Just a quick list illustrating which henchmen are good and which ones are complete crap.
Best henchmen:
Necro and variants, if you have the chance grab multiple necro henchmen. The cultist henchman and the vile henchman have great skill sets. They all carry shadow strike (great damage) and blood rit. The vile henchman uses putrid very well. While they stop shadowstriking when the target is below 50% they will do the best damage of any henchman until then. Very few players really understand the power of this henchman
Shock henchmen are also good to take. They are quite effective and contribute very well to spikes. While they aren't quite as good a the necros but are still an ideal henchman.
Archer henchmen and variants. These henchmen have decent damage output and a number of the variants carry interrupts (and are quite good with them.) They finish targets quite well and only sometimes let their self-heal get in the way of their performance. They are usually worth working in. The ones with interrupts can prove quite useful.
Sub-Par but necessary:
The healer henchman tends to be absolutely horrible at their job, but you need healing. If you can get a human monk, do so! When available 2 monk henchmen are good. They tend to work together and perform like a single competent monk.
Ritualist Henchman, again not so great. However since the healer henchman sucks so much you need shelter and such to compensate for the extremely poor performance of your healer.
Warrior henchmen, you need one. I don't suggest taking anymore. They exist mainly as a decoy while the rest of your team outputs damage. They are best replaced by human players also. Which warrior you take doesn't matter too much. They are all very similar. I also suggest avoiding the guardian. He has bad damage output and doesn't tank much better than the rest of the warrior henchmen. I don't suggest taking more than one warrior henchman unless you are down to the bottom of the barrel.
Mediocre Henchmen:
Some of the ele henchmen are alright. The earth ele can be ok, he isn't very useful. However he still does something. Same with the generic fire eles. They aren't exactly good, however they are disasterous either. They at least toss out fireballs from time to time. Take other henchmen first, but if it is down to this or a second warrior the ele is usually the better choice.
Better to avoid:
Any of the mesmers. Mesmers aren't a bad class, however the AI can't play a mesmer to save its life. They will cast empath and imagined burden on the primary target and usually finish casting when the target is about 40-50% dead. Overall they won't really do anything. Empathy can dish out nice damage, but they tend to put it on targets that will die in a few seconds anyway. This slot ends up being just dead weight.
Assassins, the AI and skill set for assassins tends to turn them into aggro magnets. They will aggro very large mobs and tend to pull all nearby enemies in to attack you. They do have nice damage output, they just tend to be more of a liability than an asset. They are not unusable, but you need to be careful with them. They work best in areas where the mobs are not so tightly packed or mass aggro isn't an issue (for example all the mobs run to attack you on spawn.) Plan carefully before taking them
Good Henchmen
Warskull
Conan The Castrater
Good tips. I find warrior to be the best class to solo through the game with henchies. If your a monk/ritualist or a caster that has to switch targets (mes) you will find it takes you longer to drop targets as you cant continually pick the right one and get all your henchies to focus fire on it. If your an assassin/archer/caster with direct damage you also suffer as you will be having to make the opening attack which will draw at least more than the normal number of enemies on to you, warrior obviously just tanks much better.
My setup consists of direct physical damage, assassin, 2x archers (longbow + archer, not interrupt) where possible, backed up by a cultist/blood henchie, 2x monks and a ritualist. I believe these guys are able to sustain more damage in the battles where it is needed, it is the long battles you will normally die in, excepting bad pulls. I find they also spike out the 1st target (ritualist/monk) much quicker.
My setup consists of direct physical damage, assassin, 2x archers (longbow + archer, not interrupt) where possible, backed up by a cultist/blood henchie, 2x monks and a ritualist. I believe these guys are able to sustain more damage in the battles where it is needed, it is the long battles you will normally die in, excepting bad pulls. I find they also spike out the 1st target (ritualist/monk) much quicker.
Tromador
Can't agree about the Mesmers.
Dunham was kind of mediocre in Prophies, yes... however Lho Sha in Factions rocks. He's a crazy interrupt machine. He's now my first pick.
Dunham was kind of mediocre in Prophies, yes... however Lho Sha in Factions rocks. He's a crazy interrupt machine. He's now my first pick.
Ror_Mirror
I disagree with you on the fire ele henchmen. Firestorm just isn't useful on hench teams since it causes mobs to scatter and the hench ai just doesn't cast firestorm at times that you would prefer mobs to be scattering. The fire eles often end up being disastrous to those who aren't experienced with hench teams.
The necros are fantastic, and yes the assassins are terrible.
Mostly though, success with hench teams boils down to experience with utilizing hench ai and being aware of their faults and manipulating them to do what you need them to do.
The necros are fantastic, and yes the assassins are terrible.
Mostly though, success with hench teams boils down to experience with utilizing hench ai and being aware of their faults and manipulating them to do what you need them to do.
Kaguya
Quote:
Originally Posted by Conan The Castrater
If your an assassin/archer/caster with direct damage you also suffer as you will be having to make the opening attack which will draw at least more than the normal number of enemies on to you, warrior obviously just tanks much better.
Control+shift+space. 'nuff said.
Conan The Castrater
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaguya
Control+shift+space. 'nuff said.
Hmm, im guessing this is supposed to send out henchies to attack whilst your still out of aggro range of enemy? Because it doesnt do nothing for me, just tried it.
And damn, that hurts my fingers pressing all those buttons at once.
And damn, that hurts my fingers pressing all those buttons at once.
Zephro
The Mesmer henchies rock, dude. They can Cry attack skills.
I never go anywhere without a Mesmer henchie. Interrupts. Ahh.
I never go anywhere without a Mesmer henchie. Interrupts. Ahh.
Raptox
Quote:
Originally Posted by Conan The Castrater
Good tips. I find warrior to be the best class to solo through the game with henchies. If your a monk/ritualist or a caster that has to switch targets (mes) you will find it takes you longer to drop targets as you cant continually pick the right one and get all your henchies to focus fire on it. If your an assassin/archer/caster with direct damage you also suffer as you will be having to make the opening attack which will draw at least more than the normal number of enemies on to you, warrior obviously just tanks much better.
I have to disagree with you on this. As a warrior, you run into the fray. What do the henchmen do meanwhile? Follow you smack into the middle of it. Dunham, Alesia/Lina/Mhenlo, Cynn/Orion, whatever, they're all right up in the enemy's face. And then they die horrible deaths.
As a caster, I stay just out of the enemy range. I then call my target but immediately back off. You do not have to fire off an attack. Call and retreat. The warrior hench still activates Charge and rushes in, taking the aggro. Then the rest of the hench stay put, out of range, and don't die. As long as the tank holds most of the aggro, there is only one person to heal, and thus there is very little bloodshed on my side. Even if one or two assassins break off to attack the rear line, it's not enough to take down anyone before they can be healed.
If you switch targets to interrupt, the hench will still go after the target you called until you call a new one. For the most part. :/ Hey, they're not perfect, let's be reasonable. They do, however, follow your orders, which from experience is about infinity times better than your average PUG.
As a caster, I stay just out of the enemy range. I then call my target but immediately back off. You do not have to fire off an attack. Call and retreat. The warrior hench still activates Charge and rushes in, taking the aggro. Then the rest of the hench stay put, out of range, and don't die. As long as the tank holds most of the aggro, there is only one person to heal, and thus there is very little bloodshed on my side. Even if one or two assassins break off to attack the rear line, it's not enough to take down anyone before they can be healed.
If you switch targets to interrupt, the hench will still go after the target you called until you call a new one. For the most part. :/ Hey, they're not perfect, let's be reasonable. They do, however, follow your orders, which from experience is about infinity times better than your average PUG.
Dahl
I disagree completely with having lots of necro hench.
1 is enough, 2 can be too much. The third is a waste.
I followed the guideline, and chose the hench based on this guide. Absolutely terrible. Believe it or not, there's not enough damage. the necro's don't really do all that much.
1 is enough, 2 can be too much. The third is a waste.
I followed the guideline, and chose the hench based on this guide. Absolutely terrible. Believe it or not, there's not enough damage. the necro's don't really do all that much.
felinette
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raptox
I have to disagree with you on this. As a warrior, you run into the fray. What do the henchmen do meanwhile? Follow you smack into the middle of it. Dunham, Alesia/Lina/Mhenlo, Cynn/Orion, whatever, they're all right up in the enemy's face. And then they die horrible deaths.
Despite this, I also find that henching with a warrior is easier than other classes (ranger is a close second). I've henched extensively with all classes except necro, and warrior wins the prize. If Anet fixes the casters following the warrior into the fray, it'll be even better.
As far as the targetting trick goes (Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar), this doesn't work as well in the city, I find. Jade Brotherhood mobs, in particular, seem to be programmed to target the human player, regardless of whether the human player has actually attacked anyone. Other city mobs do the same, but Jade Brotherhood are the worst. The moment you get into aggro range, whether you've attacked anything or not, all the knights will charge through the henchmen to get at you, and all casters target you or your location. It's extremely irritating, and I hope Anet takes a look at it. Otherwise, yes, this key combo to call targets can help a caster a lot, though it's cumbersome, and as has been repeatedly requested, some simple henchie commands would be wonderful.
As far as the targetting trick goes (Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar), this doesn't work as well in the city, I find. Jade Brotherhood mobs, in particular, seem to be programmed to target the human player, regardless of whether the human player has actually attacked anyone. Other city mobs do the same, but Jade Brotherhood are the worst. The moment you get into aggro range, whether you've attacked anything or not, all the knights will charge through the henchmen to get at you, and all casters target you or your location. It's extremely irritating, and I hope Anet takes a look at it. Otherwise, yes, this key combo to call targets can help a caster a lot, though it's cumbersome, and as has been repeatedly requested, some simple henchie commands would be wonderful.
ArianeB
Nice guide, and mostly I agree.
There are other things to consider when picking a henchie team. I play an R/A and I absolutely love Aurora the Longbow henchie for her consistantly dropping Favorable Winds spirits in every battle. I dont even have to equip it.
One of the ritualist henchies, forget which, will put weapon enhancing skills on me.
I also agree with the assassin henchies. The warrior henchies are smart enough to back away when their health gets low, but it seems the assassiin henchies dont have that code and are often the first to die.
There are other things to consider when picking a henchie team. I play an R/A and I absolutely love Aurora the Longbow henchie for her consistantly dropping Favorable Winds spirits in every battle. I dont even have to equip it.
One of the ritualist henchies, forget which, will put weapon enhancing skills on me.
I also agree with the assassin henchies. The warrior henchies are smart enough to back away when their health gets low, but it seems the assassiin henchies dont have that code and are often the first to die.
fiery
Mesmers, use illusion great degen, other mesmer interupts using domination. Assassins pure damage, self healers, and a bit of a tanker.
This isn't a guide it's pure speculation.
This isn't a guide it's pure speculation.
JohnnyRico
I agree 100% with Warskull, my experiences match his. Ritualist is a good class to have for another reason, I've seen my monk stand over my corspse and not do aything (like ressing) for 5 minutes; at which point i quit and restrted the mission. The Rit hench has his own res, and while he's as retarded as the monk, you can at least hope that they're not both gonna be retarded at the same time. Also I find the shock Ele to be a bit a soft target, while not as useful as the necros, so i tend to pass on him.
Shusky
Agreed with Zephro and Tromador about Mesmers. Erys Vasburg is my first choice for Kurzick quests, she's an equivalent to Luxons' Daeman.
No henchie combination I tried yet had a decent damage output, unfortunately. I tend to take 2 warriors just because they take damage while I stay behind like a wimp.
Both Shock Henchman and Earth Henchman are awesome, if Earth henchie doesn't forget to launch his ward.
No henchie combination I tried yet had a decent damage output, unfortunately. I tend to take 2 warriors just because they take damage while I stay behind like a wimp.
Both Shock Henchman and Earth Henchman are awesome, if Earth henchie doesn't forget to launch his ward.
Warskull
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shusky
No henchie combination I tried yet had a decent damage output, unfortunately. I tend to take 2 warriors just because they take damage while I stay behind like a wimp.
Both Shock Henchman and Earth Henchman are awesome, if Earth henchie doesn't forget to launch his ward.
Quote: I disagree completely with having lots of necro hench.
1 is enough, 2 can be too much. The third is a waste.
I followed the guideline, and chose the hench based on this guide. Absolutely terrible. Believe it or not, there's not enough damage. the necro's don't really do all that much. I have run multiple times with dual necros and they are great. When you suddenly see half the enemy's bar disapear instantly that is shadow strike working its magic. Those necros will spike together. The damage tapers off after they get below 50% so the shock henchman or archer henchman make good finishers. Observe those necros more closely. They are very strong. I am not sure what you are doing wrong, but I have run teams like this and they drop targets with ruthless efficiency. As long as you give them a target they kill it.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by fiery
Mesmers, use illusion great degen, other mesmer interupts using domination. Assassins pure damage, self healers, and a bit of a tanker.
This isn't a guide it's pure speculation. The illusion mesmer has degen illusion. However their AI first casts imagined burden on the target. It then proceeds to cast empathy. Finally it will cast conjured. However at this point since they are casting on the target it is usually on death's door and all those hexes are completely wasted. What the AI has and what the AI does are two different things. The healer henchman has signet of devotion, but that doesn't make her Soul Wedding. Sister Spice
I liked the earth ele - ward against melee helped protect me and the other squishies a lot.
Spice
Y.T.
cant agree with u on mesmer henchy - illusion hench in faction is great. i'm taking him even if i'm playing mesmer - dom+ill duo is unstoppable
cant say i like shock hench - any necro hench does more damage. i like monk + rit + earth ele henchy trio for defence (wands+spirits are useful) and then illusion hench + tank hecnh + archer hench for offence. never use fire ele hench tho. A??rendil
I think the best henchmen are the hench that use distant weapons. Warriors/Assasins are really terrible. I can't have a good control when they are going close combat while not watching to there minimap: :S
So they are just luring more and more groups when you are packed in a dense area with loads of enemies. And Yes it is possible to do this, i am just saying that you have to watch out really careful. Vusak
My core squad is:
Interrupts - Archer Henchie Domination Mesmer Henchie Me with an assassin interrupt Heal - Ritualist Henchie Healer Henchie Protection Henchie Damage - Me, again with assassin skills Vile Necro Henchie Fire Mage Henchie the vast majority of the time, my henchies are taking very little damage. depending on the situation, ill either pull, or run in and take initial aggro, this takes care of henchie-killers like maelstrom, churning earth, energy surge/cry (why the hell dont henchies move out of aoe when the enemy ai does???). the reason the henchies take so little damage, is because, the archer and dom mes are pwning the face of any casters with constant interrupts (i love it). the fire ele is casting aoe usually on the henchies themselves, making enemy melee scatter regularly. the necro is brilliant for putrid and the armor ignoring damage. basically its, get aggro, kill the enemy mesmer, then mage, then ritualist, then assassin, then monk, then melee, then rangers. the only exception being bosses, then its pull pull pull, string out the enemy, pick off dangerous offensive according to order above, or the boss if he leaves his group. but yeah, seems to me, key to doing well in pve is interrupts and corpse control, the rest is just good pulling/positioning. Tigris Of Gaul
I agree with you on the Necromancer henchmen, but I really like the melee henchmen. Much better damage than the Elemancer or Ranger henchmen, and you just mow through targets.
Ira Blinks
completely disagree with OP.
Cantha mesmer henchies are awesome. Earth hench totaly rocks. Healers are pretty good to, except that they dont know how to manage their energy, so just avoid big aggro and they will do their job just fine. I found that human and npc healers complement eachother very well. NPCs are fast, while human provide more sustainable healing. On the other hand necros suck and die too much (vile hench always die first for some reason). Air henchman is pretty poor too - target always seem to die in the middle of him casting something. ump
I play a boon prot monk and am about halfway through the storyline. Whenever I do mission, I try to find a human team and so far haven't failed any. Whenever I do quests, I take henchies for the freedom. I like the healer, spirit ritualist, and earth elementalist defensively as there is not a lot of pressure for me to heal. Then, if I had the choice, I usually go shock elementalist, illusionist, fire elementalist, and warrior offensively. I don't like the assassin as it's a real challenge trying to keep them alive. I haven't tested out the vile or ranger henchie too much, although I find it better when I have the fire elementalist than the ranger henchie.
frickaline
And for the most part, I like the hench and find them consistent and transparent. With real people, you have no idea what you are getting. The hench are kind enough to wear their builds proudly like name tags. But, I tend to like different henchies for different situations.
For example, if you were going to do the unwaking waters mission without a spirit henchman and at least one interrupter, well, you'd be flat out nuts. Shelter and interrupts are a must. I cannot think of any reason to put more than 1 of the necro hench into your party. I like one there for their superior blood rit ESP (after all, its not like sister tai tells anyone when she needs energy). Bringing along a second one just doesn't seem justified. A 2-3 henchie spike? C'mon, be serious. As far as priorities go, that doesn't even hit the list. While I might agree that the illusion mes isn't wonderful, I really do like the domination mes henchie. The impact of the area interrupt from cry of frustration should not be underestimated. If you are facing a tough group of casters, this can be a real life saver. The warrior henchie and the assassin henchies can cause some aggro problems. I try to only take 1 from both these categories in almost every party. While I do like the dazing skill that the sin uses, he tends to really make a mess of things fast as he attracts every known monster to your party. If I am not mistaken, the earth henchie has a nice group disrupt, as well as a nice ward. I find this to be a decent henchie. The shock henchie is just mediocre ... as are the fire henchies. Interrupt ranger henchie is leet, better than most humans. Broad Head....mmmm.... I dont mind the healer henchies so much, I think people that hench simply need to self heal in order to take pressure off the hench monk. I do have a problem with the prot henchie tho. Rebirth in battle? Are you kidding...wtf? o.O Does anyone know if the full skill set of these henchies are listed someplace? |
