(This is satire.)
The pillars of soloing are three. Three are the pillars of soloing. Not two, not one, but four. Four are the pillars of soloing. The pillars of …
Ok, to quote the death knight: “Get on with it!”.
Fashion.
Preparation.
Surveillance.
Execution.
Now, all of the parts are of equal importance to a successful soloing so I’m going to break each point down. In the end you will have a simple step by step-guide to soloing almost any content.
Fashion
“You’re not going outside dressed like that, lady of an uncertain lifespan!”
Soloing is not for the weak. It takes dedication, commitment, skill. More importantly, you have to wear The Right Thing. Gear is of the utmost importance in soloing. Since I’m doing this guide with the help of the slightly quirky paladin Shuanna
(“Hey!”)
I decided to go for a simple but elegant theme: Red and gold.
“Preparing for battle: A blessing wouldn’t hurt.”
(Shoulders: Judgement Shoulders Chest: Hyperion Armor Gloves: Flameguard Gauntlets Belt: Conquerors Girdle Legs: Legplates of Blazing Light Boots: Magma Tempered Boots Weapon: Firemaul of Destruction)
I was thinking about the Saltstone set first, but then I remembered – maybe adults might read this. Someone has to think about the grown-ups!)
Oh? iLvl? Yeah, uh … whatever you like? I’m no good at numbers, I usually ask a friendly robot about what to actually wear.
Preparation
The prepping part coincides at some levels with the Surveillance part. But we have to start somewhere so we might as well start with Talents. Now, Talents might need to be changed up and around a bit depending on what information our Surveillance reveals, but for this example I went with a decent build:
If I can survive Garrosh Hellscream knowing this, Hogger shouldn’t be that much of a problem.
I’m known to play loose with rules, however. Some people might be more cautious than me. You simply have to experiment a bit. don’t be afraid to wipe – that’s part of the learning curve! Not long ago a levle 90 death knight decided to solo Hogger unarmed, naked and AFK. That didn’t end well (thus it’s not a recommended path to glory).
Surveillance
There’s actually two parts to this: Theory and practice. The theory bit is simple enoough. Just go to a relevant credible internet source and read up on the boss you’re about to solo – Wowhead is an excellent source for a lot of information on the experience of the encounter from other players. I learned a lot about Hogger perusing the comments.
The more practical bit is a little bit dangerous but might turn out to be a very exciting adventure. Now, some classes are better suited for “cloak and shadow” than others, so for the practical surveillance part I decided to call on an old friend.
Sheylah the Rogue, Special Operative of SI:7, a very experienced information gatherer and occasional agent for “wet work”. For Hogger, I decided to break up the surveillance bit into two parts: Aerial surveillance and close encounter surveillance.
The aerial part obviously only works with outdoor bosses (or bosses not instanced – meaning those not in a dungeon or raid environment). I decided to make a low altitude fly-by first, scouting out possible hotspots for trouble.
“Target aquired.”
What I learned proved very useful once I sent Sheylah in. She air dropped from high altitude into the water some distance away from Hogger and very carefully made her way towards the objective. In order to make it easier for the final kill, a few guards had to be … immobilized.
“Stop licking your daggers, Shey! You’re a night elf, not an orc!”
Execution
Well I just went up to him and smacked him really hard.
The Exodar Sisters 