Mercenaries are one of the key features added to Diablo 4 in the Vessel of Hatred expansion. These allies will follow you around the world of Sanctuary while you’re playing solo or in a group, giving you support in a wide variety of ways.
In this Diablo 4 guide, we’ll walk you through how the Mercenary system works in Vessel of Hatred, and what each Mercenary does.
How to unlock and use Mercenaries in Diablo 4
Image: Blizzard Entertainment via Polygon
You’ll unlock the Mercenary system as part of the Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred campaign. During your journey toward Nahantu, you’ll meet Raheir, who will eventually take you to the Mercenary Den. This place acts as a kind of hub for all the mercenaries in the game. It’s where you can pick up quests to unlock additional mercenaries, customize your current allies, and even barter with a special currency you get for leveling up your mercenaries.
Once you reach the Mercenary Den, you’ll also be able to unlock additional Mercenaries and take them with you. There are four Mercenaries currently in Diablo 4:
Note that if you’re a solo player, you should acquire at least one additional Mercenary before continuing with the Vessel of Hatred story, otherwise you’ll end up wasting a bunch of Mercenary experience (Rapport) during the campaign. You’ll eventually need to acquire all mercenaries before you can continue the post-campaign quest.
If you’re solo, you can assign any Mercenary as your bodyguard. They’ll travel with you constantly, and you can level them up by defeating monsters together. While Mercenaries don’t have gear you need to worry about, they do have four skill points and a small skill tree so you can customize their moves. You can change out your hired bodyguard at any time.
If you’re a solo player who’s already hired a main Mercenary, or you’re playing in a group (which automatically suppresses your hired Mercenary ally until you’re alone again), you can still hire a second Mercenary as a reinforcement. This must be done with a different Mercenary than your currently hired one.
Reinforcements also gain Rapport and level up with you, but they only pop in under certain conditions — conditions which you set. You’re able to create a trigger with your reinforcement, which allows you to summon them into battle when you use a certain skill on your bar. When the trigger happens, they’ll leap in and use a skill that you designate them to use. This effect has a cooldown, so you want to try and pair their skill with a trigger skill of yours that shares a similar cooldown or that you use regularly.
As both hired bodyguards and reinforcements, Mercenaries can drastically change how you think about combat in Diablo 4, especially if you’re a solo player, so spend time during the campaign experimenting with them.
All Mercenary abilities and unlock requirements in Diablo 4
Image: Blizzard Entertainment via Polygon
Raheir is the first Mercenary you’ll meet, and he’s unmissable. You’ll find him during the main Vessel of Hatred campaign and he’ll introduce the entire system to you. He’ll act as your first Mercenary, and you can either make him your main bodyguard or a reinforcement. Raheir is built to protect you, and serves as a tank. He has abilities that allow him to intervene if you’re about to die, or taunt enemies to attack him instead. He also acts as the den blacksmith and can fix or salvage your gear.
Aldkin sits just to the right of Raheir in the den, and you’ll hire them via the “A Nameless Mystery” quest, which you can pick up as soon as you unlock the Mercenary Den. Aldkin is the magic-user of the Mercenaries, and uses what’s often referred to as a “kiss/curse” playstyle, meaning their abilities will harm you in some way but have a powerful benefit. Their skills revolve around shadow and fire magic, and they will occasionally transform into a powerful demon that can decimate enemies. They also act as the den occultist and can enhance your gear with Legendary Aspects.
Varyana sits just left of Raheir in the den, and you’ll hire her during the “Slayer’s Retribution” quest, which you can pick up as soon as you unlock the Mercenary Den. Varyana acts as the party’s martial warrior, using dual axes or a two-handed mace to dish out punishment. Her main perk is Massacre, which gives you a powerful movement speed buff for chaining enemy kills together.
Subo sits on the far left side of the den, and you’ll hire him during the “A Feather on the Scale” quest, which you can pick up as soon as you unlock the Mercenary Den. Subo acts as the party’s rogue, and uses a bow or crossbow to deal damage from afar. Subo’s main perk highlights enemies and materials in the area, and will occasionally mark a target, allowing you to regain resources by killing them. His abilities revolve around traps and stuns or fire and damage over time.
Next, see our guides on all Tenets of Akarat locations and the best Spiritborn build.
