Minions are not viable in late end game (lvl 93 infernalist)

Exactly what it sounds like. I am a lvl 93 infernalist with expensive gear, I have +10 to all minion levels as well as 14k ES and max resists as well as max block chance. Even with all of this I cannot clear lvl 81 breachstone in time to reach the final boss. The clear speed is just atrocious. I have been watching other minion builds and looking to see if there is anything else I could switch to (currently running arsonists who are the best mappers so far that I have found) but it seems like none of the other minions clear as fast as arsonists. So that being said, I don't think minions is viable for late end game as they stand and they definitely need a damage buff or attack speed/cast buff. Minions barely clear at a reasonable rate whereas every other class deletes the screen. On top of that minions getting stuck on corridors and bridges is super annoying. GGG needs to buff them as soon as possible. I am open to having a debate on this topic.

what you can try that feels super nice for mapping and breach,

SRS, meat shield, infernal army, minion instabillity, feeding frenzy
firestorm ( to summon srs over time so that they die and not get resummoned)
cast on minion death, detonate dead (level 7 to save mana), spell echo, magnified effect, brutality

this combo will make your clear speed a lot better. just make sure to not spam firestorm, your goal is for srs to die. removing any minion resist helps a lot to making them die faster

I've done max difficulty breach boss on frosmages (GhazzyTV version) second to second, minions need to stop dying If you run far away from them, also minions need aggression stance, when they initiate a fight by themself for higher distance.

Simulacrum is harder, much harder, I have ~70-100 div build, monsters overcrowd and kill me after ~13 wave.

I will try the different gem setup you mentioned nitedal#4053. As for azima1#5430 I have to completely agree with you. In terms of high level simulacrum I haven't even bothered because I know it is worse. I genuinely think the minions need either more natural aoe, or attack speed or just raw dps.