I guess most people prolly won't agree with this, but for me, heroes have totally ruined the GW PVE experience.
I finished Prophecies, all quests, missions and bonuses, with PUGs the first time around. I thought that was pretty challenging with my e/n. When I was done, I repeated everything with the 5 other professions. And when that was done, I soloed all the missions with henchies. It was pretty hard, really, and it took multiple attempts to finish some stuff.
Factions was also challenging, especially trying to get masters on everything with wildly unpredictable PUGs. PUGs add a big x factor that keeps things surprising and at worst can make missions supremely difficult.
Then came Nightfall. And Heroes. Heroes are powerful. You can build them anyway you want. They behave in a totally predictable way and do whatever you want. They aren't like the old henchies. They aren't like PUGs either. They amplify an individual player's skill exponentially.
To be honest, they make me too good. I don't mean this in a boastful way, cause I think prolly all players with some PVE skills have experienced some of the same fall off in interest since heroes were introduced.
Whereas before, the horrible henchie AI could cause me to lose a bonus mish in THK or wherever, it's all too simple now to steamroll everything with my main char and a few choice heroes.
PUGs have become totally unnecessary. Guildmates. Who needs em? The PVE game has become boring. It's too easy. I never get stuck. I can finish anything I want whenever I want. Yuck....
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