Alesia

Alesia, Healer Henchman
Nation: Ascalon (tentative but plausible, see notes) Profession: Monk, specializing in Healing Prayers Armament: Wand

She is available for hire from Ascalon City onwards until Thunderhead Keep, where she is replaced by Mhenlo.

Location

 * Ascalon (all towns and outposts)
 * Shiverpeak Mountains (all towns and outposts except Deldrimor War Camp, Marhan's Grotto, and Thunderhead Keep)
 * Maguuma Jungle (all towns and outposts)
 * Crystal Desert (all towns and outposts)

Skills Used


From Dragon's Lair on:
 * (Elite) (replaces Heal Other)

Evaluation
Alesia's contribution comes mainly in the form of Healing Breeze and Orison of Healing. Healing Breeze, particularly, will be used if you're suffering from some kind of health degeneration.

Alesia prefers to position herself approximately half an aggro radius away from the target of her healing. This allows some latitude for the target to run around chasing or escaping enemies without getting out of Alesia's spell radius. Unfortunately, this also means even with careful aggro management to keep the party's own casters safe in the back, Alesia could still run in range of enemy rangers and casters as she tries to heal the warriors in the front.

Pros Cons
 * Heals party members.
 * Is equipped with Restore Life, as opposed to the one-shot Resurrection Signet
 * Does not equip any hex or condition removal skills. This is particularly harmful against necromancers and mesmers.
 * Makes poor movement decisions frequently. She sometimes rushes forward to the warriors, which places her at great risk (especially from knockdown effects and high damage spells).
 * If she suffers from Death Penalty she becomes very vulnerable and dies quickly. This means that your party will be without healing.
 * Has the same resurrection issues as Lina. She will at times opt to resurrect when party members are taking heavy damage, resulting in one death becoming several deaths. Most annoying is that, at times, both her and Lina, will attempt to resurrect the fallen member, leaving the party completely without monk support for the duration. Also, she will start resurrecting at the same time Lina starts hers, and they will finish together, while she could have resurrected another party member. This has been somewhat alleviated by the other henchmen using their Resurrection Signets. Unfortunately, if Alesia starts using Restore Life, she will not stop until the skill activation time is completed regardless of the fact that the dead ally has been resurrected already.

Tips
 * If you are doing solo exploration, carry a resurrection skill. If some of your henchmen are down, it is enough to resurrect her.
 * If you want Alesia to cast Restore Life outside of combat, run near the corpse and then make a U-turn, keeping the other henchmen far away. Alesia should stay and cast Restore Life, and the other henchmen won't waste their Resurrection Signets. This is especially important in later areas where a wasted Signet could mean the difference between victory and defeat.
 * Keep Alesia in the back of combat at all costs; take advantage of the geography around you. On a slope or in a tunnel, monsters tend to charge in one at a time. Have a fighter-type take the heat, while Alesia stands back and heals.
 * If she is under attack, weigh the situation. One warrior-type monster will not bring her down (unless she has a death penalty), while running around to defend her may expose her to more monsters or to high-damage spell casters (like Imps). So, when you see a red dot near her, don't panic.
 * If you're relying on Alesia as your primary means of health recovery, make sure you have one or two skills with you that you can use for yourself (such as Vampiric Gaze or Healing Signet).
 * Monsters like to go for the healer. If you cast Mending, Succor, Life Bond or another maintained enchantment on her this will move her down on their attack priority list from the top to almost the bottom. But beware of critters that cast Shatter Enchantment.
 * For warriors, it is best to carry a protection attack to help protect Alesia. Knockdown attacks are best as the AI of warrior-type monsters is currently such that if they are knocked down, they will get up and attack the nearest foe.

Dialogue

 * "Call me Sister. All my friends do. I'm an adherent of the mystical arts and a follower of the mother goddess Dwayna. I'm skilled at healing magic and resurrecting those who fall during battle. As part of my training to become a high priestess in the church of Dwayna, the elders require that I offer my services to those who are in need."

Quotes

 * "The enemy is but a blade of grass before my mighty storm"