100% things need to be balanced a bit better for solo players. In my past few sessions I have had several occasions where more than one PvE element would spawn on me. Dealing with a ghost ship as a solo player is a devilish task on it's own - never mind an inexplicably aggressive megalodon joining the fight.
Some sort of check for whether we are solo, and whether or not we are currently engaged in some PvE encounter before spawning something else would be highly appreciated. While I CAN survive an aggressive meg and a ghost ship as a solo player in the grasslands - having this happen in the devil's roar has proven to be too much to handle. Maybe I need to "Get good" or something but erupting volcano's in the vicinity while you HAVE to keep moving or risk being sunk by the ghost ship, while being nearly constantly stuck to bailing + repairs thanks to the persistent megalodon and OF COURSE the highly accurate and fast-firing ghost ship - all prevents me as the sole soul on this ship from being able to ensure that the ship is sailing true.
Imagine this, you're below deck finishing up some repairs from the last ghost ship run, you've got the ship pointed in a direction that is roughly safe from any volcano's nearby, though you're sure to take some cannon fire soon (to be expected, you're not to worried since a few holes never stopped you from being at the helm.) and as you start patching that first hole up the meg comes in for a charge - fortunately for you he's attacking from the rear. Unfortunately for you, there's 4 holes below deck, so you're gonna have to get at LEAST a couple of those patched up before you check the helm considering you've got 3-4 new holes at the back. By the time you get these two holes patched up and bail the water down to a reasonable level to give you 20 seconds on the helm, you look up to realize the meg had you turned around and headed straight towards a volcano that's about to erupt. You turn yourself away from the volcano as quickly as you can, but as you start to straighten the boat out a rogue cannonball comes from (either the island or the ghost ship, your choice reader, I've experienced both) and knocks you off the boat, you swim as fast as you can for the boat but by the time you get close to it (remember, it's turning still so you can guess where it's headed and catch it there) it has sunk.
Alternative storyline: No rogue cannonball this time, you manage to straighten the wheel out perfectly and get yourself below deck safely - you bail a few buckets of water and grab some planks to get to work on the 6 holes that you left behind - bottom deck first of course - and as you finish up the first hole a big old rock comes screaming down from the heavens and smacks the front of the ship - the water has begun to boil and you only have 4 planks in your inventory - you have time to repair one of the holes downstairs before you need to start bailing - so you're bailing for your life as 3 holes downstairs and 4 near the map continue to try to sink your ship (yeah as a solo player this is STILL a survivable moment.) You take your last plank to repair a back hole since the water is still boiling, and as you get it patched up the ghost ship starts a new rain of terror on your ship and a cannonball clips the back of the boat as you're finishing up your repair and you die (boiling water wasn't treating you so well.)
RIP ship.
Alternative storyline 3: Just kidding, I think you get the point. This needs balancing.
EDIT: To address the comment of always having a rowboat aboard for emergencies - you as a solo player have to make a choice. I'm going to remain in the devil's roar for this since that is what I'd regard as the most viable region for anyone. Either you take the time that you are under attack and in threat of sinking to load up the rowboat with your loot (which can be destroyed easily by the onslaught of cannons or volcano fire that you are dealing with,) or you use that time to keep your ship steering true, repairing holes, and just trying to survive in general. Loading the rowboat might be a death sentence. In the case you sink and the rowboat survived you still might have a nearby volcano to contend with, potentially raining insta-kill rocks on your head or inflicting your surroundings with dreaded boiling water.
All this isn't to mention the scarcity of rowboats in the roar. Yeah it's smart to always have a rowboat aboard, but this is absolutely not a balancing mechanic for PvE - least of all on Solo vessels.
