Merc's Guide to Multiboxing Followers

[Mercurio]

Introduction
The follower mini-game within the garrisons is actually a lot of fun. In fact, it is so fun that actually doing quests has taken a backseat to messing about with follower missions for me. In fact, though I have 320 level 100 followers, I'm yet to ding 100 on any of my actual characters.

However, the followers will have my characters pretty well decked out when they do hit 100. I have a ton of ilvl 615 gear and an increasing amount of ilvl 630 gear just waiting for each of them when they do.

Getting all the followers leveled up to 100, leveled to epic, then increasing their ilvls will have to be done if you ever want some "free" heroic Highmaul gear out of them. My thought was, "Why not do it now when the 615/630/645 ilvl gear that comes along with the follower progression journey will be meaningful along the way?"

I run ten accounts and have gotten through Shadowmoon Valley on three teams. With mouse broadcasting, it is easy to go through the 70 or so mission rewards each team has waiting for them every 90 minutes or so. Then I try to optimize the next set of missions selected for each character's followers, then log on the next team and repeat.

With three teams to go through every couple of hours, I hardly have time to leave my garrison!

At any rate, after having run a ton of missions, here are some thoughts that may be helpful to you if you are enjoying them as much as I am:

Thoughts on Missions

Follower XP missions are your #1 goal - always try to optimize your chance to succeed at them by using counter abilities/terrain bonuses/race bonuses
Almost never run an XP mission if it is higher than the character's level. Have a level 95 follower that is perfect for that level 96 mission? Think twice - it will only net you half the XP if you are successful. Much better to run a level 94 or 93 mission and get the full (if reduced) XP.
Character XP bonuses are nice. I've gained about 3/4 of a level on my characters just by succeeding at these, though I still optimize follower XP missions first.
Ignore the chance to succeed on gold missions - who cares about 20 gold?
Never run 10 hour missions to level up followers unless you are going to be away for 8+ hours. The XP gains are large, but nowhere near as much as running 4-5 regular missions in that amount of time.


Thoughts on Follower Abilities

I believe the best trait combination to shoot for is Epic Mounts and Burst of Power. With lots of followers with these abilities, you will cut your mission time in half while getting a lot of % success bonuses at the same time.
Scavenger is amazing. With a few followers with this trait using it on every salvage mission they can get a >40% success rate on, you will never have to worry about Garrison Resources again. Because they triple resources gained, use a Scavenger over a follower with the right counter for salvage missions. If possible, double up scavengers for even greater gains for multiple follower salvage missions.
High Stamina is nice for the longer missions (most level 100 missions) when you don't have Epic Mounts
Blook (found in Gorond) is one of the best followers available because of his trait that makes all mission success rates higher.
Extra Training is really nice while leveling, but will be useless once your followers are capped.


Thoughts on Buildings

Keep your Garrison as level 1 provides for patrol missions that are better follower XP than regular follower XP missions (look for the spyglass icon)
At level 96, immediately and get a Salvage Yard and upgrade it to level two so all of your follower missions will produce Crates of Salvage and they have a chance to contain follower ilvl upgrades. In fact, these crates are so crucial that you may want to wait to level up your followers at all until you have this. This will mean many more crates created as followers from levels 90-100 finish far more missions than level 100 followers.
At level 98, immediately get a level two inn so you can recruit followers with specific traits. I put together a little spreadsheet for each of my characters listing how many followers have the most important traits: Epic Mount, Burst of Power, Scavenger, and High Stamina. I also listed how many followers have counters to each of the 9 types of boss abilities (Wild Aggression, Group Damage, etc). I think it is best to have the headhunter look for followers with the trait you most need, then select which of the three possible followers based on which ability they have best shores up holes in your counters.


As Lyonheart noted, there is a very cool addon that enhances the garrison mission screens called Master Plan: http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/master-plan

The expansion is still very new - let me know if I've missed anything!

Lastly, Lux pointed me to a Big Bear Butt blog with some similar thoughts on the joys of followers that you might enjoy (World Tuned Upside Down): http://thebigbearbutt.com/

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Neat. I've been foregoing them as they drastically slowed down leveling time but I may have to rethink things. Thanks for the links and info.

[Lyonheart]

The are really good follower mission addons.. Master Plan >>http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/master-plan


Also, the bunker at lvl2 gives follower gear via workorders

[Shodokan]

Level 3 salvage yard can yield 665 epics for you to sell on the AH. They are like a 1% chance from the boxes. So if you have 320 followers doing missions... you're bound to get some.

[Mercurio]

Very cool add on, Lyon. Though it isn't perfect, it definitely improves on WoW's rather lackluster mission interface. The tooltips and auto summaries of counters are really nice.

As as far as the level 2 bunker and level 3 salvage yard, those are both only available at character level 100. I guess those are good enough reasons to actually level my characters to 100.

[Lyonheart]

Very cool add on, Lyon. Though it isn't perfect, it definitely improves on WoW's rather lackluster mission interface. The tooltips and auto summaries of counters are really nice.

As as far as the level 2 bunker and level 3 salvage yard, those are both only available at character level 100. I guess those are good enough reasons to actually level my characters to 100.

There are a few new addons that manage missions.. master plan was the first one i came across. MP also updates a lot.. you used to have to click through each individual mission to complete it, now it auto completes them all for you and gives a list that tells you which ones succeed or failed.. and an option to see what you got.

EDIT: this is a nice little update



Item rewards received from a Garrison invasion now have a chance to be Warforged, contain a socket, or tertiary stats.
Barn: Iron Trap, Improved Iron Trap, and Deadly Iron Trap now have a 15-second cooldown (down from 30 seconds).
Mine Levels 2-3: Mining Carts now contains more Primal Spirits and Archeology fragments. The amount of ore given by each mining node has been adjusted to a more appropriate level.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

I'd be careful with Master Plan. I trolled through the comments section and post-0.3 release people are complaining about losing rewards. Could be just people being idiots but it's worth being careful. ;)
Disregard the above. In point of fact, the 0.3 version wouldn't work properly on my system. The latest build (from curse) works fine. FYI...

[Mercurio]

Yep, I looked through those comments too, Ugh, but after using it on 30 toons a couple of rounds, I can safely say this is just another instance of people raging over bad RNG. Rewards are the same using MP as without it.

[fightcow]

Great post. 320 followers lol wtf :D i have about 20.
But im a bit saddened that 645 and even 665 gear can be had from garrisons.
It feels like they spent so much time and effort on the instances and yet they are almost irrelevant to most people i would think.

youre making me think i shouldnt be skipping the garrisons, seems like its a much bigger part of wod than i thought

[Lyonheart]

Great post. 320 followers lol wtf :D i have about 20.
But im a bit saddened that 645 and even 665 gear can be had from garrisons.
It feels like they spent so much time and effort on the instances and yet they are almost irrelevant to most people i would think.

you're making me think i shouldn't skipping the garrisons, seems like its a much bigger part of wod than i thought

I knew from the start that they "could" be a very important part of WoD. They are in no way mandatory ( once you get them started you can ignore them if you want). BUT your garrison dailies are you fastest route to apexis crystals for gear( also needed for legendary quest line), and if you maximize your followers and buildings, you can reap a ton of benefits, as the examples discussed in this thread show.

I love them, but can understand how they will not appeal to everyone. I just wonder whats coming in the next expansion.. as they have stated that garrisons are a step up in the tech used for farms in MoP, and could be used for player/guild housing in the future. It will be hard to top garrisons though.. they feel like interactive player housing to me already!

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Updated my comments about the versions of the MasterPlan mod, noting that the old version wouldn't even load properly on my unit. Used the latest build some tonight and it seriously speeds up the turn-in process. Now if we could just get a mod that auto-assigned followers with the appropriate abilities to quests (even if I had to keep clicking to do it). ;)

[Lyonheart]

Updated my comments about the versions of the MasterPlan mod, noting that the old version wouldn't even load properly on my unit. Used the latest build some tonight and it seriously speeds up the turn-in process. Now if we could just get a mod that auto-assigned followers with the appropriate abilities to quests (even if I had to keep clicking to do it). ;)


Yea, this stupid mod made doing them so much easier it upped the lvl of addiction for me. I get all excited watching to see if i get little green check marks or ugly red failed messages lol. Great addon for sure!

[Shodokan]

Word of advice... salvage yards can produce unavailable items from previous expansions (such as the scarlet set). So its necessary to have for the best gold making.

[Lyonheart]

Ok.. so the lvl3 salvage yard is a lot of fun.. its like Christmas everyday! so many presents to open everyday! BUT OMG! its a lot of damn work sorting through all the low lvl items you get to find out whats valuable or not. I spend an hour a day just sorting the junk from the usefull or transmog stuff. Any tips on how to speed this up? i mean im tempted just to DE it all lol.

[Kicksome]

Hey Merc,
Thanks for posting the guide, it's been really helpful. I was going to totally ignore garrisons at first until I read this thread. It's been a nice distraction. Now I have 100 followers, although none are level 100!

-Kicksome

[Mercurio]

Ok.. so the lvl3 salvage yard is a lot of fun.. its like Christmas everyday! so many presents to open everyday! BUT OMG! its a lot of damn work sorting through all the low lvl items you get to find out whats valuable or not. I spend an hour a day just sorting the junk from the usefull or transmog stuff. Any tips on how to speed this up? i mean im tempted just to DE it all lol.

Totally agree. Here's another strategy I'm using: since you get FAR more missions for low level followers (missions seem to be generated for level 90-99 followers based on knowing they need new missions every 30-90 minutes vs every 4-8 hours for level 100 followers), I am keeping five active followers at level 91, 93, 95, 97, and 99 and NEVER sending them on missions. This generates tons of low level missions that I send my level 100 followers on. Of course, this does almost nothing for those level 100 followers, but it does crate a ton more Big Boxes of Salvage. And the contents of these boxes don't seem to be modified by what level of mission they were generated on.

At at any rate, the 665 BoEs are starting to appear for me and they sell for Incredibly high prices. [Kick, it reminds me of farming BoT for epics and selling them on the AH that we did so much of at the start of Cataclysm.] Great way to build up a little cash reserve that allows you to completely ignore the optimal but time consuming ways to enchant, gem, and outfit 20-30 toons by just buying everything off the AH and not worrying about the cost.

[Lyonheart]

Totally agree. Here's another strategy I'm using: since you get FAR more missions for low level followers (missions seem to be generated for level 90-99 followers based on knowing they need new missions every 30-90 minutes vs every 4-8 hours for level 100 followers), I am keeping five active followers at level 91, 93, 95, 97, and 99 and NEVER sending them on missions. This generates tons of low level missions that I send my level 100 followers on. Of course, this does almost nothing for those level 100 followers, but it does crate a ton more Big Boxes of Salvage. And the contents of these boxes don't seem to be modified by what level of mission they were generated on.

At at any rate, the 665 BoEs are starting to appear for me and they sell for Incredibly high prices. [Kick, it reminds me of farming BoT for epics and selling them on the AH that we did so much of at the start of Cataclysm.] Great way to build up a little cash reserve that allows you to completely ignore the optimal but time consuming ways to enchant, gem, and outfit 20-30 toons by just buying everything off the AH and not worrying about the cost.

I noticed the low lvl follower thing as well, good idea on keeping a few and not sending them, Im almost out of low level followers lol! What do you do with all the low level items... that's the issue for me.. i get hundreds of low level items and it takes time and research to figure out which ones are worth gold for transmog ( i guess thats the point of the random low lvl items ). I have just been vendoring them because it was taking way to much time to sort through them all. Be nice to have an addon that alerts you to rare transmog item when you loot them.

[Mercurio]

With so many characters with bags full of salvage, it would take WAY too long to do any research at all on the lower level transmog pieces. I glance at the weapons to see if I might use them in any of my sets, but as for the rest I vendor all of them immediately.

I am certain that I'm throwing away thousands of gold, but you've got to prioritize. I'm more than content with the gold coming in from the 665 ilvl pieces I am vendoring.

[luxlunae]

Here is a list of 50 items to watch for, if anyone does want to try to do transmog.

I personally find it to be a frustrating and annoying market.

http://www.powerwordgold.net/2014/01/the-50-most-expensive-transmog-items-on.html

Or to make it even simpler:

Don't vendor Lofty, Glorious, or Jade.

Remember bracers are worthless, helms are usually worthless, and shoulderpads its about 50/50 whether they match and anyone wants them. Chest/Legs are the big money.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Totally agree. Here's another strategy I'm using: since you get FAR more missions for low level followers (missions seem to be generated for level 90-99 followers based on knowing they need new missions every 30-90 minutes vs every 4-8 hours for level 100 followers), I am keeping five active followers at level 91, 93, 95, 97, and 99 and NEVER sending them on missions. This generates tons of low level missions that I send my level 100 followers on. Of course, this does almost nothing for those level 100 followers, but it does crate a ton more Big Boxes of Salvage. And the contents of these boxes don't seem to be modified by what level of mission they were generated on.
Noticing the same thing with regards to missions now that I'm paying attention. Thanks for the tip. ;)


Here is a list of 50 items to watch for, if anyone does want to try to do transmog.

I personally find it to be a frustrating and annoying market.

http://www.powerwordgold.net/2014/01/the-50-most-expensive-transmog-items-on.html

Or to make it even simpler:

Don't vendor Lofty, Glorious, or Jade.

Remember bracers are worthless, helms are usually worthless, and shoulderpads its about 50/50 whether they match and anyone wants them. Chest/Legs are the big money.
Thanks for that. Hardest part, IMO, is usually understanding the market. I've been pretty focused on getting my teams to 100 (have two now, woot!) and am finally getting salvage yards upgraded to level 2 and putting more effort into rolling follower missions. Still wish we had better options for starting missions en masse and selecting which characters to use, sort of the start-mission version of MasterPlan.

[Lyonheart]

Nerf inc to keeping low level followers..( for the purpose of getting low level missions )

Originally missions all pulled from a single pool; players found that as they got their first level 100 followers they got fewer low-level missions and had a harder time leveling their weaker followers, so we made a change to ensure that some low-level missions would always pop if you had a follower in that range who needed them. We recognize this causes some odd incentives (you're encouraged to NOT max all your followers) and are discussing good solutions to that problem.

[Mercurio]

Thanks for the heads up. Guess we'll have to maximize the farming of Big Crates of Salavage while we can. Glad I've been able to make some early WoD cash while the salvaging is more abundant.

[Mosg2]

It sounds like they're going to fix the whole package so you'll have access to more missions, not just nerf keeping a follower at 91 and 95.

[Lyonheart]

SO the nerf went live. Now missions below lvl 94 "might" yield a salvage bag. 95-99 can give large crates. level 100 missions give the large crates and can sometimes give more than one.
With that said, i saw it coming. And im kind of glad. Now i wont feel the need to stay glued to my mission table lol. As multiboxers we still have a huge advantage with how many missions we can have going at a time. We will just have to focus on leveling and gearing up followers for more chances.

leveling and gearing followers has advantages as well>>I have geared up all my first team to 615+ item lvl almost exclusively through missions. I have not even finished Nagrand yet, nor run any dungons

edit: Had to edit about not getting crates or bags from failed missions.. i just got one from a level 100 fail mission.

[Mercurio]

Leveling and gearing followers has advantages as well>>I have geared up all my first team to 615+ item lvl almost exclusively through missions. I have not even finished Nagrand yet, nor run any dungeons.

I've had similar experiences. As I posted in another thread, "My first team of ten is between ilvl 619 and 627. I've yet to set foot in a heroic or even a regular level 100 dungeon. I'm not raiding Highmaul yet, but my followers are starting to. They get a mission called "Highmaul Raid" once you get a group of them to (follower ilvl) 645. They give your toon a piece of ilvl 655 gear when successful."

Thanks for the update on the nerf. I run out of level 100 missions very quickly, even with 20 level 100 followers. Sounds like it will still be worth it to keep a handful of followers between 95-99 for a shot at additional big boxes of salvage. A chance is better than the zero % chance you have by just having more idle level 100 followers.

[Ñightsham]

I have a question about assigning a follower for bonus work orders. Does this follower level at all during the assignment or do you have to send them on missions to level them to 100.

[TheShox]

When a follower is assigned to a building, you cannot send them on missions. You have to unassign them and then send on missions to level them up. In the Stickied "Comprehensive guide to building up your Garrison" on mmo-champion in the prof/garrison forum, the OP stated that you only need to assign a follower to a building on Pickup. They don't need to be there at each 4th hour when the WO completes. I'll be testing this out on some buildings tonight. You really want your professions followers that will be assigned to buildings at 100 for a guaranteed doubling of your work orders.

[JackBurton]

Ok.. so the lvl3 salvage yard is a lot of fun.. its like Christmas everyday! so many presents to open everyday! BUT OMG! its a lot of damn work sorting through all the low lvl items you get to find out whats valuable or not. I spend an hour a day just sorting the junk from the usefull or transmog stuff. Any tips on how to speed this up? i mean im tempted just to DE it all lol.

get an addon like trade skill master with wowuction plugin to tell you what the prices are of the stuf
https://www.tradeskillmaster.com/

[Fogyreef]

Haven't seen much mention of sharing garrison services out side of this: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1638205-List-of-services-you-can-can-t-use-in-a-friend-s-garrison

Have you guys found any other thing you can share when your alts visit?

[Starbuck_Jones]

Garrison followers are beasts during the invasion quests. Got my first gold clear today with Defender Illona as bodyguard and Admiral Taylor as patrol minion. Blook is pretty op as well with his 12k single target dps, but he doesn't have the million hp of Taylor.

[Lyonheart]

Garrison followers are beasts during the invasion quests. Got my first gold clear today with Defender Illona as bodyguard and Admiral Taylor as patrol minion. Blook is pretty op as well with his 12k single target dps, but he doesn't have the million hp of Taylor.

I never even notice followers during invasions ( other than the bodyguard you have with you ). Cool!

[Starbuck_Jones]

You can have two follow you. One is the bodyguard from the barracks. You can then ask any of the others to go on patrol and they will follow and fight as well, but only in your garrison. If you leave, they despawn.

[Diwa]

Thanks for this thread. Do you still get XP missions for your level 100 followers? Given that you have 20-25 followers to upgrade their equips, do you only upgrade 3 followers immediately to get those ilvl 645 - 665 equip missions?

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Just FYI, the Master Plan addon appears to have been updated with some nifty new sort and follower-assignment options in the missions panel. Me likey.

[Mercurio]

I tend to get groups of about six followers up to 615 so I can be confident I can complete any of those that pop up, then move about six to 630, then to 645. With only three to each level, you'll get missions that you only get a small chance of completing, especially if the followers aren't epic yet. And yes, you still get plenty of XP missions for level 100 followers. I have a few toons now that only have a couple of non 100, non epic followers - makes the mission game pretty simple on those characters.

[Andreauk]

On my 4 Taruens they each have Vivianne as a follower from the Barracks lvl 2 perk and she's very powerful.. plus she stays behind me - not to get herself killed unlike the warrior I had on aly who would die on elites. Hoping to use her for Shat/pit farming.

[Lyonheart]

Hoping to use her for Shat/pit farming.

Shat group daily is so easy with the zone outpost ability/perk. I have it on round robin..i can gather up unlimited amounts of mobs and kill them all in seconds with the artillery ..you get 3 charges per toon that slowly replenish..but i never use them all. ( if you chose that outpost perk in that zone )

[Ughmahedhurtz]

On my 4 Taruens they each have Vivianne as a follower from the Barracks lvl 2 perk
I guess I need to go research. I can't figure out how to get a follower to bodyguard me.

[edit] Yeah, I see now. Need to assign one to the barracks to be able to use it. I blame drugs.

[Andreauk]

Shat group daily is so easy with the zone outpost ability/perk. I have it on round robin..i can gather up unlimited amounts of mobs and kill them all in seconds with the artillery ..you get 3 charges per toon that slowly replenish..but i never use them all. ( if you chose that outpost perk in that zone )


I have that ability too but how can I put it on round robin? You mean a macro or just swapping manually? I use isboxer.. that ability and x4 Viv's, x3 BM hunters with pets in tank spec, and my disco Priest plus my other half tanking shouldn't be too bad.

[Andreauk]

I guess I need to go research. I can't figure out how to get a follower to bodyguard me.

[edit] Yeah, I see now. Need to assign one to the barracks to be able to use it. I blame drugs.

Lol

I think I picked Vivianne up from Ashran.. I like her for fireball and her Blizzard aoe.. not unlocked her other stuff yet - think she gets meteor or something later on.

[Lyonheart]

I have that ability too but how can I put it on round robin? You mean a macro or just swapping manually? I use isboxer.. that ability and x4 Viv's, x3 BM hunters with pets in tank spec, and my disco Priest plus my other half tanking shouldn't be too bad.


I just have a round robin+send next click .. i can see all my toons on my other screen, so its easy to controll..i also have a macro that sets all my toons view the same>>( /script SetView(2); SetView(2); ) ..T is my GTAE round robin key.

[Bloodcloud]

WOOT: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1638205-List-of-services-you-can-can-t-use-in-a-friend-s-garrison

Things confirmed useable at a friend's garrison:
- Disenchanting device at the Enchanter's Study
- Banker at the Storehouse (very helpful if you have a buddy with one or a second account so you don't waste a small plot on your main)
- Thermal anvil at the Lunarfall Excavation / Frostwall Mines shack
- Incinerator at the Salvage Yard
- Shatari Defender rep vendor at the Trading Post (http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1649300-Can-you-use-the-vendor-at-a-friends-trading-post?p=30961502&viewfull=1#post30961502)


YAY i can now DE on all toons, to boost my Enchanter :)

[Lyonheart]

WOOT: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1638205-List-of-services-you-can-can-t-use-in-a-friend-s-garrison

Things confirmed useable at a friend's garrison:
- Disenchanting device at the Enchanter's Study
- Banker at the Storehouse (very helpful if you have a buddy with one or a second account so you don't waste a small plot on your main)
- Thermal anvil at the Lunarfall Excavation / Frostwall Mines shack
- Incinerator at the Salvage Yard
- Shatari Defender rep vendor at the Trading Post (http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1649300-Can-you-use-the-vendor-at-a-friends-trading-post?p=30961502&viewfull=1#post30961502)


YAY i can now DE on all toons, to boost my Enchanter :)

Yea.. its been like this from day one..very covenant!

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Large Crates now stack! ;) Finally...

[Lyonheart]

Large Crates now stack! ;) Finally...

Amen!

[rfarris]

> Incinerator at the Salvage Yard

What is that good for? Cooking?

[Bloodcloud]

WOOT: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1638205-List-of-services-you-can-can-t-use-in-a-friend-s-garrison

Things confirmed useable at a friend's garrison:
- Disenchanting device at the Enchanter's Study
- Banker at the Storehouse (very helpful if you have a buddy with one or a second account so you don't waste a small plot on your main)
- Thermal anvil at the Lunarfall Excavation / Frostwall Mines shack
- Incinerator at the Salvage Yard
- Shatari Defender rep vendor at the Trading Post (http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1649300-Can-you-use-the-vendor-at-a-friends-trading-post?p=30961502&viewfull=1#post30961502)


YAY i can now DE on all toons, to boost my Enchanter :)

what I meant to say is, i make my Enchanter Party leader and use "visit party leaders garrison". so one enchanting building EVERYONE can DE (except epics)

[omegared]

and dont bother to upgrade your enchanters study as they still wont be able to disenchant epics

@Mercurio how do you get so many followers? Don't you get one new follower each week (with the inn)?
And did i read somewhere you were compiling a list of all the followers and traits or was it someone else?

[Lyonheart]

and dont bother to upgrade your enchanters study as they still wont be able to disenchant epics

@Mercurio how do you get so many followers? Don't you get one new follower each week (with the inn)?
And did i read somewhere you were compiling a list of all the followers and traits or was it someone else?

Google is your friend! BUT, only a few followers come with fixed traits and abilities.. the rest are 100% random. But if you google follower traits and abilities.. you can find lists of all that are available. By having the lunar inn.. you can pick one per week with a single ability OR trait that you want. And as far as how many he has.. just questing through the zones ( not skipping any ) will net you 20+ followers. You can only have 20 active unless you upgrade the barracks to lvl3.. then you get 5 more