Whether you are farming Timeless Emblems, pushing Atlas progression, or optimizing Legion encounters for currency farming, understanding how to solve this targeting problem can dramatically improve your clear speed and boss consistency.

This guide explains why the issue happens and the best methods to force your totems to focus Legion Generals correctly.

Why Totem Builds Struggle in Legion Encounters

Legion mechanics work differently from standard combat encounters. When the event begins, enemies are initially frozen in stasis and must be damaged before they fully awaken.

For many builds, this is only a minor inconvenience. For totem builds, however, it can completely disrupt AI targeting behavior.

The result is often:

Totems standing idle

Totems attacking weaker enemies

Generals remaining untouched during the timer

Missed loot and failed boss kills

Understanding the mechanics behind this behavior is the key to fixing it.

1. Legion Generals in Stasis Are Technically Untargetable

The biggest issue comes from how the game treats Legion enemies before they awaken.

While frozen:

Legion Generals are not fully classified as active enemies

Many totem AI systems ignore them entirely

Totems instead prioritize nearby active mobs

This causes your totems to either:

Attack random soldiers

Remain inactive

Fail to recognize the General as a valid target

The Best Fix: Manually Damage the General

The simplest solution is to hit the General yourself before relying on your totems.

Popular methods include:

Flame Dash

Shield Charge

Leap Slam

Basic attacks

Instant spells

Even small amounts of manual damage can trigger your totems to recognize the General as a hostile target.

Once the AI updates, your totems usually begin attacking normally.

2. Totems Prioritize Nearby Enemies Instead of the Boss

Legion encounters are filled with dense monster packs. Totems naturally attack the nearest available threats first, which often prevents them from focusing the General.

This becomes especially problematic when:

The General is surrounded by dozens of soldiers

Your totems have chain or splash mechanics

The timer is already running low

Use Marks to Force Target Priority

One of the most effective strategies is applying a Mark skill directly to the General.

Excellent choices include:

Sniper's Mark

Assassin's Mark

Poacher's Mark

Marks act as a targeting priority system for many builds and dramatically increase the likelihood that your totems will focus the boss.

This technique is especially useful for:

Ballista builds

Spell Totem setups

Siege Ballista characters

Ancestral totem builds

If your build struggles with Legion consistency, adding a Mark setup can be a major upgrade.

3. Positioning and Line of Sight Matter

Another hidden issue involves line of sight and detection range.

Legion Generals are visually enormous, but their actual hitboxes can become difficult for totems to detect because of:

Terrain obstruction

Mob density

Long placement distance

Environmental clutter

If your totems are too far away, they may never properly lock onto the General.

Re-Summon Totems Directly on the Boss

The most reliable solution is simple:

Place your totems directly beside the General

This accomplishes several things:

Resets totem AI

Forces immediate enemy detection

Improves line of sight

Reduces wasted attacks

Advanced Legion farmers often reposition their totems repeatedly during encounters specifically to maintain boss targeting efficiency.

4. Certain Skills Have Special Restrictions or Bugs

Some targeting problems are not player error at all.

Frozen Legion Cannot Be Used by Totems

If you are experimenting with:

Frozen Legion

Totem support combinations

it is important to know that Frozen Legion explicitly cannot function with:

Totems

Mines

Traps

Attempting to build around this interaction will not work.

Weapon Set Bugs in PoE 2 Early Access

In some PoE 2 Early Access cases, players have reported:

Totems stopping attacks after weapon swaps

Skills failing when linked to inactive weapon sets

If this occurs:

Recast your totems

Verify the correct weapon set is active

Rebind affected skills if necessary

Pro Strategy for Faster General Kills

If you are struggling to free or kill Legion Generals quickly, Vaal skills can provide enormous burst damage.

Recommended Option

Use:

Vaal Ancestral Warchief

Vaal Ancestral Protector

directly beside the General.

These Vaal skills:

Deliver heavy focused damage

Activate instantly

Help break stasis rapidly

Improve Legion timer efficiency

For melee and hybrid totem builds, this can significantly improve encounter success rates.

Final Thoughts

Legion encounters can be extremely profitable in Path of Exile, but totem builds often require extra management to function efficiently against frozen Generals.

By:

Manually damaging the General first

Applying Marks for targeting priority

Repositioning totems aggressively

Avoiding incompatible skill interactions

you can dramatically improve both consistency and clear speed.

Once mastered, totem builds remain fully capable of handling Legion content while still offering the safety, automation, and damage output that cheap POE orbs make them one of Path of Exile's most popular archetypes.