Minions in Deskrawl are more than cosmetic companions. They pull a carriage that increases how much loot you can bring back from a run, and they also provide passive bonuses or use their own combat abilities. You can capture normal enemies, mini-bosses, and bosses, with some of the strongest late-game minions coming from major encounters.The game does not explain the capture system particularly well. You do not weaken an enemy, throw a special item at it, or complete a QTE. Instead, you need the enemy's Rein to drop and then use that item from your inventory. This guide explains how the system works, where to farm boss Reins, and which minions are worth using for different types of builds.
How to capture a minion in Deskrawl
To unlock a creature, you need its specific Rein. Keep clearing stages where that enemy appears until the Rein drops, then use the item from your inventory. The minion is permanently added to your collection and becomes available from the minion menu in town.Image unavailableReins are rare drops, so going ten, twenty, or even more runs without seeing one does not necessarily mean you are doing anything wrong. There is no single universal Rein drop rate because each enemy has its own data, and boss Reins are often extremely rare. Current databases list examples such as Bloodmoon Werewolf and Ancient Oak Treant at around 0.04% per cleared encounter, Ice Hound at 0.06%, Emberfang at 0.03%, and Lord of the Cinder at 0.02%. Treat capturing a minion as a bonus from repeated farming rather than something every new boss is expected to give you immediately.Reins can drop again even after you have already unlocked that minion. Duplicate Reins are not used to level up the companion itself, but tradable ones can be sold or bought through the Steam Community Market. For an online character, that gives you another route to a specific minion when the random drop refuses to cooperate.
How to capture a boss
Bosses use the same system. Defeat the specific boss until its Legendary Rein drops, then use the Rein to unlock it. There is no separate taming skill, capture phase, or special combat condition.Image unavailableFor example, Rein of the Bloodmoon Werewolf drops from Bloodmoon Werewolf in Kings Woods: 7, while Rein of the Ancient Oak Treant comes from Ancient Oak Treant in Kings Woods South: 7. Ice Hound is the mini-boss of Veldak Highlands: 4. Late-game companions such as Lord of the Cinder are acquired the same way from their corresponding regional encounters.We recommend farming the version of the stage your character can clear quickly and reliably on repeat. If one run takes forever and your hero dies regularly, you are not improving the Rein chance enough to compensate. You are simply reducing the number of attempts you can make per hour.There is one especially important restriction: Reins do not drop in the Mythic Rift. Bosses can appear there, but their normal Rein drops are not rolled. If you want the companion, farm the corresponding regional stage on Normal, Nightmare, or Inferno instead.
How to select and switch minions
Only one minion can be active at a time. Its passive bonuses and abilities only apply while that companion is actually summoned, so unlocking a rare boss and leaving it in the collection does not benefit your current build.Image unavailableYou can switch minions in town or at the Training Grounds. You cannot freely swap companions in the middle of a normal run, so choose before you leave. For long unattended farming sessions, a defensive minion or one with a large carriage may be more useful. Before a difficult boss, you may want to return and switch to a companion built around single-target damage.Every minion also has a listed carriage capacity. The higher it is, the more loot the companion can carry during one run before the carriage fills up. This matters more as you progress because the difference between a good combat bonus and a larger carriage becomes increasingly noticeable during long auto-rerun sessions.
Best early minion: Bloodmoon Werewolf
One of the best early all-purpose options is Bloodmoon Werewolf, the boss from Kings Woods. Its passive, Bloodthirst I, gives +10% Life On Hit. Its active ability, Bloodmoon Howl, grants +30% Attack Speed for 5 seconds with a 10-second cooldown. The minion has a carriage capacity of 25.This combination works well with almost any build that attacks quickly. The more often your hero hits, the more value you get from both the attack-speed window and Life On Hit. In the early and mid game, that makes the Werewolf unusually convenient because one minion improves both clear speed and sustain.Image unavailableIf the Werewolf Rein has already dropped, there is no need to rush into replacing it just because you unlocked something rarer. It does not depend on Stun, Bleeding, Vulnerable, or one elemental damage type, which makes it one of the safest general-purpose companions while your build is still changing.
Best survival minion: Ancient Oak Treant
If your problem is not damage but simply surviving the next boss, look for Ancient Oak Treant. Its passive, Health Increase, grants +10% Max Health. Its active ability, Healing Spirit, restores 20% of your Max Health every 12 seconds. Its carriage capacity is 30.We recommend the Treant for difficult progression, melee builds, and any setup that lacks reliable sustain. Unlike a bonus tied to one damage type or status condition, extra health and periodic healing are useful in almost every encounter. That makes Ancient Oak Treant one of the safest universal companions in the earlier half of progression.The boss appears in Kings Woods South: 7. If you can barely kill it manually, strengthen your main build before leaving the stage on auto-rerun for the Rein. A stable farming loop is more valuable than forcing an encounter that keeps failing.
Ice Hound: a strong mid-to-late-game option
Ice Hound is especially attractive for Lightning builds because its passive, Thunderfang, gives +30% Lightning Damage. Even without that synergy, its active ability remains useful. Capacitor Shell shields you for 15% of maximum Health, lasts 5 seconds, and then stuns nearby enemies for 1 second. The cooldown is 24 seconds. Ice Hound also has a large carriage capacity of 35.That makes it a strong hybrid companion with defense, crowd control, and a major damage bonus for the right build. It is particularly appealing for Sorcerer setups and any character already heavily invested in Lightning damage. For builds with no Lightning synergy, Ancient Oak Treant can still be the more stable defensive choice.Ice Hound is the mini-boss of Veldak Highlands: 4. Current data lists its Rein at roughly 0.06% per cleared encounter outside the Mythic Rift, so expect the farm to take time.
Ogre: Stun damage and Physical protection
Ogre is built for characters that already apply Stun consistently. Its passive Damage to Stunned III grants +30% Damage to Stunned enemies, while Iron Hide reduces incoming Physical damage by 20%. Its carriage capacity is 30.Image unavailableDo not use Ogre to solve a build that has no reliable Stun in the first place. In that situation, half of the companion's value is effectively wasted. But if crowd control is already part of your rotation, the damage bonus becomes a regular multiplier and the Physical mitigation is helpful in close-range fights.Ogre is the boss of Spire Hill Crypt Lower: 3. Because the bonus is conditional, compare it with your actual build rather than choosing it just because it is Legendary.
Serparmat the Devourer: best for Bleed builds
Serparmat the Devourer gives +30% Damage to Bleeding enemies through Damage to Bleeding III. Its second passive, Devourer's Feast, restores 30 Health per kill. The minion has a carriage capacity of 30.It is particularly good when clearing groups with a build that applies Bleeding consistently. Against bosses, the on-kill healing contributes much less because there are fewer targets to trigger it. That makes Serparmat more attractive for general farming and Bleed-focused map clearing than for every single-target encounter.Serparmat is the mini-boss of The Barrens: 4. If you are planning to farm the Rein, prioritize clear speed and consistency rather than pushing difficulty just because a harder mode exists.
Lord of the Crimson Vale: damage against Vulnerable enemies
Lord of the Crimson Vale is strong because it helps create the condition required by its own damage bonus. Its passive, Crimson Dominion, grants +30% Damage to Vulnerable enemies. Its active ability, Earth Spikes, damages enemies in an area and applies Vulnerable with a 12-second cooldown.If your build already keeps Vulnerable active most of the time, this becomes a very powerful source of additional damage. We recommend the minion mainly for setups where Vulnerable is already one of the core multipliers rather than a rare side effect from one ability.Its current carriage capacity is 30, increased from the older value of 25 in a previous balance update. That makes Lord of the Crimson Vale more comfortable for ordinary auto-farming as well as combat.The Rein comes from The Crimson Vale: 7, where Lord of the Crimson Vale is the regional boss.
Emberfang: one of the best minions for bosses
For straightforward damage against dangerous targets, Emberfang is one of the clearest late-game choices. Its passive, Tyrant's Bane, gives +30% Damage to Elite and Boss enemies. Its active ability, Ember Breath, fires a molten projectile for 150% damage and applies Burning every 4 seconds.Image unavailableYou do not need to rebuild around Stun, Bleeding, or another status condition to benefit from the passive. It applies specifically to the enemies where extra damage usually matters most. That makes Emberfang one of our favorite minions for repeated boss farming and progression through difficult stages.The downside is that Emberfang comes very late, from The Cinder Crown: 4. By then, you will already have several strong alternatives. Compare the unconditional +30% boss damage against the defensive or utility effects provided by your current companion instead of treating Emberfang as an automatic replacement.Its Rein is also extremely rare. Current data lists approximately 0.03% per cleared encounter, with no Rein drops in the Mythic Rift.
Defiled Wyrm: regeneration and Magic protection
Defiled Wyrm is not another damage multiplier. Instead, Everliving Blood gives +100% Life Regeneration, while Sepulchral Scales provides +50% Magic Resist. Its carriage capacity is a generous 34.This makes the Wyrm a strong situational choice when your character already deals enough damage but gets overwhelmed by Magic attacks. Swapping minions can sometimes solve that problem without forcing a full equipment rebuild. It is also comfortable for long automatic farming sessions because of the large carriage.Image unavailableDefiled Wyrm is the boss of The Defiled Keep: 7. Its Rein is currently listed at around 0.04% per cleared encounter outside the Mythic Rift.
Lord of the Cinder: best late-game minion for Critical builds
Lord of the Cinder is one of the strongest endgame minions for Critical Hit builds. Its passive, Cinder Sovereign, grants +12% Cooldown Reduction. Its active ability, Ashen Wrath, gives +100% Critical Hit Damage for 5 seconds with a 12-second cooldown. It also has a carriage capacity of 35.We recommend it for characters that already have a strong Critical Hit Chance. An extra 100% Critical Hit Damage does not help much if you almost never crit, but in a finished Critical build the buff window can be extremely powerful. The Cooldown Reduction is useful to almost every class regardless of the exact damage setup.Lord of the Cinder is the final boss of The Cinder Crown: 7, so it is a true endgame farming target. Its Rein is among the rarest discussed in this guide, currently listed at around 0.02% per cleared encounter. Treat it as a long-term goal rather than a companion your build supposedly needs before it can function.
Which minions are the best?
There is no single best minion for every character because several companions are designed around specific conditions or damage types. If you want a short list of practical choices, we recommend thinking about them this way:
Bloodmoon Werewolf - one of the best early general-purpose options thanks to Attack Speed and Life On Hit.
Ancient Oak Treant - one of the safest early survival picks thanks to Max Health and regular healing.
Ice Hound - shield, Stun, a large carriage, and an excellent passive for Lightning builds.
Emberfang - one of the best straightforward choices for killing Elites and Bosses.
Lord of the Cinder - a top endgame option for mature Critical Hit builds.
Defiled Wyrm - excellent for safe auto-farming and encounters dominated by Magic damage.
Choose a minion based on the problem your build actually has rather than rarity alone. If your character already deletes normal enemies, another clear-speed bonus may not change much. A larger carriage or stronger defense could be more valuable. On the other hand, if you are stuck on a boss because damage is too low, switch to Emberfang, Lord of the Cinder, or a companion that amplifies the main condition used by your build.
How to farm Reins faster
There is currently no secret button that increases your capture chance. The best strategy is to maximize the number of successful clears against the correct enemy per hour. For a normal enemy, repeat the shortest stage where it appears consistently. For a boss or mini-boss, farm the regional encounter on a difficulty your character can clear quickly without dying.Do not raise difficulty only for the Rein. Current drop data lists the same Rein chance across the normal regional difficulties for the examples above, while Nightmare and Inferno mostly change enemy scaling and other loot systems. One hundred quick attempts are much more useful than twenty slow attempts if your only goal is the companion.Also check whether the Rein you want is tradable and available through the Steam Community Market. Sometimes buying a late-game Rein is cheaper in time and frustration than leaving the game on auto-rerun for several evenings. Market prices and availability change constantly, so compare the current listing rather than relying on an old fixed number.In short, kill the enemy or boss until its Rein drops, use the item, then summon the unlocked minion in town or at the Training Grounds. Bloodmoon Werewolf and Ancient Oak Treant are excellent early choices, specialized builds should match the companion bonus to their main damage condition, and late-game players can target Emberfang and Lord of the Cinder. The important rule is simple: a good minion should strengthen your build. A Legendary frame does not kill anything by itself.
