Doc vs. MA vs. Adv (Solo'ing!)

[stanneman-x]

Hi,

A few days ago I resubbed and started playing my 180 soldier, but I kinda want to start anew!

I noticed population/activity has dwindled a bit since I last played and therefore am interested in playing a profession that is really good at solo'ing. Ofcourse I searched around for great solo professions and MA was one of the recommended ones that really was appealing to me (I also saw Crat, MP, NT each suitable for different solo purposes). What I really hated from time to time was that there was content I could not tackle (bosses, SL quest bosses etc) because it was really hard for me to find people interested in doing these things with me. So I guess I am looking for a profession that allows me to solo very difficult content, rather than level real quick and stuff. I would love to be able to tackle bosses in dungeons to get my own gear (if possible) and finish a lot of the difficult group-intended SL content (ado brain quest ?). I know it may sounds stupid to want to solo these group intended things but things have changed, the game population is a lot lower than last time I played and a lot of people will just level with kite/pocket teams nowadays and have their 220 friends fetch everything for them, I don't have that luxury. So in tackling difficult content I found Doctor (loooong fights but extreme survivability). Martial Artist, which seems like a lot more fun (quicker fights) but I am unsure about its survivability. And Adv (I really don't know how good this profession would be for my purpose and in this time).

So out of these three, which profession would you suggest for someone who would like to tackle the difficult game content solo, and leveling manual mode instead of using kite/pocket teams? If you think there are tougher/better solo professions out there for this purpose in 2014, I'm open to suggestions but it seems everyone and their mom have a crat nowadays so I am not sure about enjoying that one x). Also the problem with MP's is being reliant on wrangles/mochams from other people, and these are also a lot harder to get nowadays.

Thanks in advance!

[semisentient]

It is tough to solo content meant for teams, esp without high level help to twink like crazy. Have you considered dual boxing yourself? if you choose low control profs (as in not shade) you can alt tab between two chars and play quite easily. You can do something like an MA and a martial arts Doc. Start the fight with MA and just control your doc. Your MA can buff the ma skill of your doc and your doc can heal. Your ma can focus entirely on damage and tanking while your doc focuses on nano regen and heals. Other low control combinations are keeper + anything since keepers are really just auto attackers mostly. If you turn off the minimizing transitions in windows alt tabbing between two ao windows is instant. And you'd be able to tackle quite a lot more than solo.

[stanneman-x]

You can do something like an MA and a martial arts Doc.

Very interesting! I was actually looking at both MA and a martial arts Doc but it did not occur to me to dualbox them, sounds pretty cool, something I haven't done before and that could keep it interesting! Will consider this, thanks for this suggestion.

Any other suggestions guys ?

[Adeptall2]

I know you arent fond of the crat but with your purposes in mind (soloing very difficult things) crat really is the best option, it can even solo some things doc cannot. And it can do so significantly faster, in fact crat at 220 is one of the best dds. Sure lots of people roll them but in my opinion crat is the funnest prof to play (most to do).

If you really dont want that the second best option for soloing tough stuff is indeed doc, but its sooooo slow especially while leveling, youll learn to hate it.

But if running 2 instances is an option, id go crat and doc for best survivability or doc/sol or maybe doc/engi for still wonderful survivability but much greater damage. And alt tabbing is not necessary, hotkeynet is a powerful tool that will make things wonderfully easier for you. Ignore the haters that suggest weak alternatives cause theyre judgemental, just enjoy yourself, i do.

[Psikie]

For what ever crazy reason people don't suggest what is potentially the best dual log combo in game...Crat + Keeper!!! Stacking aad buffs with passive team heals. Keeper = easy tanking with crat debuffs running.

[Dominating]

Shade. DD/Debuff/Tank OP at pvm.

[Psikie]

If you are truly dedicated in dual logging... MP+Trader combo. They can potentially buff each other back and forth up to lvl locked nanos. With a pet WAY over cast you could rip through lvls pretty fast. Just the upkeep of buffs on trader drains might take a bit of concentration though.

Solo toss up between MA/Advy. I think advy is little more tricky with more nano lines though it can be confusing on where to specialize. Where MA is pretty straight forward.

[DigitalBath]

If you're willing to put the effort into it, few things will beat crat (mezzes, pets, charms, tons of AAD, xp baffs, insurance for when you die, possibly best endgame DD right now, someone correct me if i'm wrong) + doc (not horrible dmg + great heals + pretty good when you get the levels and gear to CH tank).
You'll be able to duo most encounters in the game with relative ease and when you do team up.. people will love you since you bring half of the "golden" profs into the mix at the same time.

For solo'ing.. I'd go Advy, since endgame MAs are often overlooked.. and Docs (from my experience) are great but too slow on DD.
Shade is also great but it can be a pain to level up by itself since often enough you'll get your ass handed to you by mobs you can't alpha.. until you get what you need for evading them, anyway.

[stanneman-x]

Wow so many options! For now I have rolled a Doc+MA to try it out (although I do realise I wont get a real feeling of it til later levels). Got both up to level 50 but I am having a hard time deciding if I want to keep the MA or pick some other profession that goes well with the Doc, cause I do like the doc a lot. The fact that I see crats everywhere just really puts me off them, I know the are good they are but I see Carlo's and ninja droids everywhere!!!!

Doc+MA is pretty enjoyable but I have no idea how much difficult encounters they can handle at higher level..
I guess the Doc+Crat combo can solo some things that Doc+MA can't >.>?

Also what is 'CH tank' ?

[Gorathon]

CH tank means to use the taunt associated with the Complete Healing nano to engage and keep the attention of mobs - this so that other toons may kill said mob(s) without drawing attention. The doc CH'es herself at regular intervals (whether their HP is low or not) to draw and keep aggro. This taunt really only applies to SL mobs.

Keep in mind that CH has a relatively long cool-down of 8 seconds. This limitation affects how tough the mobs should be, or the damage they can inflict.

[Psikie]

Should work fine, the MA should be able to "Evade tank" mostly with high damage as long as you are not healing MA for more damage than he is doing to mobs.

[Cratertina]

Id say crat + shade. Thats the winnsome combo.

[Adeptall2]

I guess you didnt really want to hear whats the best but just what you want to play. Which is fine, play what you love, just know it isnt the greatest option. There are many places where crat debuffs and calms are necessary and always make things far easier.

As for CH tanking, ignore that, high CH taunt is being removed in 18.7.

[stanneman-x]

I guess you didnt really want to hear whats the best but just what you want to play. Which is fine, play what you love, just know it isnt the greatest option. There are many places where crat debuffs and calms are necessary and always make things far easier.

As for CH tanking, ignore that, high CH taunt is being removed in 18.7.

I am interested in hearing what is best and I still am considering a crat, but also MA, indecisiveness sucks!

Also I never played a shade, does it stay alive through evades or something without a doc? (and combo'd with a crat like Cratertina suggested).

[Adeptall2]

Yeah shade can be good to duo with crat too, their evades combined with aad drain perks and nano procs together with crats aad buffs and the rest of crats toolset is indeed a very powerful setup. As well shades got some pretty good self healing. Though that setup is one of the hardest ones to duo effectively, but with a proper setup using hotkeynet its certainly doable. I'd go trox.

Crat is a given, thats a positive imo (i been playing since 2005, i know what im talking about). And i suggested engi for great DD and aoe blinds, makes dealing with multiple mobs very easy. And suggested soldier for good tanking on single mobs with crats help. But shade is, in many circumstances, a better tank when combined with a crat, but also much harder. Though mostly and endgame, during leveling the soldier will be best and better damage until 190 too. But past that, shade hands down.

[Aiken]

Roll a Crat & thank yourself later.

Trust me on this, once you master a Crat, almost every other Profession begins to pale in comparison!

[Awikun]

I would recomend that you level your MA to level 150 and park it there for some S10 farming.
Level 150 MA even in a cheap build is one of the best soloer in S10 and will allow you to earn lots of credits that you will need to gear up your other characters.
As for your first character to reach level 220 I would suggest to pick a Crat.

[Gorathon]

Level 150 MA even in a cheap build is one of the best soloer in S7 and ....

I think you're still talking about S10, right?

[Psikie]

I would steer away from Crat honestly, not only because of the abundance, but also because of the future init debuff changes. Crats will not be nearly as powerful.

Also "what is best" is a combination of what YOU like to play and can play well. Has nothing to do with what some other players think is best for them. If you have never played a prof and/or don't like it, you will never be good with it. So ultimately if you like MA/Doc combo that is what you should play because that is what is currently "best" for you.

[Rancheros]

Basing profession choices on what "could" happen with 18.7 seems questionable. As far as I know, everything with 18.7 has been cleaned up and restarted.
I do agree though you need to pick what you're going to enjoy playing. Do you want to play something versatile, or suited for a sole purpose? Do you want to deal damage, do you want to heal, do you want to tank, or are you just looking for something to purely do everything yourself? Out of any of the combinations I've heard in reality the easiest and arguably best combination of professions to dual log would be doctor and crat. Granted that is in current standings, potential patch aside. If you want to go as far as triple logging, I love the shade, crat, engineer combination or even just shade crat combination. Shades are just high maintenance if played properly so it can be a pain.