Boss-Farming by Minion-Ganking

Probably a stupid thing to bring up... but does anyone else use Minion-assistance for boss-farming?


I'm generally too lazy to bother mastering most solo-killing builds for bosses.... so for quite some while I have engaged in the use of a very particular tactic for certain bosses (normal mode only):
With my SS necro (non-farm build or very simple farm build), I take a full herohench party with high damage potential out... and ensure that Olias is set up as MM. I fight my way to the boss in question.... carefully clear out all the normal enemies by ShiftCtrl targeting.... then once only the boss is left, I flag the rest of my party off-map (often right past the boss if aggro has been broken).
The minions are always left behind in combat with the boss.... and as the rest of the party are going off-screen, I throw SS and Insidious Parasite into the mix to hasten the kill.
Sometimes the minions kill the boss before the others can completely leave (usually due to them engaging early before I can flag the others away), and occasionally they all die first and the farm messes up (if I don't cast my own spells early enough).... but generally it seems to work quite well.... and doesn't require a hyper-precise process (it is quite crude).


I have been using it for some while to farm such bosses as Sskai, Dragon's Birth and Jayne Forestlight... and have accumulated quite a number of green weapons this way (several copies of Sskai's Sword, Jayne's Staff and Vera, among others).
I'm hoping to try and get it to work on the Acolyte of Dwayna next.... since I know she CAN be killed by minions this way, though since she is a competant healer it proves much more picky to get the timing right. I might have to use another character that isn't hex-reliant... like my Elementalist (okok, and change his build, since as a Water Ele he IS hex-reliant).

Well, that's an interesting way to do it.

I'd think most farmers wouldn't use this method precisely because, as you said, there's a chance of the henchies not clearing out of the drop zone or killing the boss too early - and the point of farming is, after all, to get all the drops yourself. Typically you put together a build capable of taking down the boss on its own, clear the mob and send henchies away, then engage the boss so there's no chance of foul-ups. Or, in the case of the A/E or E/A, you use the boss's mob against him.

But hey, whatever works for you, man. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

But honestly, all farming builds have some probability of failure... irrespective of how they work. Some are more secure than others... and I have found that typically boss-farming builds are the least secure of the lot.

I like getting help from Minions primarily because it doesn't require a lot of thought nor precise timing. Sometimes I can just casually stand there and let the minions kill the boss without lifting a finger myself! Furthermore, they can be used to assist even with solo-builds if done right. A bit of extra damage on top of what you already do to the boss rarely goes amiss.

Well, plenty of farming builds have, short of an enormous lag spike, or the player not paying any attention and forgetting to renew enchantments, a 0% chance of dying.

Mostly only Ele or Monk though.

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I wouldn't really call an enormous lag spike causing someone to die a fault of the build... and in the case of forgetting to renew enchantments, I wasn't talking about someone losing concentration, I was more talking about someone falling asleep or walking away from the computer. I mean, anyone with... any ability at all (and a stable internet connection) will never die while doing some of the safer runs.

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