This build is for Hard Mode setting and all videos and references in this post are for HM.

New thread, lots of changes.

• Main post updated 28/2/2011
• Added video clips, latest clips: Ruins of Morah
• Small wall-of-text added to tips section to cover GoM/Dzagonur clips

Playing high-end PvE effectively with heroes and henchmen

With the addition of Nightfall we had one of the greatest features added to Guild Wars: Heroes. In this thread I will show you how to beat even the most hardest of the dungeons Guild Wars has to offer with just heroes and henchmen, and without a single consumable.
All of these dungeons and missions are done by using this basic template:



These core skills enable you to survive even against the angry dwarf-packs in Slaver’s Exile Hard Mode, and more importantly blast the whole lot of them within seconds.
I have recorded my game-play in several dungeons to show you how to effectively play this setup, and I will continue to add videos as per request and whenever I get to recording, editing and uploading what I have recorded.

How to play

The basic idea of the build is to group up foes and AOE them down before they get a chance to flee. This is done by flagging your heroes and henchmen behind a corner before pulling & proceeding to body block / corner block the now-aggroed group. Check this video for visual aid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8NgsqRolAk

To successfully play this build you must be familiar with at least the basics of micro-managing your heroes and how agro works. In the videos below I have used the minimum amount of micro-management required to show you how well it fares without troubling your head with excess hero-micro.
In order to survive you must be able to maintain Shield of Absorption on yourself. Which is why I recommend you to bind yourself (Target Party Member #1), and SoAs on the two monk heroes to keys you can hit easily.
I have bound targeting and hero-skills to my Numpad. As I don’t use my mouse often when body blocking I can easily move my mouse hand to numpad to target myself and micro SoA/PS/Smite Hex & Condition/Splinter & whatever else. Or to order my heroes to use Rays of Judgment & Mark of Pain on the pack I’ve got grouped up.

Tips

The Gap & what it is - small guide for better bodyblocks coming - not tomorrow - but when I get a proper app to edit pictures with.

Missions

As seen on my video of GoM I trivialized the encounter against Shiro by exploiting his "Riposting Shadows" - monster skill. the skill teleports him to attacking party member, so I pulled him to the very end of his leash and made heroes attack him while he has riposting shadows up to make him exceed his leash by a few meters; this makes returning to his original spot the main priority for him completely rendering him harmless as he is blocked from reaching his "Normal range". This doesn't work in Imperial Sanctum.
And to rally the gods with the Lich you want to have him weakened at all times as he wands for 300~ on the casters. Healing Breeze won't do alot even if Mhenlo thinks it does. It's pretty easy though. Keep Lich weakened and make sure your H/H won't get bodyblocked by him. Not much that can go wrong than weakness dropping or Lich abusing inherently bad H/H AI.

The only tip I have for Dzagonur Bastion is to go for the generals in the same order I did; this eliminates the monster flow from that general's spawn point, and you won't get attacked from 2 different sides. So zerging the first two generals pretty much wins the game for you. And as long as you have two NPC squads holding on the forces from the Elementalist General you can take on the forces from Paragon General & the man himself.

Videos

Pull techniques

Basic pulls & techniques

Missions

Ruins of Morah
G.O.L.E.M.
A Time For Heroes
Raisu Palace & Masters - with commentary explaining what's going on and why
Gate of Madness & Masters *
Dzagonur Bastion & Masters
Abaddon's Mouth
*all the running parts are at twice the normal speed to make it less boring to watch. Template code for the "Incoming!"/"Fall Back!" necro: OAlkQQG5BayDPeHbJ+E1hJRVFHD

Slaver’s Exile

Out-dated video of Forgewight (the whole run - 236MB)
Thommis
Rand
Selvetarm
Forgewight
Duncan

Shards of Orr

Trash
Fendi Nin

Catacombs of Kathandrax

Trash
Ilsundur

Frostmaw's Burrows

Frostmaw's Burrows - levels 1 & 2
Frostmaw's Burrows - level 3
Frostmaw's Burrows - levels 4 & 5

Trash
Frostmaw

Builds & equipment

To keep this post tidy I will not list all of the builds here, instead I’ve uploaded a template pack for you to download.

> Template Pack Download <
XP users extract the .txt files to ...\Guild Wars\Templates\Skills or C:\Users\_YOU_\Documents\Guild Wars\Templates\Skills if you are using Windows Vista/7

[Tags] explained
[SE] - Slaver’s Exile - two Monk heroes & Mesmer
[FB] Frostmaw’s Burrows - two Monk heroes & Necro
[SoO] Shards of Orr - two Monk heroes & Necro
[CoK] Catacombs of Kathandrax - three Necro heroes
[G] General - two Monk heroes & Necro

My warrior has two different armor sets. One with Sentinel’s Insignia - to use when the condition for the +20 armor is met, and one with Blessed Insignia - for other cases (both sets have Stonefist on gloves). Her weapons are often (always) Zealous of Fortitude, Deathbane or Dwarfslaying, depending on the area I’m playing in. Her shield is a basic +30hp/-2 enchanted strength shield.
As +200 Rodgort’s Invocations, +300 Churning Earth & Sand Storms are quite common in Hard Mode I’ve equipped my heroes with superior vigor and + armor Insignia. My monks have several skills with long recharge times so they meet the requirement for first 2 steps of Anchorite’s Insignia virtually at any given time. This is also true for the Mesmer hero in Prodigy’s. The Necro is sporting Tormentor’s.
Their equipped weapons are a wand & focus (40/40 of selected attribute), or a Spear of Enchanting (+10% HCT Inscr) if they are equipped with long-lasting enchantments, such as Protective Spirit or Judge’s Insight.
All runes are minor except Vigor & Absorption, which are superior. Empty rune slots are used up by Vitae.

My henchmen of choice are two healer & ranged henchies. Zho is always chosen for Shards of Orr due to Broad Head Arrow trivializing the Fendi encounter.

To do list

• videos of Rragar’s Menagerie
• missions (Gate of Madness, Eternal Grove, Dzagonur)
• tips

For any questions or critic, or requests, do post here and I will give you an honest answer, whatever that means.
My warrior’s in-game name is Kossy The Nub.