Henchmen

[Whailor]

I personally like the general idea of the henchmen in NWN. In BG series your party members weren't exactly NPC's as such - these were only some pre-created chars you controlled. So in NWN are "real" NPC's, i.e. chars who do their own stuff and manage. So that is good.

What is bad though is the poor AI options and lack of scripts, like they were in BG-series, so to say. I would like to set general scripts - or behaviours through the speech - for them, so that they would act a bit more intelligently. I.e. casters would not blow all their spells on the first damn crazy wild pig I encounter; when something gets close to them then they would stash away their ranged weapon and grab melee weapon and go "defensive", as their offensive generally sucks. Or if you are a caster and have melee henchman, then he would not charge after some faraway target and leave you to take the beating on something, which suddenly popped out of the tree next to you. You know, basically make them smarter [img]smile.gif[/img] And of course all those little NPC quests and romances and bickering and such would be cool, like in BG2, although would then need a possibility to have more then 1 henchman with you.

Other then that, the henchmen are much more like NPC's, persons who joined you but do their own stuff, in NWN then they were in BG-series.

[Ronn_Bman]

Whailor,

You're exactly right about the henchmen in NWN. At first, it annoyed me terribly not being able to control them, but then I started thinking, "this is what NPCs are suppose to do."

You're also right about the AI of henchmen(and AI in general), which is why I've recommended Pausanias's henchmen upgrade. It allows you to do all the things you mentioned in your post through conversation with your henchmen just like normal, only there are more options.

It's super easy to install, too. All you do is backup your override folder and then install. If you don't like it, restore your override folder, and there's no harm done. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Sir Taliesin]

Originally posted by Ronn_Bman: I enjoy not having the control over my henchmen that I had in the Baldur's Gate series. I'll admit, it was weird at first, but it is much more realistic. Playing with these TRUE NPCs feels alot like playing a multiplayer game. You KNOW the other players aren't doing the right thing(as far as you're concerned), but you have to work with them anyway. I did download one of the henchmen hacks though because I couldn't stand my henchman standing there shooting her ranged weapon at two or three orcs who were pounding away at her with their axes. Henchmen should be able to switch to melee weapons based on an enemy's proximity, and then switch back to ranged on their own. I hope Bioware will correct this with a future patch or expansion. The one I use is Pausanias's. It has lots of great features I don't use including inventory management. Check it out!

Thanks for the link! I am going to download and install it tonight. The Henchmen have been giving me fits, especially with the ranged weapon usage instead of melee when they are in close quarters combat. I think the NPC could have been better done by Bioware.

[9_1_6]

Hosently speaking, the idea of a henchman and not a party really neglected the fun elements of an RPG game....

Well that me...

[Ronn_Bman]

Originally posted by 9_1_6: Hosently speaking, the idea of a henchman and not a party really neglected the fun elements of an RPG game.... Well that me...

I know it's not exactly the same, but you could have a party of sorts. Play a spellcaster, and you can summon a monster for your tank, use your familiar as a thief, and hire a cleric as your henchman. Taa-daa! A four character party.

[Sir Ryan Trawl]

Does your monster get unsummoned if you use a magical item that produces one?(like Dritzzt's panther.)

Sir Ryan Trawl