Faultline_EU

Better at what? Holding aggro, doing damage, taking damage, moving slightly faster than a tortoise with a limp?

I used to have stamina in my build and was quite solid but found I didn't always feel like I was contributing as much on teams sometimes. So I dropped the whole fitness pool and picked up hasten and conserve energy instead. Endurance management does become trickier but the payoff was I can go all out for 90 seconds when needed. Blues help and often you'll have someone on the team with RA or something anyway.

Don't forget that Stamina is useless in Nova or Dwarf wheras both hasten and Conserve Energy carry over. Dwarf can be quite End heavy so it's handy there and although Nova has less End problems it's still handy.

That said, my playstyle is usually about being in Nova and using the AoE when on big teams and then dropping to human to finish things off - so I have less problems with human form and endurance. I also have the leaping pool for knockback protection, so technically I could drop that and pick fitness as well if I really wanted.

It really is about playstyle and you can make most builds work if you want.

It is possible to have a well slotted tri-form, you just have to be careful. It's also unlikely to be well slotted until late on (I'm talking mid 40s) unless you spread the slots over all three forms as you level but then you just end up being slightly weaker in all three. So either take all three and concentrate on two early or respec to tri-form later on.

Nova is excellent for the first 20 levels because of it's acc and dmg buffs. Slot the AoE first to get the most bang.

Dwarf can be left minimally slotted (3 dmgres in the form) and be a panic button or standin tank but if you prefer tanking, slot up the heal and flare (the flare is very good at keeping mobs on their backs and helping you to survive).

Human form can be done in many ways but all include the big heavy hitter attacks like IS and RS. You can skip stamina if you wish and take conserve energy - using that, form shifting, well placed endred in attacks and blue insps to get by. Hasten - combined with light form and conserve energy - can turn you into a damage powerhouse with no end worries. Well, for three minutes anyway.

The trick to slotting is taking what you need rather than what would be nice. For instance Dawn Srike is not a huge nuke and I find it more a panic (or occasional fun) power. So unless you team with a Kin or someone else that can buff you right up with damage, it's not usually worth having it up a lot. It also has a built in acc bonus and you are also likely to use Build Up first so acc are not as needed. Means you can just three slot it with damage rather than six slot as most nukes are. Light Form is nice three slotted for dmgres but you can run the other shields on top of it and cosmic balance will add more res so you can save yourself slots there. That sort of thing.

You may find you dislike one of the forms anyway and end up bi or even pure human. Try and see.

Another defender nuke that is worth remembering and I use on odd occasions (usually when solo).

Assault > Hasten > Black hole > Tar Patch > Darkest Night > Summon Fluffy > Tar Patch > Power Build Up > Aim > Atomic Blast.

Sure it takes 45 seconds to pull off but is one of the safest you can use both before and after

I'm wondering what Dreadful Wail would be like in there instead for even more stacked -res....

Running Lightform and Conserve Energy will actually take you back to full end when using QF. Don't have Geas on Sundae but I suspect you could get 3-4 minutes using a combo of the three.

Got round to trying this on my PB. RS and SF kept him pretty much on his back the whole fight. Conserve Energy meant no end problems and hasten kept my DPS up nicely. Used 8 insps - mostly reds with one yellow and one purple and only had to use my heal once (although I used Essence Boost as well to be on the safe side). On heroic of course.

Depends what other powers you have I guess? I did him a few times yesterday for the badges and the first was on invincible as I forgot to lower it. With Lightform it's no real problem other than taking almost the full three minutes to kill him. Without Hasten it might have been a different story...

Didn't try without LF but may give it a go over lunch. Reds, purples and a bit of knockback will be my method.

Well considering it would be hard for them to be less responsive...

Anyone tested them?

I've only ever met one before and I can't remember who that was now either.
Not that I'm currently playing as my internet connection broke three weeks ago. Stoopid BT....

A good player will always know how to adapt to the situation to be as useful as they can be, whatever build they have. As I've said I don't do much damage - party because I prefer focusing on keeping the team safe and party because I don't like using GA so have a different build to most stone tanks. Someone mentioned the example of a tank and empath teaming and I used to duo with an empath called Doc Goodheart a while back.

I had no need to actively tank as mud pots gave me the aggro. He had no need to heal as I was in no danger. He'd give me fort, AB and RA and I'd do nothing but attack and with no need to heal he could attack as much as he liked as well. Not how either of us normally played but we changed with the situation.

It's generally much safer for the team to follow the tank. If half your team keeps splitting and going off on their own then don't worry overly much in trying to keep them alive. They will soon learn not to keep wandering off.

That said, team splits can happen for other reasons. Just a matter of weighing up the situation. If the tank looks happy, go help the others. As Dead Calm said, Feasome Stare is a great power for locking down a group for a while to give you chance to go somewhere else. Darkest Night is also great as you can leave it running and be miles away and still helping. I would do that with the tanks group however as at least the tank can keep the aggro off you that DN causes.

I don't think it's a case of not attacking but knowing when to attack. On a good team or easy mish where a group is taken down in 20 seconds, your aura and an AoE is enough to get aggro at the start of the fight. No reason not to attack then as there is little danger. As the difficulty goes up the amount of attacking should go down as you focus on keeping the team safe. Against tough foes, I rarely attack at all as I watch for runners, keep bosses busy or keep an eye on nearby groups in case they get aggroed. I actually only have three damaging powers from my secondary and only use two most of the time - and thats for the knockup and hold they have, not the damage.

As people have said though, you can play your character any way you wish. Just nice to let team mates know that you prefer to scrank so they know what to expect.

Might consider swapping Conserve Energy with Thermal Shield?

I've thought about that before. Images of locking onto a sapper and then watching him and his nearby friends go boom was very nice. Might be a little overpowered if they can home in around corners and the like...

Fly isn't going to be much help when using GA though. Looks about right for the attacks as two recharge offsets the -recharge of GA. I'm probably not the best person to ask as I don't really use GA so my attacks are slotted differently from most stone tanks. Sure one of the others will have better advice then me.

Fault over Hurl Bolder everytime. Couple of EndRed in Mudpots, a taunt or two and then acc or dmg depending on your preference. No TP? Three slot Rock Armour for Def.

I would possibly switch rooted and taunt. Rooted will improve your survivability by a fair bit and mud pots will do a fair job of getting you aggro. Taunt is always nice to have but not much use if you can't survive the aggro. Personal choice really tho.

I 'think' combat jumping will turn off rooted if you use it? I'd rather have Rooted than the little bit of defence CJ provides.

Ah right. Don't think this toon will be geared for PvP so I can leave them out. Thanks.

Both can be slotted for Acc but the -perception bit seems autohit. Is there any point to me slotting acc in them?

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Sure, a PB can take forms, but he will not be significantly better, he will just be different.

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See I don't feel that way. If I went all human I would have almost exactly the same build as I have for human now with maybe essence boost and glinting eye six slotted instead of four and possibly add Pulsar. Not really something I feel would make much difference to me. For that small sacrifice I get two extra forms - both of which are quite heavily slotted. It's just trickier to do with a PB and takes longer to achieve.

Feel I should defend the old PB a little here.

PB Nova will never be as powerfull as WS Nova because of mires and eclipse. They can dish out fairly good damage with just the AoE slotted though. Build Up may not last long but I'm guessing it's quicker to do than double mire and eclipse and after using both Nova AoE and then dropping to human for a Solar Flare or other AoE attack, all the minions are usually dead anyway.

Dwarf form is about 50/50 for which is better. PB won't do as much damage but has a better heal I believe and damage mitigation in Dwarf Flare. Essence boost will give you just over 2400HP and Conserve Energy will let you slug away with no End worries for a while.

Photon seekers can be stupid and annoying but they are good when they hit. Can easily get 6 mobs in the blast radius if they are all pounding on you at the time. Been using it for ToT recently - open door, fire seekers, three dead minions in 2 seconds flat.

Lightform does have downsides but it also has good points too. Mez resist, built in End recovery, don't think attacks root you still (?), can pass through mobs and most importantly last twice as long as Eclipse. That's pretty handy when facing something like an AV. When it drops, pop a CAB, Conserve Energy, Essence Boost, Reform Essence and you are back to almost full HP and ready to fight in under 6 seconds.

As you point out tho, a tri-form PB has the downside of having to slot all the forms to be effective and you just can't do that until the mid/late 40s.

Dwarf and Light Form. Acrobatics gives a minor (+1?) resist to holds.

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Pb's have more toggles, so its preferred to stay in one form.

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Not counting Forms, WS have 6 toggles, PBs have 5.

Edit - unless you count Energy and Combat flight of course.....

It's hard to compare for any form. It depends on the build, the player and the situation.

As you mention dwarf and nova, does that mean you are a tri-form kheld? If a PB, you probably won't have enough slots to six slot Nova or Dwarf without missing out somewhere else.