Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred | Mercenary Guide

In Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, mercenaries are powerful companions who can assist you on your journey. They can follow you into battle, provide reinforcements for your skills, and even offer unique abilities. To unlock mercenaries, you'll need to complete specific quests in the campaign. There are four mercenaries in Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred: Raheir, Varyana, Subo, and Aldkin.

As you play with your mercenary, they will gain experience, 'rapport' and level up. Leveling up unlocks new skills and abilities that can significantly enhance their effectiveness in combat. You can barter with your mercenary to obtain rare items and materials. This can be a great way to acquire valuable gear that you might not be able to find elsewhere. Raheir will offer you armor, Varyana will sell weapons, Subo will give amulets, and Aldkin will give rings.

There are two main ways of using the Mercenaries. The companion who follows you around as a 'Mercenary,' using all of his skills and so on. The other is basically allowing you to summon one of them for a limited time and use one of their specific skills along with one of yours.

Raheir

You will first meet Raheir, who will introduce you to the Mercenary Den. He introduces you to the system and is the 'tutorial mercenary.' He is a tank that is great at protecting you and acting as the bodyguard. He can also help fix your gear. His perk is Valiance; it negates any damage that takes away 15% of your current life and makes Raheir come to you and knock down nearby enemies. It also makes you unstoppable for a split second.

Varyana

Varyana is a former cannibal who is the cool barbarian warrior of the group. She is good at both dishing out a lot of damage and buffing your damage. She is unlocked via the 'Slayer's Retribution' Quest. Varyana's perk is the Massacre. It gives a stacking buff that grants movement speed based on the amounts of kills you have.

Subo

Subo is a bounty hunter who you unlock through the 'A Feather on the Scale' quest. He is usually the second person you get, as his quest is immediately accessible upon finding the Mercenary Den. He is a ranged rogue who deals damage from far away. His perk is called Seeker, which highlights enemies and materials in the area as passive. Its active component marks an enemy target who, if you kill, will restore 50% of your Maximum Resource.

Aldkin

Aldkin is the demon-kid who has a lot of magic-related skills. He can also turn into a demon. He can enhance your gear as well. Aldkin is hired through the 'A Nameless Mystery' Quest. His perk is called Blasphemous Fire, and it transforms him into a scary demon that can decimate pretty much anything on the battlefield. However, it curses you into becoming vulnerable and losing 10% of your maximum resource per second.

It is worth keeping the same mercenaries even if they're at the max level, as you can repeat the item you can get on the final level, effectively allowing you to farm that item. It is also worthwhile to diversify the mercenaries' use to get more items.

Check out our review and other guides:
- Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Review
- Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred | Spiritborn Guide
- Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred | Dark Citadel Guide