They can march this army directly into Hell and order it to tear demons apart.
Ask those same minions to attack an Aetheric Mass in Infernal Hordes, however, and the entire undead workforce suddenly remembers it has somewhere else to be.
Diablo 4 players are reporting that Necromancer minions frequently ignore Aetheric Masses, even when the player uses the command ability to mark one as the priority target.
The summons may attack briefly before abandoning the Mass and returning to nearby enemies.
For a build whose damage is almost entirely controlled by automated companions, that is not a minor inconvenience.
It can ruin an entire Infernal Hordes wave.
Minions Apparently Refuse To Focus Aetheric Masses
A recent report on the official Diablo 4 forums describes Necromancer minions as being almost afraid of Aetheric Masses.
According to players in the discussion, skeletons frequently ignore the structures while attacking ordinary monsters elsewhere in the arena.
The player can use the active minion command to redirect them.
That solution reportedly lasts only briefly.
The minions begin attacking the Mass, lose interest and return to whatever demon happened to make eye contact.
This is especially frustrating because Aetheric Masses are stationary objectives.
They do not dodge.
They do not run away.
They are giant supernatural targets sitting in the middle of the room.
The skeletons have somehow found the one enemy in Hell that requires advanced tactical interpretation.
Aetheric Masses Are Important Infernal Hordes Targets
Aetheric Masses are not decorative objects.
Destroying them produces Burning Aether, the currency that determines how much reward a player can claim at the end of an Infernal Hordes run.
Offerings can increase the number of Masses that appear or improve their rewards.
The Massing Masses offering has also been reworked in previous updates so destroyed Masses can reform, creating further opportunities to collect Aether.
That makes them one of the central target types in the activity.
A build that cannot reliably destroy them is not merely clearing a little slower.
It may lose a significant portion of the run’s potential currency.
The Command Cooldown Makes The Problem Worse
Necromancer players do have a method of directing their army toward a chosen target.
The active minion command orders the summons to attack the selected enemy.
The complaint is that the command does not provide persistent control.
When minions abandon the Mass shortly afterward, the player cannot always command them again immediately.
The ability has a cooldown.
During that downtime, the Necromancer can watch the skeletal army enthusiastically chase minor enemies while the important objective remains untouched.
Players have suggested shortening the command cooldown or making minions remain focused on the selected target until it dies.
Either change would make the button function more like an actual order and less like a polite workplace suggestion.
Infernal Hordes Punish Wasted Seconds
Infernal Hordes are built around short, timed waves.
Players must kill enemies, complete events and collect as much Burning Aether as possible before the timer expires.
Every second spent fighting the wrong target reduces the potential reward.
Direct-damage builds can simply turn toward the Aetheric Mass and attack it.
A Minion Necromancer depends on companion AI to translate that intention into damage.
When the AI refuses, the player loses both control and time.
The character may possess enough damage to destroy the Mass easily.
The damage is currently busy chasing a Fallen across the opposite side of the arena.
The Problem Can Affect Access To Bartuc
Burning Aether is not only used to open reward chests.
Players can also risk their collected Aether to face Bartuc at the end of an Infernal Hordes run.
That means poor Aether generation can affect which conclusion to the activity is available.
A player who loses several Masses because minions refuse to attack may finish below the amount they wanted for the boss encounter or reward chest.
The build successfully survived the Hordes.
It simply failed the group project because the skeletons did not read the assignment.
Minion Builds Depend On Reliable Artificial Intelligence
Every companion build accepts some loss of direct control.
The advantage is that summons can attack continuously, spread across multiple enemies and keep dealing damage while the player moves or uses support abilities.
The disadvantage is that the build depends on targeting logic written by the game.
When that logic works, a Minion Necromancer feels like the commander of a supernatural army.
When it fails, the player becomes an increasingly angry spectator.
This distinction matters more for Minion Necromancers than for classes using companions as supplemental damage.
The skeletons are not a small bonus.
They are the build.
Stationary Objectives Have Caused Companion Problems Before
Companion AI often struggles when an activity mixes ordinary monsters with destructible objectives.
Enemies naturally generate aggression and targeting behaviour.
Objects such as barriers, structures and event targets may receive lower priority until the player attacks or commands them directly.
Aetheric Masses exist in an awkward middle ground.
They are attackable objectives, but they do not behave like monsters.
That may explain why minions appear more interested in mobile enemies nearby.
It does not make the behaviour acceptable.
If the game expects players to destroy something for progression or currency, companion builds must recognise it as a valid priority target.
Manual Attacks Are Not A Proper Solution
Some Minion Necromancers can contribute direct damage through curses, Corpse Explosion or other active skills.
That does not mean the player can simply destroy every Mass without the army.
Many builds invest heavily in minion damage while sacrificing personal damage.
The Necromancer’s own attacks may primarily exist to trigger effects, generate corpses or support the summons.
Asking that character to manually kill a high-health objective defeats the purpose of the build.
It is like asking a general to leave the command tent because the army has decided the fortress looks boring.
The Minion Command Should Lock Targets
The cleanest fix would be to make the command ability lock minions onto the selected target.
Once ordered, the summons should continue attacking until one of several clear conditions is met.
The target dies.
The player issues another command.
The target becomes unreachable.
Or the Necromancer moves far enough away that the army must return.
Nearby monsters should not automatically override a direct command.
The entire purpose of the ability is to correct the behaviour that automatic targeting would otherwise choose.
If the AI immediately cancels that decision, the command button is not providing meaningful control.
A Shorter Cooldown Would Be A Useful Backup
Blizzard could also reduce the command cooldown.
That would not fully solve the targeting problem, but it would allow players to correct it more frequently.
The command could receive a shorter cooldown when used against an Aetheric Mass or another activity objective.
Alternatively, the cooldown could reset when the commanded target dies.
This would let Minion Necromancers move efficiently between objectives without turning the ability into constant free crowd control.
The player should not need to spam commands every second.
They should at least be allowed to remind the dead who is technically in charge.
Aetheric Masses Could Receive Higher Target Priority
Another solution would change the AI rather than the command skill.
Blizzard could assign Aetheric Masses a higher priority whenever they are active nearby.
Minions might automatically prefer the Mass over ordinary enemies unless the Necromancer selects another target.
This would suit the structure of Infernal Hordes, where the objective usually provides more value than another pack of basic monsters.
Care would be needed when elite enemies are threatening the player.
A simple priority increase could still make the activity far more consistent without forcing the summons to ignore everything else.
The Issue Hurts Certain Infernal Offers More Than Others
Infernal Offers shape each run by increasing the frequency or value of specific events.
A player using a build that handles Aetheric Masses well may deliberately choose Mass-focused options.
For Minion Necromancers, those same choices can become traps.
An offering that creates more Masses should be rewarding.
Instead, it may create more objectives the build cannot reliably command its damage to attack.
This reduces the number of viable choices available during the run.
The problem therefore affects more than combat speed.
It interferes with the activity’s decision-making system.
Players Should Not Need To Avoid Valuable Events
Build strengths and weaknesses are healthy.
A single-target build may struggle with enormous crowds.
A slow melee build may have difficulty reaching distant events.
A fragile setup may need to avoid especially dangerous modifiers.
Those weaknesses come from the build’s mechanics.
Ignoring a stationary objective because companion AI cannot maintain focus is different.
That is not a strategic weakness.
It is a control failure.
Minion Necromancers should not have to avoid Aetheric Mass offerings because their army occasionally develops an objection to workplace priorities.
Blizzard Has Improved Minions Before
Diablo 4’s minions have received substantial improvements since launch.
Blizzard has adjusted their survivability, stat inheritance, damage and interactions with various Necromancer effects.
Minion attacks have also gained access to mechanics such as Overpower through previous updates.
The builds are far more capable than they were during the game’s earliest seasons.
Better numbers cannot solve poor target selection, however.
A skeleton dealing enormous damage remains useless when it directs that damage toward the wrong enemy.
At some point, intelligence becomes a damage multiplier.
Companion Builds Need Consistent Objective Rules
The problem also extends beyond one event type.
Every activity containing destructible objectives needs consistent companion targeting.
Minions should understand barriers, event structures, boss summons and other objects the player must destroy to progress.
The rules should be predictable.
If the player attacks an objective, nearby minions should assist.
If the player commands an objective, every available minion should remain focused on it.
If no command exists, the AI should prioritise objects directly connected to activity progression.
Players should not need to memorise which pieces of scenery their army considers legally attackable.
The Bug Is Especially Painful For Dedicated Minion Players
Minion builds attract players who enjoy commanding a group rather than performing every attack personally.
That fantasy depends on trust.
The player chooses the direction and the army carries it out.
When summons repeatedly ignore an obvious objective, the fantasy collapses.
The Necromancer is no longer controlling the dead.
The dead are freelancing.
This may sound funny during one wave.
After several failed Aetheric Masses and a reduced reward chest, the joke begins losing damage scaling.
Blizzard Has Not Confirmed A Fix
At the time of writing, Blizzard has not publicly confirmed a specific fix for Necromancer minions ignoring Aetheric Masses.
The current Diablo 4 patch notes include several Infernal Hordes fixes and reward adjustments, but no listed change addressing this particular targeting complaint.
The behaviour is based on player reports and may not occur during every run.
Different enemy density, minion positioning and build setups could affect how often it appears.
The reports are still consistent enough to highlight a real usability problem.
A command ability should command.
That standard does not require extensive damage testing.
Minion Necromancers Need Their Army To Obey
Aetheric Masses are important targets with direct control over a run’s final rewards.
Minion Necromancers should be able to destroy them as reliably as any other build.
The solution could involve stronger target priority, persistent command locking or a shorter command cooldown.
Any of those would be better than the current reported behaviour.
Necromancers have already completed the difficult part.
They raised an army of dead warriors and dragged it into Hell.
Blizzard only needs to convince that army to attack the enormous glowing object directly in front of it.
For more coverage of Necromancers, Infernal Hordes and seasonal bugs, visit our Diablo 4 archive.
