imported_Timeshadow

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I'm a bit of an alt addict and I'm trying to cut that down...

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One question, why? CoX is an extremely alt friendly game due to its quick leveling speed and emphasis on not restricting content by level. While finding an AT/powerset combo that you really enjoy is great there's no reason not to roll up a bunch of toons.

I'll admit, I'm not the type to follow that strategy myself. When I first started I rolled a Dark Melee/Regeneration Scrapper and didn't make anything else because I was trying to unlock Kheldians (They're what first drew me to the game and I still love 'em ). After getting him and one of each Hero Epic AT to 50 I was lured over to CoV by the Soldiers of Arachnos. I got over my issues with the looks of Mercy Island and focused exclusively on an Electric Melee/Ninjitsu (Incorrect spelling of ninja techniques...Grr ) Stalker. I ran him to 50 and proceeded to make one of each VEAT. Love them too but the lack of shapeshifting tends to make the girls less attractive to me than their heroic counterparts.

Basically what I'm saying is that your problem may be that you're exerting too much effort trying to find the perfect combo. It may just be that you'd have more success switching around whenever the mood suits you.

There's no way to give mobs from prexisting factions powers they don't already have. Custom mobs can only be granted powers from the powersets players have access to.

That said, there are several in-game mobs with the ability to destroy themselves. Circle of Thorn mages and Minions of Bat'Zul to name a few. Check out this site to get info on enemy factions and their individual powers.

I don't, under any circumstances, advise removing Dominate from your build. It's a decent Hold but it's the damage that makes it worth having. Combined, Dominate and Subdue will take a big bite outta just about anything.

It's happened to me once before but it was a while ago. I'm pretty sure I was in The Hollows as well. It's hardly terrible considering your ranged attacks can strike from outside the Cyst's aggro radius.

However, it does pose a potentially serious problem for players who don't have experience with the buggers. Unfortunately, the Shadow Cyst spawn code has always had a mind of its own (High-end content only...right ),

On Mask Presence:

You're really not getting a significant benefit out of it with this build. The power's main draw isn't its Defense which, as LuxunS said, suppresses in combat. Rather, its the ability to land critical hits from the Hidden status it grants you.

The problem with having the power in your build is that ranged attacks don't crit from Hide. The only way to take advantage of the extra spike damage is to get at least one of the melee attacks from the Blood Widow Training pool. If, for whatever reason, you don't want to do that then you should either remove the power entirely or take the slots out of it and just use it to hold a Luck of the Gambler +Recharge IO.

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Ok the guides are well out dated for the changes that have happened to the pb. Does anyone know how i should slot the tri form to get the most out of it

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The guides are still good. The I13 changes, for the most part, didn't affect the function of powers or their required slotting. Check out Plasma's for particularly high quality stuff.

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I'd be interested. Except im on triumph, and my WS is only 28.

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Hit me up sometime. I'm on Triumph too and I've got a PB and a Warshade at 50. I'm usually on weeknights after 9PM EST and after 2PM on weekends

As to the original post, yeah the Mission Architect has brought about a lotta new fifties and that's led to a big increase in the Kheld population. However, I'm concerned that the quick leveling speed may lower the quality of the pool of Kheldian players. Fortunately, a lot of 'em seem to be coming here for advice.

Bah...It's my personal opinion that adding XP to the Architect was a horrible idea but I suppose it's whatever....

It'll affect the chance for the toHit debuff to land on all enemies within the area of effect.

Standard slotting for Dwarf form (Black and White) is three Resistance enhancements.

Slotting for the powers changes depending on how often you plan to use Black Dwarf. If you're going to spend a good amount of time in it or fill the role of main tank you're gonna want to have Black Dwarf Strike and Smite slotted with one Accuracy and three Damage. I use Black Dwarf Drain as a heal rather than a means of dealing damage so I'd recommend an Accuracy, two Heals and an EndRedux. Black Dwarf Mire used to benefit greatly from Recharge Reductions but nowadays you should be more focused on EndRedux and Accuracy.

As for whether or not should pick up Orbiting Death, that's dependant on how much time you'll be spending in human form. A TriFormShade won't get much benefit from it since you'll be spending a significantly less amount of time in human form than a BiForm or Human Only build.

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I am confused by this post. I just got smoke grenade this morning and added an -tohit debuff enhancement. I then replaced it with an accuracy enhancement since it was missing a lot. What are you guys referring to/ I am a Night Widow using the smoke grenade power and those enhancements were availble. BTW as a nice aside on this power, you can run right up to the mob you wish to kill and not draw aggro when you are stealth'd whereas you normally cannot do this as a NW and so do a buildup from a small distance away. This power allows me to step right next to my victim and then do build up and then attack from stealth.

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The animation on Smoke Grenade can be deceiving. Because the toHit debuff portion of the power requires an accuracy check, the game will display "Miss" if it fails to land.

However, the -Perception debuff is auto-hit regardless of whether or not you see "Miss" or the cloud of smoke that surrounds enemies when they're being affected by the -toHit debuff.

Here are the release notes from I13. It changed a lot for Kheldians.

Peacebringers
<ul type="square">[*]Peacebringers can now Activate Dwarf Form shape shifting while Held, Stunned, Slept or Terrorized.
[*]Peacebringers damage adjusted
Increased Melee Damage to 0.85 from 0.75
Increased Range Damage to 0.8 from 0.625
Increased Melee Dwarf Form Melee Damage to 1.0 from 0.85
[*]Luminous Blast/Radiant Strike: This power's long help stated it dealt high damage; this was corrected to state that it deals Superior damage.
[*]White Dwarf form Taunt powers now have a 75% Range Debuff component. This will have the effect of forcing ranged attackers to move closer to the Taunter.
[*]Cosmic Balance now grants 10% Recharge Slow Resistance per Peacebringer, Warshade, Arachnos Widow or Arachnos Soldier on their team.
[*]Cosmic Balance bonus now applies in shapeshifted forms.[/list]

Warshades <ul type="square"> [*]Warshades can now Activate Dwarf Form shape shifting while Held, Stunned, Slept or Terrorized.
[*]Warshades damage adjusted
increased Melee Damage to 0.85 from 0.75
Increased Range Damage to 0.8 from 0.625
Increased Dwarf From Melee Damage to 1.0 from 0.85
[*]Black Dwarf form Taunt powers now have a 75% Range Debuff component. This will have the effect of forcing ranged attackers to move closer to the Taunter.
[*]Dark Sustenance now grants 10% Recharge Slow Resistance per Peacebringer, Warshade, Arachnos Widow or Arachnos Soldier on their team.
[*]Black Dwarf Mire duration and recharge rate reduced. Recharge rate is now 20s and duration is now 10s
[*]Dark Sustenance bonus now applies in shapeshifted forms.[/list]
I'm planning on writing a fresh guide for Khelds that'll include this info. Should save us a few of these threads in the future

I'll reiterate what some of the other posters have said. If you're looking to be a dedicated tank, roll the Tanker.

Kheldians (Both PB's and Warshades) are hybrid ATs. Their strength comes from being able to fill many different rolls. The tradeoff for that flexibility is that their overall performance in any given roll isn't as high as an AT that specializes in a particular role.

While I advocate everyone playing their toons however they choose, trying to use a hybrid to get around the limitations of a specialist is more likely to leave you dissapointed than fulfill your ideas.

Now you know full well that's not fair Xen. That crazy [censored] is known for killing EVERYONE regardless of their AT, slotting and general abilities as players

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First of all, Mercy Island is a sewer, but just run the arcs from your introductory contacts and you should be fine.

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This.

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I've started so many villains that I typically just fight from the starting point to the door into Mercy proper and end up around level 5, at which point I train and head to Port Oakes. Doesn't take much longer than a sewer run and I can do it solo if I choose to.

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And this. I'd advise you to run missions from your contacts, that's what they're for after all. But if you're looking for quick levels just grab some inspirations and go take on the streets until you're satisfied.

Widows aren't as similar to Stalkers as they are to Brutes with imperfect stealth. Widow Mask Presence won't make you undetectable like a Stalker's Hide. If you're standing right next to an enemy you'll only have a second or two before they detect you. You'll need a +Stealth IO to remain unseen.

That said, the intial crits let you take big chunks out of just about anything and Night Widows get Placate so you can keep 'em coming. Night Widow attacks generally have quick animations which gives them high DPS but can cause Endurance issues. I highly recommend End Redux after you get accuracy and damage in.

As other posters have said, Tactical Training powers are important (Most can be skipped if you want but TT: Manuevers is a must). They buff you as well as the team so they serve a dual purpose. Mind Link is a huge boon to you and any teams you end up on. The Night Widow version has a shorter recharge time than the Fortunata version so it's easier to perma with IOs.

Having said all that, if you wanna play like a Stalker roll up a Bane Spider. Their Cloaking Device gives perfect stealth without outside assistance and they get an "Executioner's Strike" when Shatter lands from hidden status. It's the equivalent of Assassin's Strike. Bane's get Placate as well so they feel more like Stalkers with ranged attacks as opposed to stealthy Brutes.

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Like the old saying goes, "Jack of all trades, master of none, ofttimes better than a master of one." Playing a generalist can be tough, though, because it requires you to know enough about each of the roles you're stepping into to perform them reasonably well. The best Kheldian players tend to have experience playing many different ATs for this reason.

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Precisely correct. Justaris' statement is true for all hybrid MMO classes. As a Peacebringer, you're not a Tanker. You can do the job if it happens to come up but you're not going to be as effective. That's not to say you'll fail at it, only that you'll have more difficulty performing similar tasks than Tankers.

The true strength of hybrids is the ability to do what's needed when it's needed from moment to moment. Because of that, using Kheldians to their full ability requires that a player be able to assess situations quickly and accurately and make the correct decision as to what to do. An ambush has descended on the team? Should you go Nova form and use your AoEs to kill it quickly or switch to Dwarf form and keep it at bay while the team continues to engage whatever they're already occupied with? Your decision could affect whether you succeed or fail.

That's why players with cross-AT experience make the best Khelds and PL'ed players make the worst.

I strongly recommend you head down to the Kheldian specific forums. We can offer a ton of advice there. Since you seem to be coming from MMOs that use a different system of enhancing abilities (I'm inferring based on your use of the term "skill points" as opposed to "ehancement slots"), slotting Kheldians is gonna be a challenge for you.

I highly recommend taking a look at this excellent guide written by Plasma. It's a bit dated but no less relevant. It's considered the unofficial Kheldian bible by most forum residents. Plasma's Guide

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And this is really what we need to revitalize the AT. Queueable detoggles

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I've gotta go with Xen on this one. I'm not sure if the required effort would produce the benefits we all think it would.

The biggest problem with the current state of detoggling forms comes from the issue with the goto_tray command. In the heat of combat it's very easy to not notice that your powers tray has shifted even though you haven't. That leads to a moment of confusion that can reduce your effectiveness and even get you killed as you try to take actions that are no longer available to you.

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And drastically faster shapeshifts (I'm thinking 0.5s or less).

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I would love this. I'm sure the length of the animation times is there as a balancing mechanism but reducing the time to 1.5s or something close wouldn't decimate anything...except enemies

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Solo, they aren't much more powerful than defenders.

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Uh...definately not this.

Powers like Fallout and Vengeance can only be used on players. That should really be part of the in-game text.

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I also have not seen enough Hero Epics in the new zone. I wonder why? I've seen tons SoA. But it's on Virtue. Other servers may vary.

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This is probably due to the fact that are just more SoAs than Khelds. HEATs have had to shake a long history of bad rap whereas VEATs were the toast of the game from the moment they came on the scene. Fortunately the playing field is beginning to level out and people are realizing that those of us who stood by our Khelds aren't crazy after all.

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You'd think Longbow would be their natural enemy, but they don't seem to be in any way vulnerable to them.

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VEATs are definately vulnerable to Longbow but not in the same overt manner that Khelds are vulnerable to Quantum weapons.

Just about all Longbow mobs have the ability to debuff the VEATs main form of survival, Defense. Since VEATs lack resistance to these debuffs the odds of cascade failure are higher. But it requires larger numbers of enemies concentrating their fire to achieve as opposed to the lone Quantum Array Gun blast with its bonus damage and Stun.

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Can't forget you also get mez protection in Black Dwarf.

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This is of particular importance. Toggling on Dwarf form acts as a sort of Break Free due to the form's inherent mez protection. Even if you don't slot the powers it grants you, this effect will drastically improve your performance.

Uh...well, that's a difficult request. There's no "best build" for a Kheldian. Each player will build and play them differently. My immediate advice would be to go TriForm.

I would never advocate creating a Nova only build, particularly for a Warshade. Warshades benefit immensely from the various utility powers that are available in human and Dwarf (Colloquially known as lobster) forms.

Not using human form would leave you without the huge buffs from Sunless Mire and Eclipse. You'd also have to go without pets because you wouldn't be able to draw Extracted Essences from foes. Going without Dwarf is less detrimental but it does leave you with fewer options.

Moreso than Peacebringers, Warshades lend themselves particularly well to TriForm builds. While that isn't the only option, you'll be severely reducing your abilities by choosing to go Nova Form only. I have to advise you against such action; especially if your only reasoning for doing so is aesthetic