Baldur’s Gate 3 Hirelings can give you buffs you didn’t expect

You don’t need Hirelings to follow you around in Baldur’s Gate 3, but having them in camp is crucial for getting some great advantages and skills.

Players are free to explore Baldur’s Gate 3 even if they refuse to take any companions along in their adventure. In case they need an extra hand for some missions, they can recruit Hirelings through Withers. However, there are other advantages to having a Hireling in your camp as these NPCs can help your party with some interesting buffs.

Most users already know that having a Hireling around can work excellently as a blood bank for Astarion, who’ll get the “Happy” buff after drinking from them and grants him a +1 to all Attack Rolls, Saving Throws and most Ability Checks.

However, one of the best ways of using a Hireling (without making a permanent companion in your party) is to respec them to fill the gaps in your build. Maxing out a Cleric Hireling will allow you to cast spells like Warding Bond without risks, and it will also let you cast Aid to grant 5 extra hit points to your party.

Players in the Baldur’s Gate 3 subreddit have also admitted to using Hirelings for very specific tasks, such as specializing a Wizard to get a spell without having to use a scroll, or having them for an extra hand in case their party misses critical Perception or Survival checks.

Another interesting advantage of getting Hirelings is using them as Transmuters with Medicine proficiency, who can be used to get two potions instead of one whenever crafting elixirs. You can also use them as Transmuter’s Stone factories, which can be carried by any character to get Thunder, Lightning, Fire, Cold, or Acid Resistance as well as Movement Speed, Constitution, or Darkvision buffs.

Hirelings can even be used to get the “Jack of All Trades” achievement, although some fans would consider that this shortcut is just cheating the system. But for some, Hirelings can also be the way to unlock great outfit options for your camp without having to wait until Act 3.