Curse

Marverick · May 27, 2007, 10:22 PM // 22:22

Now that Gaile has confirmed we aren't going to be able to use 7 heroes in Hard Mode, can the henchmen be reworked so they don't suck so damn bad? Gaile said that henchmen would have better skills and equipment in hard mode, yet I don't see any such thing.
Mhenlo still has Healing Breeze and Orison of Healing, Devona still has Charge for whatever reason, Gehraz still has no elite, the Mesmer henchmen are completely and utterly useless...

I'd like to see at least a minor of every attribute put onto the henchmen and give them at least a minor vigor. I don't have Factions so I'm just going to base skill suggestions off of Prophecies and NF Henchmen.

Alesia/Mhenlo: Remove Healing Breeze and Orison of Healing, give him Dwayna's Kiss.
Lina: Would like some condition and hex removal...
Devona: Give her Dev Hammer and Fierce Blow, remove Charge and Healing Signet
Little Thorn: Give him Cleave, Dismember, and Flail. Remove Swift Chop.
Aidan: Broad Head Arrow and Distracting Shot would be nice.
Eve: Take out everything and just give her Blood is Power. Maybe Shadow Strike and Lifebane Strike.
Dunham / Odurra: They are completely useless... revamp them totally. Psychic Distraction or Power Block would be a good start.
Kihm: ZB -> Shield of Regeneration, give her Smite Hex or Deny Hexes
Herta: Would be nice if she would stop wasting all her energy on Stone Daggers.... give her Eruption, Ebon Hawk, Ward Against Elements.
Gehraz: How about an elite here? Pious Renewal seems to fit his build okay. Give him Twin Moon Sweep.
Sogolon: Aria of Zeal would be nice, and give him Anthem of Flame to keep his Mending Refrains up. He's not that bad right now, though.

Might be some other needed changes but those would at least make them useable, at their current stage they are just useless. Before some argues that that would be the same as giving us 7 heroes, no, those are just random but useable builds with still 0 synergy. But at least they make henchmen useable. Right now we need to fit healing, protection, damage, interruption, and melee shutdown into 4 slots, and henchmen accomplish absolutely none of these, except maybe Healing and Protection to some extent.

GedLongbow · May 27, 2007, 11:07 PM // 23:07

I always knew that we'd never have 7 heroes but I like the idea of HM skill changes for henchies.

ClanYumemiru · May 27, 2007, 11:10 PM // 23:10

I never had much of a problem with the current henchmen.
But then, I don't treat them like human players - or Heroes for that matter.

I tend to focus on my 3 Heroes for core strategy and use Henchmen to bulk out my party, picking those I deem best for the pupose.

Devona and Charge - perfect. Gets me places faster, lets me slip through gaps between enemy patrols (now there's an artform - threading a hero/hench group through a complex pattern of hostile patrols and coming out unscathed!); she's a competent, reliable tank, and with her hammer, she can usually keep whatever she's attacking well under control.

Mhenlo - sure, he pales in comparison to the highly efficient build I developed for Tahlkora/Dunkoro - but again, it's team padding. He's able enough to keep everyone (barely!) alive until my Hero Monk can sort the problems.

Odurra useless ? You have to be INSANE!!! She's one of the best Dominators (yes, I KNOW her description says "Illusion Henchman" but that's proven to be wrong!) and NPC interrupters out there. (I will second your call on Dunham though, although monsters seem to pick him out for elimination with priority, which is fine with me - while he dies, the rest can lay down enough firepower to cut whatever I'm fighting to shreds)

Herta is quickly becoming my favorite Ele henchman - remember, sh'es packing Sandstorm and she's using it - it can really brutalize opponents, as can Cynn - the two together can get you out of trouble really fast ...

Little Thom - well, he's a liability. I think you might as well call him "Leroy Thom" because he does better charges than Mr. Jenkins. That said, if you
can deal with that he's capable of doing quite some damage

And he's got Wild Blow, too.

... oh ... you're talking about _Hard Mode_ .... sorry!
Hard Mode was never intended to be compatible with Henchmen as I understand it, so ...

bhavv · May 28, 2007, 12:11 AM // 00:11

Just allow us to custimise henchmen skills in HM. Problem solved.

Marverick · May 28, 2007, 12:25 AM // 00:25

Odurra has 2 interrupts, 1 self heal, 1 damage hex that she puts on casters as often as melee, and 1 hex removal that she uses without regard to the damage bonus. How is that useful?

Herta doesn't have any energy to use Sandstorm or any of her Wards after the initial opening because she uses all her energy on Stone Daggers... I consider that pretty useless.

Lafayette · May 28, 2007, 12:28 AM // 00:28

Aye, their skill sets need to be reworked.

For example, Kihm should not have Shatter Hex. 15 energy to remove one hex? Was Anet thinking?

Kale Ironfist · May 28, 2007, 12:36 AM // 00:36

You're probably looking for something like this: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10154009