The MFing Warshade (A Tri-Form Guide)

This guide has been moved to my blog, a central location for me to keep all of my content, free to format as I please.

I wrestled with the idea of leaving the guide as is here and keeping the most up to date version on my blog. I ultimately decided that as I make the guide better over time, I won't want old poor versions hanging around. And you're mad if you think I'd like to double my work by updating in two places all the time.

See above.

See above.

Hand me my umbral power pool. It's the one that says Bad MFing Warshade.

Nicely done; I'd been thinking the Kheldians didn't look super fun to play, but you make it sound fun. The other Warshade guides I've seen have sort of been built around the assumption that you pick a specialty; I think your idea of changing specialties frequently is intriguing. Conventional wisdom is you won't be as good as a specialist, so a specialist will beat you, but I think CoH has dynamic enough battles during the course of a mission that flexibility may win.

As someone who lolkhelds for years, I'll say a well-built and well-played warshade can be fun, especially once you get eclipse.

Extremely well-written guide, Dechs. Great humor as well--made it really fun to read. I like how you broke it down into "phases," which makes things a lot easier to understand, and including the in-depth and intricate binds made even a "MF'ing Warshade" vet like myself want to check my own binds on my tri-form build and see if I'd gotten everything I could get out of it...

Best quote:
"Nothing says "I'm The MFing Warshade" like stepping out of the void."

Truth.

I'd say you've really made a "definitive" tri-form guide for Warshades here, mainly because it contains all the stuff that people come to the forums to ask about them--not the boring stuff about what each power does, which anyone can read in the power description in-game.

Nice work.

Oh, and hey... Thanks for the shout-out for my guide too!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Infernus_Hades The way you play changes your IO slotting..

Awesome guide I just made a WS the other day, and wanted to make a tri-form, but was a bit miffed because of the wasted slots before Nova, never thought of respec *bonks forehead*
Brilliant

thanks again for a great guide.

Near the end of your first post:

Good catch, thanks. I know that rule, and it's not something I mess up often. I'm calling it a typo.




Additionally, I've updated the second post to include my tray setups and some additional binds. Tactics are to come.

This guide has totally changed the way I play my Warshade. I am now far more aggressive and feel pretty much bullet-proof a good chunk of the time!

I have some questions tho. I am creating a Mids respec toon trying to make it more "tri-form" and less "bi-form" (Nova/Dwarf). Its the same old "too many powers, not enough enhancement slots" issue. I would like to see your build so I can get some ideas on slotting. Mind you I don't want to slavishly copy anyone's build... I know how I like to play and what powers to take. But I am still shaky on IO sets and where to place my precious enhancements.

Thanks again for the great guide. It has really made for a completely new experience in playing my WS!

Thanks for writing this guide. My tri-form hit 22 and kind of stalled there because I wasn't quite sure how to play him or what sort of build to aim at. I'm gonna try reevaluating based on this guide. Also, the fact that you can respec your level 3 and 5 slots into your Nova powers is a neat trick I was unaware of.

Well Dechs I am redoing my final build for my Tri-Form Warshade and thought I would focus some of my attention to the areas that you highlight. I will need to respec and am only at 44 at the moment but I hope for big things. It also helped that I brought her out of the dusty corner (it had only been a week since I last used her) and teamed up with a few PuGs to see how my play style functioned and what I might need to make it better. What is really nice is that the new re-vamp brought the cost down considerably.

Now to just get the respec out of the way and start playing the market game to get her properly kitted out.

Thanks for the guide and hope that our Warshades meet sometime.

I just added tactics to third post. Feel free to suggest other tough scenarios you'd like to see some tips for.

Very nice guide, it emphasizes the pace you want to keep as a WS; even more so then for a Brute, you are safest if you are playing full speed ahead, because that way you have more damage (Mires), more protection (Eclipse), and more firepower (Essences) then if you stop.

One additional tactic for dealing with bosses or EBs/AVs, use the TP Foe power you get for free to grab a minion from the edge of a spawn, beat him down, get a Essence out, then go in. Bonus damage to start the fight. Another tip regarding this, last time I tested the Mitos

I also found Inky Aspect to be handy when I wanted to run into a spawn to Mire and Eclipse, by the time I'm shifting to Nova a bunch of the minions are stunned, so I take less damage back as I'm blasting them. Its tough to have Eclipse fairly permanent till 50. Not as necessary if someone else is tanking, of course, but being a WS means having a tool for every situation.

I also highly recommend frankenslotting Nova and Dwarf attacks early on till you have "final build" sets in at high levels, its easy to run out of End at lower levels or fighting AVs where there can be no bodies to refuel from for long stretches. Cheap and makes a big difference.

This guide receives Microcosm's stamp of approval. So much that is good in this guide I just cannot comment on it all.

You might want to add a link to Joe's bind sticky in the Kheld forum.

Also, for the tough bosses thing, if you're fighting really tough stuff like EB/AV's in dwarf and need to pop down to eclipse, it is wise to watch for the knockdown that the dwarf punches occasionally do and shift down to use that brief window to safely buff.

Another great guide. Thanks, I've bookmarked this for future reference.

/em applaud.

Though, nova and dwarf... Yeah, the performance shifter proc helps. In an "if you have the slots for it" suggestion, there are some other possibilities as well -
- +Perception. Low priority, but helps smack down demon lords/spectrals/ancestor spirits that are trying to hide and fly away.
- Winter's Gift slow resist. For what I'd hope would be obvious reasons, though you may want this elsewhere. (And obviously - wait, ski, get it free over the holidays instead of at market prices.)
- Build up proc. Why not. *shrug* Of course, we're khelds, a "slot I'm not doing anything better with" is a luxury.

I still have an ingrained wariness about the early Nova slotting you mention. I *know* when I finally do so, the week after we'll get a patch that "Fixes" that little bug (at least it used to be seen as a bug. Not sure of the official stance ATM.)

When looking for cheap sets, don't forget that pretty much every... single... attack has a slow component. And go name one expensive Slow set. Now, honestly, you'll end up grabbing the Acc/End most likely, or possibly a triple (which will have a touch of slow,) but in another "if you have the slots" (and if you want something to go along with neg. damage,) don't forget the Chance for Smashing proc. (Which, frankly, *is* probably the most expensive of any Slow set piece.)

Last bit, I always try to add some range to the Nova cone in either a PB or WS nova, just so its range is closer to that of the other attacks. I don't *want* to duck in and out for one attack.

See my Guides and Tutorials

Quite honestly, given how many more powers we have as a triform versus a standard AT, I wouldn't argue if they had Nova and Dwarf powers come double-slotted on grant. Not sure it's actually doable, but it'd make me happy at least.

See my Guides and Tutorials

Nice guide Dechs! I really like how you outlined everything and approached the idea of a "mindset" of a Tri-former. The strategies section really helps to emphasize the sheer amount of options available during an encounter for the Tri-form Warshade. Haven't looked at the binds in-depth yet, but it's looking like I might have to make use of some of them.

My Warshade is by far my favorite TFer simply because of the "toolbox" that a WS has across a wide range of levels. Describing this as "Phases" in a Warshade's career is a great way to illustrate this. A Tri-former can approach a problem in a myriad of ways, and you've seemed to hit the nail on the head explaining this in your guide.

Also, I've noticed I've been having a temptation to shout out "I'm the MFing Warshade!" in-game. Thanks for that as well.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I'm happy to hear the guide was entertaining as well as informative.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Microcosm Also, for the tough bosses thing, if you're fighting really tough stuff like EB/AV's in dwarf and need to pop down to eclipse, it is wise to watch for the knockdown that the dwarf punches occasionally do and shift down to use that brief window to safely buff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill Though, nova and dwarf... Yeah, the performance shifter proc helps. In an "if you have the slots for it" suggestion, there are some other possibilities as well - - +Perception. Low priority, but helps smack down demon lords/spectrals/ancestor spirits that are trying to hide and fly away. - Winter's Gift slow resist. For what I'd hope would be obvious reasons, though you may want this elsewhere. (And obviously - wait, ski, get it free over the holidays instead of at market prices.) - Build up proc. Why not. *shrug* Of course, we're khelds, a "slot I'm not doing anything better with" is a luxury. ... When looking for cheap sets, don't forget that pretty much every... single... attack has a slow component. And go name one expensive Slow set. Now, honestly, you'll end up grabbing the Acc/End most likely, or possibly a triple (which will have a touch of slow,) but in another "if you have the slots" (and if you want something to go along with neg. damage,) don't forget the Chance for Smashing proc. (Which, frankly, *is* probably the most expensive of any Slow set piece.) Last bit, I always try to add some range to the Nova cone in either a PB or WS nova, just so its range is closer to that of the other attacks. I don't *want* to duck in and out for one attack.

These are all very good points. Do you guys mind if I add this stuff into the guide with my own wording?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goshnova Also, I've noticed I've been having a temptation to shout out "I'm the MFing Warshade!" in-game.

I started doing this a long time ago, and I think it helps...