Soloing vs Grouping

Darkpact Wrathful - 12 / 14 / 99

The source of much debate and conjecture among people is; which is better, soloing or grouping. I have lived over 12 lives, soloed in some, grouped in others. In my current life I have soloed 90% of my life till I hit 40 th, and from there I have grouped 90% of my life, till my current level of 44 th.

I have found through asking approximately one dozen honest people, that between the levels of 20 th and 40 th, your play time should just about equal one level per 24 hours. I found this figure was the same for those who soloed, and those who grouped exclusively.

Of course before 20 th you level faster, and after 40 th you start to curve towards longer periods. Also if this is a later life this figure may be somewhat smaller due to your current world knowledge, and inversely a longer period if you've done a lot of exploring.

I have found that 'best case scenario', since about 20 th level, I make one bubble per 3-4 hours. This is the leveling speed I compare to when grouped or when solo.

A lot of people don't understand the types of soloing and grouping you can do, so let me explain.

Pure solo

A pure soloist is someone who is killing strictly on their own. Benefits of going purely solo are many. You are isolated, having your space to yourself, no chit chat, or people distracting you from killing. You don't have to worry about bad pulls wiping you out because what you pull is totally up to you. You hold all the decisions on what happens when.

Loot will be all yours, no debates.

The "not group"

A 'not group' is what I call several people who are soloing in the same area. Usually these people are of vastly different levels, or simply want to have some alone time. These people tend to form alliances. Sitting next to each other, or cross buffing between combats. They will often negotiate pulls and offer support if the other needs help. This gives the benefit of pure soloing, with the added support you have somewhere to run.

Again, loot will be all yours, no debates.

The small group

The small group is a group of 2 or 3 people. The benefits to smaller groups is you are a tightly connected group. Your role in the group is clear. You are constantly focused because your such a small group, any mistakes could be fatal. I find a well balanced small group is the best option for experience gain. Also your not completely isolated. There is still the companionship of the others.

Chit chat, if you choose to do so, is more often intimate, and give you a deeper connection with the person your with. (Opposed to larger group which tends towards more trivial chat which doesn't really reveal the character or player much, if any.)

Small groups can pull a little faster than soloists because the target having multiple players to hit, will spread the damage out. Multiple outgoing hits and spells will have a cumulative effect, keeping the monster under constant damage and possible confusion or stun.

Loot may be split somewhat unevenly. Small groups will be more inclined to offer the special item to the person who needs it most.

The large group

The large group is a group of 4 - 6. The benefit to the large group is it is most often the only way to survive in a dungeon and get the really nice toys. Most toy doping spots require a lot of kill power, which the smaller groups don't have. Large groups can be chatty and friendly, letting you know your not alone in this world. However, large groups can also stray off subject droning on and on about something you have no interest in, degrading to a chat room of fluf.

Worse yet a larger group may have members who don't get along. This tension within the group can destroy loyalties and trust, and eventually lead to death.

Larger groups may fall prey to what I call "big group syndrome". This is when someone in the group is soloing without consent, another is off shopping, a third is afk, someone else is completely oom, or the group debates about where to go or moves often. All things an uncoordinated group can easily fall prey to. As you go higher in levels less groups fall prey to "big group syndrome" however it can still happen.

Large groups are safest when fighting tougher opponents because of the variety of abilities within the group. They are often the only way to survive in dungeons.

Loot disputes will be high, but since the addition of the dice, is now more often solved by simply rolling for the random loot.

Summary / Solution / Truth

No matter which you choose to do, you can often attain maximum experience gain. I recommend watching every 2 hours to check progress (no sooner as you can't tell sometimes). Figure out which classes and levels you match well with and which seem to drain more experience.

The sad truth is that bigger groups (and dungeons) is really the only way to get the fancy toys. I soloed till 40 and because of it my equipment is somewhat lacking.

Almost nightly I see one person in my group with ruby or other equivalent, visible differences. Often the unseen things, cape, rings, etc, are also of high value. In Lower Guk a fancy thing can spawn 1x per 40 minutes. At the average of 1 bubble per 4 hours, that's 30 possible chances I've missed per level since approximately 30 th when I could have entered.

Soloing is great if you don't want or need fancy equipment. Sadly you must join groups and dungeon if you want or need equipment. There is just no way you will earn enough plat in the wilderness, and there are few, if any, items to gain to trade.


Posted on various EQ sites, an official word on group exp by "Gordon" on 12/21/99.

There is a bonus to experience given depending on how many in your group, but that bonus is linear. You don't receive an extra kick of XP for having 6 people as opposed to 5, other than the straight linear bonus.

But I would like to take this opportunity to see if I can explain exactly how grouping is more efficient. This will take a few assumptions, but I think you'll see that it's valid in the end. My figures here are very round, but are applicable in any situation.

Suppose you have a warrior with 100HP, who can deal damage at 50HP per minute. Furthermore, you are fighting gnolls with 100HP, who can deal 25HP's damage per minute, and pay 100XP points. Let's say your rule is that you fight until 50% health then heal to full before fighting again.

Ok, fight 1. It takes you two minutes to kill the gnoll. After the fight you have 100XP points, and are down to 50HP health. Since you decided to rest to full health when reaching 50%, you'll have to rest 150 seconds (2.5 minutes) before you can kill again. Let's just suppose that you don't heal while in combat to make the math easier. Your total yield is 100XP/4.5 minutes, or 22XP/Min.

Now, let's try two warriors, same rules, same level, damage spread equally.

Fight 1:

You and your partner take down the gnoll in 1 minute instead of two, since there are two of you. The gnoll only was able to deal 25 pts of damage during this time, which, spread between the two of you, puts you each at 87 health. Since you are now in a group, the gnoll gave 110 XP instead of 100, but it's split between the two of you, so you get 60 each. Here's the outcome after fight 1:

Health Remaining: 87
XP Earned: 60
Time Elapsed: 1 Minutes

After Fight 2:

Health Remaining: 75
XP Earned: 120
Time Elapsed: 2 Minutes

After Fight 3:

Health Remaining: 63
XP Earned: 180
Time Elapsed: 3 Minutes

After Fight 4:

Health Remaining: 50
XP Earned: 240
Time Elapsed: 4 Minutes

Now, since you are both at half health, it will take 2.5 minutes to rest to full health, giving you a total yield of 240XP/6.5 minutes, or 37XP/Min.

Of course the actual figures will differ according to class and level, but the principle still applies. If you group, you get more experience, providing you take things harder and/or faster than you could solo.

All of that said, yes, some people like to group, others don't. Regardless, EQ is and will remain a group-oriented game. Some classes have been made to be more suited to soloing than others, and if you want to get by through soloing exclusively, you'll have to be one of those.

-Gordon