In anticipation of the excitement of the Risia, subscribers can now get a first look at the guide to our first rendition of Hirelings in DDO! Module 8 will feature the beta of our new Hireling system, and subscribers will get their first opportunity to try them on the Risia preview server! Read on to learn more about the upcoming Hirelings:

Are you short on party members? Need a partner to help you duo your way through Stormreach? Hirelings can help! Hirelings are NPCs that you can commission to be members of your party and will aid you in your dungeons. Whether you're looking for sturdy melee or a healing hand, Hirelings come in a variety of levels and a variety of personalities! Learn more about how Hirelings can help you:

How to Hire a Hireling:

When you decide that your party needs a Hireling, you'll need to visit a Hireling Vendor prior to entering your quest. These vendors sell Hireling contracts that you will use to summon your Hireling. 

Hirelings come in a variety of levels and personalities. Visit the following vendors to contract a Hireling of the appropriate level: 

• For level 1 to 3 Hirelings, see Groodug Meathands in the Harbor
• For level 4 to 6 Hirelings, see Draithon Aurelius in the Marketplace
• For level 7 to 10 Hirelings, see Kaeless in the Marketplace
• For level 11 to 13 Hirelings, see Raissa Gnomeslayer in Gianthold
• For level 14 to 16 Hirelings, see Kyrian Flamewarden in Meridia

Remember that your Hireling must be the same level or lower than you in order to contract them! If you are unable to group with the Hireling, the contract icon will be red. When bringing your contracted Hireling into your parties, remember that your Hireling counts as a member of the group too, and needs to be within level range of the other players to avoid an XP penalty. 

You'll be able to recognize Hirelings by their names, as each Hireling is different! Even though you may see contracts for two clerics of the same level, they will have different names, can be different races, and have their own appearances, equipment, personalities and available abilities. Remember though that just like real party members, you can't have two Hirelings of the same name in your group, so remember this prior to purchasing your Hireling contracts! The class icon on the contract icon indicates what class the Hireling is. To learn more about them, inspect the contract. Currently Hirelings are available in the following classes: fighters, paladins, clerics, sorcerers, wizards, and barbarians. 

With your contract in your inventory, you're ready to bring your Hireling into the dungeon with you. To begin your Hireling's service, double-click on the contract in your inventory. The Hireling will appear in the dungeon beside you and in your party list just like a regular party member! Your Hireling will stay with you until you enter a public space in the world, at which time they will be automatically dismissed from your group. They will follow you through quest chains and landscapes as long as you are able to enter them from within other quests or landscapes. 

Your Hireling is contracted for a set duration of time, which is indicated on their contract. Inspect the contract to see how much time remains on it. The contract time counts down from the time of purchase, so it is best to purchase your Hireling contract just prior to entering your quest or landscape so they don’t expire before you can use them. Once the time on your contract expires, you will no longer be able to summon that character until you purchase another contract. If your contract expires while you’re questing with your Hireling, your Hireling will complete the quest with you so long as you do not dismiss them. If you finish the dungeon, but still have time left on the contract, you can use the contract again to summon them when you enter another dungeon! 

You can carry multiple Hireling contracts in your inventory, but each player may only summon one Hireling at time. Your party members may also summon Hirelings of their own up to a maximum of 6 party members including the contracted Hirelings. You can't have more than one Hireling of the same name in the party, and each Hireling indicates who they are working for beneath the Hireling's name, so your party can tell who is commanding which Hirelings. Players are also limited to summoning any of their Hirelings once per rest period. So, although you can dismiss a Hireling from your party at any time, remember that you won't be able to call on them or any other Hireling until you find a rest shrine. 

Directing Your Hireling:

Once you've summoned your contracted Hireling, a hotbar will appear that is used to give your Hireling commands. Your Hireling will obey these commands, as well as independently perform actions that the Hireling thinks are helpful. Understanding how to use your Hireling hotbar is important to maximizing the help provided by your cohort. 

Using your hotbar, you can issue the following orders to your Hireling: 

• Stand Ground - While in this state, your Hireling will stand in one place and not move.
• Follow - This will cause your Hireling to follow you. Hirelings can climb over things, climb ladders, jump, and perform other actions to attempt to reach you. If your Hireling can't reach you by these methods, they will teleport to you.
• Abandon tasks and follow - If your Hireling is doing something that you don't want them to do, or you want your Hireling to come to you immediately, this command will cause them to stop anything they are doing, and instead move to your current location.
• Be active - While in this state, your Hireling will perform actions that they think are useful. This can include fighting monsters, seeking out enemies, casting buffs, healing themselves or you, or using objects such as shrines. If you've told your hireling to stand their ground, they will perform those actions they are able to do while standing in one place, such as swinging a weapon or using a ranged weapon.
• Be passive - While in this state, your Hireling will perform only those actions that you tell them to do.
• Interact with your target - Using this command will cause your Hireling to interact with whatever you have targeted. If the target is a foe, the Hireling will attack it. If the target is an object, your Hireling will attempt to move to the object and use it, such as opening doors or using shrines.
• Other abilities - Any spells or abilities that your Hireling has available for you to command them to use are included on the hotbar, such as healing, spells, class features, or buffs. If the ability is something that requires a target, like a heal or spell, the Hireling will attempt to use the ability on whatever your target is.

By changing the active/passive or follow/stand states of your Hireling, you can more carefully control their actions so that they are more useful to you while questing. There's more to Hirelings than following you or standing; Hirelings have many tasks they can perform!

What Hirelings Can Do For You: 

• Every Hireling has a different personality and a different set of abilities, and will use them to the best of their ability.
• Your Hireling has spell points like a regular player, and even drops a soul stone for you or other party members to pick up should they meet an untimely demise.
• Your Hireling can use both rest and resurrection shrines.
• If your Hireling has healing abilities, it can attempt to heal you whenever your health drops too low, and if it has the ability to resurrect, will raise you.
• If you're incapacitated, your Hireling will do its best to try and get you back on your feet, whether it be through healing or the heal skill.
• If you've died, your Hireling can be directed to pick up your soul stone, and will follow your ghost so you can try to reach a nearby resurrection shrine
• You can send in a Hireling to open a door or use a lever, but be careful - Hirelings can trigger and take damage from traps!
• Your Hireling may even scout ahead and attack targets if set to active mode, and will help you to flank enemies.
• Your Hireling can receive buffs from yourself or fellow party members. Your Hireling can even buff you or party members on command, and even the group if your Hireling can cast area of effect buffs! If your Hireling can raise dead, you can target your fallen comrade and command your Hireling to raise them!
• While there are many things a Hireling can do, there are some things that Hirelings will not do...

What Hirelings can't do: 

• Hirelings hate the water, and can't swim. If you must swim in a body of water, your Hireling will teleport to you once you've reached dry land.
• Hirelings will not loot chests, pick up breakables, pick up or loot quest items, nor gather collectibles. Acquisition of extra treasure for you during the adventure isn't part of their contract.
• Hirelings are agoraphobic, and shy away from large crowds, so you can never summon a Hireling into a public instance. They prefer to just meet you once you've entered the quest.
• Hirelings aren't paid to brawl with fellow citizens, and will never enter into a PvP match
• Hirelings can do many things, but there are some challenges that are just too great for the average cohort, and require greater heroes to step up to the task - such as your fellow adventurers. It's best to seek out other adventurers for raids, as Hirelings won't come with you into 12 man instances.
• Hirelings come with their own potions and other inventory items, and don't need your supplies. You're welcome to use wands or scrolls on them, and they will accept a potion through a funnel. They don't carry funnels however, and they will not share their inventory supplies with you.
• Hirelings are great at springing traps, but aren't so good at seeing the trap before it's sprung; nor can they disarm it. It's best to find a rogue party member for such tasks instead.
• Hirelings work well as a flanking partner, but rely on you to get into proper position to get the benefits of their flank.
• Hirelings that can heal will heal you automatically if your health drops too low, but they will only heal your party members if you specifically command them to. Healing your party members isn't a part of their contract, so to cause them to heal a party member: target the party member, and click on the Hireling's healing ability.