Path of Exile 3.29 Trarthus Mercenaries Guide: Duel Rewards & Allflame Tips

Curse of the Allflame focuses heavily on Charts and Voyage mechanics, but Trarthus Mercenaries add another layer of map content. Mercenaries spawn mid-zone and trigger duels. The fight itself is easy; the reward selection is where your build gains or loses value.

Where Trarthus Mercenaries Spawn?

Mercenaries of Trarthus launched July 24 in PoE 3.29 and are now permanent core content, supported by Atlas passives, Trarthan Scarabs and the Luminary Scion ascendancy. You first encounter them starting Act 3. Four campaign zones guarantee mercenary duels: The Sceptre of God, The Grand Arena, The Ridge, The Hidden Underbelly. Campaign mercenaries drop no rucksack loot, and temporary story hires only last for up to 3 areas. On maps, mercenaries spawn naturally or via scarabs.

Key rule change from old leagues: Mercenaries do not count as party members. They do not raise monster health or alter loot quantity/rarity. Mercenaries are also not minions — most minion damage and defense modifiers have zero effect on them.

Rewards You Get From Mercenary Duels

Every duel rolls gear and mercenary skill sets independently. Great gear can pair with weak skills, and vice versa. Choose your reward following this priority:

• Grab the highlighted item if it upgrades your gear or sells well.
• Hire temporarily if the ally improves your upcoming map runs.
• Create a Warrant for map encounters when skills are powerful but gear rolls poorly.

Important rules:

• Temporary mercenaries leave after a limited number of areas.
• Warrants are single-use tradable tokens. If you lose the duel after summoning via Warrant, that mercenary vanishes forever.
• Each mercenary chain only yields one Warrant.

Luminary stands apart: this Scion ascendancy unlocks permanent mercenary recruitment, with gear swappable after hiring. It only works if your build relies on a mercenary ally.

Loot or Warrant? Quick Decision Guide

Take the item if it fills an immediate gear gap during levelling or mapping. Craft a Warrant only for skill kits you plan to reuse or trade. Do not waste Warrants just for attractive random loot. Skip temporary hiring if you plan to portal out right after fighting a single boss.

Many mappers treat Warrants as deferred rewards. Save strong mercenaries for high-profit maps, or sell the Warrant if the skill set does not fit your build.

Natural Spawns or Trarthan Scarabs?

Stick to natural mercenary spawns while unlocking your Atlas. Ignore Warrants until consistent mapping starts. Four varieties of Trarthan Scarabs force mercenary encounters:

1. Trarthan Scarab: Spawns one Mercenary in the area
2. Trarthan Scarab of Infamy: Infamous Mercenary + two Wild Mercenaries
3. Trarthan Scarab of Renown: All mercenary drops are Unique items
4. Trarthan Scarab of Surprising Alliances: Extra Wild Mercenaries spawn, raising zone difficulty

For most players, start with basic Trarthan Scarabs on fast-clearing layouts. Use Renown only when farming unique mercenary gear. Infamy scarabs extend fight time — avoid them on slow boss-focused builds. Check Atlas passive tooltips before respeccing. Disabling other map mechanics cannot boost mercenary spawn rates.

Is Luminary Worth an Ascendancy Slot?

Luminary is Scion's third ascendancy and the only permanent mercenary recruitment path. Noble Blood lets you store up to three mercenaries: one active ally, two reserved in town or hideout. You can swap reserves out of combat.

Mercenaries scale to area level, capped at level 68. A critical restriction: the maximum item level of gear for a Luminary recruit is locked to the zone where you first hired them. Recruit in high-level maps for endgame gear potential.

Skip Luminary unless your build has a clear role for the mercenary (aura support, damage carry or defense buffer). Temporary hires and Warrant trading work better for all other setups.

Valdo modifiers that reduce damage based on equipped item count also apply penalties to Luminary mercenaries and their minions. Keep this in mind for low-equipment builds.

Quick Mercenary Strategy Cheat Sheet

• Levelling builds: Fight campaign mercenaries naturally, grab useful gear upgrades, ignore Warrants until mapping unlocks.
• Standard mapping builds: Run basic Trarthan Scarabs on fast layouts. Only craft Warrants for high-value mercenary skill sets worth reusing or trading.
• Luminary permanent ally builds: Recruit mercenaries within high-level maps first to unlock maximum gear potential. Lock in your ally's combat role before spending ascendancy points.
• Trade-focused builds: Farm Infamy or Renown scarabs if duels run fast, stock premium Warrants for league trade.

Final Mercenary Tips

Do not overinvest into mercenary encounters if they drag down your Atlas clearing pace. Temporary mercenaries and Warrants are flexible supplementary rewards, not mandatory content for every build.

Watch out for common pitfalls: Mercenaries are not minions, Warrants are single-use, and you lose that mercenary forever if you lose a Warrant-triggered duel.

Endlessly replaying mercenary duels wastes valuable mapping hours. If you want top-tier Warrants or Luminary mercenary bases without tedious grinding, find Path of Exile currency through MMOSO. Spend your time efficiently on scarab farming and Atlas progression instead.