when solo doesnt mean solo

[gritintheeye]

just let me rant for a sec, cause i am getting seriously frustrated.

I am a lvl 41 hunter, that has to solo out of necessity cause no-one plays at night time when I have free time.

I get it, LOTR is about teamwork bla blah blah... however not all of us can play in a group. I would love to team up but it is NOT POSSIBLE. nobody is around when I am on.

So all my group quests stagnate till they are grey, and even then I cannot do them cause groups of grey elites will still wipe me out. And even if I do suceed in killing grey buddy with a billion hps I dont get any xp anyway.

Fine. I was willing to suck it up.

Until I got wiped out one too many times on solo quests, that are my level, by freaking elites. If I go out on a solo quest I expect to NOT meet groups of elites with a billion hit points! Or gigantic groups of normals that aggro me to death every 5 seconds. come on! ITs solo cause its suposed to be BY YOURSELF!

I am soooo tired of dying all the freaking time! on solo adventures! by monsters that are my level or one level below me. This has only been a problem since I hit level 38-39 ish. I must be missing the boat big time.

so once we hit level 40 are we just suposed to grind away on extremely low level monsters for hours and not even go near the quests?

Just what are people doing when they are attacked by 5 different things at the same time. I can take on 2 monsters, especially if I can trap one first but after that I am hooped.

I like doing quests, I love LOTR and I like seeing the different stories. I hate dying over and over on solo quests. Especially when I have been pretty sucessful up until now.

I supose my weapons are starting to suck, but I cant find anything new to use. the vendors suck for weapons, and the next best ones I can make myself I cant use till lvl 45 or some **** like that.


arrrgggggggg!!!! ça me fait shier!



I just realised what the problem is: hunters at mid-levels suck at multiple opponents. Yet we have no stealth to sneak by groups in order to use more strategy in picking and chosing our enemies and the best place to attack. I dont care about having special attacks in stealth like a burglar, but for gods sake let me sneak into an orc camp so i can pick off the solo enemies without drawing billions of agro.

[Frieja]

You should be able to do most Tal Bruinen (Trollshaws), Gloin's Camp (Misty Mountains), and Aughaire (Angmar) quests completely solo at your level. Yes, you have to be careful because you don't have a lot of crowd-controls skills at your level. Once you hit level 44, you can go to Forochel, which is a soloer's paradise. That will bring you to 49 where you can start Eregion -- also a solo-friendly place.

Also, make sure you have the best bow you can get. Even if it costs 500 silver on the AH. Go grind some lowbie mobs to get the money. Once you get into Moria, you won't have to worry about buying bows anymore since you'll get plenty of LI drops.

[Clacket99]

I am pretty new to the game and cant comment on the groups of elite on solo quests....

BUT.. As for the time you play, are there servers here based mostly on west coast, east coast, european etc?
Maybe thats an option so that you find more people at your play times. This was always a solution from the games I came from, not sure how the servers work here, or if there are even server transfers.

[Rachir]

Triple traps are your best friend - my hunter was primarily a solo project and the two greatest advantages we have (IMO) are traps and fears - work on getting that bards arror trait (legendary) and of course the animal fear helps alot too. Weaponsmiths make the traps and they are fairly affordable!!

[Rachir]

Oh and if you happen to be on the Brandywine server -- please feel free to let me know- I would be more than happy to supply hunter accessories for you at no charge - I have a boatload of traps and oils from my crafting toons!!

[Nemmerle]

I solod my hunter all the way to 60 (grouped only once to do my level 58 class quest in Moria).

Never had any problems doing any quests marked solo at or near level. I can easily manage 2 mobs that are 2-3 levels higher than myself and 3 with some preparation and care, usually involved in some long timers.

Several things help:

1 - Be sure the quest really is solo, and not small fellowship
2 - Carry good Triple Traps
3 - Take the time and expense to get very good equipment - solid crafted armor upgraded every 5 levels is a must IMO
4 - Early 40s were still pretty easy for me - it got a little harder at 45 or so until I got Bard's Arrow, at which point multiple mobs gets much easier. Bare with it.
5 - Pay attention to your traits. If you're getting killed too easily, slot Valour and Innocence

[Ayrolen]

Where were you that you were encountering several elites while doing a solo quest?

[Jeffor]

I actually think that low 40s is particularly tough for hunters. You are starting to get into the hard content but you don't yet have access to your legendaries which help a lot for a solo hunter. Bards Arrow and Rain of Thorns will help you immensly. Press Onward is nice too for soloing.

As someone else suggested keep your bow as up to date as possible and your melee weapons to if you can. Quested armor and jewelry at that level is pretty good so you should be alright there. Once you get to a high enough level buy the legendary books from your trainer and starrt working on them. It will help you out a good bit.

Good luck.

[NameAlreadyTaken]

To the OP,

You are level 41, and that means you have one open Legendary Skill slot. Either Bard's Arrow or Rain of Thorns will let you decimate any pack of normals you encounter. Do you have a legendary skill yet? If not go buy the books at your trainer and start farming mobs for the pages.

What does your gear look like? Is it horribly outdated or do you keep it relatively current? Your weapon is especially important as it drives how fast you kill. Wearing very old gear will make you a squishy target. Post your character's name + server if you want some suggestions as we can look at you online and see what needs help.

What level are your Virtues, and what are they? Having good ones slotted in the 4+ range will help your survivability.

Do you carry food? Even food that you get from myriad drops, chests, and quests is worth eating. One piece of morale regen food can make the difference on a tough pull. Same goes for potions. If you're using potions that are 15 levels outdated look for new ones, they heal more and will help if you're having trouble solo.

How about crafted traps? Being able to trap an extra mob (or 3 extra with triple traps) is pretty huge when solo. Have you looked on the AH or found a Weaponsmith to make you some crafted traps?

Hunters at that level should be destroying anything in their path. If you can remember a specific example of what was giving you trouble let us know. You're probably somewhere you shouldn't be as there's no large groups of roaming Elites at that level that you should be questing near. If you can't rememer anything specific then read the above plus the sticky at the top of the forum for general advice. Between a legendary skill, your inherent skill based snare/traps/fear, crafted items, and high damage output you should be having no problems soloing at all. This game is very solo friendly and Hunters are a very strong class solo.

PS: Definitely head to Tal Brunien in the Trollshaws. There is a very nice Bow as a reward at the end of one of the quest chains.

[Doronlas]

Good advice up above. I would upgrade weapons ASAP and work on your legendary traits so you can slot either Bard's Arrow or Rain of Thorns. Bard's Arrow is a fear that you'll use a lot while solo. Rain of Thorns is an area-of-effect root that will root a few mobs in place and you can pick them off or lessen their numbers before they reach you.

I supose my weapons are starting to suck, but I cant find anything new to use. the vendors suck for weapons, and the next best ones I can make myself I cant use till lvl 45 or some **** like that.

Yeah, vendor weapons are pretty much junk. Best place to look is the auction house. If you can't find anything there, check on the trade chat channel and see if someone will make one for you reasonably. Keep your bow upgraded if you can't upgrade anything else.

As far as armor/gear, Tal Bruinen has a few nice pieces as quest rewards and Aughaire has a fairly good set as well. Tal Bruinen also has a very nice quest reward bow. It's a level 43+ quest chain, if I remember right, but it's a nice bow. The quest chain starts with the NPC Tongannel in Tal Bruinen. The part of the quest where you have to go to the gauradan camp can be tricky as a hunter, but it can be done solo if you take your time and be careful when pulling. Good luck

[D3-Rook]

Patience helps. If its gonna be a tough pull watch the pathing until you are sure your only going to pull what you want to. Pick off any solo mobs first before entering the camp etc. Try and clear a path so you can exit quickly if necessary. Always start at max range.

There are plenty of solo quests to get you leveled just trash the fellowship quests (unless you like/need the reward). I find it is better to move on to a new area where there will be lots of quests to do rather than try and finish the few you have left in your current area. The epic quests can be done solo now, you get a huge buff its kinda fun.

[HHwaky]

Hi OP,

I had almost the same problems.
I suggest that you read my post
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=322285
I got a lot of help from the community.

[gritintheeye]

thanks people! you are the best! In retrospect i realise my post was a tad cranky so i wasnt sure i would get a favourable response. When I get home tonight I shall ponder all your responses at greater length.

as for the quest that irked me so greatly last night, it was one in Aughaire. I had to go gather some roots in this area that turned out to be crawling with these elite evil winged women called mereveil or something. I actually managed to kill a couple singles by myself but would be killed in seconds if I was attacked by 2. It was solo... yet the area were I had to gather the plants was crawling with these mereveil things

I have come across a few similar situations but i have also found group quests that i could do on my own so i figured it was just a game glitch. Its just getting to the point now where i am dying more often then normal.

I can't check now the name of the quest now cause i kinda went and cancelled every quest in my inventory when i was cheesed last night...

sometimes one should just take a breath and walk away.

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Those are Signature mobs, not Elites. If you're careful you can pull singles around the entire area to complete the quest for the nearby Earth-kin person, and to gather those flowers. Just be careful of the one or two that path through the area, and be sure to move in to the place of something you recently killed so nothing respawns directly on top of you mid fight.

If you haven't done so yet walk a little farther past the camp that sent you towards those Merrival and hit Aughaire. There's a whole big chain of solo quests waiting for you, with some decent rewards as well. Just be careful when they send you inside Donnvail (densely packed mobs) and ignore the quest to kill the Drake Matron (Elite Master dragon, lots of Elites in the way).

If you find yourself dying more than normal it's generally an indicator that you're either in too high level of an area or your gear needs updating (or both). When your gear starts to get dated and mobs get bumped a little in difficulty it's kind of like throwing a switch: you will suddenly go from having no problems to pulling your hair out. $5 says that if you get a new weapon and clear the Tal Brunien and Aughaire quests you will suddenly be an unstoppable juggernaut. The gear from those areas will last you until the late 40s out in Forochel/Eregion too.

[Kannos1600]

The best part for solo gunners in this game is the opportunity to solo to max lvl. I myself dont like this but it has its uses and even I a groupie kinda guy has soloed from 60 to 65 with little group play in it during certain zones of Mirkwood. I digress though.

If your having issues soloing you may need to take time to check your zone your in. If your in a group area you may want to leave that area and try another zone.

At 41 you can easily solo most of West Angmar and parts of East Angmar quests until 45 then hit Forochel up and max out to 50 without even trying. Once 50 head to Eregion and quest your little Hnt Heart out till your hit 55 or so when you finish all the quests in that area. This would assume the minus grind of instances though lol.

Once 54 to 55 range you can waltz right into Moria and have at it. You will most likely have an issue with the first set of quests at your lvl with the Goblin Cave nearbye but I dont think many didnt when Moria came out. Its alot of gobs in one little area and you have to be careful of what your pulling and all.

As well watch what your pulling. If you opted to avoid working on Legendary Traits or Class Traits you may be undergunning yourself and maybe take time to work on getting those traits to further enhance your game play. Your Bard's Arrow and Rain of Thorns as mentioned will greatly help your solo play alot more than if you dont have it.

[Northwoods]

You are level 41, and that means you have one open Legendary Skill slot. Either Bard's Arrow or Rain of Thorns will let you decimate any pack of normals you encounter.

If by decimate you mean kill 1 in every 10, I'd agree. Chances are that by the time the 1st trapped mob is down, the other two are on you.

They're effective skills, and can save you in a lot of different ways, but they're no substitute for patience. I haven't seem much of the recent 35-50 content, but even before the Vol I revamp I was able to solo my way to 50. It took a long time, and as often as not it involved more not-fighting than fighting. Even level sigs can be a challenge. Multiples are usually suicide. You want to avoid that. Pick a safe spot and wait until you get mobs alone, then pick them off one at a time. Sometimes you can work your way into a place to get your quest objective by just avoiding mobs. If you get in, get the objective, and don't want to do it all over again to get out, just guide or DF to safety.