Croman

Here is my strategy for collecting the companions available in Torghast. I got this information
from reading your posts on wowhead and some other websites.

First of all, I want to start out with this info:

Possible Companions from Thorgast for Night Fae:

[npc=171968] [Humanoid] [Any Layer]
[npc=171969] [Elemental] [Any Layer]
[npc=171971] [Humanoid] [Any Layer]
[npc=171972] [Humanoid] [Layer 2+]
[npc=171967] [Humanoid] [Layer 3+]
[npc=171970] [Humanoid] [Layer 3+]

Possible Companions from Thorgast for Necrolords:

[npc=173745] [Undead] [Any Layer]
[npc=173744] [Undead] [Any Layer]
[npc=173743] [Undead] [Any Layer]
[npc=173740] [Undead] [Layer 2+]
[npc=173741] [Undead] [Layer 3+]
[npc=173742] [Undead] [Layer 3+]

Possible Companions from Thorgast for Kyrian:

Hala [Humanoid] [Any Layer]
Ispiron [Mechanical] [Any Layer]
Molako [Humanoid] [Any Layer]
Kythekios [Humanoid] [Layer 2+]
Telethakas [Humanoid] [Layer 3+]
Teliah [Humanoid] [Layer 3+]

Possible Companions from Thorgast for Venthyr:

Nerith Darkwing [Humanoid] [Any Layer]
Stonehuck [Humanoid] [Any Layer]
Thela Soulsipper [Humanoid] [Any Layer]
Kaletar [Humanoid] [Layer 2+]
Ayeleth [Humanoid] [Layer 3+]
Dug Gravewell [Humanoid] [Layer 3+]

Possible Companions from Thorgast for all Covenants:

[npc=165562] [Humanoid] [Any Layer]
[npc=165537] [Humanoid] [Any Layer]
[npc=169842] [Humanoid] [Layer 4+]
Croman [Humanoid] [Layer 4+]

From my experience, when you are on Layer 5 of Torghast (any wing), usually floor 1 in Torghast contains one and only one of the following:

1] A rare elite
2] A treasure chest
3] A campaign mission companion
4] A non-campaign mission prisoner
5] A special visitor

The first 4 reward an anima cell, but the special visitor has a different reward.

Examples of a special visitor:
The Lost Dredger can let you into a secret portal to get more phantasma.
The Maldraxxus Skeleton will give you a thrill ride through a Torghast floor run.

What I was mostly interested in was acquiring the campaign mission companions.

My method to obtain the mission companions involves using the Layer 5, Floor 1 technique.
Currently you can enter Floor 1 of any Torghast wing, do your thing, exit Torghast, and
repeat, since there is no limit to how many times you can enter and exit Torghast.

Your focus should be only on Floor 1. If your companion is not there, wash, rinse, repeat.

Next, I want to talk about your strategy for all classes.

If you want to get any of the first 3 companions in each list of 6 (the ones that are available for "any layer") I suggest sticking with
Layer 1 of any Torghast wing to make things easier.

However, it has been my experience that the higher the Layer, the better chances you have of finding a companion. With this
being said, I recommend using Layer 5, that way you can get all of the companions.

Next, I want to talk about your strategy for specific classes.

1] Hunter : As a BM Hunter you have 3 things working to your advantage.
A] You have a "Hunter Tracking" ability that puts dots on your mini map to show you what type of enemy or friend is in the near
vicinity. Red dots are enemies, green dots are friendly. You are looking for green dots. In most cases you are looking for humanoids
(or undead if you are a Necrolord), but a couple of exceptions are mechanical (Ispiron) and Karynmwylyann (elemental).
B] You have "Camouflage" + "Eyes of the Beast" that will let you travel around the floor looking for those green dots.
C] "Play Dead" and "Feign Death" to get you out of trouble.

2] All other classes you can eat food "Blackened Worg Steak" [item=42997] to track humanoids.

3] Rouge : As a rouge, you will stealth around looking for trapped companions. Vanish if you get in trouble.

4] Warlock : "Eye of Killrog" to look for green dots.

5] Shaman : "Far Sight" to look for green dots.

6] Mage : "Shimmer" and "Invisibility to look for green dots.

7] Druid : Cat form stealth to look for green dots.

8] Priest : Mind Vision is useful (thanks to Bundinn's comment).

9] All other classes, I don't know them very well, so you tell me what works good.

Next, let me talk about the Runecarver messages when you enter Torghast Floor 1.

When you enter Torghast Floor 1 and you get a message from the Runecarver:
Runecarver says: Even a Harvester of pride does not deserve to languish here. Save the venthyr from this fate.
It could be your Venthyr companion. Go find it.

Runecarver says: "The brave... the mighty... the treacherous. All are bound here. Free them."
It could be your Necrolord companion. Go find it.

Runecarver says: "A lost fae, bound in torment. Free them... lest they be consumed by darkness."
It could be your Night Fae companion. Go find it.

Runecarver says: A child of Bastion... undeserving of such a fate. Lead them into light.
It could be your Kyrian companion. Go find it.

When the Runecarver says nothing, there is a chance that you might be on a floor with one of the 4 companions that
are available for all covenants. Look for a green dot.

If you only want your covenant companions, the Runecarver message can be your determining factor as to how you proceed.
If you do not get the Runecarver message for your covenant as soon as you enter Torghast, exit Torghast and come back in.
However, it might serve you well to go just a little bit deeper into the floor before you decide to exit.

Next, I want to talk about what happens if you discover a chest, a rare elite, or a "Special NPC" (Lost Dreger, Maldraxxus
Skeleton, etc) while looking for a companion. Exit Torghast, it is unlikely to find a companion on any Floor if any of these are present.

Another thing is to zoom in on your mini map. I typically always have my mini map on full zoom out, but for this you may want to
zoom in a couple of tics to spread out the red and green dots that show up.

So far I have successfully obtained every companion for my covenant (Night Fae) and also Croman and Meatball using this method.
I still have yet to obtain [npc=165562] and [npc=165537].

I hope this information helps you, good luck on your journey, and feel free to share comments.

Can anyone tell us what Runecarver says when Croman is on your floor?

EDIT: I found him and I will share my experience...

First of all, I am playing Shaman and my tactic is > Pick Layer level according to Wowhead > Floor 1 > Scan the floor with Far Sight > If I don't find what I want, I am repeating the tactic. Till now it worked with last week covenant specific followers and now worked with Croman as well.

I found him at "The Upper Reaches", Layer 8 > Floor 1, and his task was to kill 1 elite (130k life with 2 people in the group) before the floor boss. After you recruit him, you can safely leave the Torghast without killing anything else. just walk outside or HS.

I think one important thing to note (which I was searching to know) is that the Runecarver said nothing about prisoners... and also the /target Croman did not work for me (I don't know if it works for others).

Some extra info I gathered from around (I don't know if it is valid or not, I am just sharing it) is that at "The Upper Reaches" you have lesser chances to find chests (which is good because if u don't find chest you have more chances to find follower or nothing). Also "The Upper Reaches" is kinda helpful to scan since it is not "Labyrinth" like Soulforges and it has many "open wide" areas.

Good Luck all! It took me 2 hours +-

Got him today. Layer 5, Floor 1, of Soulforge.