Followers Guide — Templar, Scoundrel & Enchantress

In solo Diablo 3, followers stopped being decoration a long time ago — they are a complete second gear set, a permanent buff source, and the key to several of the strongest tricks in the endgame. Since the big follower rework in Patch 2.7.0 (Season 23), the Templar, Scoundrel and Enchantress keep you permanently buffed, wear 14 gear slots, and through the Emanate system they share whole legendary effects with you. This guide covers everything for current content (2.7.x): how to unlock and gear them, what every single skill does, which legendaries emanate, and which setup you want for speed farming versus Greater Rift pushing.

What a follower is and why it matters

A follower is a controllable NPC that joins you in solo play. You can choose between three followers — the Templar, the Scoundrel and the Enchantress — but you can only have one active at a time.

• In solo play, the follower is permanently at your side.
• In groups, followers disappear entirely — there, players buff each other instead.
• Each follower has its own main stat that scales its values: Templar = Strength, Scoundrel = Dexterity, Enchantress = Intelligence.

[info] Because followers only appear solo, this guide matters most to solo players. If you exclusively play in groups, you can effectively ignore the follower system.

The Patch 2.7.0 rework: what changed

Followers used to be weak: they wore only three slots, their buffs flickered on and off because the AI cast skills too rarely, and they died constantly. The Patch 2.7.0 rework fundamentally rebuilt the system.

Permanent buffs in solo play

A follower's active buff skills are now permanently active in solo play as long as the skill is selected. You no longer wait for the AI to trigger, say, the crit buff — it stays on permanently.

14 gear slots instead of 3

The follower now wears a full character gear set:

• Special relic (follower-specific)
• Helm, Shoulders, Chest, Gloves, Bracers, Belt, Pants, Boots
• Amulet and two rings
• Main-hand weapon and off-hand/shield

This lets you give the follower targeted stats and, above all, emanate-capable legendaries.

Emanate

The key new feature: certain legendary powers and set bonuses radiate their effect from the follower onto you. You gain the effect without having to wear the item yourself — a huge gain in build flexibility.

Higher priority for cheat-death skills

The followers' "revive" skills (Vanish, Fate's Lapse, Guardian) now have higher priority than your own character's cheat-death effects and trigger first.

[info] The rework was made permanent in both Seasonal and Non-Seasonal play. It is not a temporary season theme but a lasting part of the game.

How to unlock and gear followers

Followers join you over the course of the campaign. In Adventure Mode (endgame) all three are available immediately.

• Open the follower menu (default key F on PC, or via the game menu) and select one of the three followers to hire them.
• Click the follower (or open their inventory) to see their equipment window with the 14 slots.
• Drag items onto the slots just like for your own character. Watch for the correct main stat and for emanate-capable legendaries (see below).
• In the lower skill bar, pick the follower's four abilities (one each at level 5, 10, 15 and 20).
• Equip the follower's immortality relic so they never die.

[tip] You can switch between the three followers at any time without losing their gear. Ideally keep all three geared and swap depending on the activity (push vs. speed).

The three followers and their skills

Each follower has four selectable abilities (levels 5, 10, 15, 20). In solo play the buffs are permanent — so choose the ones that benefit your build most.

Templar — tank, healing and resource

The Templar is the tankiest follower. He pulls aggro, stuns enemies and keeps you alive. His main stat is Strength.

• Inspire: regenerates your resource — gold for resource-hungry builds.
• Charge / Onslaught: stun and area damage, solid crowd control.
• Loyalty: life regeneration for you and the Templar.
• Heal: an active heal when your life drops.
• Guardian: the cheat-death skill — saves you from fatal damage, knocks enemies back, heals and briefly shields you.

Scoundrel — damage and the crit buff

The Scoundrel is the damage follower and provides the coveted +3% Critical Hit Chance buff. His main stat is Dexterity.

• Anatomy: +3% Critical Hit Chance for you (permanent in solo play) — almost always the mandatory skill.
• Powered Shot / Multishot: respectable single-target and area damage.
• Hysteria: a damage shield after a critical hit.
• Vanish: the Scoundrel's cheat-death skill — makes you briefly invulnerable.

Enchantress — CDR, disable and armor

The Enchantress is the utility follower for pushing and disable builds. Her main stat is Intelligence.

• Powered Armor: significantly boosts your Armor.
• Focused Mind: +3% Cooldown Reduction (CDR) — valuable for CDR-dependent builds.
• Mass Control: regularly locks enemies in a stun — the key disable skill for high Greater Rift pushing.
• Disorient / additional CC: extra crowd control.
• Fate's Lapse: the Enchantress's cheat-death skill.

[warning] Only one cheat-death skill makes sense overall — the follower can fill just four slots anyway. When pushing, prioritize the buff/disable skill (Mass Control, Anatomy) over doubling up on defensive skills.

Follower-specific relics (immortality)

Each follower has its own relic category that only it can equip. The most important variant makes them immortal:

• Templar: Enchanting Favor — prevents the Templar from dying.
• Scoundrel: Relentless Assault — protects the Scoundrel from death.
• Enchantress: Hand of the Prophet — makes the Enchantress immortal.

[tip] Always equip the matching immortality relic. A dead follower buffs nothing and emanates no effects — in solo play the relic is effectively mandatory.

Emanate — legendary effects the follower shares with you

Certain legendaries radiate their effect from the follower onto you ("Emanate"), saving you precious gear slots and even Kanai's Cube slots. The most important ones:

• Oculus Ring: the damage zone (up to +85% damage while you stand in it) is generated by the follower — you don't need to wear the ring yourself.
• Unity: splits damage evenly. Wear one Unity on you and the second on the follower (with an immortality relic) to effectively halve the damage you take — one of the strongest defensive tricks in the game.
• Nemesis Bracers: shrines and pylons additionally summon a Champion pack.
• Avarice Band: massively widens your gold pickup radius (goblin/speed farming).
• Cord of the Sherma: spreads damage to nearby enemies — a speed-farming favorite on the follower.
• The Flavor of Time: doubles the duration of pylon/shrine effects — extremely valuable in speed farming.
• Ess of Johan, Mara's Kaleidoscope (poison immunity) and similar utility effects emanate as well.

Rule of thumb for Emanate: effects that affect you (damage zone, shrine effects, pickup radius, damage sharing) typically radiate. Effects that only change the wearer do not.

[warning] Not every legendary emanates. Pure character bonuses — most set bonuses and player-side damage multipliers like Convention of Elements on the player — only work on the wearer. When in doubt, check whether the buff shows up in your character sheet.

Best setup: speed farming

For low-to-mid Greater Rifts, bounties and key farming, speed and comfort are what count.

• Follower: Scoundrel with Anatomy for the permanent +3% crit buff.
• Relic: Relentless Assault (immortality).
• Emanate items: Avarice Band (gold radius), The Flavor of Time (longer pylon/shrine buffs), Nemesis Bracers (extra elites at shrines), optionally Cord of the Sherma.
• Goal: a permanent damage buff plus maximum loot/speed comfort.

[tip] In pure speed farming the Scoundrel is almost always the right call: the Anatomy buff noticeably raises your damage, and the emanate slots carry your entire comfort package.

Best setup: Greater Rift push

When pushing high Greater Rifts (leaderboard), survival and control are what matter.

• Follower: Enchantress with Mass Control for a permanent stun-lock on dangerous elite packs.
• Skills: add Powered Armor (defense) and Focused Mind for CDR in CDR-dependent builds.
• Relic: Hand of the Prophet (immortality).
• Emanate items: Oculus Ring (damage zone) and especially Unity (with a second Unity on the player) for halved damage taken.
• Goal: maximum survivability and enemy control at the Rift Guardian and against dense elite packs.

Rule of thumb: you farm damage with the Scoundrel, you survive with the Enchantress, and you get comfort/resource from the Templar.

Common mistakes

• No immortality relic: the most common beginner mistake. A dead follower provides neither buff nor emanate.
• Wrong follower for the activity: Enchantress while speed farming (wasting the crit buff) or Scoundrel while deep pushing (missing control).
• Misunderstanding Emanate: putting set bonuses or Convention of Elements on the follower does nothing — those don't emanate.
• Wrong main stat: items with the wrong stat (e.g. Intelligence on the Scoundrel) waste the follower's stats and toughness.
• Leaving follower slots empty: every empty slot is a wasted emanate or stat slot.

Pro tips

• Double Unity is by far the strongest defensive trick: one Unity on the player, one on the immortal follower — you effectively take only half the damage.
• Save cube slots: anything that emanates (Oculus, Nemesis, Avarice, Flavor of Time) doesn't need to be worn on the player or cubed in Kanai's Cube — that gives you valuable slots back.
• Keep all three followers geared and swap depending on the activity instead of re-slotting items every time.
• On skill choice: in solo play buffs are permanent — so pick pure value skills (Anatomy, Focused Mind, Mass Control) over situational active skills.

Quick checklist

• Equip the immortality relic (Enchanting Favor / Relentless Assault / Hand of the Prophet).
• Choose the right buff/control skill (Anatomy, Focused Mind or Mass Control).
• Place emanate legendaries on the follower's slots (Oculus, Unity, Avarice, Nemesis, Flavor of Time, Cord).
• Choose the follower by goal: Scoundrel = speed, Enchantress = push, Templar = comfort/resource.
• Fill all 14 slots with the correct main stat — no empty slot.