I want an open discussion between others that have opinions, please remember
that it is a good way to find out other avenues to this new update... please do not
close this as it will be good for all people whether they are new or old... thank you.

Well... I have been testing solo & group catas with the new update.
What are your views about solo'ing at higher levels now?

I have tried it, and have realised that the gear that I used before is not as good as it was before.
Now I have to take "Double" amount of damage when I engage a group of 2, or triple (plus) damage when
I engage an EP group of 3... how can my hybrid character contend with this effectively?

When you could Arena, you could take on 1 monster per time and have enough Heal to help you survive,
at present, some of us newbies can't take that into consideration...

Please also note that my build has been created with the weapon ratios that are implemented and that
I have some very decent heals:

Rare focused heal XIV
Level Req: 55
Heals: 290 to 348
Mana Cost: 109
+137% Enhanced Effect
+32 Intelligence
____________

Last night I tried cata'ing with 2 other people...
2 hybrids / 1 tanker
We engaged EPs (7 total) with full life
Boom... I died and so did the other hybrid
I shrined to full life mana... entered and Boom... died again

Not good for me... I am a prof man and with instant deaths, it is just pointless to explore... so I do NOT explore
_____________

Notes:
1. No point in exploring @ higher levels solo'ing or in a small group
2. Newcomers with no fg or idea will give up... unless they are stubborn like myself
3. No point in collecting up wellables as you can not explore at higher levels
4. Profs are now null n void as deaths can come easier and gaining them back harder @ higher Ranks
5. Have to have tons of fg to get better to last longer in solo cata'ing

Solo is slow, drops is garbage and it does not give increased prof anymore compared to cata.

Stay away from it if possible imo

this.

the only way to get good drops there is when finding a treasure chest. solo is pretty much dead. the only reason to go solo is when youre going to find a well in guild only catas.

Currently soloing my 66 Sammy. Much slower than it used to be. Which is disappointing, as I have dex gear and daggers (thought I was lucky!).

But getting there really really really slowly.


Edit:
17:07 An evil presence sends a shiver down your spine.
17:07 You have died.

Three of them, wa-boom!

This post was edited by Leee on Oct 11 2010 03:08pm

Have to agree with that... pity my timezone makes it nearly impossible to be in a group.
Solo was pretty much all I had, and when I cata'd... it was when I was off work and there were alot more ppl on.

Concur with responses so far...

Soloing on my mage was way faster than arena, once I found a well. Tossing all the tier 1-2's in there = one shot monster and t4t free shrinie.

Did this at 65+ btw

I do agree with this. Soloing cata with a mage is faster than arena was, at least for me it has been.

hmz, lvl56 right now and faced 2 *3 eps in the last 10 minutes and solved both with 1time shrining within the killing time as pure melee, seems not too hard

Not everyone has gear of your value

@sc players dropping like flies: do you wear ee armors or still go stat armor?