PvE difficulty Alone-vs-all the other ways

I play alone(henchmen), and figured most of these people play with guildmates and that's why it was so easy, people that have done it a thousand times, but just recently I've seen people post that they want the PvE monsters to fight like PvP people do, using power builds and all.

I've seen people post that they beat the game(I know there's 3, not certain posters clarified, or meant all 3) with just henchmen.


Am I alone in the fact that after Droknars forge(the normal way to get there, ascending), I can barely do anything with henchmen in missions? (I know about infused armor and have it){My only real question, the rest is just a rant, eh}


I also have factions, and it seems as soon as you get to Kaining center and step out, that you've skipped a huge part of the game, even at level 20 it's no easy feat to just play on. (not to mention, you need X quest here and there before X NPC shows up so you can continue, which feels like way too much work, zigzagging all over).

I don't have NF yet, so don't bother telling me about that "I won't understand anything.

I like playing with a knowledgable group, but I dislike most guilds I see, recruiters are all children of the devil, and if you answer one noobs question, you get flooded, which is why I'm in my own guild, alone.

i've done each and every mission in all 3 campaigns at least once alone with henchies (or heroes/henchies), so it is indeed well possible, infact, it's my preferred pve playing style.

It requires a somewhat addapted playing style i guess, knowing the AI and how it reacts to what you do. the possibilty to flag your henchies surely made stuff easier. before that, luring one group out of a patrolled area was a nightmare.

Well I always found anything after Droknar's Forge to be very easy with Henchmen. I will do it for fun sometimes.

As for Kaineng, you're absolutely right...you get thrusted into Level 20 Jade Brotherhood Knights as soon as you finish fighting lvl 14s on Shing Jea Island...and the Knights are really nasty when it's your first character and you've no idea what you're doing (ah, those were the days).

Personally I find the Levelling vs Monster ratio in Nightfall the best. Tyria is FAR too long winded for my liking...whereas Cantha can be too fast.

I'm with you on the knowledgable groups...when you find a good Pu you just don't want to let go.

I too am predominanly a solo heros/henchman PVE player. It has some advantages...

1. You can get great spike damage as everyone attacks the same target (provided u call targets)
2. The AI of Heros/Henchmen is more predictable than human players


a disadvantage is that they tend to bunch and AOE damage from a boss can bring a total party wipe.

I find referring to Guild wiki prior to a mission is helpful. I know take people through mission (for a fee-unless in my guild) and knowign what to expect is huge.

I find that Droks is fine to do just with Henchmen, I did do all the shiverpeaks and beyond missions with a guildmate, but I copmplted factions on my own with heros and hencmen.

I hear you about Kaineng city in factions. There are some tough mobs. Part of it is the henchmen...having no fire mage hurts...the assassin hench is usless and Talon cannot tank at all, so yeah I died there a lot.

Also, I have gotten a lot better at the game and I can now breeze through most of the areas in factions and prophecies be cause of how I play and that I have captured a lot of elite skills...that helps my damage output alot.

The final piece is the nightfall campaign...the heros you unlock and can use are HUGE...I am a necro and I am a pretty efficient MM, but I have a hard time keeping death nova on all minions...not with my necro hero...he is better than I at that, so you may want to consider getting the campaing just for the heros. the heros can use any skill your account ahs unlocked so they get all your elites.

Just my 2 cents

Some missions and some areas are tough to beat with just henchies but by and large it can all be done. Examine your own skills in use and also the henchies being used and see if you need to try something else.

If you did add Nightfall it would give you heroes which would make your teams stronger since you make their builds and for example a warrior hero could use an elite like Eviscerate rather than Charge! and thus be more productive.

What profession are you playing? In general what build are you using? I assume you are using both monk henchies? Which other ones?

The same rules apply to henchies as groups of players: don't take on more than you can handle, pick your fights and locations when possible, don't be in too big of a hurry, etc.

The first time you encounter an area or mission it may beat you but hopefully you can learn from it - things like enchantments just get stripped, lotsa hexes or conditions in use, don't use fire damage, wait for the patrol before attacking, etc and so when you try again you are better prepared.

Really though a good guild makes the game much better. Playing with heroes/henchies is fun but kinda sterile and PUGs can be frustrating.

Thanks for all the great answers, and to top it off they were all pretty much the same, a rare bonus.

I more or less wanted to verify claims, because alot read like they're well, claims...heh, they sound like someone bragging more than stating a fact.

To answer the questions,
Over christmas I've switched to a MM (though I farm with 55/ss, love the flexibility of n/mo) and am working on getting up to flesh golem, and Spoil victor. That's where the part about bukdek comes in, have to zig zag around to this quest, then that one, ugh. Gets annoying fast, especially if you zag when you should zig on the map..
I'm going to have to print maps I think.

Have yet to venture out from droks with that character, except fighting way to Grenths fooprint and the warcamp for Spiteful Spirit.

I will end up getting NF before long if nothing else than for the hero's.

Thanks again though, it's a confidence builder to hear it the way you guys all put it.

All of the missions can be done with hench, but not easily.

One thing that makes a huge diffence is your proffesion. I have a War primary and my friend has a Monk. We both have soloed much of the game and discuss which was easier. Sometimes a mission is really easy for me but hard for him, were both about equaly skilled. Other missions are reversed, the reason being how the mission is layed out and the monsters you fight.

The benifit of being a war is that the hench generaly follow my called target letting us kill primary targets in the order i like.

The benifit of being a monk is you can direct the hench and then just keep them alive while they kill what needs to be killed.

Other proffesions work a little diffently, rangers flag hench and pull while necros may send the hench in ahead after a weak target to gain a coprse...


Once you get Nightfall you will learn to love the hero's, and hate sometimes too..