Dominus Split Runs Guide - TLDR and Detailed versions available!

1. Culler sets up anchor just below the entrance of the Upper Sceptre of God (in the Sceptre of God), like this:



2. Take the anchor portal and create a new instance (ctrl+click the stairs and click 'New') of the Upper Sceptre of God, like this:



3. Run to the top of the Upper Sceptre of God as fast as you can (ignore strongboxes, corrupted areas and monster packs). When you get there, open up a portal and let everyone know you're ready (say 'up' in %party chat):



4. When all portals are up, enter the portals in chronological order and kill Dominus with all party members. Follow the order established by your culler.

5. When Dominus is dead in that instance, proceed to do the same in the next portal.

6. Repeat until all instances are done (you have visited all 5 runners' portals).

7. If there are no remaining instances, go to step 2 and start again.


REMEMBER:

► Refresh your portal every now and then or it will disappear and the instance will be lost (especially if you're in the second half of the rotation or your party is not going lightning fast).

► Re-up your portal as soon as you re-enter your instance to kill Dominus, this way everyone can get in if you entered first (and get out faster too).

Q: What is this guide about?
A: This guide is about a cooperative farming mechanic that consists in efficiently killing the same guy over and over again in order to get loot. That's pretty much it.

Q: Who is Dominus?
A: Dominus is the guy who exiled everyone in Wraeclast. He resides at the top of the Sceptre of God, at the end of Act 3 in each difficulty.

Q: Why farming Dominus and not Piety? I hate Piety!
A: There are many reasons for that.
► First of all, to reach Piety you need to find your way out of a damn maze filled with blood. To reach Dominus you only open some doors, as the stairs are always on the same spots.
► Items dropped from Dominus have higher itemlevel.
► Although Piety is known for dropping more items than Dominus itself, there are 7 unique monsters at the top of the Upper Sceptre of God as opposed to the bottom of Lunaris Temple, which only has Piety.

Q: What does IIQ mean?
A: IIQ means Increased Item Quantity: how many items are dropped by a monster. Ideally, higher IIQ = more items.

Q: What does IIR mean?
A: IIR means Increased Item Rarity: how good are the items dropped by a monster. Ideally, higher IIR = better items.

Q: What does MF mean?
A: MF stands for Magic Find(ing), which is both IIQ and IIR together. A player with high MF will find more and better items than a player with no MF. It is more a concept than a game mechanic.

Q: What does DPS mean?
A: DPS stands for Damage per Second, and is a term used instead of 'damage'. A player with high DPS is a player who deals lots of damage. A DPS could also be the player themselves, anyone that deals damage instead of supporting is often referred to as DPS.

"

"I'm the support, he's the DPS!" "Oh, cool!"

Whatever.

As stated before, a Dominus run is a cooperative farming mechanic that consists in efficiently killing Dominus over and over again in order to get loot; lots and lots of loot. This 'mechanic' is usually performed in a full party, as it benefits from the Increased Item Quantity gained from partying up.

A full party consists of six players: 5 runners and 1 culler.

Let's start by describing what a culler is.
A culler is any player that 'culls' mobs using Culling Strike, who will (hopefully) always deliver the final blow.



Culling Strike is a game mechanic (and also a dexterity gem) used to 'cull' mobs, killing them instantly if they have 10% of their maximum HP or less. This is quite useful because drops are always calculated according to the IIR and IIQ of the player who killed a monster. The higher the IIR and IIQ, the more and the better are the items dropped. But getting a decent MF with a decent amount of damage is pretty difficult (or expensive), that's why there are some builds that specialize in getting highs amounts of MF with no damage whatsoever. Instead, these builds usually offer some great support capabilities like multiple Auras, curses or conduit to share power, frenzy and endurance charges, but they need other players to survive the dangers of Wraeclast.

So, the culler IS the most important element in your Dominus farm party. Without them, you would get shabby jerkins and rusty swords from Dominus.

Now, what is a runner?
A runner is any player that can 'run' to the top of the Upper Sceptre of God quickly, and has a decent amount of damage in order to weaken the mobs so that the culler can kill them. Almost any player/build is a runner candidate, as they have DPS. Because runners are more commonly found, they are expected to do an acceptable performance, or otherwise they can (and will) be easily replaced.


Ok, so you know what your role will be in a Dominus farm party. How is a run performed?

As most things in Path of Exile, farming is all about efficiency. In order for a Dominus run to be efficient, a party should do as many Dominus kills as possible in the shortest amount of time. How is this achieved? Everyone runs an instance of the Upper Sceptre of God at the same time instead of all the party moving in a single instance many times.

First, the culler will go to the Sceptre of God using its waypoint. Once there, they will set up a portal just at the entrance of the Upper Sceptre of God. This portal is often referred to as anchor.

Afterwards, all runners enter the anchor portal and create a new instance of the Upper Sceptre of God (via ctrl+click), and start running to the top to meet Dominus. When each runner reaches the top, they put up a portal so everyone in the party can access their instance, and they GO TO TOWN WITHOUT KILLING DOMINUS.

As soon as all runners have their portals up, all party members enter the first portal created (the one that belongs to the runner that arrived first) and kill Dominus TOGETHER. Then, the whole party goes on to the next portal, which is the one from the second runner, and so on with the remaining portals.

When all five instances have a dead Dominus inside, then everyone starts running to the top of the Upper Sceptre of God again, and the cycle starts anew.


Here it is again, slowly, and with screenshots:

1. Culler sets up anchor just below the entrance of the Upper Sceptre of God (in the Sceptre of God), like this:



2. Runners take the anchor portal and create a new instance (ctrl+click the stairs) of the Upper Sceptre of God, like this:



3. Each runner runs to the top of the Upper Sceptre of God. When they are there, each runner opens up a portal so everyone else can join the instance, like this:



4. When all portals are up, all party members enter the first portal and kill Dominus together. You don't need screenshots for this or the following steps.

5. When Dominus is dead in that instance, proceed to do the same in the next portal.

6. Repeat until all instances are done (you have visited all 5 runners' portals).

7. If there are no remaining instances, go to step 2 and start again.


Now I know how a Dominus run is conducted, but what is my role in the party?
Do you have stupid amounts of MF, culling strike (via gem, Heartbreaker/Reaper's Pursuit/Corrupted Weapon) AND a fast attack/spell to cull with? Good, you're a culler.
You don't? Then you're a runner, as simple as that.


Ok, I'm a runner. What should I do?
Just run.

Take the anchor portal, create a new instance of the Upper Sceptre of God and open up a portal as soon as you reach the top. Let other party members (especially the culler) know if you're done by saying "up" or something. Wait for others to finish, and then enter the portals in chronological order: oldest will be first, newest will be last. Make sure your portal is available to everyone at the right time.


Ok, I'm a culler. What should I do?
You have more responsibilities than runners, so pay attention, exile.

Go to the Sceptre of God, run to the Upper Sceptre of God entrance and open up a portal there. If there are mobs and you fear for your life, enter the Upper Sceptre of God and go back and create a new instance of the Sceptre of God. The new Sceptre of God will hopefully have a closed door and no mobs will compromise the existence of your portal or yourself. If you're safe, open up a portal and tell others that anchor's is up and wait till they complete their runs.

As the party leader, you'll notify party members of the order in which everyone should enter the portals, so pay attention to your party chat and make a chronological list of the players that arrived to the top. When all runners have finished, notify your party of the order everyone should follow, and proceed to kill Dominus in each instance following said order. Hopefully, you will cull Dominus and tons of items will be on the ground for everyone to enjoy.

It sounds more challenging than it really is, you will get used to it. Just wait till everyone finishes their runs, and go have some fun killing Dominus.

Your runs are notoriously slower than the runs of the rest of your party.
You need to be quicker! Don't stop if you don't need to (that means don't kill mobs if you don't need to, don't open strongboxes, don't do difficult or timed masters quests, don't enter Corrupted Areas). Use movement skills if required (Lightning Warp, Leap Slam, Whirling Blades), use quicksilver flasks. Just try to be fast, don't over do it, but don't go off your way either.

My portal disappeared!
It tends to happen. If an instance is empty, the portal will vanish after several minutes. In order to prevent that, refresh the portal (open it again) every now and then. Every two Dominus Kills, for example.

I opened up a portal to go to town and now my instance is lost!
Then don't ever do that again. Your instance is important for both you and your party, so make sure your instance is available for everyone at the right time.

The portal closed and now I'm in town while everyone else is fighting Dominus!
Ask for a portal re-up. Maybe your teammate forgot that whenever they take the portal back to the Sceptre of God, it disappears, so let them know you didn't enter. If they don't open up a portal, maybe someone else can open up a portal for your IF and only IF their instance is already completed. Try to be quicker next time.

I don't have enough space for all these items!
You're not supposed to pick up every item available. Dominus runs are usually conducted to obtain uniques (both Mjolnir and Shavronne's Wrappings are possible drops here) or jewelry for Chaos recipe. Of course, you can also prioritize on certain drops depending on what you're looking for. Pick up as most as you can, don't pick up everything. Whatever, you'll find a way, I'm sure.

I don't have enough time to sell between Dominus kills!
You're not supposed to sell between Dominus kills. Get a few items, organize your space and if you're full or nearly full, sell before running again. Pro-tip: if you're a fast runner, run first, and sell when you're finished, waiting for the others to complete their runs.

Culler is not culling properly!
Culling is not that easy, especially if you don't have the right equipment. If you're DPS, reduce your damage output when Dominus is about to die (at 10% or so), so the culler can do their job.

DPSs are mad and hit way too hard! I can't cull properly!
Let your runners know this, and ask them to reduce their damage output when Dominus is about to die. Make sure you have culling strike on the ability you're using, and that you have enough casting/attack speed for it to cull properly before your teammates can kill Dominus.

Culler dies a lot!
Being a culler is suffering, they need protection or they could die in one or two hits. If you're a DPS, watch over your culler and assist them if they're in danger. Pro-tip: if you deal cold damage and crit often, freeze all threats before they reach your culler! (Freezing Pulse is great for this. Ahem, I have a guide, you know!)

► Parties are usually set to Permanent Allocation for item distribution. If yours is not the case, let the party leader know, it probably is a mistake.

► Some cullers will ask you to turn off your Clarity or Vitality in order to lessen the effect of their Divination Distillate (and thus increasing its duration). Be ready to replace your flasks in case you're asked to. If you're the culler, don't ever quality your Divination Distillate, please. And also, learn how to time it according to the DPS of your party members.

► If the instance is created while the party was nonexistant (or its item allocation was Short Allocation), all the items will be available to everyone after a few seconds. Be ready. If a Shav's drops for you and you're full, someone else will take it and leave the party. If you're the one stealing, then don't, the RNG gods will repay your patience and honesty. Maybe.

► If you're full and you flipped an item on the ground, probably someone else will take it. If they take it, please don't fight for it. It probably is a 1chaos unique at most, for sure. Don't bother. If you're the one stealing it, please don't. It is probably a 1chaos unique at most, for sure. Don't bother.

► Dominus runs are usually done by players that already have enough damage to kill Dominus alone. Some parties even ask for 'experienced runners' or a level requirement (usually 80+). If you're not sure about your speed or damage output, give it a try. If you're not ready, try to level a little more. You will eventually be able to do runs with most cullers.

► Cullers are usually Witches, Marauders or occasionally Scions. Skills used to cull are usually flame totem, incinerate, arc or even spectral throw, as these skills have high attack/casting speed. Hasted minions often do the work too.

► If you own various portal effects and the one you're using is the same for another portal, switch it so each portal is easier to identify.

► Don't feel bad because every other party member has a Shavronne's as skin, is low life and has mirrored gear. Just run, and show the opulent guys you can run efficiently with no fancy stuff.