Blizzard has brought back mercenaries with Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred, and one of them even looks like a demon

Diablo 4: Vessel Of Hatred continues the Diablo tradition by letting you hire mercenaries who will help you slash your way through hell. The latest trailer, which debuted during Gamescom Opening Night live stream, teases a shieldbearer as well as berserkers, scoundrels, and a literal demonic.

The mercenaries' details are still sparse but they all fit into a specific archetype which is compatible with Diablo 4 classes. The shieldbearer holds up a barrier to protect a necromancer from monsters when they are surrounded. Some of the mercenary skills are similar to those that players have already used in the game, such as the berserker woman's ability to pull monsters towards her with ropes which look very much like the barbarians steel grasp.

I can already imagine a dozen different ways that mercenaries could be used to enhance existing builds. Sorcerers that frequently freeze packs would love to have a child demon who could launch a fire wave at them as a result. As someone who has never played barbarian, I would gladly hire a friend to taunt and whirlwind enemies for me.

The trailer is far too short to give us a good idea of how we can customize our mercenaries. In Diablo 3, players could use hand-me down armor and mini-skill trees. I hope these features return in Diablo 4

Blizzard will be revealing more details at Gamescom this week. We'll then have to wait until the 8th of October to meet them for Vessel of Hatred.