Hireling
Hireling | |
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Info | |
Cost | |
Type(s) | Action - Duration |
Kingdom card? | Yes |
Set | Adventures |
Illustrator(s) | Claus Stefan |
Card text | |
At the start of each of your turns for the rest of the game: +1 Card (This stays in play.) |
Hireling is an Action-Duration from Adventures. It permanently increases your handsize for the rest of the game, but you get no benefit on the turn that you play it.
Contents |
FAQ
Official FAQ
- After playing this, you draw an extra card at the start of each of your turns for the rest of the game.
- Hireling stays in play for the rest of the game to track this.
- If you use Disciple (or a similar card, like Throne Room) to play Hireling twice, you will draw two extra cards each turn, and Disciple will also stay in play for the rest of the game.
Other Rules clarifications
- If you play Hireling at the start of your turn (with e.g. Piazza), you will draw a card.
- If used with Teacher, the token will take effect when you play a new Hireling for the first time, not every turn when the Hireling effect takes place.
- If you play this with an emulator (or emulate a Throne Room and play a Hireling from your hand twice), the emulator stays in play for the rest of the game.
- If you remove Hireling from play (with e.g. Bonfire), you will still draw a card every turn, and any Throne Rooms or emulators that were staying in play will be discarded.
Strategy
Hireling is a Duration card that permanently increases your start-of-turn hand size. The card is expensive at and provides no immediate benefit when played, while taking up terminal space, so it is most likely to pay off when you can get it into play quickly, when draw is otherwise difficult to come by, and in long games where you’ll benefit from its effect on many subsequent turns.
If you can construct a reliably drawing deck without Hireling, it’s unlikely to be the best investment due to its high opportunity cost. Instead, Hireling’s main use case is as a source of consistent supplementary draw, supporting either money strategies that can use the increased handsize to more reliably hit pricepoints and green or other sources of draw which appreciate a large starting handsize. The increased starting hand size is particularly beneficial for engines that otherwise lack reliability, e.g. when thinning is weak or you need to collide certain cards in your starting hand, such as Shepherd with Victory cards or villages with terminal draw. Hireling’s value is also greater than usual if you will be taking extra turns (especially with Outpost, where the relative benefit of start-of-turn draw is particularly notable), since this gives you more chances to benefit from its effect. Because Hireling draws a card at the start of each turn, it also somewhat counteracts the effect of discard attacks. Conversely, Hireling plays less well with some draw-to-X engines and other cards that can benefit from a smaller hand, such as Diplomat.
Because it is so expensive and slow, but plays as a one-shot with a permanent benefit, Hireling becomes more attractive in the presence of effects that let you get it into play earlier than usual. For instance, cost reduction that is available early in the game (e.g. with Ferry or Quarry) can allow you to pick up copies much sooner than you otherwise would. An early Hireling can also sometimes be obtained using Advance, especially in a Shelters game. Alternatively, effects like Innovation enhance Hireling’s desirability by getting it into play immediately and without requiring terminal space; to a lesser extent, topdecking effects (such as Way of the Seal) can also help with this when you are lacking in draw.
Versions
English versions
Digital | Text | Release | Date | |
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At the start of each of your turns for the rest of the game: +1 Card (This stays in play.) |
Adventures 1st Edition | April 2015 | ||
At the start of each of your turns for the rest of the game: +1 Card (This stays in play.) |
Adventures 2nd Edition | August 2017 |
Other language versions
Language | Name | Digital | Text | Notes | |
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Dutch | Huursoldaat | ||||
Finnish | Palkollinen (lit. menial) | ||||
French | Recrue (lit. recruit) | ||||
German | Gefolgsmann (lit. liegeman) | Immer zu Beginn deines Zuges: +1 Karte (Diese Karte bleibt bis zum Spielende im Spiel.) |
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Japanese | 雇人 (pron. yatoinin) | ゲーム終了まで、あなたのターンの開始時に +1 カードを引く。 (これは場に残り続ける。) | |||
Polish | Najemnik | Although Polish version is not released, this card is referred to in the Polish version of Empires rulebook | |||
Russian | Наёмник (pron. nayomnik) |
Trivia
A potentially infinite number of Hirelings can be activated by using Bonfire on Hireling, then Graverobber (or a card like Lurker) to regain the trashed Hireling. This is particularly hilarious given that there will be no actual cards in play to track these effects.
Preview
Secret History
Donald X.'s opinion
One point of comparison is, when you're drawing your deck every turn, Hireling gets you a card a turn, but so does Lab. Hireling helps you not fizzle at the start, and draws you more cards relatively when you aren't drawing your deck every turn. Lab meanwhile never used up an action and is cheaper and works the first time you draw it. I mean they are different all the ways they are different, but you know.
It's certainly good to have a Hireling. I don't think I've gotten more than three; I think typically I left it at one.Comparison with Alchemist