Playing solo

[mikebevo]

6. Priority of killing. I know someone else said take out golds before silvers, but I don't think doing solo missions you ever run into a case where you will be fighting multiple silvers and golds at once. Best thing, imo, is take out weak, then strong, then elite. Silvers hit as hard if not harder than golds but they die much quicker.

Think Bobs_YourUncle is pretty spot on. I would add one thing. If the mob has a healer or healers, kill them ASAP. Not a huge thing at lower levels since the don't heal for much, but a higher level planets it can make killing the silvers and golds slower. Perhaps too slow.

 

Normally I don't use CC's. I find they just slow down game play. However, if I find a difficult mob or fight. I will CC a gold, stunner, or healer depending on who I can safely prevent from hitting with it a AoE. Then I will prioritize kills after that.

 

I have always used a dps companion. However companions can make a difference. You can also turn off certain companion abilities if they are causing problems. I know when first leveling a sawbones Corso had a stupid harpoon at the time that annoyed the hell out of me and the Wookiee had a AoE that would aggro a CC'ed enemy. I finally figured I could turn those off and that made leveling less frustrating at the time.

[teclado]

Try a tank with a healer companion. Go with Vanguard or guardian. It will be much easier, albeit a little slower.

[Ghenghis-Khan]

soloing to 55 is possible. Cause ive done it twice with a dps and healer. I think maybe your attack rotation is wrong. You might need to practice more with your character killing regular mobs so u find the quickest way to take them down before dying. I get new gear every 6 levels for my character, usually greens or blues from crafting. As long as you keep your gear up to date you shouldn't have a problem. And always, always kill the healer enemy first. They are usually the weakest mob. You should always kill the weakest mob first then the toughest. Cause If you die, you resurrect and come back to fight the mob party again you should have one or two less mobs to worry about. Allowing you to kill that small party of mobs eventually if they are giving you trouble. Stun abilities are a god send. Use them liberally, use aoes when ever you can. Some jobs have killer aoe's that could decimate a party of enemies leaving the silver or gold enemies left for u to focus on. I don't waste my comms until after 50. It seems like a waste to use them before cause your gonna end up replacing that gear u bought with them when you reach the next planet.

[ForceWelder]

To the OP ...

 

Lots of good advice can be found her. But I do agree with some of the others, you did need to go more into details about the class, companion, and gear you are using. From you initial description it does sound like you are making some configuration mistakes.

 

But the game is soloable. With 12 XP, it should be down right easy. By the time I left the starting planet on the alts I have leveled, I was already above recommended level for the area I was in. It didn't take too long before I was 4 levels above content. And by the time I reached Chapter 3, I was averaging about 5 levels above recommended level.

 

But some advice ...

 

I run with a healer companion unless I am playing a healer. But you need to check if your healer companion is in a healing stance. If they are not, then you are getting sub-par healing from them. Also, Treek is a good choice, but you have to have deep pockets to get her. She is also quite small so Line-of-Sight may be an issue with her and you. She also doesn't move much so she will get burned down in AOE if she is in it.

 

If I run with a healer, I tend to go with a ranged DPS companion.

[hooty]

Definitely soloable all the way to max level. You want reasonably good gear, but more important is tactics and awareness. Similar to what many have said already, my advice is;

-Learn to use your CCs, stuns, interrupts etc if you haven't already. If you are not using these effectively when situations call for it this is your biggest performance gain.

-Best kill order is weakest -> strongest in most situations. With the caveat that you should always kill the healer first if the mob has a healer (usually the bad guy's name will clue you in they are a healer). And CC the strongest enemy if there is any doubt whether you can take down the mob without it.

-Don't be afraid to use your heroic moment against tough mobs. If nothing else it provides extra healing. And don't wait until your mostly dead to use it.

-Play yourself as a tank or DPS, and have a healer companion. For healers other than Treek turn off their 8 second stun ability, it's more trouble then it's worth in many situations and they are not healing you while they are channeling that. Do not let mobs attack your companion, you want them healing you not themselves. And make sure you stay within line of sight of your companion.

-Use an appropriate stim (main stat for healers and DPS, endurance if you're a tank) for a small boost if you have tough fights to get through. Always have medpacks available if your health gets real low.

[OathboundCoH]

<snip> what IS important is to get moddable gear. with appearance tab - doesn't even matter what it looks like, anything will do as long as you can put mods into it. not sure if they fixed planetary mod sellers yet, but just in case - go to fleet and upgrade there. <snip>

 

They have. I know they missed them when they originally adjusted the Comm costs, but the next patch they fixed it.

 

1. Use interrupt on mobs' casting or channelled abilities that harm you a lot (the most dangerous ones are Terminate, Death Mark and Sweeping Slashes if I remember the names correctly).

2. Use a healer companion if you are a dps/tank.

3. Remember to start your fights from attacking the weakiest mobs. The fewer mobs hit you, the better. Leave Strong and Elites as the last.

4. Remember about Heroic Moment when the fight gets nasty.

1, 2 and 4 are spot on.

 

I would disagree with your #3. Strongs hit *way* harder than the others. Elites are a little ways behind but also have a lot more health. Start with the strongs and use AOE as best you can, the weak ones die from AOE pretty quickly; once you are left with an elite, your healer comp should be able to keep up with it. Last thing is most classes have abilities that "pseudostun" as a side effect: Like plasma grenade, sticky grenade, mortar volley (examples for a commando). When they are not hitting you and you are doing damage via these abilities, then you are winning.

 

I think you're both right in different circumstances.

 

Typical mob group makeup when solo is generally a combination of multiple weak/standard, single elites, or occasionally an Elite plus one standard or one-two weaks.

 

Where most classes, for example a Sage, may be able to open with their AoE and eliminate all the weaks/standards early in the fight, some classes (specifically Scoundrel/Operative) have such terrible AoEs, that they're unlikely to take out the weaker mobs with incidental splash damage. In those instances, given how quickly you can kill weak/standards relative to strongs, I find that it's most efficient (in mitigating damage) to take out the weaker ones first. After all, if they're dead they deal no damage. The only times I focus on burning down the Strongs before the weak/standard on those two classes, is if the strong is a particularly annoying/dangerous one. *cough*Deadeye Sniper mobs*cough*

[Cryshal]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

 

Now I can tell you this, I'm an 85 year old female who still loves gaming, but my short term memory is failing. I need to prioritize and organize my skills and all the other things I need to remember. This is very difficult when there are many skills like in SWTOR. I do better in games where the hot bar can contain only about seven to eight clickable skills. People with good memories can get a lot more mileage out of the four or five hot bars full of skills in this game, although I know you mainly stick to two.

 

I'm a Legacy player. I played when the game first came out, 2011. I leveled a Mercenary to 50, top level then. But then, my memory was much better.

[WingsofCrystal]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

 

Now I can tell you this, I'm an 85 year old female who still loves gaming, but my short term memory is failing. I need to prioritize and organize my skills and all the other things I need to remember. This is very difficult when there are many skills like in SWTOR. I do better in games where the hot bar can contain only about seven to eight clickable skills. People with good memories can get a lot more mileage out of the four or five hot bars full of skills in this game, although I know you mainly stick to two.

 

I'm a Legacy player. I played when the game first came out, 2011. I leveled a Mercenary to 50, top level then. But then, my memory was much better.

 

God bless you.

 

I would suggest getting a Jugg or Guardian and go for tanking. Tanking Assasins and Shadows also are great. Put on the shield generator and perhaps tanking / defense implants. Everything else should be dps directed. Get Treek and run her on heal.

 

With a set up like that, you will just about be unkillable and also be capable of good dps. I've soloed through 30 - 60 content easily like that.

 

I don't know you, but the issue may not be short term memory. It may be experience. Things become more natural and intuitive the more they are done. The set ups recommended don't require using but a small subset of the skill base to succeed. As you play and put time in you will reach the point where things don't require thought and you naturally expand the skill set that you are using. It is a time in game thing.

 

LOL, my first time through my poor SI got his but kicked. That was at launch way back when. He still has boot prints on his rump from those days. Now, I just go in and natuarally access the situation and kill everything with no effort. There are a few golds that made me cry in the old days. I now enjoy stopping by and trashing them as I level a new character.

 

So don't get discouraged and don't doubt yourself. Put the time in, enjoy the game, and you will grow with it.

 

Enjoy.

[Cryshal]

Thanks. I understand Treet is only available through the Cartel Market, and she isn't available right now.

[Bobs_YourUncle]

Thanks. I understand Treet is only available through the Cartel Market, and she isn't available right now.

 

You can get her contract from a vendor in the cartel bazaar on fleet for 1mil credits if your legacy is high enough.

[Cryshal]

Ah, I don't think I'm high enough with only 20+ Legacy. I will check though, thanks. Edited July 31, 2015 by Cryshal