Looking to start as a solo player. Advice needed

[FlyBy42]

I had a somewhat backward experience compared to the OP.

I started in one of the Official PVE Servers. But problems with the population full at 40/40 all the time meant I was barely playing my character eventually.

So I elected to go to a different, Private PVE Server. Was doing fine, but now the Private Server is gone. Well sh*t.

So now I started a Single Player game.

Observations:

The people I ran into in the Official PVE Server were decent. People kept to themselves but on occasion, someone gets on chat to get people together and adventure. Since this game is new going Live, Dreggs was a frequent. People grouping up is quite important because you need the strength of multiple players, unless you’re some elite veteran, to take down these bosses. Some of the bosses are requirements in the “Journey” tab. Abysmal Remnant was the first one and I got rocked badly when I tried to solo it. Get some people together and it’s more feasible. There tended to be at least 1 guy in the group that knows what’s up.

Another benefit on an online server, regardless of PVE or PVP, is that even though you may not necessarily be adventuring with someone, I do enjoy seeing other players doing their thing out there. I know I am not the only one out there. It’s also cool to come across some of the creative housing, bases people make out there, which makes my shack look real bad.

There’s another subtle but pretty big thing with the Online vs Single Player gameplay, is crafting. The problem is if you’re doing a mass crafting effort an processing a lot of stuff. If it’s going to take forever, with an Online Server, you can log off for the day and come back, the crafting process is done and you got your gigantic stack of items waiting for you. But with a Single Player, if you log off, time stops and only resumes when you log back into the SP game. The crafting progress is exactly where you left off. Tweaking things like “Crafting Time Multiplier” left and right on the bar does nothing. I don’t want to keep the computer running all day with the game running just because I’m waiting for my stack of materials to finish processing.

Of course, the great benefit of Single Player is that you can customize things to your content. Tweak “Server” settings to what you want, implement whatever mods you want (or not, your choice).

But a warning again on Single Player, the Bosses were designed for more players to deal with them, so one player trying to do this requires some… finesse. A lot of it, actually. There is a mod that cuts down on the HP of bosses to make them more feasible in Single Player. It hasn’t touched the regular NPCs.

[krix_ost]

My 2 coppers here as well. I crossed 305hrs last night. About 20-ish in the new release (1.0) with latest patch.

PvE Server (Private 1st)

• Most of my time was spent here on a ‘Role Playing’ private server. It was set up to be very realistic and no player kills on sight. Actually was involved on two of these both much of the same except one had 8 and the other was just 2 of us.

• What was really good on this was that we were all ‘neighbors’ and ‘Role Played’ our race and our Exiled situation. We all made smaller homesteads and the Admin placed a few strategically placed Wheels (the mid-sized one) around the map for us all to use (same clan). There were two larger player built towns we could ‘trade’ Iron bars, Steel bars…etc. for various goods and repairing things we had not the skill to repair. The towns were North of ‘The Wall’ and South East near the large body of river water (smaller of the two).

• We had ‘Events’ to meet and party and drink (I brought the food and drink since I made lots of it =) ) then we would sleep it off and head out to ‘RP’ the adventure. We would jog for awhile then walk. Once we arrived to where we needed to be we set up camp…then collected and did what we were there for.

• Basically…was an awesome old group of AD&D folks that just fell into place. The server dried up because of the lack of adventuring content and people just got really busy in real life.

• If there is a dedicated serious ‘Role Play’ server they certainly will not be griefers and it is a lot of fun…but you have to join in not just be a hermit. Since I just got started again…I also have been keeping an eye open for one of these servers.

PvE (Official)

• On the Official Servers there is TRASH everywhere. Just like in ARK…people simply build little hovels, campfires, small boxes, fiber bedrolls…and numerous other things…they are everywhere! Very few courteous people that have no time to remove their ‘Mark’ when they know they are moving on. It is disgusting unless there is a really active Admin that is handling this sort of stuff…but those type of Admins are few and far between.

• Nothing else to add…did not stay because of the trash.

PvE (Solo)

• Gets lonely…and the Thrall AI is completely unpredictable…like they simply do not work. Usually restarting fixes the ones that stopped working but not always. Sometimes you have to kill the thrall off and go find a new one. Easy enough in Solo by using the Admin Panel to spawn in the same/similar humanoid…knock it out…and make it a thrall again. Relying on the Thrall as a Companion though? Sorry…the AI is just that bad.

• Building…only build smaller homes and decorate them fully. The farming is pretty darn nice in the new release. Having good fun with this. Hunting down seeds is a not too bad task either and sets up the adventuring. It is Ok in my opinion to use the Admin Panel to build out your first house. This is your main base of operations so make it comfy and right…which means A LOT of tearing things down and changing a bit. After that…STAY AWAY from the Admin Panel UNLESS you ABSOLUTELY have to fix something! =)

• Travel as LIGHT as possible and don’t do any serious harvesting while out adventuring. Plan your gear to the adventure…if you are scouting camps or just roaming and skirting the camps to see what is there or perhaps a new place for an outpost. Keeping this is mind does help battle the lonely adventurer…and bring a Thrall so they can lug some things you harvest and find.

• Plan out your building excursion. Bring a thrall with food and geared up (hopefully they will defend themselves =) ) and head out to gather Coal or Iron or whatever. Bring a few foundations and dry wood place a furnace and storage box…maybe make a good location into a ‘Roman Style Tower’. Might take a few trips but…ideas are up to you.

• Lastly…FORCE yourself to have a limited number of lives…pressing the respawn button. I limit it to 10 (was even thinking of dropping to 5 now since I die so rarely). So I carry 10 gold coins now and drop one each time I press respawn (shift-drag to split). This keeps you on your toes and adds a lot of interesting situations…keeping you more alert and making exploring A LOT more fun. And when the coins are gone…start a new game/character.

PvP

• This is crazy. I tried it on a few different servers…the experience has been the Alpha Clan is constantly ‘Force Recruiting’ or they are hunting down New Exiles and killing them on sight. Basically a New Exile that does not ‘Want’ to Clan straight away is no better that those NPCs huddling around the Bonfires.

• Never understood why PvP folks are such hideous people. They really enjoy sucking the life out of someone else for their own satisfaction. I guess it is simply the lack of direction ‘Human’ connection to their ‘Real Self’ and the feeling of ‘Power’ in stomping someone’s guts out. I get it…just not to the extent it actually happens in game…just know…you WILL be stomped for no good reason except you are there.

• So get out of the far south as fast as possible and build a small house made of foundations tucked away in or behind cliffs. You will be spotted eventually and they will smell the sweet boxes inside…somehow. =)

• Building…make an interior central two level tower out of foundations and leave a center storage and place a couple of boxes/chests in there. Place your valuables and close it off with a foundation. Place a couple of boxes/chests/cupboards around the outside and place your easily replaced goods. Building in PvP is not about ‘Pretty’ at all…it is all about functionality and keeping the Glitching Game Exploiters (most of the bad Griefers are these) from nabbing your goods without some effort. Sucks…but it is what it is.

• PvP is actually fun for small bits. Especially if you find a couple of other like minds and ‘Survive’ together. Once the Alpha Clan finds your little group though you are done. Grab your best gear and fight to the death and move on. Survival in PvP is a very different experience. Join the ‘King’s Guard’ or be mowed down into the earth. I get it…kind of like how it was back in Roman days…but with that example Rome would mainly leave you alone as long as you paid your taxes and kept from causing trouble. They would squash rebellions and make slaves…sure…but not out of spite. The Greeks and Turks and Arabs and Sumerians and Egyptians and…all did similar things with slaves. Just not what these immature PvPers do. By the gods help us if these low-lifes lead something like The Romans…I supposed they would be assassinated. =)

Hope that helps. Enjoy the expedition in whatever form you take.