Learn to Save the City on Your Own
Welcome Justice League! The world is getting more dangerous, and we are hoping to allow more of you to complete missions solo. After a couple of tests, we will determine which of you will be able to get authorization to go on your own missions. We will form assessments on who will be able to take the most dangerous of missions. - Superman
DC Universe Online is a very collaborative game with most On-Duty missions needing other people to complete them. But, there are various opportunities for you to be a solo hero, so you will need to be able to handle yourself without people.
10. Mental
Mental heroes can read your mind and make your worst nightmares come to life.
Mental is definitely my favorite power, among them all, but it is really best for a support role. Your telepathic hero will be able to spam Psychic Shock to be able to continuously chip away at your target’s health and any other enemies within range of the target. This attack does not give a lot of damage by itself, but it is a great way to quickly get rid of various enemies at once.
But, this is not the only move that hits various opponents. Most Mental long-distance moves including Pyrokinesis and Cryokinesis also will affect other nearby opponents, by burning or freezing them respectively.
But one of the best parts of the Mental hero is the ability to hide from weaker opponents with Invisibility. Plus, there are additional abilities that can be used while Invisible which are a Pain Blast and Sleep abilities. Sleep stuns your opponents, but it does not break your invisibility. Pain Blast does a bit more damage, but you become visible again.
There are a lot of cool moves which make Mental a viable option for solo play. While it is far from the best, some options will lead you to fight with the best of them, especially if you want to defeat a lot of enemies at once.
What Psychic Excels In
- Repetitive, Low Power Cost, Spammable Moves Against Multiple Opponents
- Distance Fighting
Best Psychic Moves
- Psychic Shock
- Cryokinesis
- Psychic Shield
9. Ice
While Jack Frost may be nipping at yor nose, at least his ice won't completely impale you.
Do you wanna build a snowman? If Elsa can defeat a few soldiers on her own, your Ice hero can too. There’s no need to fear because your defenses won’t be easily taken down. Ice is one of the powers that can take more damage due to amazing defense buffs and shields.
The ability Ice Armor is activated when you use a shield. This powerful innate ability buffs your defenses by 35%. If that wasn’t enough, the move Ice Elemental can also power you up. If you are a DPS role, it will increase your damage output, but if you are a tank, it will further fortify your defenses.
`When in battle, you can damage your nearby enemies with Cold Snap which will chip away at your opponents’ health while you are hitting them with your weapon and close-up moves. The move Bitter Winds will summon a similar gust of wind, but it will also knock your opponents back who may be getting too close.
The best and strongest moves are the ones that are vulnerable to being interrupted. But with strong defenses and the ability to chip away health, the ice build will be able to handle dealing with some heavy hitters without a problem.
What Ice Excels In
- Strong Defense
- Some Power Moves
- Good Moves to Chip Away at Enemy Health
Best Ice Moves
- Cold Snap
- Ice Elemental
- Glacier Flash
8. Light
“Beware my power - Green Lantern’s Light.” If your job is to protect the peace of the universe as some sort of intergalactic space police, you are going to need to be able to handle some jobs solo. While it seems like all Earth’s Green Lanterns join teams like the Justice League and Justice Society, they can handle problems on their own.
With a variety of combos, your Hard Light hero will be able to create some powerful moves to end your opponents. Wielding a power ring is no joke, and it requires a lot of practice to master. Almost all moves can be chained to make combinations that will be a force to be reckoned with.
The moves on their own will do decent damage or add additional effects to provide you with some greater strength. The move Chompers cancanon to, hit multiple targets with an extremely low cooldown time to allow you to spam it continuously. But, there are even more cool powers.
With great moves and combination potential, the Light hero will be able to complete missions and tasks on their own without needing backup. Your willpower will be enough to handle the hardest of missions.
What Light Excels In
- Creative Combos
- Good at Close-Up and Distance Fighting
- Additional Effects
Best Light Moves
- Chompers
- Restore
- Triage
- Boxing
7. Earth
We will, we will rock you. Earth heroes are powerhouses and heavy hitters. With heroes like Terra, it is obvious to see how powerful these heroes can be. With some rock hard hits, there will be no problem for your Earth hero to go on missions solo.
Earth heroes are great for DPS and Tank roles. Some powerful moves will work differently whether you are Damage or a Tank, but there are various great combinations regardless of which you choose.
With summonable Golems, you will be able to rock the enemy (and it will save you from being lonely on those hard solo missions). These Golems can strengthen your defenses or help you attack. As a Tank, you will also receive another ability called Earthen Bond when you summon a Brick Golem. This will transfer a bit of damage to the Golem instead of you.
But Earth can still handle itself with some powerful moves and abilities. Shard is able to knock your enemies in the air with a decent amount of damage. It is much harder to attack you when you’re being forced into the air with some powerful rocks. Plus, various moves can have bonus effects (also known as Aftershocks) after you tap the melee button when you use a move. With mountainous potential, the Earth hero can handle the strongest of foes on their own.
What Earth Excels In
- Great Melee
- Able to Summon Golems
Best Earth Moves
- Epicenter
- Stone
- Brick Golem
6. Electricity
After our talks about aftershocks, we will now move onto a different type of shock. This electrifying power is one of the best in the game. Your magnetic personality isn’t the only thing that draws people in because with moves like Attract, your powers will force your opponents to fight you up close. But if they seem too clingy, you also have moves to push them away as well.
But that’s not all because you can protect yourself and heal from damage that these opponents dealt when they were close to you. The shield Flux will protect you from damage while you use Bioelectric Surge, Recover, or Ionic Drain to recover your health.
Once you’re back up to snuff, use moves like Shockwave, Voltaic Blast, and Voltaic Bolt to deal damage to your opponents. Much like Mental, these moves are best for large groups of enemies as opposed to a single target. But what sets Electric apart from Mental is its ability to heal when in a pinch.
When your Electric hero’s back is against the wall, you can repel the enemy, shield, recover, and fight from a distance. Strategy and skill is the name of the game. With the right combinations, Electric is a force to be reckoned with, able to handle solo missions effectively.
What Electric Excels In
- Distance Attacks
- Shields and Heals
Best Electric Moves
- Voltaic Bolt
- Recover
5. Munitions
And they say that I have an explosive temper!
“Are those fireworks?”
“No, they are just more explosions from the newest Munitions hero,” replies the Leaguer who is overseeing your training. I hope you don’t have an explosive temper (but perhaps that would lead you to have another power). Your opponents need to beware nonetheless because you are taking no prisoners.
Your Munitions expert will burn and stun enemies with huge moves, and who blames them? If I saw a huge explosion nearly wipe out my allies, I would be stunned too. Munitions moves seem over the top with big fiery blasts like Splosion, but with the sizable damage output, it makes sense.
The Gadgets hero is able to handle various enemies at once with moves like Five Barrel Minigun and the aforementioned Splosion. This will handle enemies, whether close or far. Even when your move has a specific target, most of the Munitions moves will also impact other foes nearby your target.
Munitions may be over-the-top, but the results speak for themself. The ruin that lay before you is a result of the powerful moves from the Munitions hero. Not only was the solo mission completed successfully, but there is not an enemy in sight that was able to withstand the chaos that is before you.
What Munitions Excels In
- Giant Explosive Moves Able to Hit Multiple Opponents
- Good Damage
Best Munitions Moves
- Multi-Net Launcher
- Rocket-Retreat/ Rocket Jump
4. Gadgets
There are various heroes and villains who do not need powers to operate. Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl, the Robins, and everyone else in the Bat-family that laughs when Batman says he works alone are all capable battlers able to complete missions on their own. When you look at anti-hero Catwoman, she doesn’t need an entire team to steal priceless artifacts because she is a capable battler on her own.
Your Gadgeteer is no different. With a wide array of tools at your disposal, there are few obstacles that you will face that are insurmountable. No solo mission is truly solo with your trustee summonable Battle Drone at your disposal. It will fight with you, allowing you to get rid of enemies faster.
Your sneaky gadgets will be able to suffice if you were unable to summon your Battle Drone. With extra effects for almost every attack, your enemies need to prepare for every worst-case scenario. You can burn, electrify, induce frostbite, stun, daze, and panic enemies. Sometimes, your enemies experiencing one of these conditions will take extra damage when hit by certain moves.
But, let’s not discount the defensive tactics that you can employ. With Stealth, you will be able to hide from your foes before catching them off guard with a powerful Surprise Attack. Just like with Mental’s Invisibility, many moves will break your stealth mode, but there are a few that will keep you hidden after using them like Thermite Mine, Implosion Mine, and Cuff ‘Em.
You also have a supercharge to envelop enemies in a Stasis Field to prevent your opponents from attacking for a while. Then, you can use a Holographic Decoy as a distraction for others while you prepare your strongest attack. Because with the Self-Destruct Signal, you will detonate the Stasis shields and the Holographic Decoy obliterating all those within its range.
Ultimately, Gadgets has a lot of tricks of the trade that will be useful regardless of which one you choose to use. You have control over the scenario, just like you were taught by the master of Gadgets himself. Your solo missions will be a breeze with the right tools, especially for a Stealth and infiltrate mission.
What Gadgets Excels In
- Additional Effects from Conditions
- Being Able to Sneak with Stealth
- Battle Drone Pet
Best Gadgets Moves
- Holographic Decoy
- Stealth
- Battle Drone
3. Nature
Do you have a call to the wild? If you want to be able to take on a wide range of enemies, you will need to be able to utilize a wide variety of skills. The best thing about the Nature hero is the ability to transform into various animals with different strengths and weaknesses.
You will be able to change fighting styles based on the enemies that you are facing. When you transform, you will be able to have different moves for that form. This effectively doubles the amount of usable moves. This may increase the difficulty as you will have to adjust movesets mid-battle, but it also allows you to make changes based on the needs you have in the mission.
The Gorilla form will let you become the new King of the Jungle with some stronger defenses and damage output. It is a slow but heavy hitter. If you would rather be a bit speedier, the Primal Wolf is a great option that may not increase your defense, but your quick attacks will leave the opponents knocked out before they realize what hit them.
I’m more of a fan of distance fighting, and even though the Insectoid Form is meant for healing, its hand blaster abilities and flying capabilities are perfect for fighting long-range. But the real shocker is the Canine form with its new unique powers and increased power regeneration, this will allow you to completely change fighting styles and maybe get help from fellow dogs to Dogpile the enemy.
And yet even with the amazing transformations, the Nature hero still has even more potential. There are a variety of great moves and effects still yet to explore. With certain moves, you will have the ability to poison your enemies to chip away at their health. The move Serpent Call is one such move that temporarily restricts your opponents which also has the added effect of poisoning.
At first glance, Nature seems to be an average power choice, but with options to change style and chip away at enemies’ health, there is much about this power to let it stand out compared to other powers. Your Nature hero will have nothing to worry about as it annihilates your enemies.
What Nature Excels In
- Able to Effectively Double (or More) Usable Moves for a Build
- Transformations to Change Weapon Type and Movement Style
- Poisoning Foes
Best Nature Powers
- Gorilla Form, Canine Form, Primal Wolf Form
- Serpent’s Call
- Harvest
2. Fire
Here’s my hot take! Fire is the bomb. It is one of the hottest powers right now. All jokes aside, Fire is a really good solo role, whether you are clearing as a Tank or as a DPS role.
The brilliance behind the top 2 roles is its strength in conjunction with the power to self-heal. Some of the most powerful damaging fire moves can lead to healing for the hot-blooded hero.
Moves like Backdraft and Absorb Heat deal damage to opponents while simultaneously healing you. Supercharge Eternal Flame will even heal you when you’re being attacked. But if you are trying to keep your distance from your enemies, there are options to simply self-heal. Stoke Flame and Burnout are easy ways to simply get a bit of health during trying battles.
Fire also has powerful moves for both single targets and groups. Meteors can do a lot of damage in real life, so it would make sense that a fiery meteor will endanger many of your foes. Also, Spontaneous Combustion is sure to cause destruction, especially after an explosion. But if there’s only one enemy who has caught your attention, surely a singular Fireball won’t make too much ruckus.
It’s a new day, and the future is bright for the Fire hero. Hopefully, no buildings will be set on fire, but you should do an extremely good job on a solo mission, especially since you won’t need a Healer when you are healing yourself with attacks.
What Fire Excels In
- Self-Healing
- Distance Fighting
- Good at Tanking and DPS
Best Fire Moves
- Immolation
- Backdraft
- Enflame
1. Rage
These RAGE villains need to go to an anger mangagment class.
The number one spot goes to a power with heavy damage, self-healing, powerful melee attacks, and punishes enemies to no end. Rage may not be a positive emotion that we want to share with others, but it surely has its use on missions.
Yours is a path of destruction. This melee build is meant to destroy anything in its path with powerful moves to sweep away the enemy. Lacerate and Galling Eruption damage enemies that are all around you. You don’t have to be faced in a certain direction because you will be able to be surrounded and still come out victorious.
And just like fire, there is a powerful self-heal function. The most savagely named moves, Severe Punishment and Without Mercy, heal you based on damage. Without Mercy heals you based on the damage that you deal out, but Severe Punishment will recover a portion of the damage that you receive for 8 seconds. If it sounds too good to be true, it is because all of that recovered damage is simply delayed unless you use a move to lessen or eliminate the damage. But with the proper precautions, you can effectively overcome basic weaknesses.
Not forgetting just how powerful almost all Rage moves are, let’s consider that some Rage moves can hit you from a distance. Imagine trying to stay a distance with your team to avoid damage from the Rage hero, only to get hit by a Rage Blast or Dreadful Blast. Even worse, you could be drawn in with an Eviscerating Chain.
My only worry is that the Rage hero would be a bit too reckless on missions, destroying everything in its path without remorse. The enraged lanterns may be so powerful that we may need to request that they show more restraint for this may truly be the most powerful being in the universe. They may be able to handle solo missions, but we don’t send those heroes on group missions because they can’t do it alone. We send them on those missions so that their teammates may stop them if they lose control.
What Rage Excels In
- Heavy Damage
- Melee Battling
- Self-Healing
Best Rage Powers
- Scar Tissue (as a Tank)
- Remorseless Recovery
- Enrage
All of the powers have great things to offer, but you will need to consider what works for the story you are trying to tell. Your hero will be a part of a larger story. How does he or she fit into the entire picture?
My Mental hero will not be scared away from high-stakes solo missions, and neither should your hero, regardless of what power you choose. Which hero will you assign to the next solo mission? Will it be the Rage Champion or will it be a Nature Master? Tell the story of your hero in the comments.
