The new Path of Exile patch brings a new league, the arrival of Settlers to the core game, and the revamps of older leagues into the current sandbox. This article will focus on the Mercenaries of Trarthus and all the new mechanics it brings. We'll also explain the new rewards as part of Mercenaries.
Locating Mercenaries
During this League, one Mercenary will appear in an area. Each Mercenary comes with a full set of gear like any player, and will have a pre-set list of skills. They'll also have a small pouch of currency items. You can check the gear they have, their current level, as well as the support gems slotted in their skill gems. With this information, you can choose to either hire them, take any one of their items, or exile them. Either way, you'll have to beat them in a duel, as is Trarthan tradition.
Some Mercenaries have a chance to have the “Infamous” modifier, which adds unique modifiers to some of their gear.
If you like a specific Mercenary, you can swap out their current gear with gear from your stash or inventory. Be warned that if you choose to dismiss a Mercenary while they are equipped with your items, those will be lost upon dismissal.
Hiring a Mercenary
You can bring a Mercenary as a permanent member of your party. Each character comes with a class, such as “Bladecaster,” “Eruptor,” and “Sniper,” that will dictate how they perform in combat. Hiring a Mercenary will cost a small sum of gold, but they'll become permanent members of your party. You can only hire 3 Mercenaries and can only have one active. The other Mercenaries will sit in reserve within Kingsmarch.
Note that Mercenaries do not level up, so be sure to cycle them out for higher-level ones if they are starting to fall behind.
Taking Items from Mercenaries
If you want to take all the currency items they have in their pouch or have found a piece of gear that you want, you can opt to duel that Mercenary for the item you want. Every piece of gear from a Mercenary will be more potent than monster drops, as these are crafted. They'll also spawn with Unique items that are exclusive to this League, meaning that dueling them can be a great source of new gear.
Mercenaries can sometimes come with a Trarthan version of certain skill gems, which gives them an alternate function over their original counterparts. You can choose to duel for that skill gem instead if you like the way it performs in combat.
Exiling a Mercenary
If you don't want a specific Mercenary of its class to appear, exiling them is the best way to get other Mercenaries without repeats. Once you defeat them in a duel, they'll no longer appear for the next 10 Mercenary encounters. You can exile up to two Mercenaries at a time.
