Anyone complete Thunderkeep mission with henchies only?

Hello,

I am a ranger/warrior lvl 20. I use a sword rather than a bow for the dps.

The skills I use are :

Distracting Blow
Apply poison
Sever artery
Dust trap
Barbed trap
Whriling defense
Healing spring (the only way to avoid the king to die)
Capture Signet

I have :
Expertise 14 (10 + 3 + 1)
Wilderness Survival 13 (10 + 3)
Swordsmanship 11

My HP are : 380
My mana is : 31

The henchmen I group with :
2 clerics
2 tanks
1 necromancer
1 ranger
1 elementalist
Me
The king

I had quite a hard time with this mission but my aim is to finish the game with henchmen (as I can't do it completely solo). And I finally did this mission. Getting to the king is easy. The first difficulty I encountered was when I had to clear the 2 groups of arcanist near the boss in the fort. It's a bit a matter of luck, but the point is to always stick to the target the king is on. Even if you have to switch, do it. If you tank, the king won't so will not take any dmg except for the hexes the mesmers casts at first on him. I usually throw one healing spring on the pull when I'm right near the king so he doesn't die on the pull. But last time I didn't even need it because the king will normally go to the target right behind the nearest one, on your right. So you can predict what target he's going on.

After the door open, the only difficult time is when the mursaat boss comes. All the rest is nuts. I stay near the king and I try to stick to back of the fort. I let the mobs come the closer of the king so I don't have to run from a place to another avoiding the risk to not see a mob that would sneak. When the mursaat boss come, you have to get rid of every single mob that comes with him especially the monk mursaat. then I stick on the boss. But if another mob comes I switch targets even the boss is low life (generally he's a necro and he can drainlife healing himself). What kills you and the entire group is adds. At a time the boss will stay alone and then he's dead (distracting blow helps a lot, or any interupt in fact).

After this mursaat and jade mobs will come 2 by 2 rather slowly. Keep cool, let them come, kill them don't rush them. When Confessor Dorian comes with his mantle-boys you're about to win in the easiest way. I got down to the door to catch them. But it's really a fake fight.

Ring of fire is really tricky, I got whacked by 2 jade bows and a seal and that's only 3 mobs. But everything is doable
I hope this will help you a bit.

PS : a little hint I use, when caster or ranger mobs I rush them so I tank first but when warrior mobs I pull with agro-range (white circle on the map) then I backoff, henchmen won't rush if they don't get hit.

I finished this mission first with my lvl 15 Monk/Necro
Using my monk, it was very easy. I never got a DP in the whole mission. My strategy was to stay with the KING 'til the end. I get to fire some of the catapults once in a while...it helps just a little...very little. And all i had to do is ALWAYS focus on one target then another then another! If a BOSS shows up, make sure u kill him LAST. Thats because he got $h1t load of HP! Always go for the weaker/low lvl/healer goon first! =) I took with me a Healer, a Protector, a Warrior, Brawler, a Ranger, the Mage and the Cultist. U can swap the cultist for the mesmer if u want to distract your enemy. I also made sure to cast Healing breeze on the healer and on the protector henchies because they're the key to your victory!

I also made it out of that mission with my lvl 16(17--i leveled up there b4 the mission was over) Ranger/Elementalist. This was a little difficult when i reached the end part. I died once and i thought it was over!! It was when i was having a hard time killing the ranger boss and mobs after mobs are getting in. Finally, the attacks died down then my chance to kill the ranger boss has finally arrived!! I used distracting shot and Gale on him a lot of times. Distracting shot for his Troll Unguent then Gale just to piss him off because of the 3 seconds knockdown! It was just a bit drag because using Gale has a negative side when it comes to your energy conservation. hehehe but it was fun!! For the whole mission, Lightning Reflexes and Barrage helped me a lot! Dealing about 27-47 damage on a grouped enemy is a +!!! I also had a lvl 16 Bear with me btw.

Hope this helps!

(EDIT: I see you already completed this mission. Congrats. Maybe this'll still be of some help to anyone else in your situation...)

I did Thunderhead Keep with hench-only using my Monk/Necromancer. I was split even between Healing and Smiting spells. I kept Mending on the King, and used Smite Hex to remove any hexes on him during the early part of the mission. During the last part I stayed in front of the King and just took the enemies as they came up the stairs. Scariest part was when the boss showed up and I got a bit overwhelmed. One hench died, but I quickly rezzed him, and finished the mission without problem.

The best way to do Thunderhead is to stay with the King. Don't go with anyone who wants to split up and assign people to use the ballistas and cover the gates. That's fine for awhile, but when the bosses show up, those teams get beaten down. You need your whole party at one spot to concentrate on the bosses, and it makes the healers' jobs easier if everyone stays in range. I'd recommend: Mursaat first, so Necros can exploit their corpses. (Well Of Power, Putrid Explosion. Plus, they're easier to kill because you put poison/bleeding on them.) Jade Bows second. (Their bow attacks can reach the King and the healers in the back.) Jade Armor third. Any bosses, ALWAYS, last.

Thunderhead is definitely doable with hench, though it's still hard. Maybe the hardest mission in the game. (I had no serious problems doing Ring Of Fire and Abaddon's Mouth solo using my Warrior/Mesmer. I've yet to attempt Hell's Precipice with henchmen.)

I did, pre update, with r/e 20 nuker and disrupting beastmaster. Just stuck by the king the whole time, and did fine.

Two things are really really key when doing anything with henchies -- most especially this mission:

1) Call your target and focus fire until it's dead. The henchies WILL follow your calls, but if there's no target called, they'll quickly revert to using their own targeting priorities and things can quickly get chaotic.

You need to figure out the best calling priority based on the particular groups you're facing, but I have never had trouble in Thunderhead when I have left the heros until LAST.

Mursaat (prioritize based on who shows up) --> Jades (bows first, then armours) --> [whatever is killing the king if applicable] --> Mantle (prioritize again; melees last) --> Hero

Always works well for me.

2) The bots WILL NOT follow your target if they can't get to it. KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THIS.

Example: you've targeted a caster mob at the bottom of the stairs leading to the king. Devona and Thom charge out to attack and are met by opposing melee class mobs on the stairs. If they get stuck on those mobs (and they usually do), THEY'LL STAND AROUND DOING NOTHING BUT WASTING YOUR HEALERS' TIME.

You have to deal with those situations somehow. Sometimes its just best to switch targets to the blocking mobs and kill them, sometimes merely switching to something in a direction that will get them un-stuck and re-calling your priority target is enough. Deal with this kind of problem quickly and your life will be a whole lot easier.

(as an aside here, there is one catapult in particular that the bots can get stuck behind very easily [first to the right of the king if you're facing him], so try not to let them get in there if you can avoid it. HERE is a post I made describing a technique for anchoring the bots to one human player on the team)



Trouble is that on a mission like Thunderhead that requires a good amount of communication between party members, shifting your target just for the sake of the bots can cause confusion, so you need to make sure that everyone knows what's going on.

I find simply making a rule that a 'triple-call' means you're engaged in bot-sitting, while a 'single-call' means what it normally does is all that's needed to keep things clear, but I play with a guildies for the most part so YMMV in a PUG


EDIT: LMAO! A friend of mine just made a very wise observation about all this: On a team of 7 Henchmen, Player 1 [Human] is the outsider. They either learn to fit in or drag the rest of the team down with them.

I've completed this mission with 2 characters, and now I'm trying it with my ranger. Tried 4 pugs last night and they all failed miserably. I can farm thru grenths and sorrows with just me and the henchies, so I'll give Thunderhead a try tonight with the henchies and see how it goes. I'll post what happened tomorrow.

Well, I tried Thunder Head 5 times again last night with no luck. The pugs just plain sucked, except for 1 that fell apart at the very end. I did 1 round with the henches and was doing very well up until the end. Since you can't make the henches fire the cats it makes it very hard to handle waves of enemies coming in from both sides, which always happens at the end if someones not firing the cats and killing them before they hit the doors. I gave up on my last attempt because of the neterr=7 that kicked me out of the game half way thru the mission. I'll try again tonight.

If you're having trouble doing it with seven henchies, do a LFG message that clearly states you are looking for only one other person to go with you + the henchies and that asks people to whisper before joining. Anyone who passes the "whisper only" test and is willing to put faith in henchies is going to be a notch above your typical PUG player. The mission can easily be done by two humans of any class + six henchies.

Door-to-door doesn't work, you get mobs sneaking in the other door and attacking the king (or the king rushing mobs).
I put mending on him, and healing breeze if needed. I get the impression Mhenlo wont heal the king, and the kings bodyguards usually die looong before I get to the keep.

Although to be honest I've still not completed the mission with henches. I've tried three times, and always lose because the king buggers off and dies. The last time I came very close, though.

All the battles went swimmingly until the last one, when I & all the henches were busy with mr Perfect and failed to notice that the moron king had charged OUTSIDE the keep to kill two jade bows. By the time I noticed it was too late.

Otherwise you'll find that mesmer is perfect for that mission. Backfire, shatter hex, and chaos storm for dolyaks and arcanists, empathy for the jade armors, and diversion and energy drain to lock down the bosses. teh win!

Or it would be if I could tie up the moron king.

Hi all,

its been a while since I had a chance to keep up with this thread, but thanks for all the responses! I think the answers everyone has given are great! I spent some time both on another forum as well as just hanging around (European) Thunderkeep mission town, sharing my experiences. So many frustrated players who can't seem to get this mission completed! And its amazing how many people insist that what we all did here is not possible! So many have really strongly insisted that 1) henchies do not heal the king, 2) doing this with all henchies is impossible, 3) henchy monks are no good and 4) the only reliable way to win this mission is to guard the doors and not stay up near the king. Wish they all could read this thread!

Numa, I had the same experience with the idiot king both with henchies alone (Mesmer) and half/half henchy/human party (E/Mo). It was my job as E/Mo to keep the king healed and I almost botched it cuz I didn't realize he left his corner! When he had almost no HP left I noticed, and was able to spam heal him in time. I was smart enough to keep an eye on him as Mesmer with 7 henchies, but couldn't heal him. Staying near him and fighting who he was fighting did the trick though; I think staying near him also helped to keep my henchy monks healing him.

(Edit: just did Ring of Fire mission with Me + 7 henchies, after several tries with humans. I think ROF mission is much easier to complete with henchy only! Then there is only one human to make mistakes!).

Coolsti: Just after posting that I tried again, and by keeping close tabs on the King I finished the mission with all henches!

To be honest I now consider Thunderhead Keep to be the most fun mission in the entire game.

Went on to do all the remaining missions (most with bonus) with henches, so the only mission I've not done with henches now is Aurora Glade.
I think about going back and doing that, but it wouldn't be the same as I'm now lvl 20 and have all mesmer & monk skills.

I had two problems in Ring of Fire: that henches have the same tendency to stand around in lava as they have in poison water, and that they do not get out of the AoE of meteor shower. Running past mobs before attacking them and switching targets when one casts meteor shower allowed me to get past the "lava lakes" section, but I did get some casualties there.

i personally tried thunderhead for a long time with PUGs, and i never succeeded, no idea why. so i tried with henchies, and completed it easilly! I finished the mission with both my ranger and my necro, and i have never been able to complete the mission with people...

i easilly got to the siege like everyone, but i just stood near the boss' corpse, in the middle. when a group came from a door, i killed them, and returned to the middle. i never shot the ballistas or anything. i only died when the mursaat boss came, but its really possible to stand in the center and wait for them (its boring though).

i have no idea why it is so impossible with PUGs, because with henchies it is very possible, but still the toughest mission in the game IMO.

According to the update last night (found on www.guildwars.com):

So I guess this means that the King will be better healed by henchy monks!

No excuses now to spend hours looking for a human monk!

yep - I plan to try this tonight / this wkend as my warrior was parked there

SPOILER WARNING
I did this flawlessly with my E/Mo and 7 henchman. Before the update, Alesia and Lina already healed and buffed the King. You just have to be precise on the targets you call, especially during the fort defending. I also used Heal Area on the 3 dwarven soldiers you get to keep them at full health after battle if they're still alive.

• When you get to the fort, start from the east side.

• Make sure you dont aggro any of the bottom mobs or you might be screwed.

• Pick off all the mobs on the top level going counter clockwise.

• Use the ballistae on the west side of the fort to kill the big group outside the fort.

• Kill the 2 groups on the bottom level, leaving the boss for last.

• Kill the boss.

• After the cutscene, run like hell to the 2 beacons and light them. *BONUS*

• Kill the groups of Jade.

• After you kill the Jade, just stand in front of where the King is.

• Now you just have to stay alive long enough to finish the mission.

• The priority for monster killing is Jade first, Mursaat second, White Mantle third, then any bosses.

Why kill bosses last? Well, I don't know if it is always the Necro Mursaat boss but I got him. The reason you kill bosses last is because they take quite some time to kill. (The Necro boss is a pain to kill with henchman.) While you're trying to kill it, all the enemies stack up and eventually overwhelm you. Wait until everything is dead and the waves start coming in slower, then kill the boss when it is alone.

• Eventually, Confessor Dorian will come with some mantle, they're all a joke. Kill them and you've won.

• If you left any loot on the ground, now is the time to pick it all up. After you pick everything up, talk to the King to finish the mission+bonus.

NOTE: I didn't use any of the ballistae or pick up any loot on the ground during the waves. Didn't want to take the risk.

Hope that helps.

thanks for the tip Ralena, i'll try it with henchies this time. ppl just cant seem to function together in groups of 8.

I tried countless time with my elementalist and got sick of this mission. I took my ranger (which were at Henge of Denravi) went until thunderhead.. didn't try yet.

Started a monk, make it to thunderhead... stuck with 3 chars at thunderhead ! I decided to try henchies (6), a tank and me (my monk) did the mission on the first try.

Few days later (after I finished the missions with my monk) tried back with my elementalist, this time with a pug.. to laugh at them... and curiously, we did it.

Remains my ranger, which I will definitely try with the henchies!

Yeah, I know what you mean. I've done every single mission and bonus with only henchman up to Ring of Fire. Still haven't attempted that with henchman yet. The only bonus I had a problem with was Dragon's Lair bonus.

I've done it with both a W/R and a Mo/R with henchmen.

My Warrior did this mission so long ago, I can't remember the build.

I had a heck of a time with Mo/W, which is what I tried with my monk first, but after switching to R and grabbing a pet bear, I found it to be pretty easy.

I leveled the bear up to 10, and went in with this build:

Healing: 10+2
Divine Favor: 9+1
Beast Mastery: 12
rest in Protection

Healing Breeze
Orison of Healing
Mend Ailment
Word of Healing/cap sig
Bestial Pounce
Disrupting Lunge
Revive Animal
Charm Animal

When you get to the end, camp near the king and just be sure he doesn't die. The bosses are pretty easy to take down since you can interrupt with your pet. I found once my pet hit level 20, I didn't need Revive Animal anymore, so I took along Mending for the King.

This build took me through all the Ring of Fire missions too. For the last mission, I took Winter instead of Word of Healing, and everything burning died very quick.

This is one of my favorite missions now too, and I like to go back and do it with 6 henchies and one other person who has been stuck on it a while.

That's one thing I like a lot about Guild Wars. Even if you get stuck on a mission, you can always seem to find just the right build to get you through it. I died about 20 times as a Mo/W, and when I switched to Mo/R, I beat it on the first try.

Yes, twice.

First time with a Me/Mo, second time with a W/Mo. Tactics:

* Clear the walls of the keep (and use the ballista to kill the group of giants) before engaging the mobs in the courtyard. During this fight you need to keep tabs on the king.
* Not light the beacons.
* Ignore the ballistas once the siege is under way.
* Stay close to the king at all times. Stay with him if he decides to charge.
* Targetting priority: weakest enemies first (healers -> casters -> melee -> bosses).
* Healing the king should not be necessary.
My main problem with my mesmer were the jade bows & the perfected armor. They kept interrupting over and over and over. Possibly that's not a problem since the last update, when ranger interrupt chains were slowed down a bit.

Oh, Vengeance is actually not a bad idea for the big wave of enemies in the last part. It's hard to avoid some henchie going down, and using Vengeance on them means 1) You get them back for the rest of the fight, and 2) Mhenlo wont stop healing to resurrect.

My first time to do this with henchies (the Me/Mo) it was real hard - I failed probably half a dozen times at the big wave. The second time, with my W/Mo, when I knew the tactics, knew to look out for the king leeeroying, and the approximate order of attacks, I got through in the second attempt and even had time to kill some armors with the ballista.


EDIT: a few more thoughts... Firstly, this is IMO the best mission in the entire game. Secondly, I had great fun testing various bizarre tactics, from keeping the kings bodyguards alive (was no use - they died uselessly in the first fight in the keep when I couldn't babysit them), to putting mending on the wraiths you get from the Vizier (keeps the wraiths alive for a long time, but that only means you get a big clump of enemies coming in when they finally die).