3 man Furnace farming

Anyway - f you ever need a N/Me to experiment with making a 3 or 4 person farm team with, I would be happy to assist I dont think a minion master (or any other nec) really belongs on a 3 person sorrows team. I've heard of it being done, but I think it'd be a tough road to walk.

4 person team a MM fits right in. I would, however, advise changing your secondary to N/Mo N/E or N/R any of which are more effective than N/Me for a minion master. There just aren't mezz skills that really add much to the core mission of building a huge army. Don't say echo, bc glyph of renewal is better for minion master. Don't say energy drain, bc offering of blood is available without going mezz. It really is no more logical than N/W, which thankfully is a combo I never see looking for groups in sorrows. I do see N/Me and I've taken several. Without exception, they have all been extremely weak.

Also I do like a challenge...there are not too many left for me until chapter 2...besides Fissure Armor...working on that. Say that again AFTER you beat the Titan Source quest. . . w/ a 4 man party from Courthouse.

I dont think a minion master (or any other nec) really belongs on a 3 person sorrows team. I've heard of it being done, but I think it'd be a tough road to walk.

4 person team a MM fits right in. I would, however, advise changing your secondary to N/Mo N/E or N/R any of which are more effective than N/Me for a minion master. There just aren't mezz skills that really add much to the core mission of building a huge army. Don't say echo, bc glyph of renewal is better for minion master. Don't say energy drain, bc offering of blood is available without going mezz. It really is no more logical than N/W, which thankfully is a combo I never see looking for groups in sorrows. I do see N/Me and I've taken several. Without exception, they have all been extremely weak. N/Mo is ideal for a MM b/c of the heal area spell.

I would, however, advise changing your secondary to N/Mo N/E or N/R any of which are more effective than N/Me for a minion master. There just aren't mezz skills that really add much to the core mission of building a huge army. Don't say echo, bc glyph of renewal is better for minion master. Don't say energy drain, bc offering of blood is available without going mezz. It really is no more logical than N/W, which thankfully is a combo I never see looking for groups in sorrows. I do see N/Me and I've taken several. Without exception, they have all been extremely weak. I use exactly 0 skills from my secondary profession - blood of master and verata's sacrifice are sufficient to heal my minions, so there is no need for me to take att point away from death, curses, or soul reaping to invest in healing to bring heal area for them. a well-placed mark of pain insures that mobs are dying fast enough that the 2 heals i do bring for my minions are effective. Ive said in other posts (maybe on different forums, i forget what I have posted where) but i just cant see a valid argument against bringing a minion necro when you are looking at a smaller party - why would you not want a party member that can summon more allies and turn the odds in your favor?

I use exactly 0 skills from my secondary profession Ok, so we are in agreement that mesmer does not add anything much a minion master needs. Ok, your preferred use of points is in curses rather than a secondary. Not my thing personally, but I understand and respect the logic. However, what is your elite and is it better than Glyph of Energy from elementalist line which requires no points in a secondary? Perfectly suited for minion masters that use bone fiends. Also, can you spare a slot for glyph of lesser energy, also requires no points? Just some ideas that respect your focus, but might fit right in.

As for 3 person group with minion master, the problem is getting started & recovery after a wipe when your without minions. Also when doing a full clear and not final assault, since there are stretches with few fleshies (mostly ice golems). There is also that patch when doing a full clear when the minions get stuck trying to shoot through a wall and won't move unless someone nukes the mobs through the wall. And there is also, again particularly when doing a full clear, a few places where minions not focusing fire leads to a problem if there isn't an additional strong killing force. But if you can get it to work, great!

Ok, so we are in agreement that mesmer does not add anything much a minion master needs. Ok, your preferred use of points is in curses rather than a secondary. Not my thing personally, but I understand and respect the logic. However, what is your elite and is it better than Glyph of Energy from elementalist line which requires no points in a secondary? Perfectly suited for minion masters that use bone fiends. Also, can you spare a slot for glyph of lesser energy, also requires no points? Just some ideas that respect your focus, but might fit right in.

As for 3 person group with minion master, the problem is getting started & recovery after a wipe when your without minions. Also when doing a full clear and not final assault, since there are stretches with few fleshies (mostly ice golems). There is also that patch when doing a full clear when the minions get stuck trying to shoot through a wall and won't move unless someone nukes the mobs through the wall. And there is also, again particularly when doing a full clear, a few places where minions not focusing fire leads to a problem if there isn't an additional strong killing force. But if you can get it to work, great!
I use this build actually. My Guild and I, normally take a 4 man group. 1 war, 1 ele, 1 Minion, and 1 healer. Works great, we can even take the furnace gaurdians. There are only 3 elites that I would consider for a MM, Spiteful Spirit, Feast of Corruption, or Glyph of Energy. The problem with running spiteful and feast, is that I more than likely have to take out of my death magic and or my soul reaping. Which is not something I want to do, consider I cannot afford to have no energy. Glyph allows me to get a free bone fiend practically. I also do not need any skill points for this skill to work effectively.

Ok, so we are in agreement that mesmer does not add anything much a minion master needs.
Have you ever playing a mm in a pug? Alot of the times, the players cant be bothered to take out the gnashers/binders first. This is where ur secondary, ur mesmer interupts come in EXTREMELY handy. You dun need fastcasting to disable their spells because their spells take around 2 - 3 sec to cast. (however you wont be able to interupt monks) Having that interupt is extremely useful. CoF furthermore is an aoe interupt spell meaning that if on the odd chance that there are a few necro mobs trying to take the body before u, u interupt all of them. As for elites, its really a personal choice as you dun really have energy problems if you have soul reaping and know how to read the game (i.e. well of power,simply waiting etc.)

I dun use spiteful spiri because i like a build designed for spite (a. echo + spite) - that build damage o/p is far higher with maxed curses. I rather have WoP to keep the tank and my horrors alive. But that's just a personal peferance. Some necros go BiP which is another good alternative as it pumps juice into monks. (Though good monks can keep a group of 4-5 alive under most conditions w/o BiP)