PB or WS

I used to tank with my PB, way back when Croatoa was released. I'm now contemplating doing either a Tank build or a Tri-Form build.

So my question is WS or PB? I know they are similar, and I know people really believe in one or the other, but I'm curious what will work better for leveling when teamed with a Dominator (Ice Ice), and what will be better in the end game?

Kind of a two for one question.

Thanks in advance. Very glad I came back to CoH, but know i'm suffering from a severe case of Altitis.

Welcome back, Liquid!

First off, Warshades and Peacebringers aren't all that similar. Superficially, they both can go Dwarf and Squid, but they don't play the same at all.

In a very general nutshell, PBs play alot like Scrappers or Blappers with Defender level damage in their blasts. PB buffs are self contained (with powers like a Build Up clone, a Reconstruction clone, an Unstoppable clone, and a Dull Pain clone).

WS are more like a Blaster/Controller hybrid. They have a good number of stuns, and a really damaging hold in their human powers. Their buffs depend on defeated foes (Stygian Circle, Dark Extraction, Eclipse, both Mire powers).

The general consensus is that PBs are better at fighting "Hard" targets (Bosses and EBs) because their performance is more easily measurable. Their buffs work the same way all the time.

WS are "minion munchers". The bigger the group, the better. A high level WS can get 85% RES to all with 5 - 7 minions in range of Eclipse. They can also Mire off of that same group to get a High Damage boost, switch to Squid form and decimate the group, use Dark Extraction to get a pet from a corpse, then use Stygian Circle to get back all Health and Stamina from the defeated enemies.

A WS has much higher "Highs" than a PB, but again a PB's performance is much more steady.

The Kheldian guides, albeit a bit old, are still relevant today. Give them a good read. Justaris' guide in particular helped me loads.

If this is your first Kheld, you'll find a PB to be much easier to use. Especially if you like Melee characters or Defenders. A WS is a bit more tricky. You have to be used to utilizing a more active defense. From Level 20 onwards though, a WS gets great power after great power all the way up to Eclipse.

I have high level PB and WS characters. To me, WS >>> PB at the highest levels. Especially since we can now set missions to have more minions.

That doesn't mean that PBs are weak, it just means that a properly played WS is a force of nature.

JulioThom70 analyzed everything for you, LiQiuD, but I'd like to add that if you're planning to duo with an Ice/Ice Dominator, a TriFormShade™ would probably be more fun for you both as your friend can lock down and slow stuff while you blow'em up and extract pets from their lifeless bodies.

A Peacebringer teamed up with a Dominator should allow you to heal your buddy if you two take on more than one of you could chew on your own, but a Warshade would simply blow stuff up and if I'm not mistaken the -SPD;-Recharge debuffs in the Warshade power-set should work very well with the Ice/Ice combination!

Thank you for the feedback.

I was definetly leaning towards the WS as I was researching it, I mean really. Who doesn't want to be a MFing Warshade(http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...php?t=231629)?

Those are great points about the synergy of the two, and definitely where I'm going.

Thanks for the feedback.