Is it possible to play solo?

[Eldrin]

Like on medium difficulty? Or have the AI fully automated? Like you could in dragon age origins

[Kaidan]

There are achievements you can get when you play solo - even on high difficulty. So yes, you can, when you decide to ignore every possible companion after the prologue. (You can talk with them, but you shouldn't agree with them to join you.

[sonntam]

Playing solo on medium difficulty is possible, but not necessarily advised. Even at Easy you could run into plenty of boss fights where you would need highly specialized builds for this to work.

I think it would be better to just get a lot of companions and then set them loose on enemy mobs. Turn on the options for companions to use their spells and so on, then it would be pretty workable. You could also get some high DPS low maintenance hirelings which would require very little of you in terms of micro-managing, but still kick ass. Not sure if that would work well on medium, but it's definitely possible on Easy.

[wendigo211]

In DA:O, you could effectively become immune to everything and, after a while, it was easier to play solo than play with a party (less micro-management). That doesn't happen in this game. The game starts hard, gets easier, then starts getting hard again around level 15-16. It is possible to solo this game, but you need to know the ins and outs of the game before you do so. I.e. you need to know which encounters to skip, how to get figurines quickly so you can summon allies, what level you need to be before you can try a certain encounter, etc.

However, if you don't like micromanaging your characters you might not like this game, because there is a lot of combat and the AI is stupid. This game was really made for the fans of the old infinity engine games who are accustomed to pausing every couple of seconds to issue orders to their characters.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by sonntam:

Playing solo on medium difficulty is possible, but not necessarily advised.

Why not? It's one way to practice doing a solo run for the Steam achievements you can get, such as Triple Crown Solo (at hardest difficulty) and Frozen Crown Solo.

[sonntam]

Originally posted by D'amarr from Darshiva:

Originally posted by sonntam:

Playing solo on medium difficulty is possible, but not necessarily advised.

Why not? It's one way to practice doing a solo run for the Steam achievements you can get, such as Triple Crown Solo (at hardest difficulty) and Frozen Crown Solo.

I get the feeling OP wants the least amount of micro-managing in this playthrough. Solo run is the very opposite of low stress and low level of engagement playstyle.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by sonntam:

I get the feeling OP wants the least amount of micro-managing in this playthrough.

Wow, I want the same powers to become able to read so much into the original post.

Is it possible to play solo?
Like on medium difficulty? Or have the AI fully automated? Like you could in dragon age origins

To which one could also answer that it's possible to play the game solo using "Story Mode" or "Easy" difficulty.

[xsys]

Originally posted by sonntam:

I get the feeling OP wants the least amount of micro-managing in this playthrough. Solo run is the very opposite of low stress and low level of engagement playstyle.

So what? Are you the game police or something? Let people play the way that suits them. Or, you can be an absolute tool and criticize people for not playing your way.

[sonntam]

Originally posted by xsys:

Originally posted by sonntam:

I get the feeling OP wants the least amount of micro-managing in this playthrough. Solo run is the very opposite of low stress and low level of engagement playstyle.

So what? Are you the game police or something? Let people play the way that suits them. Or, you can be an absolute tool and criticize people for not playing your way.

Originally posted by D'amarr from Darshiva:

Originally posted by sonntam:

I get the feeling OP wants the least amount of micro-managing in this playthrough.

Wow, I want the same powers to become able to read so much into the original post.

????

Did you take my reply as an attack on OP? I just mean that if someone wants fully automated party or to play solo, then they most likely don't want to spend 15 minutes on every fight using pause like every 3 seconds. That is exactly what happens when you play solo on normal difficulties, because you don't get much room for errors.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by sonntam:

Did you take my reply as an attack on OP?

No, not an attack, but did you read too much between the lines?

[Malric]

I found this thread with a google search of the exact same question the OP did.
I can't speak for them, but personally, I prefer to play games like this solo and have since the first Baldur's Gate game came out.

For me it's a combination of many things such as micro-managing, having to worry about stupid little things like if you accidentally kill them with a fireball, and more importantly, resources/progression.

For example, in BG2, if you play a solo character, you get a LOT more exp, and you get to keep all your gold and use it for yourself. Quickly, you find yourself in very powerful gear, higher level, and easily cutting through encounters. In a group, each is weaker, and maintaining the group is a pain.

In late game, as enemies become more powerful, now you have to use strategy. It is much different than group strategy, I actually enjoy it a lot more.

If you want an easy time solo in BG2, an Undead Hunter Paladin is probably the easiest, though I have beaten it with a dual-class Cleric-Mage, and many others. The assassin was probably among the most fun as I managed to one-hit kill Irenicus the moment he turned red by sneaking in (so his dialog didn't start) and placing a ton of traps at his feet while he was still green.

You just don't get these same experiences in groups. Plus, it adds a lot of replay value by playing as different classes making it a totally different experience.

To me, the mix of challenge, advantage, strategy, and finding interesting ways to make it out of what should be a group encounter is far more fun than the original group play method.

So while I can't speak for the OP, I can certainly relate to the interest in the answer to this question. It's a different approach to the game many may not enjoy, but for me, it's the way I prefer to play.

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by Malric:

For example, in BG2, if you play a solo character, you get a LOT more exp, and you get to keep all your gold and use it for yourself.

In PoE, XP distribution is different. It is base XP per character plus bonuses, so total XP is base XP multiplied by number of party members. The bonus is +10% per missing party number. So, a solo character gets just +50% XP whereas in BG2 a solo character gets all XP because total XP it is divided by party size.
--> https://pillarsofeternity.fandom.com/wiki/Experience_and_advancement

Effectively, solo character progression in PoE is not as quick as in BG2. And early on there are artificial roadblocks, such as an XP limit in Act 1 due to finite quest XP and finite bestiary XP before ending Act 1. At most, a solo character can gain one more level than a full party. To make it worse, story companions start with the same XP than the player character, so within the limits of Act 1, a player can easily acquire a level 4 party with five members compared with a level 4-5 solo character.

Originally posted by Malric:

Quickly, you find yourself in very powerful gear, higher level, and easily cutting through encounters. In a group, each is weaker, and maintaining the group is a pain.

PoE is designed as a party-based CRPG, and a full party certainly is more powerful than a solo character. Not only in Act 1. All the time. Solo playthroughs in PoE require vastly different strategies and tactics than party-based playthroughs. There are also lots of companion synergy effects that make it possible to run individual companions with character AI ON, such as frontline warriors (fighters, monks, paladins e.g.), reducing micro-management requirements to spell casters and vulnerable flankers. BG2 solo runs give different options because of pre-combat spell-casting and long-lasting effects (= hours not seconds as in PoE).

Originally posted by Malric:

In late game, as enemies become more powerful, now you have to use strategy. It is much different than group strategy, I actually enjoy it a lot more.

Exactly that is primary reason to reduce party size or to bump up difficulty and turn on Trial of Iron. The requirement to consider each next step carefully in fear of consequences and repercussions is what increases the entertainment a lot. On the contrary, if difficulty is too low and a full party cuts through battles all too easily, there is no challenge, no thrill, no entertainment.