TwoHeadedBoy

Well turn incarnates on and equip Agility if it isn't equipped already- It passes 45%. I agree that it would be nice to be able to sustain an ST chain while running the extra resist toggles but it's just not realistic. I think Microcosm said he does this on his main build and I'd be interested to see what he had to get his recovery to in order to sustain his ST output- My experience is that it's generally not practical to do though.

Edit: Actually w/ Agility it's at 44.8% s/l defense which is really exactly the same as 45%, the .2% isn't noticeable, but if you're just OCD you can change the Def/End in Maneuvers to a Def to hit 45% even.

Obligatory Microsignal.



Right, which seems like you're agreeing with me in terms of putting procs in Mire and Unchain, given their long recharge? It seems as if it is not worth putting the proc in the attack based both on your summary and my previous view of the concept. Especially considering the general lack of need for a Human-Form Warshade to negate damage from individual targets due to the mitigation and survivability levels we are able to reach.
Well when it comes to putting procs in single target attacks, I personally do this for the extra damage chance (once past ED slotting) in order to put more damage and increase DPS against hard single targets (AV's, Pylons, etc.)
Yeah. The +Recharge proc in Detonation is awesome and I'm glad I have it there (and Alien does too.)

You're missing the point with Dwarf... Light Form/Eclipse cap resistance anyways. More resistance isn't the answer. For a Warshade, a +dmg for Nova is worthless on a Tri Form build since Nova is the AOE form and against enough enemies where it would be appropriate to use Mire, a Tri Form shade can cap their damage anyways.

I would be down with removing the crashes from the Shade/PB Nukes, scaling down the damage a bit, and making them Nova form powers. That would make the most sense to me.

I'm sorry, what? Did you say something?

That was truly an anomaly (and a frustrating one at that.) We were getting some seriously unlucky spawns or something... A full Mire gives a better ToHit bonus than Rage, there's really not much hope for increasing it enough to make a difference at that point. At one point towards the end I had a full Mire and 6 yellow inspirations running and I still couldn't hit the bastards.. In a situation like that, Tactics isn't going to make much of a difference (sadly.)


Edit: Just saw this


You can use:

/bind key "Powexectoggleon Combat Jumping"

/bind key "powexectoggleon Super Jump"

(You don't need to tell the binds to powexectoggleoff the other power as each will automatically detoggle the other when it is activated. Same with Ninja Run. )

I know, I never said it was a complete and indisputable study, just relating personal experience.
Well therein lies the wonders of Inky Aspect and Gravitic Emanation, which effectively locks down minions and LT's permanently at an even-level. Add Unchain Essence into the mix, and that's some pretty insane mitigation, which is just as effective as holding minion/LT aggro- You could even argue that it's more effective as squishies don't even have to worry about taking stray AOE attacks from mezzed enemies.
Tell that to Dechs when he's on his Dark Armor Tank.

Yeah, we've had that discussion many times. It's pretty annoying.

Actually Human Form outdoes Tri Form on single target damage. A single-mired human build does slightly more ST damage than a double-mired dwarf form and that's not accounting for form shift times or the naturally increased rate at which dwarf will be going through buff food and pulling more due to the rapid mire in the attack chain burning minions faster than Orbiting Death. This was discussed more elaborately here: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=277488

Yeah Tri Form does better AOE, but the disparity isn't that large on high end builds that use incarnate powers (Reactive, Judgement.) As a reference point when I first switched to a human spec it was hitting the ticket cap in AE less than a minute slower than my previous Tri Form spec (I used to remember the exact difference, but I don't now) and this was before I worked Dark Detonation into my build. The thing that makes up the biggest difference in my experience is the ability to use Quasar on a naturally toggle-free Tri Form build. Mostly Orbiting Death is filling in the painful gaps in Tri Form shift times which closes the gap pretty significantly.

I think the last one is my new favorite of yours.

Unfortunately, with the use of Provoke, Human Form for both Kheldians is a better tank due to higher survivability and damage output. Maybe for Peacebringers it's not so much because massive unnecessary KB isn't the best trait for a tank to have, but for Warshades at least, the only useful thing that Dwarf is capable of doing on an end game build is stacking up a Mire.

I did an experiment with AIB where we were both on an AV- He was on his White Dwarf Policebringer and I was on my Human Form Warshade. I was able to pull aggro off of him consistently and essentially split it with him by just using provoke. We repeated the experiment for several AV's with similar results.

I would also argue that the superior mez capabilities of human form make it even more of a superior tank than Black Dwarf- If you can stun the whole room, it's going to make a noticeable increase in your team mate's survivability.

Unfortunately I don't have room for Provoke in my build anymore, which really bums me out and brings me to my main point that I should have mentioned in my last post:

Since we can't get APP/PPP's, and the Devs probably wouldn't even have time to give us that option at any point, I think we should be given an extra power pool to choose from. The flexibility would be much appreciated, and I would most definitely get use out of picking Speed, Fighting, Leaping, Leadership, and Presence.

As much as I want Provoke back, I don't think I should have to sacrifice ~4% defense to everything, 7.5% global recharge, 10% regen, and 1.12% HP for the three slots that I spent on Combat Jumping just to get it. I would however drop Nebulous Form for Provoke in a second.

While overall I am obviously very happy with the concept/mechanics/synergy of Warshades there are some issues that need to be looked into in my opinion.

1.) I'll start with the most talked about and obvious: Shorter form shifts and toggle suppression. The presence of two offensive toggles (Orbiting Death and Inky Aspect) in a Warshade has horrible synergy with the form shifting gimmick as it is currently. I'm not suggesting that these powers should work while in forms, but they should definitely not have to be retoggled every time you switch back to human form.

Another thing is that Dwarf should be able to benefit from the +defense from pool power toggles and Shadow Cloak. As it stands now, Human Form has more potential for survivability than the "tank" form. I've previously thrown out the idea of making Dwarf Strike work similarly to MA's Storm Kick for Tanks, granting an unstackable 10% Defense bonus whenever the power is executed.

2.) Essence Drain is a horrible power. The damage and heal are both much too low, especially when compared to Siphon Life. Warshades Single Target damage is not in danger of being overpowered even with maximized buffs given our low damage cap, I don't see how that could be considered an issue when it comes to considering a buff for this power.

3.) The inherent, while useful during the level up phase, is largely wasted for the level 50 game,and that is the focus of most new content. It is also played often by a good amount of the player base. Factor in the invention system, and all those resistance bonuses aren't giving us squat... +Def would be much more useful.

4.) Fluffies, while doing impressive damage, need help. I personally wish that all pets were controllable in the same way that Mastermind and Lore pets are but that's a separate conversation. Their AI is very stupid- They have no melee attacks and yet they always seem to hang out in Melee range. They also have very, very poor survivability. I would like to see secondary resistance toggles and/or Eclipse carry over to them.

5.) Gravimetric Snare is a bit too much of a throwaway power for my taste. Changing it into an AOE immobilize with a -KB effect on a longer recharge and for a higher endurance cost would make it much more potentially useful for Warshades, and broaden the appeal of the Archetype. Many do not like Knockback, and while Warshade KB is very manageable, it would be nice to have the option to lock down spawns.

I'm sure there's more stuff too, but those are the big ones for me.

In case you didn't notice, this is now an AIB Campaign Thread. I was simply voicing what the candidate needs to advocate in order to earn my delegates.

• Well yeah. No one wants Peacebringers to get the Warshade's slow secondary. We just want it to be Knockdown instead of Knockback. It makes no sense for an AT with higher survivability potential than many Tank sets to need KB for mitigation while knocking things out of range of it's own attacks.

• None of the (good) suggestions called for that. We just want the animations sped up and we want toggles to suppress (remain turned on but not affect us while shape shifted) and then resume working as normal while in human form without having to retoggle.

Yeah, but Scrapper Burn is still horrible to use.

When Fire and Ice themed Praetorian Kheldians come out I think I'm going to combust from happiness. I have a level 40-Something Energy/Kin Corruptor that I'll never play again. It was my first ever character, and I don't want to talk about it. I can't bring myself to delete him though. >.>

Baha Stone's is a Tank. You crazy, Fiery Aura is my favorite non-Warshade set in the game. I also share your enthusiasm issue when it comes to getting characters to 50- I only have 6 actually. My Warshade, my Peacebringer, my Fire/Mental Blaster, my SS/Fire Brute, my Spines/Fire Scrapper, and my Fire/Fire Scrapper. Do you see a trend here? I like FIRE!

You still need to join the dark side and make a SS/Fire Brute.

I have TWO now- My new Protector Warshade created for Kheldian Fridays (after moving my main to Freedom) is even being leveled up and played in the MFing Fashion. (Link required? Might as well..)