Just fought the Icemancer and yet again No looting rights( only 1 time in last 20), I put discord on my mage( just for this reason) and managed to get Discord on him at beginning. I couldn't do anything but direct damage as he was auto dispelling my summons almost as soon as they appeared(this does not happen all the time but frequently). I thought getting discord on boss helped on looting rights though I have been gone several years so I do not know what has changed.
I know at the end of beta my mage was only getting rights about 50% of the time and that was with 60% SDI, inscription bonus ect, and there are more tamers now fighting bosses than then. So it seems tamer/mage is only option as things do not look like they will improve much even when or if the Congarium advances.
I know the feeling. As a fellow bard/mage its almost impossible getting loot rights against most bosses now using only summons and direct damage through spells. There are just too many tamers doing waaaay more damage than a simple mage can do.
I don't even bother trying to damage bosses anymore. Just heal the pets which are likely doing the most damage.. white wyrms, manticore, emberwing... you have a much higher chance at loot rights if ya just stick it healing.
Actually, I got looting rights by ignoring the boss, not attacking it, but casting heal as fast as I could on everyone else.
was not aware that healing gave you looting rights, though have always done this with pets although finding the one taking damage with 40-50 pets there(like at Icemancer) seems like it would be a pain. though I suppose not as bad as getting the bosses bar if you miss it at beginning
On my Poisoner/Mage I do mostly healing. I will throw a poison field on the ones it affects and a summons here and there, and i get looting rights 99% of the time roughly. The one boss i miss them on rarely is Icemancer, but that's a popular boss that goes down fast. Yesterday I ran 5 bosses and got drops on three, one was an 8th scroll and a title (titanweave) second was an 8th scroll and a spell song (icemancer) and the Third was the solen, I got an 8th scroll, as spell song and the plate helm armor set piece. The other two i only got 8th scrolls. The drops seem to be ramping up but the taming knowledge books still elude me. i'm hopeful that will come next week when i have time off of work.
Slayer book, if one exists, death ray, and extra mana fill. Wait until boss is tied down and stationary. Usually when half dead. Give this a try. Have never fought this so not positive it will work, but if you have not tried it, give it a try. I go early on with direct damage and when things die down go to the death ray. Works on most bosses.