There are three hermit types - The Ballista Hermit, The Bakery Hermit and the Knight Hermit. The Ballista Hermit appears as a man with a funny, feathered cap and brown robes. He enables the Monarch to upgrade triplet towers into ballista towers for 6 coins, which have greatly improved range. The Bakery Hermit appears as an old man with a chef's toque and an apron. He allows towers to be upgraded into bakeries for 6 coins. The Knight Hermit appears as an old man with a long, white beard. He allows the Monarch to upgrade a tower to a knight tower for 6 coins, where a villager can be upgraded to a knight by purchasing a shield for another 6 coins.

Paying 1 coin directly to the hermit allows them to ride alongside the Monarch on his or her mount. If a hermit jumps off without upgrading a tower, you can pay 1 coin to have him ride alongside you again. He can also be taken on the horse to the next island, on the boat.

Once they're taken back to town the hermit enables the option to reconstruct a fully upgraded tower into a special structure, dependent on which hermit type he is. When a triplet tower is upgraded with a hermit, the three archers are released and return to their normal role of archers, hunting during the day and guarding the outer wall during the night.