Who are the best mercenaries in Diablo 4? Vessel of Hatred adds mercenaries as a new mechanic, giving you allies that can be called into battle or set as your main companion. They can be unlocked during the main quest in Vessel of Hatred, with each mercenary having unique skills and their own backstory.
Diablo 4‘s expansion adds a bunch of new mechanics and content, from raising the Diablo 4 level cap to changing how difficulty settings work in Diablo 4. We also have the added advantage of mercenaries to aid us in battle, though they will need some convincing first through the rapport system.
Who are the Diablo 4 mercenaries?
There are a total of four mercenaries, hiding out in their secret lair called the Den. You’ll find these mercenaries across Nahantu, but you need to complete different quests in order to earn their trust and call them into battle. If you’re wondering who to recruit, or which mercenary best complements your playstyle, here’s what to expect from each one.
Each mercenary has a branching skill tree where you’re able to equip perks, and active and passive abilities. Perks are passive abilities that give non-combat perks and only apply to the primary mercenary, not reinforcement mercenaries. Each mercenary has four active abilities, two core and two iconic, which dictate their weapon choice and combat actions. Finally, each mercenary can equip one core passive and one iconic passive ability from an available four.
Here are all the Diablo 4 mercenaries:
- Raheir
- Varyana
- Aldkin
- Subo
Raheir – Shieldbearer
This huge warrior uses a shield to cause devastating blows and block incoming attacks, defending you from enemies. He was born on the streets of Gea Kul and was trained by the Iron Wolves. Raheir is the first mercenary you run into, giving you access to The Den.
Perk
- Valliance – Raheir comes to your aid if you’re damaged for at least 15% of your current health to negate the damage and knock down close enemies for two seconds, granting you unstoppable for 0.5 seconds.
Skills
- Shield Charge – Focus on taunts, extra armor, slowing enemies, damage reduction, and pulling in enemies.
- Ground Slam – Focus on crowd control, elemental resistances, and taunts.
Varyana – Berserker Crone
A former cannibal, but don’t let that put you off, she left her tribe after they started dealing with darker forces, and though she’s a butcher by trade, she turned to the life of a mercenary. Varyana has a massacre meter which grows in strength the longer blood feeds her blades, and it scales off her kill streak. Complete the ‘Slayer’s Retribution’ side quest to unlock Varyana.
Perk
- Massacre – Both you and Varyana stack massacre together on kills, granting movement speed per stack.
Skills
- Cleave – Focus on big hits with heavy bleeding damage, increased attack speed, and inflicting vulnerability on enemies.
- Shockwave – Focus on physical attacks with knock down and increased critical hit chance and additional crowd control.
Aldkin – Cursed Child
Half-child, half-demon creature, Aldkin was born part-demonic due to the First Khazra in the Citadel performing dark rituals on his mother. He can undergo metamorphosis, shapeshifting into a powerful demon. Complete the ‘A Nameless Mystery’ side quest to unlock Aldkin.
Perk
- Blasphemous Fire – Aldkin loses control of his curse, transforming into a demon for 22 seconds, granting powerful abilities, but curses you
- Curse of Darkness – You and nearby enemies become vulnerable.
- Curse of Flames – Your damage burns enemies for 30% damage over three seconds, but you lose 10% of your max resource per second.
Skills
- Haunt – Focus on shadow damage, daze, stun, slow, and vulnerable.
- Flame Surge – Focus on burning damage, increased critical strike, stun, or knock back.
Subo – Drunken Archer
A disgraced archer from the mountains, Subo is a ranger using a bow and arrow to inflict damage by marking targets and earning benefits through kills, like reduced ability cooldowns. Complete the ‘A Feather on the Scale’ side quest to unlock Subo.
Perk
- Seeker – Subo reveals all enemies and materials in the area. Subo also calls out an enemy target marking them for ten seconds, killing a marked enemy restores 50% of your maximum resource and reduces Subo’s seeker cooldown by ten seconds.
Skills
- Wire Trap – Focus on damage and stun, increased movement speed, and slowing enemies.
- Molotov – Focus on physical damage and burning debuff, increased damage over time and knock backs.
Who is the best mercenary in Diablo 4?
While there’s no ‘best’ mercenary in Diablo 4 as it depends on your playstyle and class, Raheir is a standout for solo players. This is largely down to his tank-like abilities, capable of mitigating damage by taunting enemies, giving you an opportunity to inflict damage. Though, if your build already leans into a more defensive play, then Aldkin’s chaotic perk is a ton of fun in combat, and though it comes with some dark curses, he provides decent crowd control and damage over time attacks.
How to hire mercenaries in Diablo 4
Mercenaries can join your party if you’re playing solo, making them your hired hand and main companion. You can also add them as reinforcements if you’re struggling in a particularly tough fight, where you can trigger them to arrive and perform an attack to help out in the moment. It’s worth noting they must be two different mercenaries, so both these options are available once you’ve unlocked a second mercenary.
How to earn rapport in Diablo 4
Now you’ve unlocked your new companion, you’ll need to earn their trust by building rapport. By earning rapport, you can upgrade your mercenary by earning skill points to unlock abilities, caches, and increase your ability to barter.
You can earn rapport in battle by using your mercenary as a reinforcement or hired hand, with mercenary-related events appearing throughout Sanctuary to earn additional bonus rapport. Each mercenary has ten levels of rapport to build, and once you repeat the last level, you’ll earn Pale Marks. These marks are coins that grant the ability to purchase coveted items in the Den. You can also use Pale Marks to trade items in the Den, with a higher ranked mercenary providing more potential items.
Now you’re caught up on Diablo 4 mercenaries and how rapport works in Diablo 4, here’s what to expect from Vessel of Hatred and the best Diablo 4 classes to complement your new companions.