In Diablo 2, there are Hirelings (Mercenaries), and in Diablo 3, we have Followers. For the uninitiated, these are NPCs that accompany the player through their journey, and they can be loaded with equipment. In fact, Followers/Mercenaries are a big part of top-tier builds in both D2 and D3. This leaves many fans to wonder if there will be Followers in Diablo 4.
In this article, we discuss the availability of Follower NPCs in Diablo 4, when these Followers might release, and a note about NPCs accompanying the player during the game's campaign.
Update on 18 July 2023: We've updated this article where we discuss Diablo 4 followers at launch, and when they could release in the future.
Diablo 4 Followers Available?
Diablo 4 does not have Followers/Mercenaries at launch. This has been confirmed by Diablo 4's Lead Class Designer, Adam Z. Jackson, as reported by PCGamesN. While NPCs will sometimes help you in a dungeon or a story quest, that's what they are confined to for now. Adam Z. Jackson states:
For the launch version of the game we do have some places in the story in particular where you will have certain named NPCs following you and helping you out as you figure out what Lilith is doing in the world. We don’t have anything to announce about the Diablo 2-type follower that you hire – we’re sticking it to the campaign for now.
The emphasis here is "for now," which brings us to the next section of this article.
When Will Followers Get Added to Diablo 4?
In the chat with PCGamesN, the developer clearly said that followers are confined to the campaign "for now" leading us to believe they might get added to general play in the future. The developers, according to the report, further noted that: "stay tuned, we may have something in the future to announce but no promises."
We suspect, and this is just a pure guestimate, that the Followers system in Diablo 4 might release towards the end of 2023 or 2024 as part of new, seasonal content. We know that Diablo 4's Season 1 kicks off in mid-July 2023. Followers will more than likely not be released with the first Ladder Season. We also know that Diablo 4 Seasons will run for roughly three (3) months.
Diablo 4 Season 1 begins in mid-July 2023. Then, Season 2 should kick off in October 2023. Diablo 4 Followers could release in Season 2, or maybe Season 3, depending on how the developer believes the gearing metasystem is working. Therefore, our best guess is a Diablo 4 Followers could release in either October 2023 or December 2023.
We will endeavor to update this article if/when more information about Followers in Diablo 4 becomes available. For now, know that some NPCs will accompany you on quests throughout the campaign.
For more Diablo 4, be sure to check out our dedicated section or some of our Guides & Tutorials just below:
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