Mercenaries Explained

Learn how to unlock all four mercenaries in Diablo IV, including Raheir, Varyana, Subo, and Aldkin. Discover their classes, roles, and how to level them up for better gear.

Mercenaries are companions you can recruit to fight alongside you in Diablo IV. This guide explains how to unlock them, their different classes, and how to improve them.

How To Unlock Mercenaries: The first mercenary, Raheir, is unlocked early in the main story quest “The Hand Remembers the Blade”. You will meet Raheir in The Den, which serves as the mercenary hub. Teleport to The Den and select “Hire Mercenary” to add them to your party.

Unlocking More Mercenaries: To unlock the other three mercenaries, you need to complete priority quests. Inspect the Brutal Note in The Den to start the quest that unlocks Varyana. Examine the Muddy Letter to begin the quest that unlocks Subo. Finally, interact with the Archive of Kuo Chosah to unlock Aldkin.

Mercenary Classes: There are four mercenaries, each with a distinct class:

• Raheir: Shieldbearer (Tank or Knockdown specialist)
• Varyana: Berserker (Physical damage with bleeds)
• Subo: Bounty Hunter (Uses Traps and Ranged Attacks)
• Aldkin: Cursed Child (Sorcerer using Fire or Dark Magic)

Each mercenary can be further specialized through their skill tree.

Reinforcements: Reinforcements are a secondary type of companion that can be summoned under specific conditions, unlike mercenaries who are always with you. They can only use one chosen skill and are not as effective as mercenaries. To enlist a reinforcement, talk to a mercenary and select “Enlist Reinforcement”. You can then choose their skill and an “Opportunity” (a trigger for their skill use) in the Mercenaries tab.

Rapport and Ranks: Mercenaries and reinforcements gain experience from most activities, ranking up when their experience bar is full. Ranking up as a mercenary grants a skill point for their skill tree. Ranking up as a reinforcement requires changing them to a mercenary to allocate the skill point. Reinforcements gain half the experience of mercenaries. Each rank also rewards Rapport items, caches, and Pale Marks.

Bartering and Pale Marks: Upon reaching Rank 5 with a mercenary, you unlock Bartering. This allows you to purchase rare and legendary gear from mercenaries using Pale Marks. Access this shop by talking to Fayira in The Den.