Mesmer Henchman

Will I be able to pick up a Mesmer Henchman in the final release of the game? Maybe next Beta weekend?

Hmmm... it's imposible to say what ArenaNet will do. If I was a staff member, I'd tell you...

I wouldn't think so, it seems like the henchie classes have already been finalized. But as Kiwi said, you never know.

I thank you, someone agrees! Exscuse me while I have a celebration with my brother...

Personally, I think they should remove henchmen from PvP.

Why? (10 characters.)

Because PvP is about competition, especially in the Tombs and GvG. Why allow a team to steamroll another because they have henchmen? Detail the PvP more and tell people that when they don't have a group, they can go play the arena.

Why allow a team to steamroll another because they have bad builds? Why allow a team to streamroll another because they have no coordination?

None of these questions (yours or mine) make much sense to me. The real question would be, why not? You don't have to justify allowing people to do something -- you have to justify restricting people from doing something. Unless you prefer totalitarianism, the burden of proof lies on providing very good reasons for disallowing things, not on allowing them. "Allow" should be the default if "deny" can't be proven beyond reasonable question. Absent any great harm being caused by this, I see no reason to disallow it.

Wow, this is a good argument.. hehehe.. interesting.... HAHA!

Just one question... whats a henchmen.... o.O

I'm not going to say that they need to remove byes from Tombs and GvG, but they need to at least put an 8 character minimum on new teams. The 5 man, 1 player teams are a joke and just waste everyone's time.

Peace,
-CxE

Just let them figure out that they need to organize a team. In the tombs or GvG these people have a lot better chance if they organize a full team, and by a lot better, I mean a grand increase in their chances. For the tombs it is not hard to form a pick-up group, and in GvG you should be forced to have a full eight man team anyway. Its how Player vs Player works.

Remember, PvP is not a newbie friendly environment, having those henchmen really just gets people laughed at, scorned and belittled. Will they want to PvP again when Guild Asshole decides to /dance while killing this man and his team of NPC's? Doesn't that ruin their fun?

NPC's don't belong in PvP in the core group. Why should henchmen be restricted in PvP? It promotes team work and coordination, two essential aspects of PvP (save dueling). This way they learn, this way they improve, this way they are actually participating.

Hmm.... makes sence I think... I will have to play the game to find out. I hope I can learn everything quickly.

Basics aren't to hard, and I'd offer to help out next weekend, but I probably won't be there. Once you start memerizing skills and number crunching it's a little harder, but you get that down as well.

Once there is a 4 person flavor of "Tombs" and the different layouts are mapped, I suspect you will see fewer Henchmen filled teams.

Currently it is quite a pain to gather a team of 8. Even trying to get into (P)ick (U)p (G)roups so you can get a feeling for the maps and play style can take longer than most games last.

Some professions are hard to get picked. If you didn't already bring your Guild Buddies, you can spend a LOT of time waiting to play.

For those who don't know it, henchmen are Players controlled by the computer you can actually hire for free.

I was not really thinking about PvP while asking my question about the future inclusion of Mesmer henchmen, but to explorable areas and PvE missions. I heard somewhere (while playing during last event) they are too much complex to be added to the game. Is that true?

Doubtful that they are too complex... just they aren't really your basic archetype. They could be added, but I really don't see any reason for the developers to script AI for a basic Mesmer setting for henchmen, as well as Necromancer (can't leave them out). Seriously, the game should encourage grouping more than it does.

Of course. It is really more fun to play with human players. Henchmen are not really effective. However I love henchmen in two specific situations:
1) not too much people around who want to get to explorable area.
2) I must AFK in a few minutes and dont want to break a team, so I can play anyway...

The game (especially in later parts) isn't really meant to be soloed. Henchmen are there to fill out the rest of your party should you need it, they aren't really meant to BE your party. Adding more henchmen or making them able to compete better would only discourage partying with other people, I think.


As for the idea of making GvG and PvP 8 player minimum to enter (as in, at least 4 players and 4 henchies), I'm all for it. I don't care if henchies are in those places (makes it harder for the henchie team to win, not the others), but its annoying to play against a less than 8 player team. Its especially annoying in GvG, don't you get much less points for beating a henchie team or a team with less than 8 players?

The game is designed to encourage team play. I am an absolute follower of any guru who believes that too.

But, coming back to my initial question, I had an insigth today (probably not that bright though ) I guess the reason they don't include neither Mesmer nor Necros is a kind of "personality" inconsistency (or incompatibility) between being an Henchman and being a necro or a Mesmer.

I bet they just don't have the right "psychological profile" to become henchies.

i think it's more a difficulty in creating an AI character for a profession that is reactive (mesmer) and about sacrifice and minions (necro). those two are hardest to play effectively due to their situational nature and timing i think as well.

Just depends on what they want them to do. Each class has multiple options, all they have to do is script them to follow one option, then it is as simple as any good AI programming (still difficult in other words).

Just a word about AI in GW. I think it is awesome. One of the best I have seen so far. Remember some of the monsters behaviors, like the dwarves in the snowy mountains. The way they are acting is so 'real'!

Or just think a bit of Gwen, the little flute girl in the old Ascalon. What an amazing NPC! I completely agree with Photics (#15 issue): The designer(s) of Gwen should win an award or something.

In a different line, I wonder why we cannot take two or three or more Henchmen of the same profession in missions or explorable areas. I mean, you maybe found a little frustrating, as me, to be unable to get 3 rangers instead of only one. Is there a particular reason to keep it that way in the release? Is Arena Net planning to allow us to do so?

I am aware that building a team of 8 henchman of the same profession is not a really good idea. It can even become a 'traumatizing' experience for a Noobie. You better count on variety. As I already said, I don't like to play often with a henchmen-based team. I prefer to play with people. But sometimes, I found Henchmen useful to explore the map. And I can hire 4 of them, but I cannot get a 6 team because I cannot add a second ranger or elementalist for example.

O I know this is not an important issue. I am just wondering.

I agree. I don't think either of those P's stand for "fake player that losers use when they can't find a real person cause they either don't have friends or they suck too much to find a team"