Can one solo in World of Warcraft? If the answer is yes, then what quests should be soloed in World of Warcraft? Well, first of all, the answer is a big "YES". Soloing is very well implemented in World of Warcraft. Of course, not a 100% of the so far 1,300+ available quests can be soloed, but a good part is. So, what makes a quest soloable? Different factors will influence your ability to solo a quest. They are: * Your character's class * The level of the quest itself * The nature of the quest. Character classes: As you can see from the left menu, there are so far 9 character classes. Each race in World of Warcraft can play some of these classes, but not all of them. Night Elves, for example, are quite reluctant to use magic, so you will not find any Mage, Shaman, or Warlock Night Elf, nor will you find any Paladin, as the Night Elves are not followers of the Church of Light. All classes are not equipped the same way when it comes to soloing. The most important factor that contributes to building your character in World of Warcraft is to become a professional early i.e. A Rogue, a Warrior, a Druid or a Warlock will have better chances to handle mobs (the bad guys in World of Warcraft) than a Priest. This is not to say that any class is less efficient than others in World of Warcraft (they all have their use), but some are just better-equipped than others when it comes to soloing. Level of the Quest: A usual indication that a quest is available for your character is a yellow exclamation mark on top of a NPC. If the exclamation mark is white, this means that a quest will soon be available (within 5 levels). Does this mean that if a NPC doesn't have an exclamation mark, then he or she doesn't have any quest for you? The answer is no. I will come back later about that. Also, note that some quests in World of Warcraft do not come from NPCs but from "Wanted" signs in some locations. These notes do not have any sign that they are quests. To find out if the quest is for your level, right-click on the sign and see if a quest is offered. Receiving a quest from an NPC doesn't also mean that you can solo it. What will indicate the level of difficulty of the quest is in your quest log (letter L to open it). Quests are color-coded in that log: * gray: extremely easy. Your character is too high for that quest. The experience reward will be low. You can however still find a good item as a reward. * green: easy. But it is still not clear (it depends from quest to quest) if this means that the quest is easy to solo, or if it is easy for a full group. * yellow: moderately difficult. Some of these quests can be soloed, but others will require a full group. * red: difficult. Don't even think about soloing this quest. * dark red: Stay away (or enter at your own risk). * (Elite): Associated with a color, this means that the mobs that you will encounter in this quest are Elite (they have a + behind their level). Elite mobs have three times more armor than another mob of the same level, and their attributes are also enhanced. Note that when you will gain some levels, quests will change color. Questing in World of Warcraft is unlike any other MMORPG released. Quests are one of the biggest advantages you can have in the game. What to do when you run out of green or yellow quests? You first need to remember that each faction (Horde or Alliance) has several races. When you run out of quests that you can solo in your region, you can travel to another race's starting region and do the quests there. Now, do you remember when I said that you might find NPCs that have quests for you, but that won't announce it? Here is the reason why: If, for example, your level-9 Human runs out of quests that he can solo in Elwynn Forest, he should then travel to the Dwarves/Gnomes starting location and do the quests there. Of course, as he is now level-9, some of the quests will be way below his level, and the NPCs won't announce them with a yellow exclamation mark. To find out if a NPC still has a quest for you, run your mouse over him. You will see that your gauntlet icon will now have a white speech bubble, which means that the NPC has something to tell you. After doing the quests from another region, you will eventually find out (after you gain a few levels) that the quests from your original region are now a lot easier to complete. How can you travel to another race's location? Well, you don't want me to give you all the answers, do you? Let's just say that there are three ways to travel: by air, by road, and by swimming. Ask your peers in-game if you can't find the answer by yourself. What quests should I solo? There are three main quest types: * Kill a boss/find an item on a boss * Find X number of items * Kill X number of mobs Kill a boss/Find an item on a boss. These quests can be soloed, but usually not at the level you receive them. If you want to solo this kind of quests in World of Warcraft, wait until you gain a few more levels. Once again, the level of difficulty may vary depending on your class. Note that if you do these quests, everyone in your party will receive the item. Find X number of items: These quests should be soloed whenever you can (if your level affords it). It can be very long before a full party collects all the items. Unless the "kill a boss/find an item on a boss" quest, only one person in the party will get the item for each kill. Kill X number of mobs: Although you can solo these quests, each member in your party will receive credit for the kill. What to do when you are not (solo) questing? World of Warcraft is rich in other things to do, be it trade objects or develop skills. Some of these skills are named trade skills, and allow you to develop the proficiency to either create items (clothes, weapons, shields, potions, etc.), enhance them, or just to skin beasts or cook food. Between quests, you should spend some time to develop these skills. Note that, you will need to travel to different regions to collect the elements necessary to use your trade skills. While you can find beasts to skin in every region (allowing you to create leather items), herbs do not grow everywhere. For example (at least during the beta), Peacebloom flowers are best found in Dun Morogh, a Dwarf/Gnome region. While your level-20 character will not find any interesting quest there, he will still be able to harvest these flowers much faster than in any other alliance region. What else should I know? We have covered the basic elements for soloing in World of Warcraft. Remember that you can move to a different region, to check the color code of your quest, and you will be able to decide when to solo, and when not. If you have other questions about soloing in World of Warcraft, contact us and we will gladly answer them. Can one solo in World of Warcraft?