Henchmen Useful or Not???

There's several missions where I believe henchmen make the mission really easy.

Dragon's Lair is a breeze with henchmen as long as you are skipping bonus. It's that first aspect that seems to give teams fits and while a good PC healer is great (fortunately I have a couple on my friends list I can PM if need be), the combined Lina/Alesia healing duo is more than enough to get you through until the end.

Ice Caves of Sorrow is also a breeze with henchmen. I haven't tried bonus on that though, not sure if it's possible.

wow, most of my quests or mission, i have used henchmen. And i do agree, that Alesia's AI is broken in post-searing, she keep running into group of enemies like she a tank, but forgot that she only heal people. Also i like to complain that Orion (the mage) doesn't use magic that much for me, has this happened to anyone?

(First-time poster, long-time reader.)

Henchmen are absolutely useful, and more than that, they make us better players.

First, I agree that henchmen are worth their "drop tax" and are usually much better than any random PUG. Henchmen follow your lead and are reliable, and nothing's worse than waiting around for a team who may or may know how to play, be balanced in professions or level, etc. However, I am a monk healer, so maybe, as another poster said, henchmen are just easier for monks than other professions, I don't know.

Second, what henchmen lack makes US better players. They don't know when to charge until you lead the attack, for instance. This is admittedly awkward for a monk like myself, but I will say that I've learned aggro management in a way that I wouldn't have with normal player warriors. Henchmen generally force you to lead and take care of a team that needs you, which becomes easy for SOME players to forget when they've been pampered and protected by able guildmates or high-level allies.

Everytime I've struggled on a mission or on a map with my henchmen, I figured out a new tactic to make it work. They're fine; we just need to use them and help them in new, smarter ways sometimes, which definitely benefits us in the long run. Temporary frustration, permanent improvement.

I've taken my team of henchmen to the ascension trials, which is where I am now with my level 19 monk. (This may or may not be the end of their run, we'll see how things go.) No complaints, and if anything, I wish more people would use them to learn how to play a little better, at least at first when they're learning the ropes of the game and their profession's strengths and weaknesses.

Very good point about henches making you a better player. You're forced to slow down and think. As a W/E with only one Ascension mission left to do, I would be most grateful if Alesia would stop throwing herself into mobs. I'm always very careful about pulling and aggro, but I can't seem to arrange things tactically so that she doesn't run around and stand right at my side or get in front of me. I know other Warrior/non-monk types have learned to deal with this, so the only thing I can figure is that I'm doing something wrong. If anyone has any tips, I would appreciate them.

Lots of ppl like to blame Alesia, but it's not all her fault. Unlike a human team, monk isn't protected well enough in a hench team. All of your henchies are following you and no one blocks mobs for her. And at the same time she needs to do her job with healing. So if you have to place blame, blame Little Thom and Stephen or even Reyna, don't blame our little Alesia. She has saved more humans than you know.

On the average I'd say a hench is better than an average human player I ran into in a PUG, even though a hench lacks damage power a human player can administer.

I will usually choose henchies over the average pug, especially early in the game. If only Alesia could learn that the most important person to heal is herself, then I'd probably use them all the time (unless Guild mates are around, because I know they can actually play).

Hmm. Well, now that I'm in the south Shiverpeaks, the henches are amazing. They're smart, they're using helpful skills and spells, and they're mowing down everything in their way. Going from Droknar's to Camp Rankor, nothing could stop them. I just stared at all the dead mob bodies. I thought the game was broken.

I love henchmen. Call me anti-social!, but I've now reached the fire islands and I've done every quest (the only exception being the ashes quest) with henchmen no problem. And I've done most missions with henchmen too. The only missions I would see a problem using henchmen so far is Aurora Glade, Thirsty River, and Thunderhead Keep missions (the last two being the lack of fast killing speed). I find it is far easier and much faster to grab henchmen and complete something than to sit around and try to get a sorry group together that may or may not pretend to pay attention to what is going on.

The only thing I'd really want changed about henchmen is the pathing. If they run into a wall they walk around it. If they run into a chest they stop dead in their tracks and stare at it with their mouths open...

Just had a good experience with henchies.

Was at abaddon's mouth, had just killed Willa the Unpleasant and Optimus Caliph duo, and was trying to destroy the 6 ether seals. However, I didn't know about the Mursaat Guardians that were gonna pop.

They jumped my team, basically, and I ran like a chicken. Only three people survived: Myself, Mhenlo, and Lina. Going back to see how grim the situation was, I was a bit disappointed... there was one ether seal left, and 6 Mursaat Guardians as well as 4 Seal Guardians. Not wanting to throw in the towel, I tried pulling each Guardian out of the ring 1 by 1. Surprisingly, Mhenlo and Lina kept me healed, and pulled back when another one accidentally linked.

I ended up defeating all 6 Guardians, reviving all leftover party members, and finishing the mission.

This was as E/Me, so I had no Rebirth, and my Signet was depleted.

I was really happy.