Path of Exile 2 Minion Skills Glossary
Five names keep turning up in searches about minion builds: Animate Weapon, Bone Cage, Skeletal Cleric, Summon Reaper and Summon Stone Golem. Only two of them are skills you can actually use in Path of Exile 2. Bone Cage is a physical spell, and Skeletal Cleric is a persistent minion gem for the Witch's skeleton army. Animate Weapon and Summon Reaper are Path of Exile 1 skills, and Summon Stone Golem exists in the PoE 2 game files without a player gem.
Everything below is checked against Path of Exile 2 patch 0.5.5 (Forbidden Rites, released 4 September 2026) and its hotfixes, part of the 0.5 cycle Return of the Ancients. Version 1.0 is scheduled for 11 December 2026. Gem numbers are from the patch 0.5.5 game data.
| Skill | In PoE 2? | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Animate Weapon | No (PoE 1 only) | Spell that turns a weapon into a temporary minion; PoE 2 has Manifest Weapon |
| Bone Cage | Yes, tier 3 spell | Ring of bone spikes that damages and Pins enemies |
| Skeletal Cleric | Yes, tier 13 persistent gem | Skeleton healer that also revives fallen Skeletons |
| Summon Reaper | No (PoE 1 only) | One strong Reaper minion that eats your other minions; PoE 2 has Skeletal Reaver |
| Summon Stone Golem | Not as a gem | Golem that grants life regeneration (PoE 1 gem) |
Animate Weapon
Animate Weapon is a Path of Exile 1 spell. It animates a melee weapon item from the ground, or a Lingering Blade, into a flying minion that fights for you. It is not in Path of Exile 2, so any PoE 2 build advice that tells you to pick up weapons and animate them is describing the first game.
How it works in PoE 1 (data for the current 3.27 build on poedb.tw):
- Gem level 1 to 20, cast time 0.6 seconds, mana cost 4 to 16.
- Base duration 40 seconds, up to 5 animated weapons at once.
- You cannot animate unidentified weapons, and it will not animate a weapon with 6 sockets.
- The Animate Weapon of Self Reflection variant raised its limit to 6 weapons in patch 3.24.
The closest PoE 2 skill is Manifest Weapon, granted by the Living Weapon notable of the Warrior's Smith of Kitava ascendancy. It creates one immortal companion that copies the melee martial weapon in your main hand and fights beside you with normal strikes plus an extra attack based on the weapon type. It is a persistent skill, needs a one-handed or two-handed melee weapon equipped, and its minion gains 1% increased damage per point of Strength and 1% increased attack speed per 3 Dexterity. So instead of five disposable weapons from the floor, you get one copy of your own weapon that cannot die. For a full minion army, start with the Witch and the Infernalist ascendancy (see the classes glossary).
Bone Cage
Bone Cage is a real PoE 2 spell gem: tier 3, Intelligence, with Spell, AoE, Physical, Duration, Nova and Repeatable tags. It raises a ring of bone spikes around you. Enemies that touch a spike destroy it, take physical damage and are Pinned. It is crowd control, not a shield.
| Stat | Value (gem levels 1 to 20) |
|---|---|
| Mana cost | 7 to 80 |
| Cast time | 1.0 second |
| Base critical hit chance | 15% |
| Physical damage per spike | 10 to 15 at level 1, 347 to 521 at level 20 |
| Cage radius / spike explosion radius | 1.8 m / 1 m |
| Cage duration | 1.6 seconds |
Pinned enemies cannot move while the Pin lasts. Bone Cage hits Pin as though they dealt 50% more damage, and quality adds up to 50% more on top, plus up to 40% more magnitude of Bleeding you inflict, which is why it pairs well with bleed builds.
Two patch notes matter: patch 0.1.0e raised its base critical chance from 13% to 15% and its damage growth, and patch 0.4.0c allowed it to be socketed into Spell Totem. The in-game recommended supports include Bleed, Brutality, Spell Cascade and Spell Echo.
Skeletal Cleric
Skeletal Cleric is a PoE 2 persistent minion gem (tier 13): you activate it once and it reserves Spirit, from 60 at gem level 1 down to 20 at level 20, so levelling the gem frees Spirit for other minions. It summons Reviving Skeletal Clerics that heal your other minions and bring fallen Skeletons back to life. It has no mana regeneration aura and grants no resistances or protection buffs.
- Revive Skeleton: 5 second cooldown, 1.2 second cast time.
- Heal: 1 second cast time, restoring life to nearby minions.
- Quality: revived Skeletons are immune to damage for up to 3 seconds after coming back, and minions take up to 40% reduced damage. The immunity effect replaced a "more maximum minion life" bonus in patch 0.3.0.
Patch 0.2.0 changed the Cleric's heal scaling and made it stop running at enemies to attack them, and patch 0.2.0d fixed a bug where Clerics failed to follow the player. The in-game recommended supports are Rapid Casting I, Meat Shield I and Last Gasp, with Deathmarch next. It is the usual pairing for a skeleton army where losing Warriors mid-fight is what ends a run.
Summon Reaper
Summon Reaper is a Path of Exile 1 minion spell, not a PoE 2 gem. It summons a single Reaper that attacks with area slashes, and it eats your other minions to heal and empower itself. It does not exist in Path of Exile 2.
PoE 1 values on poedb.tw (3.27): gem level 1 to 20, mana cost 15 to 28, 4 second cooldown, 0.6 second cast time, required character level 28 to 70, and a limit of 1 Reaper. Its price is steep: other minions deal 20% less damage and have 20% less maximum life while the Reaper is out. The Reaper's own attacks have a 50% chance to cause Bleeding. Variants such as Summon Reaper of Eviscerating exist in PoE 1 only.
The closest PoE 2 gem is Skeletal Reaver (tier 9, Intelligence, persistent). It summons aggressive Skeletal Reavers that revive after 12 seconds and reserve 90 Spirit at gem level 1, falling to 30 at level 20. Their Enrage Command (4 second cooldown) makes them lose life over time and gain 2 Rage per hit, and Rage raises their attack damage and attack speed (6% increased attack speed per 2 Rage since patch 0.4.0). Unlike the Reaper it does not eat your other minions. For a full army, the Infernalist minion leveling guide shows a working setup.
Summon Stone Golem
Summon Stone Golem is a gem in Path of Exile 1. In PoE 2 the game files contain an entry with the text "Summons a Stone Golem that grants you life regeneration", but the entry has no gem tier, level range or attribute requirement, so no player gem exists and you cannot socket one today. Do not plan a PoE 2 build around it.
The PoE 1 gem is the reference point: level 1 to 20, mana cost 30 to 54, 6 second cooldown, 1 second cast time, required character level 34 to 70, one golem at a time. At gem level 1 it grants 33 life regenerated per second, and since PoE 1 patch 3.26 golems also grant 20% increased defences. In addition to a melee attack the golem uses a rolling charge and a slam that can taunt.
Related terms
- Spells and elemental skills glossary
- Support gems glossary
- Classes, ascendancies and passives glossary
- Martial and weapon skills glossary
Guides and services
Onlyfarms has a Minion Army Infernalist leveling guide, a Skeletal Sniper Infernalist build guide and a Witch guide. Gem listings are in the PoE 2 gems category.
FAQ
Can I use Animate Weapon in Path of Exile 2?
No. Animate Weapon is a Path of Exile 1 skill and is not in PoE 2 as of patch 0.5.5. The closest PoE 2 skill is Manifest Weapon from the Smith of Kitava ascendancy, which copies your own melee weapon as an immortal companion.
Is Summon Reaper in Path of Exile 2?
No. It is a PoE 1 minion spell with a cooldown and a 20% damage and life penalty on your other minions. The nearest PoE 2 gem is Skeletal Reaver.
Does Bone Cage protect me from damage?
No. It Pins enemies that touch its spikes and deals physical damage, but it does not absorb hits. Its cage lasts only 1.6 seconds.
What does Skeletal Cleric actually do?
It is a persistent Spirit skill whose Clerics heal minions and revive fallen Skeletons on a 5 second cooldown.
