Diablo II Resurrected: Mercenaries Guide

Mercenaries have changed a lot since the days of the original game, and they can provide quite a bit of help in Diablo II Resurrected, even at higher difficulty levels. While hiring them and letting them do their own thing is more than enough at the normal difficulty level, you will need to manage them properly to make sure they can survive the Hell and Nightmare difficulties.

Here’s everything you need to know about mercenaries in Diablo II Resurrected.

Overview

Mercenaries are warriors that you can hire with gold to help you in combat. These warriors cannot be controlled in any way and cannot receive orders, but it’s possible to make them more useful by leveling them up and giving them powerful gear to equip.

All mercenaries have weapons, body armor, and helmet slots, and they can equip every item that the player-controlled character can, meaning that they can equip items with socketed runes and even Runewords. When giving any items to a mercenary, give priority to items that grant Passive skills, as mercenaries cannot use Active skills in any way. As many Passive skills also affect the player-controlled characters, you can receive the benefits of multiple buffs that can make your life in combat easier.

All Mercenary Types in Diablo II Resurrected

There are four different mercenary types in Diablo II Resurrected: Barbarians, Desert Mercenaries, Iron Wolves, and Rogue Scouts. All four types have unique traits.

Barbarians

Barbarians are among the most straightforward mercenaries that can be recruited in Diablo II Resurrected. They are strong and have decent durability, and so they tend to fight on the frontlines with Bash and Stun abilities. To hire them, you need to complete the Rescue the Barbarian quest and then talk to Qual-Kehk in Harrogath.

Desert Mercenaries

The Desert Mercenaries are the most versatile of all the mercenaries that you can hire in Diablo II Resurrected, and they are generally considered to be the best. These melee-focused warriors fight with Javelins and Spears and come with different aura options that dictate their abilities. The available auras also change depending on the difficulty level. To recruit Desert Mercenaries, talk with Greiz at Lut Gholein.

Iron Wolves

Iron Wolves are the only mercenaries capable of using magic, and work great at supporting frontline classes from afar. Iron Wolves can use two different spells depending on their type: Lightning Iron Wolves can use Charged and Lightning Bolt; Fire Iron Wolves can use Inferno and Fireball; Cold Iron Wolves can use Glacial Spike and Ice Blast. You can recruit Iron Wolves by talking with Asheara at Kurast Docks.

Rogue Scouts

Rogue Scouts are ranged mercenaries, and are generally considered to be the worst you can hire. While they are decent at support with the Inner Sight skill that reduces enemies’ defense, their own defense is quite low, and they cannot do a whole lot of damage with their bows. To recruit Rogue Scouts, you need to complete the Blood Raven quest and talk with Kashya at the Rogue Encampment.