Fabled Automaton Knight. Tips? Almost killed it TWICE before it full healed along with respawned minions.

[Accel Lex]

I'm not even having fun with these fights, but whatever.
Since I first unlocked the fights, it's been the same strategy. If minions present, I try to separate them from boss so I can kill them individually. I used axe first time, pickaxe second, now maul seems to do the most damage.
I would run around with slingbow for the boss, both I killed that way took really long. I'd tank a few hits if I had potions, since blocking three of it's hits broke my hand until I used healing salve.
Now I'm fighting the Herbarium one (I have Trapper armor, 45 armor rating, green rarity maul), has it's 3 minions which I already killed 6 times, the boss got it down to half health TWICE before it despawned, requiring me to summon it again with full health and it's minions again.
I die multiple times. I don't see a charge animation when it does the beam, so that's a quick death. Now I can block it better and just have salve in quickslot to block again. I built a respawn near the fight since running back 500 meters is annoying.
I have the first pistol you can unlock, but it does around the same damage from the slingbow, so I just use the maul or slingbow. Targeting the crystal thing is somewhat good, but since the beam has no warning, too risky.
The sound animations sound the same to me.

I don't know what the despawn conditions are, but one time was while I was running back after death, this time it was during the fight. It despawned right in front of my eyes.

[wildbill]

You don't mention your companion. I have a maul on mine. It helped quite a bit before it died. Don't forget to upgrade the companion too, it will last closer to the end of the fight if you do.

For this one I used the smooth bore shotgun. Seemed a bit better than the sling bow. I just basically run while reloading. Then turn and shoot and run again. No real strategy other than heal when I can and try not to die

[Accel Lex]

Originally posted by wildbill:

You don't mention your companion. I have a maul on mine. It helped quite a bit before it died. Don't forget to upgrade the companion too, it will last closer to the end of the fight if you do.

For this one I used the smooth bore shotgun. Seemed a bit better than the sling bow. I just basically run while reloading. Then turn and shoot and run again. No real strategy other than heal when I can and try not to die

How did you get the shotgun? From quest or did you just jump realms until a trader sold it?
The mission I'm in is after talking to this marshal guy, having to report back to this newspaper girl.

Companion was dead weight. After 50 revives I just left her. I have a green maul, full green armor on her. She does well in other fights, not at all in this one. The boss' attacks decimate her easy, most of the time she's just standing there not fighting before the boss swings at her, or she barely does any damage compared to even a weak slingbow. Same with the minions, she gets wrecked easy by their aoe attacks.

[Accel Lex]

BOSS DESPAWNED AGAIN!!!! Not even to half health this time.

[Spikenard]

Originally posted by Accel Lex:

Originally posted by wildbill:

How did you get the shotgun? From quest or did you just jump realms until a trader sold it?
The mission I'm in is after talking to this marshal guy, having to report back to this newspaper girl.

Open the guidebook and hit the traders tab on the far right. You can look at what every essence trader has. The gun recipes are in the provisioner realms. Forest - pistol, desert - shotgun, swamp - rifle.

[Kronk]

Honestly I just cheesed him by going up the stairs, he ended up not following after a while and I just shot him with the base slingbow straight in the weak spot until he died.

[Accel Lex]

Originally posted by Spikenard:

Originally posted by Accel Lex:

Open the guidebook and hit the traders tab on the far right. You can look at what every essence trader has. The gun recipes are in the provisioner realms. Forest - pistol, desert - shotgun, swamp - rifle.

I got the shotgun from the desert since that's what a game guide said. I didn't know there was a guidebook tab for that, so thanks. I just searched up google up till now. Shotgun seems to do less damage than the 4 burst shot from flintlock, but better ammo efficiency from my experience.

[Aestrea]

Just build a fairy circle like right under where he spawns and have a death match where you have infinite lives.

[Accel Lex]

Originally posted by Kronk:

Honestly I just cheesed him by going up the stairs, he ended up not following after a while and I just shot him with the base slingbow straight in the weak spot until he died.

I did something similar all the tries. I had them chase me down the stairs, and sometimes they wouldn't all follow so I'd pick off the little minions first. Then I'd be getting the big boss, few times get in a spot he stops shooting, chip away at his health, but he always despawns before I finish him off.
This time I actually got him. I crafted extra ammo, dodged and blocked while shooting, eventually getting in a spot where he faced away from me, so I didn't get to shoot the weakspot, but he didn't move so it was a slow win. I beat him, then realize I had to beat the mini minions as well. The one time I got them to ditch the big guy to finish big baddie alone. Luckily I got to beat the minions one by one before they despawned again, while my Companion showed how incompetent she was.
She does well against goblin type enemies, but these boss enemies...
I even block stuned the enemy so she wouldn't get hit, and she just stood there sometimes. I got the last two minions while she just wandered the stairs. Last minion was outside, so she didn't help for nothing. She stayed inside where there's no enemies.
The second I beat the last minion, my companion spawned right next to me. Like "Hey, need any help?" the second I finished everything. xD

[stretch]

Originally posted by wildbill:

You don't mention your companion. I have a maul on mine. It helped quite a bit before it died. Don't forget to upgrade the companion too, it will last closer to the end of the fight if you do.

I had mine geared up and it released itself and reset it's gear to default.
When you equip gear it has YOUR gear score and not it's own.
So does it matter? It will determine what weapon it uses and it might actually use that weapon stats/abilities but I truly don't know that it's clothing matters at all.

[Gnollmar]

My main tip would be to remember to eat 3 types of food.

About despawning, thts so weird, never seen that happen, even when dying and running from the other side of the map, it never despawned ...

[tony_hug]

pretty sure it uses the weapon stats as it definitly had more oomph with an upgraded maul -- as to defence gear i cant work that out as it has your gear rating - though did seem tougher as i upgraded my stuff.... admitedly a lot of the time i cower behind my companion and launch attacks through him.

Be nice if someone could answer the -- is it worth upgrading companions clothing though -- the gear score being the same as yours really doesnt help... unless he/she mirrors your gear

[BigBombz]

I just used a pick and spammed healing potions. I find ranged weapons in this game really hard and ineffective to use.

[Scourge]

Originally posted by Kronk:

Honestly I just cheesed him by going up the stairs, he ended up not following after a while and I just shot him with the base slingbow straight in the weak spot until he died.

I cheesed him by running and shooting him with a rifle and getting lucky with crit hits.

[Martin]

Never seen a boss despawn. Not once.. you must be glitching the game or positioning in an illegal position for it to do that.

As for killing them, save up the lightning ammos. 2-3 kills most of them. I'm upto gloom now. I think the Prov fight on top of the tower was the worst, the trick is to lure him down to the lower enclosed rooms there. The gloom fight you get two of them...

Otherwise top up on the best foods you can.. and get your companion to distract or you distract and just chop him down with the pickaxe. The maul is too slow.

[Faya AOP]

Best 2 tips i can give is get all 3 foods running and, seriously, get a mate to assist.
Sure with 2 players you have to kill him twice, but its more fun and faster.