Henchman

General
Henchmen are computer-controlled characters that you may elect to enlist in your party once you've left Pre-Searing Ascalon. Their skills, attributes, and levels will change as you progress through the campaigns. It does not cost anything to hire them. Henchmen can be invited in a way similar to inviting other players and are automatically added to the party.

Henchmen count as party members and thus, claim their share of the party's experience and loot. Loot that gets assigned to henchmen is never shown; they are simply removed instead of visibly dropping. Each henchman has an equal chance of getting a particular piece of loot, as if they are normal players.

In general, all henchmen will target and attack whichever target the party leader is targeting. Henchmen will also automatically target an enemy (usually the closest or weakest) if a party member gets attacked.

All henchmen carry a Resurrection Signet or other appropriate resurrection skills.

Core
The following four are only available in the PvP areas of the Battle Isles, the Tomb of the Primeval Kings, as well as Guild Halls:
 * Zaishen Fighter
 * Zaishen Archer
 * Zaishen Healer
 * Zaishen Mage

Prophecies Campaign
These henchmen are found in the Prophecies Campaign.

By Region
1 Except for the Temple of the Ages where the party size is 8. 2 Except for the Dragon's Lair and the Tomb of the Primeval Kings where the party size is 8. 3 Aidan, Cynn, Devona, Eve, and Mhenlo are available in Deldrimor War Camp, Marhan's Grotto and Thunderhead Keep while Claude, Stefan, Alesia, Orion, and Reyna are not.

The following were temporarily available during special events/periods:
 * Mad King's Guard: Four henchmen temporarily available in Lion's Arch during the Halloween 2005 Update.
 * Enchanted Snowman: Four henchmen temporarily available in Ascalon City, Lion's Arch, and Droknar's Forge during the Wintersday 2005 Update.

Factions Campaign
These are the henchmen available in the Factions Campaign.

Henchmen Progression
The level of a henchman depends on the area. For instance, all henchmen in Sardelac Sanitarium are always level 3, and those in Piken Square are always level 6. This is true even though each henchman is present in multiple places; Stefan the Warrior appears in both Piken and the Sanitarium, at whichever level is appropriate to the place.

It is important to note that henchmen levels are reset each time the player enters town. If the level 6 Stefan is hired in Piken, and the player then travels back to the Sanitarium, Stefan will suddenly revert to level 3-- just as if he were originally hired at that level.

What follows is an outline of henchman level progression through the game.

Core

 * Level 20: All Battle Isles locations.

Prophecies Campaign

 * Level 3: Ascalon City, Sardelac Sanitarium, The Great Northern Wall
 * Level 6: Fort Ranik, Frontier Gate, Piken Square, Ruins of Surmia, Serenity Temple
 * Level 8: Nolani Academy, Grendich Courthouse, Yak's Bend, Borlis Pass, The Frost Gate, Ice Tooth Cave
 * Level 10: Beacon's Perch, Gates of Kryta, Lion's Arch, D'Alessio Seaboard
 * Level 12: Bergen Hot Springs, Beetletun, Divinity Coast, Druid's Overlook, The Wilds
 * Level 15: Temple of the Ages, Quarrel Falls, Bloodstone Fen, Ventari's Refuge, Aurora Glade, Maguuma Stade, Henge of Denravi, Riverside Province, Sanctum Cay, Fishermen's Haven
 * Level 17: All Crystal Desert Locations
 * Level 20: The Dragon's Lair and on, through the Southern Shiverpeaks and the Ring of Fire Islands.
 * Infused: The latter Southern Shiverpeaks - Thunderhead Keep, Marhan's Grotto - and the Ring of Fire Islands.

Factions Campaign

 * Level 3: Shing Jea Monastery
 * Level 6: Tsumei Village, Minister Cho's Estate
 * Level 10: Ran Musu Gardens
 * Level 13: Seitung Harbor
 * Level 16: Zen Daijun
 * Level 20: All Kaineng City, Echovald Forest and Jade Sea locations.

Controlling Henchmen
Henchmen are often claimed to be very bad or even harmful party members. Many players struggle to form parties of completely random players even for hard missions just to avoid using henchmen. However a player with lots of experience on playing with henchmen will be able to complete any mission and almost any bonus with henchmen and possibly a friend or two. You just need to know how henchmen react to your actions. Most players do not understand how the henchmen AI works and they act so that the henchmen do things not wanted by the players. Here are some tips on effectively controlling the henchmen.

Attacking

 * If you attack an enemy your damage dealing henchmen will begin attacking your target.
 * If they are within range, and have nothing better to do, your healing henchmen will also attack. However, they will not move to get into range to attack, even if completely idle.
 * You can easily have the henchmen attack your target by simply attacking and possibly also calling the target. You can also encourage the henchmen to attack without attacking yourself by using CTRL+SHIFT+Space. This works out to about 1.5 aggro bubble range. Any further, and your henchmen will start charging, then turn around and return to you because of the distance.
 * If you try to pull the enemy mob to you by attacking them with a ranged attack your henchmen will attack the mob and spoil the pull. You need to pull by aggroing the enemy mob and moving back to the spot where you want to fight, then attack to send the henchmen to the fight.
 * An alternative method to pull is to fire a longbow or flatbow at your intended target. During the firing animation, turn the camera around and begin to run away. As soon as you fire your shot, you should be running away from the enemy with the henchmen "retreating" with you. However, note that any melee henchmen will run forward to the enemy before turning to follow you. In close situations this might cause aggroing of multiple mobs.

Moving

 * Henchmen will follow you soon after you begin running away from the enemy.
 * Having the henchmen retreat from a fight is fairly easy. Have all your players run away from the enemy not using any attacks or attack skills. The henchmen will follow soon, but not as soon as you probably would like.
 * It is not possible to have the henchmen fight while you run away.
 * If you don't attack a mob and run past it the henchmen will follow you without fighting.


 * Henchmen will divide into groups to follow different players.
 * When your group needs to divide henchmen will often divide into smaller groups following different players. They will often divide according to their profession, eg all monks will follow the same player.
 * If any players are moving and others are not, the henchmen will attempt to follow the moving players, leaving the stationary ones, even if the stationary is currently engaged in battle.
 * If one of the party members needs to separate from the group to move alone without henchmen the others can prevent the henchmen from following that single player. Players may continuously make small movements to draw the henchmen towards them, allowing the lone player to alternate between moving and standing to break away. This can be useful for pulling enemies, allowing the lone player to draw aggro without the henchmen rushing in prematurely.


 * Henchmen will follow your party closely, staying near each other when you aren't fighting. They will fall into formation if there is room; warriors in front, casters at the rear.
 * It is pretty easy to avoid enemy groups as the henchmen will follow you. Beware moving too fast when going around enemies. If the henchmen are too far, they will use the shortest route, which will take them into the enemy group between you and them.
 * It is very hard to get rid of disease or miasma after combat. The henchmen stay near each other and spread the disease to those who get rid of it. The henchmen might spread a little if you move correctly.

Resurrection

 * Henchmen will resurrect fallen allies both in and out of battle.
 * They will now use their resurrection skills from range, rather than running on top of the fallen ally first.
 * In battle, they will favor resurrection signets. Monks will only attempt to use a multi-use resurrect in combat if they are the only ones left standing.
 * Henchmen prioritize resurrection targets in the following order: 1. any human player with a multi-use resurrection spell; 2. any henchman with a multi-use resurrection spell; 3. any human player with a resurrection signet; 4. any henchman with a signet; 5. any human player; 6. any henchman.