... is there a way to make it work for my hirelings? they can't hold gold on their own so they can't pay him!

That fact alone makes low level hirelings much more valuable to me now...

I don't think so.

However, there are other ways to boost HP, including:
* At least one small permanent boost that doesn't have a limit.
* At least one huge permanent boost; might only be able to do it once per character, but it's so big you probably won't need any more HP.
* An easy way to get huge amounts of temporary max HP, It might be difficult to heal those hit points, but that method works well if you need a huge amount of HP for some reason, and unlike most temporary boosts, doesn't wear off until you rest or are healed at the church.

Also, perhaps there should be *some* reason to use level hirelings long-term, seeing as how it's quite easy to get Mr. Wizard early if you know what you're doing (can easily do it with just 2 fights total, if you find a source of money).

Thanks!
This is only my first playthrough, and I am vastly spoiling myself by relying on FAQs so much LOL

Abusing the Circus (day 140-170, all stats to 100) was so much fun!

There is one thing I should warn you about.

Don't steal Murray's treasure. (In particular, if you see a sign that says "Murray Only", you might want to turn back.)

Or, if you want to see what happens, after stealing it, rest, then check your stats, before you go to the inn to save.

I'm mention this because, while it could be a spoiler, it's the sort of thing that, should they learn about this the hard way, has been known to turn what was previously a fun game into a frustrating one.

In particular, this is the sort of troll that does great harm to the player who triggers it, while tricking the player into thinking everything is fine and then saving afterwords, saving the bad effects.

Yeah... the way that (most) permanent stat increases/decreases don't even show until you rest was annoying when I buffed my stats at the circus.

It's just a minor annoyance most of the time, but in the specific case of stealing from Murray, it's the sort of thing that tricks the player into overwriting their save with one that's been hit by that very nasty curse.

One of the worst trolls in any videogame, and I sincerely think that this one pushes things over the edge of what I'd consider reasonable game design.

By the way, Max HP potions are very powerful, especially if you enchant them to +5 (easy if you find a certain fountain) and then recharge them. Then, with the help of the gods, you will have far more HP than you would reasonably need, except maybe if you want to survive the Mega Dragon's breath when it's at full HP. (And, fortunately, there's an overflow check here IIRC.)

That's MM2 for ya. They went maximum troll in every way they could conceive.