Level 50 PB Exemplar Bifurcation: building for 1-32 vs 33-50
To say that Nova and Dwarf are obsolete with perma-Light Form is an understandable, but I believe incorrect statement. To say they offer marginal mechanical benefit, especially with Dwarf, would be accurate. However, used effectively both forms still offer benefits worth consideration. While it is not feasible to softcap a post 50 Tri-Form build because of toggles being more or less useless, defense is just one survival tool. With Dwarf form, you get a self heal that with only minimal slotting provides a heal in excess of 80%. Dwarf also brings a taunt to gather back foes that your powers sometimes scatter and a version of Solar Flare that trades slightly lower damage for having knockdown rather than knockback. Nova has higher AoE damage than human form, which can be leveraged as an opener against enemy spawns. The long form animations don't come into play with a Nova opener, and can be mitigated with careful planning for the Dwarf uses. With the recent changes, an MFing Peacebringer could theoretically be created that is somewhat less powerful than an MFing Warshade against large numbers of enemies but maintains the same level of power against any number of opponents, including a single hard target like an AV. This was not feasible before since Light Form was not nearly as similar to Eclipse.
Is that type of build optimal? No. But neither are the vast majority of builds in use on the live servers. It would certainly be cheaper than the optimized human only builds that have dominated the boards since the changes took place. It also meshes more closely with what many people first expect a Peacebringer to be when they play it for the first time - a weaker but more stable Warshade.
I really think the benefits the changes brought to Tri-Form builds have been very much understated so far. Of course, there is some merit to what you are trying to do with this thread - but it is the same for any build on any AT. The goals of an exemplar build would always be better suited by an alternate build as the incarnate abilities available at level 50 have exaggerated the gap that already existed (and is intended to exist) between power functionality and performance in the early and late game.
@Rorn ---- Blue Baron ---- Guardian
I only skimmed this, but just wanted to say I think that human only is even going to be better exemplared below light form if it has purple/PVP's in the build- Nothing should be thrown your way that a break free macro can't fix. Basically when top end IO's are taken into account the issue you're mentioning disappears.
On lower budgets though, I still suggest using level 25 LOTG recharges to help you out for exemping and I could definitely see having a separate tri form build... not that it's strictly necessary.
Something that's been causing me some amount of mental "grief" of late is how the last round of updates to Peacebringers has made it far too advantageous to make a pair of Alternate Builds for Peacebringers ... namely a 1-32 Tri-form Build versus a 33-50 Human Only Build. The breakpoint here is (of course) ... Level 33 ... because +5 Levels up from there is Level 38 and Light Form, which kinda sorta "revolutionizes" the entire Peacebringer build strategy in such a way as to make Nova and Dwarf forms all but superfluous (excepting, maybe, as Set Mules).
This then brings up a very interesting question (for me) ... which is how to build a "decent" (if not necessarily optimal) Peacebringer Build which is a Tri-Former intended to operate only in the Level 1-32 Exemplar range, in which *NO* Enhancements are expended on powers gained after Level 32 (and are thus Exemplar Inaccessible) other than for Set Mule purposes (so you can still have One Slot Wonders that take LotG: +Recharge, for example). The counterpoint to this, of course, would then be a Human Only PB Build specifically designed to operate in the Level 33-50 Exemplar range, which then completely dispenses with the Forms so as to reclaim all of those slots for Human Powers once Light Form is available and Nova and Dwarf Forms become effectively "obsolete" (thanks to Light Form).
We've been seeing a lot of Human Only PB Builds cropping up of late here in the Kheldian Forum ... but we haven't seen all that many Tri-form Builds being presented, and I'm of the opinion that most people only think of Level 50 Builds in terms of the Level 50+ Game, while forgetting about Levels 1-32 ... during which Nova and Dwarf forms remain not only "relevant" but also advantageous to survival and utility for teams, particularly on TFs and SFs. For this reason, I think we need to be (as a Kheldian Community) thinking in broader terms for our build strategies for Peacebringers, where we present dual build plans for the 1-32 (Tri-form) and the 33-50 (Human Only) regions of gameplay, with an eye towards how to make the former "line up with" the latter in ways which make transitioning back and forth across the 32-to-33 divide as "painless" as possible with regards to having similar power picks on both sides of the spectrum so that it doesn't feel like you're playing a RADICALLY (if not COMPLETELY) different character when switching from one alternate build to another at the Trainer.
This will no doubt require an *even more* in depth appreciation for synergizing build strategies across the many available options for How To Peacebringer, and the Mids' Jockeys who can achieve that kind of depth of build commonality. Being able to PICK 17 Powers (Incandescence is mandatory) and spend 2 of those 17 Power Picks on Nova and Dwarf to gain an additional +10 Powers ... and Inherent Fitness (another 4 powers) and the Energy Flight/Combat Flight powers ... plus Brawl, Sprint and Rest ... yields a grand total of 37 Powers to spend all of your 66 Additional Slots by Level 50 on that are Level 32 and below when going Tri-former. By contrast, dropping Nova and Dwarf yields 23 Power Picks (Incandescence is still mandatory) ... plus Inherent Fitness (4 powers), Energy Flight/Combat Flight ... plus Brawl, Sprint and Rest ... for a grand total of 33 Powers to spend all of your 66 Additional Slots by Level 50 on, for powers that go from Levels 1-50.
I just get the ... feeling ... that if we, as a Community, concede the point that for Peacebringers anyway, the Nova and Dwarf Forms have "relevance" in the 1-32 Game, but are obsolete thereafter (thanks to Light Form) in the 33-50 Game, that this would help to "focus" any and all remaining Tri-form PB Build strategies which people put forward from now on, so as to advantage those builds "maximally" for the portion of the game in which they remain advantageous and unreplaceable.
So ... is anyone out there feeling up to the Peacebringer Bifurcation Build Challenge? I ask this because I'm noticing that a lot of the Human Only Builds that have been getting posted lately take a tremendous hit to their survival potential whenever you "turn off" Light Form in Mids' ... which would (of course) happen whenever Exemplaring down into the 1-32 Game. Also, a lot of these "never exemp" builds save a lot of "finishing touches" power goodies for the 41+ Levels which obviously "won't fly" in many ways when deliberately building for the 1-32 Game (things like Hasten or Superspeed at Level 49, for example).
Anyone?