With MMORPGs and multiplayer games in general taking the spotlight as of late, the topic of whether the decades-old genre should be played solo at all. However, FOMO is real, and every big AAA studio wants your money. Therefore, Blizzard has stepped up to give an official guide on how to get started as a solo player in World of Warcraft, especially with its newest expansion, The War Within, featuring new solo content.
Of course, the start of the game is heavy on solo play as you go through tutorials. Once you breach level 10 in Exile’s Reach and finish the first dungeon, accompanied by NPCs, you can step into the Dragonflight expansion and play that story through solo. The dungeons for this and The War Within feature a “Follower Dungeon” that fills in four NPCs, and with “Dungeon Assistance,” you can let the NPCs set the pace, toggleable at any time.
The War Within shows that Blizzard is going a step further than this, even, and now leans into a few more pieces of solo content. In the new expansion’s story, you can take on certain raids in a new “Story Mode” that brings you in with nine automated NPCs, letting you enjoy the battle and story with none of the anxiety of the
There’s also the introduction of the Delves, the mini-dungeons which seem to replace some of the more traditional grind for rare items. Doable solo or in small pre-made groups (though with no queue compatibility), they take about 10-15 minutes and have a mixed bag of encounter types, rewarding players with not only experience, but also gear all the way up to Heroic levels.
Also, they recommend you just turn off chat. Period. Use that block button. Solid advice for any online game, really.
WoW is certainly not the first to push towards solo content for those who want to experience the lore of a historic game, and it's generally interesting to see studios try to get at that angle.
