Playing Solo Chapter 9: Common Solo Scenarios
Applying the rules of solo survival under pressure. Learn the best responses to squad kills, flanking squads, weight limits, and combat variables.
The previous chapters explained the principles of solo play: information, movement, positioning, combat control, looting discipline, extraction planning, and consistency. This chapter applies those ideas to common raid situations.
These are not strict scripts. The correct decision can change depending on map, gear, timing, health, and enemy behavior. The goal is not to memorize one answer for every situation. The goal is to understand the thinking process behind each decision.
You Kill One Member of a Squad
Situation: You kill one player and suspect he has teammates nearby.
The first mistake is treating the body as immediate loot. A kill creates value, but it also creates pressure. His teammates may want to recover his gear, hide his weapon, confirm your position, or punish you for staying nearby.
Do not run straight to the body unless you are certain the area is controlled.
Instead, treat the body as leverage. Move away from the exact angle you used. Watch the paths leading toward the body. Listen for footsteps, grenades, healing, or movement. If a teammate tries to recover the gear, punish the recovery attempt from a safer position.
If the situation allows, you can quickly remove the weapon or take a small survival upgrade, but do not deep-loot while the fight is still active. The longer you search, the more vulnerable you become.
Reposition, control the body indirectly, and only loot when the area is safe enough.
The kill is useful only if it does not become the reason you die.
You Hear a Squad Before They Hear You
Situation: You hear multiple players moving, looting, or fighting AI, but they do not know you are nearby.
This is one of the strongest positions a solo player can have. You have information, and they do not. Do not throw that advantage away by shooting immediately without thinking.
Use the Observe, Think, Execute rule.
Observe first. Count footsteps if possible. Watch their gear, direction, spacing, and behavior. Are they moving toward a point of interest? Are they separated? Are they looting? Are they about to enter open ground? Is one player lagging behind?
Then think. Can your current weapon and ammo handle them? Is your position strong? Do you have an escape route? Will shooting attract another team? Are you about to create a fight you can actually finish?
Only execute if the fight makes sense.
Sometimes the correct play is to let the squad pass. They may clear AI, reveal danger, fight another team, or show you a safer route. A squad that does not know about you can be more useful as information than as enemies.
Observe before shooting, engage only if the fight is favorable, and do not be afraid to let them pass.
Seeing the enemy first is an advantage. Do not waste it.
You Are Being Pushed by Multiple Players
Situation: A squad knows where you are and starts closing distance.
This is dangerous because the enemy is trying to turn the fight into a numbers problem. If you stay in one place and let them collapse from multiple angles, you will probably lose control.
Your first goal is to avoid fighting the whole squad at once.
Use utility to slow them down. Gas can delay a doorway or hallway. Smoke can block one angle and reduce how many players can see you. Lethal grenades can force movement or stop a push long enough for you to reposition. A stun can check whether someone is already close before you swing.
Look for the isolated player. Squads often send one person to flank or pressure first. If you can catch that player before the rest can support him, you turn the push into a temporary 1v1.
If you cannot isolate anyone, disengage. Break line of sight, move perpendicular to their expected angle, and avoid running directly into predictable routes. If you have an exit plan, use it before the squad fully surrounds you.
Controlled aggression can work if they are overconfident, but do not confuse it with panic. Swing because it creates space or punishes the first player, not because you feel trapped.
Slow the push with utility, isolate one player if possible, and leave before their information becomes complete.
Do not fight the squad as a squad.
You Are Overweight After Looting
Situation: You looted a player or area and now your movement is worse.
Weight changes the raid. A fight that was manageable before may become dangerous if you are slow, low on stamina, and unable to reposition properly.
First, reassess your route. If you are carrying enough value, extraction should become more important. Avoid unnecessary fights, open crossings, and long rotations through active areas. Start moving earlier than you normally would, because heavy movement takes more time and creates more risk.
If you are forced to fight, consider dropping your backpack before taking the angle. This gives you better movement and may make the fight less awkward. If you survive, you can return to the bag. If you die, at least you fought with the best mobility available.
If you have strength or endurance tools, this is where they matter. A strength booster can help carry value. An endurance booster or energy drink can help with rotations and extraction timing.
Do not keep looting just because there is still space. More loot is not always better if it makes you too slow to survive.
Shift toward extraction, avoid optional fights, and drop the backpack before combat if weight limits your movement.
Loot is only valuable if it leaves with you.
Your Armor Is Damaged
Situation: You survived a fight, but your protection is no longer reliable.
Do not treat surviving a fight as a full reset. Your armor, helmet, and face shield may still be equipped, but that does not mean they can protect you the same way they did before.
Check your durability after taking damage. This is especially important for face shields. If a face shield is still above roughly half of its original durability, it may still save you from one more shot, but it should not be trusted for repeated hits. Anything below that becomes increasingly unreliable.
Damaged armor changes what fights you can take. A fair fight that was risky before may now be a terrible idea. Avoid holding obvious head angles, avoid unnecessary close-range fights, and do not assume your gear will save you again.
If you can safely replace damaged armor from a body, do it. If you cannot, adjust your play. Move more carefully, take fewer fights, and consider extracting if the value in your bag is already worth saving.
Reassess your combat readiness, replace gear if possible, and stop taking fights as if your armor is fresh.
Damaged protection creates false confidence.
You Hear Gunfire Near Your Route
Situation: You hear shots near the direction you planned to move.
Gunfire is information. Do not ignore it, but do not chase it automatically either.
Turn toward the sound, then open your map when you are safe. Your character icon shows the direction you are facing, which can help you estimate where the shooting may be coming from. Check nearby points of interest, common routes, and extraction paths in that direction.
Then reassess.
- Is the fight blocking your route?
- Is it near a point of interest you planned to enter?
- Could the surviving players rotate toward your path?
- Is this an opportunity to third-party, or is it better to avoid the area?
If you choose to investigate, do not run directly toward the sound. Move beside common routes, approach from an unexpected angle, and listen before entering the area. If you choose to avoid it, commit to a different route early instead of drifting too close by accident.
Sometimes gunfire is an opportunity. Sometimes it is a warning.
Use the map to estimate the fight location, decide whether it affects your route, and choose to investigate, avoid, or continue with intention.
The worst option is moving toward noise without a plan.
Closing Thought
Most solo situations are not solved by one perfect rule. They are solved by asking better questions under pressure.
- What do I know?
- What am I assuming?
- What changed?
- Can I leave?
- Is this fight worth creating?
If you can keep answering those questions during a raid, you are no longer reacting to chaos. You are reading the raid and making decisions with intent.