Solo Class at least 99% of content?

Rykentharr · January 18

I'm looking to solo quite literally all possible content including dungeons or raids. Or however much is possible. I'd also be using a companion. I've heard Sorc, Arcanist, and Templar mentioned most often with Arcanist being called OP with solo. I'd be using a stamina build with Imperial since I got bored of Redguard. I don't care about PVP or being the top leaderboard in group content. If I do any group stuff it's gonna be because it's forced out of difficulty. I haven't played in years so I wanted a post taking in mind the recent updates or nefs.

Markytous · January 18

Everything is viable to clear all content.

Soarora · January 18

I think the only trial you could reasonably solo would be asylum sanctorium and it'd take forever. I guess I'd start by looking up solo dungeon trifectas to see what kinds of builds they use. Scalecaller peak I know is one that people solo.

BasP · January 18

You could check out the recent solo builds that Hyperioxes has released (either on his YouTube channel or website). In the YouTube videos you'll see him tackle Veteran (Hard Mode) DLC Dungeons with the builds, so you can get an idea of how the class plays.

That said, do you want to solo Dungeons on Normal difficulty or do you want to try your hand at doing Veteran Dungeons yourself? If it's just the former, I wouldn't think too much about your class because those aren't really difficult. When it comes to soloing Veteran (Hard Mode) Dungeons, some classes are definitely better than others though.

I you want to go with a Stamina build, I personally think the Arcanist would be best for you. The Arcanist's Pragmatic Fatecarver is one of the best abilities for solo play in the game, it has a simple rotation, and good sustain to boot. I've personally grown bored of the playstyle and I don't use my Arcanist much anymore however (even as someone that also plays ESO solo).

I personally like the Templar too. One of the things that makes a Templar good for solo play is the fact that both your spammable (Puncturing Sweep) and execute ability (Radiant Glory) can heal you. Both of those skills cost Magicka however, so as a Stamplar you'd probably use the other morph of Puncturing Sweep, which I think makes the Templar a worse option for you.

The same is kind of true for a Sorcerer: While a Stamina Sorcerer is decent for solo play, you'd most likely be better off with a Magicka Sorcerer with a Heavy Attack build.

Zodiarkslayer · January 18

Markytous wrote: »

Everything is viable to clear all content.

That is strongly misleading!

All content is intended for either Solo play or group play. Both easy (normal) and difficult (veteran).
Some however, have mechanics that require two players, like the pressure plates in Dire Frost Keep. Or when you get captured or transformed, and another player needs to free you.

The easy group content can be soloed, but you need dedicated builds for that. Builds with higher sustain, mitigation, health and healing. DPS is not a priority.
Plus one needs the experience to both handle the monsters waves and the Bosses, that have higher health, damage and armor.

The difficult group content is only limitedly playable alone, because required player skill is an increasing element. Base game veteran Dungeons can be soloed, if one is determined. But vet DLC dungeons is where the skill requirement is getting really high. And the time requirement as well.

As for classes, not all can solo difficult content. MagSorc, MagPlar and especially StamArc are all well suited for soloing, but try a veteran dungeon on a MagCro and you'll see that not every content is made for every class. That notion is just wishful thinking.
Wardens Nightblades and Necromancers have it significantly harder than the previously mentioned. Dragon Knights, MagArc, StamSorc and StamPlar can be good, with the right build, but man, you gotta want it. Badly.

DigiAngel · January 18

Look at these: https://hyperioxes.com/eso/solo

BXR_Lonestar · January 30

Honestly, I think the best you can do is solo about 80% of the content out there. Almost all of the trials are going to be non-soloable because of mechanics that require multiple people to do different things - and you are simply going to be unable to negotiate those mechanics on your own. This is true regardless if you are doing veteran or normal.

The same goes for most veteran DLC dungeons (the base game ones are fine). You might be able to solo nearly all of the DLC dungeons on normal, as the mechanics punish you less harshly for not doing them.

Outside of Dungeons and Trials, nearly everything else will be soloable. You may struggle with the occasional world boss or roaming boss in DLC locations, and maybe the more difficult incursions (harrowstorms can be really tough) alone.

The best classes to solo this content are probably HA 2 Pet sorcs because you have built in additional targets, but a solo templar built with a lot of self heals can also be really strong while still having good offensive capabilities.

SirLeeMinion · January 30

There seem to be three basic approaches to soloing tougher content. 1) Stack health and healing (often centered about leeching plate), 2) run multiple shields that are constantly up (often focusing on Hexos ward and the brawler skill), and 3) use a glass cannon build with a shield skill that is always up or must be up at critical moments (most often used by content creators). The first one is the easiest to master because the CC you see in final vet dungeon fights has the least impact. That said, your damage will never be high enough to solo a trial or dungeon boss with high HP regen (e.g. Hel Ra boss 1) The last one is the most effective, but also requires low ping, plus skill, plus a knowledge of each fight that is beyond most of us.

Certain fights and dungeons require specific builds or cheese tactics to get around mechanics (e.g. ICP plates). Certain dungeons benefit from build changes per boss to pass a DPS check or heal check (e.g. vCoS).

As players began seeing ZOS respond to posts by changing mechanics (e.g. Direfrost lever, Wayrest 2 crate removal and leashing), they stopped posting. It has been a long time since I saw any of the early great ones post anything. The first rule of fight club...

mocap · February 4

I highly recommend not messing with vet dungeons. They are simply not optimized for solo playthrough. So class doesn't really matter, pick what you like. Might want to stay away from Necromancer. Everyone else is fine.

As for group stuff, ZOS occasionally try to fix all these tricks and gimmicks that allow you to bypass group mechanics. Like they did in Banished Cells 2, where you could stupidly stand on the balcony and just pew pew boss. This completely nullifying the need to do any mechanics here, including 3 ads for HM.

In any case, YTB is your friend, there are videos of solo ABSOLUTELY ALL dungeons in the game. But once again - it may or may not still work.

zombievalen · March 29

Play Skirim. This is an MMO.

BXR_Lonestar · March 31

Honestly, nothing is better for this than a 1 bar 2 pet Heavy Attack pet sorc. You have good health and survivability, heals, and pets to take the heat off of you, and your average DPS will be somewhere around 80k on a trial parse dummy, so you can take that very same character into high-end group content as well.

allochthons · March 31

BasP wrote: »

The same is kind of true for a Sorcerer: While a Stamina Sorcerer is decent for solo play, you'd most likely be better off with a Magicka Sorcerer with a Heavy Attack build.

Xynode has recently updated his heavy attack "lazy sorc" build to be a no-pet stamina build. It's pretty neat. But to get the full boom, you need scribing (banner with class script). The original Magicka version is still quite strong.

Both still use Sergeant's Mail and Deadly.

BasP · March 31

allochthons wrote: »

BasP wrote: »

The same is kind of true for a Sorcerer: While a Stamina Sorcerer is decent for solo play, you'd most likely be better off with a Magicka Sorcerer with a Heavy Attack build.

Xynode has recently updated his heavy attack "lazy sorc" build to be a no-pet stamina build. It's pretty neat. But to get the full boom, you need scribing (banner with class script). The original Magicka version is still quite strong.

Both still use Sergeant's Mail and Deadly.

Thanks for the tip. Truth be told, if I were to use a Heavy Attack Sorcerer for soloing I'd personally go with this build by Hyperioxes instead though.

El_Borracho · April 1

Soarora wrote: »

I think the only trial you could reasonably solo would be asylum sanctorium and it'd take forever. I guess I'd start by looking up solo dungeon trifectas to see what kinds of builds they use. Scalecaller peak I know is one that people solo.

Players have solo'd normal AS. That is the only normal trial I have heard of being solo'd. Veteran trials can not be solo'd.

Snamyap · April 3

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

Markytous wrote: »

Everything is viable to clear all content.

That is strongly misleading!

All content is intended for either Solo play or group play. Both easy (normal) and difficult (veteran).
Some however, have mechanics that require two players, like the pressure plates in Dire Frost Keep. Or when you get captured or transformed, and another player needs to free you.

There are indeed some mechanics that block soloing but the pressure plates in Dire Frost can be circumvented. Gain the attention of the troll behind the locked gate and use a gapcloser when he is close enough. (Unless they bothered to fix this in the year and a half that I haven't played.)

ADarklore · April 14

Well, all this will be changing come June 2 (on PC) when you will be able to spec into subclassing. Makes me wonder what combinations will be the 'best' for players looking to solo most content.