New player: Does it get better?

Hey,

I've started playing this game around Christmas and find it's a great game. I've upgraded to VIP and tried a Warshade.

I found that any time I encounter a group with a Quantum, it's multiple trips to the hospital.

I'm only level 4, but I looked at the Paragon Wiki and it doesn't seem Warshades get much more to combat these guys. They're specifically designed to make my life miserable.

Am I missing something? I often only get 2-3 shots in before I'm at the hospital. I'm only level 6 now, and not looking forward to level 10+.

I've got a Brute, Scrapper, Blaster and Widow and none are such a PITA to play.

Ya man warshades get some stuns a little later on, perfect for removing Qauntums from the battle then killing while they stumble around helpless. What's the name Gravitic Emanation is an aoe stun. Or ya could go black dwarf when you get that and just tank the *******. Either seems to work for me.

Dwarf doesn't come till 20 though and the aoe stun not till 26. Till then idk team or something they become non issues on teams.

Along with using your powers to take out the voids/quantums first, be sure to use whatever inspirations you have to assist with taking them down. Lucks in particular are sure to be your best friend.

If you're having doubts about your future viability in combat, I welcome you to check out the links in my signature. And this video here is a recent video of myself and some friends teaming with our khelds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlienOne The damage from Voids and Quantums used to be unresistable, and getting a cyst spawned in a mission almost inevitably meant a team wipe--thus, this lingering "stigma" with having a Kheldian on your team, even though that never happens anymore...

I've recently found a couple of those players on my server. It's disgusting that some people are still so uninformed and willingly ignorant.

Self plug, I recommend checking out the MFing Warshade guide in my signature. Warshades can be a lot of things, but simple is not one of them.

I've been playing for years, and have started Khelds several times. I've deleted all of them by level 20 or so. They do get better at higher levels, but Khelds may simply not be your cup of tea.

But once you know the ropes, it's not that difficult to avoid getting smacked by the Quantums. It's pretty much the same as playing a blaster or defender against mobs that can hold you (Lost Anathemas, etc.).

Basically, you hit them first with an attack that incapacitates them in some way. You might hit them with a hold or stun, or a blast that knocks them back. Then you keep hitting them until they're down. Be sure you have a few break free inspirations on hand, and when fighting a boss use purple inspirations ahead of time to reduce your chances of getting hit. A red will help to beat them down faster.

Managing your inspirations is generally the key to survival at low levels. Make sure you have greens, purples and break frees; the others are less critical to have, so you'll want to convert them into the ones you need more (just right-click one when you have three of that type to convert).

I found the attendant hassles of playing a Kheld (quantums, voids, cysts appearing at extremely inconvenient times) to slow the game down, and the advantages to not be worth the trade off. I don't like shifting shape in mid-combat, don't like the way the squids handle in the air, don't like how slow the dwarf runs, and really don't like the inability to customize the appearance of the alien forms.

Khelds are designed as a jack of all trades, and that generally means they won't excel at any one particular role. The standard ATs are all better at their roles than a Kheld is. If my team needs a particular role and we can't find a player to fill that role, I'll just switch to another character.

Just wanted to pop my head in and say "Welcome to the game"

I'm usually on the lighter side of Khelds (Read: Peacebringers) but I've got a 50 Warshade and I can say, with the utmost confidence, it gets a lot better. Quants and Voids are a real pain at lower levels because you just don't have the tools to deal with 'em. As you level up and get your Stuns you'll have fewer and fewer issues until, eventually, you'll be able to treat 'em just like any other enemy.

If you ever decide to give PBs a go I encourage to read my guide "Peacebringers SUCK!" (Linked in my sig). Also...

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlienOne This is why I love our community... Anywhere else for any other game, the "vets" would be either making fun of the new guy or talking about "I remember when these guys were actually a threat..."

Truth. It's what keeps me comin' back no matter what other games I try

As a level 4 Warshade myself two weeks ago (I'm 45 now) let me tell you it gets waaaaay better. A look at the MF Warshade guide is a must, if only to really learn what our powers do and what our strengths are in combat. I also suggest finding teams or just starting them yourself until you get a little more in the way of tools to help deal with the Quantums and Voids that pop up to harass you.

Being a Warshade is super fun, and while it is a little rough right now, just use those defeats as a motivator. You WILL get better and you WILL stomp those guys eventually!

Thanks for the replies they were quite useful. I've decided to skip missions and just kill random mobs out in the world until I get a few more tools to handle the Quantums. I've gotten to level 8 now with a lot less painful dying. I don't have the Nova form yet, I might get that at level 10, but I didn't like the sound of having no defence.

I've played a Druid for years in WoW as my only character. The Kheldians seem to have a similar design idea.

I've also started a Trick arrows/archery Defender, which is noticeably weaker than the Brutes/Scrapper/Widow/Blaster I have played before. But still it can do missions without dying if I'm a bit careful. I currently can't pull that off on my Warshade.

But I'm happy clearing the streets of Paragon City of car jackers and purse thieves and getting thanks from NPCs all the time.

All my other toons are Villains and so are those of my friends, so my Warshade will go Vigilante as soon as possible. It's also why I didn't choose a PB, as I felt the WS fits better with this in powers and looks and lore/background.
It's more because my friends wanted to play Villains than that I did though, even though robbing banks is fun. (Yay for Mayhem missions!).

I strongly recommend taking Nova as soon as possible on a fresh Warshade- Definitely check out the MFing Warshade guide. The amount of resistance you can have through Absorption/Toggles at those low levels is not enough to make a real difference anyways, and Nova will kill so much faster than human form at that level that it becomes more survivable through significantly better offense.

Yep! It gets easier! My entire team panics when they see a quantum because they don't want my steamrolling goodness to end but it's usually dead between my steamroll and their zeal to protect me that I never really notice them anymore.

I wanted to post here again because I just made a second Warshade on Protector in order to participate in future Kheldian Fridays events.

My new Warshade is currently almost level 7. I haven't died once, and I've used rest twice. I've done nothing but solo through the Shadowstar arc.

Here's what has been working for me:

I took Bolt first. My next power choice was Eye. At level 4 I took Orbiting Death. I also have access to the Nemesis Staff and Sands of Mu, so I benefited from a good amount of attacks early. Those stopped playing a role at level 6.


At 6, I took nova and respeced. My new power choices became: Bolt, Gravity Shield, Hasten, and Nova and put all my slots into Nova attacks. I don't have any enhancements yet.

Like I told you earlier, just killing the Quants/Voids first really negates any risk. Nova with Hasten has a seamless attack chain, so you can move at a very quick pace. It can also fly above everything and hardly ever get hit. So, take Nova. Do it.

Of course right after posting this, I die for the first time. That has more to do with me being insane and aggroing a whole room at a time and less to do with any flaw in the archetype, though.

I should also mention that I set up some tray binds for switching forms/etc:

/bind n "powexectoggleon Dark Nova$$Gototray 2"
/bind m "powexectoggleoff Dark Nova$$Gototray 1"

Those will switch me in and out of Nova respectively and take me to the tray with the powers appropriate for my current form.

/bind shift "powexecname shadow step"

That will let me teleport around by pressing the shift key and left clicking.

Street sweeping for xp? Worried about defenses? Skipping Nova when it came available? Oh dear, you don't need to worry about all that. At the beginning, Warshades play a lot like a blaster or controller where you just want to blast down all of your foes. Knock them down and fill them full of Nictus energy! Things will be very swingy, especially while soloing. Find or start groups, read the WS Bible (MF Warshade) it almost literally walks you through the levels, giving amazing advice and not just giving you a build plan and a list saying "pick this power at this level."

And making binds for switching forms and your power trays is a must. Personally I use Shift+1 2 and 3 for Human, Nova and Dwarf in that order. Your buffs and control in human for will help your Nova form, which you'll want for primary damage. And don't forget that you get buffed for every other person on your team, depending on their AT, so don't be afraid to group up where you'll be stronger and you'll have other people that will help you take care of Quantums and Voids.

A couple of other points in favor of teaming, which you may or may not have been aware of;

1. Kheldians get extra buffs of different types when teamed with others, depending on the ATs you are teamed with. For a WS, for example, having scrappers and tankers on the team will increase your resistance.
2. Nova form has more ranged damage, and in particular AoE damage, at low levels then even most blasters can manage, so is a very welcome addition to teams. Especially if you respec early on and dump your early slots into Nova form. You can even outrange a lot of foes at low levels, though that goes away later on as higher level foes get more and better ranged attacks.

Note that you can make 2 builds on a character, so consider leveling up a second one with Nova and see how you like it.

It use to be 'SOP' on the Kheldian forum to tell firsttimers to play a Peacebringer before moving to a Warshade. The self heals in a PB make lower levels a bit easier, even if past level 38 a warshades being to outshine the PB big time. Of course now with the change in Light Form, that might not be true anymore.

In teams, let someone in the team kill the quantums. Solo, they got to be your first target to take down even if you got to burn your inscp tray bare. Don't let them stun you, that's the worst.

Read up on binds, and use them... they will make your life fair easier.

As to the old days, I still remember during a Frostfire in Hollow. In the room you get the key (its 'L' shape), and there being two cysts were we couldn't see them. In door, agg mobs (two down, one or two on second).... and getting blasted by the cysts before even noticing them. After a few team wipes, we reset mish and tried again.

Hey, I'm quoted in your signature! I've never had that happen to me before.