Villager Recruits is a mod that allows you to hire and train villagers in various military professions to help protect you or your team! You first need to find an armorer or weaponsmith that is at least level 2 so you can purchase the new profession blocks added with this mod from them.

There are three profession tables that villagers can use to change their professions to. There’s a standard recruits table that has a sword on it, a bowman’s table with a bow on it and a shieldman’s table with a shield on it.

When a villager without a profession approaches one of the tables they will automatically change to that specific profession and you can then right click to hire them.

When you hire them they will have several tasks and options available for you to command or customize. You’ll need to shift + right click to open their inventory screen and you’ll notice that each recruit has armor and weapon slots that you can upgrade at any time. Recruits will start with leather armor but will obviously have much more potential and protection if you give them higher rated armor to wear. And the same goes for the weapons and shields that they can hold. You’ll want stronger and more powerful weapons to better protect you and your village or friends if you play this mod on a multiplayer server. And each recruit also has nine inventory slots so they can automatically pick up dropped items and store them for you or themselves if they need specific items.

If you set them to neutral or aggressive and to wander freely, they will start attacking any enemies that come to your base.

There are also several commands you can tailor to fit any of your needs. The left side options can determine what kind of recruit you want them to be ranging from passive to aggressive and whether you want them to start raids or attack individual targets. The right side options are all positioning based and you can set a recruit to wander freely, follow you, or hold and return to designated positions. These options are great for managing groups of recruits and making sure they follow orders according to your needs. You can essentially hire an entire team of patrolmen to keep every area you designate free from any danger and you can set multiple groups to assign them to as well.

There is also a list of a recruit’s status and accomplishments including what level they are, how many kills they have and how much XP they’ve gained. You can help them out in battle by adding food and potions to their inventory and they will use them to regain any lost health or if they need a specific potion to aid them while fighting or recovering.

With bowmen recruits you can hire them and then designate specific vantage points for them to consistently wait at if you want to have protection from strategic towers in your base. Simply have them follow you to that position and shift + right click for them to hold their position there.

And Shieldmen recruits are essentially heavier with slightly higher default HP than standard recruits and they start with a shield when you hire them. They function in much the same way with being able to upgrade their armor and weapons but they might be more desirable for stronger defense than attack abilities.

Alternatively you can hold down the R key and it will bring up quick command options that you can use for everyone or specific groups to abide by. This is particularly useful if you have a larger group and want them all to follow certain commands without having to click on each one individually.