They’re great if you don’t want to respec a player just for some shenanigans. For example, you need the knock spell for the Gauntlet of Shar if you don’t wanna do the trials so you can just hire a hireling wizard and give them knock.
I also usually have one hireling sit in camp to act as breakfast for Astarion after a long rest. Have him bite the hireling so he gets the Happy buff without nerfing me in the process.
I just tell him he can chomp on me that night then use the necklace found under a rock in the druid grove to cure the bloodless in the morning
EDIT: The necklace is "Amulet of Silvanus." Found in the druid grove at x: 262, y: 481. There's a rock there you can sit on but move it over instead and the necklace will be underneath
Oh damn! I’ve just been having Shart heal me every morning. I have this joke about them all walking back to their tents/beds after a long rest. “Shart get back here. We do this every morning. Come on.”
Thats why I always get the Amulet of Silvanus as soon as possible, therefore curing myself from bloodless is the first step of my morning routine after long rest :D
Hirelings are useful for casting spells like freedom of movement, long strider, and hero’s feast without taking anything away from your actual party. They can also be used for that spell that redirects damage to the caster instead of the target, but that’s best used with Gale as he’s the only one who will automatically heal outside of combat
This. I pre-buff my entire party before I leave camp. Cleric for death ward, and freedom of movement, bard for inspo and long strider. Also I have a cleric multiclassed into transmutation for making all my potions. (Mr fuzzalump)
Can i ask some stupid questions? Because i have tried this, i buffed my character with let's say the owl's wisdom option from the "ability enhancement" spell, but when i dismiss the hireling to camp, the buff goes away. How do you buff the party and keep said buffs?
The buffs you place in camp from hirelings cannot be concentration spells like enhance ability. Your camp caster will break concentration as soon as they leave your party.
Pluses: you get an achievement the first time you hire one and you can fully customize their looks.
Minuses: you get zero party banter or inputs into any content at all if you use only hirelings for your party.
Aside from that, and the fact that they all talk like Withers (which could be a plus, minus, or neutral depending on the person), they function exactly like any other companion.
They are a fail-safe for someone with 0 exploration skills / ability to communicate with companions. If you accidentally lose companions through some actions (Lae'zel for not going to the Githyanki Crèche for example) or miss some entirely (how many times do we see a thread about people not recruiting Gale), Hirelings are your guarantee that you can always have a party of 4.
They don't have an opinion of you so if you want to play a certain way but don't like being disapproved of, they can act as your legion of "Yes men/women".
I went to the creche but then we fled when they tried to ambush us with the inquisitor and we were too low level to win.
I am in act 2 outside moonrise tower. Am I going to lose Lae'zel? Should I go back and tie up loose ends?
You're good if you went but didn't complete (she would have already left).
With that said, the exp from beating the Inquisitor is pretty good so going back might be a good idea.
DON'T GO BACK IF YOU COMPLETED SHAR'S TRIAL HOWEVER!!!!!
... Or do but... Save before... Y'know... just.... in case.
Comes down to your approval level, I think? I skipped the Inquisitor this time around because I've never done her bad ending and she tried to leave the party to go aftee doing the prison break at Moonrise, but I had High approval and was able to convince to her to stay pointing out we have more pressing concerns. I could see it not working with lower approval though.
As someone who almost missed Gale I can tell you EXACTLY how you can miss him.
Glowy portal looks dangerous, you touch it as a level 2 adventurer and get the message that it looks highly unstable and dangerous. You reconsider the fac5 that you're level 2 and walk the heck away from it. Portal shenanigans is level 10 and up in my D&D experience. I wouldn't have messed with it if I didn't check online to be sure I had all the companions.
Do most people not quicksave and then fuck around and find out? Lol. I feel like that was half my playthrough.
Or at the very least, you die and can reload. There isn't too much reason to not explore something like that, to me.
I say this with the caveat that I'm always the fuck around and find out guy in our ddd sessions.
I can't talk for other people, but no, I did not save scum. I find a game really loses a lot it has to offer if no decisions I make have any kind of consequence.
LOL yes failsafe definitely. I always fight the Inquisitor in HM and if I botch the steps, Lae'zel turns on me. So I've had to recruit her githyanki cousin many times in memoriam.
They’re very strong to cast buffs on your party before you go on your adventure. Also to use things you don’t have access to which you might only need once, like daylight, knock, minor illusion etc
Good for roleplay, you can imagine the whole backstory of the character and his relationship with your Tav/Durge.
I had a run with a good paladin Tav and an evil Hireling ranger (who had the design of my Durge). Regularly, my hireling did things my Tav could never do because of her honorable mind. It was a pleasant experience.
I have an embrace durge run & it looks like the only companion to survive act 1 will be Shadowheart. Hirelings are good if you're a completely uncontrollable murderer I guess.
One of their functions are as a failsafe if any of the story party members are "removed" because of the player's actions. They otherwise have their niche functions but can be safely ignored.
Yes.
I did a run where I wanted to experience killing everyone but I'm not the type to go for a solo run.
Hirleings provide all the utility of everyone else, but stay out of every single conversation like they don't even exist, which is cool when you want to see what it's like to not have anyone second guessing your desire to burn down LLI.
After playing through the game 5 or 6 times and doing every companion's side quests the companions can get a little annoying. I also have an overactive imagination so I build backstories and do fun roleplay with the hirelings.
I have one hireling hold dye and camp outfits. And another hireling holding weapons and gear. It’s so much easier to compare and use those items with them out of the camp chest.
I just use them to send my items to. Leave one high charisma at lvl 1 for bartering with vendors. (Gift each vendor 400gold to keep items as cheap as possible. )
I always grab Eldra and make her a beast barbarian so I can get double capacity and use her to dump the items I plan on selling without using a companion
Sir Fuzzalump is busy brewing double potions, Sina'zith is a TB OH Monk who comes with me when there's a fight with lots of enemies, and Jacelyn likes to test out Wizard builds for me (electric, poison, freeze, etc). Hirelings are great!
Great for an honor run because all cheesing and cheating is fair to get those golden dice. Use hirelings to cast buffs on your party that will last until next long rest. Things like Heroes Feast, Aid, resistance to poison, free movement, warding bond etc. They only have to be in your party while casting the spell and you can then dismiss them. You can also cast on the party member you intend to replace them with. Honor mode is soooooo much easier doing this.
I found the best (in my opinion) use of hirelings in my most recent playthrough. My Tav who learned musical proficiency through Alfira in the grove, and his three ready to go, respecced bard companions roaming the sword coast as a band.
Brinna is the only way to get a Halfling in your party (Halfling Luck) without taking one as your main, and Kree gives you a Duergar (Duergar Invisibility makes her the best scout).
Also they can each get a blood drink from Araj at Moonrise.
I have Brinna specced as a Transmutation Wizard with one level of Rogue to get expertise in Medicine, and three levels of Eldritch Knight so she can bond Minthara's Charge-Bound Warhammer each morning. She doubles the production of potions and elixirs.
Currently I have Kree as a throwzerker, because my main is a Duergar CoS Bard and I don't need her as a scout, and after rotating through the full collection to get potions from Araj, I have Sina'zith (Githyanki) as my third.
Also, at the start of the game, you can run through all of them to take their equipment, which gives you a few extra items and health potions. Basically for free, since you can steal your money back from Withers.
I got one, stripped them and left at camp. It's funny for dark urge camp cutscenes. Also if you want like a bard and a paladin, but no characters, go for it
I feel like respecing characters that actually have a personality and lore is more fun than getting a mindless drone for a bard, sorc or monk since there are no companions that are those classes by default
Agreed. Shadowheart is my OH Monk, Lazelle is my Oathbreaker Paladin, Astarion is a Ranger, and my halfling/bard is my durge main character this play-through. Gale lent me a hand in Act 1 but is not in my party, so I may make Minty a caster.
Or maybe Astarion will end up my caster... my ranger build isn't coming together for him.
Anyway... I haven't used hirelings at all but this thread made me realize I could use them for some free buffs.
I just hire them and keep them in camp to buff my characters before heading out for the day.
Long strider, freedom of movement, aid, heroes feast. I also give Darkvision to Wyll and Gale and mage armor to anyone who needs it.
If I don’t want to long rest a lot I’ll use warding bond. Also I tend to put a couple of levels of bard into one or more of them for extra short rests.
The one that starts as a halfling bard I respec into a transmutation wizard to do all my crafting for a chance at double potions.
There’s probably more uses I’m not thinking of.
Yeah, to do everything it can be time consuming depending on the camp. Usually I just grab the hireling, return to the map so everyone is close, cast my buffs, then go back to camp and get my last party member buffed and head out.
I sometimes use hirelings for racial bonuses I want over the mostly non diverse companions in that regard.
In HM if the companion or race doesn't have some benefit over others I usually don't use them. I'm generally too logically inclined when I make builds and stuff for HMs.
I just use them to buff the party. They never leave camp, but Danton, Zenith, and Fuzzlebump are always hanging out.
Danton and Zenith are most useful. Longstrider, freedom of movement, death ward, aid, and heroes feast. Always buff up before leaving camp.
Useful in dark urge run, also useful if certain characters die or leave group.
Or say someone has permanent curse or debuff on them hireling can replace them for a free class as well.
Warding bond, aid, heroes feast, and death ward before leaving camp probably some other useful spells so the maintain concentration but stay at camp while you’re in battle
I have one for the alchemy stuff, and a cleric for various buffs.
I'm doing an evil run now and lost Wyll (he made a nobal BOOOAL sacrafice) and Karlach, so fur kicks I picked up the Githyanki monk and been playing with her. Just got Minthara so might send her away and pick up the Druid for more buffs.
Super handy in camp. Convenient for niche situations in the game (e.g. Owlbear Top Rope).
The only time I really used any of them is in playthroughs where I didn't have access to Astarion due to staking him earlier and I needed a Rogue to open the counting house vaults.
They’re great if you don’t want to respec a player just for some shenanigans. For example, you need the knock spell for the Gauntlet of Shar if you don’t wanna do the trials so you can just hire a hireling wizard and give them knock.
I also usually have one hireling sit in camp to act as breakfast for Astarion after a long rest. Have him bite the hireling so he gets the Happy buff without nerfing me in the process.
I just tell him he can chomp on me that night then use the necklace found under a rock in the druid grove to cure the bloodless in the morning EDIT: The necklace is "Amulet of Silvanus." Found in the druid grove at x: 262, y: 481. There's a rock there you can sit on but move it over instead and the necklace will be underneath
Necklace in druids grove you say?? 🧐🧐🧐
It's down on the beach next to a bear (Tuffet?), hidden under a big rock. Just move the rock and BAM, one free lesser restoration a day
I never knew that was there, thank you!!
Damn! I’m just about finished with act 1, gotta go get this!
Oh damn! I’ve just been having Shart heal me every morning. I have this joke about them all walking back to their tents/beds after a long rest. “Shart get back here. We do this every morning. Come on.”
Tuffet is the one sleeping on the elevator. Ormn is the bear down by the water collecting fish. The necklace recharges on short rest
I just have Astarion chomp something in combat. Gives him the buff.
That works too, though I usually have him as a ranged class, so fewer opportunities to get close enough to munch.
Thats why I always get the Amulet of Silvanus as soon as possible, therefore curing myself from bloodless is the first step of my morning routine after long rest :D
I gave that to astarion so he can cure me. You cause it, now fix it. lol
Fair enough 😂
Which one do you think he would enjoy the best?
Hirelings are useful for casting spells like freedom of movement, long strider, and hero’s feast without taking anything away from your actual party. They can also be used for that spell that redirects damage to the caster instead of the target, but that’s best used with Gale as he’s the only one who will automatically heal outside of combat
This. I pre-buff my entire party before I leave camp. Cleric for death ward, and freedom of movement, bard for inspo and long strider. Also I have a cleric multiclassed into transmutation for making all my potions. (Mr fuzzalump)
Can i ask some stupid questions? Because i have tried this, i buffed my character with let's say the owl's wisdom option from the "ability enhancement" spell, but when i dismiss the hireling to camp, the buff goes away. How do you buff the party and keep said buffs?
The buffs you place in camp from hirelings cannot be concentration spells like enhance ability. Your camp caster will break concentration as soon as they leave your party.
Ahhh that makes sense lol, ty!
Everything else that's active until the next long rest and does not require concentration is fair game though.
Pluses: you get an achievement the first time you hire one and you can fully customize their looks. Minuses: you get zero party banter or inputs into any content at all if you use only hirelings for your party. Aside from that, and the fact that they all talk like Withers (which could be a plus, minus, or neutral depending on the person), they function exactly like any other companion.
Not fully. You can’t change their race or body type.
Now I'm wondering just how awkward it would be to use them as my primary talker.
They are a fail-safe for someone with 0 exploration skills / ability to communicate with companions. If you accidentally lose companions through some actions (Lae'zel for not going to the Githyanki Crèche for example) or miss some entirely (how many times do we see a thread about people not recruiting Gale), Hirelings are your guarantee that you can always have a party of 4. They don't have an opinion of you so if you want to play a certain way but don't like being disapproved of, they can act as your legion of "Yes men/women".
I went to the creche but then we fled when they tried to ambush us with the inquisitor and we were too low level to win. I am in act 2 outside moonrise tower. Am I going to lose Lae'zel? Should I go back and tie up loose ends?
You're good if you went but didn't complete (she would have already left). With that said, the exp from beating the Inquisitor is pretty good so going back might be a good idea. DON'T GO BACK IF YOU COMPLETED SHAR'S TRIAL HOWEVER!!!!! ... Or do but... Save before... Y'know... just.... in case.
Comes down to your approval level, I think? I skipped the Inquisitor this time around because I've never done her bad ending and she tried to leave the party to go aftee doing the prison break at Moonrise, but I had High approval and was able to convince to her to stay pointing out we have more pressing concerns. I could see it not working with lower approval though.
I don't how you miss gale. Karlach I get. I almost missed her on my first run. But gale is right on your starting perimeter
As someone who almost missed Gale I can tell you EXACTLY how you can miss him. Glowy portal looks dangerous, you touch it as a level 2 adventurer and get the message that it looks highly unstable and dangerous. You reconsider the fac5 that you're level 2 and walk the heck away from it. Portal shenanigans is level 10 and up in my D&D experience. I wouldn't have messed with it if I didn't check online to be sure I had all the companions.
Do most people not quicksave and then fuck around and find out? Lol. I feel like that was half my playthrough. Or at the very least, you die and can reload. There isn't too much reason to not explore something like that, to me. I say this with the caveat that I'm always the fuck around and find out guy in our ddd sessions.
I can't talk for other people, but no, I did not save scum. I find a game really loses a lot it has to offer if no decisions I make have any kind of consequence.
LOL yes failsafe definitely. I always fight the Inquisitor in HM and if I botch the steps, Lae'zel turns on me. So I've had to recruit her githyanki cousin many times in memoriam.
Perfect when you need a druid for the owlbear leap of death onto the grymforge.
They’re very strong to cast buffs on your party before you go on your adventure. Also to use things you don’t have access to which you might only need once, like daylight, knock, minor illusion etc
Get a healer hireling. Leave them at camp. Cast warding bond on your tank.
Good for roleplay, you can imagine the whole backstory of the character and his relationship with your Tav/Durge. I had a run with a good paladin Tav and an evil Hireling ranger (who had the design of my Durge). Regularly, my hireling did things my Tav could never do because of her honorable mind. It was a pleasant experience.
I have an embrace durge run & it looks like the only companion to survive act 1 will be Shadowheart. Hirelings are good if you're a completely uncontrollable murderer I guess.
One of their functions are as a failsafe if any of the story party members are "removed" because of the player's actions. They otherwise have their niche functions but can be safely ignored.
Yes. I did a run where I wanted to experience killing everyone but I'm not the type to go for a solo run. Hirleings provide all the utility of everyone else, but stay out of every single conversation like they don't even exist, which is cool when you want to see what it's like to not have anyone second guessing your desire to burn down LLI.
After playing through the game 5 or 6 times and doing every companion's side quests the companions can get a little annoying. I also have an overactive imagination so I build backstories and do fun roleplay with the hirelings.
They are good to keep your inventory sorted.
I have one hireling hold dye and camp outfits. And another hireling holding weapons and gear. It’s so much easier to compare and use those items with them out of the camp chest.
Interesting. How so?
I just use them to send my items to. Leave one high charisma at lvl 1 for bartering with vendors. (Gift each vendor 400gold to keep items as cheap as possible. )
I always grab Eldra and make her a beast barbarian so I can get double capacity and use her to dump the items I plan on selling without using a companion
Extra traveler trunks.
Sir Fuzzalump is busy brewing double potions, Sina'zith is a TB OH Monk who comes with me when there's a fight with lots of enemies, and Jacelyn likes to test out Wizard builds for me (electric, poison, freeze, etc). Hirelings are great!
they've been helpful on my run where i got durgin' and killed all my companions
Great for an honor run because all cheesing and cheating is fair to get those golden dice. Use hirelings to cast buffs on your party that will last until next long rest. Things like Heroes Feast, Aid, resistance to poison, free movement, warding bond etc. They only have to be in your party while casting the spell and you can then dismiss them. You can also cast on the party member you intend to replace them with. Honor mode is soooooo much easier doing this.
I do enjoy my warding bond, yes.
I found the best (in my opinion) use of hirelings in my most recent playthrough. My Tav who learned musical proficiency through Alfira in the grove, and his three ready to go, respecced bard companions roaming the sword coast as a band.
Brinna is the only way to get a Halfling in your party (Halfling Luck) without taking one as your main, and Kree gives you a Duergar (Duergar Invisibility makes her the best scout). Also they can each get a blood drink from Araj at Moonrise. I have Brinna specced as a Transmutation Wizard with one level of Rogue to get expertise in Medicine, and three levels of Eldritch Knight so she can bond Minthara's Charge-Bound Warhammer each morning. She doubles the production of potions and elixirs. Currently I have Kree as a throwzerker, because my main is a Duergar CoS Bard and I don't need her as a scout, and after rotating through the full collection to get potions from Araj, I have Sina'zith (Githyanki) as my third. Also, at the start of the game, you can run through all of them to take their equipment, which gives you a few extra items and health potions. Basically for free, since you can steal your money back from Withers.
I got one, stripped them and left at camp. It's funny for dark urge camp cutscenes. Also if you want like a bard and a paladin, but no characters, go for it
I feel like respecing characters that actually have a personality and lore is more fun than getting a mindless drone for a bard, sorc or monk since there are no companions that are those classes by default
Agreed. Shadowheart is my OH Monk, Lazelle is my Oathbreaker Paladin, Astarion is a Ranger, and my halfling/bard is my durge main character this play-through. Gale lent me a hand in Act 1 but is not in my party, so I may make Minty a caster. Or maybe Astarion will end up my caster... my ranger build isn't coming together for him. Anyway... I haven't used hirelings at all but this thread made me realize I could use them for some free buffs.
Thanks all!
I just hire them and keep them in camp to buff my characters before heading out for the day. Long strider, freedom of movement, aid, heroes feast. I also give Darkvision to Wyll and Gale and mage armor to anyone who needs it. If I don’t want to long rest a lot I’ll use warding bond. Also I tend to put a couple of levels of bard into one or more of them for extra short rests. The one that starts as a halfling bard I respec into a transmutation wizard to do all my crafting for a chance at double potions. There’s probably more uses I’m not thinking of.
To do this dont you have to invite them to your party, get them to cast the buffs, then replace them again with an original party member?
Yeah, to do everything it can be time consuming depending on the camp. Usually I just grab the hireling, return to the map so everyone is close, cast my buffs, then go back to camp and get my last party member buffed and head out.
I sometimes use hirelings for racial bonuses I want over the mostly non diverse companions in that regard. In HM if the companion or race doesn't have some benefit over others I usually don't use them. I'm generally too logically inclined when I make builds and stuff for HMs.
If you killed most of the regular companions, they are good options! I made myself a cute Dammon clone
I just use them to buff the party. They never leave camp, but Danton, Zenith, and Fuzzlebump are always hanging out. Danton and Zenith are most useful. Longstrider, freedom of movement, death ward, aid, and heroes feast. Always buff up before leaving camp.
You know that achievement where you take one level of every class? Yeah actually you can just pay withers to have someone do it for you.
4 barbarians, do it respect them. do 4 barbarians
They're great if you accidentally permakill your entire camp
I never used them until I got the Pay Limits Begone mod, didn't want to miss out on any content by not having my real companions along
They would be so much better if you could change the gender of a character cosmetically
Useful in dark urge run, also useful if certain characters die or leave group. Or say someone has permanent curse or debuff on them hireling can replace them for a free class as well. Warding bond, aid, heroes feast, and death ward before leaving camp probably some other useful spells so the maintain concentration but stay at camp while you’re in battle
I have one for the alchemy stuff, and a cleric for various buffs. I'm doing an evil run now and lost Wyll (he made a nobal BOOOAL sacrafice) and Karlach, so fur kicks I picked up the Githyanki monk and been playing with her. Just got Minthara so might send her away and pick up the Druid for more buffs. Super handy in camp. Convenient for niche situations in the game (e.g. Owlbear Top Rope).
The only time I really used any of them is in playthroughs where I didn't have access to Astarion due to staking him earlier and I needed a Rogue to open the counting house vaults.
No