SS13 Bond Minions
After minion ailment immunity, Bond becomes a key check for Mechanist, mechanical minions, and minion damage transfer.
This site focuses on system understanding and decision support; for season, build, or budget-sensitive advice, check the page date and current version context.
To judge minions, first check Bond access
SS13 minions now have ailment immunity, which is a direct stability upgrade, but do not assume minions automatically become effortless. The real question this season is whether you have Bond access, and whether your minions can survive in high difficulty.
Each Bond stack gives minion damage, attack/cast/movement speed, and additional damage reduction for minions. If you can gain Bond while minions are present, you gain 1 stack every 6 seconds, and Bond gain speed can shorten that interval. When a minion is defeated, all Bond stacks are lost.
So a minion build cannot only ask whether minion damage increased. First ask: can I gain Bond, can I stack it fast enough, is the maximum high enough, and do minions die and reset the stack?
Bond has four checks
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Can you gain Bond? | Without access, "while having Bond" lines do nothing |
| What is the maximum? | More stacks scale damage, speed, and some full-stack payoffs |
| Is gain speed enough? | Affects map start, transitions, and recovery after minion death |
| Do minions survive? | Minion death removes all Bond stacks |
Minion ailment immunity lowers the risk of random stack loss, but it does not mean minions cannot be killed by damage. Minion survival is part of the Bond system.
During league start, pay special attention to this: if minions die often, Bond stacks keep resetting, and affixes for maximum, gain speed, and full-stack payoff are heavily discounted. Make minions survive first, then chase maximum.
New entry points
The patch mentions Bond in several places:
- Gear affixes are added or changed for Bond access, maximum Bond stacks, and Bond gain speed.
- Mechanist gains legendary medium talents for minion damage, Bond gain speed, or minion critical strike rating by Bond stacks.
- The God of Machines core talent Lord changes to allow Bond gain and gives minion damage while having Bond.
- Hunger adds a perfect heart, Knot, which can add
+1 maximum Bond stacksto selected parts. - Some new legendaries and core organs revolve around Bond, damage transfer to minions, and minion damage.
Bond is not a tiny single-item mechanic. It is the new skeleton for many minion routes.
Which minion builds benefit most
Bond is usually better for minion builds with these traits:
- Minions stay on the field for a long time and do not die often.
- The build can gain Bond reliably and preferably improve gain speed.
- Minion damage, critical strike, attack/cast speed, and movement speed become real output.
- The build can accept moving some player damage to minions, or has a way to protect minions.
If your minions are short-lived tools, or they often get cleared by high-difficulty damage, Bond payoff will be unstable.
The practical starter judgement is that Mechanist, mechanical minions, and long-duration minion builds can use this patch more easily. Short-lived summons, frequent resummons, or builds where the player deals most of the damage should not rebuild just because "minions were buffed."
Do not merge new pets and paid pressure into the baseline
Community discussion is already connecting new pets, Mechanist, and paid pressure. Keep those questions separate:
- Bond access, Bond maximum, and Bond gain speed are build questions.
- Pactspirits and paid pets are extra ceiling or convenience variables.
- Minion survival still decides whether Bond stacks stay stable.
This page does not assume a new paid pet as the baseline. First check whether a free or low-spend setup can gain Bond, stack Bond, and keep minions alive. Paid Pactspirits belong in the ceiling layer, not in the "can this build function" layer. If a minion starter only feels smooth with a new pet, it should not be the default recommendation for normal players.
Read Bond affixes as a package
Bond affixes should not be read alone. For example:
+1 maximum Bond stacksmay do nothing without Bond access.- Gain speed is limited if maximum stacks are very low.
- Player damage transfer can be dangerous if minions cannot survive.
- If minion count is fixed or reduced, check whether each minion's strength makes up for it.
If you are playing Mechanist or mechanical minions, treat Bond as a build checklist after SS13, not as a side affix.
Build priority should usually be: get Bond access first, then minion survival and gain speed, then maximum stacks and expensive pieces. Reversing that order can leave you with good-looking affixes while stacks keep falling off in real maps.