I'll tell you my slotting, but keep in mind, mine is level 50, so I have more slots to go around. |
Why was I not informed?
I understand, more just trying to get a general idea since honestly from your guide it felt like Dwarf wasn't really used for long term other than to protect nova and human. So I didn't know if I'd be wasting valuable slots beefing up its attacks .
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Some people will prefer to leverage human powers more than I do. Some people may even slot the forms more than I do. That's half the reason I won't include a build in my guide. There's so much versatility and so much of it is to taste. Posting a build as a reference would do more harm than good.
You really have to go by feel. Take advantage of the time spent leveling up; take note of which powers you use most often. Slot those attacks. Your perfect build will be different from mine, and neither will be better.
Here, this is what I run currently.
![](http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx227/DechsKaison/cityofheroes-20100820-1638415.jpg)
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
I took Leadership thinking that I could improve my Squid form damage but it was grayed out, unless they have changed that recently?
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Powers that are toggles do not carry over to your Squid Form, but powers that are click powers, with a duration, do. This means that there are a number of Powers from the Pool and otherwise which can be useful to your Squid:
Hasten - This will increase the recharge on your four attacks, allowing you to use them more often. Since you cannot get any more attacks, this is very useful.
Build Up - This will give you +72% damage and +18% to hit. It does carry into Nova form, for up to 10 seconds. (Given that it will take you about 2-3 seconds to form shift, that means you should have about 7.5 seconds left of damage boost if you shift right after Build Up)
Essense Boost - This will raise your HP cap, as well as heal damage that you've taken. The HP boost carries over into Nova form, so it not only helps your survivability, but increases the rate at which you regenerate HP.
There are more examples, like Conserve Power and Photon Seekers, and the Disorient protection in Aid Self will carry into the forms. There may also be some Temp Powers which are usable.
Unfortunately, even with all of that, the Nova form really becomes less useful at high levels. A lot of its problem is a lack of defense, which isn't really countered by the greater damage. Nova is great for mowing down crowds when you are in no danger, but there's really no way to make it tougher. (Not like Warshades and Eclipse) Then again, possibly the addition of Health as being accessible in the forms will help the survivability of the Nova.
I haven't played Peacebringer for a long time. My original plan is to focus on Bright Nova form and maybe Tank form in some situations but I see PB has quite a few powers that can only be used during Human form. I just don't know if I have enough slots to satisfy. |
Isn't Puslar only a pbaoe mag 2 stun and Incandescant Strike is a 3.3s melee attack that has a hold. Both of them are pretty weak in control department IMO but I know PB is not a control class. And I am not sure if Mids' numbers are wrong but PB's human form damage looks low to me. |
The thing is, a PB isn't really a Dominator or a Blaster. You have the shields, and while it can be annoying to put them all up, and that there is no mez protection, if you're going to be in melee you don't really NEED much more than the physical shield. Most melee attacks do primarily physical damage. And don't forget that you get some Energy protection passively. (Even the Nova gets it) If you're using macros, then you should be turning on Shining Shield every time you form shift into Human anyway, unless you are just dropping to Human form for an instant to fire off some other power.
And I'm not going to dismiss Pulsar as a control power, either. While I never based my strategy around it, as I haven't picked it up, I can see how it would be useful to mitigate damage by stunning a good portion of the minions in melee with you. That's the way a Scrapper or Tanker uses his control powers, and it's good enough for a PB as well.
Now, this is not to say that a PB turns into a rolling engine of death like a WS does.
![Big Grin](images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
I went very form heavy on my slotting. My human existence is limited to summoning fluffy, refreshing eclipse and mire, the occasional nuke, and Stygian Circle as needed. Nova feels like a gunship to me, and Dwarf is heavy hitting. Mire does untold amounts of self buffed damage because I have it stacking on top of itself.
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I wish I could say precisely what my ratio is, but I'll need to check my notes on my build to answer that for sure. I will say that in general I try to put the same number of slots in Nova as in Dwarf (2 extra for Step and Antagonize but that's it) and around the same number in Human form, with maybe a half dozen or so extra. That's for my Tri-Form. For my Human/Dwarf I've been essentially matching the Dwarf build, so the Human gets all the slots that the Nova would normally get. (It's supposed to be a strong Human build, prior to 24 it was actually built as a Human Form only; at 20 I picked up Stamina instead of Dwarf and at 22 I got Stygian)
That might actually be TOO balanced a build, as I've said previously, the lack of strong slotting in any one power may be what caused me to have so much trouble until I reached 34. I actually really only have about 4 slots in any given attack power, I use IOs to get a full 5 slot benefit (Acc, End, 3 Dam) out of 4 slots.
I actually have never really looked into WS builds but I am a bit of a weirdo in a way that I prefer using something that is a bit less common. I've seen more high level WS than PB so I automatically assume WS > PB. (later I found out that more PBs were created but this doesn't mean they play them more than WS)
I just carefully looked through WS' powers. Yeah, they are quite interesting. I don't think I'll ever like Tri-Form as I don't like changing forms so Human form is my only choice, but even WS' human form seems a lot more interesting than PB's Human form. PB's human form seems pretty standard with build up and some pretty serious knockbacks in aoe. WS has a neat mini-nuke power Unchained Essence and then there is Dark Extraction. Gravity Well seems pretty decent too.
What's left is to normalize all Assassin Strikes and improve Stalker's old sets (Claw, MA and EM)! You don't need to bring back the missing PbAoE attack. You just need to make the existing ones better! For example, make Slice a WIDER and LONGER cone.
I actually went a similar route to dechs on mine, slotting mostly for forms, however I did make one major alteration.
I went deep presence. I six slotted Invoke Panic, I took whirlwind, and I heavily slotted pretty much all my CC tools.
Glimpse of the Abyssx2 (which I'm working on) helps pile on global recharge, and really help to cut incoming minion damage while shifting. Plus, I always wanted to six slot invoke panic.
Also, nothing say's "I'm the MFing warshade" like knocking people around and making them cower in terror. Sure, it doesn't have as much top end damage as some builds, but it's ridiculously fun to play.
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
I will now copy Dechs slotting precisely mawhaahaha! j/k. Does give me abit of a better idea though, I just really need more slots almost every though right now, oh the bane of being lower level, never enough slots to do what you want.
I don't think I'll ever like Tri-Form as I don't like changing forms so Human form is my only choice, but even WS' human form seems a lot more interesting than PB's Human form.
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![Big Grin](images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
To each his own, though.
![Big Grin](images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
Another point in regards to mezzing is that if you are in Nova form, you cannot be detoggled if you are mezzed any more, which means that you don't lose Flying. Assuming there is a high enough ceiling, you can stay high enough that meleers can't get to you while you're mezzed. This is also an advantage to the Human Peacebringer form, which Warshades don't share.
PB's human form seems pretty standard with build up and some pretty serious knockbacks in aoe. WS has a neat mini-nuke power Unchained Essence and then there is Dark Extraction. Gravity Well seems pretty decent too. |
Gravity Well is a great power. As I said above, it's integral to the Starless Step/Gravity Well combo that's so useful against Voids, not to mention a good portion of your Human form melee damage. Let's be honest here, though. Gravity Well and Incandescent Strike both have exactly the same hold effect. Gravity Well's looks cooler, but the mitigation is the same. Gravity Well takes 1.3 seconds less to cast. However, Gravity Well takes 2.75 seconds to deal all of its damage, while Incandescent Strike takes place immediately. Plus, Radiant Strike does about twice the damage of Essence Drain and you have to wait until 18 (20 if you choose to take Gravity Well, 22 or 24 if you intend to take Dwarf) to get it.
This is one reason why I say that the Human form is the melee damage dealing form for PBs, but Dwarf form is for WSs. With double Mire, the Dwarf will be sustaining a lot more DPS than the Human. The human form's attacks are really more about supporting the Dwarf and healing it or holding down foes. Although the WS does seem to have more AoE damage capability. (And that makes sense, since it would be taking on larger groups
![Big Grin](images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
You're not a true casual player until you've purpled out a warshade.
Infinity and Victory mostly
dUmb, etc.
lolz PvP anymore, Market PvP for fun and profit
I definitely prefer tri-form on warshades and peacebringers. Your character throws a couple powers away for a flying battle platform and a quasi-tank. Even if you just pop a couple slots in Dwarf form for survivability, I wouldn't know what else to do when mezzed in human form if I couldn't jump into my lobster and start smacking the dang Illusionist that mezzed my kheld.
Triumphant Defenders Forever
Psylenz FF/Psi, ArticQuark Storm/Rad, Symon BarSisyphus Bots/psn, Max VanSydow Thugs/Dk, Cyclone Symon Bots/stm, Blue Loki Ice/Cd, Widow 46526
HelinCarnate:OMG it is so terrible. I have the option to take 3 more powers but no additional slots. Boo F'ing hoo.
I'd love to check one out if i just had the patience to get a hero to 20. Can't..stop...making...praetorians!
Save Ms. Liberty (#5349) � Augmenting Peacebringers � The Umbra Illuminati
20?!!?!?!?!?!!?!
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![Stick Out Tongue](images/smilies/tongue.gif)
Wanna play a Peacebringer? Don't believe the hype. Check out my guide and get the real truth:
PEACEBRINGERS SUCK!!! (Now fully up to date for i21+
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I am experiencing deja-vu all over again after reading this. I can tell you from my experience, that research and experience are the keys to rocking a WS.
I live on Protector, where I saw many WS's (this was a while back). I thought they were pretty cool looking, and seemed to be effective. So, when my first 50 hit, I immediately made my WS - Obsidia NIH. She was a cool looking toon, but the low level powers were less than impressive. I kinda shelved her for a while, leveling up 2 scrappers and a blaster to 50, while Obsidia languished in relative obscurity.
Then one day, I was invited to AE mission by a level 50 WS named AIB, who absolutely made me and the other 6 people on the team feel unnecessary. We tried and died, he was like a weed-eater to monkey-grass. I started seeking him out, and pulling out Obsidia to see how he did it.
I learned a lot; and although I don't have his raw talent/instinct for the WS, I finally (after 10 respecs) have a killer, death dealing monster toon that is farm capable, even managing +2 +8 Rikti missions solo with no stress at all. This does take a good deal of form-changing, but the rewards are PILES of dead Rikti (or other nefarious no-gooders) and a ton of inf/exp/tickets/salvage/recipes for myself and anyone that happens to be around.
And when AIB and Obsidia NIH run the same mission? WOW.
I took Ascendantia (my Lv50 TriFormPB) on many AE missions where the team was composed of characters I knew couldn't handle the baddies because lets face it, most pre-32 character lack tools to handle 50+ enemies. Those missions were awesome fun and people often asked me how could I possibly stay alive when they're all down, including our healers... Fun fun days those were.
Save Ms. Liberty (#5349) � Augmenting Peacebringers � The Umbra Illuminati
Well, to be honest, as long as you guys stuck around (even dead and lying on the ground) around AIB, he benefited from your bonuses, that's what Kheldians do. That said however, Kheldians simply have more tools to deal with things, especially if they're TriFormers.
I took Ascendantia (my Lv50 TriFormPB) on many AE missions where the team was composed of characters I knew couldn't handle the baddies because lets face it, most pre-32 character lack tools to handle 50+ enemies. Those missions were awesome fun and people often asked me how could I possibly stay alive when they're all down, including our healers... Fun fun days those were. ![]() |
This is true, and an aspect of the Kheldians I often forget. Outstanding for teaming, not quite as hot soloing - at least till you've loaded it down with set bonuses
![Smile](images/smilies/smile.gif)
"Then one day, I was invited to AE mission by a level 50 WS named AIB, who absolutely made me and the other 6 people on the team feel unnecessary. We tried and died, he was like a weed-eater to monkey-grass."
Now I'm blushing Knight of Tomorrow.
To comment on LordXenite...the detractor ...
"Well, to be honest, as long as you guys stuck around (even dead and lying on the ground) around AIB, he benefited from your bonuses, that's what Kheldians do."
You are right khelds do benefit from teammates...but in two of the areas, capped damage and capped resistance, Warshades don't need teammates.
The resistance to control and slow is nice...but...then again...Dwarf, permahasten, ALOT of powers and great slotting...render teammates unnecessary.
Of course, having dead ones at my feet simply fuels the carnage. Vengeance is alot of fun.
I don't post nearly enough. But I felt compelled to say...
You are all forms at all times. Thinking anything else will cripple you without you even realizing it. You are never stuck in one form. Nova thrives on human and dwarf buffs. Dwarf protects human and nova. Human fuels dwarf and nova. Embrace this idea.
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And also
If you thought "But it needs enemies to work!" just now, shut up. You are The MFing Warshade. Go back and repeat your mantra some more times.
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![Big Grin](images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
...
"Well, to be honest, as long as you guys stuck around (even dead and lying on the ground) around AIB, he benefited from your bonuses, that's what Kheldians do."
You are right khelds do benefit from teammates...but in two of the areas, capped damage and capped resistance, Warshades don't need teammates.
The resistance to control and slow is nice...but...then again...Dwarf, permahasten, ALOT of powers and great slotting...render teammates unnecessary.
Of course, having dead ones at my feet simply fuels the carnage. Vengeance is alot of fun.
I didn't mean to detract though, I meant to add the information that to a Kheldian, even "dead" team-mates are useful, with and without Vengeance and/or slotting. I think that's an important enough fact to mention in any discussion where the words 'Kheldian' and 'team' appear.
Save Ms. Liberty (#5349) � Augmenting Peacebringers � The Umbra Illuminati