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. Be careful: you get no benefit the turn 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 a Hireling is put into play at the start of your turn, such as by Summon or Prince, you will draw a card.
Strategy
There is no strategy article for Hireling, but the card has been discussed on the forum.
Hireling looks crazy strong at first glance; an extra card at the start of every turn is pretty ridiculous for only , right? As it turns out, Hireling is a good card, but it's not one of the best cards in the game and it's certainly not overpowered. Imagine that you play Prince on Ruined Library, but you only paid for it, how good would that be? It's nice, but it's not completely insane.
Hireling is best compared with non-terminal draw, such as Laboratory and Alchemist, as it increases your handsize every turn without using up an action. The advantage Hireling has over Laboratory and Alchemist, of course, is that it's way more reliable; you don't need to actually draw the Laboratory in your hand at the correct moment to get the extra card. The disadvantage, other than the slightly higher cost, is that Hireling is terminal and doesn't draw anything at all on the turn you play it. This means that you need to sacrifice your current turn to some extent to improve your next turns, so Hireling is only worth it if you have plenty of turns left.
So when do you go for Hireling? It's best used in situations where you want to make your engine more reliable. Some engines tend to have trouble drawing their cards in the right order, because the trashing is on the weak side, for example. The strongest engines might not need Hireling as much, and the weakest ones lose to Big Money anyway, but Hireling shines in those engines that are somewhere in between.
Another use of Hireling is in slogs. Slogs have a lot of turns, so if you get an early you might want to invest in a Hireling to make all of your other turns slightly better. Only do this in the early game, though; later on, you usually just want Gold instead.
Synergies
- Engines with weak trashing
- Ferry, Quarry
- Cards that enable you to get it early on: Baron, Coppersmith
- Throne Room variants work with it, although they are lost for the rest of the game, they double Hireling's effect and are cheaper
- Procession is especially crazy with Hireling if there are cards, or with Graverobber / Rogue
- Quest: Hireling assures you can gain a Gold
Antisynergies
- Strong trashing (Chapel and friends)
- Strong Big Money options: Gear, Embassy, Treasure Trove
Alternate versions
Digital version for Dominion Online
Trivia
A potentially infinite number of Hirelings can be activated by using Procession on another Procession on Hireling, then Graverobber to retrieve both trashed cards. This is particularly hilarious given that there will be no actual cards in play to track these effects. This can also be done with Bonfire and Graverobber.
In other languages
- Dutch: Huursoldaat
- Finnish: Palkollinen (lit. menial)
- French: Recrue (lit. recruit)
- German: Gefolgsmann (lit. liegeman)
- Japanese: 雇人 (pron. yatoinin)
- Polish: Najemnik (note: as referred to in Polish Empires rulebook)
- Russian: Наёмник (pron. nayomnik)
Preview
Secret History