Ahh, so you are saying that by continuing to walk the walk the AoD will
continue to confront and engage those who are trying to talk the talk.
By walking the AoD is forced to load and walk the walk.

I'll try this the next time.

My mistake then was that I entered the stairs and just sat there
looking at the screen. If I held the mouse key down, the AoD would have
engaged and I would not have gotten hit and the frenzytaurs would be
crying "wee wee wee wee all the way home" to their mommies.

Thnx.

Orion

Good tip.  It seems like the minions are actually in a line rather than a
group.  Sometimes I can walk quite a ways before they will decluster if they
are not being attacked.  It happens more often if I have revives that have a
slow moving AI, like mage skeletons or archers.  If one of those are in
front, none of the minions can move until he/she is out of the way.  If I
don't have any revives, then the golem is usually the slowest in the group
and a recast will sometimes let them file out.  If I am going down stairs in
Worldstone or the Tower, I always make sure I either have no revives or very
active ones.

Other things that can help with stairs are casting Decrep, Terror, or DV
immediately after hitting the stairs and before the level loads.  The curse
will cast in the game before your screen loads and buy time.

Teleport works great if you are not stun locked.

I have also read that holding the shift key will prevent you from stepping
out in front of the minions when you go down stairs, but I haven't tried
that enough to say if it works.  Even if it does not keep you from being hit
you should stay in range of the stairs to go back up if it is hairy.
Similarly, some always "peek" by popping down and immediately back up to
check for bad traps.  I don't know how well that works, as I think it would
wake and draw bad packs that might otherwise be manageable.

-Steve

Oops I meant throne room.