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Mercenaries are a totally new feature in Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred. These hired hands add another level of customization for players — and give solo players that boost they need to blaze through the story and cover weaknesses. If you’re a squishy Sorcerer or a defensive Druid and need more protection or more damage, you’ll want to unlock the Mercenaries as soon as possible.
Mercenaries can be unlocked relatively quickly in the Vessel of Hatred campaign, but you’ll need to progress the story before you can play with them. They’ll unlock early after reaching the new region of Nahantu. Here’s everything you need to know.
More Diablo 4 guides:
All Guides & Walkthroughs | Class Overview | Necromancer Shadowblight Minions Build | Barbarian Unconstrained Berserk Build | Golem Summoning | Accessibility Options To Change First | Potion Upgrades & Increase Max Capacity | Unlocking Horses | Silent Chests & Whispering Keys | Secret of the Spring Quest Solution | Early Game Loot Farm
How To Unlock Mercenaries
Follow the Vessel of Hatred campaign quest — starting with Rekindled Flame. Progress and follow these quests after the standard campaign is complete. After following these quests, you’ll eventually progress the story and enter the new Nahantu region.
Arriving at Nahantu, you’ll be healed by a Spiritborn and meet up with Raheir. This begins the ‘Hand Remembers The Blade‘ quest. Raheir will lead you into the Den — the hub for the Pale Hand mercenary company. From this hub you’ll be able to use your stash, blacksmith and buy / sell items. You’ll also be able to hire mercenaries.
- How To Hire Mercenaries: Open your character menu and select the new tab on the right. This is the new Mercenaries tab, to the right of your Skill Tree tab. You can select a Mercenary to hire and a Reinforcement.
- Select your Mercenary to unlock skills. Your Hired Mercenary will always appear by your side when you play SOLO. If you’re on a team your Mercenary will be held in reserve and can still offer benefits.
Mercenaries are used to supplement solo players and help fill in gaps with your hero’s build. You can select Raheir for more defense, or other mercenaries for other benefits — like support or direct damage.
- How To Unlock More Mercenaries: After completing the quest and arriving in the Den you’ll unlock Raheir as your only mercenary. There are four mercenaries total.
- To unlock more, interact with the different items marked with a purple icon in the Den. These will unlock additional quests to unlock all the mercenaries.
We recommend hunting down all four mercenaries before progressing the story. It’s worth unlocking at least two mercenaries so you can have both equipped and earning Rapport (Mercenary XP, basically) with you.
Unlocking Mercenary Characters
There are four Mercenary Characters you can unlock and equip for solo play. All mercenaries become available to unlock after finishing the quest ‘The Hand Remembers The Blade‘ and entering Nahantu. This quest can’t be missed and occurs early in the Vessel of Hatred expansion campaign.
- Raheir: Complete the quest ‘The Hand Remembers The Blade’ and enter the Den. After talking to Raheir and looking at the Mercenary items marked with purple icons, he will automatically unlock and join you. He is the first mercenary you’ll unlock.
Raheir wields a massive shield and provides higher defense for allies.
After unlockig Raheir, the other three mercenaries will have purple icon quests unlocked. Collect the items around the Den to learn of their locations. You’ll need to travel to different regions to collect them all. By completing the Stronghold, you’ll follow the path to each Mercenary and complete their recruitment quest. These quests will take you to multiple areas and dungeons, culminating in a battle against an elite enemy.
- Subo: Complete the ‘A Feather on the Scale’ quest by travelling to the Toxic Fens area in the Nahantu region.
Subo is a ranged mercenary that will mark targets — defeating marked targets gives you additional buffs.
- Aldkin: Complete the ‘A Nameless Mystery’ quest by travelling to the Covert Passage area in the Nahantu region.
A demonic child that can transform into different monstrous forms to deal damage. Aldkin is a magical creature that deals damage to large groups of enemies.
- Varyana: Complete the ‘Slayer’s Retribution’ quest by travelling to the Temple of Rot area in the Dry Steppes region.
Varyana in a berserker that deals direct damage to individual enemies. She is a melee powerhouse and is one of the most versatile mercenaries.
We recommend progressing the story and unlocking at least two mercenaries immediately — but you’ll want to unlock all four even if you’re playing with a team. Mercenaries in reserve can still help when you’re in dire need.
