Soloing GW, possible?

Guild Wars has my interest. I haven't played the beta though, and there's one thing that I need to ask before considering whether or not to buy and play the game. I've played several MMORPG's lately that include major PvP elements, but all of them have one serious flaw: After gaining a few levels, you're forced to party up if you wish to further your character. This proved to be a problem for me, since I seriously dislike partying with strangers, and of all my friends, I'm the only third-shift employed. So, nobody was around to party with. Furthering your characters solo was nearly impossible, with constant enemy raids, mobs which a solo character can't defeat alone, and in some cases, penalties to experience gained for bothering to solo at all.

So, is Guild Wars any different? It's not a game with an end to be reached, I know. But I don't partake of PvP until my character build is strong. It's getting to that point which is a pain.

It takes very little time to get to the end game. There are also henchmen that are computer controlled that you can take with you ... warning however these are usually not as smart as player controlled (well good ones anyway).

But I believe though difficult, if you can build your character well and are very careful, then much of that game is actually soloable (well with henchmen at least)

Yes. It is not only possible, it is quite fun.

The way it works is you get to bring along hirelings to fill your team out.

It is challenging though after about level 12; which is how I like it of course

Precisely. I go with my guildies on missions when they want help, but for a real challenge, go solo. Or go PvP, but that's a different experience entirely. (Now if only we could do both... )

The "real" challenge for me will be to duo with my best friend. Have to have some very perfectly meshed characters to do that unless you play maps well below your power.

since the level cap is so low, maxing out your character happens relatively quickly. i have seen many players reach that goal in the length of one weekend. however, there is quite a bit of PvE content and the devs definitely had casual players / soloers in mind when designing content. i love the henchmen and how you must reformulate your strategy for each map and situation. it may be slower going than grouping up with competent players, but it is doable and still quite fun.

<stereotype> Oh come on, its called Guild wars its meant to be played with other people </stereotype>

Yes, its quite possible to solo by yourself but you'd better bring some henchmen with you, as missions can get quite nasty solo and it would be very difficult...which is what some are looking for

PvP is party based so if that's your goal you might aswell try to find some in-game friends while you play the PvE... no? Plus, playing with henchmen gets freaking dull

If you plan on doing all the missions; I find it hard to think that you will be able to complete them all with henchman. I do not see it happening. Just before and after Lion's Arch, you NEED smart players to progress. Yes there are henchman you can hire to help you, but I find it hard to believe you can go through missions past Lions' Arch as a solo player. Even with Henchmen. Your comment amuses me in the first place: 'I like to play online games, but I dont like to play with anyone else.' That is a fine statement.. but then.. why play online games where the 'jist' of the atmosphere is camaraderie and grouping/partnership. Just my opinion, of course....but to play any type of MMORPG even though this is a CORPG, with the intention of soloing the whole time.. amuses me to say the least. How do you plan on getting any pvp in if you don't get groups and parties? Just my 2 cents I guess.

You will find beating the game by yourself very very hard. But it can be done if you design your character correctly. There is an art to soloing riverside for items. But I advise against it. You will find partying with strangers a fun experience most of the time. The GW crowd isn't all that bad - perhaps a bit too quiet though.

Take a x/rang or ran/x with fertile seasons and you can beat the game with all henchmen.....slow but it works. Maybe not entirely true but it reduces the difficulty of soloing by 10 fold especially WaW ^_^.

I didn't join a single party last BWE. I didn't get very far (just throught the first few missions - spent too much time in pre-searing Ascalong :P), but my experience was that soloing was very possible (at least in the part I tried) and challenging. I often found myself dying and having to try again with a different approach. I think (and this is just speculation) that soloing later in the game could be quite hard indeed, but I, for one, am up for it.

short answer for me is
I DONT
hard as it may be to believe some of us have no fun at or desire for pvp.
however i do not begrudge you your pvp fun in the least.
GW has made room for both of us

Thanks for all the responses and opinions, guys.

A dozen replies in half an hour isn't quiet at all. I didn't expect this much feedback!

I like PvP, that's the reason for me to play something like this. But I have a lot of trouble getting my characters to a point at which they can PvP, and do it well. That's why this serious concern about soloing. However, I'm ill-experienced in party-vs-party, and guild-vs-guild. That's new to me.

I am one of the dont like PVP crowd myself. I am getting this game strictly for PVE.

The game is based around guild v guild or a team v team PVP so it is best to learn how to work in teams.

-Realize there is no fighting for the item. Item drops are assigned by the system, so no "lkill shot gets the item" stuff going on. Thus strangers are far more trustworthy to go on missions with.

-No PK everywhere either. Missions are "instanced" so no one is coming and gonna kill you, then take the item, and you don't lose anything physically when you die. You incur a death penalty that you can rid yourself of by play.

-I believe you'll see once you play. So many of the things that you've mentioned as likely many things you haven't, are not part of GuildWars mission team structure and/or mission system.

If it were me I'd set my preconcieved notions aside and start this one with a fresh mind as it has many inherent differences you can miss looking for what you are expecting and used to from the traditional mmorpg model.

solo is possible with a good build, or u can bring henchmans, all the missions are soloable, with the exception of the 2 new missions underworld and fissure, maybe underworld is soloable with a good tank..

During most of the BWE, I soloed with my Necro-Ranger.

It was nice.

However, the real fun came during the first mission in Ascalon--the one where you have to scout out the Charr.

Had I been by myself for that, it would NOT have been nearly as fun as it actually was. ;D

On something totally unrelated, does GW do kind of random 1v1 elimination pvp?

Studio, no, there isn't a 1v1 PVP, the game isn't designed for that at all. Do a search you'll find many posts, pay attention to the Alpha and Beta Testers posts, there is quite a bit to glean from them. You can also look at this link about the game mechanics to better understand why.

*Edit* Studio It appears you mean a free for all which would lead to a 1v1, so please refer to the links and such I have just mentioned.

The only mission I have had REAL problems soloing is the Henge of Denravi one - since you have to place crystals before the Mantle does. I won't loose - I can keep the stale mate -since I can run crystals fast with a speed buff. But I never finished it solo - since I could never get to the last crystal before the NPC's.

Soloing is sometimes great. It is a little hard on Riverside, but if you can get the last sucker to move - yes it can be done.

Also at Sanctum cay - possible - but it takes a loooooooong time.

Then we have another 15 missions we haven't played yet in Beta! No idea on those.

no
unfortunately conditions do not allow for guaranteed periods of gameplay and jumping from a mission in the middle is not fair to the people left behind yelling
*avoid that jerk he left us short*

not amusing but ........

Actually, you won't, you'll find an error message saying "1v1" is too short a search term.

The game is balanced for team play, so random 1v1 would not work. Dueling would be a pretty nice addition to the game, but at least for now there is no option for it.