Guild Wars 2

Long time ago, Bhawb and other expert minion masters invented some tricks/tips around the minions AI bug . Can you post the most effective/easiest ways to force our minions to attack when ever we want ?

Reaper Rise! skill is an amazing one, I know that many MM will use it, but what minion utility will you sacrifice for it ? boon fiend got the lowest hp , armor , damage and lifesteal . five horrors are definitely superior especially when combined with the new death nova.

The Minion command skills are the most effective way, it also helps to open a fight with an enemy selected and to hit them with a single target attack.

I’d replace the wurm since reaper shroud has built in stability.

striker.3704:

The Minion command skills are the most effective way, it also helps to open a fight with an enemy selected and to hit them with a single target attack.

I’d replace the wurm since reaper shroud has built in stability.

I don’t use wurm , I just use boon/shadow/blood fiends , boon minion and flesh golem. boon fiend seems the worst.

I’d replace shadow fiend. Bone fiends have double attacks, so that’s twice the lifesteal. Plus they’re ranged so will attack more, they cripple, they have a nice immobilize, and their attacks can cause weakness in all the poison fields you drop.

Shadow fiends do more damage but their special attack has a horrible delay. It provides a nice amount of lifeforce but it’s not really needed with mm anyway.

striker.3704:

The Minion command skills are the most effective way, it also helps to open a fight with an enemy selected and to hit them with a single target attack.

I tried that a lot, however they kept staring at me

Often times the bug is introduced when you jump from target to target too fast, or you attack (and hit)nah enemy while the minions are a certain distance from the enemy. One way to fix it is to allow your minions to catch up before you engage and slash at the air with the enemy targeted to ensure that they attack first, then follow with them. If you do this get get used to it, it becomes a lot less frustrating.

A bigger issue is that in pvp you don’t always have that luxury of time and more can go wrong that’s out of your hands entirely.

As others said, if they get messed up in close range, often times active abilities will fix it. If that doesn’t work, pull the enemy to them, as flesh golem will still often attack if you pull the enemy to him (it’s a parking issue more than an engaging issue).

The Demonic Spirit.3157:

Long time ago, Bhawb and other expert minion masters invented some tricks/tips around the minions AI bug . Can you post the most effective/easiest ways to force our minions to attack when ever we want ?

Unlike back in the day when Bas and I made a huge list on how to overcome aggro, ANet has since “fixed” those issues, and in the process removed the guaranteed aggro mechanics.

The Demonic Spirit.3157:

Reaper Rise! skill is an amazing one, I know that many MM will use it, but what minion utility will you sacrifice for it ? boon fiend got the lowest hp , armor , damage and lifesteal . five horrors are definitely superior especially when combined with the new death nova.

Bone Fiend has very high armor, and HP is pretty similar among all utility minions. Also, all utility minions except Flesh Wurm effectively have the same attack speed, Bone Fiend hits twice with his AA which is on a 3s rotation, Bone Minions both attack once every 3s, and Shadow Fiend attacks every 1.5s. Flesh Wurm is the “worst” at once every 3.5s, but Wurm is easily the most important.

However, Rise! won’t be used commonly. It requires MMs to be in types of fights that they don’t want to be in, and completely passive damage/death novas don’t compare to the on-demand poison/cleave/burst of Bone Minions, the immobilize and finishers of Bone Fiend, or the stun break/movement of Flesh Wurm. Rise! will be used more on condi MM, and probably more on “troll” builds.

ronpierce.2760:

Often times the bug is introduced when you jump from target to target too fast, or you attack (and hit)nah enemy while the minions are a certain distance from the enemy. One way to fix it is to allow your minions to catch up before you engage and slash at the air with the enemy targeted to ensure that they attack first, then follow with them. If you do this get get used to it, it becomes a lot less frustrating.

This is pretty much it. The key to making sure they don’t bug is understanding that their bugs are due to pathing issues. So try to think of things from their perspective, if there isn’t a clear path to the target that they can follow, its probably a good idea to wait to aggro them. You can also try to summon the melee ones after you are at the fight instead of before, and their actives will reset their aggro which can fix them.

Bhawb.7408:

The Demonic Spirit.3157:

Reaper Rise! skill is an amazing one, I know that many MM will use it, but what minion utility will you sacrifice for it ? boon fiend got the lowest hp , armor , damage and lifesteal . five horrors are definitely superior especially when combined with the new death nova.

Bone Fiend has very high armor, and HP is pretty similar among all utility minions. Also, all utility minions except Flesh Wurm effectively have the same attack speed, Bone Fiend hits twice with his AA which is on a 3s rotation, Bone Minions both attack once every 3s, and Shadow Fiend attacks every 1.5s. Flesh Wurm is the “worst” at once every 3.5s, but Wurm is easily the most important.

However, Rise! won’t be used commonly. It requires MMs to be in types of fights that they don’t want to be in, and completely passive damage/death novas don’t compare to the on-demand poison/cleave/burst of Bone Minions, the immobilize and finishers of Bone Fiend, or the stun break/movement of Flesh Wurm. Rise! will be used more on condi MM, and probably more on “troll” builds.

What minions utilities do you normally use ? As for Rise! , you said that MM should avoid muti foes fights ,but isn’t that what Reaper is about ? Using both staff and greatsword , we can kill five foes at once easily. Mark of evasion/blood + horrors ( from rise! and death nova ) attacks will guarantee perma Blood Bond proc, not to mention their huge lifesteal (6/7 x ) which they will grant me from Vampiric trait , they will also grant (6/7 x ) life force via Soul Comprehension. Besides , won’t Flesh of the Master , blood bond, Vampiric Presense and aoe regeneration almost keep horrors alive all the time ?

Reapers with shouts will be, but MM won’t. The Jagged Horrors from Rise! will die instantly, essentially being worse versions of Bone Minions, but more of them at once.

Bone Minions, Bone Fiend, and Flesh Wurm are staples. Bone Fiend paired with dagger and old DS allows for very long chains of the strongest CC in the game (immobilize), Bone Minions are by far the best Death Nova users in the game, and Flesh Wurm is required both as a stun break and because of its movement. Shadow Fiend is bad because of his active, Rise! is bad because its a more passive worse version of Bone Minions (it is literally the same minions per period of time as Summon Bone Minions, but strictly worse due to not being on demand, less damage, and no finisher).