Posted: 29 Jul 2021 09:15 PM PDT

I posted ages ago about losing a character while pursuing the two titles. Well - I took a break for months (the first week was frustration, but then I got family stuff and stress).

I was having a go (again) with a Mesmer, and I just lost her! Only a few hundred exp from Lvl 16, and I got careless doing the Undead Vanguard quest. I'm so annoyed!

I won't be going for that title for a while, but I think I need to get the Fire Imp before I try again.

And... if anyone knows any good guilds or anything, I think I will be taking that character through Searing now and playing for a while.

I am so frustrated. If I didn't love Pre-Searing so much, I would give up on Legendary Defender.

Big sigh. Bedtime I think.

submitted by /u/PuzzledRobot
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Henchman tier list (by profession)

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 09:11 AM PDT

Long post incoming.

Heroes have displaced henchmen obviously. However, some people(including Ironman characters) use them for various reasons ranging from self-imposed challenges, to flavor, to necessity if their character does not yet have 7 functioning heroes.

I also see a lot of bad info on new player threads when people recommend henchmen to use.

I personally enjoy henchmen: I had multiple GWAMM characters from playing mostly solo prior to the 7 hero update, so I have fond memories of running around with 4 of these guys at a time doing vanquishes and missions.

I was playing through Factions on my Ironman character that uses henchmen only(so far) and though to myself "man, it's amazing how much better some of these are than others".

So I decided to be crazy and rank them all. My tiers are simple:

Might be better than your heroes if you're new (abbreviated MBB) - (these are hench that even with a full hero team you might consider bringing along if you're newer and don't have all of the skills. Real all-stars, or maybe they offer some kind of specific utility. )
Good enough (decent bars - you run these for ironman, etc where you have full hench teams)
If You Must (filler material)
Not Good Enough (avoid)

Note: Some henchmen are better or worse later into campaigns as their builds change. For these henchmen, I will denote the level range implied with: (*16-20). Also, some henchmen have an EoTN version that is entirely different from their campaign. These will be denoted (EoTN) and so on.

That's it! The tier list:

Warriors

MBB: Devona

Good Enough: Talon Silverwing(Factions), Little Thom, Timera

If You Must: Lukas, Stefan(*3-12), Talon Silverwing(EoTN)

Not Good Enough: Seaguard Eli, Stefan(*15+)

Devona: This is a core henchman that appears in every campaign. She has a killer hammer build every time she appears. Her Prophecies build is the best(Earthshaker), but I think she's arguably the best melee henchman in every campaign just because knockdown is great utility. She may be better than your heroes if you're still having to use melee heroes to fill spots. No IAS hurts her, but for some reason anet almost never gave warrior henchmen IAS.

Talon Silverwing: Sword warrior. His later build is great. Has an IAS, Dragon Slash. Good good build. Talon is one of the few henchies who get dramatically worse between their campaign appearance and EoTN. I don't know what this bird was smoking, but Poison Tip Signet and Crippling Slash condition spam is a huge downgrade from Dragon Slash.

Little Thom: Axe henchman(the only one!). He's an early game Prophecies star along with Orion.

Timera: Sword war. Only exists on the starter island, but is quite good compared to other physical Istan henchmen. No IAS but she has the classic bleed+deep wound Warrior stuff and good armor rating.

Lukas: Sword war. Weak moves overall. Does very little damage. May still be a good call earlier on just for tankiness, but you pick him after the Assassin on Shing Jea.

Stefan: Don't get me wrong, Stefan sucks. But all of the Prophecies henchmen do, especially early on. In any other campaign he would be in the bottom of Not Good Enough throughout, but in Prophecies he gets by and is actually a top pick for the first 7 or 8 missions just because he has no competition other than Orion.

Seaguard Eli: Tactics warrior. He's a later-game henchman, and his build is downright awful by the time you get to the places he is available. His damage mitigation does not do enough and he does no damage. There is no place for this guy on any team. Arguments for the worst henchman in GW, though he has the Warrior clause of being able to say his auto attacks do more damage than a lot of other henchmen's entire bars.

Rangers: Pretty bad henchies. Their best case scenario is interrupting in areas where the mesmers suck or you need additional shutdown.

MBB: Daeman, Zho(EoTN)

Good Enough: Aidan, Reyna(*3-12)

If You Must: Aurora, Zho(factions)

Not Good Enough: Yuuna, Reyna(15+)

Daeman: Interrupt focused ranger. If you struggle with enemy healers, bosses, etc. Daeman is a good choice. He provides the best available shutdown for a good portion of Factions. Broadhead Arrow is a good elite. No one uses it any more, but it's a classic that has applications if you're weak or limited(Ironman, new and no access to multiple interrupt heroes, etc.)

Zho: Interrupt ranger in EoTN, DPS in Factions. In EoTN she has BHA yet again and good interrupt potential. If you have to go kill some big bad caster boss in EoTN and don't have a bunch of interrupts yet she's a real contender. In Factions her build is weird and DPS-focused but she has pretty high damage output.

Aidan: Another good Core hench. If you see Aidan, you can feel OK taking him. AoE damage ranger. Rangers as a whole come with the caveat that the class is mediocre for hench because bows are mediocre, but I think especially in henchmen durability does matter and Aidan puts out fine damage. I thought about maybe ranking just his NF rendition lower, but it's competent. His builds vary a great deal but always have good complimentary skills to his elites. He's just reasonably well thought out.

Reyna: Single target damage ranger. Much like Stefan, she is carried by the fact that early prophecies henchmen suck. Her auto attacks do more damage than the necro or mesmer henchmen, so by default she is a consideration. IMO, if you're a monk you use Reyna+Stefan+Orion until the 6 man areas and you don't hesitate. Thus, she's "good enough" early on even though her build is garbage.

Aurora: She has a niche in that she is a beast master. If you're playing something like an ironman weapon spam Ritualist maybe you can make use of her. Her DPS isn't great on her own though, and while she offers a knockdown and daze they aren't the best skills. Borderline bottom tier but her having a pet is interesting.

Yuuna: Pure single target DPS build on a class that sucks for DPS. If she had Disrupting Shot she would probably move up a tier.

Monks: These are the weirdest henchmen to rate, because you NEED them, but they all suck. I thought about not even ranking them. In a sense, every Monk is "Good Enough" because you want 2 and there are rarely more than 2.

MBB:

Good Enough: Lina, Redemptor Karl, Seaguard Gita, Kihm, Mhenlo(EoTN)

If You Must: Mhenlo(Prophecies), Alesia*, Danika, Sister Tai, Taya

Not Good Enough: n/a because you need monks

Lina: Good enough prot. Has the essentials. Her EoTN and Prophecies renditions have good prot bars despite some oddities(bad rez skill, why does she have Return in EoTN?)

Karl: Another competent enough prot hench. He has what you need to not die.

Gita: Good prot bar. I guess I may seem biased towards prot bars, but they have so much less fluff on henchman than healing bars do. This bar is fine. You would run this on a player. She's a good hench.

Kihm: Good bars in the starting area and the main land. She changes from healer in Istan to prot on the main land. Not great, but good. You will never use her because Dunkoro is better with skills you can buy in Kamadan unless you're a weirdo who is playing through NF with no heroes.

Alesia*: Absolute dumpster fire garbage Healing Breeze spamming source of stress. She has probably made more people pull their hair out than any other henchman in GW. But she's your only healer for the majority of the Prophecies campaign. Much like Stefan and Reyna before, she is here by default. You basically have to bring her for half of the game if you don't heal yourself, so she is by default "good enough".

Mhenlo: Perfectly competent heal bar in EoTN. Sucks pretty bad in Prophecies but you run him anyway.

Danika: Her healing bar is really too energy heavy. Her bar would be better if you just removed Healing Breeze. As it is, she falls into the monk henchman trap of spamming HB and killing her energy. I wish she just had hex removal, condition removal, and Healing Burst.

Sister Tai: Awful healing bar but you need monks, ranked below Alesia because you have rits as competition in factions

Taya: Awful healing bar but you need monks, ranked below Alesia because you have rits as competition in factions

Elementalist: Good on average

MBB: Cynn, Argo

Good Enough: Kai Ying, Herta(EoTN), Orion

If You Must: Kisai, Herta(NF), Master Vhang

Not Good Enough:

Cynn: Killer bars everywhere she shows up. Fire nuker throughout the campaigns. Top notch hench when ever available. The core roster are all stars so far except Mhenlo.

Argo: Tons of damage. Sick fire bar. KD utility. You could not ask for a better hench.

Kai Ying: Great earth builds with lots of knockdowns. Lots of utility. He gets better the longer the campaign goes on, but he's always among the optimal team IMO.

Herta: Great earth magic user in EoTN. Utility and damage. Staple of teams pre-7 hero update. Mediocre in NF, but with little competition. You use her on Istan prior to having enough heroes.

Orion: Fire. The only Prophecies henchman that does any damage before level 20. You would be insane not to bring him until at least the desert.

Kisai: Air ele. She's always fine, but just fine. All of her damage is single-target but it's still higher than a lot of henchmen.

Master Vhang: Same issue as Kisai. Similar builds. Single target with minimal utility. He does eventually get Lightning Surge for KDs so he can be good against bosses and healers.

Mesmer: Mesmer good

MBB: Erys Vasburg, Lo Sha(EoTN), Odurra

Good Enough: Lo Sha(Factions), Dunham(20 only!)

If You Must: Seaguard Hala

Not Good Enough: Dunham(*3-17)

Erys Vasburg: Dom mes with a lot of interrupts. Psychic Instability AND Cry of Frustration? Hex Eater Vortex? Leech Signet? Empathy? And a self heal to top it off? This guy is in the running for best hench in GW. If you're newer to the game he is probably better than your heroes.

Lo Sha: His EoTN bar is really good Illusion-centric melee hate. His Factions bar leaves a lot to be desired in certain areas, but is still good enough with Clumsiness, a couple of interrupts, and Arcane Conundrum.

Odurra: Dom mes. NF henchies always come with the caveat that your heroes should be better, but starting at Consulate Docks she has Visions of Regret+Mistrust+Cry of Frustration which is...better than most bars in the game. Even if you hop over to EoTN and get Gwen, unless you have every skill unlocked and can deck out all of your heroes early in NF, this girl might be a real contender throughout the whole game even against heroes. Mistrust is broken. I think she's probably the best PvE henchman in GW taken out of context(i.e. ignoring the fact that she competes against heroes more directly than prophs/factions hench).

Dunham: Dom mes. Not good enough to bring until he reaches level 20. He literally only removes enchantments and hexes(note: only hench in prophs that does this) on a long cooldown and casts Empathy. When he finally gets an interrupt at level 15, it's the longest recharge interrupt in the game. Power Block is a good enough elite that he doesn't feel awful to bring after level 20.

Seaguard Hala Illusion Mes. She's OK. I'm not sure you find a place for her in any optimized team, but she has some shutdown and does some damage.

Necromancer: Meh

MBB: Su

Good Enough:

If You Must: Eve, Sheena

Not Good Enough: Brutus, Claude

Su: Minion master with the Death Magic nuking spells, Flesh Golem, etc. I'd say she's pretty staple. Unfortunately she is only in Kaineng areas. Necro heroes are kind of hard to come by early on, so there are real cases you would want her over your random heroes.

Eve: Blood necro. She's OK. Another core hench that is good enough. Some damage and Blood Ritual is enough that you probably always bring her outside of EoTN where there are so many strong options.

Sheena: Support curses necro. Cracked armor, Lingering Curse...Sheena is OK. But also not that OK. I wouldn't run her.

Brutus: Some kind of cold damage bomber thing with death skills+Icy Veins. He's supposed to be a damage henchman but he does not do all that much damage. Pretty bad.

Claude: Blood nec. Garbage throughout Prophecies. Unlike Dunham, he has no later redemption, he just starts the worst and stays the worst henchman in the campaign that already has the worst henchmen.

Assassin: These only exist in Factions. I am comparing them directly to Factions warriors, FYI.

MBB:

Good Enough:

If You Must: Emi, Mai

Not Good Enough: Nika, Panaku

Emi: Caster shutdown assassin with Temple Strike and Exhausting Assault. She provides Daze and Interrupt, but on long cooldowns. If you're struggling against strong caster bosses(maybe Tahnakai Temple?), I could see her being useful circumstantially.

Mai: Starter island dagger spammer. Even though hench suck at dagger chains, she manages to do good single target damage and spams Entangling Asp for knockdown. If you're doing the 8 man Shing Jea areas with henchies I think Mai is a strong consideration.

Nika: Flashing Blades block tank with Assassin hexes and a dagger chain. Very flavorful build with her tanking+sticking to one enemy theme, but it doesn't work. Her damage ends up being abysmal(even with Death's Blossom being a strong skill).

Panaku: Dagger assassin with Seeping Wound. This guy's build isn't the worst(wish he had a better dual attack), but by the time he's an option there is no way in the world you run him.

Ritualist: Another Factions only class

MBB: Chiyo

Good Enough: Professor Gai

If You Must: Aeson,

Not Good Enough

Chiyo: SoS ritualist with a little resto. If you have a hench-only team and she is available you pick her. If you're newer to the game, playing NM, and don't have a rit hero yet you probably pick her. She's OK.

Prof. Gai: Resto rit with a little communing thrown in. He has energy issues but you always pick him along with one monk IMO.

Aeson: His build is weird. Communing spirit spam is decent but his build is pretty weak. Spirits are single target only, and he doesn't bring the utility of Chiyo. I don't think you pick Aeson anywhere.

Dervish:

Only one Dervish hench in the game, but for the sake of completion I think Gehraz is always decent but Melonni with skills from Kamadan can be better.

Paragon:

Same as Dervish, one option here. Sogolon is awful as a motivation para. Never take him. Does no damage, and doesn't heal enough to be a consideration over the Monk.

submitted by /u/jsm2008
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Like bone fiends? Check this team build out

Posted: 30 Jul 2021 03:39 AM PDT

Hello guys I am back again with probably not the best build in the world in terms of effectiveness but if you like bone fiends and the idea of them being the centre of your damage I have found this to work pretty well. So far I have tested in Vloxen excavations HM.

The main point of this team build is to try and ensure the survival of bone fiends as long as possible so they can become a reliable source of damage. This is achieved by running a ritualist minion master with 3+ runes in everything so the cost of the many health sacrificing skills within the bar are reduced. The ritualist minion master is also chosen to achieve the highest hp possible bone fiends, although these bone fiends lack in damage and armor compared to necromancer primary minion masters this is compensated for by other elements of the teambuild:

Ward against harm and Ebon battle standard of honor on the player. Additionally, Barbs and MoP on player to increase damage further and to ensure these powerful skills are used correctly.
Order of undeath on the ritualist minion master for additional damage. Taste of death is run to counteract the cost of sacrifice skills. Signet of creation is run to manage energy on the minion master.
Blood bond on the BIP hero = more healing for fiends
Running a ST rit in order to keep bone fiends alive in face of heavy aoe etc.
Masochism is run on the minion master despite reduced effectiveness, (duration at 0 soul reaping = 10s or 12s with 20% enchantment, recharge is 20s), compared to primary necromancers, however, it allows for one more bone fiend - giving 9 in total. This also slightly increases bone fiend base damage and armor.
Two air elementalists to provide cracked armor to amplify bone fiend damage and provide autoattack mitigation in the form of spammable blind and weakness elites. These elementalists also support the spike nature of bone fiend attacks.
A panic mesmer is run to partially shutdown enemy spellcasters.
Finally, a third backline hero is run with powerful, quick casting healing spells enabled by healer's boon which are also effective on minions. This helps with keeping the low hp minion master alive as well as the bone fiends. This hero also provides cover enchantments to reduce stripping of BiP and Air attunement.

Other notes:

I am intrigued by the fact minions can gain experience and level up - I wonder if this is something I can factor into the power of this build considering it is designed to keep bone fiends alive. But I am not sure how long it takes them to level up and therefore I dont know whether this is realistic or not.
There probably exists a better player build, potentially a primary water magic elementalist, but soul reaping does help with energy management of the high costs spells e.g. ward against harm. Or even running the ritualist build as a player. Personally though I find minion master as a player really boring and heroes perform this role so well anyway.
I am wondering if the third healer might be changed for something more effective. Perhaps an Avatar of Dwayna dervish (which heals allies upon losing dervish enchantments). Additionally this dervish would have splinter weapon and spirit rift which offers increased aoe damage and more cracked armor sources.

Please criticise, suggest changes to my build or call me an idiot - I am very open to criticism and the like!

https://preview.redd.it/zsfgpxriwbe71.png?width=1152&format=png&auto=webp&s=bcabf64e4f740e41bedd607f4bbde9528fbfd241

submitted by /u/Huggsybear1
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GW Guides

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 07:07 PM PDT

Heya friends I've been wanting to make several guide series for GW1. I'm still getting my feet wet, but would love to keep making more so I started up r/GWGuides

If you are a content creator for either guild wars 1 or guild wars 2 or enjoy the guides people make please don't hesitate to come visit ^.^

submitted by /u/EarlGrayGaming
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2 man team loot question

Posted: 29 Jul 2021 02:28 PM PDT

Hi all

I have a brain fart. What's the best way to get best drops ? Is it to have a high lvl teamed with a low lvl ? And if so does the low lvl need to atack the target ? Or can it be a character that has only done quest and have not ever killed anything ?

TY for reading

submitted by /u/orbitPI
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