Peacebringer or Warshade?

I'm only a few levels away from my first level 50 toon! I wanted to post this ahead of time so I could see what you all say before I get to 50. I'm not real into the numbers and crazy stats. I just want to make a squiddy that can blast and a dwarf that can tank and have fun! From what I have looked at, there only seem to be a few differences, but I have also read that those differences are big LOL! Soooooooo? What are your opinions? For a fun killing machine, what do you reccomend? PB or WS? Do you know of any links to guides that you reccomend? Thanks!!

Looks like the guides up top still work - It's a few issues old, but Plasma's guide is still a good overview.

That said, how do you like playing?

I *tend* to suggest trying a Peacebringer first, as it's more predictable - all the buffs (barring the inherent) are self contained, relying only on slotting and level. Your heal will do the same amount each time at the same level/slots, etc. which can make it easier to learn the AT. A Warshade is a roller coaster ride - your buffs (and some other abilities) depend on how many enemies are around, living or dead, so it can get a little more involved.

That said, I have at least one of each at 50, and they were both a *lot* of fun all the way up.

See my Guides and Tutorials

I would have to say if you have any interest in PB's to try them first. Why? Glad you asked.

Because once you go black you never go back...

As someone whose recently gotten access to Kheldians (as of the last double xp weekend), I'd like to echo Memphis Bill.

With this caveat or whatever:

Don't get attached to your VERY first kheldian. Make it a "throw-away", as in, play around with it, slot it, take whatever powers you want to play with, and most importantly, stay away from the AE with this one.

Why? This way you find out how well your personal playstyle meshes with the AT and, by staying away from the AE...you learn new tactics. (Quantum gunners and Void seekers tend to pop up at the worst moments usually, but they give me something to expect and look for in the groups of goons.)

Also, to help with playing a Kheldian, don't make one with the mindset that it's supposed to be "epic" in scale and power. Instead think of it more as a "reward" AT in the same vein as the veteren powers. (ex. When I made my first "real" Kheldian, I think of her as a VERY frail blaster and I seem to do just fine.)

Good stuff! Thanks guys! Memphis_Bill, I will check those guides out! I do have to say one of my favorite ATs is a blaster. I like to cause serious damage while the tanks get the attention. But I like tanking too lol! Huey_Kablooie, do the Void and Quantum baddies spawn more often when you play a PB/WS as opposed to a normal AT? Thanks again!

Ok here's some thoughts I have on kheldians (I'm just gonna throw them out there in no particular order):

1) To echo what someone already said, don't expect them to be epic in their power. Khelds are a lot more complex than other ATs. Everytime you level up and choose a power or slot powers you're gonna have to weigh pros and cons of everything. This is especially true if you go triform.

2) PBs tend to be a bit more scrapperish. They have high damage attacks and lots of self heals to keep them alive. In my opinion, a solo PB really hits its stride right around level 18 when you get Incandesant Strike. Also, PBs utilize a lot of knockback so try to get used to using that to stay alive.

3) WSs strike me as more controllerish. They've got more steady mez, less damage in the beginning, but they can really hit some impressive highs in damage. For me, my solo WS hit his stride around level 28 when he got Inky Aspect to keep minions mezzed and stack with Gravitic Emenation to mez whole mobs.

4) Don't get turned off by the initial 18 levels when you're getting your butt handed to you by quantums and voids. It sucks horribly but both PBs and WSs get holds at level 18 to deal with them.

5) Even if you don't plan on being triform try out the forms. They're not for everybody but they can be really good. Use keybinds and you might learn to love them. Don't use keybinds and you'll wonder why everyone else is crazy and has them.

6) Soon as you hit around 15 or 20 transfer about 20 mil over from your main and sink it into two -KB IOs. Once I got rid of that soft mez I found that it really wasn't that bad not having mez protection on my guy in human form.

EDIT: the quantums and voids never spawn when you're playing another AT. In the earlier levels about 1 will spawn per mission. Latter on you'll start to see 2-3 per mission but this happens about the time you start to laugh off quantums and voids.

Also, if you like blasting you should definitly take nova form. It makes the first 20 levels fly by on teams. It's really impressive to see the amount of AOE damage a nova puts out at those low levels. After that blasters start to catch up and you're not quite as cool.

Great tips! Thanks Ice_Storm!

I like to think of them this way: Regen or Dark Armour?

A PB is very self reliant. It has two solid self heals (three if you take Dwarf Form), a revive and an endurance management tool.

A WS relies more on its foes to regain HP and endurance. But it will also muck around with them a lot more by stunning them and holding them a lot.

The inherent buff makes a lot of difference in teams. This I find the most significant difference. It also has the effect that solo you'll probably go, 'oh, this is ok and kind of fun' but in teams you may change to 'Holy Moley! This is astounding!' (especially on a Warshade where you'll have bigger spawns to drain your buffs from). On one team, you'll be an engine of destruction passing out pain to all and sundry but will be very squishy, on others you'll still do good damage but will be very hard to hurt.

Other than that, I found that I could go without the Fitness Pool on my WS whereas my PB needed it. Also, be prepared for the slot-crunch if you're going tri-form. It'll hurt until you get to your 30s when you start getting more slots but remember that when you respec, you can shove some of those slots into forms before you earnt the power. That can make a huge difference.

Enjoy, they're not 'uber' or 'overpowered' (well, ok, my Warshade on a good team can feel it sometimes...) but they are a challenge. I hope you enjoy them and pre-emptory congratulations on the 50.

Peacebringer or Warshade? Very simple answer to a very old question: just replace the 'or' with an 'and'.

Make a Peacebringer and a Warshade, play them both at least Lv32 and make up your mind which Kheldian — if at all — should be dumped.

If you're like me, you'll keep going through the levels with both of them and enjoy them for their different playstyles.

I solo much easier on my warshade then my peacebringer.

I don't have a reason why this is but maybe since both are built totally different. PB is triform and ws is human only.

But I am learning on teams that a ws is just nasty

Both are in low 40s and I really do love both of them....... but the war shade is starting to take the lead over peacebringer.

Again it ultimately comes into your playstyle

Xenite speaks the truth, make both.

I started with a PB and went Human only, love her lots and recently took her out to held a SG mate hit 50. My WS is tri-form and is just as much fun to play.