I would like to make a point that even soloists don't always play alone. I have joined many ad-hoc groups and helped the occasional new player. I've jumped into trains formed by fleeing players in distress and allowed other people to take turns at mining an ore outcrop.

World of Warcraft is a community and I respect my fellow players, soloists and guild members alike. Lending a hand is actually easy because I tend to be a higher level then people around me.

As a soloist, I understand that social interaction and helping others are important. It's also satisfying to help a group out of trouble with asistance.

Some of the best interactions I had with other players happened while I was soloing. One particular instance comes to mind: I was trying to corpse-drag an alt across Stranglethorn Vale, and having a hard time of it. A wandering Warlock happened by and volunteered to help me. He (or she, you never know) spent the good part of an hour getting me to Booty Bay. My savior didn't ask for anything, didn't get frustrated by my alt pulling mobs from halfway across the region, and turned down a good sum of gold. I ended up sending him a rare pet as a thanks anyways.

That incident wasn't all that unique. While soloing, I encounter cool players who genuinely want to help. Or maybe they just want the challenge, hand-holding a much lower level character through an adventure on which lowbie has no right to embark.

Yeah, there are wierdos. Just ask any player with a female toon. But the freaks are rare and far between but the awesome players are thankfully not so rare.

One lesson that I was slow to learn was I could use my other toons (characters) to help me. The most obvious was to create a banker. Sending one character materials and money located in a centralized location helped save me a lot of shoe leather. I like to place a character in Stormwind right between the auction house and mail box.

The auction house will become a soloist's best asset. Without other players to watch a lone adventurer's back, the soloist must equip the best armor and weapons, enhance everything, and use scrolls and potions with wild abandon. 

Leveling the professions of my other toons also gives me an edge as a soloist. I have a tailor, leather worker, and enchanter ready to boost my equipment. A soloist needs all the help he or she can get!

I wish I had known how important it was to level up fishing and cooking skills from the very beginning. All of those yummy morsels of meat you get from killing beasts can be cooked up on a cozy campfire and provide an endless supply of food. At higher levels, the food even gives short-term buffs.

It takes patience to use the cooking skill, and even more patience to use the fishing skill. I typically fish for the length of time I can use a lure- 10 minutes. Sometimes I find a little treasure, but most of the time I can add to my food larder. Between fishing and cooking skills, a soloist should never have to buy food.

For those mages out there, these skills are still handy. The buffs created by some recipes make foods better than conjured food.

 

It's a strange thought, but joining a guild can keep people off your back. Next time you're in a major city and someone sends you an unsolicited charter to sign, think about signing it. If they are offering you gold, definitely sign it.

Most guilds don't get off the ground after the charter is signed. If you join a guild and there's a ton of green chat (guild chat), then you can just leave. After a week, though, I bet you'll see little or no guild activity.

One of my primary toons joined a guild with over a dozen members. After just a few months, the toon is the only one left in the guild. No worries about being solicited. Truly, a soloist's guild.

On another strange note, I've been kicked out of guilds for contributing too much. Too much gold and resources to the guild vault pisses people off when you've been ignoring green chat for months. In one guild I bought three bank tabs, after which I was accused of buying Chinese gold and booted. I just like to help... do I smell or something?

So the lesson is: if you join a guild to be left alone, don't help the guild. Just wait to be booted for inactivity and join another.

The best soloing class is...

Hunters are generally accepted as the best soloing class. I personally find this to be true. They also come in rather handy when you're in an instance and one of your tanks drops out.

But any class can solo. The best class is the one you enjoy the most. Some classes are damn hard to solo, like the Priest. Difficulty is not an issue if you like playing a lone priest; you have to adapt your game play to maximize your strengths and down play your (many) weaknesses.

I have a Mage that I solo. In order to keep from getting creamed, I have to make sure this toon quests in areas where the mobs are below the toon's level. It's slow going leveling up, but satisfying that I can go it alone.

 

If there was one single awesome patch for World of Warcraft, it is 3.3.0. This is when Dungeon Finder was added. Using dungeon finder, my normally anti-social hunter can find a quick group with which to play, go directly to the dungeon, and while waiting in the queue continue to farm and quest.

I have to admit I sucked eggs when I started using Dungeon Finder because I wasn't all that experienced in dungeons and working with a team. But I quickly learned how to best support my tank, to protect my healer (who usually stands right in front of me for some reason), and play dead when my tank gets all squishy and lame.

Now I've replaced almost all my gear with blue drops. I have money. And I'm leveling up like crazy. I would strongly recommend Dungeon Finder to all soloists out there. But give yourself a learning curve. If you made it to level 60 without doing many dungeons you'll have to learn to work with a team. Oh, and be prepared to be called a "hunt-ard" from time to time.

Players who are using the World of Warcraft Starter Edition (free account) shouldn't worry too much about soloing. I found that leveling from 1 to 20 (the level cap for free accounts) is a rather easy path. Players are guided along with nice, linear quest paths. At level 15, free players can use the Dungeon Finder to get those blues.

One interesting aspect of the free account is the real isolation one feels. You can't use mail. You can't use the AH or join a guild. You are really and truly alone.

If anything, I leveled much faster with those restrictions. Twinking can take some time, as well as jaunts to the auction house. Since you can't make or buy or enchant gear with a main toon for a free account alt you simply play. Weird, huh? Just playing the game.

The only real problem I had was with a warrior, who stalled at level six because I didn't have the money to upgrade his gear. Hunters and 'Locks do just fine soloing the free account.

I do recommend getting gold-generating professions as soon as possible with a free account. You're going to need the extra income unless you plan on farming for gold... I mean, copper... for a few hours.