Diablo 3 Followers Guide

Although Followers aren’t exactly powerhouses in the DPS department, they still serve several useful purposes, especially when you’re playing solo. In all, you will recruit three different followers throughout your journey in the world of Sanctuary: Kormac the Templar, Lyndon the Scoundrel and Eirena the Enchantress. While they can be plenty beneficial to your journey, they’re only going to be a burden if you don’t equip and build them properly.

First things first, of course; it’s important to know which follower works best for your class…

Best Follower Choices for Each Class:

Barbarian

The Enchantress has the ability to augment strength and help cancel out the weaknesses that often cause a Barbarian to succumb to his enemies. However, the Scoundrel makes a good second choice.

Demon Hunter

The Templar has the best benefits as he provides the class with healing and defensive bonuses, though the Enchantress is also a good choice for the Demon Hunter as she provides ranged DPS and crowd control.

Monk

Whether a particular follower can be considered as the “best” ultimately depends on how you like to play your Monk. The Enchantress may be a good choice for the crowd control while the Scoundrel is a close second for his ranged DPS and damage buffs.

Wizard

The Templar is clearly the obvious choice for the Wizard regardless of whether you opt for being a melee or a ranged Wizard. The second choice of follower for this class is the Enchantress as she can double the efforts of your magic and deliver that much more damage.

Witch Doctor

For the Witch Doctor, the Templar is an excellent choice for healing and defense, much like the Demon Hunter. Similarly, the Enchantress can provide some good crowd control to accompany his attacks.

With the information of which follower works best for you in hand, now you can begin to figure out how to optimally build them for your situation. In a single-player game, press the letter F to bring up the menu to build your follower.

Kormac the Templar

Best For: Demon Hunter, Witch Doctor, Wizard

Biggest Strengths: Healing & defense bonuses

A dedicated holy warrior, the Templar offers defensive fighting, holy justice and buffs that allow your character to heal as you get up close for direct offensive combat.

For level 5, you have the choice of picking either Heal or Intervene. In the former, Kormac will heal both you and himself for up to 4651 health at level 60, and the latter allows him to taunt enemies around you whenever you are hit by them. No matter what class you play, it is always very beneficial to have someone looking after you and your health, so opt for Heal instead of Intervene.

For level 10, you have the choice of picking either Loyalty or Intimidate. In the former, Kormac will regenerate up to 155 life for both you and himself, and the latter slows down enemies engaging in direct combat with the Templar. In this case, Loyalty is a better option to ensure that your follower doesn’t die on a regular basis, and it has the added bonus of giving you even better health options, so pick Loyalty over Intimidate.

For level 15, you can pick either Charge or Onslaught. In the former, the Templar will charge an enemy and stun enemies within a certain range, while the latter will create a massive 200 percent damage attack. Keeping in suit with picking the former option over the latter, Charge makes the better ability here due to its stun. In reality, a 200 percent weapon damage attack for the Templar is not actually as impressive as it sounds. Pick Charge here as opposed to Onslaught.

Finally, level 20 allows you to pick either Inspire or Guardian. In the former, your resource regeneration (mana, arcane power, hatred, fury, spirit) increases while the latter causes the Templar to come to your aid – knocking back enemies that are bombarding your character while also healing you for up to 4651 life by level 60. The one you opt for here ultimately depends on your preference; while Inspire works excellently to increase your damage, you may want Guardian on the higher difficulties, which would enable you to switch to the Enchantress when you want to go for the offensive tactic.

Gearing your Templar

Clearly, the best way to build your Templar is to tailor him to being a healing expert, so you’ll want to go for gear that will increase his vitality above all; after all, it’s difficult for your healer to do his job if he is going to die too quickly himself. Go for the gear that has the biggest bonus for vitality versus anything else; chances are you are going to be the one to do the most damage regardless. 

Lyndon the Scoundrel

Best For: Monk, Barbarian, Farming

Biggest Strengths: Crowd control, damage buffs

The perfect balance between the High Heavens and Burning Hells, Lyndon the Scoundrel comes across in your game later on during a quest. His skills provide proficiency for ranged killing, boots to attack and shots that can disable enemies blind.

For level 5, you can unlock either Crippling Shot or Poison Bolts. In the former, Lyndon makes a ranged attack to slow down an enemy’s movement briefly, while the latter delivers full weapon damage along with 40 percent weapon damage over two seconds acting as a poison. Opt for Crippling Shot over Poison Bolts for this one; when you want to kite a boss, this allows you to snare him surprisingly easily. 

For level 10, you have the choice of either Dirty Fighting or Vanish. In the former, the Scoundrel blinds enemies directly in front of him briefly while the latter causes him to disappear for a few seconds before reappearing with up to 15,505 life healed at level 60. Go for Dirty Fighting here as it provides a minor stun. Choosing Vanish merely takes away the few seconds it takes for Lyndon to reappear if he dies, and he is not a good choice for tanking regardless.

For level 15, you have the choice of either unlocking Power Shot or Multishot. In the former, Lyndon delivers a ranged attack that explodes on impact and has a chance to stun all enemies within a 6 yard range for a couple of seconds, while the latter will merely have the Scoundrel shoot three bolts at once instead of the typical one. This should be an obvious choice; the stun on the Power Shot has such a better benefit over a slightly higher damage output for the Scoundrel, especially when coupled with Crippling Shot and Dirty Fighting.

Finally, level 20 presents you with the opportunity to pick either Hysteria or Anatomy. In the former, all damage increases whenever one of you two delivers a crit, while the latter will increase crit chance—unfortunately, these two cannot co-exist. Though the damage output increase from Hysteria may look promising, it’s better to opt for Anatomy to benefit your overall DPS and crit chance.

Gearing your Scoundrel

As for the equipment to put on your Scoundrel, it’s important to remember that he isn’t going to be the one to deliver a ton of damage. He’s not a healer and he’s far from being any kind of worthy tank. This makes him have a completely different benefit: Put him on magic and gold-finding duties instead. Why not put him to use on getting you items to throw up on the real money auction house instead of trying to raise a strength he doesn’t have?

Eirena the Enchantress

Best for: Barbarian, Monk, (also a good choice for: DH, WD & Wizard)

Biggest Strengths: Decent damage & defense

Finally, the Enchantress comes to provide bravery and the learnings from the Hand of the Prophet sisterhood. With her comes supportive spells, arcane blasts and magic that can debilitate enemies and provide an excellent boost to the offensive front of things.

For level 15, you have the choice of enabling either the Charm or Forceful Push abilities. In the former, Eirena convinces an enemy to fight on your side for a few seconds, while the latter has her summon an arcane explosion for AoE knockback damage. This should be an obvious choice as having a single enemy at your side for less than five seconds is hardly worth the trade-off of not having an AoE knockback ability. Go with Forceful Push with gusto here.

For level 20, you have the choice of enabling either Missile Ward or the Powered Armor ability. In the former, you and your follower gain a buff that reduces ranged damage while the latter talent provides a buff that slows attackers and increases armor. It seems like a close call deciding between those two, but the armor buff is more reliable against any enemy rather than striving to defend against a particular kind, so go for Powered Armor instead.

For level 25, you have the choice of enabling either the Disorient or Erosion ability. In the former, the Enchantress casts Confusion and makes them disoriented as the name suggests, while the latter conjures energy that delivers 250 percent weapon damage. Despite the fact that most weapon damage abilities do not serve much of a purpose, it works in this case as it is equivalent to a 3 percent bump in DPS. Erosion is a good choice here.

Finally, level 30 gives you the option of enabling either the Focused Mind or Mass Control ability. With Focused Mind, the Enchantress increases overall attack speed with her aura. Mass Control creates a bulb of energy that transforms enemies into chickens, rendering them unable to attack until they turn back into their standard forms. While the latter might be more of a humorous way to go about your journey on Sanctuary, the former is definitely much more usable, especially when combined with the other buffs you can obtain. Definitely go for Focused Mind over Mass Control in this case.

At her core, the Enchantress does not deliver too much damage on her own as her specialty rests specifically with her magic buffs. Because of this, when you take her along on the journey, you are not there to have her tank but want her to help your own attack get buffed. Because of this, you will want to focus on equipment that raises her vitality and perhaps even gold or magic-finding abilities.

No matter what class you play, there is a follower build that should work just fine for the play style you are aiming for. The Templar makes an excellent tank for classes which are weaker defensively, while the Scoundrel is a good follower to take when farming, while the Enchantress helps you buff your offense when you’re already delivering heavy damage.

While you may find that a certain Follower and particular build may be better for you than others, the only real “bad choice” is to not use a Follower if you’re playing solo. So, have fun and experiment – using different Followers and Follower builds with your various characters.