I’m a solo sloop player, have been since day one launch day….rare has ruined the experience for me and most likely many other single players….yes the world is expansive and has so much to do, little too much to do in my opinion. As a solo player with a little bit of loot on my sloop I’ve had numerous megs, krakens, and skelly ships attack me while being chased down by another ship….I get it it’s a pirate game it’s supposed to be a part of it….but it’s gotten to the point to where you can do nothing but watch as your ship gets pelted with cannon balls or ran down and rammed resulting in all your hard earned loot and hours waste away simply because your outmanned and get the numerous pve events spawning on you…. There should be a patch to where single players maybe get less targeted then brigs and galleons is all I’m saying until then I won’t be playing this game unless with multiple friends because it is no longer enjoyable for me
Sea killed all hopes for solo players
Please don't get pve spawns nerfed again lol
we've gone years with spawns ranging from eh to not good
even now with the meg "improvements" all they really did was make them a bit more random but meg hunting hasn't much improved at all, worse in some ways. This most recent patch is an odd one for megs, not great.
Getting attacked by a bunch of pve on a regularly basis is a bit of a thing of the past. An encounter here or there like you had but it's not a regular thing anymore. Getting a meg, a kraken, a skelly ship, that's what the game is supposed to be, random pve and pvp threats, sometimes all together.
@ginormous-dab only skelly sloops spawn on sloops, they go down SUPER easy
The megs that spawn on sloops are not even worth the water they displace… about 10 cannonballs and they die (not to mention other ways to use them to get speed or get them to get off of your tail
Sloop krakens take even less effort to take down, 6 cannonballs 3 per tentacle and hey presto kraken gone
One issue that has disadvantaged the sloop though is that no longer is it the fastest ship when going in headwind, brigs can catch up to them doing this
@callmebackdraft said in Sea killed all hopes for solo players:
@ginormous-dab only skelly sloops spawn on sloops, they go down SUPER easy
one thing I'll say about this is for whatever reason skelly galleons are spawning on a sloop more in the last few patches than the entire history of the game for some reason. Still rare but I've had 11 non-pvp non-fleet galleons spawn on me as a sloop, and for whatever reason some skelly sloops are beefed up for now, they can really light someone up right now compared to the past, faster shots for whatever reason.
So just something for sloopers to be aware of, at least for now
@wolfmanbush What did they do to spawns? I feel like since i started playing S9 a week or so ago i had a lot of spawns in the first day, then none for 3-4 days despite sailing a lot. I still hold out hope of running into the shrouded ghost someday but with no megs spawning at all for days on end, it's not helping.
@hefty-henri said in Sea killed all hopes for solo players:
@wolfmanbush What did they do to spawns? I feel like since i started playing S9 a week or so ago i had a lot of spawns in the first day, then none for 3-4 days despite sailing a lot. I still hold out hope of running into the shrouded ghost someday but with no megs spawning at all for days on end, it's not helping.
The typical consistent strat for a long time was play for an hour or 2 on pretty much most servers and there was a very high chance of a meg spawn as long as there wasn't a merge or a sink
season 9 did bring back meg spawns between islands but it made megs a bit more unpredictable and for whatever reason turned down the aggressiveness on opponent's megs, to the point where they just bounce before someone can really steal it unless they get lucky on a sloop meg with enough shots to kill it.
this most recent patch for whatever reason made it to where a pretty high amount of servers aren't spawning megs so the wait it out strat won't work on a lot of these servers.
Merges are also off after the recent patch so that may be what's causing it. It's exclusive to meg spawns for some reason, krakens and skelly ships tend to still work on those servers.
The issue people will have is identifying the "bad" servers.
Until something changes I can't really recommend that people stick with the typical strats of waiting and avoiding merges and sinks because it's too inconsistent right now.Usually i am not the one who say "git gud", but in this case is the right thing to say. let me explain. you play since day one, so beforme me, as a solo player you have to be a god player when you must face another crew, unless you are a runner, in that case it explains also the big quantity of spawns that you have. maybe is not the way you want to play the game, i understand, but you have to share the wolrd with other players, so sometimes it can happen. if you dont want to lose a lot of stuff, go to sell fast everytime you reach the max level of the emissary flag. nowdays is completely easy to rech it, not even an hour of game (also for athena with the veil). in this case, if you are sunked in a fight, you just have lost an hour of game. you can also change server using the "sink my ship" option in the menù. btw for a solo, the spawns are just stupid to defeat, last month i've done a skelly ship and a meg together in the devil's, as a solo...so...
@ginormous-dab what have you been doing since launch that you still get overwhelmed by a Meg or skelly sloop?
Most players from what I've seen feel the opposite, the tweak in spawns makes the seas feel more alive and fun.
Megs still aren't overly aggressive I usually have to turn back to actually fight them
@hiradc It's not the hours you put it in, it's what you put in those hours.
I've been using MS paint since 1997/8, Would be awesome if it worked that way, I would be a famous artist by now.
But in respect to what OP wrote, it does seem more likely to get attacked by PVE spawns when you are being chased rather than the other way around. I really cant recall a Kraken spawning on a Galleon/Brig chasing me on a solo sloop, but it happened plenty of times while trying to run away from them. So would be nice if Rare would explain why this seems to be the case and if it is true, what logic was used to justify it.
I do solo sloop from time to time, but to be honest SoT is a multiplayer game. The game really gets good with a proper crew of friends. SoT is more or less designed as a multiplayer game (talking about crews now), and choosing solo sloop is like playing on "hard mode".
I do understand the point OP is trying to make... but SoT is not a true single player game. Its a game meant to be shared with friends.
Tbf if you’re choosing to solo at this point, you’ve got to expect the sauce to be spicier. This game is about teamwork and experiences with others, if you’re choosing not to experience it with others, you’re making your time playing it more difficult, and if you can’t handle that, it’s not on the game to make it easier for you.
@tesiccl
Woke up early this morning, decided to run some solo-sloop island hopping for a light bit of adventuring. No emissary. Find an island, hop on, look for loot, stock on supplies, kill skelly capn, dig up orders, move on.
Ended up finding 3 stronghold kegs, 10 gems, 2 doubloon reaper chests, 2 humble gifts, 2 generous gifts, Grog chest, sorrow chest, and numerous other chests skulls and knickknacks.
At one point after selling a stronghold keg, I was at an island when a G5 reaper rolled up on me. I saw one guy cannon off, then the ship rolled up behind me (I was not in a good spot.)
They start laying into me, and spawn camping (valid). But they are commenting on my ship set (Sea of Sands). I'm resigned to sinking (no real loot on my ship), I go. "Can you guys just let me be, I don't have anything" (I really didn't, I had a captains chest, and a blue mermaid gem). Surprisingly enough, they decided to. We ended up chit chatting, and I gave them a generous gift for the commendation, and some random noteworty logbooks, and went on my way. Not bad guys. I don't blame them for attacking, I was in a vulnerable position. I am glad they took some mercy on me as there really wasn't much point in finishing the sinking.
Solo PvE - 100% viable
Solo PvP against full crews who know what they are doing - usually not viable
Free-for-all game modes are a fun staple of fps games.
Free-for-all modes exist to let individual skill shine as opposed to team skill.
Sea of Thieves is a pirate fantasy fps sandbox game.
There are lots of people who enjoy solo slooping.
The most fair and balanced PvPvE multiplayer experience a solo player can have is an adventure mode exclusively for single players. That means restricting crew size to one player like the maiden voyage.
The solution from Rare has always been simply deciding (I guess from the very beginning) that this game was designed to be played as a crew with at least two players and anybody who chooses to play solo is “voluntarily” choosing to play the game on hard mode.
Which can basically be summed up as, sure go ahead and play without a crew, you’ll be able to PvE just fine but good luck trying to PvP against even average full crews.
You are likely going to sink way more often than you are going to win and that’s just way it is when you choose to play by yourself.
You can only do one action at a time, you can only be in one location at a time and if you die there’s absolutely no chance you’re getting revived by yourself so enjoy the 15 precious seconds away from your ship on your ferry tour.
If Rare truly cared about the average solo player’s complete PvPvE multiplayer pirate fantasy fps experience they wouldn’t force them on to servers with full crews who can often dominate and overpower them in every way.
Will Rare ever add the ability to play as a solo against just other solos in adventure mode or will they continue to ignore the PvP imbalances of 1vX in their pirate game?
“We have no intentions of splitting the player base blah blah blah.”
Well there you have it folks.
As a solo, the most viable thing you can do is grind commendations and earn gold. PvE your brains out and run like heck into the wind with dummy sails the moment you see sails on the horizon heading your way.
Be content enjoying half of the game.
I have been 100% solo from beginning to Pirate Legend. My conclusion...this is not a solo player game.
Many...many...many hours will be wasted and lost for various reasons due to the difficulty of playing solo.
Now at Pirate Legend, it becomes even more difficult to solo...so difficult that I have stopped playing. At this point, I am done with the frustration and lost hours of being constantly attacked and sunk, being unable to complete Tall Tales, reach emissary 5, etc...
There is no joy in playing for several hours and not having anything to show for it.
This has been, and seems to always be a game designed for a multiplayer experience to be enjoyed fully and have a chance at being successful and competitive. Sure, they let you play solo, but it won't be fun.
To be perfectly frank, though, I would love to have, someday, the real stats about the ratio of solo/duo sloops, brigs and gallys overall.
I doubt Rare will ever give them, but I really wouldn't be surprised if it turned out sloops (and solo sloops, for that matter) were much more prominent than Rare ever intended.@o43objm said in Sea killed all hopes for solo players:
I have been 100% solo from beginning to Pirate Legend. My conclusion...this is not a solo player game.
Many...many...many hours will be wasted and lost for various reasons due to the difficulty of playing solo.
Now at Pirate Legend, it becomes even more difficult to solo...so difficult that I have stopped playing. At this point, I am done with the frustration and lost hours of being constantly attacked and sunk, being unable to complete Tall Tales, reach emissary 5, etc...
There is no joy in playing for several hours and not having anything to show for it.
This has been, and seems to always be a game designed for a multiplayer experience to be enjoyed fully and have a chance at being successful and competitive. Sure, they let you play solo, but it won't be fun.
Tall tales have had check points for a long time now
There is no joy in playing for several hours and not having anything to show for it.
Quick gathering and quick selling along with regular selling should eliminate this issue
Never really a reason to go longer than 30 minutes without selling the treasure in this game.
I get solo is tough and frustrating but there are some things you said here that suggest your sessions can be improved significantly with some strategy changes.
@callmebackdraft
I thought I was going insane, did they make it so brigs are faster into the wind on purpose or....@soulstinger2k20 said in Sea killed all hopes for solo players:
@callmebackdraft
I thought I was going insane, did they make it so brigs are faster into the wind on purpose or....It's one of those things where around the forums it's often said it's not a thing but those of us with a lot of sloop v brig experience know what is going on in game with the brigs.
@o43objm said in Sea killed all hopes for solo players:
I have been 100% solo from beginning to Pirate Legend. My conclusion...this is not a solo player game.
Many...many...many hours will be wasted and lost for various reasons due to the difficulty of playing solo.
Now at Pirate Legend, it becomes even more difficult to solo...so difficult that I have stopped playing. At this point, I am done with the frustration and lost hours of being constantly attacked and sunk, being unable to complete Tall Tales, reach emissary 5, etc...
There is no joy in playing for several hours and not having anything to show for it.
This has been, and seems to always be a game designed for a multiplayer experience to be enjoyed fully and have a chance at being successful and competitive. Sure, they let you play solo, but it won't be fun.
I'm waiting to see what the rumored guilds bring. I also play solo. The groups I have tried have been total failures.
Barring that, I love this game, but I am also no longer playing prime time because it is pointless. If the guilds don't improve the grouping situation I am probably gone.
@callmebackdraft said in Sea killed all hopes for solo players:
@ginormous-dab only skelly sloops spawn on sloops, they go down SUPER easy
The megs that spawn on sloops are not even worth the water they displace… about 10 cannonballs and they die (not to mention other ways to use them to get speed or get them to get off of your tail
Sloop krakens take even less effort to take down, 6 cannonballs 3 per tentacle and hey presto kraken gone
One issue that has disadvantaged the sloop though is that no longer is it the fastest ship when going in headwind, brigs can catch up to them doing this
You did read the part where he said this was happening WHILE being attacked by another ship?
@foambreaker said in Sea killed all hopes for solo players:
@o43objm said in Sea killed all hopes for solo players:
I have been 100% solo from beginning to Pirate Legend. My conclusion...this is not a solo player game.
Many...many...many hours will be wasted and lost for various reasons due to the difficulty of playing solo.
Now at Pirate Legend, it becomes even more difficult to solo...so difficult that I have stopped playing. At this point, I am done with the frustration and lost hours of being constantly attacked and sunk, being unable to complete Tall Tales, reach emissary 5, etc...
There is no joy in playing for several hours and not having anything to show for it.
This has been, and seems to always be a game designed for a multiplayer experience to be enjoyed fully and have a chance at being successful and competitive. Sure, they let you play solo, but it won't be fun.
I'm waiting to see what the rumored guilds bring. I also play solo. The groups I have tried have been total failures.
Barring that, I love this game, but I am also no longer playing prime time because it is pointless. If the guilds don't improve the grouping situation I am probably gone.
The concerned side of me hopes that it isn't just a clique booster for what already exists socially
the optimistic side of me hopes it's something where people can use the internet for what it can really shine at, which is helping people meet people they are compatible with to share experiences with. If it isn't designed in a way that truly focuses on helping people without connections form connections it'll struggle imo.
@ginormous-dab sounds like just a bit of bad luck matey but megs don’t go near islands and skeleton sloops can be taken out pretty quickly just fire a firebomb out of your cannon and lite the deck up them hammer them with cannons and cursed shots as to the kraken just do a 180° and sail out of the ink but when it comes to the other salty dogs on the seas you gotta out fight them or out smart them
What are you talking about? They have killed nothing, they have changed nothing except made megs as common as they were little over a year ago. Beyond that they made solo play infinitely easier than its ever been by buffing the sloop, and changing how respawning works. Solo play was always harder, but very possible, and its easier now than ever before.
@fedted998 read original post not talking about only PvE like most on this post think….I’m talking about the numerous PvE spawns that happen to me while being chased by another boat while I’m a solo and said boats are most likely 3-4 people deep. Doesn’t even give me a chance to engage. Just asking for the PvE spawns to be reconstructed for solo players a bit more
@ginormous-dab yeah, i have read it man... but more you run, more miles you do, the game after some miles, it give you some random spawns. you can also use the spawns to destract the chaser
@scheneighnay said in Sea killed all hopes for solo players:
The last 2 seasons definitely made solo play a lot harder than it used to be.
I have no plans of continuing to buy plunder pass if that keeps up.
Yup, season 8 means that the server population constantly changes
Season 9 means there are constantly ships on the horizonI've stopped playing prime time because the odds of actually accomplishing anything are very low.
@peteloaf777 said in Sea killed all hopes for solo players:
You don’t have to solo. You aren’t meant to solo. The game is designed to be played with a crew. Solo is hard mode, that’s your choice.
Use LFG, it exists for a reason. It’s very very useful for getting a crew together to do what you want to do.
LFG is a bad joke. Pugging is not a solution to anything.
@tesiccl said in Sea killed all hopes for solo players:
Sea of Thieves is a pirate fantasy fps sandbox game.
Sandbox? Yes. FPS? No.
Sandbox? Yes. FPS? Yes, if boarded or stalked on land. No, if the ship battle is strictly naval battle (cannons, harpoons, ramming if not boarded/boarding.
Question I would like to ask is this : IF not a FPS then why is Double Gunning so popular ? Food for thought.
@thelostsentinel said in Sea killed all hopes for solo players:
I can at least speak for Megs - you don't have to shoot them solo. They're way less inclined to actually attack if you just keep sailing and don't fire a shot at them.
Except in the case of the OP, he was also fighting other pirates so sailing away is not a real option.
