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 and attributes grow with their levels as you progress through the game (some of the skills filled in from this article).


 * Henchmen count as party members, and as such claim their share of the party's experience and loot. It does not cost anything up front to add them to your party.
 * Henchmen will generally attack whatever the party leader is targeting. This is both positive and negative. Single enemies may go down quickly, but its often a strategic advantage to engage more than one (equally dangerous) enemy.
 * The AI controlling the henchmen is often unpredictable/illogical, causing such frustrating behaviour as healers rushing heedlessly into a melee and getting cut down, or warriors standing impotently while an enemy is right next to them.
 * Henchmen all have either a Resurrection Signet, or a permanent resurrection skill. They will use them in different situations, sometimes impressively (like reviving a monk in the heat of battle to tip the scale to the party's favor) and at other times quite incompetently (like the sole monk letting a party member die because she is busy resurrecting another).
 * Henchmen will only use their Resurrection Signet if none of the surviving party members have multi-use spells for resurrection. The order of preference in spending their signet is: 1. any human player with a resurrection spell; 2. any henchman with a resurrection spell; 3. any human player; 4. any henchman.

Tips on 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.


 * If you attack an enemy your damage dealing henchmen will begin attacking your target.
 * You can easily have the henchmen attack your target by simply attacking and possibly also calling the target.
 * If you try to pull the enemy mob to you by attacking them wiht 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.
 * Henchmen will follow you soon after you begin running away from the enemy.
 * Having the henchmen retreat from 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 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. When the player runs further the others need to keep clicking on the ground near them with the left mouse button and the henchmen will stay and not follow the lone player.
 * If you hold the 'ctrl' key while using a resurrection skill the henchmen monks will often rush to resurrect your target.
 * If you want your henchmen monks to resurrect a party member, call your resurrect on that member and hope that the henchmen will resurrect him. Note that if you have more than one monk henchmen they will usually all begin the resurrection process leaving your party without healing and protection.
 * If you want to announce to your party that you are resurrecting a dead member you need to type it manually or the henchmen might begin resurrecting him leaving the party without other help.
 * Henchmen will follow your party closely staying near eachother when you aren't fighting.
 * 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 after combat. The henchmen stay near eachother and spread the desease to those who get rid of it. The henchmen might spread a little if you move correctly.

The Henchmen and Where they are Available
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 four are only available in The Battle Isles PVP areas, as well as in the Tomb of the Primeval Kings (Location) PVE zone:
 * Zaishen Healer
 * Zaishen Fighter
 * Zaishen Archer
 * Zaishen Mage

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 Henchmen
These henchmen were found in the Factions Preview Event that began on March 24th, 2006.

The following were found in the Marketplace:
 * Sister Tai
 * Kai Ying
 * Su
 * Professor Gai
 * Lo Sha
 * Talon Silverwing
 * Nika
 * Panaku
 * Zho
 * Aidan
 * Devona
 * Cynn
 * Eve
 * Jamei

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.


 * 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, Fisherman'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.