Challenge Complete: Solo, Self-Found (SSF) Classic-only Warrior, 1-50

[loserofgame]

I had a few people ask me to make a forum thread about my latest solo challenge, so I decided to do a quick write-up here.

Hello. I am a crazy person, it's nice to meet you. I play this game almost entirely solo most of the time and I enjoy solo challenges.

Last year I decided to start a new side project on Green and I figured I'd try a new challenge: Solo, Self-Found Dark Elf Warrior, Classic only.

I chose Dark Elf as they have among the worst starting stats for a Warrior and also have evil faction. I turned in my Tome of Order and Discord at Level 1 to avoid getting buffed or healed by other players. This also means I could never change my starting bind point of Nektulos Forest.

Even though the Kunark expansion came out during the challenge, I decided to keep all leveling and strategies Classic-only. As with any SSF challenge, I would only solo, and only use what equipment and items I could make, quest, or find myself.

When I started in August 2020, I figured if I made it to Level 20, that would be a pretty neat accomplishment. I didn't have high hopes for the worst class/race in the game for soloing.

This past Sunday I reached my end goal of Level 50, screenshot enclosed.

I wanted to post this to express my thanks that this project exists, and to show that while raiders challenge themselves and each other to push for competitive advantages, there are also other ways by which players challenge themselves to accomplish very strange and interesting things within this game.

Note: some of this challenge was informed by Kich869 aka EchoLocation8's Solo Warrior Guide (https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=358475&highlight=solo+warrior), but I did this challenge without the help of the combat bind wound technique (which was nerfed before I even created this character) and a lot of the early levels involved faction work, as my Dark Elf was KOS in many areas that I needed to access. My thanks to their guide for making me consider that soloing a Warrior might even be possible.

[Fammaden]

Definitely more interesting and impressive than hoarding 1k gnoll scrolls.

[DoodyLich666]

A true hero of yore. I raise a drink to your feats tonight Ytinas T’sol of Nektulos!

[Shinko]

Very good job, as a dark elf no less,

I could never do that

[Tethler]

Nice dedication, and grats! I'm curious what equipment you ended up with. Looks like a good bit of chain. Was crafted armor (quest I mean, not tradeskilled) not soloable?

[Ravager]

Grats! This is neat.

[branamil]

Imagine if you just like , drove Uber or something productive with all that time. You'd have ten thousand dollars

[DoodyLich666]

Yes, I am curious about what gear you ended up with, and would love to hear some of the highlights of the quest.

[loserofgame]

Nice dedication, and grats! I'm curious what equipment you ended up with. Looks like a good bit of chain. Was crafted armor (quest I mean, not tradeskilled) not soloable?

I am wearing crafted gauntlets, arms and legs. I tried to make a go at crafted breastplate but it was too difficult to sneak into Mistmoore Castle, even with levitate. I didn't opt to try for the other pieces. Because my base STR is so low as a Dark Elf, I had to prioritize strength gear and low weight - hence the Topknot Headband, Bracers of Erollisi and Hero Bracers. I spent a long time (2+ months) leveling in South Karana and managed to kill three Quillmanes (and died once to one), one of which had the Pegasus Feather Cloak. Most importantly for the build was the Axe of the Slayers and the Mithril Plated Girth (a five-week camp for me) from Grazhak the Berserker in Rathe Mountains and a Runed Oak Bow from SK for kiting, which became essential in the later levels after I could no longer stand toe-to-toe with mobs that gave exp.

Imagine if you just like , drove Uber or something productive with all that time. You'd have ten thousand dollars

I live in a rural area, so no Uber. I have a modest-paying but high-stress job that is fulfilling. I often play at sporadic times, so grouping is hard. I also really like soloing, and soloing is a great way to unwind.

Yes, I am curious about what gear you ended up with, and would love to hear some of the highlights of the quest.

I listed most of the gear there earlier, but some of the highlights included grinding for days in Kithicor Woods off of orcs to get enough Highpass faction to hunt a PGT, killing that Quillmane for the cloak, helping a bunch of people in EK figure out the Hill Giant spawns (need to add that to the wiki eventually), and beating Trazdon in Najena for the pants with 10 HP remaining.

Also getting glorious revenge on Tarn Bearcrusher many, many times.

[tadkins]

Was honestly expecting a troll warrior when I clicked this. It would be the route I'd take if I ever tried to solo on a warrior. I'd be interested to see a level-by-level account of your journey there. :D

I'm very impressed by this. You are a credit to the Indigo Brotherhood and to our Lord Innoruuk!

[Taiku]

This is awesome, forget the server first achievements, this is quite the journey!

Now SSF rogue? :)

[Tethler]

I am wearing crafted gauntlets, arms and legs. I tried to make a go at crafted breastplate but it was too difficult to sneak into Mistmoore Castle, even with levitate. I didn't opt to try for the other pieces. Because my base STR is so low as a Dark Elf, I had to prioritize strength gear and low weight - hence the Topknot Headband, Bracers of Erollisi and Hero Bracers. I spent a long time (2+ months) leveling in South Karana and managed to kill three Quillmanes (and died once to one), one of which had the Pegasus Feather Cloak. Most importantly for the build was the Axe of the Slayers and the Mithril Plated Girth (a five-week camp for me) from Grazhak the Berserker in Rathe Mountains and a Runed Oak Bow from SK for kiting, which became essential in the later levels after I could no longer stand toe-to-toe with mobs that gave exp.


Yeah, the axe (and PGT) helped a lot I imagine. That rune effect makes a big difference! Awesome luck on the peggy cloak too! Do you plan to retire the character, or do you have any other solo challenges in mind for the future?

[cd288]

This is really cool. Awesome job

[loserofgame]

Ytinas tells you, "inc a_wall_of_text_01"

I'd be interested to see a level-by-level account of your journey there. :D

I'm very impressed by this. You are a credit to the Indigo Brotherhood and to our Lord Innoruuk!

Much hate was spread in the name of Lord Innoruuk.

I'll do my best to recall level-by-level, might have a few of the spots a bit wrong since I'm going from memory.

1-3 Note for Janam (https://wiki.project1999.com/Note_for_Janam) / Note for Rebby (https://wiki.project1999.com/Note_for_Rebby) over and over until I got my faction high enough to use the merchants appropriately and to boost Freeport Militia faction, which is important as I continuously damage it for the first 20 levels.
4 All the decaying skeletons, to start building cash and collecting bone chips to turn in to Xelha (https://wiki.project1999.com/Assist_the_Great_Xelha) later on.
5-8 Orc Centurion and a wolf in East Freeport. Collect belts and wolf meat to run to Grobb to turn in. This got me to 9 or so, and had me gain enough money to start building Blacksmithing high enough to make myself Forged weapons (approximate to Fine Steel).
9-11 (approx.) I foolishly thought I could make good platinum by converting Zombie Skins into Poison Vials and I killed way too many zombies in Nektulos Forest near the EC zone. This does not work, and poison vials vendor for almost nothing. But, I did level Pottery to 125 in case I ever decide to use this Warrior in Velious...
12-20 Orc Centurions and Orc Legionnaires in West Commons. I started with the roamers, and moved to the camp eventually. Each time I went to WC I would bring stacks of Bottle of Milk to give to Mojax Hikspin until I was non-KOS with Priests of Marr and Steel Warriors so I could do Paladin Message (https://wiki.project1999.com/Paladin_Message) for Prayer Beads (emergency heal #1) and later on had faction to not die to the Hero Bracers quest turnin in Qeynos. Doing this messed up my Militia Faction, so I often had to spam more Note for Rebby/Janam to avoid being KOS. Saved up belts for more trips to Grobb. Saved the pads for Linadian's Orc Vest quest (able to do with Hide). Still KOS to good elves though.
20-25 After a side trip to NRO to get my first good weapon, a Dragoon Dirk (took a few tries...), went to Highpass to try and boost reputation with Highpass Guards. Highpass orcs were too nasty of a solo camp, so I opted for the safer but less lucrative Shralok Orcs in Kithicor. I killed these until they were worth little to no exp by the time I conned dubious to Highpass guards. Then I went and camped a PGT and a Cracked Darkwood Shield. I also survived my only PvP damage of the entire challenge - a nuke from Guide Blistig as the price for giving me my surname, which I accepted. He offered to heal me afterward - I declined.
25-26 Gorge of King Xorbb minotaurs.
26-30 Runnyeye, dazed goblin guards. Initially there was a bug where some of these would con indifferent and not social other goblins. After the fix, it is still possible to solo pull some of them, but much more challenging. Borxx is also dangerous and annoying. These fights were tough - sometimes I had to run just because the goblins were enchanter buffed to the gills by Borxx and other evil eyes. Fighting here capped out my Guardians of the Vale faction, so I could (with the help of a few bagfuls of bandages (https://wiki.project1999.com/Bandages_for_Honeybugger)) become one with The Wall for a free Squad Ring (emergency heal #2) every so often. No recharging it though - clerics hate me and I hate them back.
31-34 Rathe Mountains, the 6 minute giant skeleton. During this time, I started to work on archery enough to bow kite Grazhak the Berserker, and began to camp him. Probably the longest stretch without leveling when I camped the axe and belt.
35-37 South Karana and Splitpaw, Tesch Mas Gnolls. Didn't have faction to make use of the scrolls, but I started to kill in the dungeon so I could get positive faction with Guards of Qeynos. Very important for later.
38-43 South Karana, 6 minute aviak avocet near the centaur camp. I spent well over a month just at this one camp, which is near a Quillmane spawn point. I got lucky with Quillmane, although the first time I tried to solo him, I lost and had a salt-filled corpse run from Nektulos Forest. I also made sure to camp Kroldir Thunderhoof for a Runed Oak Bow here - essential for the next levels which all involved bow kiting (no sow, no jboots, just aching fingers and worn out strafe keys).
43-48 Hill Giants in EK, using the reverse kite strategy. This is much, much harder to do on a warrior than other classes, where you can just kite into the guards, root/snare/aggro spells to control HP, and have fun. I learned to count bow shots to determine aggro amounts, and jousted while the HG and the guard fought each other to make sure the HG won with the lowest HP possible. I've practiced this technique for years and years when I played my rangers, but it was still very tricky at times.
48-49 HG's in EK green out too badly at 48 to continue and the other reverse kite options (NK, WK) are too spread out to do without tracking and speed. The last two levels were the worst. I opted to kill Tarn Bearcrusher in EFP due to him being uncamped (he drops nothing) and the safety of the zone (no one assists him). I tried him at 43, 44, 46, 47, and 48 and he still would beat me 30% of the time. I had to bow kite a lot. The levi cloak helped a lot with this to make pulls short and safe.
49-50 Tarn Bearcrusher greens out too badly at 49, so I needed alternate options for the last level. I tried Kanthurn in Lake Rathe, but when he flees in the water, he bugs out and resets 80% of the time. I settled on Bouncer Hurd/Flerb in Feerrott, even though they were quite camped. I needed to bow kite these at least partially for 100% of kills, which meant many trips to Grobb (Oggok KOS after killing) for more arrows. I think about 80% of the effort of the last level was strafe run bow kiting, which is the worst kind of bow kiting.

This is awesome, forget the server first achievements, this is quite the journey!

Now SSF rogue? :)

I feel like it would be easier due to sneak/hide, backstab jousting and poisons, albeit more tedious. I did consider this, but I felt that warrior would be harder.

Yeah, the axe (and PGT) helped a lot I imagine. That rune effect makes a big difference! Awesome luck on the peggy cloak too! Do you plan to retire the character, or do you have any other solo challenges in mind for the future?

The character is now retired. For solo challenges, I will likely return to my SSF 60 Ranger on Blue server, who is at 199 Tailoring solo (I farmed all mats, but I did get some help with enchanting vials) and I would like to get him to 215+ so I can be the ALS guild tailor and make myself Tigerraptor armor pieces. On Green, I've started a non-challenge cleric so I can experience a little bit more of the 'regular' game experience.

[Falditin]

I had a few people ask me to make a forum thread about my latest solo challenge, so I decided to do a quick write-up here.


Congrats on the impressive achievement.

Thanks for doing a write-up on it.

[A Knight]

Wow this is great. I was thinking about doing something like this but not as hard.

[A Knight]

I wonder how far someone could go with self solo/self twink, starting with necro, but you can drop transfer to other characters, and see how max you can get every class.

The best would be to see if someone could twink a shaman that way at 60.

[tadkins]

That sounds like an awesome journey. :) I might end up following in your footsteps one day when/if I want to level a warrior and want to solo at times.

[Frug]

Definitely more interesting and impressive than hoarding 1k gnoll scrolls.

Jesus, this again. Sorry you had to kill stuff to level.

[Dolalin]

Definitely more interesting and impressive than hoarding 1k gnoll scrolls.

[magnetaress]

Way to go.

Big congratulations!

But why not just buy classic equipment?

Also just goes to show in Kunark/velious, 5-10kpp worth of EC gear is enough to easily hit 40+ solo on basically any character. Which seems to be how most people play now. Seeing how adult life really eats into doing pick up groups and long sessions.

EQ really lends itself to multitasking.

[Woodrow]

Wow, well done! I ran into you the other day on Trackerman hunting Hurd, if I had known you were doing this challenge I would have left immediately lol. I do like the idea of a self found challenge, but as a mostly solo player myself, its so hard to get an edge on these blues even with buying the best gear I can afford in EC tunnel.

[Migsy]

Very cool man congrats.

[HalflingSpergand]

If u really did this challenge that's awesome

[Llandris]

Super impressed elf pal

[DMN]

QqTnLKajsvw

[Tnair]

my SSF 60 Ranger on Blue server, who is at 199 Tailoring solo (I farmed all mats, but I did get some help with enchanting vials) and I would like to get him to 215+ so I can be the ALS guild tailor

Is that you Yrehcra?

[Toxigen]

Very impressive.

[strongNpretty]

Nicely done man, nicely done!

[Gustoo]

50-60 is going to be a lot of arrows.

;)

[loserofgame]

Wow this is great. I was thinking about doing something like this but not as hard.

Go for it. Figuring out how to do more with less can be a fun change of pace if you like strategy puzzles.

Wow, well done! I ran into you the other day on Trackerman hunting Hurd, if I had known you were doing this challenge I would have left immediately lol. I do like the idea of a self found challenge, but as a mostly solo player myself, its so hard to get an edge on these blues even with buying the best gear I can afford in EC tunnel.

Hello. Yes, I remember you, you do have nice gear. Although, sometimes you can outthink enemies rather than outgearing them.

If u really did this challenge that's awesome

yeah.

Is that you Yrehcra?

yeah.

50-60 is going to be a lot of arrows.

;)

no.

[Snortles Chortles]

https://i.imgur.com/ZUu65h9.gif

[Canelek]

It's nice seeing less from that super-dork that tried to game the system and more from folks who make a challenge and follow through.

[Tnair]

OPs blue SFF Ranger foraged and tracked for me for two hours to get my first p99 character his stonebrunt wakizashi. Many pras, one of my all time best Everquest memories. That sword was filled with friendship, lasted ten levels and has a permanent bank slot.

[Bardp1999]

Definitely more interesting and impressive than hoarding 1k gnoll scrolls.

[korax251]

Thinking of doing this with a rogue on green server. Always like the challenge of not twinking a char when i start a new toon. Also i solo mostly when i play nowadays.

[Tnair]

korax watch out for the recently nerfed combat bandaging, it gave melee soloing a lot of wiggle room that is now gone

[korax251]

Yea i know its been nerfed so not sure exactly what lvl i may hit a brick wall trying to do this challenge

[cd288]

Yea i know its been nerfed so not sure exactly what lvl i may hit a brick wall trying to do this challenge

I mean you’d definitely be limited to dark green cons at some point as a Rogue. Maybe it’s possible but it will take absolutely forever to do I would think

[DMN]

Would be interesting to continue 50+ into kunark. The question would be what good weapons can you solo to get at 50+? The weapon progression would be really interesting. By solo self-found I take it you aren't accepting buffs from other classes either?

[cd288]

Would be interesting to continue 50+ into kunark. The question would be what good weapons can you solo to get at 50+? The weapon progression would be really interesting. By solo self-found I take it you aren't accepting buffs from other classes either?

Yeah he’s pvp tagged so he can’t be

[kudlezz]

Legitimately impressive. Eat your heart out, gnoll scroll guy.

[starkind]

Op could always drop pvp flag and go raider. But doesn't seem like their thing.

I appluad op for limiting themselves.

[7thGate]

I mean you’d definitely be limited to dark green cons at some point as a Rogue. Maybe it’s possible but it will take absolutely forever to do I would think

I think you eventually end up doing a lot of snare kiting with poison and archery. Its also sometimes viable to use NPC on NPC combat to weaken something enough you can finish it, but the best examples I've used for that are in Velious, so would have to think if there's a good old world spot for that.

[Ashenden]

You are the coolest dude, Yrehcra. Got dam.

[jadier]

Would be interesting to continue 50+ into kunark. The question would be what good weapons can you solo to get at 50+? The weapon progression would be really interesting. By solo self-found I take it you aren't accepting buffs from other classes either?

Solo Self Found could maybe score a Glaive of Martlek or Kunzar Ku'juch for a snare weapon.

At 50, they'd need to get really lucky on an AC pop to get Jboots. But it seems like snaring the enemy & self-Jbooting with the levi cloak might f work for bow kiting and jousting?

Canyoneer Pike would be absolutely vital for any non-kiting options or to finish something off. It's the only slow-proccing weapon I can think of that a SSF could get.

I'm not sure a SSF war could get a Deadwood Stave. I don't know that the Warders pop anywhere that's single-pullable, and I don't know if a SSF war could handle 2-3 mid-30's healing mobs at once. I don't know of another heal-proc weapon, though.

If they were a big race, Weighted Axe might actually be a jousting option, but for Dark Elf that's a no-go....

[Byrjun]

I mean you’d definitely be limited to dark green cons at some point as a Rogue. Maybe it’s possible but it will take absolutely forever to do I would think

How badly was Instill Doubt nerfed? I soloed a Rogue really quickly with that until about 50 or so at which point I just bought Chardok AOE spots since I was just trying to get a raid alt leveled up. I haven't used it since the nerf though.

[Snortles Chortles]

You are the coolest dude

[DMN]

Solo Self Found could maybe score a Glaive of Martlek or Kunzar Ku'juch for a snare weapon.

At 50, they'd need to get really lucky on an AC pop to get Jboots. But it seems like snaring the enemy & self-Jbooting with the levi cloak might f work for bow kiting and jousting?


Wouldn't really need the jboots if they had a snaring weapon. Even if you have bad luck with the proc on something like the glaive, just strafe running should keep you out of combat assuming you don't foolishly try to fight mobs with a boosted movement speed. Try to focus on mobs that run at low life so you can easily finish them off when they get low instead of bow kiting. real problem is getting all the arrows... I'd imagine it would be a giant PITA.

[HanzzYolo]

This is one of the coolest things i've come across in eq classic... super impressed. If you have any advice on SSF, or other threads anyone could recommend, I'm pretty hyped on this idea. I'm thinking of doing it /w a ranger.

[loserofgame]

Would be interesting to continue 50+ into kunark. The question would be what good weapons can you solo to get at 50+? The weapon progression would be really interesting. By solo self-found I take it you aren't accepting buffs from other classes either?

Iksar Berserker Club and Kunzar Ku'juch come to mind, as mentioned by some of the other posters. At 50+ though, meleeing exp mobs is almost completely out of the question. If I were to grind to 60, I would almost certainly resort to farming quest exp turnins to level, which is one of the reasons why I decided 50 would be the endpoint.

I think you eventually end up doing a lot of snare kiting with poison and archery. Its also sometimes viable to use NPC on NPC combat to weaken something enough you can finish it, but the best examples I've used for that are in Velious, so would have to think if there's a good old world spot for that.

There are old world/kunark examples. I used one in this challenge (HG's) and there are others. I would love to demonstrate this tactic via video, but my computers are too obsolete for this.

You are the coolest dude, Yrehcra. Got dam.

I like to think that many players on p1999 are cooler duders than I am. I just try to find a lukewarm spot to co-exist in.

This is one of the coolest things i've come across in eq classic... super impressed. If you have any advice on SSF, or other threads anyone could recommend, I'm pretty hyped on this idea. I'm thinking of doing it /w a ranger.

Toss me a forum PM with your questions and ideas and I'll get back to you in a day or two. Rangers are my favorite class, and I still consider my 60 SSF Ranger on Blue to be my main.

My biggest general tips for SSF runs are to research the wiki a lot, try to avoid competition and/or conflict with other players as much as possible, be as absolutely patient as you can, and go and do something else when you have the inevitable frustrating setbacks (specifically, but not limited to, dying).

[Rainik Stormseeker]

I had a few people ask me to make a forum thread about my latest solo challenge, so I decided to do a quick write-up here.

Hello. I am a crazy person, it's nice to meet you. I play this game almost entirely solo most of the time and I enjoy solo challenges.

Last year I decided to start a new side project on Green and I figured I'd try a new challenge: Solo, Self-Found Dark Elf Warrior, Classic only.

I chose Dark Elf as they have among the worst starting stats for a Warrior and also have evil faction. I turned in my Tome of Order and Discord at Level 1 to avoid getting buffed or healed by other players. This also means I could never change my starting bind point of Nektulos Forest.

Even though the Kunark expansion came out during the challenge, I decided to keep all leveling and strategies Classic-only. As with any SSF challenge, I would only solo, and only use what equipment and items I could make, quest, or find myself.

When I started in August 2020, I figured if I made it to Level 20, that would be a pretty neat accomplishment. I didn't have high hopes for the worst class/race in the game for soloing.

This past Sunday I reached my end goal of Level 50, screenshot enclosed.

I wanted to post this to express my thanks that this project exists, and to show that while raiders challenge themselves and each other to push for competitive advantages, there are also other ways by which players challenge themselves to accomplish very strange and interesting things within this game.

Note: some of this challenge was informed by Kich869 aka EchoLocation8's Solo Warrior Guide (https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=358475&highlight=solo+warrior), but I did this challenge without the help of the combat bind wound technique (which was nerfed before I even created this character) and a lot of the early levels involved faction work, as my Dark Elf was KOS in many areas that I needed to access. My thanks to their guide for making me consider that soloing a Warrior might even be possible.

Well done sir, you have the highest constitution rating on the server. I thought your ranger project was impressive; this is several levels beyond.

/bow to the goat of SSF!

[Disease]

Iksar Berserker Club and Kunzar Ku'juch come to mind, as mentioned by some of the other posters. At 50+ though, meleeing exp mobs is almost completely out of the question. If I were to grind to 60, I would almost certainly resort to farming quest exp turnins to level, which is one of the reasons why I decided 50 would be the endpoint.



There are old world/kunark examples. I used one in this challenge (HG's) and there are others. I would love to demonstrate this tactic via video, but my computers are too obsolete for this.



I like to think that many players on p1999 are cooler duders than I am. I just try to find a lukewarm spot to co-exist in.



Toss me a forum PM with your questions and ideas and I'll get back to you in a day or two. Rangers are my favorite class, and I still consider my 60 SSF Ranger on Blue to be my main.

My biggest general tips for SSF runs are to research the wiki a lot, try to avoid competition and/or conflict with other players as much as possible, be as absolutely patient as you can, and go and do something else when you have the inevitable frustrating setbacks (specifically, but not limited to, dying).

Although long 50-60 is possible. Get Jboots have mobs beat you into beserk and just bow kite. Long, but possible.

[cd288]

Although long 50-60 is possible. Get Jboots have mobs beat you into beserk and just bow kite. Long, but possible.

I mean you could probably get to like 54 or 55 on old world mobs doing the same thing that he has been doing with meleeing them but yeah once you hit 54/55 it’s tough to find old world mobs that give exp but don’t absolutely wreck you

[Indecisive]

This is so cool. I mean, I think you're absolutely nuts - but I'm glad players like you exist. Well done!

[7thGate]

At 50, they'd need to get really lucky on an AC pop to get Jboots. But it seems like snaring the enemy & self-Jbooting with the levi cloak might f work for bow kiting and jousting?

You can buy Traveler's Boots from the gnomes in Sol A for 5k which are basically Jboots with a 1.5 second cast time. I think they don't get a lot of use since its not much more expensive to buy a JBoots multiquest and the cast time can mess you up under some circumstances, but I know more than one ALS wizard who saved up and bought one in their late 20's/early 30's in order to Quad effectively.

[Tunabros]

Gratz!