I am trying to decide which character I want to start through on a solo journey and though I would solicit advice. Which character from the class decks would you solo through RotR, and why?
Feel free to also add a suggestion of an S&S character to solo through as well.
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While I applaud people who solo characters through RotR and doing so in S&S, I can't actually say I think they've experienced the game. I've always related this game back to the RPG and that in a very rare instance have I seen a solo adventure. You always need to round out a party for skills, feats and abilities.
And for PACG, I've only run a minimum of 2 character parties through scenarios. Solo runs use a minimum of locations; characters are tuned to run alone. But when you start adding more characters to a party, you tend to change the way you advance the character(s) and what cards you use.
I also think you lose something when you don't experience more locations in the scenarios. Some of the fun of the game is when our party starts reading the "During this scenario" section of the card and seeing what some of the unique henchmen do.
That said, Seoni/Harsk, Lini/Sajan, Kyra/Valeros.
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The same "haven't experienced" argument could be made for people who haven't played 5/6 character games.
It's different experience solo than it is with 2/3 characters, and its a different experience than with more. I wouldn't say its better/bad/worse, its how each person wants/likes to play that is important.
Solo (1 character) is a unique experience because you don't have the benefit of well-rounded party, and you don't have the benefit of blessing/other help from anyone else. It's just you, 30 location cards, 30 turns, and only 15 cards in your deck. Unless you have reliable healing, you have to manage your hand and your deck more than with 2 character, where you have 15 fewer turns and can be slightly more liberal with your discards. It changes slightly again going to 3 characters, where you have 10 turns, which is roughly 1 discard per turn.
More characters than that and the game changes from hand/deck to time management. You have 60 to 80 location cards and still only 30 turns in which to go through them, at an average of 7.5 to 5 turns per character. Your character needs to better at getting through the locations faster because you don't know if the villain/henchman is going to be halfway down or at the very bottom.
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I have to agree with you. I see the dynamics change when I'm playing with 2 characters then with 3. I think I prefer this game with a minimum of three. (Again, I think it's because of my RPG background. Plus reading the comics gives me a "party" perspective in some of these scenarios.) I feel like we're complimenting each other fairly well. You do have that feeling of someone has your back rather than with solo characters and relying on your own.
But I also think part of this game for me isn't just beating the scenarios but how we beat the scenarios and the experience we get from beating them. So for me, soloing or trying to solo through the game has no pull; no enticement. I could see myself trying to solo a character through specific scenarios just to see how they'd do. But not through an entire adventure or even the path.
So for me, soloing or trying to solo through the game has no pull; no enticement. I could see myself trying to solo a character through specific scenarios just to see how they'd do. But not through an entire adventure or even the path.
That's you but it's not everyone. I can see the task of completing the entire AP solo as being more of a challenge, which some people might enjoy more than having a rounded party.
The great thing about this game is that all styles of play are equally valid. I personally think the sweet spot is 2-3 characters, but I am not going to try to change/judge anyone else's way of playing.
I think the game is best at 3 players, with 4 closely followed by 2 players being the next best.
As to the OP's question, the Merisiels are very good but you did ask what the reader would play, and I love casting spells. I think I might have to go with Amaryllis. Several spells to cast, a self healing ability (for spells), and the ability to re-roll makes me rate her pretty high up there for solo-play.
I'd prefer a Divine caster to add Cure to the mix, but there aren't any OP-viable characters yet with a spell pool that hits 7 or more who also have a good handle on non-combat. My first choice would be RotR Lini or S&S Alahazra if they could be played, or a Lem IF he could get to 7 or more spells, but alas.
Ezren has good exploration skills; he can have a wide variety of utility spells to get around a lot of issues, and he recycles his spells very well.
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That's you but it's not everyone. I can see the task of completing the entire AP solo as being more of a challenge, which some people might enjoy more than having a rounded party.
The great thing about this game is that all styles of play are equally valid. I personally think the sweet spot is 2-3 characters, but I am not going to try to change/judge anyone else's way of playing.
Yeah, that's why I said it that way because it was my personal opinion about the game. People get different things out of games. I boardgame with a few of my local friends from time to time plus we love to do it at GenCon in the evenings at the bar (High Velocity). We have for years. While I like to play just to experience new games and to play with my friends, the others tend to enjoy beating each other. And that's why some of them don't do well with co-op games.
And I'm not judging anyone. I just see these threads about soloing the game and I tend to ignore them. Just this time I decided to post. I'm not against soloing the game with a single character.
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I've soloed Flenta through Runelords, and I'd recommend her. She has some trouble with non-combat checks in the early going, but she doesn't have any d4 stats, at least; and as an Arcane Pretender later, she can use the role's two spell recharge powers to comfortably handle most situations. Being a Fighter at the beginning, she's very effective at combat checks throughout the campaign.
I had a good enough time that I may eventually do it again, either the normal way, or using only her class deck cards to construct her base deck (a la organized play).
I'll probably also try Feiya as a Hexer, at some point. I think she'd do fairly well.
The game is certainly at its best with multiple characters, whether you are playing with friends or solo. When playing solo I usually think three characters is the sweet spot.
That said, a single character group is great when you have a limited amount of time to play.
I am currently running a three character group through RotR solo, but I wanted to start another single character run for the times when I have a little less time but still need my fix. I thought a class deck character would be a good change of pace.
Merisiel is certainly a fine choice, and the RotR version can certainly solo well. I think I am more in the mood to try someone who wasn't available in RotR though. Darago and Flenta sound like good choices. I need to give Amaryllis another look.
And yes, as Orbis said, although I am looking for ideas for my own playthrough, my main interest is not what you think I should play, but what you would play and why.
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I think I would choose Tarlin, Vika, and Siwar in a three-person solo group. Runelords is probably the only AP right now where Tarlin would be useful, as it looks like Blessing of Iomedae cards aren't making an appearance in S&S. Siwar would be pretty interesting to use with some of the allies in Runelords that require banishment (e.g., Mayor Kendra Deverin).
If I absolutely had to choose one character to solo, I would choose Melindra. She has the evade - maybe not 100%, but then she's also a wizard, so she has lots of spells.