Test of Cunning Barya: Solo vs. Party – Which Reigns Supreme

[Uriah]

When comparing solo versus party play in the Test of Cunning Barya within Path of Exile 2’s Trial of the Sekhemas, both approaches have distinct advantages and challenges, making neither strictly superior but rather situationally preferable.

Solo Play Advantages
- Full Control: Playing solo grants you complete command over your character’s movement and combat decisions, which is crucial in the Test of Cunning where precise positioning and trap avoidance are vital.
- Faster Decision-Making: Without needing to coordinate with others, you can react instantly to traps and enemy patterns, reducing the risk of miscommunication-induced deaths.
- Streamlined Progression: Solo players can tailor their build and gear specifically for the trial’s demands, optimizing mobility and survivability without compromise.

Party Play Advantages
- Shared Responsibilities:In a party, players can split tasks such as crowd control, trap triggering, and boss damage, potentially speeding up clear times.
- Diverse Builds: Parties benefit from complementary classes and skills, such as one player focusing on tanking or crowd control while others handle damage or healing.
- Shared Honour Pool: However, honour (a unique life gauge in the trial) is shared among party members, meaning damage taken by one affects all. This shared resource demands coordinated play to avoid collective failure.

Challenges in Party Play
- Coordination Required: The trial’s traps and afflictions require synchronized movement and communication to avoid unnecessary honour loss.
- Increased Risk: One player’s mistake can reduce the entire party’s honour, making the group more vulnerable to failure.
- Relic and Buff Sharing: Bonuses from relics placed on the altar apply to the whole party, which can be beneficial but requires consensus on which relics to use.

- Solo for Precision and Control: If you prefer meticulous control and minimizing risk, solo play is often the better choice for the Test of Cunning Barya, especially given the trial’s emphasis on mobility and trap avoidance.
- Party for Speed and Synergy: If your group is well-coordinated and built to complement each other, party play can reduce completion time and ease combat challenges, but requires strong communication and teamwork.

Solo play reigns supreme for players valuing precision and control in navigating the Test of Cunning’s hazards, while party play shines when a coordinated team leverages diverse builds to share the workload and accelerate progression. Your choice depends on your preferred playstyle and group dynamics.