Let Melee Minions Trigger Ground Fissures

Suggestion: Let Melee Minions Trigger Small Ground Fissures on Hit

TL;DR:
I’d love to see melee minions that use hammers (or similar heavy weapons) be able to create small ground fissures or short-lived ground effects on hit. This would add thematic feedback, new minion build options, and interesting interactions without replacing the player’s role.


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Why this makes sense

Thematic & satisfying: Hammer hits → cracks in the ground. It feels right and gives clear visual/audio feedback for minion impact.

Build diversity: Opens new minion synergies (area denial, minion-led ground control, unique rares/uniques/supports).

Design space: Enables new Support Gems / Passives / Ascendancy options targeted at minion playstyles, rather than reusing player-only skills verbatim.

Quality-of-life: Gives minion builds more identity and tactical options (e.g., zoning, slow/stagger interactions) without requiring the player to cast everything.



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Possible implementation approaches (pros / cons)

1. Support Gem: “Minion — Fissure on Hit”

How: A support that grants minions a chance to spawn a small fissure on hit.

Pros: Player-controlled (slot), clear balance via gem level/quality. Easy to tune.

Cons: More item design work (new gem).



2. Minion-variant Skill Flag

How: Certain ground skills (e.g., Fissure) gain a minion-usable variant; minions execute a toned-down version.

Pros: Very thematic and intuitive. Strong identity.

Cons: Complexity in AI/animation and possibly larger balance surface.



3. Passive / Ascendancy Node / Keystone

How: A passive node enables “minions create small ground effects on hit.”

Pros: Easy to add as a passive flag; fits into passive-tree design.

Cons: Less granular control than a gem; may need caps to avoid unintended combos.





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Balance & performance suggestions (important)

Scaled power: Minion fissures should be significantly weaker than player fissures. Tie damage to minion damage/level and cap radius.

Internal cooldown: Give each minion a short ICD (e.g., 0.6–1.0s) to prevent spam.

Max active fissures: Limit active fissures per player (e.g., 3–5); older ones disappear when the cap is reached.

Reduced VFX/particles: Use simplified VFX for minion fissures to reduce client-side cost.

No replacement of player mechanics: Minion fissures should not replicate critical player-only properties (e.g., they shouldn’t cast player-only status effects unless explicitly designed).

Clear tooltips: e.g., “Minions create: Small Fissure — Radius X, Damage Y, Duration Z, ICD W.”



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Suggested baseline numbers (for prototyping)

Radius: 25–50% of player Fissure radius.

Damage: 20–40% of comparable player-skill damage, scaled by minion damage/level.

ICD: 0.6 s per minion.

Max Active Fissures: 3 per player (replace oldest when exceeded).

Status/Effects: Preferably no complex statuses (poison/chill) unless explicitly scaled.



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Example build idea

“Hammer Herd” — A minion-focused build emphasizing quantity/damage and area denial: summon many hammer-wielding minions, slot the proposed support or take the passive node, and use minion fissures to zone, stagger enemies, and create small choke points while you buff/support from safety.


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Final question to the devs / community

Is this something GGG has considered for PoE 2? If not planned: is the limitation primarily technical (AI/animation/networking/performance) or a deliberate design decision (avoid minions copying player skills)? I’d love to hear the reasoning and any concerns—happy to refine the idea to fit your constraints.


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Thanks for reading — I’m looking forward to feedback from the devs and the community. If you’d like, I can post a trimmed version for the official feedback form or craft an English dev-mail template.