Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred introduces Mercenaries to the game, offering hirable NPCs that assist solo players by dealing damage and providing passive boosts. The new season also features additional activities, such as Seasonal Journey objectives, which are essential for utilizing Mercenaries. There are four Mercenaries in the expansion, each with unique specialties and skills.
Early in the Vessel of Hatred campaign, Raheri leads you to The Den, the Mercenaries' headquarters. This unlocks Raheri for recruitment and initiates quests to recruit other Mercenaries. Completing activities and defeating monsters with a Mercenary by your side earns Rapport, increasing your Rapport Rank. The first four ranks grant skill points for the specific Mercenary, while the next six provide loot and Pale Marks, a currency spent at the Mercenary vendor in The Den. After reaching the maximum Rapport, you continue to earn Pale Marks for every 25,000 Rapport gained.
Each Mercenary has two skill tree branches specializing in different abilities and damage types. You must choose between active and passive skills with each point, but skill points can be refunded for free, allowing experimentation with Mercenary abilities. You can select two Mercenaries, one as your main and one as a Reinforcement. The main Mercenary is always with you, granting all purchased skills, while the Reinforcement activates one of their abilities on a cooldown when you use a specific ability. Once hired, you must set their ability and the corresponding ability to activate them.
Raheri is the first Mercenary unlocked, occurring early in the campaign. His skills focus on defensive buffs and taunting enemies, with the left tree offering bonus armor and the right tree providing resistance boosts. Varyana, unlocked via the quest 'Slayer's Retribution,' offers increased movement speed based on massacre kills and abilities that knock down and stun enemies. Aldkin, found in Nahantu, specializes in fire and shadow damage, inflicting vulnerability on enemies. Subo, found in Hawezar, has a variety of skills that knock down, knock back, inflict vulnerability, and daze enemies, dealing significant damage.
