There has been very little information about Hirelings in Diablo III. Unfortunately, there has not been much change on this front. From what we know, in the first gameplay video, there were some archers you ran into while on a quest to rescue Deckard Cain. These archers would follow you for a short while fighting monsters until they would meet their own demise. These mercenaries were never meant to follow you for a long time and would only help you through a quest. We saw this again in the Demon Huntergameplay video when a weapon maker needs your help. These NPC's are just to help you through a quest temporarily.
In addition to these characters, many have wondered how the hirelings, as know of them from Diablo II, will work in Diablo III. There was actually an interview with Leonard Boyarsky back in 2009 where he touched upon the subject. In the interview, he is asked about mercenaries returning in Diablo III. He first talks about the temporary mercenaries from the gameplay trailer as a smaller version of the followers. He then expands upon the newer version of the "Followers" as they are now known as.
Official Blizzard Quote:
We have two different types of mercenaries now. As you saw in the demo, if you got the quest where you could rescue the adventurers or their leader, those guys are a light level, where they are just along for the quest or they are just cannon fodder. You can't really control them or have anything to do with them at all.
But when you have what we are calling followers, they are the guys you can equip, give them different weapons, you can give them different armor. They will probably have some quests that involve them. Much more than in Diablo 2, you could equip them but they were more like a game mechanic in a body of an NPC. Where this time, were making them much more individuals with their own back story and their own reason for being in the world.
[There will be different types to hire but this time they will be] much more specific. They were very interchangeable in Diablo 2, they just had different skills. These ones are going to be much more geared toward certain gameplay types you'd say. Depending on how you play your class...I might be a barbarian, so I don't want another tank, I want a range or, I might want another tank.
And you will carry them with you throughout the game.
While this interview is over two years old at this point, no other information has been given about the system. Many people even believed that they will not add in this feature or that the mechanic got scrapped. With the recent announcement that all systems will be announced before the beta, the question was brought up again about these followers.
Official Blizzard Quote:
Quote from ScyberDragon »
@Diablo What is the word on the followers system?
@scyberdragon Unannounced. #bashiok
While I will admit that this gives us no new information on the system, it does tell us that it is still a system they have planned. When they will share it with us is still unknown however. So the big question still remains and is up for debate; In what form will these followers take? Will they have skills you can choose? How much item customization will there be? How many different types are there? Hopefully we will find out all of these answers Soon™.
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Sounds like fun. I'm goona have some type of tank mercinary with me when I solo
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If you want to arrange it
This world you can change it
If we could somehow make this
Christmas thing last
By helping a neighbor
Or even a stranger
And to know who needs help
You need only just ask
The good ol sidekicks. Yea I would love to have a merc with me again for some sort of epic solo night, but if they don't have them in at first it wont break the game for me. I sincerely hope that they atleast get some attention on any expansions.
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"Give a man a skill tree, and he will become a Fire Sorc. Give a man 6 skills to choose from, pulling from all three trees, and he becomes a Fire Sorc that likes to shoot lightning to manage the bigger crowds."
Tyrael will be a powerful follower in the last act. Don't ya think?
Actually, that could be very nice. Imagine some very epic battle in the end of the game where you would fight side by side with Tyrael and maybe some other angels led by him against a horde of demons. Surely that could be very interesting.
Am I the only one that thinks hirelings like in D2 is a bad idea for D3?
From what we've seen in the gameplay videos, when you get 4 players on a screen, there's a lot of shit going on. Adding mercs to the mess seems like too much.
Also, I never liked the mercs in D2 anyway... they were inanimate NPCs that didn't know how to not die, so I never got one past Act 1.
The only problem I had with them in DII, was that everyone would use Aura mercs from A2.
Yeah I feel the same. Seems like they are going to balance them a bit better and for more builds, which would be nice. I'm generally in favor of mercenaries though.
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"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool."
Twitter: @FreddyBushBoy
I remember for months and months any question about Hirelings couldn't be answered.
Frankly, there is one big thing that help makes single player a lot more enjoyable, and thats hirelings. Or followers. Frankly don't care what name they are giving them.
I was even hoping for a lot more customization (like choose their skill paths and such), though most of that I wouldn't want in multiplayer.
Am I the only one that thinks hirelings like in D2 is a bad idea for D3?
From what we've seen in the gameplay videos, when you get 4 players on a screen, there's a lot of shit going on. Adding mercs to the mess seems like too much.
Also, I never liked the mercs in D2 anyway... they were inanimate NPCs that didn't know how to not die, so I never got one past Act 1.
totally agree
i was one of those who wanted 8 players like d2, but its really too much information with jst 4
like more the idea of "weak" followers that add lore and a little help with solo play
I have a feeling that the designers created an incredibly nuanced, rich and varied world of all sorts of different followers and mercenaries, without actually thinking about the AI involved.
I think mercs give you a greater connection to the players surroundings and they feel more apart of it however i think it is not a necessary game mechanic because the main goal of the game is to co op with friends and mercs will just get in the way i think.
I think mercs give you a greater connection to the players surroundings and they feel more apart of it however i think it is not a necessary game mechanic because the main goal of the game is to co op with friends and mercs will just get in the way i think.
The main goal of the game has nothing to do with multiplayer.
I have nothing against mercs but in D3 I hope they have a smaller role like one of what bashiok mentioned that there will be followers during a specific quest only. In D2, they're good tanks or extra dps but with each D3's class having some kind of escape skills, should be enough to create some distance even w/o tank mercs. They also annoy me sometimes for killing my target Also with D3 having awesome spell effects would love some less screen clutter.
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I love all loot fest kind of game! I will be playing all of them for the next few years. Loot fest games I'm looking forward to: LotR: War in the North,Torchlight 2,Borderlands 2 and of course Diablo 3.
In addition to these characters, many have wondered how the hirelings, as know of them from Diablo II, will work in Diablo III. There was actually an interview with Leonard Boyarsky back in 2009 where he touched upon the subject. In the interview, he is asked about mercenaries returning in Diablo III. He first talks about the temporary mercenaries from the gameplay trailer as a smaller version of the followers. He then expands upon the newer version of the "Followers" as they are now known as.
Official Blizzard Quote:
We have two different types of mercenaries now. As you saw in the demo, if you got the quest where you could rescue the adventurers or their leader, those guys are a light level, where they are just along for the quest or they are just cannon fodder. You can't really control them or have anything to do with them at all.
But when you have what we are calling followers, they are the guys you can equip, give them different weapons, you can give them different armor. They will probably have some quests that involve them. Much more than in Diablo 2, you could equip them but they were more like a game mechanic in a body of an NPC. Where this time, were making them much more individuals with their own back story and their own reason for being in the world.
[There will be different types to hire but this time they will be] much more specific. They were very interchangeable in Diablo 2, they just had different skills. These ones are going to be much more geared toward certain gameplay types you'd say. Depending on how you play your class...I might be a barbarian, so I don't want another tank, I want a range or, I might want another tank.
And you will carry them with you throughout the game.
While this interview is over two years old at this point, no other information has been given about the system. Many people even believed that they will not add in this feature or that the mechanic got scrapped. With the recent announcement that all systems will be announced before the beta, the question was brought up again about these followers.
Official Blizzard Quote:
@scyberdragon Unannounced. #bashiok
While I will admit that this gives us no new information on the system, it does tell us that it is still a system they have planned. When they will share it with us is still unknown however. So the big question still remains and is up for debate; In what form will these followers take? Will they have skills you can choose? How much item customization will there be? How many different types are there? Hopefully we will find out all of these answers Soon™.
Find any Diablo news? Contact me or anyone else on the News team
:: Enkeria [Twitter / Twitch / Website / Tattoos]
I'm not a big fan of having mercenaries, however.
If you want to arrange it
This world you can change it
If we could somehow make this
Christmas thing last
By helping a neighbor
Or even a stranger
And to know who needs help
You need only just ask
TheSkaBoss
Can't wait to hear about it, I bet they probably would have just said "it's scrapped" unless they had something to announce.
Actually, that could be very nice. Imagine some very epic battle in the end of the game where you would fight side by side with Tyrael and maybe some other angels led by him against a horde of demons. Surely that could be very interesting.
From what we've seen in the gameplay videos, when you get 4 players on a screen, there's a lot of shit going on. Adding mercs to the mess seems like too much.
Also, I never liked the mercs in D2 anyway... they were inanimate NPCs that didn't know how to not die, so I never got one past Act 1.
Twitter: @FreddyBushBoy
them though just like your char.
waiting for d3.
bnet- ipaniicc
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http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=27807930563&sid=3000
I remember for months and months any question about Hirelings couldn't be answered.
Frankly, there is one big thing that help makes single player a lot more enjoyable, and thats hirelings. Or followers. Frankly don't care what name they are giving them.
I was even hoping for a lot more customization (like choose their skill paths and such), though most of that I wouldn't want in multiplayer.
totally agree
i was one of those who wanted 8 players like d2, but its really too much information with jst 4
like more the idea of "weak" followers that add lore and a little help with solo play
We'll see what we end up with.