In regards to Destiny 2, my playtime is limited. I have not been there from the Destiny 1 days, but since Season of the Lost, I have found myself engrossed in Destiny 2. As a result, I am looking to do everything I possibly can do, within reason, of course. I am not the type to solo a Grandmaster Nightfall, not a chance. However, soloing dungeons is something I have been doing for the last few months and is something I say I am competent at doing. The idea behind this article is not to brag but rather to discuss misconceptions regarding soloing dungeons as well as tips I have that helped me in my journey.

The first is that you have to be the best of the best to solo dungeons, and sure it is not for everyone, but this is not true. I would never consider myself to be at the top of Destiny 2 players, and yet here I am, having solo’d every dungeon except for Pit of Heresy. To solo a dungeon, you need two things: practice and confidence. It does come down to that. The best part about this is that the more your practice, the more confident you will get in any dungeon. An example from my experiences with how much confidence affects your play comes from the Pit of Heresy dungeon. After the chamber of suffering encounter, there is a drop with spikes, lanterns, and beams that impede your progress. Colliding with any of these can lead to a swift death, and recently it has been that way for me. It started as a joke after the first death during a run with friends, but now it is a serious problem for me. Something so small as being unable to survive a drop with spikes has hurt my confidence, and I am scared even before I reach the drop. As I complete the chamber of suffering encounter, I think to myself, “oh shit it’s the drop now”.

Inevitably you will fail a lot while learning encounters, even if you have done the dungeon hundreds of times with friends. Going in solo is a whole new ball game. It may seem easy to survive with friends, but when you’re solo, anything and everything will try to stop you. I do not just mean the enemies, but yourself as well. Every failure or mistake will play on your mind; the best advice is not to let it eat away at you as much as possible. I know this is much easier said than done, I’ve been there, but once you let the mistakes get to you, your confidence will drop, which makes the encounters much harder.

The next point may surprise some, and some may disagree with me, but I wholeheartedly believe in this. You do not need the most optimal weapons and build to solo dungeons. Of course, going into a dungeon with only blue gear will significantly decrease your chances, but there is still a possibility. Find the build and weapons you feel most comfortable with for each encounter in each dungeon. You can look to others for guidance on what is optimal, but at the end of the day, it needs to be your comfort. If you are not comfortable running an invisible hunter build but are more comfortable running a roll on your ass and punching everything as a top tree arc hunter, by all means, go for it. Not being confident in your build will inherently drop your confidence since you do not have the practice of staying alive on that build. Running a build more often allows you to get used to ability rotations, and each one works down to a tee.

Furthermore, do not be scared to take a break. If you have been on an encounter for hours and have yet to proceed, take a break, it will be good for you. Sometimes all you need is that mental reset or something to eat or drink. Suddenly, those mistakes you were making appear less and less. That break can also be a whole week. It is important to know that at every weekly reset, checkpoints get reset as well, so if you do this, understand that you will start from the very beginning.

Ultimately the importance of soloing dungeons, at least for me, is not necessarily for the loot you get or to brag to others but rather to prove to myself that I can do it. I have always been someone that has struggled with confidence issues in everything I do, and every time I complete an encounter, let alone the whole dungeon, my confidence grows exponentially. Sure the positive appraisal from others reassures me that what I have done is amazing, but it is not a requirement.

For those wanting to attempt soloing dungeons but think you are not good enough, please do so. You will become capable of doing so over time, be patient and trust yourself that you will inevitably succeed. Good luck out there, and see you on the other side!