Strategy: Single Minion (in General)

I am looking to start another NCB that will most likely only last a few months. I want to go single minion due to my lack of money and for the advantages of XP concentration. I was thinking of running a heavy CoC mage, but I am not sure whether or not to use a ToE. If anyone else has a unique idea for a single minion I would be willing to give that a go as well assuming there is little cost involved.

Well, this strat is by no means balanced but you would be able to hit very high. Pure EC with RoBF and about 50k hp

A single minion using a tattoo will not be a "heavy" mage.

I suggest 2 minions. One an enchanter wearing the ToE, and the other a heavy mage with all the heavy gear.

Or have the first minion be a PL/TSA/revive minion to help the mage live longer.

4 minion RoE/FB or SoD with at least half of XP going into DM

I would think that part of the reason to do a NCB is to grow a tattoo.

Even if growing from a baby to 3-4M, that is quite a monetary haul if you sell/insta it.

If you've already got a medium sized tat, there is no better way to grow it than to get your max tat as high as you can as fast as you can.

How would using a RoE help you get your MTL up higher than actually using a tattoo and growing it?

If you use a RoE on a 4 minion characters, the other 3 minions will have no xp to put into DM.

Unless of course you rotate who uses the RoE. But I think growing a tattoo is a great way to make money, even if you sell it to the store.

The use of the RoE keeps your PR down longer, allowing faster growth

But, the best and most effective single minion strategy is likely a single minion enchanter wearing a SF. Casting AS and DM. Learning them about 2 parts AS to 1 part DM.

The only real items you need are a NS, a HoC and an AoJ.

However, a ToE as stated is not advised for a single minion, at least not in my opinion.

"The use of the RoE keeps your PR down longer, allowing faster growth"

But if the tattoo lets you fight higher perhaps you get more of a challenge bonus.

I have no idea if no tattoo fighting lower or a tattoo fighting higher would give a higher overall challenge bonus.

Perhaps others who have done a NCB can chime in.

I'm quite aware of the power of that setup.

Hatchet's RoE setup is better all the way around, a smaller fightlist for sure... but certainly the better choice for specialized fighting.

As I previously stated I am looking more for a single minion team like Nem suggested, but I also like Ranger's first suggestion and the idea of the RoE is quite intriguing. I really don't care if I use a tat or not (if I do I don't want to become too dependent on it) or even how much money I make. I am just looking for a good time playing around with a few unique strategies.

Cheap setups:
4-minion mage team with RoE on the mage
1-minion enchanter (heavy AS + some EO) with damage-dealing familiar