pulling ranged foes

I'm pretty new to the game, and got "too much" help from my guild on my first character: they ran me everywhere, it was all a whirlwind and I missed half of what was going on.
So I'm working on a second character (a necro) and I decided to do everything solo (with heroes/henchies). There is nothing like doing a mission by yourself to truly know what's going on. I've been enjoying it quite a bit too, and I'm sure it makes me a better player since I can only count on myself.

Anyway, I'm in Enola Reach, and it's pretty obvious that I can't take on 2 or 3 groups at once. Each group has a Sage in it, and I don't have enough damage to cut down 2 healers + their troops even though I can survive it pretty well.
In order to break the status quo, I need to be able to pull one group at a time to my flagged henchies.

Up until now, I had few problems pulling foes, but I've having a hell of a time in this mission. I think it's because some random patrols have one sage + 2 arcanists, so all of them are ranged:

I flag my henchmen far away (it's amazing how hard it is to prevent them from running in), then approach the group I want to pull, I've been using some random (weak) longbow since the early game for that. Using hte longbow I can get a foe's attention (often the whole group), and they'll close to the limit if their range (the aggro bubble on the radar) and start hitting me at range. I just seem to have the hardest time kiting them: the minute I take a few steps back, even while I keep firing with my bow, they stop getting interested in me and start walking back the other way.

Is there a trick to it? would I have better luck if I used a weapon or spell with an effect that last a while so they don't forget about me so fast (for example Putrid Bile should get their attention)?

It's getting to be a real pain, and since it's a timed mission I don't have all day. Once I finally get the group to engage me at a safe distance from other groups, I can unflag the henchies and level that group in no time (SS+Barbs+MoP+ physical damage henchies is a thing of beauty)

You could try pulling them with your aggro bubble instead of using a bow.

Otherwise, stop shooting, wait for them to start walking back, and then shoot one of them again. This will probably work on a patrol, but not a stationary group.

walking backwards helps keep arggo, if its a patrol wait until they are at the closest part of their route to pull

if heros keep trying to interfere with ur pulling when they are out of bubble range it means they are probally in attack mode, putting them in guard will make it easier

Depending on the group that you are trying to pull, as cognophile said, you could be trying to pull either a patrol or a stationary group.

Stationary groups don't pull very far from their camp point, a bit outside of aggro range, while Patrol groups will follow you further.

Check the Wiki and see what they suggest if you haven't already, their Mission guides are pretty solid, and should have suggestions for using Heroes/Henchies that will help out tremendously.

Lyssa's Luck!

yeah, if u try to pull a static group too far, they will lose aggro. in HM their pull distance is A LOT further, but in NM, it's pretty short. so if ur flagging real far away, might want to move ur henchmen up. also make sure ur heros arent on attack or they will run in soon as u hit with ur bow. might also want to try hitting, backing up, hitting, backing up, etc. if they still won't pull far enough, move a little closer ;-). just be careful and take it easy to avoid over aggro ;-)

If you need company doing the mission old-school-style, I'll come play with you Just doing the mission, killing stuff, etc. It's been a while since I actually waited for the cutscenes and did stuff the right way. Just drop me a message in-game.

The desert missions are a pain to play through with only henchmen, due to the crappy AI they've got. Heroes aren't much better, but at least I can prevent them from going halfway across the map to rez the dead monk instead of healing the DYING one next to them

<-IGN

And because I forgot to add:

To pull in NM, just get close to them so they run towards you, and then go towards your henchies. Don't use speed boosts, and stop every so often. You'll need a survival skill, or a self-heal to keep up with the damage (in case you can't get [protective spirit] and/or [shielding hands] cast on you for the pull). Even so, you won't pull them very far.

I find in that particular mission there is a key set of foes to kill and the rest can be ignored. Don't waste time trying to kill every foe, just those that are certain to cross your path.

Remember after you grab each crystal a new spawns will apear. The fact that they don't all pull far also means they won't all chase you far. This means that after you have the crystal you can escape back to the ghostly hero just by running past some foes. If they follow you all the way it will likely just be one group and you should be able to wipe them easily.

Um here is a different trick...Only use ranged hero's and henchman.

this will prevent some stupid war from running in and getting everyone's attention. This also goes for your minions.

I am going to guess that your minions just run in there too

He uses henchmen, so there are no minions.

Like I said in a different post, there are no stupid questions only stupid answers and Rhiana Reborn takes FIRST PRIZE!!!

The dude is NECRO which means he can have MINIONS. He can flag his henchies all day and the minions will run in and agro.

Please people were here to help. If you have nothing constructive to say.. SHUT UP.

here is the quote... "So I'm working on a second character (a necro)"

WTS Brains.

imnotyourmother, you get a discount.

Read his post again. He is pulling using a bow, which means he's approaching the enemies alone. If he had minions, pulling would be impossible due to the enemies getting stuck on the minions and/or the minions attacking as he attacks.

Furthermore, he has this problem BEFORE battles, which means he has no corpses to create minions from.

You know what, nevermind. I'll just put you on ignore so I don't have to deal with you. If you ever manage to get into positive numbers with your IQ, well, don't tell me, I'll be happy not knowing about it.

One thing to remember too, if you aggro a patrol while engaging a static you can run your yourself out of the static spawn aggro while holding the patrol, since they pursue farther.

Just did that mission again yesterday, and used that technique when I got adds at the bridge.

Once again...First place goes to you know who.

OK 4 words....

Blood of the Master.

So as you can see this will heal for about 100 heath so you can keep the minions alive for quite some time...say even long enough to run a bit..flag hero's and henchies and then "pull a foe"

Um also I can tell that you have never played a necro before cause once you target something and start to shoot it with your arrows...umm the minions you know...run?

oh and they are stupid to. They do not run the moment you start to run either. they will stand there for a second or two and then start to move. This is ample time for the minions to run in and mess the whole works up.

Also he said and I quote, "and start hitting me at range.." and if this is the case then the minions are gone. They will run in at this point and you no longer have control.

Another suggestion might be to raise a bigger army and get the flesh golem and really mash away at them.

Look at post #2