Mercenaries mechanism in Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred expansion has invited some dispute in previous days. Because there is a bug that some players are not available to recruit mercenaries. But now that this bug has been fixed, there is no reason for players not to use these new support characters.

First, players are required to complete Vessel of Hatred campaign until they are allowed to enter Mercenary Den, then mercenaries will naturally be unlocked.

Then, players can hire a mercenary as the primary mercenary, who will follow the player on the rest of the journey and perform active skills, passives and perks to support players.

Players are also available to recruit another mercenary. And the method they provide support to you is a little different. Players give one of the mercenary’s active skills which will be cast under particular situations. There are four mercenaries with unique skills and merits on offer. You can make a choice based on your play style or requirements.

This article is an introduction to four mercenaries for your reference.

4. Aldkin

Perk

Blasphemous Fire: Aldkin can show up as an overwhelming demon form and curse the player in this period.

Shadow Skills

• Haunt: Deals Shadow damage persistently.
• Field of Languish: Decrease damage and movement speed of enemies.
• Chain of Souls: Perform Shadow damage and stun.

Shadow Passives

• Terrify/Exhaustion: Make Haunt vulnerable or daze.
• Paranoia/Condemened: Daze Field of Languish.
• Amplified Suffering/Shared Pain: Give the skill of Chain of Souls extra damage and reduce its cooldown.

Flame Skills

• Flame Surge: AoE fire damage.
• Storm of Fire: Cause AoE fire damage.
• Wave of Flames: High fire damage and knock back.

Flame Passives

• Covered in Ash/Raging Violence: Enhance the effects of Flame Surge.
• Eradication/Ember’s Gift: Increase Storm of Fire extra damage or resource regeneration.
• Burning Chaos/Raging Havoc: Reset Wave of Flames cooldown.

Aldkin’s Field of Languish is very effective in improving the player’s survivability, but he is not as good as Raheir. It is best to use him as a secondary mercenary to avoid the harm of a curse. The continuous damage caused by Wave of Flames can effectively improve the efficiency of single-player upgrades.

3. Subo

Perk

Seeker: Subo highlights the resources and Diablo 4 Items that are equipped by nearby enemies. This skill can also mark the location of enemies and hit them, granting extra resource generation on hits.

Wire Tap Skills

• Wire Trap: Contains physical damage and stuns.
• Cover Fire: Deals physical damage and slows enemies.
• Trip Mines: Causes physical damage and knockdown.

Wire Tap Passives

• Piercing Arrows/Ready at Hand: Perform Heavy Shot pierces and enhances move speed.
• Pin Cushion/Opening Fire: Give Cover Fire and deprive the ability of crit damage of enemies.
• Loaded Munitions/Mastermind: Give Subo’s traps Vulnerable damage.

Molotov Skills

• Molotov: Cause Physical damage, stun and burning.
• Snipe: High physical damage and knock back.
• Explosive Charge: Causes high physical damage with a delay.

Molotov Passives

• Scorched Earth/Share A Drink: Give Molotov extra damage and dealing potion drops.
• Incendiary Bolt/Ambusher: Increases sniper’s hit rate.
• Thrillseeker/Bargaining Chips: Reduce the time of Explosive Charge cooldown and perform serious damage.

Subo’s Wire Tap skill tree has basically no downsides and is a good choice for players who want extra CC or to supplement their own CC.

2. Varyana

Perk

Massacre: Stacks on kills for both player and Varyana, giving bonus movement speed once stack thresholds are reached at 10, 25, 50 and 100 stacks.

Cleave Skills

• Cleave: Contains physical damage and bleeding damage, along with Double Strike skill.
• Bloodthirst: Increase attack and movement speed for Varyana and player.
• Whirlwind: Cause physical and bleeding damage.

Cleave Passives

• Hysteria/Recklessness: Gives Cleave vulnerable effect by enhancing attack speed.
• Intimidated/Bloodlust: Reduce enemies damage or upgrade the speed of Bloodthirst further.
• No Escape/Taste of Flesh: Gives Whirlwind the ability to pull enemies.

Shockwave Skills

• Shockwave: Contains Physical damage and knockdown, along with Heavy Strike basic skill.
• Earthbreaker: Physical damage and knockdown.
• Ancient Harpoons: Physical damage and stun.

Shockwave Passives

• Crushing Force/Reprisal: Knockdown enemies.
• Rampage/Dismembering: Deals extra damage.
• Annihilator/Iron Grip: Reduces enemy speed or damage resistance when performing Ancient Harpoons skill.

Varyana can be counted as a brilliant choice for any melee-focused player. Extra attack speed together with her DPS makes it an excellent mercenary for those solo players.

1. Raheir

Perk

Valiance: When you are unlucky enough to receive 15% of your maximum health in damage, Raheir will knock down the surrounding enemies and become unstoppable.

Shield Charge Skills

• Shield Charge: Physical damage and taunt, Shield Bash.
• Provoke: Taunt enemies and reduce damage.
• Crater: Cause physical damage which is aimed at pulling in enemies and stunning them.

Shield Charge Passives

• Raheir’s Guard/Vanguard: Provides armor buff, slows nearby enemies.
• Mocking Lure/Iron Wolf’s Ward: Increased damage to hurt enemies.
• Iron Wolf’s Call/Sundering Shield: Provides damage buff or gain vulnerable effect for Crater.

Ground Slam Skills

• Ground Slam: Includes physical damage and slow, Shield Strike.
• Bastion: High damage reduction and yield unstoppable effect.
• Shield Throw: Performs high physical damage to three enemies.

Ground Slam Passives

• Raheir’s Aegis/Draw Fire: All resist buff for the player.
• Inspiration/Iron Wolf’s Virtue: Offers ground Slam and Bastion buff for player.
• Iron Wolf’s Arrival/Consecrated Shield: Casts Ground Slam and Shield Throw or Shield Throw.

Based on multiple results, Raheir is probably the best all-around mercenary, which can complement the survivability of any class or build. His skills and buffs are perfect for players to deal with a variety of enemies. And his taunt abilities also suits for glass cannon ranged builds.

That’s all about all the Mercenaries in Diablo 4 Vessel Of Hatred DLC. You can choose based on your needs and play style. Thanks for reading.