Henchmen !@#$%

Is it me or do henchmen seem to incredibly more idiotic than before? I had some problems on my ranger but nothing major during the first 2 weeks or so since the game's release. Now with my elementalist, I noticed that the henchmen have been dumbed down or something... or maybe it just might be the different play style of the classes. =/

But anywho, here are some things that really.. really annoy the hell out of me:

- I have Alesia rezzing people in the middle of a battle while everyone else needs a heal. I have had her run up to a dead henchie, agro like 5+ guys, and get beat to death before anything even could be done.. (which couldn't because there's no way to stop this >.>)

- Alesia doesn't heal me when I'm at like 5% health and no one else is hurt, which results in me running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

- Henchmen won't get off a certain target if it is hitting them, even though I'm telling them to attack the MONK that is healing everyone.

- I can't get my henchmen to back off and just retreat. I know that if you CTRL+space while targeting they will attack but using the "I'm following XXXX" doesn't back them off.

- Alesia/caster henchies just stand around while they're getting wailed on by 2-3 mobs.. instead of trying to move around to unagro them.

- Henchmen lag constantly now, and cannot keep up with me - even in regular running speed. (i.e., they stop every 2 seconds for like maybe a split second then run again... which causes them to fall behind...)

I know the point of the game is supposed to be grouping with humans but that's not always possible! It's just so incredibely irrating that there isn't much direct control of what the henchmen do more so than what to attack... at least don't make them absolutely stupid things like rez enemies while getting hit..

In my long experience of playing with the NPC's and playing with humans is that both suck at times. If you get RL people who have played a bit and know about things to do and not do then your group has a high chance to be successful. I've beaten the game with NPC groups and I found the best thing was to be very patient. If you've played a lot with NPC's you know the crazy things they can do and will do. I love the idea of henchmen it's a life saver for making groups or going out without RL people when you want. Just need to remember things they do. I always get mad and joke about it but Alesia loves to tank for me (IDK she's crazy), but she's a life saver too because then you don't spend hours waiting for monks. My advice be patient (very patient), pull carefully (Stefen + Devona will run out to tank and you want to make sure they don't aggro other mobs), have fun. NPC's have good points and bad points but best thing is they don't talk like immature morons and don't make immature idiotic minimap drawings.

I myself had a horrible problem today... first off, i died because my healer henchman decided she would run out infront of us (a.i.?) and then, proceded to tanking.

After i resurrect, she decided to float off towards where we had died, ignoring ALL mountains in the way... And then, she died. Well... i run all the way towards where i had died, just to die again, and then... my fighter decides he would follow in the footsteps of our healer, and so it was his turn to run through the mountains to where we had died... Keep in mind that i ran back because there was just that one group of monster guarding what i had to get to for my quest... Well, that time my healer just didnt feel like healing us... and then, when we all died, she was the last one standing... and then it's almost like she refused to die... finaly using up her mana... to heal herself, when for once, i just wanted her to die...

Then i res again, and to my surprise, none of them felt like floating through the mountains in a suicidal rage... But oh wait, this time... they didnt feel like attacking what i happened to spacebar (And i thought henchmen attacked what you told them to, by attacking them...)... so i died again, logged off, and made a pvp character of the same type, just without the skills i wanted.

That was crapola.

Yeah it sucks when that happens. I definitely feel your pain, had that experience all too much when I first wanted to explore every nook and cranny in the game. /sigh --> /slap *Alesia ---> /doubleslap *NPC who runs out after dying and gets stuck in a mountain.