In 2.6.0 we officially introduced support for Solo Self Found (SSF) in Path of Exile. In this mode, you can't party up with or trade with other players. Comparing the data we gather between the regular Legacy Leagues (that is with partying and trade enabled), and the SSF leagues has been particularly interesting. We thought you'd also like to see some of this information.

For reference, around 10% of our players opted to play in the Solo Self Found leagues. One clear takeaway from our data was that players in the SSF leagues are significantly more likely to opt for Hardcore, but that was not the only notable difference.

First, let's take a look at the top ascendancy class choices. Keep in mind that for both the regular and SSF sets of leagues we have combined the data of the standard and hardcore leagues. We have also limited the data to characters who have reached at least level 80.



The data shows that Necromancer is a strong choice regardless of item accessibility. The same is true for the Elementalist, Berserker, Inquisitor, and to a lesser degree, the Assassin.

Pathfinder does not appear at all in the SSF list. You wouldn't necessarily know that if you strictly looked at the most popular uniques however:



Atziri's Promise remains the dominant unique in both leagues. Two months in, the flask is widely available and affordable for people who want to trade, and can be farmed reliably by those who can't trade. Flasks make a strong showing in general across both variants however, with flasks taking four of the top 10 spots on both lists.

The quest reward unique jewels make a showing in SSF. Traditionally these are quickly replaced by other uniques or strong rares.

While the uniques on the trade-enabled leagues clearly skew towards favouring energy shield over life, energy shield as a mechanic relies too heavily on specific items for it to remain dominant in SSF. Instead, the SSF list signals a good mix of life and ES builds.

Now let's take a look at which skills are being used the most:



The utility that the Ancestral Warchief provides is very alluring no matter what your item availability is. The totem, providing an extra body, a boost in damage, and only really requiring a decent weapon to be effective, takes the top spot on both the trade-enabled leagues and SSF.

Both lists actually show a very large amount of overlap, with seven skills sharing spots on both top 10 lists. Spectral Throw, Blade Flurry, Barrage, notably all weapon-reliant, make their appearance on the trade-enabled leagues, while Firestorm, Earthquake and Raise Spectre, arguably less item-reliant, appear on the SSF list.

Many of these skills are used in builds which utilise double-dipping, so it will be very interesting to see which skills make the top 10 after the launch of 3.0.0.