Im sure this has been brought up many times before, but I just want a short answer from as many people as possible.
I have a Thief (Custom)
Who would be the best henchman? Im currently using the monk of death, but am wondering if he was the best choice, im only near the beginning of the game, so changing would be good now.
Thanks.

In the first chapter I think the half-orc barbarian with his power attack would compliment a thief best. Later chapters the monk gets better with open hand damage and flurry of blows.

I usually hire them all.

Spoilers
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Each henchman has a quest in chapters 1, 2 and 3. They are usually looking for an unique item. I go through a chapter with a henchman that compliments my character. I hold onto anything the merchants do not want to buy (item value 0 gp). At the end of a chapter I hire each henchman; listen to thier story; give them the item they are looking for and collect my reward.

Though I loath the character of the Monk I found that he was a killing machine at later chapters. Linu and Tomi were my two favorites, but I did use all of them so I could do their quests.

I believe that any of the henchmen that can fight beside you will help you out a great deal, as they will give you opportunities to get a bunch of sneak attacks (you get sneak attack damage when you attack an enemy that is already engaged with an opponent). Even another rogue can be useful since at least one of you will be getting sneak attacks if you are both attacking the same foe.

Personally, I used all of the henchmen for at least a couple of battles to test them out and also to progress their story lines (most of them had really interesting tales to tell about their past). Linu the elven cleric was my favorite however and she stayed by my side for most of the campaign.

I havent really tried many henchmen since on my first and only run I soloed but I think that spell-casting henchmen are the least useful. They cast all their memorized spells at the first sight of the wee little goblin and his mother.

<font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#00FF00">With the Thief either the Barbarian or Monk Henchman would be good for that extra melee power.

I found the Bard Henchmen decent when I was using a cleric has I didn't require power, her thieving skills were sufficient so I took her along as she was cute too and complimented my cleric well with her spells.

With my Monk Shadowdancer I took the cleric Henchman along for the most part for healing as he didn't always avoid the traps he set off.

I don't think the spell casting henchmen are totally useless, I have not used the sorcerer henchman but both the cleric and the bard were decent at casting spells. Still I find managing henchmen is sort of a art form. You can give them commands, tell them what spells to cast and when so telling them what to do when, and remembering that you have an henchman is all important.

They are kind of like having a dog along. "Sit, Stay, Come, OK"</font>

[ 02-01-2005, 12:37 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

I would advise before using any henchmen to go to the NeverWinter Vault and download the hack which gives them BRAINS. yes, some very smart people actually went out of their way to revise the scripting for the game as an *.Exe file and allow you to make them all better characters to run with. I have never played the original campaign all the way through, but when I first heard of that hack PURELY by accident, I downloaded it. I have never looked back.

http://nwvault.ign.com/Files/hakpack...21482987.shtml

Use It.
Trust The Mage With The Bloody Shortswords Looking At You Funny.

If you're having trouble deciding on a henchman, try this: http://nwvault.ign.com/Files/scripts...42982000.shtml

it'd be nice if the story let you have the same henchmen all the way through though. i got used to having a rogue to help me out with locks and traps then they take him away from me :(