[Feedback] Infernalist Witch Minion Build - Endgame Minions Feel Extremely Underwhelming

I want to share some thoughts about Witch Infernalist minion builds in PoE2, specifically Skeletal Storm Mages. This is a high-investment setup pushed into endgame, and the goal of this post is not just to complain, but to ask for ideas: different playstyle, tricks, or tech that could make this kind of minion build feel better and hit harder in actual gameplay.

I know my energy shield is on the low side (around 3k) and life is not huge either, but that part feels mostly fine. The scary part of the build is not me dying, it is watching an army of very expensive skeletons wander around like they are out for a relaxed afternoon walk.

Build overview
Infernalist witch using Skeletal Storm Mages as the main damage source. They mostly spam Arc all day and occasionally remember that Death Storm exists when I press the button. My personal job is basically to keep Pain Offering up and run around without dying while they do the killing.

Rough investment and numbers:
- Spirit is around 570.
- Skeletal Storm Mages cost 20 spirit each.
- I can have 21 of them at once.
- Minion damage, crit chance and crit multi are stacked as hard as I can manage on passives and gear.
- Two rings with extra chaos damage and a belt pushing those ring bonuses up by a lot.

At level 39 Skeletal Storm Mages, Arc DPS is roughly 125k per mage, going to around 195k with 2x Pain Offering. Death Storm shows about 780k DPS (around 1.2m with 2x Pain Offering), but as mentioned, I use it much less often than Arc. On paper, with 21 mages, the numbers look like proper endgame damage backed by a lot of currency and passive investment.



The main issue: minions behave like sleepy tourists
The biggest problem is not the tooltips, it is how the mages actually behave in maps. They are simply not aggressive enough. They rarely move ahead of my character, they do not rush enemies, and most of the time they just shuffle behind me and eventually decide to start casting. By the time they lock onto a pack, the pack has often already hit me or moved away.

When you compare that to fast clearing builds that run through maps while spamming one skill and deleting everything on and off screen, this army of skeleton spellcasters feels like a committee that always arrives one meeting late. Their effective range and uptime on damage end up much lower than the numbers suggest, purely because they take so long to react and get into position.

Weapon swap spawning
To try to fix positioning, I use the weapon swap trick. Swapping away despawns the mages, swapping back to the sceptre respawns them on top of me. In theory that sounds perfect: instant mages where I am standing. In practice, they appear on me, stare into space for a moment, and then eventually start casting Arc.

There is a very noticeable delay after they spawn before they actually attack anything. So even with weapon swapping to pull them onto my position, they do not instantly blast nearby enemies. There is always that short "loading" period where nothing happens, and then they go back to their usual half-hearted chasing behavior. It ends up feeling like I am working overtime to manage their AI, while they are on a very relaxed work schedule.

High level minion scaling feels weirdly low
The other big issue is how poor the scaling of high minion levels seems to be. Getting Skeletal Storm Mages into the high 30s is extremely expensive, and approaching 40 is even worse. But the actual return is tiny.

Example from my character:
- Skeletal Storm Mages at level 39.
- If I remove a +3 Skeletal Storm Mages Prism of Belief Diamond jewel, they drop to level 36.
- Arc DPS goes from about 125k to about 124k.

So 3 gem levels give roughly 1k DPS per mage. That is maybe 300–400 DPS per level in that range. For upgrades in the "this could be a mirror" price bracket, that is not exactly exciting. I also have +4 to minion skills on my weapon, and looking at these numbers, going to +5 barely seems worth thinking about.

Once you are past about level 36, extra minion levels feel more like bragging rights on the tooltip than real upgrades. Spirit reservation does not change, and DPS barely changes, while the gear needed gets more and more ridiculous.





Progression problem
At level 90+ with this level of investment, it feels like the minion part of the character is already done, even though there are technically stronger items out there. The problem is that the game lets you chase absurd minion levels, but those final steps do not reward you in a way you can actually feel in maps or boss fights. They end up being very expensive vanity levels instead of actual power spikes.

I know there are minion setups with crazy DPS that rely on strange mechanics and interactions. I have tried some of them. They feel more like exploiting edge cases than playing a clean, intended archetype though. What I am aiming for here is a straightforward Infernalist minion build that feels strong without having to rely on weird tricks.

Compared to other builds
This character has eaten a lot of currency. When I compare it to other high-investment builds that run through maps and erase packs with one button, it is hard not to feel like I am playing in slow motion. My mages are slow to engage, their damage uptime is poor, and the big-ticket minion level upgrades do not seem to give the kind of value you would expect for their cost.

Sometimes it really does feel like nobody on the dev team is currently maining a regular Infernalist minion build in high tier maps. If they were, I suspect these skeletons would have been told to move faster and actually lead the way instead of forming a polite queue behind the player.

What I am asking from other players
This is where I would really appreciate some input from people who have more experience with PoE2 minion builds or have managed to make Skeletal Storm Mages feel good:
- Is there some trick to making minions more aggressive, so they naturally move ahead and engage instead of trailing behind?
- Are there passive choices, gear interactions, or known setups that noticeably change their behavior or targeting speed?
- Is there a smarter way to use weapon swap or positioning so they stay on top of enemies more reliably?
- Or is the general consensus right now simply that Skeletal Storm Mages are slow and clunky compared to other endgame options?

I am happy to adjust playstyle, change links, move passives around, and so on. I just want to know if there is a way to turn this into a fast, responsive minion build, instead of feeling like I am walking around with a very expensive but slightly confused skeleton parade.

TL;DR
High investment Infernalist minion build with Skeletal Storm Mages (around 570 spirit, 21 mages, level 39, a lot of currency invested) feels slow and underwhelming in real gameplay. Main problems:
- Minions are not aggressive enough: they trail behind, are slow to start casting Arc, and even when weapon swapping to respawn them on top of me there is a delay before they actually attack.
- High minion levels (36 to 39 and beyond) give almost no noticeable DPS increase despite costing a fortune. Dropping from 39 to 36 loses only about 1k Arc DPS per mage.

Defense is not the big issue here. I am mainly looking for advice on playstyle, gearing, and any known tricks to make this style of minion build feel faster, more responsive, and less like a very expensive slow-moving circus.

And here we go again.
You got it.

Those guys deal like what 3M DPS (hard to tell with rakiata), but do not want to move their asses. They do not even know if they are in range to hit something or not.

You shoved few hundred divines in a build, that would do 1m+ DPS with garbage trash can gear. You probably know this, but I should mention it.

While not scaling too well this build is absolutely amazing for league starting.

We should take this into account when talking about changes. Because if power is put inside the end-game, power should be taken from the early game.

Balance is absolutely required.

And another point - you are specifically complaining about your storm mage clear speed.

You are moving with 40% speed (I assume you have socketed amanamu gaze, like all of us). You want your minions to catch up, and clear everything instantly.

Because the bossing with this build is a breeze.

Like you walk in the room, he spawns and during the spawning animation you are already looting it.

We cannot ask GGG to give us 40% MS clear with amazing bossing times.

Again, balance must be preserved.

It is either one, or the other.

Edit:
Btw, pure ES gear and block seems better defense.
I have over 10k ES and almost capped block. And unless I go absolutely berserk and face-tank the boss inside some AOE bullshit, I cannot be killed.

Magma barrier is broken.

Yeah, I get where you are coming from, and I agree that around 3M+ DPS on these guys is absolutely fine on its own. The thing that tilts me is that if I threw the same pile of currency at basically any other fast ranged build, it would be doing 10M+ while also zooming around the map and being tanky on top of it. So on a relative scale it feels like minions are paying premium prices for budget performance.

What really drives me crazy is the "no eyes" feeling. My minions do not seem to care about monsters that are right next to them. They only wake up if I am in the right place, like we are sharing one set of binoculars. If I move away from a pack, the minions politely follow me and the monsters behind us might as well not exist. It is like they are blind and overly defensive, when what this archetype really needs is bloodthirsty, slightly unhinged skeletons.

To be clear, I am not complaining about my own survivability. That part is fine. DPS is fine too, and I agree that bossing is a joke most of the time. You walk in, boss starts the intro, and the loot is already on the floor. No argument there.

What I am asking is why their reaction is so slow. Not just movement speed, but the "I see a monster, I should probably cast Arc now" part. Right now it feels like they get the memo a second and a half late.

And then there is the scaling problem on top of that. Pushing minions from level 36 to 40 feels almost completely pointless. You throw insane amounts of currency at those last few levels, and what do you get for it? DPS basically does not move. Maybe they get a bit more life, but that is not exactly the kind of power spike you expect from gear that costs you organs. Same story with character level 90+. The amount of time it takes to push those last levels versus the value of the extra passive points feels completely out of proportion. It is a lot of hours (or tens or hundreds of hours) for very little real gain, especially for this kind of build.

And yeah, I am also on the Amanamus Gaze train, just waiting for league to end. The gear on this character is worth several thousand divs, probably in mirror territory if you add everything up. The problem is that there are builds out there, much cheaper, that abuse various interactions and end up with many times more DPS while also moving faster and tanking more. Then you look at the pure minion build and it is slower, more awkward, and the minions attack like they are on a coffee break.

That is why I keep joking that it feels like nobody at GGG is currently playing a pure minion build. I mean the "never attack yourself, let the minions do 100% of the work" playstyle. It is a fantasy I really enjoy in ARPGs in general, and I have tried to build it in pretty much every game that allows it. In PoE2 it feels like that fantasy is at a big disadvantage compared to everything else.

PoE1 actually felt much better in that regard. SRS, other minion setups, they had their issues, but they did not feel this slow and indecisive. Here it feels like the skeletons all agreed to share one brain cell and take turns using it.

So I am not asking for "40% MS + instant clear + instant boss delete" all at once. I just want the minions to use their own eyes, react to what is around them, and not force the player to drag them from pack to pack like a very expensive, slightly lost tour group.

"

Skellymancer#5263 написал:

And here we go again.
You got it.

Those guys deal like what 3M DPS (hard to tell with rakiata), but do not want to move their asses. They do not even know if they are in range to hit something or not.

You shoved few hundred divines in a build, that would do 1m+ DPS with garbage trash can gear. You probably know this, but I should mention it.

While not scaling too well this build is absolutely amazing for league starting.

We should take this into account when talking about changes. Because if power is put inside the end-game, power should be taken from the early game.

Balance is absolutely required.

And another point - you are specifically complaining about your storm mage clear speed.

You are moving with 40% speed (I assume you have socketed amanamu gaze, like all of us). You want your minions to catch up, and clear everything instantly.

Because the bossing with this build is a breeze.

Like you walk in the room, he spawns and during the spawning animation you are already looting it.

We cannot ask GGG to give us 40% MS clear with amazing bossing times.

Again, balance must be preserved.

It is either one, or the other.

Edit:
Btw, pure ES gear and block seems better defense.
I have over 10k ES and almost capped block. And unless I go absolutely berserk and face-tank the boss inside some AOE bullshit, I cannot be killed.

Magma barrier is broken.

I have similar problem with my powered zealots.

Running with ~20 of those guys. When they start casting they make a cloud of lightning that obliterates everything.

They are not slow, but the projectile is the definition of SLOW. So from the time of the cast, to the time the projectiles get to the target it takes few seconds. Then the whole screen instantly dies.

I want to ask GGG "please buff".

But what will I give in return?

The DPS of those guys is well into millions. It is impossible to calculate since those balls stack and do more than one hit. Depending on how small the area is, I would go and say that it may be ramping to 5-10m.

I do not want to give up this, because it allows me to simulacrum and do pinnacle bosses without a sweat.

I do not want to give up on the 40% MS. Earlier leagues I was playing ~10%.

I do not want to give up on the defense. Like, letting me pick 6-8 minion notables, and throw everything else into defense and jewel sockets.

Not to mention that for some reason GGG did not remove "Muster support". This alone boost all your zoo DPS.

To be honest there is not a single thing I want to give up on this character.

So slower clear speed seems acceptable trade off.

Btw, the main reason it feels slower, is because we are 30% faster this league. If you remove the amanamu you will see that they walk and clear pretty much all the time.

Maybe "minion speed" notables would be the solution to move power from damage to clear speed.

Yeah, I get what you are saying about tradeoffs, and I actually agree with a lot of it. I am not really asking for 40% MS, giga DPS and immortal defenses all in one package for free. My main issue is not even clear speed on its own, it is how the minions behave while they are doing all this damage.

Right now they feel like leashed pets that only really do anything when I, the main character, am basically standing in danger or getting hit. I would much rather have minions that act aggressively on their own. I want them to walk ahead, see enemies by themselves, and start attacking without needing me to be right on top of the pack first. They should have their own "eyes", not just borrow mine.

I know there is some design philosophy question here about what a minion is supposed to be, but if they only react when I am close and in danger, then the whole "they protect me" fantasy kind of collapses. I want them to take aggro, take hits for me, and pull monster attention away from my character. There is a reason they are minions in my head: they are the expendable ones, the little skeleton "slaves" that step into danger so the boss does not have to (please nobody take that offensively, but that is the mentality behind playing a pure minion archetype).

I could absolutely respec into some broken build, press a couple of buttons and delete screens and bosses like everyone else. That is not the point. The whole reason I play this way is that I want to command minions (or have them self-direct intelligently) to do stuff for me. It is the same way I approach things outside games too: sometimes it takes longer to write a program that automates some task than it would take to just do it manually, but I still do it because I like automation. This is the same idea, just with lightning skeletons instead of automation programs.

The current command system makes this extra frustrating. If I tell them to attack something directly, all 21 Skeletal Storm Mages dogpile that one target and ignore everything else. If I tell them to move somewhere, they move, but they do not attack while moving. They happily walk through or around enemies without casting a single Arc. So I am stuck between "everyone overkill this one guy" and "please go there and also please pretend monsters do not exist".

That is why I keep thinking in RTS terms. In RTS games you usually have at least two different movement/attack concepts: "move only" and "move and attack". Right now PoE2 basically only gives me "move only" and "attack this one thing only". If I had a "move and attack" style command that made them push forward and engage anything on the way, that alone would already fix a huge part of how this feels. I would be fine click-spamming ahead of me to tell them "go here and murder everything on the path". I do not need infinite clear speed, I just need them to stop acting like politely leashed pets and start acting like the aggressive, semi-autonomous murder squad they look like on paper.

"

Skellymancer#5263 написал:

I have similar problem with my powered zealots.

Running with ~20 of those guys. When they start casting they make a cloud of lightning that obliterates everything.

They are not slow, but the projectile is the definition of SLOW. So from the time of the cast, to the time the projectiles get to the target it takes few seconds. Then the whole screen instantly dies.

I want to ask GGG "please buff".

But what will I give in return?

The DPS of those guys is well into millions. It is impossible to calculate since those balls stack and do more than one hit. Depending on how small the area is, I would go and say that it may be ramping to 5-10m.

I do not want to give up this, because it allows me to simulacrum and do pinnacle bosses without a sweat.

I do not want to give up on the 40% MS. Earlier leagues I was playing ~10%.

I do not want to give up on the defense. Like, letting me pick 6-8 minion notables, and throw everything else into defense and jewel sockets.

Not to mention that for some reason GGG did not remove "Muster support". This alone boost all your zoo DPS.

To be honest there is not a single thing I want to give up on this character.

So slower clear speed seems acceptable trade off.

Side question: Do you have SRS with flame wall?

This is the "move and kill everything on your path" command.

Honestly if you are playing without this, I have no idea how you even reached 92 lvl.

You constantly click it in front of you, and they stay in front of you.

Edit: Be honest, you didn't right? :)

"

Skellymancer#5263 написал:

Side question: Do you have SRS with flame wall?

This is the "move and kill everything on your path" command.

Honestly if you are playing without this, I have no idea how you even reached 92 lvl.

You constantly click it in front of you, and they stay in front of you.

This trolling seriously needs to stop.

Any, and by that, I mean 100% of competent minion players are not using SRS end game. It's a leveling skill that works for progressing but is dog shit end game.

Even if god used SRS end game and told you it was a thing and you were a believer, you should review your faith immediately on the spot and start thinking if it's an hologram or some form of optical illusion.

Even if the top 1 streamer said otherwise you should immediately understand he's joking or specifically trolling.

Let's say Mark and/or Jonathan did a video that is show casing SRS being a thing in end game, you should immediately understand that this is an april's fool joke or sheer trolling.


If it was rage bait, congratulations man, you got me to post this...

Can't wait for a league reset because these rage bait are getting really old.

Well, if you get your info from number 1 streamers, I can totally see why you are rage baiting.

Just want to say that from the few level 100 infernalist, there is Asian guy who plays with it. I am not number 1 streamers, so I do not know if you would like a link to the build.

But okay, if you do not like flame wall, go frost bomb.

Frost bomb with exposure works exactly like a kill command too.

Just want to mention also that I do not do weapon swap, with or without blink.

While effective, this play style is not really everyone's thing.

I did use Arsonists and Raging Spirits while leveling, yeah. They were fine early on, but by the time I got to end-game they felt both weak and slow at the same time. By the time the little flaming guys got to the monsters, the monsters had usually already retired.

Right now I have tried pretty much every minion toy I can reasonably get my hands on: +21 minion gems, the +3 passive tree jewels, all the usual suspects. Out of everything I have tested, Skeletal Storm Mages are the ones I actually enjoy the most. The rest either do less DPS, feel slower, or rely on some janky interaction that I do not really want to build my whole character around.

I am not claiming to be some veteran giga-min-maxer, if that is what you were hinting at. I have a few hundred hours in PoE1 and a bunch in other ARPGs. Grim Dawn and Titan Quest were probably the most fun for me, and in every one of these games I always end up chasing the same fantasy: pure minion build, where my character does not personally attack anything. No flame wall, no SRS spam as a primary damage source, no "I am secretly the real DPS and the minions are just decoration". I want the minions to do the work while I play foreman.

So yeah, I know SRS + Flame Wall exists, and yes, I have both a level 1 and a level 21 Flame Wall (and 23% quality) sitting there. I did try it. It works, it helps, but it is not the playstyle I am trying to build around. My goal is to get as close as possible to "hands off, skeletons on" rather than turning my character into a walking SRS macro.

So you can safely assume I have poked at a bunch of options. I am not just refusing Flame Wall because I have never clicked it; I just want the angry skeleton wizard swarm to be the main act, not the warm-up band.

"

Skellymancer#5263 написал:

Side question: Do you have SRS with flame wall?

This is the "move and kill everything on your path" command.

Honestly if you are playing without this, I have no idea how you even reached 92 lvl.

You constantly click it in front of you, and they stay in front of you.

Edit: Be honest, you didn't right? :)

When you click your flame wall, the minions will walk into it, but not passively, but trying to attack anything around.

This allows you to walk and spam skills, and the minions will stay in front of you, instead of dragging behind you.

You can do unearth If you want to.

Any spell will make your minions rush to that zone and kill everything they find.

Try it, you will clear 10 times faster, 100 times safer.

I think this will solve all of your problems.