Solo vs Group Leveling: The Math of Efficiency

The Hard Truth About Solo Play

Let’s rip the bandage off: Ashes of Creation is designed to be played in groups. Can you play solo? Yes. Will you be efficient? Absolutely not.

In most MMOs, solo questing is the fastest way to cap. In Verra, Group Grinding (AoE) is the king.

The Group Meta: “Highwaymen Hills”

In Alpha 2, the “Highwaymen Hills” loop became legendary. It taught us exactly how the XP math works.

• The Strategy: A tank pulls 7-8 elites (Shardlings/Bandits) at once.
• The Execution: A Mage drops an AoE snare/nuke, and the pack melts.
• The Result: Groups were hitting Level 20 fast, averaging 1 Level per Hour in the early game.

Why this works: The XP split penalty for groups is outweighed by the Kill Velocity. A solo player kills 1 mob in 30 seconds. A group kills 10 mobs in 30 seconds. Even with a 50% XP split, the group is gaining 5x the XP per minute.

When to Play Solo

Solo play isn’t useless; it just serves a different purpose.

1. Gathering: You don’t want to split nodes 8 ways. Go solo to mine ore.
2. Exploration: Finding POIs (Points of Interest) gives decent XP and is easier alone.
3. The “Tagging” Risk: Be careful hitting mobs engaged by groups. If you do too much damage or “steal” the tag, you might flag yourself for PvP. In a 1v8, you lose.

The Verdict

• Levels 1-10: You can solo quest comfortably.
• Levels 10+: The HP of mobs scales up. If you don’t find at least a duo partner (ideally a Healer if you are DPS), your downtime between kills will kill your progress.
• Pro Tip: Use the local chat. “LFG Grinding [Location]” usually fills a party in minutes because everyone knows soloing is painful.