin HawkHunter Level 91 (on the verge of beating Azteca )
When I started the game I preferred to solo because I didn't feel I knew how to play the game well enough for an audience. I took the quiz and was Life. Altho I helped many I preferred to solo my own quests for the control over battle it gave me. I was and still am a very aggressive player. My friends list dropped off in DS so I was helping less. By Celestia none of my original friends were playing or progressing if they did any more. I waited for help with larger instances because I didn't think I could do them solo - it started with Big Ben. I waited 2 weeks for the right help to get though Marleybone Warehouse to enter Celestia. With out a team Waterworks was a mess and so grew my dislike for farming in the game.
I was in no hurry to race though the Spiral so I took my time. I took all quests for the higher levels it gave me. By mid Mooshu I had to figure out how to battle better because it was getting harder to solo. I made it though the end of Zafaria. Avalon was not out yet and I decided to make other wizards and try them. I did death, storm and balance, my friends list was pretty bare on these so I soloed at a faster rate and did up to the Trial of Spheres solo now. I deleted the Death and Storm in Zafaira and the Balance in Dragonsprye. I had no intention of continuing past end of Zafaria but a family member I got interested in the game wanted to proceed so picked up on my Life wizard and I quested with them. I don't think I have ever been happy with that decision.
I since made another storm wizard and have soloed so far to the end of Celestia. I think I learn how to play a school better when I solo it. I have now had wizards in every school at least twice accept for Life which will always be my main wizard. With the Massive Palace she holds all the stuff I want to keep. I don't believe I will ever repeat Azteca on up coming and some current wizards, the level of difficulty for me in a game that I want to bother with stops at the end of Zafaira.
I have been half-soloing on my Necromancer since the start, meaning that I solo when there's no one around, and when I find someone that's on the same quest as me, I quest with them for as long as we have time to, usually for hours if the other player has time.
When I solo, my strategy is this: -Looking up what is behind sigils to know whether I'll need help or not, to set up my deck properly, and to know the possible cheats -Trying to get first place at the start of the fight when I fight a boss -Using drains for attacks; shielding when the boss has sufficient pips for an attack that would hurt; using Stun Block against Storm, Ice and Myth; using Death Dispels against Death
James GoldHorn, level 88 and others I don't feel like listing here
I solo lots almost all the time. i solo on all my characters my game plan is to always throw up a sanctuary and heal when need be i keep heals in my side deck when needed.
(on my way to being the Juggernauts permanent chew toy)
LOL -- When do you tend to be on? I would gladly help you bust past ol' Juggernaught.
As I have said many, many times, friends can help by bring more blades, more healing, more shields, etc., but the best thing they bring is someone to share the damage. It's like bringing a human shield along for the ride. : -)
I tend to be on weeknights (US Eastern Time) for a short bit and randomly on throughout the weekends. Was on a bit of a hiatus recently as I moved from Mountain to Eastern time zone, but seem to be getting back on more regularly now. I've even restarted my gardens. :-)
But if you want to beat ol' Jugghead on your own, I definitely understand, and commend the commitment.
(on my way to being the Juggernauts permanent chew toy)
LOL -- When do you tend to be on? I would gladly help you bust past ol' Juggernaught.
As I have said many, many times, friends can help by bring more blades, more healing, more shields, etc., but the best thing they bring is someone to share the damage. It's like bringing a human shield along for the ride. : -)
I tend to be on weeknights (US Eastern Time) for a short bit and randomly on throughout the weekends. Was on a bit of a hiatus recently as I moved from Mountain to Eastern time zone, but seem to be getting back on more regularly now. I've even restarted my gardens. :-)
But if you want to beat ol' Jugghead on your own, I definitely understand, and commend the commitment.
- Stephen Earthmender Life Wizard, Pixie Realm
Welcome back my friend. I wondered why we kept missing each other. I too am on EST, but my play time is usually early in the morning, usually anywhere from 5am and up (or earlier depending on good old insomnia, lol). I have a little bit more leeway in the amount of time I can spend on Wizard now that my child is on summer break depending on whether or not we have anything scheduled for the day.
And as to soloing old Jug head, not if I can help it . I would be more than appreciative of your help and timely advice. I tend to learn a great deal from you. It's even more difficult for me now, because all of the people I use to quest with have given up and moved on. Even though I am tending to spend my gaming time on a different MMO now (sorry Wizards), because I am so frustrated here, I will start visiting the spiral more often now that I know a valiant knight is there to help me lead the charge.
Hope to see you soon my friend. Autumn FairyDreamer Level 79
I have found some general rules. First, learn to build a deck. Put in only the cards you need, leave everything else out. This is by far the best way to make it more likely the cards you actually need will come up quickly.
All my wizards have at least 2 different decks for soloing. One is the "street mob" deck for fighting monsters on collection quests and the like. I also keep this deck equipped when running around the world, just in case I get drawn into a fight. The street mob deck usually centers around attack all spells, with some blades for extra damage. The other deck is the "boss" deck, for fighting boss battles. The boss deck has more cards, mostly extra traps, blades, and bubbles to add more damage modifiers so I can build up to the big hits needed to defeat a boss. Sometimes the boss deck includes minion spells. My boss deck usually centers on several copies of the strongest single target damage spell I have. I will typically throw this once to defeat a single minion, then a second time with a lot more modifiers to defeat the boss. Occasionally I will put attack all spells in the boss deck, but usually avoid them. The attack cards get drawn more reliably if you have one set of the same kind in the deck rather than several different kinds.
My balance wizard has a third deck specifically for battling balance bosses. Other wizards just use the regular boss deck but add a couple of prisms. I usually leave one prism in my boss deck even when I don't need one just as a safety measure in case I forget to add extras when I fight a same school boss.
By Dragonspyre I make a habit of having a reshuffle available. Anyone can learn reshuffle for one training point, but this is not needed if TPs are tight, since you can just keep a reshuffle treasure card or two in your sideboard.
I usually put a ton of shields in my boss decks, tailored at each fight to stop the specific damage I'll be taking. The street mob deck usually has exactly two shields, no more, often none.
Reading other's comments above I notice a lot of people saying they don't use shields. That just seems weird to me. My two main wizards are balance and storm, I have a hard time seeing how either could solo much without using shields. Storm is so fragile, you have the health of a starving butterfly, I don't see how you live long enough to kill 5000+ health bosses without reducing incoming damage with shields. Balance has more health, but the attacks are so weak, again its seems I need shields to live long enough to wear the enemy down. Shields are zero pip spells, they give you something to cast while gathering pips. How many of you players who say you never use shields take pass options while building pips for a big spell? Personally I feel anytime I have to pass I've failed at deck building.
I guess mine is defensive. I have used my style for a long time and has worked out. I solo a lot, but I do help and get help from others.
Here is what I do with my training points.. stun block reshuffle Ice to tower shield single style shields defuses and various other spells depending on the school..
Tristan soulcatcher 
I for one, appreciate everything you do for everybody a great deal. I use to solo all the time, but got stuck on BriskBreeze Tower, which is where I met you. Kept soloing after that (I actually prefer to solo the game), with occasional help if necessary, but am at a standstill in Avalon now. 
, and then I have to waste a turn getting them off with a wand blast (because I have to solo everything most of the time), and then waste another turn putting up the converts to change my ice spells to fire. I do use a storm mastery amulet when I am fighting against my own school but need to draw storm spell cards from my treasure card bank, because I don't want to waste the training points I have left buying spells from the storm school this late in the game, so I have to put up the converts in case the storm spells don't come up in time (and, the way my luck runs, the heals come up when I need an attack spell, and the attack spells come up when I need a heal 
)
I too am on EST, but my play time is usually early in the morning, usually anywhere from 5am and up (or earlier depending on good old insomnia, lol). I have a little bit more leeway in the amount of time I can spend on Wizard now that my child is on summer break depending on whether or not we have anything scheduled for the day.