The Best Diablo 4 Mercenary Companion

In Diablo 4’s new expansion, Vessel of Hatred, solo players are able to hire a select group of mercenaries to serve as companions on their adventure. Mercenaries come equipped with their own skill progression, and level-up as you complete various activities or defeat elite enemies. There are four different mercenaries you can recruit, and they all possess unique abilities that come in handy, but which one is the best Diablo 4 mercenary companion? Here’s a brief rundown of each mercenary in Vessel of Hatred, and what they excel at.

Raheir

Raheir is the first mercenary you recruit in Vessel of Hatred as part of the main campaign. His “Valiance” Mercenary Perk- the defining core ability for every mercenary- negates an instance of extreme damage and proceeds to knock down enemies and grant you Unstoppable. Raheir’s skills are centered around either taunting enemies and absorbing damage from the player, or slowing and knocking them down repeatedly. He’s a great option for players who want a tank companion or need extra crowd control to get the most use out of their abilities.

However, his core perk requires you to put yourself in the path of danger, a death sentence on harder difficulties. If your build doesn’t offer much sustainability, the evasive playstyle you’ll be using means you’re rarely going to see it activate. This makes four of the eight final skills you can unlock on Raheir irrelevant. Losing out on Raheir’s core ability makes him a weaker option compared to the other mercenaries you can use. Consider your other options before choosing him.

Aldkin

Aldkin specializes in high damage AoE and DoT attacks, but comes with a small caveat. The “Blasphemous Fate” mercenary perk afflicts enemies with damage and status ailments, and slaps a debuff onto the player in exchange. Aldkin’s two progression paths focus on Shadow and Fire elements respectively, with the former making enemies more vulnerable to your attacks, and the latter dealing more raw damage. Aldkin pairs well with builds that exploit vulnerable enemies, or need a lot of a primary resource to wreak havoc. Abilities like “Raging Violence” and “Ember’s Gift” enable you to spam your Core skills for explosive results. “Terrify” and “Paranoia” increase the damage enemies receive from your abilities overall.

Aldkin’s usefulness is only limited by how many enemies he can target with his abilities. The AoEs won’t catch everybody, and the DoTs can only chain to a handful of enemies at a time. But if you’re capable of dispatching enemies quickly, it’s possible to funnel (or chain) them into Aldkin’s attacks without issue. On that note, you should avoid taking Aldkin as your main mercenary if it takes you a bit longer to defeat enemies; the debuffs he applies won’t be of much use to you if you can’t keep them active for very long.

Varyana

The perfect companion for aggressive builds, Varyana’s “Massacre” perk makes her a great choice for fast Undercity runs. “Massacre” gradually increases your movement speed based on how many enemies you’ve killed recently. In addition, either of her skill paths favor builds that prefer to be in the center of the action. On one hand, her “Cleave” path can enhance your attack speed many times over with “Bloodthirst” and “Hysteria.” You can also capitalize on this path’s many bleeding effects with “Taste of Flesh,” a passive that heals you for 1% of your max health every time you deal damage to an enemy suffering bleed.

On the other hand, Varyana’s “Shockwave” path offers heavy stuns and knockdown options, with final abilities on this path giving huge bonuses to your damage output. “Annihilator” stands out here: it temporarily grants you 30% Lucky Hit Chance, synergizing well with gear and abilities that require it. However, Varyana’s single-target damage leaves much to be desired. If you aren’t mowing down the hordes, she won’t be able to add much to the fight. Still the great passives she can give you and the core mobility bonus makes her the best option for clearing content quickly.

Subo

Unfortunately, Subo is the weakest mercenary of the bunch. It has to do with the lack of synergy he can provide compared to his contemporaries. Most of your mercenary options pair well with each other, or augment your own abilities with powerful bonuses. Subo’s skills largely affect Subo and no one else. “Opening Fire” give a significant boost to Critical Strike Damage. “Thrillseeker” reduces your active cooldowns. But they only come into effect when attacking the few enemies Subo’s abilities can actually hit. Compare this to Aldkin, whose abilities chain to multiple enemies or have AoEs that persist longer.

Even Subo’s single-target damage leaves much to be desired. While you can specialize him into the “Explosive Charge” and then “Bargaining Chips” skills to focus down bosses quickly, he just doesn’t fire enough explosive charges to really capitalize on it. The worst aspect of Subo is his core perk, “Seeker.” This move marks a single enemy you have to kill in ten seconds to regain 50% of your primary resource, and then stays on cooldown for another ten seconds- if you kill the enemy it’s marking. Otherwise you’ll have to wait 20 seconds for Subo to mark something else. At least “Seeker” reveals enemies and materials on the map. If you’re trying to farm those for whatever reason, bring Subo along.

Your reasons for choosing your desired mercenary are ultimately your own, but hopefully this guide helps you make a more informed decision. In addition to hiring a mercenary to accompany you, it’s also possible to enlist a second one as a reinforcement with a single skill to utilize. There’s plenty of combinations to choose from, so you’re going to want to know the Best Mercenary Companion Combinations. Mercenaries are only one new feature added to Diablo 4 in Vessel of Hatred. For information on how to unlock the Undercity, click here.

Diablo 4 and its expansion, Vessel of Hatred, are available for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.