so what is up with the drop rates of mission items when you are fighting solo, me and a friend did the game up until celestia, including WT, and neither one of us never got an item from a quest, maybe like 2 times 1 of us didnt get the item, but then i made a myth and fire wizard, and im doing the game solo atm and i have had to kill up to 14 enemies for 1 mission item to drop in firecat alley, its like the game is punishing you for playing solo or something
Okay, let's use a few numbers to answer this query.
Say I'm questing in Firecat Alley as you suggested right? The drop rate of a particular item is say 25%, another mob joins increasing that chance to 50% So, I now have a 50% chance to collect the item and a 50% chance I won't. Another player joins increasing the odds to 75% in my favor and 25% not. So, it all comes down to a matter of simple probability here. The more enemies in a battle, the higher your chances of collecting X Item.
Note that these numbers are just for example purposes and do not actually represent the actual % the game employs.
However, let's not forget about luck. Often times, luck may not be on your side, resulting in you falling in the section % of not collecting the item. It's aggravating, I know. It's a reason why the game encourages group play so much, it's easier.