A simple "hold your ground" button for minions would be nice.

I can deal with The hench healers thinking they are tanks...
I can deal with the mesmer hench doing absolutely nothing...
I can deal with the elem hench firing off AOEs after everything is dead...
I can deal with the nec hench casting blood ritual when nothing is around...
I can deal with the warrior hench deciding to dig into the closest mountain...
I can deal with Alesia thinking she's a bird..

I can deal with all this stuff because it ussually will not end up with me dead.
What I can't deal with are the henchmen wanting to berserker rush any opponent or dive into any lava/poison pits they see. This most of all frustrates me the most. It's almost impossible to pull certain groups of mobs or use any form of strategy with any hench ai guys in a party. And the worst of it is that a good chunk of the encounters are specifically set up where you have to pull mob groups from areas.

All I would like is a "hold you ground" button, Where any AI guys I''m in control of just stop doing everything and just stand there. This would solve nearly 90% of my frustrations with the stupid AI.

All I'm so angry about was Alesia always flying around. I don't like that.

the henchman flying is a bug. thats gotta get fixed sometime. and its all the henchmen doing it, not specific ones. (war and monk in your post, don't know if its just the only 2 you've seen)

henchmen don't go afer the map, they have a formation they use, if you stand stills omewhere, you can move abit and they will take up the exact same formation around you

atleast henchmen follow you when you run away, minions don't, the henchman code and minion code is not the same obviously, so the topic name would be wrong, since its obviously henchmen you are talking about

YES I AGREE WITH YOU

right click on ground to attack area....

HERE'S A LIST OF EVERYTHING I CAN THINK OF REGARDING HENCHMEN

needed henchmen controls updates

mini icons next to names which display the afflictions of allies
timer numbers counting down or some kinda darkening clock which tells when an enchantment/shout/ability etc is going to end

when i ctrl click or double click enemy monster model (not the small enemy name) they attack target foe regardless (its already like this ctrl click, but i'd like double click as well

//the issue here is they stop attacking when i move around back to me when i try to adjust myself... me being a monk and trying to find a nice cozy hiding spot in the back so that i don't aggro anybody


when i ctrl click or double click on my name or ally name that is dead, a healer henchman
will attempt to revive that hench above all other tasks

when i ctrl click or double click on another living ally's name, all healer henchies must protect
this ally the most with healing spells (this can include myself if i were selfish enough...
or the healer henchman should guard herself above all depending on situation)

right click to attack area and the inhabitants therein or stay in that target area of location

right click on name and order an individual assault from this NPC hench to a target enemy
with his particular skills, like order orion to do elemental drops on targets which are on hard
to reach locations such as bridge traps



finally when taking poison dmg... henchies follow you as closely as possible

and when taking meteor/fire drops dmg, henchies seperate away from eachother in a circular fashion


/ADDED UPDATE: henchman alesia and henchman claude stand too close to the monsters... they should always retreat such as when henchman stefan and/or henchman thom retreat sometimes to use their healing signet

Thom has gotten my group killed so many times.

Not only do the henchmen fly but they also go on a vendetta against what killed them meaning they die again and giving more death penaltys (Alesia mainly).

All very good points, many of which have appeared in various different forms in other threads, but either way I do think it's the general concensus that the henchie-squad is heavily bugged at best.

Some of the things to consider though in terms of tactics while using henchies ~ though it's never been specifically stated by ANet, most people do assume that as a general thing they're not designed for you to have an unstoppable team throughout all missions.

On a lighter note ~ it does warm my heart each and every time I see the henchies taking a nice stroll through the poison water, or how much they enjoy that * I'm burning myself alive in lava !! Woohoo !! * feeling .... so much so in fact that I've taken up a similar tactic myself, though I can't for the life of me figure out why the monks in my guild keep yelling at me ...

If this be of any use, I did notice they make a formation around you in the order you pick them when making the group.

another idea is for henchman to be equal to your lvl...
so if i'm lvl 11 then henchmen are all lvl 11

I'm sure there's some reason that wouldn't work. I just don't know what it is.

I'll give you a prime example why there annoying. I wanted to do the Bloodstone fen bonus mission. i know how to do it, except my henchies thought of a better plan. to attack everything they see, even if i didnt issue a command of a attack they still attacked.

What would be great, is to allow 4 new henchmen activation buttions, Charge (for aggessive attacking, less healing) Defensive (Attack if being attacked, or issued to attack by you, healing more normal like now) Idle (Dont attack at anything, only concerntrate on healing and defensive magic) and Follow Me (which they dont attack unless you tell them to, they heal you automatically however, and follow you. so if you stop they stop, and dont wander off.) and you only have to press down the button to leave it on as active, till when you want to change it, (with a quick key). it would be pointless if you had to issue a button to there every command per fight.

At least that way myself/others can pass a mission or bonus without worrying my henchies are going to stuff it up for me.

On another note, henchmen should be able to heal allied npc characters. Its frustrating to find in a mission like thunderhead keep where your henchmen dont heal the king. and forces people to make parties with people. Myself i like to enjoy most missions by myself or with friends. and we are not healers.
After all they are henchmen and we do pay them in the long run, shouldnt we at least get some privillege over what they can, and cant do? otherwise its pointless paying someone who makes it unhappy for the rest of the party. or at least give a "your fired!" button in gameplay, lol

i know in previous threads i've bashed bone horror necros
BUT A SKINNY WHITE BALD BONE HORROR HENCHMAN would be nice on excessive monster MISSIONS
call him CYRUS.. THE VIRUS...