I do a lot of crafting and have three disciples of hand at lvl 80 now with all the others not that far behind. I also regularly do the weekly crafting in Idylshire for crafter's scripts and two of doh's have all 8 master's books.

As a result I am now able to craft items that require clusters rather than crystals. Right now I am purchasing them at the mp simply because I have no idea how to obtain them on my own.

From the little bit I have learned from googling them it seems that fighting mobs is the best (only?) way to obtain them. Is this correct? Is it possible to obtain them with retainers? Or with my miner or botanist?

I generally prefer to absorb the cost of items (like skins and hides) from buying them on the mp rather than taking the time to dps mobs for the drops. So will likely continue to purchase my clusters if the only way to obtain them is by dpsing mpbs.

Thanks for you help!