How to hire Diablo 4 Mercenaries and earn Rapport to level them up

Diablo 4 Mercenaries are a fresh addition to the dungeon crawler arriving with the Vessel of Hatred expansion, so that solo players no longer have to face the hordes on their own, although those in a party can still enlist them as reinforcements. There are four of these recruits to team up with in Diablo 4, including a one-armed shieldbearer, a bounty hunting archer, a half-demon child, and a (former) cannibal, with each bringing their own particular set of skills to your group. To find out more about the way they work and earning Rapport to level them up, here's how to hire Mercenaries in Diablo 4.

How to unlock Mercenaries in Diablo 4

To unlock Mercenaries in Diablo 4, you need to progress through the main Vessel of Hatred storyline until you reach the Thrust Into the Dark quest, as at the end of that you'll gain access to The Den – which is the base for the Mercenaries of the Pale Hand. Speaking to Raheir will add him as a Mercenary, but to unlock the other three you'll need to complete the following Feature Unlock Quests that are triggered by examining specific items in The Den:

• Aldkin: Archive of Kuo Chosah > A Nameless Mystery
• Subo: Muddy Letter > A Feather on the Scale
• Varyana: Brutal Note > Slayer's Retribution

Once each quest is completed, the relevant Diablo 4 Mercenary will be added to The Den, where you can then go to interact with them.

How to Hire and Enlist Mercenaries in Diablo 4

Once you have unlocked individual Mercenaries in Diablo 4, you can then either Hire or Enlist them by interacting with them in The Den and selecting the relevant dialogue option. To explain the difference between them, if you Hire a Mercenary then they will fight by your side as a constant ally, whereas if you Enlist a Reinforcement then they will only jump in when you perform a specific action, which you can configure in the Mercenaries tab. Crucially, Hired Mercenaries will go on standby when you join a party, while Enlisted Reinforcements can still be summoned even when teamed with other players.

How to earn Rapport with Mercenaries in Diablo 4

To earn Rapport with Mercenaries in Diablo 4, you need to either Hire or Enlist them as they will constantly be levelling up when fighting beside you. Note that if you have both a Hired Mercenary and an Enlisted Reinforcement active, the Reinforcement will earn 50% less Rapport – so choose your assignment carefully based on who you want to prioritize for levelling up. Mercenaries receive a big boost to Rapport whenever you complete a quest, so you should ensure you have them on hand while working through the campaign and any side quests.

As you earn Rapport and level up your Mercenaries, you'll gain access to new Skills through their Skill Trees in the Mercenaries tab. These can be assigned and refunded in the same way as your main Skill Tree, to configure the Mercenary so they complement your personal playstyle.

How to Barter with Mercenaries in Diablo 4

Once you level up any of your Mercenaries to Rank 5, you'll unlock the ability to Barter with them – return to The Den after this point and speak to Raheir to activate his daughter Fayira as a Bartering vendor at the center of the base. Interact with her to open the Bartering screen, where you'll see the items currently available and their cost in Pale Marks, which is the currency you receive from Mercenaries once they reach Rank 5 and above so make sure you visit the Rapport section of their Mercenaries tab to claim it. As you increase the Rank of your Mercenaries further, the potential increases to have better items available through Bartering. You can also choose to Restock Supply and get a new selection of items, but the cost of doing this increases each time.

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