Eldervale is a land of opportunity and rumors abound with skillful Mercenaries willing to fight for any side willing to pay. Mercenaries are optional Units (not Monsters) that may each be included separately at the beginning of any game.

To include a Mercenary, simply place the miniature of standee and corresponding Mercenary card in a central area that all players can see and reach at the start of the game.

As a Free Action on your turn, using either Gold or an Orb, you may hire a Mercenary. The hired Mercenary is placed directly into your Ready Area and is available for use. If you paid Gold to hire the Mercenary, it will be yours until the end of your next Regroup action. If you hired the Mercenary using an Orb, it is yours for the rest of the game.

The Shapeshifter is an optional play expansion mercenary for Dwellings of Eldervale that now starting with the 2nd printing (initial Second Edition printing) comes in its own tuckbox. This expansion is now only available as a separate expansion pack. Included in the tuck box is the 50mm Shapeshifter miniature, standee, and corresponding game card. For the right price you can hire the Shapeshifter, a very versatile ally. The Mimic ability allows you to use one of your other Unit’s abilities, except Build.

ALL First/Kickstarter Edition copies of Dwellings of Eldervale came with a surprise/hidden Shapeshifter placed under the bottom tray of the game box. Because this was a closely held secret until the first of the campaign rewards were opened by Kickstarter campaign backers, the Shapeshifter is not pictured in the first printing of the rulebook, but the Shapeshifter card did come in the standard card pack shipped with all copies to “spark the hunt”.

The Minotaur has always been a separate item – never been included in any version of Dwellings of Eldervale (including Kickstarter versions).