This is very situational. Most folks prefer to kill the mobs that aoe first though as they will give the biggest grief. If the adds have few enough HP it is always best to let them be AOE'D down while you focus on the Named especially without mez. I don't think you can make a hard and fast rule though on any encounter, experience with the Named in question is the best teacher. Long as you can hold agro and have a decent group doesn't matter much though.
soloing....I would always go for the helpers first...If your in a group try and take out the named first, especially if you have a healer
What a good question. Killing either the named or adds first in a group situation doesn't make that much difference from my own experiences. However solo, ask yourself this question. If you're OOP, low on HPs and only have a down arrow add to finish off, of you are in the same situation and have the named, what would you rather be faced with. I'd pick an add any day of the week. For me I take out the hardest mobs as quickly as I can. I think you could also apply this to groups and even raids. That is of course if the adds are not super adds with special abilities (nukes, heals an so on).
I invariably target the named first and if you have strong aoe the adds are often dead before the named anyway. Occasionally the adds might be healers in which case they go first but that is not that common. Also if an aoe player peels one of the adds they are still likely to survive, if they pull the named they are usually toast. Solo I do it the other way round, kill the easy stuff first and as fast as possible.
I always take out the named first - unless one of the ads is a healer otherwise it can be a very long battle you lose.
As stated, it's really situational. DO the adds have any special abilities, such as knockbacks or AE's or do they have very low hit points but they hit for a ton of damage? What special attacks does the named have? Is it something that's going to wipe the group or raid if it goes off? There are a ton of other variables too. Really you have to look at each encounter individualy and determine what works best. Just because taking out the named first works on one encounter or many encounters doesn't mean it will work on all of them. Unfortunatly it usually comes down to trial and error. Hopefully you get lucky and get it right on the first try. If not you try again using a different stratagy until you find the one that works best. I know that doesn't help as far as giving you a specific answer to your question, but you can't simply rely on one way or the other because it doesn't always work that way.
I usually target the name, and the adds die from all of the aoe's. But, if one of the adds is a healing class, take them out first. Try one way, if it don't work, try another. (try) Kill first, ask questions later, lol
In most normal group situations taking the named first is the best option, since the fights don't usually last long enough to make the adds an actual threat, in addition to their low hp they may drop from AoEs. The time I would suggest taking the adds first is in a raid situation, when the adds can actually do some real damage and the fight will be lasting long enough to the point where they will be a significant threat.
The way I always thought of it was: Total DPS being done to me by all of the mobs in the encounter. Adds usually die quicker than the named, so if you can pick them off first, you can reduce the total DPS being done to you faster than if you killed the named first, which obviously is a good thing.
For sure that's true. However you may find yourself in a situation of having low power and being down on hitpoints, all the adds are dead, but you now have to kill the named. Since the named will do more dmg than the adds, this could end badly if you're OOP. Reverse the situation and you've killed the named an add or two and now have only a down arrow or lesser add mob to kill. I know what I'd rather be faced with lol.
