When your in a boss battle who do you attack first, the mooks or the boss?

[Gold Vanguard]

I usually go for the mooks, mainly when they heal the boss or buff it. But the only exceptions are if the boss is easy enought to kill right away or if it summons more mooks to replace the ones you've defeated.

Edited November 22, 2012 by Royal Guard

[Chocolate Kitty]

your grammar confuses me...

always minions

[Komeiji Koishi]

Mook. They get annoying if they are in the way, or do chip damage (Like every monster in Monster Hunter ever). And I feel awesomer if I beat the boss at the end.

[Gold Vanguard]

1353622431[/url]' post='2192688']

your grammar confuses me...

always minions

Zee grammar is top notch.

[Integrity]

GENERALLY SPEAKING, wipe minions, lieutenants, bosses in that order.

That said, generic strategies like that never hold up when considered across a variety of things. Infinitely respawning enemies I tend to try to ignore, low health high damage bosses always get my full attention, etc.

[Shadow Mir]

Generally speaking, the mooks have to go first, unless they're stuff that you can't kill easily (e.g. In Tales of Eternia, the Empty Dolls that aid Shadow have high enough HP counts that you're better off ignoring them altogether and focusing on Shadow himself, as once he's defeated, they die as well; they also regenerate HP periodially). My strategy might change depending on other factors too.

Edited November 22, 2012 by Levant Fortner

[Acacia Sgt]

The mooks, so I have less to worry about. Unless going for the mooks is a bad idea, of course.

[Bookoostrikes]

I usually go after both, because it's easier and better for me to spread out the damage. Plus, it doesn't give you a priority to focus on.

Edited November 22, 2012 by Bookoostrikes

[Quintessence]

I usually slay minions, specially when they are annoying and make the battle harder. However, if they are insignificant and almost always miss (like when you're super high-leveled on Xenoblade), I go for the boss. Otherwise, AREA ATTACKS/MAGIC.

[Ein]

Usually the minions unless it's like that one boss in Nocturne where the little guys revive the main boss and make your life a living hell so you have to kill them all in a single turn or else the main boss keeps reviving the little guys as well.

But yeah, minions then main boss usually.

[Gone2Ground]

I used to always go for the strongest target, until I actually grew a strategic mind and realised that extra STR and a defense buff each turn was making my life difficult, and I started to take out the mooks.

Always the mooks.

[Samias]

Depends on the behaviour of the boss, but usually it's important to take the mooks out before they do something that ruins your day. Baten Kaitos Origins for example, the Holo holo bird wrecks you a new butthole if you don't kill the birds, PLUS the chicklets do a whole ton of damage and heal the momma bird, so even if they regen, you definitely don't want them alive under any circumstance. In some cases, the boss powers up without his mooks though, in which case I'd leave them alone. Or sometimes with respawning mooks, you want to keep a certain set alive that is the least damaging.

[Rehab]

Infinitely respawning enemies I tend to try to ignore, low health high damage bosses always get my full attention, etc.

These especially. Sometimes I'll also just go at the boss if I'm trying to get through the game with as few casualties as possible, or some other conditional thing.

[riariadne]

This is a dumb question because it entirely depends on the context of the fight. Sometimes it's easier to ignore them and other times it's better to off them quickly

[Loki Laufeyson]

Mooks go first. Always. Unless theres some sort of reason why they should be ignored. Like when the boss heals THEM and not the other way around, or they simply exist to fuck up your targeting and junk.

[General Horace]

mooks ever since the CPU fight in FF4DS

oh my god laser barrage

[Bobby Emerald]

It's almost always the mooks that need to get scraped first. In some games they can be huge a problem if they're ignored.

[Ike-Mike]

I use AoE magic.

[Anouleth]

The efficient choice varies depending on a lot of things, so there's no real proper answer.

[Strunk]

I always kill the mooks first, just for experience. Once they're all dead, I kill the boss.

[Baldrick]

When my what is in a boss battle?

[Scarlet]

As Rein said, this question is flawed because it implies that all bosses in all games warrant exactly the same strategy.

So yeah, it depends on the mechanics of the game and any other conditions that may be present in a particular boss fight.

Usually, the mooks need to die first if they heal the boss, for example (unless it's such insignificant amounts that you can just ignore them).

Sometimes, the mooks are so insignificant compared to the boss that you're better off just ignoring them and focusing on the boss. Or maybe the boss just calls more of them if you kill them.

But in the end, there are simply too many possibilities to give a definite answer.

Then sometimes you have strong multi-target attacks and don't need to make a choice in the first place because you can just wipe out both simultaneously. ULTIMAQUICKULTIMAULTIMAULTIMAULTIMA

[Tobiki]

In cases like the final level in Fire Emblem Awakening, I would go straight for the boss, anything else I would kill the mooks as swiftly as possible.

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Some games, and by some I really mean SOME expect you to kill the mooks before the boss

And then theres games where you want to keep one mooks alive

CPU fight in FF4DS

Such as this

Edited July 31, 2013 by I have a Dragon Boner

[Superbus]

MOST games are designed with the mindset of having to take the mooks out first, as they either buff or heal the main boss and can cause a lot of damage by themselves. That's the classic mindset, anyway; things change depending on circumstances.

Also, fuck Nocturne.