Dark Surge Pets & Boss Spawn Rates in Torchlight Infinite: The Ultimate SS9 Outlaw Farming Test
Dark Surge has long been a point of fascination—and confusion—for players diving deep into Torchlight Infinite. Whether you’re an SS9 Outlaw veteran or just gearing up for your first serious mapping grind, you’ve probably heard conflicting advice about Dark Surge pets and their impact on boss spawn rates. Some swear the pets are essential; others insist they’re useless for spawn chances.
To settle the debate, I ran an extensive farming test across more than one hundred maps to see, once and for all, whether pets actually influence boss spawns. What follows is the data, the methodology, and the insights—plus a few unexpected findings that could save you time, currency, and frustration in your Dark Surge speed farming runs.
Understanding Dark Surge Speed Farming Basics
Before diving into the numbers, it’s worth clarifying how Dark Surge works in Torchlight Infinite. Dark Surge encounters are special events that can appear in maps, bringing in waves of enemies and the occasional elite or boss. The biggest lure isn’t the thrill of the fight—it’s the loot, particularly Edicts of Doom, which currently form the core of Dark Surge profitability.
When farming Dark Surge, speed is everything. The faster you can chain maps while triggering high-value encounters, the greater your return per hour. But this efficiency hinges on one question: is it worth investing in Dark Surge pets to increase your boss spawns, or can you achieve the same results without them?
The Role of Dark Surge Pets in Farming
Dark Surge pets have their appeal. They can enhance certain rewards from bosses, such as boosting the amount of currency, legendary items, or special loot drops. However, they come with a cost—both in acquisition and in how they influence your farming tree.
The common belief among the community has been:
“Without pets, you won’t see enough bosses to make Dark Surge farming worthwhile.”
This assumption makes sense on paper. Pets are tied to reward mechanics, so it’s easy to think they also control spawn rates. But assumptions are dangerous in Torchlight Infinite, and testing is the only way to know for sure.
Designing the Dark Surge Boss Spawn Test
To remove as many variables as possible, I structured my test around 110 maps total, split evenly between runs with Dark Surge pets and without. Here’s how I set it up:
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Map Selection: Every run was done on the same maps—either Demi Village or Grove of Calamity & Thunder. Consistency was key.
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Quantity Control: Map quantity (quant) was kept consistent within each batch to prevent loot modifiers from skewing spawn numbers.
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Pet Control: One set of maps used pets; the other was completely pet-free.
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No Outside Buffs: No Nether Realm modifiers or special seasonal effects that could alter spawn behavior.
The goal was to simulate realistic, repeatable farming conditions while tracking boss spawn frequency and loot quality in each scenario.
Where the Money Actually Comes From
If you’ve been farming Dark Surge for any length of time, you already know the raw truth—most of the profit doesn’t come from random legendary drops or flashy rare gear. The true currency is Edicts of Doom.
These items form the bulk of your income, especially when paired with cards like the Heretical Card, which directly increases your odds of seeing those Edicts drop. The secondary loot (random legendaries, crafting currency, and odd gear pieces) is nice, but it doesn’t come close to the consistent profitability of Edicts.
Interestingly, map quantity directly influences the number of Edicts you’ll see from bosses—but only when bosses spawn in the first place. In higher quantity maps, it’s not uncommon to see four or five Edicts drop from a single boss encounter, whereas in lower-quant maps you might only see one.
The Raw Numbers – Pets vs. No Pets
After 55 maps with pets and 55 maps without, the result was surprising:
Boss spawn counts were exactly the same.
No difference. Not a single map’s result suggested that pets were influencing the frequency of bosses appearing in Dark Surge.
This was not what I expected. I assumed there would be a small variation, even if only by one or two spawns. But the data lined up perfectly—pets don’t control spawns, they control rewards.
So if your primary goal in Dark Surge speed farming is to trigger bosses as often as possible, pets don’t matter.
Why This Changes Farming Strategy
This finding frees up a significant amount of flexibility in your farming build. Without the need for pets to boost spawn rates, you can:
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Focus your tree on Heretical Cards for Edict farming.
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Save resources you might otherwise spend on acquiring or upgrading Dark Surge pets.
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Prioritize map quantity boosts for more valuable boss drops when they do spawn.
If your strategy is to chase bosses, this means your progression path can be much more focused—and less expensive.
The Compass Twist: Blue vs. Purple
While testing, something strange happened. After completing my initial 110 maps, I decided to run an additional batch—this time using the Blue Compass. That’s when things got weird.
Across 50 consecutive maps with the Blue Compass equipped, I didn’t get a single boss spawn. Zero.
Previously, my spawn rate was roughly one boss every ten maps. Switching to Blue Compass made that plummet to nothing.
Comparing this to the Purple Compass, which explicitly states it increases boss spawn chances, the difference was staggering. While it’s possible this was simply an unlucky streak, it feels more like a bug—or at least an undocumented mechanic—where the Blue Compass reduces the spawn rate instead of leaving it unaffected.
This wasn’t the only oddity. Some bosses spawned but failed to drop Edicts entirely, something I hadn’t observed earlier in the league.
Potential Bugs and Current Caution
Based on the Blue Compass anomaly and the drop inconsistencies, I’ve reported this as a potential bug. Until we get an official confirmation, I’d recommend avoiding Blue Compass for boss-targeted Dark Surge farming. If you’re pushing for speed, stick with Purple or run without a compass to avoid potential spawn rate suppression.
The T8 Shift – When FE Drops Kick In
Another point worth noting is that the impact of pets changes once you hit T8 maps. At this tier, you can start seeing FE drops from currency rewards tied to pets. That said, these drops are extremely rare—over my entire test, I saw only one Compass reward from T8 Dark Surge farming across 110 maps.
The takeaway: While pets can improve loot tables at high tiers, they still don’t justify their cost if your focus is purely on speed farming bosses for Edicts.
Unexpected Profits Along the Way
While the Edicts were the consistent money-maker, the most profitable moment from my entire test run came from pure luck:
Two Wind Breath Convergences dropped over the course of the grind, effectively covering the costs of the entire project.
This reinforces one of the cardinal truths of farming in Torchlight Infinite: no matter how optimized your strategy, RNG always has a say in your final profits.
Final Conclusions from 110 Maps of Data
After all the testing, here’s the definitive answer:
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Dark Surge pets do not affect boss spawn rates.
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Their primary value lies in enhancing rewards from bosses that do spawn.
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If you want more bosses, you need to focus on other mechanics—not pets.
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Purple Compass is currently your safest bet for spawn rate boosts; avoid Blue Compass until further testing confirms its behavior.
For Dark Surge speed farming specifically, skip the pet investment if your goal is boss spawns, and direct your resources toward map quantity, Heretical Cards, and efficient clearing.
A Challenge for Other Farmers
If you feel 110 maps isn’t enough to draw a final conclusion, I encourage you to run your own tests. Record your data—map type, compass used, whether pets were equipped—and see if your results match mine. Farming science works best when the community compares numbers.
Until then, the myth is busted: you can farm Dark Surge bosses at the same rate with or without pets, meaning speed farmers can trim unnecessary costs from their builds without sacrificing spawn efficiency.
Frequently Asked Questions – Dark Surge Speed Farming
Q: Do Dark Surge pets increase the chance of boss spawns?
No. Based on a controlled 110-map test, spawn rates were identical with or without pets. Pets affect rewards, not spawn frequency.
Q: What is the main source of profit from Dark Surge farming?
Edicts of Doom are the most reliable and valuable drops, especially when combined with Heretical Cards and high map quantity.
Q: Are Dark Surge pets worth it for speed farming?
Only if you’re targeting high-tier reward drops. For pure boss spawn efficiency, pets don’t justify their cost.
Q: Does map quantity (quant) affect Dark Surge loot?
Yes. Higher quant maps can yield more Edicts from bosses when they spawn—sometimes four or five at once.
Q: Which compass should I use for more bosses?
The Purple Compass is safer for boss farming. Avoid the Blue Compass until the suspected spawn suppression bug is confirmed.
Q: Can I profit without pets in Dark Surge farming?
Absolutely. With optimized speed farming, you can achieve strong returns solely from boss spawns and Edict drops.
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