Last Epoch's Season 3 update, Beneath Ancient Skies, is set to bring some of the most impactful changes the ARPG has seen so far. Scheduled to launch on August 21, 2025, this patch doesn't just polish Necromancer and Beastmaster skills-it fundamentally improves how minions behave, scale, and contribute to your gameplay.

For fans of summoner builds, these changes are particularly exciting. With improved AI, scaling buffs, and new Beastmaster nodes, minions are becoming far more reliable and potent. Here's everything you need to know about all the minion improvements coming in Season 3.

Why Minion Changes Matter

Summoner playstyles have always been a cornerstone of ARPGs. From Diablo II's Necromancer to Path of Exile's Spectres, commanding an army of creatures is both thematic and powerful. In Last Epoch, the Acolyte's Necromancer and the Primalist's Beastmaster have been the primary minion-focused masteries.

However, until now, many players felt their AI was clunky, their scaling was inconsistent, and their survivability lacked reliability in higher-tier content. Season 3 addresses those long-standing concerns, making minions stronger and more controllable than ever before.

The result? Summoner builds could rise sharply in popularity during the new season's meta.

Minion AI Overhaul

The headline improvement is the introduction of two toggleable behavior modes for minions, giving players direct control over their companions' actions.

1. Assassinate Mode

In this setting, minions prioritize attacking stronger enemies and bosses. Instead of sticking by your side, they spread out across the battlefield, diving straight into priority targets. For Necromancers, this means your Skeletal Mages or Wraiths can focus on boss health bars while you stay safely at a distance.

2. Protect Mode

This is the default AI style from previous patches. Minions remain close to your character, attacking nearby enemies. This mode is ideal when farming or when protection from swarming mobs is more valuable than single-target damage.

Both modes can be toggled with a single key, giving summoners tactical flexibility mid-combat. The change is a quality-of-life win, ensuring you're no longer at the mercy of random pathing decisions in critical encounters.

Minion Stat Improvements

In addition to smarter behavior, Season 3 introduces flat scaling buffs to minions across the board.

·Power per Level: Increased from 0.6% → 0.8%.

·Total Power at Level 100: Raised to 60%, improving both minion damage and defenses.

·Damage Reduction vs. Enemy Abilities: Improved from 50% → 60%.

This means minions will not only deal more damage as you level but also survive longer against dangerous, telegraphed boss mechanics. For players who felt their skeletons melted in the late endgame, these buffs are a game-changer.

Bug Fixes and Quality-of-Life Adjustments

Several long-standing issues with minions are also being addressed:

·Pathing Fixes - Minions will navigate environments more smoothly, reducing the frustration of getting stuck behind terrain.

·Improved Responsiveness - Faster reaction times to enemy spawns and attacks.

·Target Acquisition - Minions will switch targets more intelligently instead of tunneling endlessly.

·Aggro Priority - Summons will now run in front of your character and intercept the first enemy hits, improving survivability in group encounters.

Together, these fixes mean minion armies will feel more cohesive and less like babysitting.

Beastmaster-Specific Minion Changes

While the Necromancer benefits heavily from the global buffs, the Beastmaster Mastery is also receiving new nodes designed to make its companions more dynamic. Some highlights revealed so far include:

1. Volcanic Adaptation

·Transforms the Raptor into a Dragon Raptor.

·Scales' abilities with fire damage.

·Unlocks a new Fire Breath skill.

2. Frozen Winds

·Grants the Summoned Scorpion a chance to cast Maelstrom whenever you do.

·Each point increases the chance by 25%.

·At 4 points invested, the Scorpion casts Maelstrom guaranteed.

3. Groundshaking Might

·Allows the Summoned Bear to cast Earthquake.

·6-second cooldown.

Damage reduced by 30% compared to player-cast Earthquake.

These changes reinforce the Beastmaster's identity as a primal commander. Transformations like Dragon Raptor open up entirely new elemental build paths, while utility skills like Scorpion Maelstrom improve hybrid caster-summoner synergies.

Impact on Necromancer

While Beastmasters are gaining flashy new nodes, Necromancers will see some of the biggest overall benefits from Season 3. The global buffs to scaling and survivability, combined with AI improvements, make classic minion-heavy Necromancer builds significantly stronger.

Expect to see archetypes like:

·Skeletal Mage spam with Assassinate mode for boss DPS.

·Bone Golem tanks use Protect mode for frontline shielding.

·Wraith hordes with improved AI spreading out intelligently.

Necromancer could very well become one of the most popular masteries for Season 3 ladder pushes.

Merchant's Guild and Offline Cosmetics

While not strictly minion-related, Season 3 also introduces major quality-of-life features that summoners (and all players) will appreciate.

Merchant's Guild Updates

Selecting a unique now opens a new window, allowing you to choose minimum or maximum roll ranges for targeted trading.

Two new trade tokens have been added:

§Merchant's Token: Bypasses Favor cost.

§Black Market Token: Bypasses both Favor cost and Rank requirement.

§Offline Cosmetics

Previously, cosmetics were only usable online.

After the update, you'll be able to use Last Epoch gold to purchase cosmetics offline after syncing once with an online/offline session.

These systems round out the patch, ensuring a smoother overall progression and allowing you to style your minions even when playing offline.

What This Means for the Meta

The combination of smarter AI, stronger scaling, and Beastmaster reworks sets the stage for summoner builds to become meta-defining in Season 3. Players who previously avoided Necromancer or Beastmaster due to clunky mechanics may now find them highly competitive.

Some likely outcomes:

·Necromancer Surge: With Skeletal Mages and Wraiths now dealing more reliable damage, Necromancer could dominate bossing and arena ladder pushes.

·Elemental Beastmaster Builds: The Dragon Raptor transformation and Scorpion Maelstrom introduce viable elemental hybrid summoner archetypes.

·Tanky Minions: Improved defenses and pathing make golem-based tank strategies much stronger in empowered monoliths and dungeons.

Final Thoughts

Last Epoch's Beneath Ancient Skies patch is shaping up to be a landmark update, particularly for summoner players. Minions are smarter, tougher, and more customizable than ever before, so buy Last Epoch gold to customize the top Minions. With improved AI behavior modes, scaling buffs, and flashy new Beastmaster skills, the days of babysitting fragile companions are over.

For those who love commanding armies of undead or primal beasts, Season 3 is the perfect time to dive in. Whether you're planning to main a Necromancer, experiment with a Dragon Raptor Beastmaster, or simply enjoy the flexibility of toggling minion AI, the future of summoner gameplay in Last Epoch has never looked brighter.