Baldur’s Gate 3’s “best kept secret” completely changes your playthrough before major fights

Larian Studios made sure you’ll want to play Baldur’s Gate 3 at least a couple of times more to discover everything Faerun has to offer, and if you were too busy trying to figure out which companion is best suited for you, you probably missed trying the best-kept secret that Withers has during the early game.

Everyone knows that you can use Hirelings to get achievements, and even use them as blood bags to get the “Happy” buff for Astarion without draining your favorite companions. But getting a Cleric and a Transmutation Wizard Hirelings specifically can completely change the way you are playing.

Spotted in Baldur’s Gate 3 subreddit, a player shared you can get these Hirelings into your party at your camp before going out on your adventure, and even when preparing for the game’s toughest fights. You can ask the cleric to cast buffs like Death Ward, Freedom of Movement, Aid, or other spells to your characters.

After hiring the Transmutation Wizard, you can also get them to make a Transmutation Stone for Constitution, and give everyone the Longstrider buff. Then, you can regroup all your buffed characters and leave these Hirelings behind while keeping these extras until the next Long Rest.

If you aren’t able to get all your companions together to receive these spells, you can simply make your bard play a son in the middle of the camp. As they gather around the character, Hirelings can cast their buffs freely.

You can also send your party for a long walk to a spot that will give you enough time to change to your Hireling and aim their spells at them before they return to their idle spots again.

While this trick can be pretty common for those who have been risking everything in Honour Mode, not every player has realized how useful it is to have Hirelings around.