June 11, 2020

Pirate101 Soloing Guide
Solo Like a Pro

Ever wondered how we solo difficult and hardcore content in Pirate101 without the help of overpowered abilities like frozen tide, blood flames, Old Scratch, or Overwatch 5? Wonder no more. You shall become one of many Pirate101 soloists today. Ahoy and welcome to this exclusive guide that will detail what you need to do to be a successful PvE soloist in Pirate101. Hope you’re all doing well and safe. Hang tight, there’s light at the end of any dark tunnel.

Without any further intros, let’s get into the point. Many people wonder what they can do in order to solo any challenging dungeon or boss fight. First thing you need?

Gear

Gear is key when it comes to soloing. When you’re trying to solo, the main question isn’t “How many heals do I need to carry?” or “How many shields do I need to pack?” The better question is how to balance your gear and power choices in order to render them useful in a fight. For example, running 6-7 revives and 0 protections, or all attacks and no defense is a bad idea. Here’s what I go for as a buckler or buck soloist (my main classes):

3 to 4 heals at max (2 Revives from gear, 1 Rouse from Privateer trainer and 1 Rally from Pet grants)
3 to 4 Protections at max (3 from gear on Buckler/2 from gear on Buccaneer, Kraken Lament from Pet grants)
Few attacking powers (mostly from Tower of Moo’s Ring and Totem, Weapon and a Brutal Charge as a pet grant on Buckler, Gear and weapon on Buccaneer)

The same concept works on Privateer, Musketeer and even Witchdoctor. All you gotta do when it comes to gear is balance things out. Going in with full Tower gear or conversely, way too many heals and protections, won’t work well for you. You’ll miss out on many other important powers that’ll help balance things out for you and turn the tide when things go wrong.

Class Choice

You’ll hear a lot of people out there biasedly arguing that only their favorite classes can solo difficult content. Truth? Any class can solo any “hardcore” content in Pirate101. Yes! Even Witchdoctor. You read that right. All the 5 classes can solo anything BUT, you’ll need to play carefully and watch your step, especially when soloing with squishy classes like Witchdoctor, or even Musketeer. The key here in these 2 classes to go for successful solo attempts is using your sources in a good time and shape your movements carefully. Read on in a later section to know more about that.

As for my soloing class recommendations here’s my list from easiest to most difficult in my opinion:

Swashbuckler comes first on the top of the list. Why you ask? Because we have what can make soloing go smooth as butter. We have plenty of hides (including Black Fog, which can protect your team while you set up an attack), carry a decent arsenal of offensive powers, several poison DoT powers, and at the same time, we also can obtain good defenses from gear and pets. Thus, the class is: “Perfectly balanced, as things should be.”
Buccaneer is second as it is somehow, on a close level to Swashbuckler. The class has good offensive and defensive powers, as well as buffs. Furthermore, their gear pieces further enhance their offensive and defensive abilities. On the top of that, they also have some of the most powerful chain attacks in the game if they have a good Relentless pet. Their one “weakness,” heals? You can get up to 3 good ones just by adding 2 pieces of revive gear and a rally pet.
Musketeer‘s job isn’t always that easy. They can do tremendous damage from a ways away, but if the enemy reaches your frontline, you might have a problem. Musket has what is enough when it comes to soloing. Like buccaneers, they have incredibly powerful chains, especially when their companions are added to the mix. They also have bombs, traps, and trick shots to complement their epic talent-based onslaught. You’ll likely kill many enemies before they reach you and require you to heal. This gameplan can still fail, as enemies can dodge your shots, fail to be knocked back, or you could possibly get unlucky. So be careful.
Privateer arguably comes fourth on the list for many obvious reasons. They do carry ton of stat buffs, protections, and heals that indeed can help him beat the unbeatable. Take Zeal for example: it can make your units nigh unhittable. However, they lack the variety of directly offensive powers that the classes above them have. Besides their Big Guns, they don’t really have anything else trained. However, they normally get 2-3 Assassin’s Strikes from their gear and maybe an attack from a pet. This isn’t much of an issue, however, as they depend heavily on buffs and their companions especially at the beginning of fights. So, if you’re a fan of buffing and letting your companions do the job, Privateer’s your choice for soloing!
Witchdoctor is definitely the toughest to solo with (remember, this is without using cheese like Old Scratch, Tide, and Blood Flames). And let me tell you they don’t lack powers. Most of what they’re struggling with is their spells’ base damage, the inherently fragile nature of the class, and weak class companions (not named Old Scratch). One wrong step and things can definitely go wrong. But that doesn’t mean they can’t solo difficult instances.

Strategy, Power Placement and Movement

For successful solo attempts, always make sure to use your powers wisely. For example, don’t stack 2 forts at once and waste them way too early in battle. That’ll sting at the end of the battle. Don’t heal simultaneously unless you really have to. There’s absolutely no reason for you to heal while you’re at 80% health. Only heal when it’s serious and you’re getting lower than 50%. Managing your powers effectively will keep you alive and give you better chances to succeed. With their Elusive 3 or 4, melee characters can afford to take some bad hits and mess up a few times. However, if you’re a ranged player, this might cost you. Especially as a Witchdoctor.

Your power management must be set properly in a way that’ll help increase the chances to get the right powers at the right time. Don’t put all of your protections and buffs way up at the top and your attacks at the bottom. Make sure to mix things properly to get good opening hands. Put your most critical powers (Fog, Zeal, Knockback bombs) right at the top. Then include some other buffs, shields, attacks, and eventually heals, spaced evenly. Managing your powers properly is critical, it wouldn’t be pleasing at all if you need a heal and you can’t pull it simply because you’ve been pulling only attacking powers due to power mismanagement.

One last thing that is important is your companion choices and the correct arrangement. Before picking a random combo always ask yourself: What do I need? A tank unit like Ratbeard with a buffing unit like Toro and an offensive cannon like Fan? Or do I need to pick 3 very offensive companions? Choosing the perfect combination wisely with correct arrangement is one of the keys to making a good strategy.

Wish for the Best

As prepared as you may be, always there’s a chance things might not go as expected, and if it doesn’t end up well, keep your head up. Try again, and do not give up or hesitate. If you have the gear, companions, and good strategy, it’s okay to try again and not to give up. Eventually, it’ll work out. With practice, you’ll find yourself soloing successfully from the first attempt instead of after 10 attempts. I’ll be honest and say this, you won’t be getting good results from the first attempt. Things take time to build up. And so is getting better to become a soloist. So bear with it. Adapt. Improvise. Overcome. Create strategy, try things out and give it time and patience.

Doubloons?

Should you use doubloons? What is my stance towards it? Answer is: Up to you. If you want my personal opinion, I don’t use doubloons at all for the sake of challenge. It doesn’t ruin the spirit of soloing hard instances, but if you would like to get more credit for your soloing attempts, best not to use them then. But in the end it’s definitely your choice. As a starters for you, if you’re trying to get into soloing hard content, you can go for it as a helping hand.

Here are some videos to some difficult/hardcore battles and gauntlets I have soloed so far and you can learn from them: