So does anyone else prefer the recurrence of being able to buy mercenaries like you could in D2? Or were you content with the Templar, Scoundrel and Enchantress characters that came from the story line you could have side with you. Personally as charismatic as the Followers from 3 were I liked having the mercenaries because they seemed to add a layer, fleshing out the world. That these characters coming from different areas, each with a unique skill set that would compliment yours as they followed you literally to Hell n back. Plus they were as vulnerable as you so you had to keep them alive, be it through potions or giving them gear that suited them. They leveled and grew more powerful alongside you giving them purpose. Your thoughts?
With the amount of gold that most players have, it would be more beneficial to rent/hire a mercenary for rifts than tote around one of the three stooges. Especially if the mercenary was fully quipped with legendaries.
Since the game is touted to support 4 in multiplayer, hopefully we will be able to acquire 3 followers or mercs and always have a 4 character team.
Why not?
Yes, I want to be able to hire mercenaries and build them up over time. Maybe also have a training NPC for mercenaries where they can upskill (new abilities, defenses etc) for gold or other custom currency.
It would make grinding for power even more worthwhile if youâre grinding for 2. And in return you receive much-needed bonuses and assistance from your merc.
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The idea of having a more complete mercenary I have been a fan of for a while.
Also the idea of âfollower setsâ they get rings, ammy, main n offhand, along with a token. Surely there is something that could be made that helped them more, and by extension helped us.
As for the full Follower Team idea, yes. If youâre solo you should be able to also hire all 3 followers. If a 2 person team, each of you gets a follower, in a 3man the game maker/leader gets a follower. If 4 man, youâre 4 man so shush.
Each follower hired should increase difficulty and rewards just like a 2nd (or more) party member would.
Personally as a primary solo artist, I very much like that idea
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i plea for years to give our own pool of avatars as followers, fully powered.
-so we can choose 3 of them and have our own 4-man solo-team. epic.
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D2 LoD did it best, they were relatively supportive yet very vulnerable. In D3 they are terrible, they are just another way the game holds your hand. D4 needs to return to the D2 model.
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I hesitate to agree with this. Whilst I think they should take some good things from D2, a full return to the exact same model means âno new game, just new graphicsâ If thatâs all you want, then what you really want is a D2 remaster, see pertinent threads.
Diablo 4 needs to be NEW. YES back to the darker feel of d1/d2, NO to the chunky colorful monkeys we have in d3 (monkeys being our characters, calm down, insert butterflies instead if it makes you feel better)
A straight âreturn to D2â is just a step backward in gaming. New games should also introduce new concepts, not just rehashed everything we already have. Look to Hollywood and their barren deserts of ânew ideasâ all we get are remakes of the same movies, for 60 years.
Is that really what you want your gaming industry to be like? Only chasing the largest attractors and ignoring everything else? Weâll have nothing but Fortnites galore then.
Yea I miss the meaningful mercenaries/followers. Building and tailoring an assistant to your needs was an epic part of D2:LoD and D3:Classic.
Itâs a matter of creating a meaningful and complementary dynamic that enhances your experience rather than just an annoyance like in D3.
I said return to the model, I didât say copy what D2 did.
I believe the author means go back to a merc style that:
Is tough but can be killed
Can be equipped with lots of gear, giving a player more gearing to do.
Becomes part of the gold sink
Actually can do reasonable damage if well equipped
They could add some additional things on top of that D2 formula to give it authenticity in a D4 context.
Although the D3 followers were certainly more personable they are only partly useful for minimal actions less their 50% damage reduction with unity and their immortal token.
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Yes, pretty much and thanks for picking up on my meaning. However, D2 LoDâs mercs use less gear than D3âs. Helm, Armour, Weapon and one uses a shield.
Three of the four merc classes can be built to solo kill Diablo, but it takes too long to even consider as a normal thing. Itâs just fun to play around with sometimes.
It is part of the gold sink, but it does eventually cap at a reasonable price and mercs can be geared and played in game to prevent deaths. It takes some time to master merc use.
Also, each class of D2 LoD merc has different skill types to choose from. For example, the act one rogues have different elemental arrows to choose from and the act 2 mercs have different auras to choose from.
And to confirm, Iâm not suggesting copying D2 LoD mercs, Iâm suggesting expanding and evolve the merc system for D4. I donât mind the side story and quests idea attached to the D3 mercs.
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Just remove mercenaries completely.
In D2 they were OP and in D3 they were useless at best and an annoyance at worst.
Keep âminionsâ exclusive to Summoner Classes.
I usually hired a cold rogue and kept her. I wish D3 followers were as useful.
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She was my go to for years.
The D2 vanilla mercs are not op in anyway, and the D3 Templar can hardly be consider useless with all his healing and life buff stuff. Well, these are my experiences anyway.
Yeah, they were even more useless than the D3 Mercs.
But at least they didnât follow you around while babbling nonsense all day 
Iâm all for the shy silent type, but I donât mind the merc side quest idea.
That is the one thing I miss from D2, having more players in game then just 4. At times I could play with up to 5 others, not including myself, but due to party limitations, I am unable toâŚ
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If I got to make all the decisions Iâd combine the mercenary and follower systems. Followers would be like three or four that can be unlocked through a more involved side story mission⌠you could have a certain amount of skill customization with them. They would revive themselves like in D3.
Iâd also have mercenaries that you could buy from town, but when they die they are dead permanently. There would also be a limited number of them and theyâd come with different combinations of preset skills.
Both types could be outfitted with major gear, weapon, body armor, helmet, and maybe an amulet or ring.