speaking of henchmen

3 or 4 topic variations come up...

1) More henchmen obviously...
2) Permanent Henchmen
3) Designer Henchmen
4) Elite Henchmen (possibly dual class henchies or super NPCs for quests)



1) everyone wants more henchmen... the models and skills are there... but why hasn't ANET done it? probably because all those henchmen in a row would be a problem.... either way they could put different henchmen in different locations or possibly even outside of the cities...

go to #2 for a nice solution

some examples/possibilities of more henchies
a) somebody wanted a minion master hench which would really be nice
b) IWAY justiciar from lion's arch
c) divine priest from lion's arch
d) hunter from shining blade
e) tattooed bald/nosferatu half vampire with heavy drains and hexes
f) black robed grenth worshiper with grenth balance, hexes, anti combat/enchantsments
g) elite gladiator from the desert
h) ancient forgotten sorcerer snake from the desert
i) academy monk (guarding presearing ascalon)
j) academy mage (guarding rin with rurik)
k) possibly an ascalon warmaster like tydus?


here is the possible solution

2) permanent henchmen are possessions instead of mandatory grabbables before a missions...

you always have your henchies in your party... except in ARENA obviously
this whole concept is for better personal play... not for people to beat the crap out of newbies AND NOT FOR NEWBIES TO COMPLAIN...

BTW i've never fought in a lower level arena against people who have their super armor on and super weapons... (i've dabbled in CA and found it fun/frustrating... and i've played some HOH but it requires a TEAM ALWAYS!)

so if you DARE to play arena don't talk/ don't complain/ don't say anything


anyways back to the henchies (an integral part of the game/atmosphere)
ANET could create a random name generator to give each henchmen individuality

so a henchmen could be named HENCHMAN FIGHTER (drake darkcloud or whatever)

and he's basically like stefan with "superior chainmail", etc...
you have to train him like a pet of course
and he's always at his level nomatter where you go...
he's always with you, too!!!! (the most important part...)

THIS GIVES PEOPLE SOMEONE TO RELY ON WHEN THEY AREN'T IN A GUILD and they actually want to play their game they bought... not just stand outside the tombs and wait for someone to pick them up in about 2 hours...
so there should be no complaints from anyone...

(i'm not saying that henchmen should be allowed to do HOH... i'm saying that THIS WHOLE ARGUMENT OVER "BALANCE" "PVP" AND "HOH" IS BULLSHIT AND NEEDS TO NOT STAND IN THE WAY OF THINGS THAT REALLY NEED TO BE CONSIDERED...) - my guild is hall of henchies btw

this is for making a custom party and exploring the wilderness on your own terms... WITH GOOD HENCHMEN AND MORE PLACES TO GO.. people will like playing the game again (it will become easy, addictive and most appreciated by the people who get the henchmen situation their own way)

so as an overview...
you get to RPG again with or without the PVP element
you gather your party of fighters/archers/casters and go out and kill monsters... whether you are doing it to find the next L33T ITEM or make 100k or whatever... you atleast get to play the game!

((if you get human players in your group.. they should simply replace "the being there" of your henchmen... but your PERSONAL henchmen should still be in your party whenever you solo...

or you could fire them and go seek out more... wherever they may be hiding!

you must find these henchmen in their home town... possible helping them in their presearing or postsearing quests for them to serve you...

they also litter the country side like collectors... some of them are trappers and collectors and will join you if the price is right/ you do a mission..

typical henchies
STEFAN type - ascalon city, defend the gates with rurik and him
ALESIA type- sanitarium/sanctuary, help some orphans or something with her
REYNA type - wilderness next to the archer trainer, help tame a melandru beast with her...
ORION type- foible fair, save sister

super henchies
THOM - the duke barradin's estate, kill ogres with him
AIDAN - wilderness outside ascalon, get his horn,
MENHLO/LINA - etc

more henchies
FARRAH CAPO - piken square, rescue fake thom with her
AZUIRE (storm ele) - outside seared ascalon... do something
BROTHER PAUL(?) - the first monk mission
etc etc etc



3) DESIGNER HENCHIES
some of you would probably alot more happy with the soloing and farming if you could simply buy 7 henchies... train them level 20... and equip them with the best skills they can obtain for their profession and field of expertise... THEY ONLY LEARN THEIR CRAFT OF COURSE... like... fire mage, water mage, earth mage, electric mage, heal monk, protect monk, divine monk, drain necro, drain mesmer, etc etc etc

so you get an ORION guy and build him up like my firebuild in the other thread... or you can get AZIURE girl and do the same...



4) ULTRA ELITE HENCHIES
for more money and harder quest prerequisites... like getting super armor at a super location... and doing the quest with him/her (the henchie) which must be soloed of course....

you can obtain elite henchmen along the lines of/and possibly soaring way above the likes of menhlo, aidan, cynn, devona

a dual class (they can be designed by ANET of course...)
like a cursed monk who uses both necro and healing
paladin who uses hammer and protection
holy knight who use sword and smite
mercenary who uses sword and bow
poacher who uses bow, sword and has a pet hydra
powerlich who uses magic and necro to extend his life and magic abilities

remember, these guys ask for a high percentage of the gold...
and possibly an item drop...
so having a party of elite henchies/minions would not be a good farming technique...



well i've kinda spammed away... i'm all out of crap to say...
these things should be read as words and not as orders... just ideas
that don't need additional opinions from people who don't give a shit to step on (so please don't bother flaming because i don't give a shit either)

heck, i'll be satisfied if ANET dares to even add a minion master henchmen like that one person in this forum asked for

change is always good
even if it's small change... once a week...

Well gtfo of Guild Wars. This game is about balance and needing to play with other people. If you want to be mister ELITE TANKEH BRINGER OF DEATHLY DOOMBRINGING DOOM, go play a different game, because in guild wars, Balance, PVP and HOH are the names of the game.

PvE henchmen are there only to either fill spots or be there for you on the odd occasion you want to go somewhere without a party, they are not designed to be as good as a human player. The balance argument is not bullshit, it is a very valid argument. A game without balance is a game that isn't worth playing imho.

I think it would be VERY cool to have other NPCs as henchmen like Farah Cappo and Elementalist Azuire.

But yes...making them TOO powerful would discourage human interaction...and thats not what the game is about.

I think you should just be able to tweak the henchmen slightly so that they suit your needs more.

So any henchmen will have a skillset controlled by Anet and you can choose from their templates that the henchmen will use.

Reyna/Aidan: Interupt Template, Damage Template, Trapper Template, Beastmaster Template (Yes i want to see Reyna with a pet)

Orion/Cynn: Fire/Water/Air/Earth Templates

Little Thom/Stefan/Devona: Damage Template, Tanking Template, Interupt Template (Definitely more knockdowns from Devona)

Alesia/Mhenlo will always be heal

Lina will always be protect but i would like to see a possible Bonder Template

Claude/Eve: Death Template (Finally have a minion user hench), Curses Template, Blood Template

Dunham: Illusion Template, Domination Template

No smite love ;_;

I don't like the idea of having your own personal henchies. That's just a bit too close to Diablo 2 for me (not saying it's a bad game, it's just not Guild Wars). I *would*, however, like to see a smite monk henchie and a MM henchie. Add those 2 and that'd be that for me.