I think it would probably be easier to just kill the target from like 30 yards away in 1 shot and then repeat. The AOE stuff isn't that great, and takes a lot of mana (at least at the high levels). My 5x 85 mages can't really AOE any elites down, I can AOE some mobs, but they sit and beat on me while I do it. So I have to drink afterwards to get my health up. So it's not even close to worth it for me at a high level. Just drains all your mana, and health, and if you get unlucky and all the mobs target one person you can easily die.