Everyone who has played Baldur’s Gate 3 knows there are a host of fascinating and nuanced characters to recruit as companions. However, the majority who play the game are missing out on another source of teammates in the form of the hirelings on offer from Withers. This other group of companions might not be the most chatty or have deep backstories like Lae’zel, Astarion or Minsc, but they are well worth trying out in any playthrough.
Although the majority of players will want to have as many of the main Baldur’s Gate 3 companions in their team as possible, there will be times when that isn’t achievable. The Dark Urge might decide to let their imagination get the better of them with Gale, while others might opt to side with Minthara against the tieflings, losing Halsin, Karlach, and Wyll in the process. In these cases, hirelings can fill any holes in the party, meaning that no matter how many companions are killed or annoyed to the point that they leave, Tav will always have backup.
According to the statistics on Baldur’s Gate 3‘s Steam achievements, only 16.6% of players have used hirelings in their games. This is a shame, as the motley crew of 12 covers each of the core classes and can offer much more than being replacement companions should some of the main cast be unavailable. From excellent buffs to a dedicated potion maker, there are plenty of reason why everyone should be using Withers’ hirelings.
To recruit any hireling, Withers must first be found in his crypt in the Overgrown Ruins, close to the beach in Act 1. Withers will then arrive at the party camp, where he can be spoken to and will make his services available to the party. Along with resurrection and changing any playable character’s class, Withers will also offer hirelings.
To recruit one of the hirelings, Withers will ask for 100 gold, after which the character creation screen will show the 12 companions for hire. The hirelings cover multiple playable races and all 12 of the classes available in the game. Just as with the main companions, these hirelings can also be respecced by speaking to Withers, allowing for a truly custom party.
The question of why one would use hirelings over origin companions is a simple one. The answer comes from BG3’s game mechanics and clever use of class features, with the hirelings available to be built just so without interfering with the main party. The best part is that just having the hirelings in camp is enough to enhance any playthrough once a person knows how.
Early in BG3, it is worth hiring a druid if Tav is not that class, as the party won’t be able to gain access to many druid abilities until Act 2 otherwise. A druid’s wild shape is great for scouting ahead or getting into small holes, while spells like goodberry are an excellent source of healing. Another early game hireling worth getting is a bard who can cast bardic inspiration on the party before being switched out, as the buff will last until it is used or the next long rest.
Later in BG3, having a cleric hireling is fantastic for the extra healing they can offer as there are times when the party may be low of health but wish to conserve their short rests. But another excellent reason to have a cleric hireling is the 10th level class feature Divine Intervention. This feature can only be used by a cleric once per playthrough and offers four options of damage, healing, supplies, or a legendary mace.
Using the hirelings for this is perfect, as the Devotee’s Mace is a great weapon that deals 1d6 plus three bludgeoning damage and 1d8 radiant damage and heals all nearby allies 1d4 at the start of the wielder’s turn for 10 turns. The Devotee’s Mace does not vanish once summoned if the character is respecced, so it is possible to have multiple copies of the mace provided the party has the gold to alter the classes of multiple characters. This allows Shadowheart or a cleric Tav to use their Divine Intervention on other options without fear of losing an awesome weapon.
There are more specific ways to use hirelings to help the party without needing to take them along on adventures. This method requires building a hireling into a specialist who provides a particular service to the team. The three best options for a specialist hireling are buffers, potion makers, and weapon binders.
Having a hireling back at camp whose sole duty is to provide buffs for the main party is the easiest and quickest way to use a hireling. The best hireling to choose for this is Danton, the tiefling druid, as druids have some excellent buffs. Danton can then be selected at the start of each day to buff others using spells such as longstrider, protection from poison and freedom of movement.
There are other spells available that will require concentration, such as enhance ability, stoneskin, and protection from energy, so each hireling would only be able to cast one of these but would be able to safely keep concentration back at camp. Having the hireling buff the party at the start of each day will free up the spell lists of the main party members because as a spell is deselected in BG3, the buff will drop. Having Danton cast longstrider means that Halsin or Gale don’t have to prepare it, allowing them to choose other spells.
Multiclassing a cleric and druid can also be beneficial, as there is a lot of overlap between the spell lists for each class. However, there is no harm in having both a cleric and druid hireling separately, as it means more party members can be covered by single-target buffs. Both druids and clerics can also cast heroes’ feast, which has some fantastic benefits that last until a long rest and will save the sixth-level spell slots of the main party.
Along with providing excellent buffs, hirelings can be built into dedicated weapon binders or potion makers. Eldritch Knights have an ability called Weapon Bond that allows them to magically bind the weapon in their main hand so they cannot be disarmed. But more importantly, a bound weapon will automatically return to the wielder’s hand when thrown. This hireling specialist goes hand in hand with a very particular build, but it is well worth having if playing as a throwing barbarian or other fun throwing-based BG3 build.
To use an Eldritch Knight hireling this way, give them the weapon that needs to be bound. Once the hireling has the weapon equipped, they can use Weapon Bond before returning the weapon to the character who needs it. It is important to remember that only one weapon can be bound to the Eldritch Knight at once, so if multiple characters are using throwing builds then multiple Eldritch Knights will be needed.
The final specialist hireling is the most complicated to set up, but once they are ready they are fantastic to keep in camp. A potion maker is a great use for a hireling, and to start the halfling, Brinna Brightsong should be chosen for her racial ability, Halfling Luck. Halfling Luck lets the character reroll attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws, making autofailures much less likely.
Brinna will need to be respecced from bard into a wizard in order to make her an effective potion maker, and her Wisdom score will need to be boosted as much as possible. At the second level, the Transmutation school should be chosen as the feature Experimental Alchemy is key to this build. Brinna’s skill proficiency will also need to be changed to give her proficiency in medicine, which is the skill needed for potion making.
The potion maker will need at least four levels in wizard and one in rogue to gain the rogue’s expertise feature, which should be put into medicine. At the fourth level, there is the option to choose feats for ability score improvement. While feats like Lucky and Resilient: Wisdom are great choices, further improving Brinna’s Wisdom should take priority.
As a Transmutation Wizard, Brinna can now make two potions or elixirs instead of one when combining ingredients. Each time she will need to pass a DC 15 medicine check, so it is a good idea to buff her using guidance or enhance ability before each potion making session. Each time the potion maker succeeds in a medicine check, they will make two potions for one. So if the crafting menu states that three potions can be made with the ingredients the party has, then the potion maker will be able to make six with the same amount of ingredients.
Using hirelings in this way requires a little more planning and knowledge of game and class mechanics but is well worth the time. This method might not suit every play style for Baldur’s Gate 3 as it definitely doesn’t fit with heavy roleplay playthroughs. However, for higher difficulties and Honour Mode, having some specialist hirelings can make all the difference.