Hirelings

From Diablo Wiki

A Hireling is a mercenary that you can hire in Diablo II. They follow the character and stay in a fixed radius around the character. They were killable by the monsters and could use spells as well.

In the Lord of Destruction expansion pack, Hirelings were improved with radical changes. They came to be regarded as co-adventurers. They could level up along with the player and had a new stats screen. The player could equip them with items to further enhance their stats.

Hirelings weapons are limited to their class. Armor is not limited. Although Hirelings could not wear Class-specific Items, the Act V Hireling, the Barbarian was capable of wearing Barbarian Helms.

Each hireling has a different AI script, making some run away while other engage in combat without fear.

In Diablo II, mercenaries can only be hired and used in the act you are in. Once you go to a new act, they will disappear. This was changed in Lord of Destruction, as your mercenary will stay with you forever, or until you hire a different one. But you can only have one mercenary at a time.

In the Expansion pack, you may equip a hireling with any weapon, helm, and body armor. You cannot equip them rings, boots, gloves, and belt.

To heal a hireling, click and drag a health potion onto your hireling's profile. A faster way is to press Shift and right-click the potion to instantly give it to Him/her.

Contents 1 Diablo II 1.1 Act I Rogue 1.2 Act II Desert Mercenary 1.3 Act III Iron Wolf 1.4 Act V Barbarian 1.5 Rumors 2 Notes 3 Diablo III

[edit] Diablo II

[edit] Act I Rogue

The Rogues of the Rogue Encampment belong to the order of the Sisters Of The Sightless Eye, and can be hired from Kashya after completing the Sisters' Burial Grounds quest.

• Abilities: Uses the Amazon skill, Inner Sight, and can shoot either Fire or Ice Arrows. The ice arrows only travel half as far as the fire ones.
• Weapons: Bows only. They cannot equip 'Amazon Only' bows, or Crossbows.

[edit] Act II Desert Mercenary

The Desert Mercenaries hail from the city of Lut Gholein and serve as the town's guards. They can be hired from their captain, Griez.

• Abilities: Uses Auras to enhance the battlefield, and uses the Amazon skill, Jab.
• Weapons: Spears, Polearms and Javelins.

Normal/Hell Auras: Combat: Prayer Offensive: Blessed Aim Defensive: Defiance

Nightmare Auras Combat: Thorns Offensive: Might Defensive: Holy Freeze

[edit] Act III Iron Wolf

The Iron Wolf from Kurast are Spellcasters, and the guards of the Kurast Docks. They can be hired from Asheara.

• Abilities: Casting spells, the element they cast is dependent on their type.
• Weapons: One-Handed Swords and shields.

Lightning mercenary spells: Lightning, Charged Bolt and Nova. Fire mercenary spells: Fireball, Inferno. Cold mercenary spells: Ice Blast, Cold Armor, Glacial Spike

[edit] Act V Barbarian

The Barbarians of Harrogath can be hired from Qual-Kehk after completing the Rescue on Mount Arreat quest. (Lord of Destruction only)

• Abilities: Uses Bash and Stun Attack.
• Weapons: One-handed and Two-handed swords.

Note that they cannot equip Shields, or Dual Wield weapons. They can also equip 'Barbarian Only' helmets.

[edit] Rumors

DISCLAIMER: These are all false rumors. It must be noted that the Diablo wiki neither supports nor endorses these baseless rumors.

As seen above, there exists no Act IV Hireling. This led to rather ridiculous speculations spreading across the internet. A majority of them related to a non-existent hidden Act IV Hireling-the Angel. The Angel was described to use Hadriel's base structure and did not walk but levitated on the ground. They were said to use Cold and Lightning Spells. It was even said that the Angel was showcased by the presence of Hadriel. Because these rumors spread before the expansion, there are no details on what they wore.

The rumors said that the Angel could be obtained by completing certain meaningless tasks mostly on Hell difficulty. They included:

• Talking to Hadriel or Tyrael, a certain number of times
• Defeating Diablo in Hell difficulty a certain number of times
• Defeating the Cow King a certain number of times (not possible because the Secret Cow Level Portal cannot be recast if he is killed)
• Giving the Jade Figurine/Golden Bird to Tyrael or Hadriel
• Not talking to Tyrael after freeing him in Tal Rasha's Chamber(you cannot complete Act II without talking to him)

[edit] Notes

• If a mercenary has an item (e.g. Hand of Justice weapon) that gives wielder an Aura when equipped, Aura won't be active when hireling is resurrected. To enable it, open mercenary screen and reequip item.

[edit] Diablo III

For the main article, see Followers

Hirelings also appear in Diablo III. But they are officially called Followers in the game.