Hirelings

Contracts

Dagna Steelhand keeps the sellsword hall on the west side of Spitehold's market square and hires out sellswords of every class, but only to someone she has a reference for. Each class has its own contract: a quest line that starts with Dagna sending you to someone who knows that trade, who tests you on their own ground and then sends you after a dungeon's keeper (in Ashmoor, which has no dungeons, after the goblins of the crags), and ends with their word carried back to Dagna. Hand that in and the class is yours to hire. Talk to Dagna and choose from the contracts on offer; she has one for every class. Each is set in a harder zone than the last, so a company is built up over your levels.

Class	Where	The chain
Warrior	Ashmoor	A Shieldman's Reference: Ask Sergeant Holt at Barrowmoor Watch to vouch for you Bones on the Line: Kill 8 Skeletons in Ashmoor Hold the Crag Path: Hunt 10 Goblins in Ashmoor Holt's Word: Bring the reference to Dagna Steelhand in Spitehold
Ranger	Thornwood	A Bowyer's Reference: Ask Fennick Bark at the Lodge in Thornwood to vouch for you Staves for the Lodge: Gather 10 Birch Logs in Thornwood Spiders in the Fletching: Hunt 10 Spiders in Thornwood Burn Out the Roots: See the keeper of the Tangleroot fall Fennick's Mark: Bring the reference to Dagna Steelhand in Spitehold
Bard	Mirrowmere	An Innkeeper's Reference: Ask Ottilie Swan at Mere's End in Mirrowmere to vouch for you Fenmint for the Throat: Gather 8 Fenmint in Mirrowmere Quiet the Nets: Hunt 8 Glubs in Mirrowmere A Verse Under the Glass: See the keeper of Underglass fall Ottilie's Song: Bring the reference to Dagna Steelhand in Spitehold
Mage	Cinderwaste	A Glassmaker's Reference: Ask Ilse Ashby at the Cinderwaste's outpost to vouch for you Imps in the Kilns: Hunt 10 Imps in the Cinderwaste Down the Redwall: See the keeper of the Redwall Caverns fall Ilse's Letter: Bring the reference to Dagna Steelhand in Spitehold
Priest	Gravenwood	A Candlemaker's Reference: Ask Mordecai Lamb at Candlehold in Gravenwood to vouch for you The Walkers' Count: Hunt 10 Zombies in Gravenwood Light in the Weeping Crypt: See the keeper of the Weeping Crypt fall Mordecai's Blessing: Bring the reference to Dagna Steelhand in Spitehold
Rogue	The Wrack Coast	A Smuggler's Reference: Ask Tamsin Rope at the Wrack Coast's outpost to vouch for you Fish-folk on the Slipway: Hunt 10 Fish-folk on the Wrack Coast The Smugglers' Hold: See the keeper of the Smugglers' Hold fall Tamsin's Knot: Bring the reference to Dagna Steelhand in Spitehold

Hiring

Once a class's contract is signed, Dagna's board offers it. A hire costs 15s plus 2s 50c for each of your levels, paid once (less with the Hireling Bond talent): the sellsword is yours for good after that, and comes at your level and grows with you. You can have one of each class on your books. Each one gets a name of their own and a height of their own, most near the usual and a few very tall or very short, and a hireling of each class wears that class's kit, so you can tell them apart at a glance.

Hirelings following you take seats in your party. You, your party's other players and all of your following hirelings together are never more than 5. A party with no seat left cannot hire or call more, and two players whose companies would not fit together do not group up. The dungeon finder counts them the same way, and they come below with you.

Class	Does	Health	Blow	Heals	Fee	Wears
Warrior	Holds what is fighting you and takes the blows.	110 → 528	5 → 19.3 every 2 s, in melee	—	17s 50c → 65s	Iron Helm, Plate Cuirass, Iron Gauntlets, Iron Greaves, Iron Sabatons
Ranger	Shoots what you fight from a safe distance.	55 → 264	6 → 23.1 every 2.2 s, from 22 m	—	17s 50c → 65s	Mail Coif, Ring Hauberk, Mail Gauntlets, Mail Chausses, Mail Boots
Bard	Sings at what you fight, and rallies anyone flagging.	55 → 264	4.5 → 17.3 every 2.2 s, from 22 m	6 → 23.1, a rally	17s 50c → 65s	Leather Bycocket, Leather Harness, Worn Glove, Leather Leggings, Leather Boots
Mage	Burns what you fight hardest of all, and falls quickest.	45 → 216	8 → 30.8 every 2.6 s, from 24 m	—	17s 50c → 65s	Wizard's Hat, Dark Robe, Linen Wraps, Linen Trousers, Worn Shoes
Priest	Mends the most hurt of your party, you and your hirelings.	50 → 240	2.5 → 9.6 every 2.5 s, from 24 m	9 → 34.6	17s 50c → 65s	Linen Tunic, Linen Trousers, Linen Wraps, Worn Shoes
Rogue	Slips in beside what you fight and cuts it quickly.	85 → 408	4 → 15.4 every 1.4 s, in melee	—	17s 50c → 65s	Leather Bycocket, Leather Harness, Worn Glove, Leather Leggings, Leather Boots

In a fight

A hireling follows you, teleports with you, swims with you, wades into lava after you (and burns there as you do), climbs a castle's stairs after you, and goes below ground with you. Where you jump or drop somewhere it cannot walk, it catches up with you after a few seconds of getting nowhere; round a wall, a lake or a cliff it finds its own way. It fights what you hit, and anything that turns on you, your party or your other hirelings, once it can see it: something fighting you round a corner or behind a rock is left alone until it comes into view. Its blows can miss, or be dodged, parried or blocked, by its level against the creature's, as yours can.

The warrior is a tank. It goes for whatever is attacking someone else on your side, pulls it off them the moment it lands a blow, and its blows draw 10× the threat.
The ranger and the mage stand about 16 m back from what they shoot, and need a clear line to it. So does the bard.
The bard sings at your target, and whenever anyone on your side drops under 70% health it rallies everyone in reach, at most once every 8 seconds.
The priest mends the most hurt of your side first: you, your party and every pet and hireling any of you keeps, once they drop under 85% health. It only fights when nobody needs it.
The rogue closes in beside the warrior and cuts quickly with a dagger in each hand. It does not hold what it hits.

Kills your hirelings make are yours: loot, coins, experience, quest progress and the escalation ladder all count them as yours. What they do in a fight counts as yours too, so you earn a kill someone else lands on a creature your hirelings fought. Their heals draw threat like anyone else's.

Hirelings do not regenerate in a fight. After 5 seconds without fighting they mend 3% of their health a second. They show in your party frames like any member, with you at the top when nobody else is with you. Click a frame to make them your heal target, and a priest's heal ring shows them too.

Keeping them

A hireling that dies is not lost. It is out of the fight for 3 minutes, and then comes back to your side, whole, wherever you are. While it recovers it still holds its seat. If you die, your hirelings carry on without you and come back to your side when you wake; one that is recovering waits until you are up.

Dagna's board lists your whole company: who is following you, who is recovering and for how long, and who is waiting at the broker's. Stand down sends one back to her from anywhere, keeping how hurt they were, and frees their seat; Call at the broker brings them back, for nothing, unless they are still recovering. Release lets one go for good, and the fee is not refunded — hiring another of that class costs the fee again.

Your whole company is saved with your character: who follows you and how hurt they were, who is at the broker's, and how long each fallen one has left. They come back when you log in.

Brigands

Not every sellsword found work with the broker. About 6 brigands roam each zone's open land, Spitehold's fields included: sellswords of every class, dressed and armed like hirelings, and as strong as the zone's creatures. They come for anyone they see within 24 m, much further off than a creature notices you. A warrior brigand closes to swing; the others stand off and shoot, sing or cast at you from range. A priest brigand mends any brigand near it under 85% health, itself included, and a bard brigand rallies them all once any drops under 70% — so when two brigands come for you together, kill the priest first.

A brigand is fought like any creature: it has a red nameplate, keeps a threat table, and pays loot, coins and experience when it falls. One that is killed is replaced somewhere else in the zone after 45 seconds. None of them ever comes within the town's walls.