Add more functionality to henches to bring them inline with heroes!

The game currently uses two AI technologies to provide henches and heroes and it doesnt really make sense anymore. Its like having a redundant technology existing along side a superiour one.

Its mostly not fair on those who dont own NF or GWEN and have to maker do with henches which are sub-standard. I'm not going to suggest giving full hero functionalty to henches though, because I accept they are a sales technique to sell NF and GWEN.

However Anet isnt likely to add the option for 7 heroes, so they need to update henches somehow. I can only suggest they make a few changes to bring them inline with heroes, or atleast almost an equal level.

1) Allow us to control them individually and not as a group of 4.
2) Allow us to see their skill bar through an option when talking to them in outposts.
3) Allow us a selection of 3-4 different builds per hench to better suit different situations, and we would pay 10-50g to change it.

We wouldnt be able to change their skills individually and create unique builds. We would only have the choice to use "cookie cut" builds which they offer.

For instance, an elemental hench might offer a set fire, water, earth and fire build. A warrior hench might offer a tank, brawler or guardian build. A necro might offer a curses, blood or death build, etc etc etc!

It wouldnt be exactly the same as a heros funcationality and customisability, but thats understandable because henches are only helping for the pay, not out of the kindness of their heart like heroes (sorry speculation)!

You would have to pay a tiny fee to change what they can do and only a limited degree. But we need something improved.

/signed. With the introduction of Heroes the AI of the henches is just too outdated...

/signed

However a full 7 hero system would be better. But this is still an improvement, and im all for improvements

I would however remove the gold fee, there is no need for it.

/signed
Henchies soooo need hero AI

Though I'm stichy on the skill set changes...
I think the selection of typed hencies prevents you from taking 3 SF heroes/self, + 3 fire eles to massively trigger [skill=text]Mark of Rodgort[/skill] or similar unbalancing compositions(read: minion master henchies in general).

Also I think the split in chose able hencies makes for a notable difference between the luxer and Kursic areas.

A group of players can already do that. You cant really say it will imbalance things when its already fully possible.

Plus players have access to pve skills and arent stuck with poor AI.

Exactly, if henchies could do that, wouldn't be much point in getting the players then?
So the "sure win, by synched team build" thing doesn't become available everywhere unless you have 3 guildies with the right build & heroes available, you are still tempted to PuG.

But then again, for HM I wouldn't mind if I could get a sure win team with just henchies, what is the name of that door again that is closed if someone in the team didn't kill the required bosses?

/kindofsigned

I don't mind if they update the AI so they act a little smarter, but some of the other stuff I'm kind of "meh" about.

Like the idea of being able to control them individually would either expand my radar to the size of a quarter of my screen, or make the buttons so small that you can't easily select which hench you want, especially with a group of 7 Heroes and Hench.

As for the alternate skill bars, I'm not a huge fan about that either. They already give us multiples of some henchmen (monks, eles, necros, rangers)just so that we have different choices of skill bars, and allowing them to swap kind of defeats the purpose of having multiple henchmen of the same type. Besides, they would have to rename all the henchmen since Herta may not always be using Earth, Mhenlo may not always be healing, Talon may not always be using a sword, ect...

Just seems unnecessary for what little we would gain from it...

Are you suggesting people pug to gain an advantage? Good one

People pug because they prefer to play in a pug.

People who prefer to solo go solo. Current going solo is limited in comparison however.

As I've said previously: Heroes are not smarter than henches. You're just able to control the stupid with heroes in the form of flags and states (guard, attack, passive.) If we could give this to henchies than that would be pretty cool.

Well, they do get 7 times as many PvE skills.

Aye you have a point there.

/signed, I like it.

Honestly, I don't see a very good reason for the fee, except as another gold sink maybe? That could be removed imo, that's just me though.