Diablo 4’s pets are a blessing and a curse thanks to build-breaking bug

Diablo 4’s newly introduced Pets are causing some havoc thanks to a classification issue that registers them as minions. This is giving an added bonus to some builds but severely nerfing others.

It’s a great time to be a Diablo 4 fan right now. As if the massive improvements of Season 4 weren’t enough, a stellar showing at the Xbox Games Showcase 2024 has given players a lot to be excited about.

We got our first good look at the Vessel of Hatred expansion, including a new class and locale. More immediately, Blizzard decided to shadow-drop Pets — a feature that has been heavily requested since Diablo 4’s launch.

Unfortunately, a slight hiccup with Pets is causing some major problems for certain Diablo 4 builds. Initially tested by YouTuber MacroBioBoi, Necromancer builds that incur bonuses for dropping Minions are missing out on key buffs because the game recognizes your Pet as a Minion.

Despite the Minion Necromancer being widely recognized as the best build of Diablo 4 Season 4, there are options for building the Class without its undead helpers. Certain Skills and Paragon Glyphs actually afford bonuses for not including Minions in your rotation.

Of course, with Pets being regarded as Minions in Diablo 4’s back end, having them present is interfering with those bonuses. This is really unfortunate because Pets are handy little helpers that will collect materials that drop so you can focus on pulping enemies into goo.

On the flip side of this, the additional and invincible Minion that the Pet provides offers even more buffs to the already stacked Minion Necromancer builds. Any Skill or Glyph that provides additional bonuses for the amount of Minions you have recognizes the Pet as an extra helper.

This is good news for any Druids running the Aspect of the Stampede, which offers similar bonuses for having anything coded as a Minion. However, the classification issue is something that will ultimately require a fix.

At present, Diablo 4 players using builds that benefit from a lack of Minions are being penalized for using what should be a fun inclusion. Having to pick between an adorable puppy or horrifying corpses probably wasn’t Blizzard’s intention.