View Full Version : An awesome feature idea for PvE: hiring Mercenaries
arredondo
16-06-2006, 19:03
I just had a thought today... wouldn't it be awesome if in PvE we could hire Mercenaries instead of only taking the henchies available in each town? Let me explain how it would work:
- Mercenaries are CPU controlled teammates for PvE. You'd go to their NPC 'Agent' to recruit them from your created template list on to your team. They never physically appear in town, only out in the field will they join you.
- The template list of available Mercenaries is created by you and is only accessable by you, but your entire human team can play with any Mercenaries brought on board.
- To create a list, go to a Mercenary Agent and create your NPC builds... exactly like you do for PvP characters.
- You can only assign gear, skills and weapons to your Mercenaries that you have already unlocked in PvE (not just bought with Faction points from PvP mode). If, for example, you have only five Monk spells unlocked and two Runes, your Mercenary Monk will be hardly worth creating. If you have 90% of everything for Necros and Mesmers, you can create all kinds of crazy builds just like PvP creation mode.
- Once your NPC Mercenary builds are created, simply bring them to your team when you go out to battle and you'll have a team that matches the group you always dreamed of fighting with but couldn't for whatever reason.
- Hiring Mercenaries instead of using the pre-made NPCs comes with a price! Each one used charges an extra +7% of all the loot taken along with the normal amount that NPCs usually take. This means with seven Mercenaries on your team you are going to get about 50% less gold and treasure than if you went with noramal pre-made NPCs. Plus you lose the chatter that goes back and forth since Mercenaries are introverted, brooding characters with not much to say. :wink:
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I think it's a cool idea. Let's say you're a WaMo... you can band with two Illusionary Warriors, a Fire/Water Ele with AoE and snares, a Spiteful Spirit Minion Master, a Diversionator (http://forums.gwonline.net/showpost.php?p=4085523&postcount=90), a Rit Spirit healer and a Protect/Bond Monk all built to your exact specifications. The only limit is your imagination (and unlocked skills/gear!).
Arena.net only needs to assign basic A.I. to every skill, and perhaps allow you to set up 'combos', or the attack/spell cast order you want chained. For instance, never cast Virulence on a foe without an existing Condition. Use energy management skills like Power Drain whenever they are available. Cast Spirit Shackles on melee only, and cast Power Leech on casters only. Judging by the A.I. of the Nameless Isle masters and most of the other PvE NPCs, the final result would not be perfect, but it should be acceptable.
This should add immensely to extended PvE play. Most people have only unlocked skills in PvE for two maybe three characters. This encourages them to unlock almost all skills in the game as they try to make their perfect Mercenary team mates.
If you like the idea, vote!
Erasculio
16-06-2006, 19:07
Arena.net only needs to assign basic A.I. to every skill.
And that's the problem with your idea. If it took this long for the henchmen to learn how to use Ressurrect, do you have any idea of how hard it would take for the henchs learn on how to use entire combinations of skills?
This is something too hard to be done, and not really worth it, IMO. I would rather have henchmen with better AI, who are really good at what they do, and leave it at that.
Erasculio
Could you then design 55 Hp (-health gear) Monks assisting you? :D
ultimastrike
16-06-2006, 19:09
Diablo, anyone?
No thanks.
I like the idea.
It is a perfect gold sink, innovative and it is a completely new aspect of gameplay.
My personal NPC - the perfect gold sink. I would buy her the "hawtest" armor and finest gear. :tongue: And a lot of skills. Some players would probably even dye her underpants black, hehe.
A problem could be that NPC scripts are probably more than just how and when to use a skill - their skill selection is often picked for synergy and they probably get "told" how to use them for maximum effect.
I am not sure if a customized henchie would not mean they have all the skills you want but cannot really use them well.
Cerulean Niteshadow
16-06-2006, 19:13
I dont like the idea. The henchies are fine and if you need more variety then get real people. I agree with Erasculio that it could be difficult to program. Would rather see Anet concentrate on other items.
arredondo
16-06-2006, 19:14
I like the idea.
It is a perfect gold sink, innovative and it is a completely new aspect of gameplay.
My personal NPC - the perfect gold sink. I would buy her the "hawtest" armor and finest gear. :tongue: And a lot of skills. Some players would probably even dye her underpants black, hehe.
A problem could be that NPC scripts are probably more than just how and when to use a skill - their skill selection is often picked for synergy and they probably get "told" how to use them for maximum effect.
I am not sure if a customized henchie would not mean they have all the skills you want but cannot really use them well.
Exactly. There is no Arena.net programmed script for an entire build. They put simple logic on individual skills as I showed above that works regardless of the entire build. They only need to allow us to make combos.
For instance, I choose '3-Skill Combo' from the option screen during creation. In the three empty slots that pop up, I select from my skill bar Conjure Phantom, Phantom Pain, Shatter Delusions. With combos, the order is the only thing that matters. I make all the combos (even 4, 5 or 6-skill combos) that I want and the Mercenary simply casts in order when possible. He now has good chain casts that I personally put together, not Arena.net.
Jarreth Tal
16-06-2006, 19:25
Exactly. There is no Arena.net programmed script for an entire build. They put simple logic on individual skills as I showed above that works regardless of the entire build. They only need to allow us to make combos.
For instance, I choose '3-Skill Combo' from the option screen during creation. In the three empty slots that pop up, I select from my skill bar Conjure Phantom, Phantom Pain, Shatter Delusions. With combos, the order is the only thing that matters. I make all the combos (even 4, 5 or 6-skill combos) that I want and the Mercenary simply casts in order when possible. He now has good chain casts that I personally put together, not Arena.net.
Yet the AI would still need to know how to execute that combo, in the correct situation, and in the correct order. My guess is that you have little to no experience in programming, and so don't understand the scale of this idea.
Jarreth Tal.
I like the idea. Good set of balance. More options are always good imo. Maybe not in the top 10 things to do atm, but think it would be cool. Nice write-up too. :thumbsup:
arredondo
16-06-2006, 19:36
Yet the AI would still need to know how to execute that combo, in the correct situation, and in the correct order. My guess is that you have little to no experience in programming, and so don't understand the scale of this idea.
Jarreth Tal.
I've worked directly with software development (and programmers) for quite a few years actually. I know what they have to deal with.
I'm not saying it's a simple process to make this idea overall, just that the A.I. design and details themselves can be relatively simple during in-game execution. That is to say, there's no need for Arena.net to build elaborate A.I. sequences for every possible build type, just assign simple rules (as in 2-3 rules at MOST) for the skills. Many skills would share the exact same A.I. rules, like Enchant rules, Heal rules, etc. because a lot of them are used in a similar manner. Most of that logic in raw form already exists on current enemy and NPC characters.
Also, executing the combos that players create is just a matter of triggering the first skill as if it were the ONLY skill so it follows the same A.I. rules as above. It's just that after Skill One is used, immediately use Skill Two, Skill Three, and Skill Four if available.
Was implementing Faction points simple? No, but they did it and it works well. The process of making this idea would tae awhile, but Jeff Strain talks as if Guild Wars is a 5-6 year project. There's plenty of time for them to add a great feature like this, i.e. as part of the fourth or fifth GW campaign release.
Jarreth Tal
16-06-2006, 20:10
I've worked directly with software development (and programmers) for quite a few years actually. I know what they have to deal with.
I'm not saying it's a simple process to make this idea overall, just that the A.I. design and details themselves can be relatively simple during in-game execution. That is to say, there's no need for Arena.net to build elaborate A.I. sequences for every possible build type, just assign simple rules (as in 2-3 rules at MOST) for the skills. Many skills would share the exact same A.I. rules, like Enchant rules, Heal rules, etc. because a lot of them are used in a similar manner. Most of that logic in raw form already exists on current enemy and NPC characters.
Also, executing the combos that players create is just a matter of triggering the first skill as if it were the ONLY skill so it follows the same A.I. rules as above. It's just that after Skill One is used, immediately use Skill Two, Skill Three, and Skill Four if available.
Was implementing Faction points simple? No, but they did it and it works well. The process of making this idea would tae awhile, but Jeff Strain talks as if Guild Wars is a 5-6 year project. There's plenty of time for them to add a great feature like this, i.e. as part of the fourth or fifth GW campaign release.
I think you're oversimplifying the problem greatly. Look at how people complain about the existing henchmen and monster AI. Yes, it's very easy to make skills when you can count on a person to do the thinking, and thus the executing. Because, contrary to what you say, they would have to make rules for every skill combo. Since you could assign any arbitrary skill set to one, the AI would have to know how to effectively use them all. Just saying that they would execute one skill after another wouldn't cut it.
Jarreth Tal.
Deus Invictus
16-06-2006, 20:16
Better idea... there is have a post board in every town and you put up the names of the ppl that need help and what quest or mission to hire real ppl for (you post a certain amount and it gets split by how ever many ppl help). Once the game registers that the quest/mission is complete the helpers get the money. Of coure this happens right when the quest/mission is complete (not when the person goes to get the reward) to prevent any scams, and if you are helping and drop out you of course don't get anything. if u are being helped and you drop out the hire contract is broken and if you fail the quest/mission the hire contract is broken also.
arredondo
16-06-2006, 20:22
I think you're oversimplifying the problem greatly. Look at how people complain about the existing henchmen and monster AI. Yes, it's very easy to make skills when you can count on a person to do the thinking, and thus the executing. Because, contrary to what you say, they would have to make rules for every skill combo. Since you could assign any arbitrary skill set to one, the AI would have to know how to effectively use them all. Just saying that they would execute one skill after another wouldn't cut it.
Jarreth Tal.
No, it's not an oversimplification... you're making it more complicated than what I'm describing. :smiley:
You say that people complain about how NPCs and monsters use skills now, right? Well in general those same issues would simply part of the Mercenaries. I am not saying everything has to be 100% perfect upon release if the idea. If they mimic the A.I. for skill use already existing, plus add a simple combo template for us to have some pre-fight control over cast order, it'd work fine.
Have you ever had a monster intterupt your spell cast with Power Leak in PvE? Well the NPC Mercenaries can use that exact same A.I. routine assigned to Power Leak if its on their skill bar. Every elite in the game is on a Boss enemy... Arena.net can simply port most of the A.I. usage for them over to Mercenary skill use. Enemies aren't perfect and neither are current NPCs -or- Mercenaries. The main difference is at least YOU get to choose what they bring.
Straegaard
16-06-2006, 20:25
I like the idea. But don't think that it will ever be a reality since it's quite hard to implement.
I just want a necro-hench with minions :(
If they were to add mercenaries....AND cut down on some of the programming depth, here's anouther suggestion along the same lines.
First, don't get me wrong, I'm very interested in your idea. Its just considering that GW is a free to play game, you have to accept that we are at the mercy of Anet for server size and what not.
But anyways. Henchies are pretty generic. Standard one profession, certain set of skills. What if Mercenaries were dual professions? Anet could then use some of the standard common builds out there. Such as: hiring a full MM hench....Ne/Mo. Or Echo SS....Ne/Me. Or Echo Nuker, Spike ranger, etc....
Mebbe, in future chapters, henchies will have dual professions. We can only dream......
I think you're oversimplifying the problem greatly. Look at how people complain about the existing henchmen and monster AI. Yes, it's very easy to make skills when you can count on a person to do the thinking, and thus the executing. Because, contrary to what you say, they would have to make rules for every skill combo. Since you could assign any arbitrary skill set to one, the AI would have to know how to effectively use them all. Just saying that they would execute one skill after another wouldn't cut it.
Jarreth Tal.
I actually don't see this as being 'that' difficult, just for the fact that ANET has said before that they had to sort of 'dumb down' the hench i/a and/or enlighten the mobs i/a so that the hench weren't as powerful or intelligent as the mobs for balance issues, or something like that. (unable to locate the exact discussion atm). So, basically, if the mobs have this sort of i/a, the 'Mercs' could too. (and so could the hench for that matter).
The only problem I see with this is, ANET might not want to do it because of balance issues. But, a potential solution, would be to just copy/paste the hench i/a for the merc i/a and maybe just be able to choose 1 or 2 (or all) skill for the 'merc' and then the 'mercs' would just use the skill however the hench would have used them. This way you still get to choose what skills, weap, armor, etc they have/use but we aren't screwing with the i/a at all. Ofcouse, then there would really be no point for the 'hench' themselves, except that you wouldn't 'have' to choose what skills, weap, armor, etc and just go with what they already have.
Anyways, that might sound like a bunch of useless ramble. Just my opin and/or thouths atm, which could change at a later date/time. :tongue:
Jarreth Tal
16-06-2006, 20:42
No, it's not an oversimplification... you're making it more complicated than what I'm describing. :smiley:
You say that people complain about how NPCs and monsters use skills now, right? Well in general those same issues would simply part of the Mercenaries. I am not saying everything has to be 100% perfect upon release if the idea. If they mimic the A.I. for skill use already existing, plus add a simple combo template for us to have some pre-fight control over cast order, it'd work fine.
Have you ever had a monster intterupt your spell cast with Power Leak in PvE? Well the NPC Mercenaries can use that exact same A.I. routine assigned to Power Leak if its on their skill bar. Every elite in the game is on a Boss enemy... Arena.net can simply port most of the A.I. usage for them over to Mercenary skill use. Enemies aren't perfect and neither are current NPCs -or- Mercenaries. The main difference is at least YOU get to choose what they bring.
Not when you're describing arbitrary combos that they could have. If you look at the henchmen and the monsters, they usually have only 2-3 skills, with the bosses having four to around six. A very small selection of the skills are used, and these can be hard coded into each monster's AI. What you're calling for is an AI that can handle arbitrary skill selection, that would have some 'knowledge' of the way skills interact. The template idea isn't the problem - it's the fact that you can assign any skill to it. Having a few predesigned templates is doable (basically what the henchmen do now), but why not just have them skin up some new henchmen instead?
Jarreth Tal.
Greenboi
16-06-2006, 20:51
The programming involved would be as Jarreth said.
Think about it, sure they already have the code for the current AI skill systems... but making it possible for players to customize the skills for an AI character? Gonna take quite alot of programming.
Say you had an assasin henchman.. but only had a lead and then a second attack.. then no other one? Theyre gonna have to create a code configured to end at the second skill, third skill, and fourth, and then make it differentiate between them... otherwise debug error if it cant execute the code properly.. at least thats what i learnt from my programming course time (which admittadly wasnt a huge time.. but thats how it seems to me)
Set dual professions would work definately, as they could program them to work the same way each time, like current henchies
arredondo
16-06-2006, 20:57
If they were to add mercenaries....AND cut down on some of the programming depth, here's anouther suggestion along the same lines.
First, don't get me wrong, I'm very interested in your idea. Its just considering that GW is a free to play game, you have to accept that we are at the mercy of Anet for server size and what not.
GW isn't free, we buy each chapter at full price. They simply can add this feature to a new chapter (i.e. Chapter 5) and the price of the game covers the programming and implementation. You'd be able to play with Mercenaries made by a Chapter 5 owner who brought them to your team, but you can't create or bring them in yourself unless you too buy Chapter 5.
sounds like a pretty cool idea but would probably need quite a bit of tweaking
arredondo
16-06-2006, 21:19
The programming involved would be as Jarreth said.
Think about it, sure they already have the code for the current AI skill systems... but making it possible for players to customize the skills for an AI character? Gonna take quite alot of programming.
Say you had an assasin henchman.. but only had a lead and then a second attack.. then no other one? Theyre gonna have to create a code configured to end at the second skill, third skill, and fourth, and then make it differentiate between them... otherwise debug error if it cant execute the code properly.. at least thats what i learnt from my programming course time (which admittadly wasnt a huge time.. but thats how it seems to me)
Set dual professions would work definately, as they could program them to work the same way each time, like current henchies
Why is there no error now when you use Distortion on a enemy NPC Assassin's Lead attack? He can't continue with the combo, right? It's because the game is not programmed to handle every single build type, but assigns the "rules" to the skills themselves.
If I made an Assassin with a Lead and no Off-Hand for my Mercenary, he simply could never trigger the Dual Attack because of the game logic that already exists. If I bring Fox Fangs (an Off-Hand) but no Lead Attack, he can't ever use FF and will simply use what he has. If I only assign him eight different Monk rezzes, then that's all he'll try to do when teammates die because that's what the skills tell the NPCs to do.
Again, there is no reason not to use the raw A.I. info already used by NPCs and enemies in the game. It makes no difference if they have access to 4 skills, eight skills, or a dozen... they already have a universal approach to using skills based on skill rules, energy costs, basic battle situations, etc. This is simply ported and tuned to Mercenaries.
Think about it - do you really think Arena.net labors with hardcore programming for weeks and weeks when internally adding skills to the NPC and enemies in the game? No, they switch skills in and out all the time to get the effect they want. Look at henchies - they'll sometimes give us 'Updated Healer skill selection' when their chosen build ideas don't work well enough.
Same thing with the hundreds of monsters... they obviously have a template where they simply add and take away skills until they like the result. Remember when they added enchant strippers all over the place in Tyria to discorage easy farming? It is NOT as complex as you guys are making out because the basic structure is in place for skill A.I. use.
Now the combo idea is new, but not overly complex either. I setup a combo in the creation mode using any of the eight skills on the bar:
Combo 1 = Skill W->Skill X->Skill Y->Skill Z
In the actual game, whenever the Mercenary uses Skill W... just as if he triggered it using the normal A.I. routines already existing in the game, he will automatically use skills X,Y,Z in order as soon as he can cast/use them. If Skill W isn't triggered, he uses all the current normal rules for triggering X,Y, or Z as if no combo rules are assigned. Ele Air combos, Warrior Sword combos, Ranger arrow combos are all basically run by the same idea... use Skill W, X, Y, and Z in order if Skill W is triggered first (under normal A.I. rules), otherwise, apply the normal A.I. rules for using all the skills.
It's as simple as that as far as design goes. The programming of course takes a lot longer than the 20 seconds it took to describe it, but it's not like they're building a routine that'll send a space shuttle to Mars. You make it sound more complex than it is, and as a feature added to a Chapter release, it is a reasonable feature that they could complete in a reasonable amount of time.
DarkSpirit
16-06-2006, 21:30
- Hiring Mercenaries instead of using the pre-made NPCs comes with a price! Each one used charges an extra +7% of all the loot taken along with the normal amount that NPCs usually take. This means with seven Mercenaries on your team you are going to get about 50% less gold and treasure than if you went with noramal pre-made NPCs. Plus you lose the chatter that goes back and forth since Mercenaries are introverted, brooding characters with not much to say. :wink:
More gold sink, I'm sure ANet would like that.:rolleyes: But why would any player want to spend more to get less of the loot again? What do players get out of it?
Even with the right skill combinations, if the AI sucks, their performance is going to suck anyway.
kidlantern
16-06-2006, 21:32
And that's the problem with your idea. If it took this long for the henchmen to learn how to use Ressurrect, do you have any idea of how hard it would take for the henchs learn on how to use entire combinations of skills?
This is something too hard to be done, and not really worth it, IMO. I would rather have henchmen with better AI, who are really good at what they do, and leave it at that.
Erasculio
not only that but also, GW kinda makes itself so you have to play with real people, It gives the opaion for henches, just becasue some people like playing alone (I just like seeing my self in cinamatics...yeah woot woot for vain-ness!)
((hey! I made it 50-50 yeah! my vote does count...unlike the presadental elections where electors or nobody ((or if you somebody who will not be named *coughbushcough*)) count))
Not a good idea.
Why play a MMOG (read: Massively MULTIPLAYER online game) if you're going to play by yourself?
The build given at first post can be done by guildies often enough. Suggestion: start making online friends...
Jarreth Tal
16-06-2006, 22:43
Why play a MMOG (read: Massively MULTIPLAYER online game) if you're going to play by yourself?
Because the game is enjoyable without having to rely on others. Because the Signal to Noise Ratio is generally higher with henchmen. Because henchmen are often smarter than human players and don't (as of yet) call players 'Noob'. Because none of the henchmen are named Pwn U, or in fact, use 1337-speak at all.
Jarreth Tal.
DarkSpirit
17-06-2006, 00:56
Because the game is enjoyable without having to rely on others. Because the Signal to Noise Ratio is generally higher with henchmen. Because henchmen are often smarter than human players and don't (as of yet) call players 'Noob'. Because none of the henchmen are named Pwn U, or in fact, use 1337-speak at all.
Jarreth Tal.
I would use it only if it is free, not if it worsen my drop and costs me extra. I still dont see how this "special" hench is going to perform better than the current ones. A hench is a hench, its performance depends ALOT more on the clever AI programming than the skill selection.
These "customized" henchies certainly cost more in terms of gold and taking more of my drops!
Now, I dont mind paying henchies, IF they would not collect drops for themselves so I can farm certain areas. Otherwise, this suggestion is just not worth it.
takplayer
17-06-2006, 01:07
more different henchmen, including 2 profession henchmen, would be:
A) much easier to implement
B) much easier to test
C) much easier to tweak
D) much better for all players
and I don't try to control my live teammates down to the exact skill set/armor that you are suggesting for mercenaries. Now granted they wouldn't insult others or disconnect right before the end, but I'd much rather a tester spend some time with 1 new henchmen at a time, see how he/she does, then move on.
arredondo
26-07-2006, 10:29
Too cool! Nightfall will have Mercenaries:
• Customizable Heroes (party NPCs) that level up with the player, follow player instructions in combat, and use armor, weapons, and skills of the player’s choice.
• A new game type, Hero vs. Hero Battles will allow a single player to participate in PvP with hero NPCs.
I guess me and Arena.net think along the same lines because that's exactly what I asked for in the first post. And to think some of you voted no. For shame.... :thumbsdown:
Wait until I tell you what will be in Chapter 4!
Fay Vert
26-07-2006, 10:45
Bad idea because
Guild Wars := Single player game
Even if it was a good idea, it certainly would not be "awesome"
DarkSpirit
26-07-2006, 10:49
Like I said, FREE customizable merc that would not take more than his allocated loot = NICE.
EXPENSIVE GREEDY customizable merc that takes more than his allocated loot and makes me poorer = BAD. :sad:
Your idea:
Each one used charges an extra +7% of all the loot taken along with the normal amount that NPCs usually take. This means with seven Mercenaries on your team you are going to get about 50% less gold and treasure than if you went with noramal pre-made NPCs.
Since my char would probably perform better than the mercs, customizable or not,:smiley: no reason why the mercs should get a greater share of the loot than me. The mercs work for me, would hate for it to be the other way round.:rolleyes:
Glacius Cool
26-07-2006, 13:51
Yeah, according to Ebgames we get customized henchies that evolve along with us as we level up. But that is not official so make sure to keep it on the wish list.
It would be nice though.
I really hope this doesn't happen, henches are already too good in factions, if you could customize their skills you wouldn't need human players for anything anymore.
Which would be sad since GW is a Massive Multiplayer online game not single player game.
Bow to arredondo the prophet, who predicted the coming of customizable henchies.
Ah well. Just had to say that. :girly:
Let's see how close ANets version of this idea is to the suggestions here.
Serendipity
26-07-2006, 14:24
The customizable henchmen are a logical evolution.
You have more and more land, and a stable or declining gaming population.
So unless Anet sells 5 millions copies of Nightfall, the longer you play the more empty the areas will be.
So if you have a bunch a customizable henchmen, much more efficient than the one we already have, it doesn't really matter if the areas are empty or not.
Actually the merc idea is very old and to be honest never perfected by any game develop up to this date. GW will never head in that direction
why?
1. most ANET team made diablo 2. When designing GW they choose to go against that old concept and introduce something new, hench with set AI.
2. GW is a multiplayer game. the idea of a merc implies that the game should be played solo. Something they do not want. Diablo 2 is designed mainly a single player game with multiplayer support.
3. More chapter does not mean more land. More chapter means more content. Since GW use an instance technology, they can create different instances of the same location depending upon the storyline. Since they support multi district, they can add different district for different storyline but for the same location and same map.
4. People already complains about pet AI, monster AI, Hench AI. What makes you think that they wont complain about merc AI.
Having more control over party AI is something that many people want already.
According to EB games, something similar is in GW:N already:
Customizable Heroes (party NPCs) that level up with the player, follow player instructions in combat, and use armor, weapons, and skills of the player’s choice.
True or not? Dunno.
crying wolf
27-07-2006, 05:45
And that's the problem with your idea. If it took this long for the henchmen to learn how to use Ressurrect, do you have any idea of how hard it would take for the henchs learn on how to use entire combinations of skills?
This is something too hard to be done, and not really worth it, IMO. I would rather have henchmen with better AI, who are really good at what they do, and leave it at that.
Erasculio
/agree. Henchies really need to learn that lava burns, mushrooms are not good to be sniffing during battle, and spiked coral is not candy.
dawn rain
27-07-2006, 16:19
The customizable henchmen are a logical evolution.
You have more and more land, and a stable or declining gaming population.
So unless Anet sells 5 millions copies of Nightfall, the longer you play the more empty the areas will be.
So if you have a bunch a customizable henchmen, much more efficient than the one we already have, it doesn't really matter if the areas are empty or not.
I like the idea of customizable henchmen. I think ANet is capable of designing an AI acceptable to most of the players. But, I hope this is not ANet's solution to the ghost town effect. Rather than using "uber" henchmen so players can create groups in empty towns, ANet should be developing better grouping tools.
arredondo
24-08-2006, 23:54
OK, it's now official as Arena.net has added the details of their customizable henchies in GW:Nightfall at the main website today. It seems unlikely that they'll be a loot penalty as I originally proposed, but we'll see. However one thing I wanted in the first post of this thread was this:
Arena.net only needs to assign basic A.I. to every skill, and perhaps allow you to set up 'combos', or the attack/spell cast order you want chained.
I really hope this kind of flexibility makes it into the system. If not right away, at least down the line. Assassins already have a combo script since they don't attempt to use Duals before Leads, so I don't think this is a major issue. Simply allow players to determine the order of 2-5 custom string combos using the selected skills on their Mercenary's skill bar. An example is:
Phantom Pain->Shatter Delusions->Virulence
Sure the A.I. can use any of these skills as normal A.I. would, but when possible it'd be nice that everytime the first skill of a combo is executed that it tries to follow up with the other skills we decide to chain it to. Below a henchie we'd see three or four combo skill bars. We simply drag and drop 2-5 skills into as many of those bars we want and that will be all that's needed.
To the degree of customization that's being proposed, wouldn't it be easier to just have access to your other characters as potential hench? Considering how quick lvl 20 can be reached, it's not like level difference/area content will be a problem for long.
As a mostly pve person, I am NOT looking forward to doing the same quests/missions over and over again to bring most of my characters through to the end and unlock skills/elites.
There could be a problem with party farming, but for all those that insist on groups with 2 monks there will at least be an incentive to create new monk characters.
It will still be faster/more fun/whatever to group with humans, and probably easier to get bonus/masters. All the tedious, boring quests/work that you can never find groups for and only want to do once can be knocked out of the way.
That is, if creating some ai for them is actually possible.
actionjack
25-08-2006, 08:22
From what I am hearing, Nightfall will have something like that (customizible hero helper)
So congra, your idea made it..!
I still wonder how they are going to add it, and how it could be handle in a none-solo situation, but will just have to wait and see.
On Hire Hench, I think it is good idea. Have you talk to a Merc leader in a tent to "order" what type of hench to take with you. But might lead to some possible abues, and in some mob setup, could be overpowering... but still doable.
Kudos.
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