Conan Exiles Taskmaster Guide

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Emily, or Zoe if you’re on her discord, is a Conan Exiles guide contributor and long-term fan. She’s been raiding bases since its release, mixing in some Rust, Archeage, Apex Legends, Hearthstone, Don’t Starve, and Horizon Zero Dawn. Video games have been a core aspect of her life since she was a child with an N64. When she needs a break, she’ll switch genres and start a new kind of adventure, though survival games have always been a favorite.

TL:DR: The Traitorous Taskmaster

He may have trouble with his identity, but he won’t have trouble breaking new thralls for you, even from his clan. A taskmaster thrall can be added to any wheel of pain or torturer’s worktable to add benefit to the crafting station. As with any thrall, a taskmaster can be found in tiers. The taskmaster comes in four tiers: apprentice taskmaster, journeyman taskmaster, master taskmaster, and named taskmasters. The named taskmasters are split into overseer or driver taskmasters.

For your very first taskmaster, I suggest checking the southern shore of J4 on the southern river in the beginner area. A T1 thrall spawns in this location. For a great named thrall, try Sir Bowen, Enforcer of Asura. You will have a 25% chance of him spawning in Sinner’s Refuge, which is a cave in G4.

Each taskmaster increases the crafting speed of the wheel of pain you station them at. The higher the tier of the taskmaster, the lower the crafting speed for their wheel of pain.

On a torturer’s worktable, taskmasters increase the durability and concussive damage of truncheons made at that table. The higher the tier of your taskmaster, the higher the durability and concussive damage of any truncheons made at the worktable they are stationed at. The only difference between the tier 4 driver or overseer thralls is that driver thralls increase truncheon concussive damage more and overseers increase truncheon durability more. They add the same benefit to the wheel of pain: a 150% crafting speed bonus.

See also: Conan Exiles Brick Guide

The Wheel of Pain and The Torturer’s Worktable

A wheel of pain, or any of its versions, takes your knocked-out exile and crafts them into crafting, performing, or combat thralls. Taskmaster thralls are the only way to reduce crafting or “breaking” time of thralls on wheels of pain. Upgrading your wheel of pain only increases its capacity, look for a taskmaster if you want to reduce crafting time on your wheel.

Build a torturer’s work table to craft better truncheons than the initial wooden club you’ll be able to craft from your inventory. You’ll need to be level 30 to learn the Wheel of Pain feat, which will also teach you how to build a torturer’s worktable and a new iron truncheon and upgraded rawhide bindings to craft at it. Stationing a taskmaster at your torturer’s worktable will only upgrade the truncheons made there, not any other item coming from the worktable.

Taskmaster Bonus Recipe: Chain Bindings

If you manage to snag a master taskmaster (T3) or a named taskmaster (T4), they come with a bonus when placed at the torturer’s worktable. The only way to craft chain bindings (steel bindings) is by using a T3 or T4 thrall at the torturer’s worktable.

Fiber, rawhide, and leather bindings will work for short-medium distance thrall captures, but if you’re planning on bouncing a thrall across the map behind you, consider crafting chain bindings. Chain bindings have a huge durability increase compared to the jumps between the first three grades of bindings. Fiber bindings have 300 durabilities, rawhide bindings have 600 durabilities, leather bindings have 1200 durability and chain bindings have 3600 durabilities.

The only bindings that can be crafted at the torturer’s worktable and are better than chain bindings are the Bindings of the Dead at 14400 durabilities. These bindings require a long, complicated list of ingredients, whereas chain bindings only require 3 steel bars and a T3 or T4 taskmaster.

How to Find and Break a Taskmaster

When you head out in search of your first thrall, you’ll want to have your lesser wheel of pain built and placed. The exile you drag back to base will need to be placed directly into it, they have an escape timer and will run away if you wait too long to get them on the wheel. Craft and place a truncheon and rope not just in your inventory, but on your action wheel and consider crafting and equipping a shield. Even a low-level shield can make a huge difference in your battle with your potential thrall.

Whether a lowly T1 thrall or a valuable named T4, you’ll have to do some killing to get into a position to knock an exile out. Thrall locations are not sure-fire things. Each spawn point only has a chance of spawning the thrall you’re looking for. You may have to clear the area a couple of times before the taskmaster you are looking for will spawn, but even if the thrall is there on your first try, you will usually have other hostile mobs that need to be cleared to knock out the one you’ve come for. This mechanic keeps players from capturing a thrall before they can clear out plenty of their peers, or essentially making thralls a bonus instead of a game-breaking asset.

Sometimes it’s difficult to immediately spot the thrall you’re looking for. A taskmaster thrall usually has a truncheon of their own and a rope, setting them apart from their friends with pointy weapons.

See also: Conan Exiles Shaped Wood Guide

You will need to knock out a taskmaster thrall, instead of killing it, and that is what your truncheon (and hopefully shield) are for. Equip your truncheon with your shield by selecting it on the action wheel and then using it to battle your chosen thrall. Kill all other thralls in the area unless you’re prepared to take their damage while you knock out your taskmaster. You may also equip a combat thrall you bring in the future with a truncheon for double the knockout damage. When your chosen thrall has been knocked out, attach a rope and drag it back to your lesser wheel of pain. Upon opening the wheel’s inventory the exile will be deposited.

Put a stack of gruel in the wheel’s inventory and your thrall will begin to push. It doesn’t matter what you feed a thrall in the wheel of pain, even a taskmaster. It only matters that there is enough of it to get them through the entire crafting bar. Once your taskmaster has done their pushin’, either places them in that wheel of pain’s thrall box or remove them and place them in your chosen wheel of pain or torturer’s worktable. You’ll know they are a fully crafted thrall if they visibly disappear from the wheel of pain and are an item in its inventory. If they are still visible, but no longer pushing the wheel, it means you have run out of food during the crafting process and you’ll need to add more gruel.

Your First Taskmaster: The T1 Apprentice Taskmasters

The very first taskmaster you’ll have access to is a T1 apprentice taskmaster that spawns in J4. You’ll find them at a small campfire in the inlet just to the west of the large j-hook the island makes into the river. This camp is very small and snagging this thrall should be an easy task once T1 exiles are no longer a challenge. If you do not see the thrall, you’ll need to clear the camp and return, whether that’s by killing them all, or dragging other thralls you made need back to your base.

Placing an apprentice taskmaster thrall at any wheel of pain will increase its crafting speed by 25%. Placing an apprentice taskmaster thrall on a torturer’s worktable will increase the durability of the truncheons made there by 3% and the concussive bonus of a truncheon made there by 1.8%.

A Pretty Good Taskmaster: The T2 Journeyman Taskmasters

You can pretty reliably find a journeyman taskmaster at the Summoning Place in H5. To capture any thrall, I would recommend being comfortable clearing the area before you try to take a thrall. Clearing the Summoning Place is a job best suited for a level 20+ player with at least iron armor. Any Dafari camp can have T2 thralls if the summoning place is still a bit of a challenge.

Placing a journeyman taskmaster thrall at any wheel of pain will increase its crafting speed by 50%. Placing a journeyman taskmaster thrall on a torturer’s worktable will increase the durability of the truncheons made there by 5.8% and the concussive bonus of a truncheon made there by 3.6%.

See also: Conan Exiles Horse Guide

All you’ll Ever Need: The T3 Master Taskmasters

The best place to find master taskmasters is the Black Galleon. You’ll need to have some steel gear, a good combat pet or thrall, and be in your 30s or higher to clear out the Black Galleon. If you are on a PVP server, the location is farmed heavily for its high density of T3 thralls, and you may have other players to deal with. If you are having trouble with the main ship area of the Black Galleon, the small camps around the main area also spawn T3 thralls, though it will take you longer to find a master taskmaster.

Placing a master taskmaster thrall at any wheel of pain will increase its crafting speed by 75%. Placing a master taskmaster thrall on a torturer’s worktable will increase the durability of the truncheons made there by 8.7% and the concussive bonus of a truncheon made there by 5.4%.

Almost the Best: The T4 Overseer Taskmaster

Overseer thralls are easiest to find at high level named camps and cities. Though you may luck into a named thrall before you start clearing these areas, better thralls spawn more often in higher-level areas. Starting at the Black Galleon and moving your way up through The Den, Sepemaru, and the volcano will lend you the best chance of finding a named overseer taskmaster.

Placing named overseer taskmaster thrall at any wheel of pain will increase its crafting speed by 150%. Placing a named overseer taskmaster thrall on a torturer’s worktable will increase the durability of the truncheons made there by 44% and the concussive bonus of a truncheon made there by 11%.

Going For Gold: The T4 Driver Taskmaster

Driver taskmasters add the most concussive damage to truncheons crafted at a torturer’s worktable. This is a bit of a personal choice, but I care more about concussive damage than I do about durability. In my opinion, a driver taskmaster is a best-in-game taskmaster. They decrease crafting time in the wheel of pain by the same amount as an overseer taskmaster, so if this is the use you have in mind there is no difference between the two.

Ironically, there is a relatively easy to acquire named driver taskmaster available in the beginner area of the Exiled Lands. Sir Bowen, Enforcer of Asura is a convenient taskmaster that always spawns in the same location. He is one of many T4 named thralls that spawn in Sinner’s Refuge, a cave in G4. Sir Bowen has a 25% chance to be the named thrall at the pillar towards the back of the cave; you may have to kill or drag off other named thralls before the taskmaster will appear. Sinner’s refuge is also one of the easiest places to farm brimstone so bring your pickaxe!

Placing named driver taskmaster thrall at any wheel of pain will increase its crafting speed by 150%. Placing a named driver taskmaster thrall on a torturer’s worktable will increase the durability of the truncheons made there by 30.5% and the concussive bonus of a truncheon made there by 22%.

Taskmaster FAQs

Question: Where do I place my taskmaster in Conan Exiles?

Answer: The taskmaster can work two different types of the station: wheels of pain or torturer’s worktable.

Question: What do taskmasters do in Conan Exiles?

Answer: They can speed up crafting thralls if stationed at a wheel of pain, or they can improve truncheons crafted at a torturer’s worktable they are stationed at.

Question: Where is the easiest place to get my first taskmaster (T1)?

Answer: Check the small camp on the southern shore of the river in J4. You may need to clear the camp a couple of times, but eventually, you’ll notice an exile with a club and rope that is a T1 taskmaster.

Question: What is the easiest place to get a named taskmaster (T4)?

Answer: Clearing the cave called Sinner’s Refuge in G4 a couple of times is the easiest (or lowest-level) way to get a named taskmaster. Eventually, you will come across Sir Bowen, Enforcer of Asura, who is a T4 driver thrall.

Question: What is the difference between a T4 driver thrall and a T4 overseer thrall?

Answer: Both are named taskmaster thralls and decrease crafting time on the wheel by 150%. The difference between the two is that, when placed on the torturer’s workbench, a driver increases concussive damage and an overseer increases durability for truncheons crafted at the bench.

The Wheel Must Turn and It Must Turn Faster

There you have it, the ultimate shortcut to making more friends in Conan Exiles. If you’re tired of waiting an eternity for your new friends to become friendly, just go out and find a taskmaster to station at your wheel of pain and decrease its crafting time by anywhere from 25% to 150%.

If you’ve got plenty of time on your hands, the hidden bonus of bringing more taskmasters back to your base is stationing them at a taskmaster’s worktable. The bonuses they provide to your truncheons are a big help when you’re ready to get back to bonking. Even if you’re unable to secure a named driver taskmaster, any tier taskmaster will contribute their expertise to the workbench and their speed to the wheel. Taskmasters are the gateway thrall, once you get one, they’ll make securing other thralls that much easier!

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