How mercenaries work
Each act has a special NPC who hires out that act's mercenary type: Kashya (Act 1 Rogue Scout), Greiz (Act 2 Desert Mercenary), Asheara (Act 3 Ironwolf), and Qual-Kehk (Act 5 Barbarian). Act 4 has no mercenary. Any of these NPCs can revive a fallen mercenary for gold, capped at 50,000 depending on the merc's level.
Mechanics worth knowing:
- Ethereal items never lose durability on a mercenary — which is why ethereal bases are the standard for merc weapons and armor.
- Mercenaries teleport to you when they fall behind, and follow your own Teleport.
- A mercenary can supply up to two auras (their own plus one from gear, such as Insight's Meditation).
- Healing potions, rejuvenation potions and wells all work on mercenaries.
- Warning: hiring a new mercenary while one is employed deletes the old merc's gear forever. Take the items off first.
Act 2 Desert Mercenary — the default choice
The Desert Mercenary is the most-used merc in the game because of his six auras. Only three are available in Normal difficulty; Nightmare and Hell hiring pools offer all six: Prayer, Defiance, Blessed Aim, Thorns, Holy Freeze and Might.
- Might (Nightmare offensive): the pick for physical damage builds — a large bonus to your whole party's attack damage.
- Holy Freeze (Nightmare defensive): slows everything around him; the comfort pick for casters and for keeping your merc alive.
- Prayer (Normal combat): healing aura that also keeps your merc topped up; pairs with Insight's Meditation for triple sustain.
- Blessed Aim (Normal offensive): attack rating for builds that struggle to hit.
He attacks with Jab and equips spears, polearms or javelins — which is exactly what the best mercenary runewords are made in.
The gear path: Insight to Infinity
- Insight (Ral + Tir + Tal + Sol in a polearm): the Meditation aura solves mana for almost every build. Make it in an ethereal elite polearm (Thresher or Giant Thresher) so his own damage stays relevant. See our runeword bases guide for which bases to keep.
- Infinity (Ber + Mal + Ber + Ist): the endgame upgrade for elemental builds — Conviction lowers enemy resistances and breaks many immunities.
- Standard tank setup: Andariel's Visage (socket it to cover the fire resistance penalty) plus Fortitude in a good armor base keeps him self-sufficient through Hell.
Act 1 Rogue Scout — for physical attackers
The Rogue comes in Cold and Fire variants. Her role is delivering an aura bow: Faith grants Fanaticism — a major attack speed and damage boost for Bowazons, Frenzy Barbarians, summoners and other physical builds — while Harmony provides Vigor for movespeed. Note she uses her attack rate (not FCR) to cast Inner Sight, and she cannot block.
Act 3 Ironwolf — the Enchant support
Ironwolves come in Cold, Fire and Lightning variants, but only two see real use:
- Fire Ironwolf: his Enchant grants a massive attack rating and fire damage boost — a real consideration for builds that fight the Ubers, where missing is not an option. Stack +skills and +fire skill damage on his gear.
- Lightning Ironwolf: with Crescent Moon he spams Static Field, a decent utility pick when other mercs add little to your build.
Despite carrying a shield, Ironwolves cannot block — and the Cold variant provides so little damage that he is best avoided.
Act 5 Barbarian — the specialist
Available from Qual-Kehk after the Act 5 rescue quest, in one-sword (Bash) and two-sword (Frenzy) variants. The Frenzy Barbarian is a toolbox of weapon procs:
- Dual Lawbringer: casts Decrepify, which strips physical immunity — the answer for physical builds stalled by immune packs.
- Dual Plague: a budget setup whose Cleansing and lowered resistances help poison and elemental builds.
- Lawbringer + Death: Decrepify plus Crushing Blow for act bosses.
Keeping your merc alive
A dead mercenary is an aura you paid for and don't have. The essentials: give him life leech and resistances on every slot, feed him potions with shift+1–4 (or drop a rejuvenation in dangerous pulls), and remember that monsters killed by your merc also use your MF plus his — see the Magic Find guide for why that matters when gearing him. Revives cost gold based on his level, capped at 50,000, so a well-geared merc is cheaper than a dead one.