Completing the Hire Mercenaries Quest in Path of Exile

The latest expansion for Path of Exile, titled Secrets of the Atlas, has debuted alongside a new seasonal league: Mercenaries of Trathus. Recently, Wraeclast has seen an influx of rogue Mercenaries, many of whom come equipped with notorious gear. Defeating these Mercenaries grants you the opportunity to claim their equipment.

More notably, Mercenaries have introduced a new companion system to Path of Exile, reminiscent of the Mercenaries in Diablo 2. You can take these powerful NPCs with you through the campaign and into the endgame Atlas to strengthen your character’s weaknesses, provide additional aura buffs, or simply increase your loot gains. Below is a comprehensive guide to the Mercenary system in the Mercenaries of Trathus league.

What Are Mercenaries?

During the Mercenaries of Trathus league, you’ll encounter optional boss fights against Mercenaries. Almost every zone features a Mercenary NPC that you can challenge. If you win the duel, you can claim any item they possess or hire them as a permanent companion. Think of these Mercenaries as rogue allies who can battle alongside you.

These Mercenaries will follow you into all types of content, including endgame maps and major boss encounters. They serve as an extension of your character, helping to mitigate your build’s weaknesses or simply boosting your loot—Mercenaries count as half a player for cooperative scaling. Almost every player will want a Mercenary at their side. As you defeat enough of them, you will earn a legendary status among their clans, unlocking new endgame activities and rewards.

Encountering a Mercenary

Starting in Act 1, Mercenaries will appear as fixed encounters in nearly every area. Keep an eye out for a crossed swords icon on your minimap. Speaking to a Mercenary will pause your game and display their current items, including weapons, armor, skills, and currency. You’ll have four options:

1. Take an Item: Choose any item from their inventory. If you win the duel afterward, you’ll acquire that item.
2. Hire for Work: Challenge the Mercenary to a duel. Winning means they become a permanent companion.
3. Exile: Duel the Mercenary. Winning will prevent that type from appearing in the next ten encounters.
4. Leave: Walk away without initiating combat. If the zone resets, you’ll incur a renown penalty.

If you engage in combat, you must duel the Mercenary to earn a reward. You can choose any item from the Mercenary’s inventory as your reward before combat starts. If you take their currency pouch, all of their currency will drop instead, which is handy for collecting specific upgrades throughout the campaign and early maps.

Hiring a Mercenary turns them into a permanent companion who acts much like a Specter or player summon. They will fight beside you until their health is depleted, after which they’ll retreat to town. You can heal injured Mercenaries for a small gold fee. You can have up to three Mercenaries at your service, but only one can accompany you at a time. The other two will be available in your hideout, ready for a swap when needed.

If you consistently encounter a Mercenary type that doesn’t complement your playstyle, you can choose to exile them. This will remove that Mercenary type from spawning for the next ten zones. Only two types may be blocked simultaneously.

If you feel your character is not strong enough to defeat a Mercenary, you have the option to walk away from the encounter. However, doing so and allowing the instance to end will decrease your renown score—a new league mechanic that affects Mercenary quality.

Mercenary Renown

Defeating Mercenaries in battle does more than just fill their pockets. Each victory raises your renown score. You can check your score by hovering over the Mercenary archetype icon in their UI. The higher your renown, the tougher the Mercenaries you will face. Stronger Mercenaries will wield better items with more modifiers, additional support gems linked to their skills, and a greater chance of showing up as Infamous Mercenaries.

Infamous Mercenaries

As your renown grows and you reach PoE’s mapping endgame, you’ll start encountering Infamous Mercenaries. These stronger foes are fully armed and generally come equipped with at least one Unique item. Their rare gear is also likely to feature infamous modifiers, which are exclusive to these particular Mercenaries.

Mercenary names will include their archetype in their build panel. If you see “Infamous” as part of their name, that means you’re up against an Infamous Mercenary. Pay attention to their skills and support gems. Some Infamous Mercenaries carry gilded gems that offer unique effects not available on regular Mercenaries.

Hired Mercenaries

Every Mercenary you encounter in Wraeclast belongs to one of seven archetypes. The archetype is determined by the Mercenary’s main attributes. For instance, a Strength archetype often excels with slam-based melee skills and warcries. In general, Mercenary types reflect popular builds for each character class.

Once you’ve hired a Mercenary, you can find them in your hideout or any hub town. Talking to them allows you to view their current gear and skills. If you have multiple Mercenaries, you can choose which one to accompany you. The selected Mercenary will stay with you until they fall below critical health or you decide to swap them out for another.

While checking out your Mercenaries, you can also adjust their inventory. You can swap any of their items with your own gear. Once you assign an item, the original will be lost. Keep in mind that you can’t take items that originally belonged to the Mercenary. It’s considered bad form to strip them of their possessions.

Lastly, a Mercenary’s skill set, support gems, and levels are fixed. If you’re after better skills or a higher-level Mercenary, you’ll need to explore Wraeclast in search of a superior option.