Henchmen Question??

Is it really possible to play through all the missions and quests with just henchmen? I find it it very harder and harder to play with just henchmen. Has anyone else done it or should I start joining other real players? I just completed Nolani Academy (Mission 3) in Prophecies and am a level 11 W/E. Thanx

The first time through GW with henchies can be a little hard, because you don't know the missions before you do them. Also you'll get better with henchies as you play more. Also the wiki is your friend, www.guildwiki.org, there are useful tips and walkthrough there if you ever need them. I remember the first time i went through prophecies i did have hard times with henchies sometimes. Been through it again lately and everything seemed easier even with only proph henchies.

Yep, it is possible to do this. I myself have done it. Back in the old days of no hench control it was alot harder. Now that you can flag your hench and pull without fear of them running past you and agro'ing several other groups it is a breeze (or at least not as hard ). Just take your time and be willing to set in a spot and watch potrols and learn their patterns.

However, PUGs are fun too. Even though I don't use them much I have joined some random groups to help them out and had a blast as well. PUGs are a strange beast indeed. I have been in PUGs that I thought would never have a chance of beating a mission and we just went through it like a warm knife through butter. And then I have been in PUGs that was set up perfect for a mission and we just got our butts handed to us.

So, for me it boils down to if I want to do a mission and make sure I get it done I will do it myself. If I am just messing around and want to help out or just re-run a mission I will join a PUG.

Either way is really up to you. Both has its Pros and Cons.

Krat

It is possible. It's by far easier in nightfall with heros, but can be done in Proph as well. A guildie of mine did it the entire Prophesies. Personally, I prefer teams in THK-Titan Quests. I completed Prophesies for the umpteenth time with just 1 guildie and our Heros recently and it was by far my easiest time through yet. It can be quite fun to team with real players if this is your first time through though and it sounds like it is. Other players may know tricks/shortcuts you don't yet, as well as get you meeting new ppl if you're new. Enjoy the game it rocks

Henched both Prophecies and Factions before Nightfall and hench controls. Achieved bonus/masters on over half the missions (there were maybe one or two I never got when I made a direct attempt at it - for instance I have never even tried for bonus in the Dunes of Despair mission so no idea if I could do it or not and the closes I have ever gotten in Vizunah Square is about 7 second too slow).

With heroes my Dervish is through all three campaigns, bonus/masters on 3/4 (again, mostly without trying unless the bonus is on the way or I just happen to be fast enough for masters - just starting to make an attempt at a protector title). In fact, I have cleared Tomb of the Primeval Kings with them - though I will never bother to do so again, it takes WAY too long for little reward.

The hench are only as good as you are. There are screenshots around of people completing *every* single prophecies mission with hench (that is - the player carried no weapons, no skills, and had attributes of all zero) - all well before the newer controls and heroes. I can not even come close to doing that now.

So, yes it is possible. However, for your first time through it's hard because you do not really know what is going on - there is no experienced player to help you along. You may just find you suddenly have no energy and not know what is going on, can't attack for reasons unknown, or just simply have your health rapidly dissapear. Later on you know what e-denial is, pacifism, or things like Backfire or Empathy and how to counter them and who to kill to stop it. Without that knowledge the hench are as "bad" as you (though of course, like any other game, you will learn in time).

I learned without a person to help - just call targets, (ctrl-space or ctrl-shift-space with a target selected) pay attention to what is killing you and kill it first, if something is stopping you from killing it kill it first, and finally learn to pull mobs to where *you* want to fight. Do that and the hench will serve you well throughout all three games. Just treat them as your weapon, you are in control.

What I always did (and still do for the most part) is just hench all the quests and get a PuG for the missions. People don't look for groups for the quests unless it's a quest like Villainy of Galrath or the Titan Quests, so there is no point spamming "LFG *some random quest nobody cares about*". Since you are new to the game, I would recommend getting real people for the missions because you will have a chance to build up some contacts for later (the person I've known in GW the longest I met in a PuG back in Piken Square. I still remember it almost perfectly, but don't ask me how). We still talk whenever he's on and we sometimes do groups and whatnot together, it's pretty nice.

Bottom line: Don't use henches in co-op missions until you learn more about the game or if it's empty in the outpost.