Can't level up my Alt - No groups, can't solo significantly

I guess mob grinding will always be the most efficient way to level up, which means that grouping up will always be a requirement to do so. Questing will improve in the future, so soloing won't be completely useless after lvl 9-10. But for now, it is what it is, Tanks (and maybe Clerics) are the only ones that find groups easily lol.
The only tip I can give you as a solo player is going to the POI/Dungeon you want to farm, and then spam in the Shout channel. Groups will know you're there and will see you more easily.

All of this leads me to something I am begging Intrepid to implement better sooner than later: Bulletin Boards, in an early state at least.

jhaerik

Literal skill issue. Bard is one of the better solo classes in general. Just solo'd out 17-18 on one this morning. You can endlessly chain no stars 3-5 above you, 1 stars your level, or 2 stars a 3-4 levels down. You usually even handle multiples. Bards punch up VERY well. You have mobility, healing, cleansing, an interrupt, some limited aoe, and endless mana, what more do you need my dude?

Be sure to rock 5 piece heavy, and then focus your caster stats.

No, it isn't a skill issue. What you're playing isn't a traditional bard role, and that works for you (which is fine). The fact is, THERE ARE very few GROUPs. That's the problem. And it will drastically affect new players and whether or not people continuously join the game. The game (at the VERY least) should have a LFG Tool so people can communicate and join up. Grinding in a group is still the fastest , most efficient way to level up. I do not know a single player in my large guild that has done this soloing. What they could also do is allow more of the townboard quests (or commissions) provide more XP.

This forum is for FEEDBACK. And thats what I am providing. Arguing that its a skill issue does not the negate the fact that once the game gets top heavy, new players and/or Alts will be having issues joining the game and leveling up. Thats what I am here to inform the Devs about. I want the game to succeed, and allowing for efficient solo leveling and/or providing tools for players to meet up will help with that.

Lucascp92

Before giving my opinion, I know we're in an Alpha.

I know they still have to add a huge amount of side quests and Story Arcs across all points of interest. Because right now, leveling—whether solo or in a group—feels like a punishment… I wouldn’t call it the most satisfying experience.

YES. It’s essential to encourage players to group up for heading into a ‘public dungeon’ to clear it out; the traditional mechanism has always been "group quests". However, I think it’s equally important to give solo players their space without sacrificing that group experience. Many of us don’t have that much time to play. Right now, I wouldn't mind to go to the dwarf area to continue to level up solo, I don't do it because I know there are no quests there for me (maybe there is, but 1 or 2, idk :) ).

Think about it… what was it that originally made us fall in love with MMOs? The sense of adventure and discovery. The journey from level 0 to level 50 should feel enriching, not like a painful bureaucratic process.

I know that in the future they will add new quests, new secondary stories, THE STORY ARC… there are countless beautiful places in Ashes of Creation—give me a reason to go there.

For example, I tend to ‘waste’ time exploring, and I get the feeling that most places aren’t visited unless there’s a perfect grinding spot. Ah yes… the grind.
No matter what the hardcore veterans say, having to group up and grind mobs from level 10 to 25 is not fun for most players. I know it’s an Alpha, but if they want the majority of players to reach max level—and not quit the game because they’re tired of grinding mobs, especially now that there are fewer groups than before—then in the long run, and I think they’re aware of this, this cannot be the core philosophy moving forward.

No matter what the hardcore veterans say, having to group up and grind mobs from level 10 to 25 is not fun for most players. I know it’s an Alpha, but if they want the majority of players to reach max level—and not quit the game because they’re tired of grinding mobs, especially now that there are fewer groups than before—then in the long run, and I think they’re aware of this, this cannot be the core philosophy moving forward.

Thank you! This is what I am saying. Totally agree with this. I WANT the game to succeed, in its current model, it will not. People in my guild are already no longer logging in and I check DISCORD to see them playing other games. Another thing they could add is Exploration XP. They had it in New World, where it actually rewarded us for checking out and exploring the map.

Listening to the "Git GUD!" crowd will not make this game a success. All of the systems have already been done before (Exploration XP, implementing a solo leveling experience, LFG tools, etc.). We aren't asking them to reinvent the wheel. But we are warning them and providing feedback that the current Alpha model will not work at launch.

I'm sorry but it really IS an l2p issue if you can't solo as a bard. Clearly you're doing SOMETHING wrong - plenty of utility and self heals, self sustain.

complaining about grinding itself is a completely different problem, and frankly - after decades of MMORPGs, I've become bitter about the demand for questing. Have you ever thought that for one second, there are people out there that hate questing? I will literally use any method even remotely viable for leveling, questing is awful, and there is no reason as an adult I'd like to spend time doing stupid errands for NPCs. It's rigid, it's boring, and rarely feels good. Some of us enjoy grinding, maximizing that grind, and getting the xp/minute up. And while we're at it - it sets you up for the rest of the game… if you can't handle grinding mobs, are you going to suddenly be able to handle picking up 10,000 rocks in hopes you get enough legendary rocks to make that sword? If you don't have the grind fortitude to kill mobs, you don't have the grind fortitude to get good gear at cap either. It's not about keeping the players - you'll lose nothing of value if the people who need questing to have purpose would quit. After all - in a sandbox game, people and politics are the content - if you're looking for quest lines in a world that changes based on interplay between power groups then you're going to have a bad time.

last night was the funnest night I've had of this alpha - and it was literally just me and my buddy grinding highway men hills, trying to efficiently pull pack to pack no heals and just watching the exp fly up. We would cycle into the elite area and despite 2-3 full groups of 5-8 out there, we were taking mobs when we wanted to, and the two rare spawns and there wasn't anything they could do about it. we were having fun killing our elite faster than they could kill theres - and when people tried to cut in on our farm spot we flagged up and had some fun. ultimately, dying messing around pvp cost me most of the glint but I had plenty of fun. There are 0 quests in any game that have ever been that fun. I tried to take on a ranger much higher than me last night and we both died at the same time while my buddy watched - was actually hilarious watching us both turn into a pile of dust at the same time… now I'm pretty far behind on gear - still wearing a bunch of lvl 5 stuff, but when I finally have a day off I'll have fun grinding a ridiculous amount of herbs and filling my pockets while I grind to journeyman herbalism. None of this compulsory quest non-sense in my way - just pure exploration and creating your own content.

Maybe I'm an outlier, but I've always been someone who kept 2 jobs(or works a ridiculous amount of overtime) but I can tell you I'm absolutely not the only one who can't stand quests, and hate that every cry baby who complains if they don't have hand holding quest chains to keep their tiktok brain on the rails tries to ruin every game that has grind.

No one said you cannot solo, it's about efficiency, and group grinding is the most efficient. And no one is saying getting rid of the grind, but supplement it with alternative ways to level like questing, Townboards, etc. And talking about it being a L2P issue is kinda ridiculous….the game is in Alpha, where anything could be changed at launch. People are leaving the game, I see it, but you can pretend not to as it fits your narrative. The game will FAIL at launch unless they offer various ways to level. I've been playing MMOs for 20 years, seen it all, done it all. If they dont diversify, it will fail. I am making my contribution (also made a $$$ investment 3 years ago) by providing my Feedback based on gameplay and experience. I truly hope they don't listen to the "git gud", "L2P" crowd that have misled Developers for decades.

And yes, you are an Outlier, most MMO players have no issue with questing. But the grind and questing are not mutually exclusive. They can co-exist. DUH!

Games played: Ultima Online, EQOA, Everquest, Anarchy Online, EQ2, WOW, Final Fantasy, Aion, Warhammer Online, EVE Online, SWOTOR, LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, Rift, Tera, Wildstar Lineage, Guildwars 2, and too many various Indies to mention.

https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/comment/514160#Comment_514160

you said the game will fail, but there's multiple games you mentioned in that list that are nothing but grind, or had been successful when it was grind prior to trying to add things. Poople still play L2, and that game is older than WoW and infinitely more grindy. Aion shot itself in the foot with identity crisis and trying to please everyone, which resulted in pleasing no one, and UO died with trammel. People still play EVE, people have wanted EQ2(see pantheon) and you forgot the other super grindy game that's made a reprise - old school rune scape - people playing iron man. SOLO GRINDING RARE DROPS to collect them all. so I'm certainly NOT alone.

I have played all of the games on my list, and most have questing, so not sure what you are talking about. In fact EVE Online implemented a New Player experience a few years back. I recently renewed the game to log in to nothing but new "adventures" (IE Quests or "Agent" missions) to engage in. SWOTOR is Famous for its class quest lines and voice acting, as is Final Fantasy. No one said there should never be a grind, but it should be complemented with alternatives. But thats OK, I gave my feedback and will continue to do so, just mark my words. Unless things change, this will fail.

https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/comment/514168#Comment_514168

Except many of those games that didn't have viable questing absolutely thrived prior to adding them. acting like EVE is a game that was played for it's questing is absolutely insane. It's a blisteringly ignorant take.

Sure there were people who loved the story of diablo II, but the players who grinded out enigma and holy grails weren't doing it for the quests. In a sandbox game, the world is dynamic and THATS the content.

JeanPhilippeGunghar

I have the same issue with my level 10 summoner on Vyra. I won't solo a multiplayer game, it's not the purpose Steven has for the game years ago and finding groups is rare. Peoples seem to snub summoners.

Except many of those games that didn't have viable questing absolutely thrived prior to adding them. acting like EVE is a game that was played for it's questing is absolutely insane. It's a blisteringly ignorant take.

LOL who said EVE was played for its questing? You are reading into stuff and grasping for straws now. They implemented expansions, new ships, new "EPIC" Arcs (ie: questing)etc. and tutorials (esp since EVE has a tremendous learning curve). And as a result it has attracted new players.

Please just be quiet, or better yet Fanboi in a more productive way by making a solo leveling guide since its SOOOOO easy for you. I think you would have more to contribute to the health of AOC then arguing with my OPINION about the game. Do something useful and provide the Devs with real Feedback. This IS a Feedback forum after all. Or maybe you really can't? Better to just troll others posts.

https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/comment/514170#Comment_514170

I don’t personally think Ashes will fail just because it’s grindy, but it surely needs more ways to gain XP. The game should always focus on incentivizing non-guided group content, but that doesn’t mean it should be the only way to level up — it can deffinitely be the most efficient way, but not the only one. Questing, events, commissions, etc., should be complementary in my opinion: not better, not useless, not non-existent, just complementary. And right now, they are definitely useless because the gap is so huge.

Lots of classic MMOs are so grind-heavy that quests and other PvE content are almost pointless for leveling, and those games aren’t failed projects at all. But I truly believe a grindy game can still offer meaningful alternative ways to gain XP without feeling like you’re just wasting time, even if it’s not the fastest method.

The core issue here isn’t just that soloing feels completely useless; it’s that the game doesn’t offer any tools to boost player interaction (for now). Sure, going to a POI and asking people if I can join their group, or even creating one from scratch, sounds great and social — but the reality is I spend so much time doing that, it often kills my motivation to keep grinding for the day. And you might say, “Well, find a guild then,” and while I agree that guilds are the way to go, the game itself should enforce player interaction by design.

The good thing is that Intrepid is working on improving quests and implementing bulletin boards in the future, but for now, this is the current state.

jhaerik

All leveling doesn't need to be the same speed. Some method's will always be faster than others. Hell I have a buddy that straight mined until level 15.

And solo'ing isn't like impossibly slow or anything. It's around 50-60% the speed of grouping with a mediocre group, as good as a bad group, and around 30%-40% as fast as a good group.

You also don't need a full group… A fighter/cleric duo is going to straight outlevel most groups for example. They can get away with pulling a LOT of 1-2 start mobs.

I reject the notion that it's "okay if questing is viable too". This seems harmless on paper but nothing is free, it comes at a cost. That cost is development time and energy, debugging, testing, ect that could have been spent on something else.

Questing is resource intensive, and if you don't do it well enough then you didn't please that crowd and they'll quit your game anyways, so why in the world would you bother?

https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/comment/514186#Comment_514186

Well, they are implementing quests, and there's a comission system that already exists. If they are actually creating all of this, why not doing it right?