Strange buff idea for Nova form

So last night I completely respec my Human-only PB to mostly Dual Forms in Nova and Dwarf. I am not satisfied with human form (yet) because I don't like all the massive knockbacks and I figure if I am playing Kheldian, I might as well enjoy the forms.

Anyway, I tested out my dual form last night and I have to say I am pretty happy with Dwarf form (even though I still think Black Dwarf is a lot better!!). Dwarf form can jump at least. lol Dwarf survives well enough and while damage is lacking, Solar Flare recharges a bit quicker than human form and it does knockdowns which actually brings quite a bit soft-controls to the team. So I basically see my White Dwarf as Tank-troller with very limited abilities and to fight against Void/Quantum.

Now, I have a problem with Bright Nova. I think its use is very limited and it's dps is lacking later on. AoE damage is decent but ST damage is very weak IMO. And human form with enough set bonuses can easily out damage Nova form. So what is the point of Nova? Human form also gets Combat Hover and Fly so it's not like Nova form is the only aerial combat stance. Nova has better endurance efficiency but it has more to do with the fact that Nova just only has 4 attacks and nothing else.


I have one strange buff idea. Comparing to their counter-part SoA, Kheldian doesn't bring any good team buff to the team. It's more like the team buffs them. Nova form, as I see it, is for DPS purpose. You lose shields and defense for more damage. Giving Nova form Build Up is a good start but what about giving Nova form a buff Aura that only buffs certain type of Damage?

Bright Nova brings Light to the environment. Its presence buffs Energy damage around it, while Dark Nova buffs Negative Damage for teammates. The radius can be as large as 30'. Basically, when you are in Bright Nova form, you have an aura around you that buffs teammate's Energy damage by 25%.

Now, there are more Energy-based attacks than Negative-energy, which is fine because I truly believe Peacebringer is weaker so it makes sense that PB brings damage to a more commonly-used Type. Dark Nova brings negative-damage buff so it can help sets like Dark Blast and Dark Melee more. This means Bright Nova brings Cosmic Balance to the team so sets like Energy Melee, Energy Blast, Radiation Blast and Electricity Blast can get a nice damage-type buff with a Bright Squid on the team. It sort of gives people a reason to invite PB/WS.


What do you think? They can make a new toggle for team buff or make it a Clicky. It's not like Nova uses a lot of endurance anyway. I rather not make it a toggle because changing forms means you need to re-toggle. ugh Making a clicky is fine so your Nova form feels like it has more things to do than using just 4 powers.

I don't hate it. Were such a change to be made, it would likely be implemented as an auto power that nova form itself grants, similar to the self damage buff that nova already grants. I'm not sure if it's possible to directly buff certain damage types, however, and so can't say one way or another if it's a realistic request.

As an AOE buff though, pets would also be affected, and so Dark Novas would absolutely LOVE the extra damage their extracted essences would do. Peacebringers? Not so much benefit for them.

But I love hearing creative ideas like this.

Oh hell, I have something even simpler!


The presence of Bright Nova brings more Light to the surrounding. Teammates that are within the light receives a small bonus to Tohit buff, Damage Buff and provides resistance to Placate effect (reducing Smoke Grenade duration, for example).

5% Tohit Buff
10% Damage Buff to all type


Sources from different Novas DO stack as they bring even more Light to the team.

I don't think 10% damage buff is going to break the game considering you can't really use other powers effectively in Nova form.


Presence of Dark Nova brings small Tohit Debuff Resistance while adding small buff to Defense Debuff Resistance to the team.

5% Tohit Debuff Resistance
10% Defense Debuff Resistance

I really like this line of thought, although I don't quite agree with the exact bonuses you've suggested.

In my opinion, both forms should get some sort of auto power team buff. If balance is an issue, then like Grant Cover, the buff can only be to teammates.

I think the buffs should be different depending on form and kheldian species. My idea ties in closely with the inherent.

For example: Bright Nova is an offensive creature and grants this offense to its team in the form of added recovery and a damage bonus. 10% and 20% respectively.

White Dwarf excels at protecting its team. Not only is the dwarf itself very resilient, but its aura protects the team, granting regeneration and resistance bonuses. 25% and 12.5% respectively.

For a warshade, these bonuses are reversed in position. Dark Nova grants the protection to its teammates while Black Dwarf increases their offensive capabilities.

The way this works, I think PBs get the better end of the bargain, especially if the bonus will apply to the PB himself. That's ok, because I think they need the buff more anyway.

If it were upto me, then adding to Cosmic Balance:

Dwarf form would get 3% melee def for every blaster, dominator, stalker in team.

Nova form would get 3% ranged def for every blaster, dominator, stalker in team.

Human form would get 3% aoe def for every blaster, dominator, stalker in team.

I thought it practical but you would still have non khelds in team appreciating the fact that they're receiving buffs more than giving them and so maybe, like VEATs more.

So I played more of my lvl 33 Dual-Form PB last night. I tried to use more human powers during or before battle so I feel like they are not being wasted, and I tried to change form from Dwarf to Nova to try to be "versatile".

Man, Peacebringer has some SERIOUS design flaws.

1. Not only when you change from Nova/Dwarf to Human you lose all the human toggles, you also suffer from what seems like 3-4s "delay" from each "change". This is HIGHLY annoying because it makes me not want to change from Dwarf to Nova to take advantage of the 'blaster' form to finish off runners. If it takes that long, I might as well chase the target.


2. Photon Seekers SUCKs! This is actually THE power that made me want to level a PB to 32. It sounds pretty good on paper and I was really curious how it works. Well, I really don't understand all the restrictions they set on this power. This is probably the most unique power in Peacebringer. First, it has very long recharge at 300s. Second, you can't cast it with a "white circle", so you can't really cast them to take alpha strike for the team like the Seekers in /Trap. Third, if you cast them and then you run into battle, they seem to hit the target(s) that are closest to them which can be very wasteful because they could be only hitting minions. T_T


So I tried to do this. I run in as Dwarf, kill all the minions/lieuts and once there's only one boss left, I get rid of Dwarf form and quickly use Seekers and then change back to Dwarf again. Well, let's just say I almost killed myself doing that because there is casting delay (about 5-6s by the time I get back to Dwarf) and human form is physically weak without any shields (since all the shield toggles are off when you change forms).


All in all, the design is just very awkward. All the delays and restrictions just make me not want to change forms and that defeats the purpose of the Form Design isn't it?


This is the first time that I actually care about Kheldians. I've been ignoring them for years because SoA's design is just so much better. I just can't understand all the restrictions they put on Forms. Why can't Nova/Dwarf use regular Power Tools like Hasten and Leadership? What's the big deal? Every AT can use Hasten. I seriously doubt that my Nova form is overpowered with Hasten considering it only has 4 limited attacks and changing form back and forth is so annoying especially during battle. I basically can only use Hasten before the fight to enjoy the benefit and I have to suffer from delays to change to human and then change back to Form again. Is it really that necessary to restrict the forms like that? All my other toons set Hasten on auto.

Let Nova and Dwarf use Seekers. It already has very long recharge. I can't imagine them being overpowered considering we have WS capping defense/resistance and summoning pets that deal way more damage than the seekers.

While I was unlocking the new SF in Sharks, one of the bosses in the "kidnap" mission in University is an Ice Demon and he would summon several Ice Swords that are unkillable.

It is such a cool power! The swords can't be killed even though you can aoe damage them (I see the damage numbers)


Wouldn't it be great if Seekers is similar to that? You summon them around you and they would go out and fight for you for a period of time?

I actually thought they should have given Peacebringer Police Drones instead. You see them with PB police all the time. Just summon 3 of those drones and they'll blast for a duration and then left/explode. 300s recharge may be worth it.


1. The knockback is a huge turn off. Because one of the seekers may knockback first before the other two explode, so the total damage output is reduced. Yes, there are some "tricks" to get them work better but why should we rely on tricks? The mechanism of Seekers just seem bad to me.

2. It'll be ok if I can drop them the way I can drop Seekers in Traps. They'll soften up the group before I go in but no, you can only summon them around you.

3. Rather than 3 seekers knocking back, why don't they design each seeker differently? One does KNOCK DOWN, one debuffs damage and one debuffs resistance? This can give Peacebringer a very unique lvl 32 power. And mind you, the power has 300s recharge which is close to a true nuke.


4. Or simply allow Nova and Dwarf to able to use Seekers. It's not going to break the game, trust me on that!

I would suggest two different fixes for the Kheldian archetype. These are not so much "buffs" as they are simply restructuring the AT itself, and letting the slotting mechanics work as intended.

1) Make Kheldians more similar to Soldiers of Arachnos. When you create a kheldian, have them go from level 1 to level 24 in "human form," like you would a VEAT. Then, at level 24, you have the option to branch off, and continue a "human only" build, a "nova" build, or a "lobster" build. The branching would make the Nova and Lobster forms mutually exclusive; however, to compensate for this, damage/mez mitigation would be reworked. Instead of being limited to only a couple powers while in these forms, while having the Nova form active, it would be a cosmetic, as well as "toggleable buildup" of sorts (think of a buffed up Assault), while also buffing team-mates within a certain proximity to it. Thus, while in this form, all previously "human" powers would be used instead of "Nova" attacks, but would have Nova scales of damage applied. Additionally, later on in this branch, more ranged AoE or ST attacks would be attainable (think fortunata). This branch would possibly work similarly to a blaster's inherent, except that additionally, for every enemy defeated, stackable mez protection is added for a specified period of time. This branch would be light on control, but heavy on damage.

On the other side of the coin, in lobster form would be a toggleable armor, like (i think) Granite (think teir 9 Stone Tanker). Similarly to Nova, the character would have all attack powers availible to use while this is active, and while active, increases the damage resistance of allies by a certain amount (think of Maneuvers, except resistance based). Later in the branch, more melee attacks would become availible including several PBAoEs. This form, while active, would also gain aggro similar to that of a Tanker or possibly, buff damage like a Brute. This branch would be heavy on Melee and AoE's that would quickly gather aggro, and would naturally provide mez protection as a part of the form.

The human PEACEBRINGER form would be focused primarily upon providing control to its teammates. While damage would not be spectacular, nor would its damage mitigation, this form would be the only one by which an Epic or Patron powerset could be taken. Also, more potent forms of the Ancillary Leadership pool, and would come with a +regen +recovery AoE power. Additionally, the closer proximity to a Peacebringer a character was, the more potent their mez resistance would become. Think of this Branch as a "radiation controller without the debuffs" type of character.

The human WARSHADE form would also be concerned with providing control to its teammates, but whearas Peacebringers brought buffs or other "additive" effects, Warshades would bring Debuffs or "subtractive" buffs to a team, and would also have the ability to take Epic or Patron pools. Beefed up, slightly differing Leadership powers would also be availible, and an arua that defended against mez would become more potent the closer one was the the Warshade. Think of the Warshade as a "dark defender with darkish controls."

*****OR*****

2) Simply make both forms unslottable, like Ninja Run. Additionally, buff them up because of the loss of their slots. Making all their powers come out of the box with 6 slots could also be a good workaround.


I like Option 1 more. A LOT more.

Jibikao, as the Photon Seekers work for Peacebringers now, think of them more as a nuke and you'll probably be better off: they're nothing like Seekers from Traps, and trying to think of them in the same way is probably the big thing throwing you off. I like to use them to add to the chaos when I go in (either by setting them up to the side or above a mob), or wait until a mob clumps together more and letting them loose. So in the last sense, they're like a nuke, and that works pretty well.

I do agree that the recharge on them is far too high for what they do. I'd love to see that lowered at the very least.

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Ethereal_ 1) Make Kheldians more similar to Soldiers of Arachnos. When you create a kheldian, have them go from level 1 to level 24 in "human form," like you would a VEAT.

Just going to stop you right there and say this: do not make my Kheldians like Soldiers of Arachnos. They're different ATs and should be kept that way. The devs are going to want that as well... since they have the ATs set up to be different. On top of that, pretty much all or your suggestions would take a lot more work than the few things Kheldians would possibly need to be set and working well. That's a much better design idea, as it takes less work and doesn't upset people that like how Kheldians work overall currently.

Soldiers of Arachnos are their own AT already, no need to try an replicate them.

Light Form: I would -so- love this power if it was given the Moment of Glory treatment. Much more flexible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Ethereal_ I would suggest two different fixes for the Kheldian archetype. These are not so much "buffs" as they are simply restructuring the AT itself, and letting the slotting mechanics work as intended. 1) The VEAT method *****OR***** 2) Simply make both forms unslottable, like Ninja Run. Additionally, buff them up because of the loss of their slots. Making all their powers come out of the box with 6 slots could also be a good workaround. I like Option 1 more. A LOT more.

I like option 2 a lot more. Option 1 is interesting though.

But instead of having simply unslotted powers, just use the powers we already have in human form, since they're pretty much duplicates anyway. So, Dwarf form means you're denied access to blast powers, but can still use melee. Nova can't melee, but can still use the blasts.

In effect, this means you -can- specialise in one form over the other (just take all the PB's blast powers and not the melee powers to favour Nova).

Voids and the like are still a huge pain in the butt before level 50.