Going for a Primalist build that harnesses the power of Totems to aid you in combat? Much like many Last Epoch players, we are confused about how totems should be scaled. Even though they are not as active as companions, do totems still count as minions?
It does get confusing with all these similar words companions, minions, and totems. Worry not, for we are here to put this matter to rest and get a definitive answer for you.
Totems in Last Epoch
Totems are exclusive skills of the Primalist class. Whenever you use a Totem skill, it plops down a doohickey on the ground which continues to trigger its effect in the surrounding area. The effect depends on the totems used. For example, the Healing Totem will heal yourself and nearby allies.
There are many other types of totems. Some with healing properties and others with offensive capabilities. Of course, if you spec into this kind of build, you can stack a ton of varying effects on each of the totems. It comes down to your build preference.
Now, when you summon a totem on a battlefield, you will see these things have a health bar. Looking at this, do these inanimate summons are categorized as minions?
Totems = Minions
Long story short, Totems are considered as Minions. This can be seen very clearly when you look at a totem’s scaling tags. As seen in the Healing Totem example above, it says; Minion, Totem, and Attunement. This means totems will scale off items that have minion scaling tags on them and with items that have specific totem scaling too. All minion stats and effects apply to totems, but some effects only benefit totems.
Nevertheless, Totems are fundamentally very different than regular Minions and Companions in Last Epoch in a couple of ways. These are the reasons why it might be harder to differentiate them:
- Totems cannot move or follow you like minions and companions. They remain stationary.
- Totems stay active for a limited duration only. E.g. Healing Totems has a 6-second duration by default. You can upgrade the skills to make them last longer.
- Totems only have a fixed number of HP. The Healing Totem has 100 HP from the get-go.
A veteran Last Epoch player by the name of BOARDMAN21 sums it all up quite cleverly in the statement below:
“All totems are minions, not all minions are totems. All companions are minions, not all minions are companions. Increased minion health will affect everything. Companion, Minions, Totems. Even totems that do not have trees such as claw totem and healing totem.”
BOARDMAN21
If you are still confused, here is a list of all the minions in Last Epoch. You can see the totems are classified as minions despite not being as active.
With this information, you can now begin crafting your totem-heavy Primalist build in Last Epoch and stacking it up with all kinds of minion upgrades. For such a playstyle, you should look for items and upgrades with tags from both minions and totems to give totems a significant boost.