Followers are non-combatants you hire from the company screen (Blazing Deserts DLC) for a one-time crown cost — no daily wage. How many you can keep is gated by company renown: the 1st slot opens at Recognized (250 renown), 2nd at Competent (750), 3rd at Reputable (1,400), 4th at Great (2,250), and the 5th and final at Fabled (3,350). So early on you'll have just one — choose carefully.
A follower can be replaced at any time, so the roster isn't permanent — rotate as your needs change. A few have a prerequisite (the Lookout wants you to have discovered some locations yourself first). The same screen also upgrades your cart for inventory space.
— type to filter the retinue.
The followers
All eighteen, with exact one-time costs. The best follower is simply the one whose bonus you're currently bleeding crowns, time or men without. Type in the search box above to filter.
| Follower | Cost | What it does | Worth it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Scout | 2,500 | +15% travel speed on all terrain; prevents sickness and terrain accidents. | Everyone — map speed saves time and crowns. The most universally-picked follower. |
| The Surgeon | 3,500 | Any man without a permanent injury is guaranteed to survive an otherwise fatal blow; injuries heal 1 day faster. | Stopping deaths outright — incredible early, still saves veterans vs lethal late enemies. |
| The Recruiter | 3,000 | −10% hire cost, −50% tryout, and +2–4 extra recruits in every settlement. | Building a roster early, or rebuilding after losses. |
| The Drill Sergeant | 3,500 | +20% XP at level 1, falling 2% per level after; reserves never lose Mood. | Levelling fresh recruits fast — front-loaded, so best aimed at low-level bros. |
| The Paymaster | 3,500 | −15% daily wages per man; −50% desertion chance; stops pay-raise demands in events. | A big or high-wage roster — the top upkeep saver, mid-late. |
| The Scavenger | 3,000 | Recovers part of the ammo you spend, and produces Tools from every armor you destroy. | Ranged companies and constant fighting — near-universal value. |
| The Minstrel | 2,000 | +15% Renown per action; better tavern rumors. | Climbing renown fast — unlocks follower slots and the noble-house gate sooner. |
| The Cartographer | 2,500 | Pays 100–400 crowns per location you discover (more the farther out; legendary 2×). | Exploration-heavy early-mid runs — turns scouting into income. |
| The Lookout | 2,500 | +25% sight radius; detailed footprint info. | Seeing fights before they see you; avoiding ambushes, all game. |
| The Negotiator | 3,000 | More contract-haggle rounds with no Relations hit; good relations decay slower / bad recover faster by 15%. | Squeezing contract pay and managing faction standing, mid game. |
| The Quartermaster | 3,000 | Stockpile caps: +100 ammo, +50 tools, +50 medicine. | Long crisis fights and heavy ranged lines that keep capping out. |
| The Blacksmith | 3,000 | Repairs all gear even if broken or lost on death; +20% repair speed, −20% tool use. | Heavy-armor companies and back-to-back fights; recovers dead men's gear. |
| The Bounty Hunter | 4,000 | +3% Champion spawn chance; pays 300–750 crowns per Champion slain. | Late-game named-gear farming — Champions drop uniques. |
| The Agent | 4,000 | Reveals available contracts and active situations in every settlement's tooltip, map-wide. | Picking lucrative jobs without travelling blind — QoL at any stage. |
| The Cook | 2,000 | Provisions last 3 extra days; +1 HP healing per hour. | Long expeditions and passive healing on the road. |
| The Trader | 3,500 | +1 trade-goods volume for sale per producing location. | Trade-route money runs. |
| The Brigand | 2,500 | Shows some caravan positions at all times, even outside your sight radius. | Caravan-raiding (Raider / Northern starts). |
| The Alchemist | 2,500 | 25% chance not to consume crafting components; unlocks the Snake Oil money recipe (needs taxidermist tools). | Crafting-heavy and Beast Slayer money runs. |
How many can you have? Renown slots
Slots are unlocked purely by company renown — the tiers between these thresholds don't add a slot, so these are the breakpoints that matter. Five is the maximum.
| Renown level | Renown score | Follower slots |
|---|---|---|
| Recognized | 250 | 1 |
| Competent | 750 | 2 |
| Reputable | 1,400 | 3 |
| Great | 2,250 | 4 |
| Fabled | 3,350 | 5 (max) |
This is why the Minstrel (+15% renown) is a strong early buy — it unlocks your other follower slots faster. See Economy & Renown for how to raise renown.
Cart upgrades (inventory)
The same screen upgrades your pack animal for more inventory slots — free slots are also needed for some ambitions and events. Bought in sequence; each step adds 27.
| Upgrade | Cost | Inventory |
|---|---|---|
| Donkey (start) | — | 99 slots (varies by origin) |
| Cart | 5,000 | +27 → ~126 |
| Wagon | 10,000 | +27 → ~153 |
| Big Wagon | 20,000 | +27 → ~180 |
Best picks by stage
You won't have many slots, so don't spread thin — take the two or three that solve your current problem.
Pick the single biggest leak
- Surgeon — guarantees fragile bros survive a fatal blow. The safest first pick while losses end runs.
- Scout — +15% travel speed = more contracts and crowns per day; never a bad buy.
- Recruiter — if you still need bodies, cheaper hires + a bigger pool builds the roster.
Snowball renown & income
- Minstrel — +15% renown unlocks your next follower slots (and the noble houses) sooner.
- Scout if you skipped it — still the best crowns-per-day buy.
- Scavenger — ammo + tools start paying for themselves as fights pile up.
- Cartographer — if you're still exploring, scouting becomes steady cash.
Sustain crises & a big roster
- Paymaster — −15% wages + −50% desertion; the biggest saver on a veteran roster.
- Quartermaster + Scavenger — keep ammo, tools and medicine flowing through long crisis fights.
- Blacksmith — repair heavy plate between back-to-back battles (and recover dead men's gear).
- Bounty Hunter — farm Champions for named gear and crowns once you can kill them easily.
Near-universal value
- Scout — the most-picked follower; map speed helps every company.
- Surgeon — saving even one veteran pays for it many times over.
- Scavenger — ammo + tools matter in almost any roster.
- Agent — map-wide contract visibility makes every travel decision smarter.
A follower is worth its wage only if you're actually using the thing it improves. A Cartographer is gold while you're exploring and dead weight once you've mapped the region; a Scavenger is wasted on a company that never throws a javelin. Re-read your last ten days of play — where are you losing crowns, time, ammo or brothers? Hire the follower that plugs that leak, and swap it out when the leak moves.
Sources & further reading
Follower effects are facts from the Battle Brothers Wiki and dev blogs; the stage rankings and analysis are our own.