New Kheldian questions...

Hey, I just rolled a warshade and I've got some questions before I get too far into the build. (Currently level 13)

After reading up on the guides, I think I've decided to be a shifter. If I'm doing damage, I'll be in nova. If I'm taking damage, I'll be in dwarf. Dropping to human for sunless mire, stygian circle, gravity well, and eclipse as needed. I don't see myself spending much time in human form. Does this sound like an effective playstyle?

That being said, I'd like to know about set bonuses. Do set bonuses carry over between forms, or are they only active as a human? Is it something strange like sets in nova attacks only give their bonuses while you're in nova form?

If the set bonuses don't work in forms, does it make sense to just forget about the sets entirely and frankenslot to ED caps and then throw in procs?

Set bonuses work across forms alright, which is really nice.

Dropping to Human Form just to control, self-buff, occasionally explode and do nasty things to enemy corpses is a really fun way to play a WS too

Starting off in Human Form to control the spawn and Mire (and eventually Eclipse) before switching to Nova to blast them, maybe switching to Dwarf to scrap it out if needed is still my preferred method of soloing.

What you described is the standard tri-former tactics and is exactly how I play my Warshade. Right from when I first got Sunless Mire I would start fights in human, follow the alpha taker and buff up, then go to Nova and use the AoE's, once you get Eclipse just slot that in before using Sunless Mire, and the rest of the buffs (Hasten, Dark Extraction, Stygian Circle) can be used after a fight is finished.

Edit: Other human powers like Gravatic Emination, Gravity Well and Unchain Essence can be used to taste I tend to use my controls more when solo than when on a team though.

You will also be please to know that as Carnifax said your set bonus' will work no matter what form you are in, the only things that don't pass to the forms are passive powers like Stamina, they only work in human form (Not that a Warshade really needs Stamina due to Stygian Circle).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aggelakis PrincessDarkstar: "RAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH SOMEONE IS *WRONG* ON THE INTERNET!"

Thanks for the replies. Glad to hear I'm on the right track to a fun playstyle.

I forgot to ask, is hasten really needed? Wouldn't it be really annoying to drop to human every time it's up?

What kinds of set bonuses should I be aiming for?

I'd just like to add about Hasten for TriForm Kheldians, that currently (AFAIK) there's still this bug going on where even if you CTRL+Click Hasten to set it to auto-execute every time you're in Human-form, Hasten will not auto-execute as intended even when you are in Human-form and Hasten is available. I've had this happen to me many times and the only remedy is to either activate Hasten yourself, or somehow rig your macros/keybinds to include Hasten when you next switch to Human-form.

It can be quite an annoyance at times, one more reason to learn to use the monitor attribute window...

For a Warshade, yeah, dropping to Human form only long enough to fire off a support power is a perfectly fine playing style. In fact, I consider that if I'm in Human form long enough to require turning my shield on, I'm in Human form too long.

My main form depends on the situation. Usually I will start in Nova form, aggroing the foes from a distance and "softening them up", then I'll charge into the middle of them, drop to Human for Mire, than go Dwarf. From then on I'm switching between Human and Dwarf. Occasionally I'll go Nova for a second in melee, to fire off a Detonation.

The main time that I make major use of Human form is when facing a Quantum. Usually I will start in Human form, put up all my shields, and Starless Step the Quantum to me. Then I Gravity Well him, beat on him until I'm out of attacks, and go Dwarf.

While I do admit Hasten is quite useful, since you don't have enough attacks in either form with short enough recharges to form a chain, personally I use that as a reason to form shift. If you consider that you have the attacks of both Nova and Dwarf form, plus your Human powers, you should have a power up all the time. The only limiting factor is the amount of time it takes to shift.

While others might say that the form shifting animation cuts down on your DPS, to me the shifting is half the fun of being a Kheldian. And while Gravity Well and Essense Drain are technically attacks, I don't really look at them that way. I'll often drop to Human and fire them off while in Dwarf Form, not to mention of course Mire or Stygian Circle. The trick, I think, is to shift often enough to take full advantage of the potential of ALL your powers, while not shifting so often than you slot down the rate at which you deal damage. That's really something you have to learn by feel.

As for your "silly question" while I certainly feel there are differences between Peacebringers and Warshades, I don't think the difference is any greater than, say, an Invulnerability Scrapper and a Regeneration Scrapper. The capabilities of Kheldians are similar, it is their Power Sets that make them different. So I do feel they are the same Archetype. SoA too, although they are quite a bit more different. (Particularly Soldiers compared to Widows, not as much the subtypes to each other)

I object, those aren't new questions at all!



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Ah-HA! I have finally thought of a "new question." Take this, Bill!

It really has more to do with the lore and RP aspect of the game, so it might not count.

In one of the first Shadowstar arcs, the Circle of Thorns are doing research on how a nictus possesses a human. Is it believable, then, to have a backstory in which my character's nictus infusion was done by the CoT, possibly attempting to create a sort of nictus demon they could control?

Additionally, how well does the character name "Defying the Curse" fit such a story?