WARNING: This is very long. If you don't have fifteen minutes to read then don't post any criticism. Read the whole thing please. I spent roughly 6 hours thinking and typing this, so don't give a knee-jerk reply.
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Reasoning/Rationale
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I think perhaps we should have the option of creating custom henchmen with builds that are premade, like the ones in the PvP character creation window.
That way, we aren't stuck with the axe/sword chopper warrior(with no brain) , fire nuker elementalist, enchanter illusionist, and blood "battery" necro, wait...the ranger doesn't do much besides ignite arrows (lol).
Healer henches' builds are ALMOST fine, but the protector should get condition/hex removal. Seriously. It is annoying when you stand in poison to kill things and the henches die because they are unintelligent and stand in the poisonous swamps.
Current Henchmen
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Stefan -Healing signet, Griffon's Sweep, Sprint (lvl 3-17, swaps to charge at 20), Resurrection Signet, Power Attack, Balanced Stance, "Charge!" (lvl 20)
Orion/Cynn -Fire Storm, Incendiary bonds (lvl 8-20 only), Aura of restoration, Mind burn (lvl 20), Fireball, Fire attunement, Resurrection signet
Alesia/Mhenlo -Orison of healing, Heal other (lvl 8-17 only, swaps to word of healing), Healing touch (lvl 15-20 only), Healing breeze, Word of healing (lvl 20), Restore life
Reyna/Aidan -Kindle Arrows, Dual shot, Resurrection signet, Power Shot, Troll Unguent, Practiced Stance (lvl 20)
Dunham -Imagined burden (lvl 8-17 only, swaps to crippling anguish at lvl 20), Shatter hex, crippling anguish (lvl 20), Drain enchantment, Empathy, Distortion, Resurrection signet
Little Thom -Healing Signet, Executioner's strike, Resurrection signet, Wild Blow, Sprint (lvl 8-17 only, swaps to "Charge!" at lvl 20), Swift chop, "Charge!" (lvl 20)
Claude/Eve -Shadow Strike, Deathly Swarm, Resurrection Signet, Vampiric Gaze, Blood Ritual, Grenth's balance (lvl 20)
Lina -Aegis, Shield Hands (lvl 17), Protective Spirit, Shield of Regeneration (lvl 20), Restore Life, Reversal of Fortune
Devona -Mighty blow, Counter Blow, Resurrection Signet, Healing Signet,Irresistible Blow, "Charge!"
Proposition One
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Perhaps there could be an AI that adapts certain builds, or (something more viable) just have more henchmen with different builds (using premade builds for pvp).
The idea is, you can mix and match henchmen to make a well rounded team.
Lets' suppose you and your friend are both mesmers. You wouldn't want to have a necromancer "battery" that recharges you, you would want a henchman with death (minions)/curses (weakening, shutdown).
If you are a warrior and have a monk friend, you don't want to have to bring a warrior with axe/sword just for the sake of another henchman, you would probably want a trapper, warden elementalist, or a shutdown mesmer/spiteful spirit necro.
Let's say you are a necro and have a ranger friend. You would want a mesmer that does more shutdown, not illusion magic. Maybe you want a monk , elementalist, mesmer and warrior also.
Proposition Two
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An alternative to this idea would be the narrowing of builds of the henchmen. i.e. a "Illusion mesmer" and a "Domination mesmer" instead of just "Enchanter" (which doesn't really give an accurate description, he doesn't use enchantments for the most part).
Another instance is the necromancer and ranger. Multiple builds like minion master, well maker, trapper, interrupt ranger, beastmaster, etc are possible but all Reyna and Aidan are good for is ignite arrows, troll unguent, and dual shot/power shot (That's all I see them do). Most of the time the rangers just shoot and don't add anything to the team.
The fire elementalist build that is run on Orion the mage henchman represents the narrow mind of many people. They think elementalists are just good for fire magic. What about the earth, water, and air lines? I don't recall seeing Orion use anything other than fire magic.
The warriors (Stefan, Little Thom, Devona) do not use any stances whatsoever, they only use simple strategies like swift chop/galrath slash/final thrust, healing signet, and resurrection signet. They should use shouts besides Charge like watch yourself, fear me, for great justice, etc.
The monks, I have no problem with except their lack of condition/hex removal.
Lastly, it would be beneficial if the henchman had use of a secondary class, which gave me this idea in the first place.
Implementation
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The easy way to implement this suggestion is 30 or more henchman standing in a line, each with different skillsets. However, this would be very laggy on players and hard to use. Also, it would require a lot of space on mission and outpost maps to be devoted. Therefore, it is not viable.
The way this could be implemented is a UI that attaches on to the specific class of henchmen (Warrior/ Monk / Elementalist / Ranger / Necromancer / Mesmer), listing possible skill sets when highlighted.
As an alternative, a “default henchman” of no class with a menu akin to that of a merchant, with tabs for builds.
AI problems
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As to the problem foreseen with AI, it can be solved by using both a proactive and reactive approach. As for proactive skills, they are used as buffs so the henchmen use them whenever they feel like, triggered off by monsters on radar or other activation schemes. As for a reactive approach, skills that remove conditions/hexes, heal and protect (monks, in particular) would be activated after a condition/hex has been used.
This is viable because this scheme is how the AI uses monsters, so why wouldn’t it work for henchmen too?
Conclusion
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There are 30 different combinations of classes, and with about 4-5 attributes each. There ought to be a more diverse group of henchmen, because people make builds based on henchmen and end up narrow minded. It shouldn't be "people should be like henchmen" but not the other way around (*cough* at fire “nuker” Orion henchman copiers *cough*).
If we do a simple combination of 6C5, we get 30. However, there are 454 skills (resurrection signet and signet of capture don’t count), six primary attributes, and this makes for more variety. An E/Me is not the same as a Me/E and neither is a W/Mo and Mo/W. However, henchman builds are too simple, overused, monotonous, and outright an insult to the strategy of skills that makes this great game (like Magic the Gathering’s thousands of cards).
I can understand the limitations of AI, and even that of time spent tweaking for the sake of more variety, but please consider this for later chapters. It would increase the strategy of players and promote more creative, non-obvious builds.
Speculation as to possible builds for Player versus Enemy Environments (PvE)
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These are just ideas of some kinds of builds that could be used, as well as prospective skills (NOT skill sets, that's why there are multiple elites and more than 8 skills).
W/E (axe shock): Conjure Lightning/Whirlwind/shock, Watch Yourself!, cyclone axe, eviscerate, etc...
W/E (hammer shock): Aftershock, Earthquake, counter blow,
W/N (damage): Plague touch/Plague signet/weaken armor/signet of agony, final thrust, savage slash, pure strike, flourish, etc... -inspired by the Sand giants
W/R (Poisoner): w/ Poison lengthening blade or axe ; Apply poison, antidote signet, swift chop, cyclone axe, troll unguent, ... -inspired by jungle trolls
W/Mo (smite): symbol of wrath, judge's insight, strength of honor, rebirth, signet of judgement, executioner' strike, dismember, axe rake... -inspired by the frost griffons
E/N (interrupt slowdown): spinal shivers, chillbains, parasitic bond, conjure frost, plague touch, mind freeze ...-inspired by the jade scarabs and ice imps
E/N (Earth stronghold): Stoning, Aftershock, Whirlwind, Elemental attunement, ward against melee, ward against elements, armor of earth, enfeebling blood, parasitic bond, well of power, well of blood, insidious parasite, parasitic bond
E/Me (Turbulence): enervating charge, thunderclap, conjure lightning, energy drain, channeling, gale, ether feast, inspired hex, energy tap, spirit of failure, echo/arcane echo, air attunement
E/W (Rock the Richter scale): earth shaker, aftershock, armor of earth, ward against melee, watch yourself, ward against foes, stoning, counter blow, devastating hammer, belly smash
N/Me (debuffer): Enfeebling Blood, Deathly Chill, Weaken Armor, signet of humility, spiteful spirit...
N/Mo (minion master): Animate bone fiend, animate bone horror, animate bone minions, Heal area, verata's sacrifice, blood of the master, taste of death, healing seed, death nova
N/? (bloodsucker): order of pain, spiteful spirit, vampiric gaze, shadow strike, mark of pain, Deathly swarm, soul leech, feast of corruption, insidious parasite, well of suffering, well of the profane,
N/R (self sustaining-animal farm):Animate bone fiend, animate bone horror, animate bone minions,blood of the master, taste of death, charm animal, disrupting lunge, troll unguent, comfort animal
N/R (extra pain): order of pain, mark of pain, ignite arrows, spiteful spirit, plague sending, well of suffering, well of the profane, flame trap, dust trap, spike trap, barbed trap, grenth's balance
Me/N (Hell breaks loose): epidemic, plague touch, enfeebling blood, fragility, soothing images, arcane conundrum, migraine
Me/R (magician hate): distracting shot, punishing shot, savage shot, read the wind, cry of frustration, spirit of failure, channeling, drain enchantment, energy tap, energy drain, migraine, arcane conundrum, backfire, mind wrack, guilt, energy burn
Me/Mo (Rezmer): restore life/resurrect/rebirth, heal area, heal other, infuse health, ether feast, spirit of failure, channeling, healing seed,mend ailment, convert hex, inspired hex
Me/? (End of Monks):Cry of Frustration, Conjure Phantasm, Shatter Enchantment, shame/guilt, energy drain
Mo/N (monk blighter): Draw conditions, Plague signet, offering of blood, convert hexes, mend ailment, etc.
Mo/N (well and area high healing): Well of Power, well of blood, heal area, offering of blood, infuse health, healing seed
Mo/R (damage buffer): edge of extinction, symbiosis, strength of honor, judge's insight, troll unguent (maybe), Healing spring, serpent's quickness, melandru's resilience, martyr, remove hex
Mo/E (E for efficiency): Glyph of lesser energy, ward against harm, ward against melee, ward against elements, armor of earth (maybe), armor of mist, swirlign aura, blurred vision
Mo/E (E for electric): enervating charge, elemental attunement, blinding flash, windborne speed, glyph of renewal, *Protection skills*
Mo/Me (<3 energy):shatter hex, hex breaker, energy tap, energy drain, channeling, ether feast, inspired hex, inspired enchantment, Mantra of concentration, spirit of failure, drain enchantment, mantra of recall, echo, arcane echo
R/E (Incinerator): troll unguent, greater conflagration, conjure flame, flame trap, ignite arrows, fireball, immolate, mark of rodgort, incendiary bonds, elemental attunement, energizing wind, dual shot, called shot (finishing move)
R/W (Class Outcast): Bonetti's Defense, Fear Me!, disrupting chop, Eviscerate, throw dirt, apply poison, dryder's defenses,
R/W (pounding barbarian >_>) counter blow, disrupting lunge, charm animal, comfort animal, ferocious strike, hammer bash, belly smash, bestial pounce
R/Me (Interrupt Madman) distracting shot, punishing shot, savage shot, read the wind, spirit of failure, migraine, arcane conundrum, backfire, mind wrack, concussion shot
R/Me (trap FTW): flame trap, dust trap, spike trap, barbed trap, mantra of concentration, serpent's quickness, throw dirt, echo, arcane echo
R/N (Conditioner without Shampoo): Virulence, death nova, putrid explosion/well of the profane/well of suffering, Hunter's shot, pin down, Melandru's arrows, Poison arrow/apply poison, Incendiary arrows
*I don't play Mesmer or Ranger primary so I cannot really make any "original builds"
Will post more prospective build ideas soon. But the builds forum probably has many of these, so it is pretty pointless for me. I hope you get the idea.
Don't say this is an on-the-spot idea because I spent three days typing this outline out...

EDIT: spelling