Recently I covered how to summon Minions in FFXIV, how to make a custom Minion Hotbar and set up Minion Roulettes in hopes of providing players the ability to cycle through their favourite Minions.
While I was writing that post I, in true Flamèz fashion, ended up going on a prolonged tangent on all the interactions Minions have with players and other Minions and it wasn’t until 2,000 words in that I realized what had happened.
Now, if you know anything about me, you know I get hyper-obsessive about certain topics and will spend countless hours crunching numbers and figuring out the smallest details of a topic. Things like the most time-efficient ways to gather Crafting Crystals or the best way to power level all of your side jobs and sometimes I take things to the extreme like when I reset my retainers to figure out the way to hyper-optimize levelling them.
To this day, I still think my “How to Set Up Your Stream Deck to Fish” is the most iconic because seriously… who else would write about a topic as silly as that? No one.
So, here I am again covering a topic that my gut says “no one cares about” and cataloguing every interaction I’ve discovered and learned about when it comes to players with their Minions and Minions with other Minions. Unfortunately, I already know that this post is going to be incomplete as I don’t have every Minion in the game; and while I must commend myself for being good at making Gil, my shopping list is quite extensive and includes high-ticket items such as a larger House and and the glamour to decorate it.
Of course, please feel free to share any additional information you have on Minions I have not mentioned as there’s a good likelihood that I didn’t notice an interaction or simply do not have the Minion yet.
Note: If you have any questions about FFXIV that you want me to cover feel free to leave them in a comment below, you can also ask me while I am streaming on Twitch, YouTube or in our community discord.
WHAT IS MINION BEHAVIOUR IN FFXIV?
Before I delve into the specific interactions Minions have, we need to touch on the topic of Minion Behaviour first. Behaviour is essentially the personality type of the Minion and generally is only tied to the actions a Minion will exhibit when a player is idle.
There are a couple of Behaviours that affect the reaction a Minion has to emotes, but for the most part, this is what you need to know:
If a Minion has Independent Behaviour it will follow the player around but will roam generally freely once a player stands still. Though the Minion will stay relatively close to the player, they will never stay put directly next to the player.
If a Minion has Obedient Behaviour it will follow a player while the player is travelling, however, once a player stands still it will stay put beside the player. Note that this does not mean that the Minion becomes lifeless as some of these Minoins still have unique idle animations.
If a Minion has Stationary Behaviour they will not only ignore a player when the player walks and remain stationary. The purpose of these Minions is to utilize them for Roleplay or /gpose photos and very few have animations. If players stray too far from Stationary Minions they will automatically teleport under their feet or by their side. The distance a player can be from the Minion before it teleports is quite far and is the same length as all other Minions.
UNIQUE MINION INTERACTIONS IN FFXIV
The interactions a Minion displays are typically tied to the species of a Minion, meaning that when a new Minion comes out of the same type they will typically follow the same interaction rule set.
The following section will not cover anything a player must initiate by using their chat or emotes, but will cover all the known Easter Eggs that Minions will passively do under the right circumstances.
To start, several Minions will engage in combat when the player is attacking a Mob. Examples include the Coeurl Kitten, Wind-up Tonberry, Fauslet Model Vanguard and Wolf Pup. Wind-up Y’shtola is unique as she will cast the now-defunct Ability “Protect” which was a persistent shield Healers would place on allies at the beginning of a Duty, somewhat like the Sage’s Kardia.
A Minion’s battle animation does not affect actual combat and is purely cosmetic.
The Plush Cushion will get squished when you stand on it, if no one is on top of it it has the chance to plump itself.
There are several interactions Minions have when in the vicinity of other Minions. These interactions do not require players to trigger them and will happen whether or not a player is in a party or friends with the other individual. These interactions are also tied to the type of Minion and in some cases incorporate story Easter Eggs.
Any dogs and cats will engage in a fight when placed next to each other. This interaction started with the Wolf Pup, Coeurl Kitten and Black Coeurl, though some of the newer dogs and cats will also do it. There are a few exceptions to this rule such as the Fat Cat which won’t take note of dogs.
Wind-up Tonberries and Buffalo Calves will fight others of their kind when close to each other.
Any Moogles will dance together, even if they are not the same type of Moogle. This is one of the most adorable Minion Interactions because it often happens accidentally when players AFK in a large city. The best part is there’s a high limit on the number of Moogles that will dance together, making it perfect for large groups of friends or for after a Ceremony of Eternal Bonding as all participants receive a Bridesmoogle.
The Puff of Darkness will hover over other Minions.
Any Mammet will salute another Mammet no matter their affiliation.
All Chocobo Chicks will flock together to form a circle.
Mandragora, similar to Moogles, will come together and take turns dancing.
Some “flocklike” or herd Minions will come together to hang out including some Beast Tribe Minions like the Amalj’aa, Wind-up Founders, Dust Bunnies, Fledgling Dodos, Gooboe Sproutlings, Slime Puddles, Tender Lambs and Mummy’s Little Mummy.
Fat Cats will turn to face each other and will not topple over in each other’s presence. The limit to this interaction is two Fat Cats.
If players are near a body of water and have Assasin Fry out, it will begin swimming.
The Wind-Up Sun will disappear if players turn off their UI, however, the glow it emits will remain.
Some Minions will passively sit on you when you’ve stood around for too long. Most of these will not leave you if you move around, though this may vary from Minion to Minion.
Minions that will sit on you include:
Road Sparrow
Koala Joey
Bluebird
Morpho
Shalloweye
Hunting Hawk
Parrots
Lesser Panda
Puff of Darkness
Baby Opo-Opo
Gaelikitten
Scarlet Peacock
Nutkin
Wind-Up Garuda
Starbird
Owlet
Midgardsormr
Doman Magpie
Wind-up Ohl Deeh
Wind-Up Succubus
Wind-up Nanamo
WARNING: POTENTIAL STORY SPOILERS AHEAD!!
As pertains to the A Realm Reborn main story, if one player has a Wind-up Louisoix and another has the Wind-up Bahamut, they will engage in a fight.
As pertains to the Heavensward storyline Brina and Calca will spin in circles around each other.
As pertains to the Stormblood main story, if a player has a Wind-up Magnai and another has a Wind-up Sadu, they will engage in a fight.
As pertains to the Stormblood Omicron questline, if a player has a Wind-up Omega-M and another has a Wind-up Omega-F they will perform their signature move “Last Shower” together. If Wind-Up Alpha is added to the mix they will begin waving at each other.
As pertains to the Shadowbringers story the Wind-up Runar will present a flower to the Brave New Y’shtola
EMOTES THAT CAN BE USED ON MINIONS IN FFXIV
Although some Emotes are tied to the behaviour of a Minion, there are a few which do not fall neatly into these categories. That being said, some Minions will have animations that are specific to an emote, providing another element of uniqueness to each Minion.
It should be noted that players can emote to another player’s Minion to initiate these animations. Players must target a Minion to initiate the animation as they will simply ignore the emote otherwise.
/poke
When a player pokes the following Minions this is how they will interact:
Any Slime and Pudding will become a puddle
Dust Bunnies will get upset and freak out
Model Vanguard will fight you
Chigoe Larva will perform a backflip
Beady Eye will spin into the air and extend their wings
The Wind-Up Sun and Wind-Up Moon will ascend and decend.
The Demon Brick and Mummy’s Little Mummy will fall over
Baby Bun will move it’s head around
The Demon Box will perform its idle animation where the Moogle lifts it to reveal a Spriggan
When underwater the Assasin Fry will swim in circles
The Paissa Brat will fall over
/beckon
When players use beckon on certain Minions they will come to you and sit on your head or shoulder. Many of these Minions will passively do this when a player is idle, however, this is how to force the interaction if you want to take a screenshot. Note, there are some Minions that will sit on your shoulder while you are idle but will not respond to beckon.
Known Minions that interact with /beckon include:
Wind-Up Succubus
Wind-Up Garuda
Puff of Darkness
Baby Opo-Opo
Scarlet Peacock
Nutkin
Wind-up Nanamo
Starbird
/cheer
When players cheer the Minion of Light will dance and all Lamb Minions will prance around.
/pet or /stroke
Although players can pet any Minion, only some will perform a unique interaction, these include:
The Tender Lamb which will become very happy
Couerl Kittens will clean themselves, though if you try to pet another player’s Coeurl Kitten it will run away.
Baby Behemoths will become upset
Treasure Boxes will bite your hand
All Chocobos Chicks get excited
Wolf Pups will roll onto their backs for tummy rubs
Apkallus will flam their wings
Naughty Nanka will become angry and charge
Cactuar Cuttings and Kidragora will spin in circles
Littlefoot will perform a chest bump
The Morbol Seedling will yawn
Smallshell will raise it’s shell
Cherry Bomb will do a backflip
The Fledgling Apkallu will flap its wings
The Starbird will perform loops in the air
Players will be able to interact with Mammets if they use the Mammeteer Title.
/handover
While many Minions can be fed by using handover, not all can be fed. Most of the Sentient or Minions that are alive will interact, however, players need to be using the Mammeter title to get Wind-up Minions to interact.
Realistically, this list is way too long to post, so if you like feeding Minions or simply want your Minion to come closer to you, try using /handover.
Players can force Minions that are sitting on them or others to get off by using this emote as long as they also interact with the /handover emote when not on a player.
As a note, the Fat Cat will remain stationary after you feed it and will be stuck until you move far enough away to force it to follow.
/slap
If you’re upset at a minion and want them to leave you alone you can slap them. Obedient Minions are never affected by this emote, however, all Independent Minions will run away, act out or freak out unless it is a Wind-up.
Slap will cause the Assasin Fry to swim away if the player is in water and the Tiny Tortoise will slide away and spin.
/clap
When players clap almost all Minions will face in your direction, though the Minion of light will perform the same dance it does when you /cheer.
/throw
There is only one Minion that interacts with a player throwing a snowball and this is Hoary the Snowman who will simply tip his hat at you.
WIND-UP ULTROS & WIND-UP MAGNAI
Oddly enough the Wind-Up Ultros and Wind-Up Magnai need their own section as to my knowledge both of these Minions react to all emotes, however, they will respond differently based on the gender of the player.
If players are male, both minions will move away from the player, however, if the player is female the Wind-Up Ultros will giggle and the Wind-up Magnia will nod.
SHORTLIST OF EMOTES THAT WORK ON MINIONS
I can’t lie, this part is mostly for me since I’m still going through the hundreds of Minions I have to keep discovering interactions.
The following are all the currently known emotes that affect Minions:
/poke
/beckon
/cheer
/pet or /stroke
/handover
/slap
/clap
/throw
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