Highly unlikely for release day
As of December 2022, with Diablo 4 now having a release date and being available for pre-order, mercenaries aren't in the game, and that's unlikely to change up until release. The feature could be added later during a season or expansion, but there's been no evidence of that.
Early development didn't include mercenaries
Blizzard admitted that mercenaries (as they were called in Diablo 2) or followers (Diablo 3 naming) weren't in the game in 2019 [1]:
"Not much thought on that yet. We're still busy building the rest of the game first. We'll see what happens in the future."David Kim · Former Diablo IV Principal Game Designer ·
The Mercenary feature allows players to use gold to hire a computer-controlled character that follows you around the battlefield and assists you in fighting monsters. Mercenaries/followers can be given equipment to make them stronger. Also, they have auras or skills that can affect you and your party.
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Rogue's Weapon Imbue System
Blizzard says that the Rogue's Weapon Imbue System took inspiration from Diablo 1's mercenaries, which each had their own type of elemental arrow:
"Going back to the mercenaries you could hire, it was always cool to see what special arrow shot they'd come with. It was something we paid homage to with the Rogue's Imbue System."
Given that this Imbue System mimics, to some extent, mercenaries' attacks from previous Diablo games, Blizzard may see the latter as redundant and forgo them in Diablo 4.
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Xiphoid has been playing Diablo since the original's release in 1997. He made one of the largest Age of Empires sites in the late-'90s and early-'00s. Now, he runs MythicDrop.com, a premier Diablo 4 fansite.
Sources
| Article | Source | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Diablo IV Gameplay Demo During BlizzCon 2019 | Rhykker |
Changelog
| Ver | Change | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Beta | Added section on no mercenary feature at launch | |
|
Alpha | Added section on Rogue's Weapon Imbue System | |
 |
Alpha | Published original |
