Lies About Solo Play

Lie #1,2,3: You can solo in GW. You only need a party to complete certain quests. You can complete the game without a human party.

FALSE! You have to party up with some PC or NPC to even leave certain town areas. NPCs not only share in an equal portion of everything gained (except a few drops the server decides you want, and that isn't always quest items) but can be frustratingly over zealous when attacking enemies. Even though some could say the same for PC members at least PC members are usually over the level of the creatures being fought. Also, some of the later quest NPCs are nearly impossible to use to complete the mission due to their lack of ability to attack targets by priority or together.

I think you can solo but it is a lot harder. There was a post not to long ago with someone beating the last mission with henchies. Some missions might be impossible(the arena one perhaps?) but those are the "certain quests," no?

Try press Ctrl+Space to get them to focus.

It's not a lie... I've completed every mission with NPC henchmen. It's not as easy, and it's not meant to be, but it's not a lie.

- Kymber

Link to claims, please?

-Virt

First off, I think the drops and shared money in a Henchman group is perfectly fine. It prevents a single person from farming monsters for quick cash and promotes playing in groups more.

Anywho... on topic of your solo lies.

Bad luck I think. Where every mission/quest group I've done with people and failed horribly more than once, I can just grab an all Henchman group and successfully complete it in one try. They've gotten me thru the Ascension missions and the final mission (Some of the hardest ones) for example.

Granted, real people are better than NPCs "IF" they know how to work together and do their job. From experience although, that isn't many when as stated, an all henchman group can do better than most. Don't have to worry about stragglers, people who want to rush, afks, you just go at your pace. They target what you target (95% of the time). So the NPCs may have their little bugs and quirks, but I have more trust in them than a pickup group.

Me (Zenny Stormcaller) and 7 Henchmen at the final boss.

You can solo. I've traversed areas with just henchies.

With 7 other hencies, I nearly cleaned out Perdition Rock just to find the boss that carried the elite elemental attunement skill. The whole area is surrounded by level 20+ monsters.

I didn't die once. One henchman died only twice. All you need to do is learn how the henchmen work, and how to use them well with their abilities.

Sorry but I have gone the whole game with nothing but henchmen. I find them more able then the bad parties that just tend to float around.

@original poster: no, you cannot solo in Guild Wars. not even with henchmen, because their AI is really really bad.

unfortunately many over-eager fans of Guild Wars like to propagate the untrue idea that you can solo in Guild Wars, and freely post such misinformation all over the Internet

i feel bad that you were lied to in this regard

as for henchmen getting an equal share of all drops: henchmen are barely worth 10 gold a piece. them getting an equal share of all the useful items - considering how utterly useless their service is - is completely ludicrous

Its true, you cant play without a party. And I consider henchmen a party, so you cant solo. I think its possible to complete the game with henchmen, though its very hard. Since the game is designed for party play, it never will be possible to complete it all alone. But to make the promisses in advertising true, it would be fair if henchmen are made *MUCH* stronger. Playing with a henchmen party should not be harder than playing with real players.

Henchmen don't quit in the middle of mission. Henchmen don't yell obscenity at each other to vent their frustration. Henchmen can die over and over and are still glad to work with you. The only things that prevent you to finish the game with henchmen are the henchmen flying bug, their poor pathfinding AI and your not being a monk to rez them multiple times. If you can overcome those, GW is playable with henchmen. I'll take Alesia over any human monk who is level 12 or below, anytime. That's my 2 cents.

The only non-bug problem with henchmen is that they don't have a "hold position!" command like quest NPCs.

But other than that, henchmen are pretty damn good. You can beat every mission with henchies, even the ascension quests and the lich king.

And I should add one more thing: henchmen always carry a rez signet. Not every human player does. That often decides success or failure of a mission.

I'm just gonna say HAHA, you suck... no just joking.. but on a serious side... henchman will attack whatever YOU attack, so if they suck, it's your fault... and the ONLY missions they cant beat (with me as any character from monk-ele-warrior) is two of the ascending missions (Not dunes, its easy), and the mursaat missions... the last mission of the game is even beatable by henchman!! Maybe it's not them, it's you? Although i must agree, the healer henchman does tend to think it can run up front and tank alot...

Oh yea... and solo'n is only refered to as farming here buddy, ... do you expect enemies to drop the same amount of items for you when you have a larger party? heh...

I have completed every single mission/quest in the entire game with only henchmen. Navaros is either a complete newbie at the game, has no clue how to press CTRL-SPACE to get the henchmen all on one target, has no clue how to pull and/or observe mob patrol patterns, or just plain sucks at this game.

Tons of people have played through the entire game with henchmen only. For the most part, it's much easier than the usual parade of retards that make up pickup groups.



*** SPOILER ALERT ***

Becca Bellows and 7 henchmen win the game!





Edit: Yes, the missions with lots of Mursaat casters are rough, and really only possible if you have the Monk class/secondary to do the necessary charge/pull/kill/die/res technique to get past them.

i honestly cant count the number of times i have had to rez my little healer hench multiple times on a mission but the one time it really counted was when i died and she ran back to rez me and we went on to finish the mission

So far all the times I've tried quests with human parties, it's not been pleasant. Some of them go and grab items in the middle of a heated battle. Some of them are overly demanding and expect the entire party to bend over backwards to support them on fools errands, such as attacking hordes of Charr with no tactics in mind just to get experience points. Usually killing the rest of the party in the process. Some of them are obnoxious, some of them have no concept of team work, some of them are down-right rude, some of them disappear half-way through a quest. Some of them whinge and whine about how bad the drops they're getting are, and won't shut up until you drop a few half-decent items to shut them up or just leave. Some of them join up to do a specific quest, only to realise they've already done it and run off without so much as a word. And one time there was a party member who refused to get involved in combat for fear of dying...

Henchmen? They don't speak. They don't whinge and whine. They get pick-ups instantly, so they don't run off to grab them when you need them to be fighting. They respond to attacks with super-human reaction times, especially useful for a healer. They follow you around no matter what (unless they get stuck behind a sign or something). They might not take orders, but they don't run off and abandon their team. Sometimes they start fights and run into impossible situations, but you know it's not out of greed or spite, and it's fairly easy to get them to retreat afterwards. Most importantly to me, they aren't obnoxious, ignorant or offensive, which makes them wholly more desirable.

Their AI might not be the best I've ever seen, but sometimes 'Artificial Intelligence' is better than so-called 'real intelligence'.

Don't get me wrong, there are some truly decent and skilled players on GW. Especially, I find, in pre-searing Ascalon. I've helped a few people on quests with the character I keep there, and so far I've only run into one or two bad apples. This gives me some hope for the future at least. I just can't seem to find them when I need help. But the Henchmen are always there, come rain or shine. Loyal till the end... always waiting for me to take them on an adventure somewhere, probably to their dooms but that's how I like it.

none of the above is true.

in fact, henchmen will actually run ahead of you as you are standing still and go attack whatever the heck is there against your will as you are trying to observe mob patrol patterns. this happened to me a few days ago. classic example of henchmen total mental deficiency

another one: i was on the hill just north of Coppermines...the henchmen went charging ahead of me into two mobs meeting a patrol point. i did not tell them to attack that mob, and i did not lead them into it. obviously they all got owned really bad

then i cast Rebirth on Little Thom. he resurrected by me, with me standing still. with him only having 50HP or something like that. as soon as he was resurrected, he immediately went charging back into the mob that killed him. i was not even moving. i did not tell him to do that. he by his incredibly defective AI, did that all on his own. he was dead again in less then 5 seconds after being resurrected.

this of course is typical of what henchmen always do - run to the stupidest place imaginable all on their own and get killed because of it

would you care to give us your opinion as to how other people succeed with henchmen and you cant?

sure

1. nukers. nukers have an easier time with henchmen because nukers can kill stuff much faster than a warrior class can. plus nukers do not have to get as close, hence the henchmen are not as close to the mobs

2. liars. many people who love Guild Wars will pretend it's perfect no matter what, and make stuff up for the sake of trying to entice new people to buy the game

Let's not flame people who don't know how to use henchmen well. It took me a bit of practice to learn how to manage them too. The most important key is to lure the enemies, click on the enemy you intend to draw AND RIGHT AWAY slowly back up by hitting 's' key, and in meantime KEEP CLICKING on your character's name bar, the two fighters charging ahead WILL come right back toward you and retreat, if you do that right. It takes some practice. They'll quickly retreat while you backing up slowly, drawing baddies further away from others. Now, henchmen are great in luring enemy groups, better than some human players because they'll back up as far as you wish. If someone has better methods of using them, I'm all ears. By the way, my character is a W/Mo, so it certainly is doable for a warrior.

Umm, isn't this a contradiction. If you've gone throught the whole game with NOTHING but henchmen, how do you know they're any better or worse than bad parties.

Try this with the henchies Navaros...don't click on an enemy. Clicking on an enemy will often make your henchmen run to attack it.

If you are still clicked on an enemy after you rez the henchmen will run after it immediately.

Learn the AI of the henchmen and you will have better luck with them.

Don't call people liars. I have seen numerous screen shots from various people on this forum who walk the walk, hence they can talk the talk. Just because you haven't taken the time to *understand* the AI of the henchmen doesn't mean they didn't.

Take a look at that picture above of a player, 7 hencies and a level 30 lich thing. The lich thing is half dead. The party as a whole is barely damaged. Time to apologize for calling people liars.

I'm an aeromancer. No nukes here. The only healing spell I have is healing breeze.

Some people have shown that they've suceeded with henchies, and arent' nukers at all... One person defeated Glint with henchmen and he was a warrior! People have also posted up screenshots as well.

I also think that some these people aren't liars. I don't think they're 'fans' of game that think that everyone's wrong.

Some people have had bad and good experiences with henchmen. There were a few times I've died, and all the NPCs rushed to their deaths. Henchmen are worse than players, because they're limited to their AI.

However, all I do, is just shrug it off, take a deep breath, and try again. It makes you learn a few things about how to use them, how to avoid certain mobs, and how to manage a situation.

"understand" does not appear to be the most precise word to describe the techniques now being described. seems to me more like, and i suppose i can add this as a (3.) on my list above:

3. search website forums for obscure, convulted keyboard tricks that allow you to use complex micro-management to compensate for the henchmen's terrible AI by making them run in erratic ways, although at least in the proper general direction for once

i admit i have not employed such obscure tricks so far. however, none of these mentioned things in any way diminishes how horrible the henchman AI is. and the average joe gamer probably would not realize that such tricks exist, either.

[QUOTE=Hell Marauder]Let's not flame people who don't know how to use henchmen well. It took me a bit of practice to learn how to manage them too. The most important key is to lure the enemies, click on the enemy you intend to draw AND RIGHT AWAY slowly back up by hitting 's' key, QUOTE]

what i do (and it has not been mentioned on a forum yet ) is to use a longbow which has more distance than a casting.

WHILE the arrow is still in the air i am already running away (i am an elemonk) and the henchies that were charging in suddenly turn to follow me and draw a minimal number of enemy which i then ambush

if there are too many following i keep going until some of the red dots give up and then wait for the enemy to catch up and be killed

I *am* Joe Casual Gamer! I have yet to reach 20. I didn't play the beta. I play other games more than this one. I have learned the basics of how the AI on the henchmen work.

Learning curve isn't that steep Navaros.

it's not a matter of "steep" so much as it is a matter of not knowing that such tricks exist

certainly in the manual, it does not list such things

this is not a flame

all i did was watch the disasters the henchmen caused and simply planned on how to avoid them.

example of the fighter problem

he will charge in so i leave him home and take the mage or archer in his place which gives me an all distance party which is easier to handle

or if i want some ambush bait i can use him to stand and be attacked while the rest of my henchmen hit from a distance and if he is killed he at least held them in one place for the AOE attacks to thin them out and i can still run if needed then i can come back and rez him

....I must be awesome at being a warrior. No problems with henchmen here. How long until this flame thread gets closed?

Someone mind explaining how to beat the mursaat/jades with henchies? They aren't infused meaning that spectral agony kills them extremely quickly and when half your team has -10 degen and is taking over 120 dps just from that spell alone it is rather hard to complete the mission. I've done everything else with them because they actually focus fire and aren't rambos (to some extent) but the 3-4 mursaat missions I didn't even bother after I saw how fast they dropped.

It's not 100% reliable, but if you can manage to pull only one or two of the Muraast, the two Monk Henchmen can nearly do a good job of keeping someone alive with Spectral Agony on them. But again, that's only if you can get one or two of them pulled, otherwise it's guaranteed death for them lol.

Poor Navaros!

Rather than learning how to play a wonderful and thoroughly enjoyable game he seems stuck in some rut wher all he can do is spew vitriol and untruth.

I do understand where he is coming from however. At one point a couple of weeks ago I was not understanding things either. But unlike Nav, I just through up my arms in frustration and went off to play WoW for awhile. A few days later though I came back here determined to give GW another try. I looked at things differently, tried new things, understood the working of the game better, and now I am HOOKED!

So, Navaros, a bit of advice if you are game to take it. Take a break from the game. Give it a rest and do something else for awhile. Then, when you are ready to give GW a fair chance come on back with a new perspective and see if the game isn't more enjoyable for you.

Sometimes a little separation from what frustrates you can make a world of difference. Best of luck to you!

I solo'd until level nine. Then I wised up and started using henchmen. I had bad experiences with PC parties at the beginning. Then I wised up and started being more careful about which parties I joined. (A few choice whispers can reveal a lot about a player.) I guess my advice would be: don't give up, wise up!

Dalia

I didn't even know the henchmen were there until AFTER I nearly quit the game for being too difficult . Going straight outside with no backup and basic weapons at only level 7 the second you enter post-searing Ascalon isn't such a good idea if you've never played the game before .

I guess that's what you get for only reading game instruction manuals after finishing the game...

Hardly. I would never do anything that would cause more people to decide to play this game. The fact that GW includes PvP while there is no monthly fee already attracts too much gutter trash as it is.

But that rant aside,I have completed the entire game with nothing but henchman (Elona Reach was a b****!). They can be a bit buggy at times (ie: getting stuck in terrain, running through the terrain to their previous death spot post rez, etc), but I find them to be far more tolerable than their PC counterparts.

My Henchies never tell other players in the group to "Suck A c***!", They don't draw boobies on the map, they don't drop group out of the blue, and they all have, know, and fullfill their inteded roles.

That and well...Mhenlo is a hottie.

Lol. In another thread you are ranting how bad the other players are in GW. Now you can't get the henchmen to work with you either. You crack me up. It's not you bro. Really, *cough*, it's not.

My tips for working with henchmen:

1) Map the "Q" key to "autorun"
2) Map the "E" key to "turn around"
3) Observe mob pack roaming behavior in the area, and be patient until you're not going to get flanked/back-stabbed/surprised by additional packs of mobs
4) Press "Tab" or "C" to get the most dangerous mob in your target "pack" selected (healer, nuker, etc.)
5) Inch forward until your "aggro circle" on the map touches a mob
6) Hit "E", then "Q" and run a ways back
7) When the incoming mobs are in a "safe" area to kill them, hit CTRL-SPACE to sic the henchies on the same target
8) Do your "class" thing (mesmerise, heal, hack, shoot, nuke, etc.)
9) Press "C" and CTRL-SPACE until your "pack" of mobs is dead
10) Pick up loot
11) Rinse, repeat
12) Press "N" and add "Becca Bellows" to your friends list. If you don't suck, she might enjoy grouping with you.

One of the things I did during the alpha was make sure that it was possible for a good player to solo with henchmen in the later areas of the game- I managed to clear the entire southern shiverpeaks with nothing but henchmen. I wasn't playing an elementalist for any of it- mostly with a necro which I changed between minions and hexes depending on what I felt like playing at the time. This includes areas like Ice Floe and Thunderhead Keep, with large numbers of Mursaat and other nasty enemies.

It's not always easy, and you're not likely to be able to do everything without dying a couple times(especially in a couple EA's with very nasty hordes- 2-3x any group size you might see in a mission). No, you won't be able to go completely solo through areas balanced for 8 level 20 characters, and you'll have an extremely hard time in many other areas earlier in the game if you try to go without henchmen. However, I have yet to see a mission that can't be completed with henchmen, or an explorable area that can't be cleared with henchmen, given some persistance, patience, and strategy.

Hm...why would you play an Online RPG without other players...That's what offline RPGs are for?

Yes, on multiplayer games I want to play with other players. Henchmen are just there to fill up slots and bring as cannon fodder if you need to explore an area alone.

I bet I could finish missions with only henchmen, and I actually killed that guy by the wizard tower (south of Kryta by the floating tower, wassisname) with only henchmen after hours of trying to get a decent party together. But they didn't talk or anything... so it was rather boring. I'll play with the AI in other games. In multiplayer games I prefer to actually play with other people.