Solo Instances - well, not just yet...

[Bulge]

Is there anyone left that starts playing *without* KEI on? The matter-of-factly manner that people talk about getting their KEI before playing is kinda unnerving. I guess SOE bloopered big time on this buff.

[Hereki]

Last time I had KEI or VoQ on my cleric or beastlord was the last time they raided - about 3 months ago.

[Kitvear]

I keep kei up on my druid all the time, but I don't have enough buff slots for kei myself.  My chanter is on my main account so he couldn't buff me anyways. I don't even keep Kraggs up anymore :(

1. Shifting Shield
2. Regrowth
3. Celerity
4. Ferocity
5. Spiritual Vigor
6. Skin Like Nature
7. Shield of Thorns
8. Bramblecoat
9. Shared form of the Great Wolf
10. Infusion of Spirit
11. Furious Strength
12. Dexterity
13. Frenzy

My druid doesn't CH yet,  so the extra hps from kraggs is mostly irrelevent
I keep one slot open for whatever, I get dotted a lot and its nice not to lose a buff to a dot.   Kei is 14 mana and yeah that would be nice, but tween ft9, mc1, sd, and tribute ft5 i'm doing ok without it.

[Mneumenth]

I usually camp out in PoK...force of habit with my Ranger, I guess.  Anyway, I try for a KEI if it is available.  If it isnt, I adjust my play style and roll without it.  

KEI is a nicety not a necessity...for soloing anyway.  I do love it, though

:twisted:

[Purrfekshun]

Is there anyone left that starts playing *without* KEI on? The matter-of-factly manner that people talk about getting their KEI before playing is kinda unnerving. I guess SOE bloopered big time on this buff.

I guess my view on KEI is, why wouldn't you use it?  It's there and I can afford it, so I pretty much always run with it.  It is not as important on my bst, especially if I am in a group.  But with a cleric with only FT1 and a 6 mana/tick self shielding buff, KEI is just about a necessity just to keep up.  If your group has to keep stopping because you are oom all the time, they aren't going to like you much.  KEI is a fact of EQ life...I have the 50pp for it, so I get it.

If solo LDoN's come out, the kill rate you will have to maintain may force even you die-hard beast's to use KEI just to be able to complete the dungeons within the time limit. (nice attempt to steer back on topic, huh?)

[danaconda]

I don't like KEI at all. I never ask for it, and refuse to go find someone to cast it on me. I will accept it if it's right there in front of me and someone is offering it up (I will even give them a gratuity for it if they volunteer it on me).

My main is a necro so relying on anyone else for anything at all is out of the question (if I cannot cast the spell, and neither can any groupmates, then I wasn't intended to have it on me).  I 3 box a necro, beast, and cleric and the beast crack is perfectly fine with me. I also don't look for Virtue or anything either.

I once grouped with 2 friends and some other people and they all laughed at my necro for not knowing what KEI was. The other people all thought I was new to the game or something. But with Lich at 49 I get better than KEI mana regen, and it only gets better the higher I get.

Afterwards I started up my beast and learned that KEI was very nice to have (before the change that made it 46+ only). However, I was unwilling to zone into PoK to get it so I made do without it. It used to amaze me to see people advertize "lvl 36 wizard (with kei) lfg" in Overthere. I felt bad for people that didn't have the funds for KEI on their own and might not have gotten groups because of one spell. I was so happy when they finally fixed it!

[Chackra]

If solo LDoN's come out, the kill rate you will have to maintain may force even you die-hard beast's to use KEI just to be able to complete the dungeons within the time limit. (nice attempt to steer back on topic, huh?)

If SOE just took out things like buff whoring and chain CH'ing but otherwise continued on exactly the same mobflation design course they have always taken, then yes, large parts of the game would become unplayable.  That's not what anybody is suggesting.  What people are saying is that the game would be more fun if the game "balance" weren't designed to require those things.

I guess at it's core it comes down to a choice between making the game a logistics challenge (the things you do to prepare before you encounter an enemy) or a tactical challenge (choices you make when you encounter an enemy.)  

Personally, I like the idea of having to be resourceful:  encountering an unknown challenge and figuring out how to make due with what you have on hand instead of making sure you have exactly 6 pre-buffed members for an LDON, or a "Holy triumvirate" for boss mobs, or hours of preparing, literally, each step in a raid, etc.

In the real world, logistics is the most important thing in any war.  That's one of a great many reasons the real world is boring.  It's hard to see why that has to have such a huge role in an "Adventure" game.

[Goretzu]

In the real world, logistics is the most important thing in any war. That's one of a great many reasons the real world is boring. It's hard to see why that has to have such a huge role in an "Adventure" game.

Yup if they make mmorpg's too much like real life everyone will end up being Barbarian Accountants. :)

Some games, like EQ in parts, definately misplace the idea of games = fun sometimes.

[ghostryder]

I guess it depends how they decide to balance them- mathmatically a solo LDON would have 1/6th the mobs of a mission geared to a 6 member team. That's not all that many mobs-

[Kreseth]

Honestly I don't see much reason to change the existing ldon structure to allow soloed instances.  Just change the number of players required to start an ldon to 1.  Folks that can't handle the challenge of a solo normal can do a solo easy instead.  Really waht I want though is the ability to start an ldon with my two characters....wouldn't solo but I'd sure duo.  I just don't see any point to requiring 3 to start the adventure.

--Kreseth

[Tastian]

For some reason 3 is the magic number for SoE to consider you a group.  The same holds true for leadership exp as well.  With all the husbands/wives that play or father/sons, etc I think duo should get a bit more consideration.  Duo was always my favorite way to play the game.  *shrugs*

[Mneumenth]

For some reason 3 is the magic number for SoE to consider you a group.  The same holds true for leadership exp as well.  With all the husbands/wives that play or father/sons, etc I think duo should get a bit more consideration.  Duo was always my favorite way to play the game.  *shrugs*

Based on the "Holy Trinity", perhaps?

/shrug

[Tastian]

Perhaps, but what amuses me is that the larger power gains from adding more people come with lower numbers.  To be solo'n as a beastlord simply adding a good rogue can double your group dps.  To be solo'n as a beastlord simply adding a healer can more than cut your downtime in half and speed up kills slightly.  The shift of going from 1 person to 2 is usually very large and often larger than going from 2 to 3.  If you have a tank and healer the third person can be dps or might be cc/puller, but the jump between what one person can solo verse duo isn't nearly as large as the jump between duo and trio imo.  

That, of course, depends on what your solo/duo is already, and what you are doing, but the gap between what I can do solo as my beastlord verse duo with my bst + cleric is much larger than what I can do comparing my duo to my trio once I add my nec or enc.  Once you get up around 4 or 5 people the jump in performance is even more minor depending on current group makeup.

[Mneumenth]

Absolutely.

[Kitvear]

I so love my pet druid, though I should have made him a half-elf female instead of a halfing male since he is always tucked under my arm.