Your philosophy of solo play

[mjo2138]

Hello Everyone,

 

I am back to the world of Eora, after playing doing a POTD solo run as a Swashbuckler. I really appreciate the singular experience of solo play; it lets you study the game mechanics very carefully, and you really learn the class(es) that you play very well.  Now, I am level 13 as a SC Bloodmage, following the guide of @NotSoCleverHound , as well as Lost Sinner (Sin Tee)

What I want to ask if, how do you level up, and how much powerplay you incorporate in your gameplay. For example I usually do this. 

 

1. After Port Maje, due to my perfectionist nature, I usually end up sailing around the world to accumulate experience , and then I loot, buy, or steal core items for the build, along with the 'usual stops' such as Crookspur Island for Legendary items. 

2. Rush core item builds afterwards, and play the game in a more 'traditional' way

a. Do you think it is worth it to skip early and midgame so much? I feel like I miss out. But at the same time, I think solo builds rely on getting to high level quickly, so you can take on encounters

 

b. How many encounters to you tend to skip before 'powerleveling'?  and do c. do you do all the questions in the game, or only ones that benefit you? 

 

3. this is unrelated, but don't you think the rewards system should be different for quests? For example, I will end up metagaming and choosing the best result to get the best gear. For example, I always kill Beneweth (pirate guy) for his Miscreat Leather armor. It makes me wonder, however, if quests should have a different reward system stops you from choosing based on Gear Alone. Like , if you roleplay your character, it should take precedence over the material rewards.  It would be fun to complete quests as per your 'roleplay' and character, rather than just to get the 'best gear'. I think the light/dark point system in Knights of the Old Republic (Bioware, Single Player) had a good idea. I am interested what you all think about this.

Thanks in advanced! 

 

 

[thelee]

3 hours ago, mjo2138 said:

3. this is unrelated, but don't you think the rewards system should be different for quests? For example, I will end up metagaming and choosing the best result to get the best gear. For example, I always kill Beneweth (pirate guy) for his Miscreat Leather armor. It makes me wonder, however, if quests should have a different reward system stops you from choosing based on Gear Alone. Like , if you roleplay your character, it should take precedence over the material rewards.  It would be fun to complete quests as per your 'roleplay' and character, rather than just to get the 'best gear'. I think the light/dark point system in Knights of the Old Republic (Bioware, Single Player) had a good idea. I am interested what you all think about this.

i kind of agree on this.

i appreciate the general game design where being an extremely good person will frequently get you to turn down rewards, or get you minimal rewards, because if you're good you should be good because it's the right thing to do, not because you get an artifact of an item. (In fact, taking actions solely to maximize your reward is really more what an evil character does). but you don't get a good roleplay pay-off in-game for doing so, just some flavor text here and there, so it feels a little unsatisfying to roleplay a given character a certain way. Even the ending slides don't seem to care too much about it. whereas in F:NV, for example, the ending slides were tailored to your karma level, so you could end up with situations where you sided with what most people would consider is the most unambiguously evil faction (Caesar's Legion) and have a high morality and get very interesting slides as a result. i don't think your standing with the various factions factors at all outside of some shop discounts (and occasional ship attacks at extremely negative reputation).

 

 

on topic, as a non-solo player, my one question of all solo players is: are you playing on PotD ? with upscaling? I'm always in awe that this is a "normal" way that some people like to play. do you personally, end up being a completionist, or do you skip a lot of content b.c. it's not worth it as a solo player?

[Kaylon]

10 hours ago, mjo2138 said:

Hello Everyone,

 

I am back to the world of Eora, after playing doing a POTD solo run as a Swashbuckler. I really appreciate the singular experience of solo play; it lets you study the game mechanics very carefully, and you really learn the class(es) that you play very well.  Now, I am level 13 as a SC Bloodmage, following the guide of @NotSoCleverHound , as well as Lost Sinner (Sin Tee)

What I want to ask if, how do you level up, and how much powerplay you incorporate in your gameplay. For example I usually do this. 

 

1. After Port Maje, due to my perfectionist nature, I usually end up sailing around the world to accumulate experience , and then I loot, buy, or steal core items for the build, along with the 'usual stops' such as Crookspur Island for Legendary items. 

2. Rush core item builds afterwards, and play the game in a more 'traditional' way

a. Do you think it is worth it to skip early and midgame so much? I feel like I miss out. But at the same time, I think solo builds rely on getting to high level quickly, so you can take on encounters

 

b. How many encounters to you tend to skip before 'powerleveling'?  and do c. do you do all the questions in the game, or only ones that benefit you? 

 

3. this is unrelated, but don't you think the rewards system should be different for quests? For example, I will end up metagaming and choosing the best result to get the best gear. For example, I always kill Beneweth (pirate guy) for his Miscreat Leather armor. It makes me wonder, however, if quests should have a different reward system stops you from choosing based on Gear Alone. Like , if you roleplay your character, it should take precedence over the material rewards.  It would be fun to complete quests as per your 'roleplay' and character, rather than just to get the 'best gear'. I think the light/dark point system in Knights of the Old Republic (Bioware, Single Player) had a good idea. I am interested what you all think about this.

Thanks in advanced! 

 

 

Personally I like to build characters strong enough to do every quest and play without skipping anything. I try to obtain core items first, but at the same time I follow the normal path. I don't feel the need to PL because I try to do the quests in the order of their difficulty and I gain xp fast enough, while also keeping fights challenging.

[Not So Clever Hound]

On the gaming path, I tend to agree with Kaylon. I also like to sail around a bit - I do a combination of different things, which my "normal" way of playing. Except when I'm testing a character that I really don't know yet if it's going to hold his own well - then I want to go a little faster, powerplaying to find out. Some solo chars that can be strong late game have certain power spikes that require you to hit certain levels to gain game-changing solo abilities e.g. Relentless Storm or Unbending. On the other hand, play an SC Assassin and you can basically take 90% of fights in the game at level 5. It also depends if you're playing PotD vanilla or Upscaled, certain areas/enemies at certain levels become significantly harder with Upscaling. BUT, generally speaking the completionist in me has a very hard time having fun with a toon that cannot destroy the Digsite at Maje. I find Gorecci street optional however.

 

@thelee I almost only play solo and only PotD mostly upscaled with some games without Upscaling to have a change of pace. I like the harder challenge but I find the scaling of enemy PEN and AR sometimes just too goofy (e.g. a Boar in Maje having more armor than a dude in full plate) so I like to run some playthroughs on "easy" PotD . But if I deem a character interesting and want to write up a short build, I'll rerun certain iconic fights with Upscaling to make sure it still gives the same experience.

 

Finally I agree with your comment @mjo2138 about the reward/morality system but screw Benweth . This arrogant, homicidal d-bag never lives long in my games.  That said, you mention the KOTOR series as having a great morality system (which I agree, if only quite unidimensional) but you can still trick and break the hell out of this system to pile up certain alignment-locked rewards. At the risk of being very boring, the most interesting and solid take on morality remains The Witcher 3 in that regard IMO.

Great thread!

[mjo2138]

15 hours ago, thelee said:

i kind of agree on this.

i appreciate the general game design where being an extremely good person will frequently get you to turn down rewards, or get you minimal rewards, because if you're good you should be good because it's the right thing to do, not because you get an artifact of an item. (In fact, taking actions solely to maximize your reward is really more what an evil character does). but you don't get a good roleplay pay-off in-game for doing so, just some flavor text here and there, so it feels a little unsatisfying to roleplay a given character a certain way. Even the ending slides don't seem to care too much about it. whereas in F:NV, for example, the ending slides were tailored to your karma level, so you could end up with situations where you sided with what most people would consider is the most unambiguously evil faction (Caesar's Legion) and have a high morality and get very interesting slides as a result. i don't think your standing with the various factions factors at all outside of some shop discounts (and occasional ship attacks at extremely negative reputation).

 

 

on topic, as a non-solo player, my one question of all solo players is: are you playing on PotD ? with upscaling? I'm always in awe that this is a "normal" way that some people like to play. do you personally, end up being a completionist, or do you skip a lot of content b.c. it's not worth it as a solo player?

 

@theleeI keep meaning to play Fallout: NV, so here is even more reason to try it! Personally, playing a solo game (POTD, upscaled all) really lets me understand how to maximize the skills and efficacy of a certain class. For example, as a swashbuckler, I learned how to find that sweet spot in which you take dmg, but your riposte and defenses, along with Dudes the cat, lets you 'heal' and out damage enemies. Megabosses required some cheese, or many health pots, except for the Blob who I couldn't sustain.  Now I am really learning how to play the best wizard possible as an SC bloodmage, without having to manage other characters. I guess it is something of an intellectual exercise, if that makes sense. 

8 hours ago, Kaylon said:

Personally I like to build characters strong enough to do every quest and play without skipping anything. I try to obtain core items first, but at the same time I follow the normal path. I don't feel the need to PL because I try to do the quests in the order of their difficulty and I gain xp fast enough, while also keeping fights challenging.

@KaylonI like that approach. I will do that next time, so I really get the flavor of the game, and area around Port Maje and Nekataka, without making those fights too easy. 

6 hours ago, Not So Clever Hound said:

On the gaming path, I tend to agree with Kaylon. I also like to sail around a bit - I do a combination of different things, which my "normal" way of playing. Except when I'm testing a character that I really don't know yet if it's going to hold his own well - then I want to go a little faster, powerplaying to find out. Some solo chars that can be strong late game have certain power spikes that require you to hit certain levels to gain game-changing solo abilities e.g. Relentless Storm or Unbending. On the other hand, play an SC Assassin and you can basically take 90% of fights in the game at level 5. It also depends if you're playing PotD vanilla or Upscaled, certain areas/enemies at certain levels become significantly harder with Upscaling. BUT, generally speaking the completionist in me has a very hard time having fun with a toon that cannot destroy the Digsite at Maje. I find Gorecci street optional however.

 

@thelee I almost only play solo and only PotD mostly upscaled with some games without Upscaling to have a change of pace. I like the harder challenge but I find the scaling of enemy PEN and AR sometimes just too goofy (e.g. a Boar in Maje having more armor than a dude in full plate) so I like to run some playthroughs on "easy" PotD . But if I deem a character interesting and want to write up a short build, I'll rerun certain iconic fights with Upscaling to make sure it still gives the same experience.

 

Finally I agree with your comment @mjo2138 about the reward/morality system but screw Benweth . This arrogant, homicidal d-bag never lives long in my games.  That said, you mention the KOTOR series as having a great morality system (which I agree, if only quite unidimensional) but you can still trick and break the hell out of this system to pile up certain alignment-locked rewards. At the risk of being very boring, the most interesting and solid take on morality remains The Witcher 3 in that regard IMO.

Great thread!

@Not So Clever Hound Yes haha I have also opted for the peaceful solution to Gorecci street; it is really tough to solo, and the slog zone makes it even harder.  I also choose to kill Benweth; I cannot really justify someone trying to kill me , even as a pirate RP character.  I think in the end, players are always going to tend to maximize their loot , reward, and skills, so you are right that any RP benefits will be exchanged for the best loot when possible, or vice versa. I suppose games could have quests where you receive a material reward, or you receive some kind of karma points that let you develop certain skills, or maybe gain reputation into certain 'shops' of a faction (kinda like pillars 1); even then it would be too complicated, and there would end up being a preferred metagaming 'path' in terms of quest progression or choices. Players would find that item X , for example, is simply too good to pass up, so everyone would recommend a certain path.  Thanks for the ideas!