Factions Henchie Report Card

"Brave Sir Robin, he ran away." That's never a problem with the Kurzik henchies. Even if you retreat, they'll stay and fight to the bitter end. Every time. Which is very useful, because on the Kurzik maps, patrols roam in an effective overlap pattern, so that if you're standing still, you'll eventually aggro everything on the map for miles. Yup, yup, we've got baddies charging in from beyond the radar screen... isn't it great? They wouldn't want anyone to miss the party.

Anyhow, I felt that since everyone else was collecting useful data (skills, mapping, armor...), I'd do a little reporting on something that most haven't thought to go in-depth about, but which a lot of people have had opinions on (that, and I had to spend part of the weekend away from GW but still bored and in front of a computer). Feel free to voice those views here, and we'll compile a report card for these little squishies. I'll edit as time permits and as good points are added to the discussion.

All in all, some interesting variety, some good points, some bad. The AI will never be perfect, nor will it ever be pitiful. One major improvement: the healers don't all try to rez the same character at the same time (the rezzing procedure is not without its flaws, but it's better).

I wasn't able to determine all the henchies' skills. For most, I got a list of about 5-7 (Sheena was the only one that I detected fewer, at 4); let me know if I missed any, and I'll update.

In giving the henchies a mark from 1-10, it has to be kept in mind that nothing will be completely awful and nothing will ever be perfect.

---------------------------

Aeson (Rt Spirit Henchman; Luxon) -- (Union, Recuperation, Spirit Light, Displacement, Flesh of My Flesh). During the Great Monk Strike, there were complainers saying, "wait until the Ritualists are here -- we won't need monks, then." Well, monks, you're not obsolete. Ritualists are more than "spirit Rangers with a rez." Of course, with Aeson, you wouldn't know it.

Sister Mercy's grade: 5
Average Guru grade: 6.33

Aidan (R Archer Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Kurzik regions) -- (Kindle Arrows, Dual Shot, Power Shot, Practiced Stance, Troll Unguent, Resurrection Signet). I've never understood the blue superhero tights. No fashion sense at all. However, Aidan (like Reyna) has the best survival skills in the game, does not aggro, and has better rez instincts, even if he can only do that once (barring a signet recharge).

Sister Mercy's grade: 7
Average Guru grade: 6.25

Alesia Baptiste (Mo Healer Henchman; GW:P) -- (Orison of Healing, Healing Breeze, Heal Other, Healing Touch, Word of Healing, Restore Life). Alesia has a bad tendency to try to tank, rather than focus heal. I can understand that monks tend to be early targets even with AI baddies, and it's necessary to defend herself, but she actually gets unnecessarily aggressive and is known to aggro even with the most cautious party or solo player.

Sister Mercy's grade: 5
Average Guru grade: 5

Argo (E Mage Henchman; Luxon) -- (Fireball, Meteor, Fire Attunement, Bed of Coals, Resurrection Signet). Now here is what still works for Fire Elementalists. Sadly, the skillset doesn't have much left that suffers from the AoE nerf (see Cynn, below), but these skills manage fairly well, and do some decent damage.

Sister Mercy's grade: 6
Average Guru grade: 6.5

Aurora (R Longbow Henchman; Luxon) -- (Favorable Winds, Barrage, Dual Shot, Hunter's Shot, Troll Unguent, Resurrection Signet). She would almost rank up there with Aidan if not for her obsessive-compulsive fixation on Favorable Winds. As soon as it ends she recasts, which would be fine except that she tries to cast it in the middle of battle and is usually interrupted -- not to mention giving the baddies a lot of opportunity to put damage on her.

Sister Mercy's grade: 5
Average Guru grade: 4.5

Brutus (N Blood Henchman; Wallow; Kurzik) -- (Icy Veins, Vampiric Swarm, Vampiric Gaze, Rising Bile, Wallow's Bite, Resurrection Signet). He's ugly and his mother dresses him funny. Or would, if he wore clothes (Wallows not having opposable thumbs and all). I love the idea of critter henchies, even if we don't know yet how sentient he's supposed to be and what he's doing hiring himself out as a mercenary. Some nice Blood Magic damage here, although there's none of the team support that he'd be capable of providing, like Blood Ritual at least. Having him cast Well of Blood might be too overpowering, but these skills are also a touch on the weak side.

Sister Mercy's grade: 6
Average Guru grade: 5.25

Claude (N Cultist Henchman; GW:P) -- (Shadow Strike, Vampiric Gaze, Blood Ritual, Deathly Swarm, Resurrection Signet). Almost as good as Eve, although he seems a little underpowered. He could also afford to be a little more intuitive with the Blood Ritual.

Sister Mercy's grade: 6
Average Guru grade: 6

Cynn (E Mage Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Kurzik regions) -- (Aura Of Restoration, Fireball, Fire Storm, Mind Burn, Incendiary Bonds, Fire Attunement, Resurrection Signet). Cynn suffered tremendously from the Great Ele Nerf, and was never adjusted to compensate. Consequently, whenever she casts any of her AoEs (Fire Storm and Incendiary Bonds), it causes the baddies to scatter like children when it's time to explain why someone dipped little Tricia's pigtails in ink. When she manages to hit someone she does good damage, but right now the AoE nerf means that bringing her along will cause chaos to ensue.

Sister Mercy's grade: 2
Average Guru grade: 4

Daeman (R Interrupt Henchman; Luxon) -- (Choking Gas, Distracting Shot, Broad Head Arrow, Savage Shot, Troll Unguent, Resurrection Signet). Initially, my thought was that Daeman was overpowered. The missions in the Luxon regions with him were almost a cakewalk compared to the Kurzik ones. But without Mesmers in the party, it balances out nicely. Daeman follows targets, has a good variety of skills, and is great for foiling both casters and barbarians.

Sister Mercy's grade: 8
Average Guru grade: 9.25

Danika (Mo Healer Henchman; Kurzik) -- (Purge Signet, Orison of Healing, Word of Healing, Healing Breeze, Healing Touch, Resurrection Chant). Such a beautiful dress. If the gothic trappings of House zu Heltzer and region weren't enough to win me over, that dress would do it. Hopefully, there's necro armor somewhere that can look as elegant. On the other hand, she's Alesia repackaged. She has no Smiting skills, but she wants to jump in and beat people up with her staff, before realizing that she should dispense some healing. But to be fair, I was getting by fine with the heals she gave, and if she was healing every booboo, she'd be somewhat overpowered. Purge Signet doesn't help, but I'm going to stay middle of the road. Maybe it's the dress.

Sister Mercy's grade: 5
Average Guru grade: 5.25

Devona (W Fighter Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Kurzik regions) -- (Charge, Irresistable Blow, Healing Signet, Mighty Blow, Counter Blow, Resurrection Signet). Talk about dedication. She follows targets expertly, and doesn't scatter like an idiot in AoE. She could afford to step outside the AoE without panicking (they all could), but she knows how to follow orders, and won't aggro unless I send her somewhere that will cause her to do so.

Sister Mercy's grade: 7
Average Guru grade: 7.5

Dunham (Me Enchanter Henchman; GW:P) -- (Distortion, Empathy, Imagined Burden, Shatter Hex, Drain Enchantment, Resurrection Signet). Not too bad in foiling casters, but is always the first to drop in battle.

Sister Mercy's grade: 6
Average Guru grade: 6

Erys Vasburg (Me Domination Henchman; Kurzik) -- (Leech Signet, Empathy, Cry of Frustration, Power Leech, Resurrection Signet). Mesmers still get the short end of the stick. But does he complain? Not a word. Good caster foiling, and a valuable ally, even if you don't notice what it is that he's doing.

Sister Mercy's grade: 6
Average Guru grade: 7.25

Eve (N Cultist Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Kurzik and Luxon regions) -- (Blood Ritual, Shadow Strike, Vampiric Gaze, Grenth's Balance, Deathly Swarm, Resurrection Signet). People are just figuring out how valuable a team support she is. She could afford to be a little smarter with the Blood Ritual, but she's a Nec who can cast, rather than tank.

Sister Mercy's grade: 7
Average Guru grade: 7.33

Jamei (Mo Healer Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Kurzik regions) -- (Purge Signet, Word Of Healing, Orison of Healing, Healing Breeze, Healing Touch, Resurrection Chant). Jamei's quick with condition removal, which would be good if this wasn't Purge Signet, which kills the energy. Worse, other than PS, Jamei really doesn't seem to cast much of anything at all. You can blame that on the PS, but at least Danika and Sister Tai do something.

Sister Mercy's grade: 3
Average Guru grade: 4

Kai Ying (E Earth Henchman; Luxon) -- (Earth Attunement, Stone Daggers, Ward Against Melee, Aura Of Restoration, Resurrection Signet). Earth Elementals have a lot of potential, either for taking damage (Obsidian Flesh, etc.) or with the new skills, dealing it (Churning Earth, which is in the league of Maelstrom, but at risk of being somewhat overpowered -- Earth Eles are the wave of the future). Kai Ying has neither.

Sister Mercy's grade: 5
Average Guru grade: 6

Lina Esrevni (Mo Protection Henchman; GW:P) -- (Aegis, Protective Spirit, Reversal of Fortune, Shield of Regeneration, Restore Life). Lina still gets my top monk henchie grade. Less prone to aggro or tank, her indirect team support does as much or more for the team than the healer. She's still bad in the running out to rez or not being able to make up her mind category, but gets the job done.

Sister Mercy's grade: 7
Average Guru grade: 7

Little Thom (W Brawler Henchman; GW:P) -- (Sprint/Charge, Wild Blow, Swift Chop, Executioner's Strike, Healing Signet, Resurrection Signet). A little more capable than Stefan and with a little more damage dealing, but occasionally bad on following targets.

Sister Mercy's grade: 7
Average Guru grade: 7

Lo Sha (Me Illusion Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Luxon regions) -- (Hex Eater Signet, Clumsiness, Arcane Conundrum, Conjure Phantasm, Resurrection Signet). I'm probably a bit biased, because during the whole time I was leveling my Mesmer from 1 to 18, I was using this build with mission-driven variations (and minus Hex Eater Signet, of course, with a few Inspiration skills in the empty slots). It's very effective, until you get to the higher levels (Conjure Nightmare might give Illusion Magic a bit more punch, now, if you can weather the spell cost).

Sister Mercy's grade: 7
Average Guru grade: 6.67

Lukas (W Guardian Henchman; Kurzik) -- (Protector's Stance, Hamstring, Healing Signet, Dragon Slash, Resurrection Signet). He might very well have the same AI as Devona. Good at following targets, great level of health.

Sister Mercy's grade: 7
Average Guru grade: 6.75

Mhenlo (Mo Healer Henchman; GW:P) -- (Orison of Healing, Word of Healing, Healing Breeze, Healing Touch, Restore Life). Is it just me, or is Mhenlo even more of a tank and less of a healer than Alesia? You'd think it would be similar AI or better, but he's always running out into the middle of battle and going down fast, while doing less in the way of casting heals. Perhaps it's because he's a title character, but I expected more from him.

Sister Mercy's grade: 4
Average Guru grade: 4

Nika (A Deadly Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Kurzik regions) -- (Unsuspecting Strike, Jungle Strike, Death Blossom, Shadow Refuge, Return, Resurrection Signet). So this is the girl on the box? Not a bad skillset, although I suspect the whole system of skills-in-sequence to have limited what they could do with her.

Sister Mercy's grade: 6
Average Guru grade: 5

Orion Elek (E Mage Henchman; GW:P) -- (Fireball, Fire Storm, Aura of Restoration, Fire Attunement, Incendiary Bonds, Mind Burn, Resurrection Signet). Also suffers from the Great Ele Nerf in that his most effective skills are AoE based and tends to disperse the enemies unpredictably. It was bad enough that the cast times were long enough that his firestorm would come down only after the battle was over.

Sister Mercy's grade: 2
Average Guru grade: 2

Panaku (A Cutthroat Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Luxon regions) -- (Jagged Strike, Entangling Asp, Viper's Defense, Beguiling Haze, Shadow Refuge, Resurrection Signet). He does not follow targets, no matter what you do. Ping it 12 times, and he's still off attacking whoever hits him. Maybe it's the AI's approach to subterfuge, which is actually what an assassin would be best at. As was pointed out, using Viper's Defense to pop in and out of a location has the undesired result of random aggroing nearby mobs. Not so bad in the hands of someone who's watching their aggro circle perhaps, but not so good in the hands of a henchie.

Sister Mercy's grade: 3
Average Guru grade: 3.75

Professor Gai (Rt Spirit Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Kurzik and Luxon regions) -- (Union, Displacement, Recuperation, Spirit Light, Flesh of My Flesh). Same AI as Aeson, with the added misfortune of a name that kiddies are already making ample fun of.

Sister Mercy's grade: 5
Average Guru grade: 6

Redemptor Klaus (Mo Protection Henchman; Kurzik) -- (Reversal of Fortune, Aegis, Draw Conditions, Life Sheath, Resurrection Signet). The trouble with Rebirth is that it wipes your energy every time you use it. The Protection henchies use this liberally in battle, and are little able to do anything else. May have been originally modeled after Lina (the smartest monk in GW), but the AI isn't as consistent with healing, and could use some more effective protective skills. Added: there have been 2 reports of Klaus allowing himself to slowly bleed to death after battle.

Sister Mercy's grade: 4
Average Guru grade: 4.25

Reyna Sandor (R Archer Henchman; GW:P) -- (Kindle Arrows, Power Shot, Dual Shot, Practiced Stance, Troll Unguent, Resurrection Signet). Very similar to Aidan in behavior and skillset, good survival and knowledge of how and when to use her signet.

Sister Mercy's grade: 7
Average Guru grade: 7

Seaguard Eli (W Guardian Henchman; Luxon) -- (Dragon Slash, Protector's Stance, "Shields Up!", Hamstring, Resurrection Signet). Very similar AI to Lukas and Devona. There was one occasion when I couldn't get him to follow a target -- may have been a condition preventing this.

Sister Mercy's grade: 6
Average Guru grade: 6.75

Seaguard Gita (Mo Protection Henchman; Luxon) -- (Draw Conditions, Aegis, Reversal Of Fortune, Life Sheath, Rebirth). Very similar to Redemptor Klaus.

Sister Mercy's grade: 4
Average Guru grade: 4.75

Seaguard Hala (Me Illusion Henchman; Luxon) -- (Conjure Phantasm, Arcane Conundrum, Power Leech, Clumsiness, Hex Eater Signet, Resurrection Signet). Very similar build, behavior and skillset to Lo Sha.

Sister Mercy's grade: 7
Average Guru grade: 6.67

Sheena (N Vile Henchman; Wallow; Kurzik) -- (Putrid Explosion, Lingering Curse, Deathly Swarm, Resurrection Signet). Okay, if you're a Necro who uses corpses, you won't want Sheena (or Su) along on your parties, because she'll use Putrid Explosion on all of them. Otherwise, a fairly good medium-damage build.

Sister Mercy's grade: 6
Average Guru grade: 5.67

Sister Tai (Mo Healer Henchman; Luxon) -- (Purge Signet, Word of Healing, Orison of Healing, Healing Breeze, Healing Touch, Resurrection Chant). For all I know, Sister Tai and Jamei might have the same AI. But Sister Tai seems to cast more spells and play a more active role in the party. Purge Signet and the Rez issues hurt, but like Danika, some improvements might also make her overpowered.

Sister Mercy's grade: 5
Average Guru grade: 4.75

Stefan Baruch (W Fighter Henchman; GW:P) -- (Sprint, Balanced Stance, Power Attack, Griffon's Sweep, Healing Signet, Resurrection Signet). A fairly capable warrior tank, Stefan's pretty good at following targets and holding his own.

Sister Mercy's grade: 6
Average Guru grade: 6

Su (N Vile Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Luxon regions) -- (Deathly Swarm, Lingering Curse, Rising Bile, Putrid Explosion, Resurrection Signet). Not a bad curses Necro. Possibly the same AI and skillset as Sheena?

Sister Mercy's grade: 6
Average Guru grade: 5.67

Talon Silverwing (W Fighter Henchman; Tengu; Luxon) -- (Charge, Tiger Stance, Sun And Moon Slash, Silverwing Slash, Resurrection Signet). A great warrior with some unusual lapses. He'll follow targets reasonably with the occasional exception, and once in awhile he'll be AFK. I love the Tengu idea, I just hate that rare occasion where the battle's taking place and he's standing behind me looking stupid.

Sister Mercy's grade: 5
Average Guru grade: 7

Zho (R Archer Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Luxon regions) -- (Kindle Arrows, Dual Shot, Power Shot, Melandru's Shot, Resurrection Signet). A decent archer along the same lines of Aidan, but minus the stance and with a bit extra power. Not as good at staying alive in sticky situations

Sister Mercy's grade: 6
Average Guru grade: 6

No Smiting Monk henchie.

Sister Mercy's grade: 0
Average Guru grade: 0

More than the expected 4 classes. More, even, than having a single representative from each class.

Sister Mercy's grade: 10
Average Guru grade: 10

Didn't pay all that much attention, but I have to agree with you on Daeman and Aidan. Both are really good henchmen and I wouldn't hesitate to take one of them in lieu of waiting for a PC (other than a monk).

Good idea.


Aeson (Rt Spirit Henchman; Luxon) -- Score: 6
At least he doesn't use Purge Signet. I take him over Seaguard Gita.
Aidan (R Archer Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Kurzik regions) -- Score: 6
Ok, Aidan. Does modest damage and usually the last to die. Still, I prefer someone else to do the damage dealing.
Argo (E Mage Henchman; Luxon) -- Score: 7
Good damage dealer. Aggro management isn't a problem in Luxon territory since mobs are so spread out.
Aurora (R Longbow Henchman; Luxon) -- Score: 4
OMGZORS Barrage. Nothing wrong with her, but I'd take a different type of damage dealer any day.
Brutus (N Blood Henchman; Wallow; Kurzik) -- Score : 6
The problem with Necros is that you can't really see the damage they're doing. Still from the looks of the skillbar I'd say he's decent. Not being human is also pretty unique.
Cynn (E Mage Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Kurzik regions) -- Score : 6
Slightly lower score than Argo because of location. You can't afford to have enemies scatter too much in the Forest. Still, she's quite the damage dealer.
Daeman (R Interrupt Henchman; Luxon) -- Score : 10
Interrupter with AI. You can't ask for more. Don't leave home without him. He can interrupt anything.
Danika (Mo Healer Henchman; Kurzik) -- Score: 5
Purge Signet... Still better than nothing.
Devona (W Fighter Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Kurzik regions) -- Score: 7
Just good ole Devona doing her thing. Could use an actually Hammer elite, tough.
Erys Vasburg (Me Domination Henchman; Kurzik) -- Score: 7
I though she'd be the Kurzick equivalent to Daeman, but not quite.
Eve (N Cultist Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Kurzik and Luxon regions) -- Score: 8
Her use of BR is nice. I always took her along in Prophecies.
Jamei (Mo Healer Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Kurzik regions) -- Score : 5
Purge Signet...
Kai Ying (E Earth Henchman; Luxon) -- Score : 9
I love this guy. While playing as a caster I'm alway next to him. Once any melee enemies comes near he instantly casts Ward Against Melee.
Lo Sha (Me Illusion Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Luxon regions) -- Score: 7
Why couldn't Dumbham use Conjure Phastasm?
Lukas (W Guardian Henchman; Kurzik) -- Score: 7
I usually take Guardian Hench over Fighter henches. And he wears Sentinel Armor.
Nika (A Deadly Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Kurzik regions) -- Score : 5
Haven't played too much with her, but from I've seen, she's just your average Assassin. I'd take a Fighter or Guardian Hench if I needed someone on the frontlines.
Panaku (A Cutthroat Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Luxon regions) -- Score: 4
Though Jagged Strike is nice, he uses Viper's Defense. That's a big no-no if you want aggro management. One time he single-handedly aggroed a whole field of spread-out enemies just by this skill.
Professor Gai (Rt Spirit Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Kurzik and Luxon regions) -- Score: 6
Same as Aeson.
Redemptor Klaus (Mo Protection Henchman; Kurzik) -- Score: 4
Hmm, I thought he used PS too... Oh well I still take the spirit hench instead.
Seaguard Eli (W Guardian Henchman; Luxon) -- Score: 7
I like his use of "Shields Up!"
Seaguard Gita (Mo Protection Henchman; Luxon) -- Score : 4
Lina > Seaguard Gita.
Seaguard Hala (Me Illusion Henchman; Luxon) Score: 7
Same as Lo Sha I guess.
Sheena (N Vile Henchman; Wallow; Kurzik) -- Score: 5
Lingering Curse? Uh...
Sister Tai (Mo Healer Henchman; Luxon) -- Score: 5
Purge Signet...
Su (N Vile Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Luxon regions) -- Score : 5
Lingering Curse again...
Talon Silverwing (W Fighter Henchman; Tengu; Luxon) -- Score: 7
I'd still take the Guardian Hench over him. But he's Tengu, so...
Zho (R Archer Henchman; Neutral, Marketplace to some Luxon regions) -- Score: 6
Same as Aidan.

Only complaint was the number of times healer would stand in the middle of the bad guys and use rebirth on me. Yeh, like I'm really going to live long smack in the middle of battle with practically no health or energy.

Thanks so much for this Sister Mercy! great report card, you did wonderful! Have you ever done one of these for prophicies? if you have please let me know! please add me - Justis Guy to your friends list, I would love to group with you! I could learn alot from you!
Justis Guy
W/E 14
Frost gate so far

I have never been so frustrated with henchies in the previous game, but the overall henchie AI seems to went down ALOT. For examples the following never happened to me in the last chapter:
- having a team consist of 3 monk/rt henchies, none of them tried to rez me when my body is right beside them and force me to zone out.
- In one part of the game with kinda like the catacomb setting where the statue comes alive (sorry forgot name), almost all the henchies get stuck on some pieces of rock on the ground and will not move around it no matter what.
- They seems to have a higher tendacy to stay in area effect spell... 5 henchies out of 8 was killed with a single Churning earth spell.

I love the henchies -- I took them out several times into the Kurzick side and died hardly ever (and the few times I did were far and between - when we got slammed by enemies and there was NO HOPE for ANYONE)... which was nice!

I find that as long as you call your targets, they will fight the enemies one by one and not scatter.

As for them not rezzing, make sure they are in your circle and if they are, press control and then click so it says "i'm dead!" and they should rez you. Danika refused to rez my other human partner until I clicked on him two or three times after going to make sure she was in HIS circle.

Overall, MUCH better henchies than in prophecies and they do have their issues, but I like them more!

I love how the Ritualists use Flesh of My Flesh during battle.

Nothing like being brought back, in the middle of a major battle, with an extremely small amount of health.

And I was soo sure that Erys is male.. *logs back into GW*

I can't take a ss atm, bad, bad graphics.. but.. if that's a woman, it's the most flat-chested one I've ever seen... he's male not female.

Oh, and I didn't play long enough to rate them.

First off, great guide, I agree with most of your rankings

Haha, I noticed that too. Only way I could coax him to fight was to move out of the way so he could get in on the action. Maybe Tengu = polite

I would have to say that the Kurzick healer hench is worse than Alesia it would be nice to see Lukas replace Stefan at level 20.There were eney AI in Kurzick territory that had monk protector with life bond I am not sure but I think they had a res as well.I will agree with you on rebirth as I prefer restorelife to it.

Good idea. I'm only rating those henchies I've had alot of experience with.

Aidan : He's got useful skills, knows how to use them and stay back from battle, and rez's when he's able to. Besides, my elementalist has had a crush on him ever since meeting him in the Shiverpeaks. Rating: 7

Brutus : It cracks me up that there are non-human henchies, and I love it. Brutus works pretty well, but he's not usually in my line-up. Rating: 5

Cynn : I still love Cynn's clothes. Her skills are decent enough and she does stand back in battle. The AoE use is annoying, but can be handy when you've got a group of enemies near each other. Rating: 7

Danika : I've actually been very impressed with her so far! I took her originally because I adored her dress, but found her to be much more useful than Alesia ever was. She keeps people healed as well as she can without being overpowering. She does have issues figuring out that people need to be rez'd after a battle, but will eventually get around to it. Rating: 7

Devona : As reliable as ever - you can always count on Devona to get it done. More often than not she's the last to fall down in a fight and she follows orders well. I wouldn't go anywhere without her. Rating: 9

Erys Vasburg : I'm partial to dominate mesmers, I'll admit. Even given that, Erys really does his job. Playing my E/Me I found that when I'd go to hex an enemy, Erys had beat me to it. He will stay back from battle if you do, but if you charge in he's likely to follow suit. Still, I take him whenever I can. Rating: 8

Lukas : I've used him, but have found that Devona is far better. Rating: 5

Nika : She tends to get cut down pretty easily when I've taken her. She's good for a couple good hits against an enemy, but then gets cut down. Rating: 4

Professor Gai : The first day I took him out I didn't really care for him, but at someone's urging I gave him another shot. The spirits he casts do help quite a bit, and I've been taking him ever since. Rating: 5

Redemptor Klaus : I've had good luck with him. Between Klaus and Erys the enemies fall down far more quickly, and with much less effort. He also tends to rez people a bit more quickly than Danika. Rating: 7

Talon Silverwing : Pretty average, as far as warriors are concerned. Not as strong as Devona, but holds his own. Rating: 5

You're correct. My bad.

And don't get me wrong about Rebirth -- having a henchie bring this along is a positive step. In the past, they always had to run out into aggro in order to stand on the body they're rezzing. This works much better, if only they can adjust when the henchies do it.

Aeson - 8
Whenever spirits were up we were invincible... but there is no way to force him to lay them down and now way to know if they were recharging.
Aidan - 5
I only take Aidan in prophecies to fill a space. He doesnt do anything spectacular except liberally use troll ungeuent. He is usually the last alive... but with his last breath uses res sig on either a monk or me. Hopefully whoever it is dies fast enought that death penalty doesn't stack.
Argo - n/a
Never took this poor fellow scared of AoE.
Aurora - n/a
Never took this one either. Longbows are for pulling, or sniping siege wurms.
Brutus - 4
We took Brutus along a couple of times but he does low damage, and has no support skills like Eve. After slaughtering a great many of his brothers in the wild I determined you have to have at least 15 of him to make an impact.
Cynn - 1
This character and her skillset have been broken for months. The overplayed melodrama she spouts reminds me more of a female Rurik.
Daeman - 9
This Dude Rocks!!! Hands down best hench of all times! Not sure of skill set, but I think he has concussion shot as well. I saw several of the called targets dazed. The weakness of this character is that he does his job too well. I'll call a target and it will be made lame, however since it is only a hench it cannot discern that a target I did not call is using a heal or CHURNING EARTH that really needs interrupted first.
Danika - 4
Her heals were ok, but the timelyness left much to be desired.
Devona - 7
Solid character with solid AI. Often got stuck in Arbor stone on the rubble left behind by the wayt the gargoyle things spawned. I would have to run into a wall on the opposite side of the choke point until she tried to follow, then stop in my tracks she then went to the called target.
Erys Vasburg - 8
Solid toon. I wish he had more skills tho so i could always be hitting a foe with a hex with mantis lead attack. He interrupted almost as well as Deaman.
Eve - 7
Solid support character that can sometimes do damage. wish she could BiP or Life Transfer tho.
Jamai - 4
See Danika.
Kai Ying - 4
This guy had some solid skills that he oten just didn't use. After being party wiped with churning earth a couple of times I am really withing he had this spell.
Lo Sha - 6
Good toon. Gave me lots of hexes to mantis strike on.
Lukas - 8
Tactics FTW
Nika - 5
She could work on her ability to retreat. After the prot and spirit henches she was next to die.
Panaku - 3
No hench should have vipers defence, period. 5-8 wardens is cake 12-16 is problematic when it results from this skill alone.
Professor Gai - 8
See Aeson
Redemptor Klaus - 2
He needs replaced. This toon was only a help when there were already spirits from the other toon on the ground.
Seaguard Eli - 7
See Devona
Seaguard Gita - 5
Don't know that she was better then Redemptor Klaus or that the Luxon areas were just WAY easier...
Seaguard Hala - 6
See Lo Sha
Sheena - 6
I like the putrid expolsions a lot more than i like vampiric bone fiends being made from them.
Sister Tai - 3
I had no problems with the heals. With the ressing I had tremendous problems. After pinging that I and three henches were dead for about 30 seconds, I left the room to drop some kids off at the pool. I came back in and we were all still dead. Watched some TV ate dinner, and she was ressing the prot hench. The prot hench then rebirthed the rest of the party.
Su - 6
See Sheena
Talon Silverwing - 8
I would say see Devona because I didnt notice any difference in Warrior AI. But his constant Tengu grunting kept me alert. I was always waiting for dualshotted ignite arrows to fall.
Zho - n/a
Why take him when I can take Daeman?

In regards to the henchmen and rezzing, they need to fix it so that they rez whatever party members are in the area regardless. I got stuck because I ran most of the way and one of the monk hench died and I did not bother going back to rez it.

So I am near where the quest person is and fight some mobs to get to him, I died but the rit and other monk lived along with one other, the assassin i believe.

The monk and Rit are trying to run and rez the monk hench that died on the other side of the zone instead of rezing anyone else.

The henchmen are awesome. Better than most people I played with this weekend.

For the Luxon quests I always used ther following:

Seaguard Eli (Guardian W) 7
Talon (W) 8 (He is a Tengu!)
Redemptor Klaus (Rt) 6
Panaku (A) 5 (Cool that he teleports all over and attacks whomever he wants! )
Seaguard Gita (Prot Mo) 6
Sister Tai (Healer Mo) 6
Daeman (Interrupt R) 10 (I love the way he totally shuts down Island Guardians!!!)


I do wish there were henchies available once I got to Jade Quarry and Fort Aspenwood. Once I left through the portal - I was solo! Had to go back to Cavalon to get the henchies. Should be another town right beside the mission for PvE who want to leave from that mission.

All said I give the henchmen and overall of 8. Very good AI. Never got stuck once.

Note: playing a necro with the new Flesh Golem (I consider him a henchie to my necro) was the best thing they could have done for a minion master.

Well done!

Updated above with the older henchies right now. I figured it was best, since the monks are always being compared to Lina.

Probably not a good idea, considering it's a sacrifice of 1/3 of your health. A henchie would need some pretty smart AI to do this prudently.

I'll have to look into this skill a bit more. I'm not up on why everyone says it aggros so much. Is it AoE? edit: Okay, now I get it. Will adjust my rankings accordingly.

Undoubtedly. As a plus, being that he leaves an exploitable corpse, he now makes minion builds a feasible possibility in PvP. But that's a discussion for another thread.

From my experience, all assassin hench have trouble following target. They are also designed in AI to RUN AWAY if they are lower on health (unlike warrior would use healing signet right away).

I find the illusion mes better than domination mes, mainly due to that my team had no degen of any sort. Hala made things easier. THEN AGAIN, it was probably just because those kurzick got a harder time to begin with, inside their petrified forest. Dam two legged mole rats...

The henchies were ROCKING this weekend. I cleared the entire Luxon map with henchies, well except for the hatchery mission. I just hope our henchies in Tyria get an AI update to match what we experienced over the weekend.

Nice work!

I love the new area's.....looks like the good old days of pulling are back...you can't just bash your way through these areas anymore....well you can....but where is the fun in that....

The way the Tengu's skill set is built, when testing him in a two man group. I noticed he dealt more damage than devona, which was odd to me. These were battles against those solo Island Guardians outside the Marketplace.

I would give him a 9 because... well he is a tengu.

Not on my side. I actually had 3 of them trying at once most of the time (Danika with Resurrection Chant, Redemptor Klaus with Rebirth and Professor Gai with Flesh of my Flesh). And obviously, the one with the worst out-of-action-res got it through first (Flesh of my Flesh).