Soloing Quests

Being able to solo any level greatly helps your gameplay. To cut to the chase, we'll start with some pros and cons:


 * This is a new guide, which has Evie Staff Update information and Karok information.

  Pros:  Much higher EXP rate from battle quests You get all drops (All iron mines, all rare erg crystals, and all gold collected) You know exactly what is going on at all times, because there is nobody else there to confuse you and mess up your pattern on a boss '''You don't have to yell "F12!" at the new players''' No lag of your own (if you are hosting or in another party)    Cons:  If you die, you'll stay that way unless you have Goddess Graces</li> No help whatsoever</li> Bosses focus only on you; a much higher chance of taking an abundance of unnecessary hit points</li> </ul></li> </ul>

There are a fair bit of pros, but the cons are much 'heavier', and more important. Basically, if you are powerful and skilled, do solo runs for the extra EXP.

Know Your Character
Each character can solo a quest. Evies use their ranged attacks to take out far away baddies, while Fiona uses her hammer to smash their faces in at point-blank range. Lann spins circles around bosses, and Karok... Well Karok just hits everything with brute force, rivaling the feeling you receive when you are run over by an 18-wheeler.

Knowing your role is a biggie. Read you character's respective info-pages for more information, but here's the general idea:

  Evie Waving her staff around, you wouldn't expect Evie to be dishing out DPS (Damage Per Second) that puts spear Lanns on the run! Ice Blast and Firebolt are your best friends. Love them, use them, as they're great for taking out annoying trash mobs (gnolls, kobolds, etc)</li> Ice Spear, although with a 10 sec cooldown, is used rather sparsely when I watch Evie's play, and even when I play myself. Use it! It's the most powerful hit in the game (Blind Arrow is multiple hits), and if it takes more than 1 hit with an Ice Blast or Firebolt, use an Ice Spear!</li> Blind Arrow, being the most powerful collective spell in your Evie's arsenal, should be used rarely. It has a very long cooldown, and you'll often find yourself waiting for it when you actually need it. Not only that, but it takes a while to cast, and it leaves you open to attacks from the side and behind.</li> They say that Evies should never be hit. To never wear good armour. I disagree, for both Scythe and Staff Evies, because if you're ever going to solo anything, you're guaranteed going to be hit. Of course, you could hide in your Mana Amber all day, or just Blink around the boss the whole time, but defense will never give you a 4-hit combo.</li> For Scythe Evie- Coming from experience, level 39, with several other Evie's of smaller levels. Starting out for Scythe Evie and bosses you should always be careful and use Blink A LOT. Blink away, Blink back and land a couple hits. If you have Blade Shift Blink away and Blink back and use that. It may take longer, but you won't get hit as much, (which you don't want), but it is safer in the long run. If you are a higher level, I can recommend more hits even after using Blade Shift. Especially if you have upgraded your defense skil too the highest. So recap: Don't get hit, and use Blink, A lot.</li></ul> </li>  Lann '''Lann, being the powerhouse and spinning menace of Vindictus, is often looked at as the #1 character to be as a high level. That's not true. He's awesome at any level; with his confusingly fast smash combos and chains that can give you up to a 7 attack burst of raw epic.''' For Spear Lanns, stay away from the enemies until you have a 4-hit spin smash going. This will keep you out of harms way while you slash at the air, much like the way a Scythe Evie charges up her Bloody Thread to deliver mass punishment to the surrounding area. You'll need your health for Fury Infusion, which is very useful in boss battles.</li> For Sword Lanns, get right in there! If you're level 30+, you have up to 7 attacks to do in one continuous chain, besides Lightning Fury, which adds an 8th. Go into a pile of enemies with swords ablazin', ready to kick ass and chew flesh. The R9 Thousand Needles smash attack finally gives your Lann an AOE attack, which does roughly half the damage of a Gliding Fury in a 360 degree radius!</li> </ul> </li> <li> Fiona <ul>'''Fiona is the tank of Vindictus. The last thing you'd remember if you got into a fight with Fiona would be her foot flying at your face with a beam of energy behind it. Or a hammer, swinging down on your skull to crush your brain into liquid that would slowly seep down your spine and gather into a puddle in your feet. But I'm not sure you would remember either, because Fiona is the slow-moving, hell-bringing, sheild-bearing... you get the point.''' <li>Use your shield. In the earlier levels, it is extremely difficult to beat dungeons without a shield. Later in your leveling, you gain a valuable skill called Counterattack, which allows you to counterattack (ironic, isn't it?).</li> <li>I only have a level 26 Fiona; if you know more, please add!</li> <li>Later on, you will find that the trash mobs (especially the ranged ones) will give you more trouble then the boss itself. Use sprint smashes and counter attacks to knock them down, then pick them off. </li> <li>Do not be hesitant to use counterattacks on mobs. It's the best (read: guaranteed) way to knock enemies down and with SP: shield repair durability is not an issue.</li> <li>Hammers clear mobs faster then swords due to the aoe smashes. Swords are much faster however and have considerably more range with the Amaranth Kick.</li> <li>ADD-For Hammer Fionas, Butterfly+Slashing High(SP) makes quick work out of less hard-hitting bosses. Be careful with this, because you still take the damage, you just become a un-flinching maxed stamina whirlwind. At this point you no longer need to block while Slashing High(Sp) is activated, shields just give you better def so you can finish the kill.(added by lvl 67 hybrid Fiona)</li> <li>ADD-Much much later on (probably around levels 60-70) there will be powerful bosses that have unblockable moves (i.e. Elchulus, Siglint, Beokros, etc etc). Because of this, you need to work on your evasive skills. You'll still need a shield though. And then there's going completely shieldless when fighting those bosses, which is EXTREMELY SUPER-DUPER DIFFICULT. So difficult that there are only a *few* known pro-Fionas that are capable of doing this. (Added by a level 66 Hybrid Fiona).</li> </ul> </li> <li> Karok <ul>'''Weapons? Who needs 'em?! I have FISTS, ready to TIE your SPINE in a KNOT, or RIP you in HALF. Bah, little men with little weapons. Each of my manly, giant, size 22 steps will slowly break the bones in your feet, like a mini earthquake rising through the ground!''' <li>If you hadn't already guessed, Karok is now classified as the new tank. Fiona is still a tank, but Karok is THE tank, if you catch my drift.</li> <li>Basically anything you do as Karok will deal damage. Sprinting will cause damage, even! Not only that, but you can Grapple enemies that were otherwise un-grab-able, such as vampires, wisps, and spiders!</li> <li>Karok is also the easiest, in my experience, to solo with. As you run, pounding the ground with your feat, catching Gnoll Chieftain Hammers as they are swung at your neck, and literally grabbing and beating up fallen bosses, you will quickly learn that Karok kicks ass.</li> <li>With each level you gain, Karok gains a small total health improvement. Health is the best, after all!</li> </ul> </li>

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Assists
Let's face it. You can't beat the whole game without partying sometime. Sometimes you will have to party on some of the tougher ones. For example, I played the entire game solo until I got stuck on Kobold Chief, and from then on I soloed it (excluding Dethrone the White Tyrant and other raids). Unfortunately, partying reduces your EXP by a certain percentage, which is obviously undesirable. If you have a friend, or can get a friend who is high level and has nothing better to do than assist you, go for it. You still get the rewards as if you did it all by yourself, but the added person makes everything way easier. The con? You have to wait for them to join your boat, plus you'll have to live with the feeling that you mooched off your friend without reward.

Some newbies don't have any friends to add right off the bat, which is quite troublesome for somebody who desperately needs an assist while lying dead on the battlefield. Just put out an ad in the general chat asking for an assist and stating a reward. Most people will just help you without a reward, if it's an easy battle, luckily.

More
I'm no expert. I have each character, and here they are: (subject to change, as of 6/19/2011)

Guide originally written by Jaxo, on 6/19/2011

Wall of contributors: Type this to sign your name: ~ Jaxo 01:56, 20 June 2011 (UTC) MrLloyd** (talk) 19:27, 16 November 2013 (UTC)