Need clarification on Kheldians and playstyle

Hi all, i am well on my way to get my first lvl 50 hero and preparing myself to play a kheldian(I love underdogs and 'jack of all trades'). Now i have been reading up on them alot, and try to team with them as often as possible yet there are still some things that remain unclear to me.

1. Human-, Bi- and Triformers. While im clear on what is meant by these definitions, im unclear on how you play them. Lets say your a Triformer, do you choose a form based on teammarkup and your perceived role within it and then stick to it, or do you hop in and out of forms like a monkey(i have seen both)? Particullary im wondering where the advantage of a Triformer lies compared to lets say a Human/Nova + Human/Dwarf dual build user(or really any other combination) which is kinda the route i expect myself going.

2. Setboni. Many good setboni are 5-6 slots deep, can you be a triformer and still do your thing while trying to softcap ranged defense or something similar? This question kinda ties into the first cause im not really sure on what a triformer is actually trying to do. Do you aim for different setboni if you specialise your Kheldian? For example ranged defense/damage boni as a nova, recharge/status resistance as a dwarf.

3. Peacebringer vs. Warshade. Strong consensus seems to be for the WS to be the better Triformer or even Humanform Kheldian, however lots of the stuff i have read seems to totally disregard Cosmic Balance/Dark Sustenance(probably cause it predates the I13 changes). Personally i vastly prefer the PB version of balancing the team, especially from the dwarf perspective. Seems not that unlikely to get 3-4 Scrappers/Blasters in a team which would cap your resistances permanently as a Dwarf(apart from psi), while eclipse not only needs you to go to human form regularly(which can get you mezzed), but also needs several foes to get the same effect. Am i correct in assuming PB are generally better tanks in your average scrapper heavy team while WS will gernerally pull more damage in the same team?

4. How much of a problem is it for the WS to not have a Taunt effekt in his AE? Im not really clear on how you get more than 5 guys(or if several crucial targets are to far from each other to be affected by a single taunt) to stick to your WS. For example groups with several elite bosses like you get in the ITF or a drawn out ambush, something like that. Lacking both a taunting damage aura AND a taunt effect in your regular AE seems like atleast an annoyance to me.

5. Damage. People complain about PB low human only form damage, looking at it on mids i dont really see the problem. Comparing them to say a corruptor(a class i played and generally enjoyed) they actually seem to have superior base damage to most sets, and thats assuming no buffs due to team. So maybe i misunderstood, is it activation times, recharge or endurance thats limiting PB instead of the damage of the attacks themselves?

I am planning to make a PB first. Dual Build from early on, one build Human only for solo(i take it its hard in the beginning) the other Nova/Dwarf for teams. Reason basicly that i want to see all powers the PB has to offer, yet still want to bring the full utility of the class into teams. Im favouring the PB because im not all that comfortable with the many WS powers that require certain circumstances like dead bodies to heal or living bodies to get resistances. And strange as it sounds i think i prefer Lightform to eclipse?

I would really like to get some views and thoughts of experienced kheldians on the subject, just want to stress that i am aware of the potential of mire/double mire for the WS yet im not that hot over just damage especially if it looks just a tad unhealthy to attain(in human form jumping right into the middle of a bunch of mezzing/endusapping/KB foes that can suppress your defensetoggles ... ehrm nope?).

P.S.: Do the human form shields/buffs detoggle if you switch form, or do they merely get suppressed and reactivate if go out of the form again?(i fear i know the answer but 'hope springs eternal' and i have to ask)

I haven't got long before I go home so I will be quick (People will surely add more after me):

1 - If you have a tri-former the key is to be in the form that is most needed at the right time. Do you need to hit the mobs with a control power? human form. Are you free to cause damage? nova form. Do you need to take an hold aggro? dwarf form. Some people specialise in one form or another, but a true tri-former will know which form to use and when, and switch up when needed.
2 - For Warshades in particular +recharge is the most important set bonus you can aim for, though for those staying in Nova +ranged defence is also useful, but I would never go for anything else unless I already had enough +recharge.
3 - You are correct, a PB tends to be more survivable (In most situations, not just on that team) and a Warshade tends to do more damage. There are exceptions to that rule however.
4 - Black Dwarf gets a taunt which hits 5 targets and is on a fast recharge, holding aggro isn't really an issue unless someone deliberately wants it off you.
5 - You are comparing them to a corruptor, which is a medium damage class, so you should be fairly equal. Most people compare then to scrappers or blasters, and then the damage can feel a bit low. It is still good enough I think.

Sorry the reply is so short. I am leaving work now!

Quote:

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

Tri-form PBs and Warshades have the highest peak performance--in terms of damage, survivability, and versatility--compared to alternatives for each. Between PBs and warshades, warshades have the higher average and peak levels of performance, overall, for pretty much any variant you can build (all-human, bi-form, or tri-form). However, PBs have a higher minimum level of performance because their buffs don't rely on the nearby presence of defeated enemies. And, you can get a viable solo build and be a good contributor on teams no matter what combination you choose.

If you'd enjoy lightform, then a bi-form PB or all-human PB will tend to work out best because you'll want to slot up your human attacks, and probably some utility powers as well. It would be very difficult to slot up nova and dwarf, and then still have enough slots left over for you to get the most out of light form. Lightform gives you mez protection while its up, which makes a nova/human build a little more versatile and survivable than it would otherwise be.

To answer another question you pose, shifting into dwarf or nova turns off all human-form toggles and you need to turn them all back on again when you switch back to human form. You can use binds to partially alleviate the need to re-toggle, but if you have more than one toggle you'll find yourself frequently re-toggling, when fighting in human form. This annoyance alone can be enough to sway some toward going all-human (which is perfectly viable as a PB or WS, even if you don't spend a fortune on IO sets).

Regarding IO sets, slotting IO sets to boost recharge tends to help a PB more than slotting to boost defense because you tend to *really* notice the difference in damage potential when building a PB for recharge. Having the heals up more often is also a major boon.

On the subject of damage, PBs and shades have lower human form damage than a damage specialist such as a blaster or scrapper. But, their damage is better than sufficient for PvE gameplay and it is not "low" when compared to all ATs.

If you go tri-form, "dancing" makes them as effective as they can be, once all three forms are reasonably well slotted up. I often use all three forms in a single battle and I've also fairly often used all three forms multiple times in longer battles. If you're trying to maximize team survivability and speed, you'll be re-visiting which form to take during battles on a routine basis, making split-second decisions according to what each situation in a given battle seems to require or reward.

Ah many thanks for the answers so far, this already helped me alot. Maybe a bit of background on why i am looking forward to kheldians so much:

I have up to now extensively played MM, Dominators and Corruptors while only dabbling in Blasters/Scrappers/Brutes/Stalkers a little bit. One could say i played alot of squishy chars which is due to my prefereance for redside and long range combat. So im very much looking forward to a actually tougher class(and resistance based to boot, which will be a first for me) that still has long range attacks.

Never played a blaster or brute beyond lvl 15 or some such, and my highest scrapper is lvl 22 i think, so i guess i will be pretty much content with even PB lvl of damage. Im looking forward to lightform over eclipse cause the former confers mezz protection in addition to its resistance boni.

Btw, how tough is a Kheldian in human form(if he puts his mind to it)? Looking at the numbers in mids it seems that they are significantly tougher than resistance based Scrappers due to 10% higher resistance limits, and even brutes seem to be having quite a bit of trouble getting to their resistance cap without ultimates unless they get some major buffage from the team. Are non dwarfform kheldians as tough as i think they are?(Already noticed that Ecplipse/Lightform/Cosmic Balance/Dark Sustainance doesnt suppress when mezzed which lessens the lethel effect of those atleast in teams quite a bit imho).

Edit: Just read your reply shoe, it kinda seems to lean to Triform which is something i like in CONCEPT, yet im still a bit unclear on WHY you change through forms in a single battle. Could you give an example or something? The way i imagine it goes something like:

1. Start battle against a tough group in Dwarf form to take out mezzing LT.
2. Once Mezzing LT is dead switch to human and scatter/stun/mire/eclipse/whatever the minions.
3. Switch to nova to burn down the boss while kiting cause he cant fly and relies on melee attacks.

Is it something like that? Cause i have a hard time seeing why i would want to switch forms often in a fight with the long cast time they have and the huge disadvantages they bestow. Especially with the WS, couldnt you in the example above just jump right into the middle of them, Gravity well the LT, eclipse and then nova to blast them all? Or in other words, if your not tanking, why bother going into dwarf?

My only reasons for prefering Eclipse over Lightform is that Lightform has a rather nasty crash and is not permable and Eclipse has no crash and is (semi) easily permable.

On the plus side for Lightform, Eclipse gives no status ressist and lightform in fact does (which you already noted).