MMGA - Make Minions Great Again

Short version:
- Bow skills get huge power from gem levels.
- Minion skills past about level 30 mostly get a tiny spirit discount and almost no power.
- If a minion gem plus all the +level gear costs hundreds or thousands of divs, it should not feel the same as level 30.

Lightning Arrow grows up, my skeletons stay interns
Lightning Arrow, gem levels 21 to 40:
- Level 21: 262% base damage.
- Level 40: 662% base damage.
That is about 2.5x damage from gem levels alone.

Lightning Rod, gem levels 21 to 40:
- Level 21: 100% base damage.
- Level 40: 342% base damage.
So almost 3.5x damage just from leveling the gem.

If you throw currency at +levels for bow skills, the game clearly rewards you with big numbers.

Skeletal Storm Mage: the spirit discount sale
Now look at Skeletal Storm Mage.

Reservation example:
- Level 21: 38 spirit per minion.
- Level 40: 35 spirit per minion.

That is about an 8% reduction, which is roughly 8% more minions at best.

EIGHT PERCENT!

Compare that to:
- Lightning Arrow going from 262% to 662% damage (about 2.5x).
- Lightning Rod going from 100% to 342% damage (almost 3.5x).

Bow skills: "Thanks for the +levels, here is a huge damage spike."
Minions: "Congrats, your rent is 3 spirit cheaper."

High levels should feel high level
Getting a minion gem to around 30 is not that hard.
Getting from 36 to 40 is where it gets stupidly expensive:
- +levels on weapon.
- +levels on amulet.
- +levels on passive tree jewels.
- All stacked together on gear that costs many hundreds or even thousands of divines.

For that investment, from level 21 to 40, you currently get:
- About 8% less spirit reservation.
- Basically no noticeable difference in damage, survivability or movement.
In gameplay, level 30 and level 40 minions feel almost identical. They just cost slightly less spirit to keep around.

What I would like to see
I am not asking for level 1 minions to delete bosses. Early game minions are already strong enough.

The problem is specifically the top end:
- From level 30 upward, minion gems should start getting real, visible stat gains.
- Each level should give some base damage, not just "maybe 1k DPS on a 100k tooltip".
- Extra life/ES would also make sense, so they do not explode instantly in high content.
- A little cast or attack speed would help them feel more alive at high levels too.

If a minion gem hits level 40, it should feel like the final evolution, not "slightly cheaper level 30".

Main point
For bow builds, gem levels are a huge part of end game scaling.
For minion builds right now, gem levels past 30 feel like cosmetic upgrades with a tiny spirit discount.

If we are paying mirror-tier prices to push minion gems to 40, those levels should do something real.
Let high level minions actually hit harder, live longer, and act like they earned that level instead of just getting 3 spirit off their monthly reservation.

Make Minions Great Again: let their levels matter as much as everyone else’s.

Minions are absolutely great.

Cheap league starter that can do all content. And scales good enough to kill any T3 pinnacle in seconds. But not that good to replace a main league carry like Deadeye.

Just to hammer this home a bit more with other builds.

It is not just Lightning Arrow and Lightning Rod that go crazy from 21–40. A bunch of popular non-minion builds get absolutely juiced by gem levels, while minions are sitting in the corner arguing over a 3 spirit discount.

Storm Wave + Flicker Strike
That NUKE Storm Wave + Flicker Invoker build is a perfect example.

Storm Wave:
- Around level 21 the gem is already in the mid 300% base damage range.
- By level 40 it climbs up close to 900% base damage.

Flicker Strike:
- Around level 21 it is sitting in the mid 300% range as well.
- By level 40 it goes all the way to roughly 1400% base damage.

So every extra level on those gems from 21 upward is real, visible power. You can literally scroll down the table and watch the numbers explode.

Chaos DoT Lich: Contagion + Essence Drain
Same story with the Chaos DoT Hybrid Lich.

Contagion:
- Around level 21 the base chaos damage per second is already solid.
- By level 40 it goes to multiple thousands of base chaos DPS.
The curve on the PoE2DB graph looks like it is trying to escape the screen.

Essence Drain:
- Around level 21 both the hit and the DoT are still in the low hundreds.
- By level 40 the base chaos damage per second is several thousand.
Again, you get a massive payoff for stacking +gem levels.

This is why these kinds of builds love stacking +1, +2, +3 skill levels on weapons, amulets, chests and so on. The game clearly says "yes, if you invest into levels, you get paid".

And minions? Still on spirit coupons.
Meanwhile minion gems like Skeletal Storm Mage:
- From level 21 to 40 go from 38 spirit reservation to 35.
- That is roughly an 8% reservation decrease.
- Damage, life and everything else barely move in comparison.

So the situation right now is:
- Lots of mainstream attack/spell gems scale hard with levels and get rewarded for heavy investment.
- Minion gems from 21–40 mostly get "you can maybe afford one more skeleton if you sell a kidney".

That is the core problem I am pointing at. Not that minions cannot clear, or cannot be used as league starters, but that gem levels give real power to almost every other archetype, while minions get almost nothing from the same investment.

If MMGA means anything, it is this: let high level minion gems get real stats from 21–40, the same way other endgame skills do. Right now everyone else is leveling into monsters, and my skeletons are leveling into slightly cheaper houseplants.

"

Skellymancer#5263 wrote:

Minions are absolutely great.

Cheap league starter that can do all content. And scales good enough to kill any T3 pinnacle in seconds. But not that good to replace a main league carry like Deadeye.