Doomrider

It's a bit shocking I know. You're at least correct about Incan Strike in that it loses a ton of dps due to that long animation. But if we look at Nova Eye - Nova Blast - repeat chain you'll get the following: 97.06 dps solo // 161.8 dps at dmg cap. This is WITHOUT procs. solo Nova Eye 77.41*(1.45+.95) = 185.8 damage / 1.716 animation time = 108.3 dpa Nova Blast 66.73*(1.45+.95) = 160.2 damage / 1.848 animation time = 86.66 dpa at cap Nova Eye 77.41*(4) = 309.64 damage / 1.716 animation time = 180.44 dpa Nova Blast 66.73*(4) = 266.92 damage / 1.848 animation time = 144.44 dpa if you add in available procs, and with enough recharge... 160.5 dps solo // 225.2 dps at dmg cap. Still falling behind optimal human only and behind triform using all the tools available to it, sans changeling.

Unfortunately the damage scalar doesn't mean a whole lot when the base recharge on the Nova Single Target attacks are so low. The damage formula takes into account a power's base recharge when determining base dmg. Lower base the base recharge, the lower the base dmg. For instance, the base dmg on Dark Nova Blast before Nova's 45% dmg bonus is applied is only 66.73. The next best ST attack is Nova Eye at 77.41. Early game this feels really strong as you get a lot of powers when you pick up Nova at L4 and the 45% dmg bonus gives you a sizeable offensive advantage over other non-heat characters at that level. By mid game that advantage quickly starts to disappear as other damage AT's start to bring the rest of their kits online. I've ran the numbers using optimal chains for both Human Only WS and Triform WS (non-changeling) and these were the raw dps results. These do include damage procs but no sources of -res, assault hybrid, interface etc. So you can imagine the damage would be a fair amount lower without procs. Human WS running Gravity Well - Shadow Blast - Essence Drain - Shadow Blast 168 dps solo (no buffs) - 268 dps at dmg cap Triform (Non-Changeling) running Gravity Well - Nova Eye - Dwarf Drain - Nova eye 197 dps solo (no buffs) - 303 dps at dmg cap There are surprisingly close in Single Target damage output and these are utilizing only the highest DPA attacks available to the AT within these framework. Now if you were wondering how these compare to a non-heat AT... We can compare these with a Fire Blast defender running Dominate - Blaze - B.Bolt - Fire Blast - Blaze - Fire Blast 207 dps solo (no buffs) - 329 dps at dmg cap Another fun fact; Dark Detonation and Dark Nova Detonation have almost the same dpa due to the difference in animation time. Another point against Nova actually providing a tangible offensive advantage. ALL THAT ASIDE... because it doesn't have much to with the OP. If the two play styles (Human Only vs Triform <non changeling>) are this close in sustained DPS, I really don't see a problem with providing a non-transformation cosmetic option for those who desire that. Plus, it really doesn't infringe on anyone elses enjoyment since it would be cosmetic only. Some people might not like such an option existing just based on principal, but we don't make these decisions anyway. If a dev wants to implement it, so be it.

Not a stupid question. Anything that provides you or your powers bonus recharge outside of the slotting in your individual powers. This includes but is not limited to: global recharge set bonuses from IO's and buffs provided by Support sets like Speed Boost from Kinetics, Accelerated Metabolism from Rad Emission or Chrono Shift from Time Manipulation.

With changes like this, WAI is starting to feel like "Working as we intend it to, so deal with it" even if the change makes ZERO sense. The power is already penalized with a reduced radius and increased base recharge. Now the accuracy requirement just adds another hoop to jump through in order to take advantage of the real reason players take the power. The way I see it, the accuracy requirement is just an added slot sink to the power because I guess it wasn't already penalized far enough. A patch of tar should not need to roll an accuracy check. You're standing it, you're affected by it, plain and simple. Let's not forget how Tar Patch works relative to powers like Sleet. The enemy has to BE IN IT, for the -res to apply. If they run out of it, welp, no -res. Unlike Sleet who only has to tag enemies for the 30 sec debuff duration to apply. So add that as another point against Tar Patch.

I know a lot of people still parrot this "balanced around SO's statement", but at this point, it kinda seems more like living with your head in the sand. It's also sometimes used as this weird "gotcha" attempt during balance discussions but provides no value to the conversation. IO's have existed for a long time now, they make all content but especially more difficult content easier to succeed at, to the point where it's basically mandatory for the Hard Mode Taskforces. Saying the game is balanced around SO's doesn't change that. And you can't begin to discuss balance or adjustments to an AT without considering IO's so what value does parroting this dated statement add to this conversation? Also, can anyone provide an example where an AT was buffed, but said buff came with a tradeoff that was punitive to existing characters and ONLY provided value to those who min/maxed? I cannot think of one, but I'd love to know what such a statement would be in reference to.

Eh, I don't think it necessarily requires sacrificing their own damage potential to put their higher hp and res caps to use. That argument certainly has more merit if you look at in the vacuum of solo play though. On teams, where resistance buffs aren't unheard of, that 90% res cap is going to allow brute to take a fair bit more damage the scrapper equivalent. But for defensive sets, this where their caps don't help them nearly as much, and where sturdiness between the brute and scrapper equivalent start to look almost identical. They lost their identity a long time ago and any edge they had at being an offensive tank, went away with Tank buffs. When you can make a Tank easily more sturdy AND more damaging than a Brute, you've completely supplanted the AT. There are a few sets that are outliers that shine on Brutes, but generally speaking there isn't much incentive to play Brute, if you arguing performance.

What part of my statement you might think is incorrect, is irrelevant. I'm not here to play teacher. Go look it up. I said my piece, now back to the OP.

-5% to-hit would be worthless even without the heavy end cost and small melee radius. Poor base accuracy Heavy end drain small radius 10 target cap only affects minions tick rate doesnt alowl it stack with itself. CoF is garbage. Back to the OP, Dark Regen does not really need a buff but im sure the heal could be adjusted. and the endurance cost reduced and it would still be potent. The other tools in the set need work tho.... sooo maybe? Of all the things in this game that need attention, this aint really near the top of the list tho. Maybe eventually.

In what contexts do you think they're perfectly balanced? I want to know from the side that thinks they don't need to be adjusted, just why and under what circumstances do you think they need no further adjustments.

You're starved for slots because you're slotting extremely inefficiently. Not because you're going for recharge bonuses. A few observations on your build: - Psi res uniques like aegis are a waste. Eclipse will cap you on Psi res. which will bring up your total resistance floor instead of just psi. - Manuevers and Shadow Cloak on a Triform build are of arguably little value, but you've devoted a lot of slots to them. - Gravity Well is an attack first, hold second. Essence drain when you have Dwarf Drain is a waste. - You are already swimming in accuracy bonuses (90% according to your totals) but still slotting 2 acc in Eclipse, which are doing basically nothing for you. That 90% accuracy global your Eclipse will inherit. If you're concerned with Eclipse missing, use Dwarf Mire before firing Eclipse. - Your single target attacks are criminally under slotted. This is of course felt more when soloing, if you team exclusively it will matter less, but your team will be carrying you hard during AV fights. -Dark Nova Emanation has no native KB, despite allowing KB enhancements. The sudden acceleration is not converting any KB to KD, because it doesn't have any. Replace sudden accell with Force Feedback. Many of your aoes can slot it and it can help shore up recharge bonuses by a suprising amount if you play aggresively enough. - Inky aspect only stuns minions on its own. Its mag 2. Grav Emanation + inky will stun minions, lieutenants and bosses. - the extra slot in Dark Nova is a waste. The to-hit from Nova only applies to that form, and like i said, you're already swimming in bonus accuracy. - You only have mag 4 KB protection, but plenty of locations to slot BotZ. I would suggest doing so. - Your net endurance recovery is really bad (.82/sec, assuming beast run is off) if you intend on running all those toggles. - Assault Core is also a bad choice. It gives +dmg and we cap our damage super easy both solo and on a team. Assault Hybrid is better because it grants all attacks energy dmg procs, which still apply even at dmg cap.

Because you do things like this: A 26 second mag 3 stun on 10 targets with guaranteed KB. Not this 50% chance of that mindlessly scatters like other aoes, and the power procs quite well making it also a very good DPA attack and another aoe. Great for any WS build. Plus you can stack the stun with Inky to mez bosses. It's one of the greatest powers in the Warshade toolkit.

If you are managing Eclipse keeping your resists capped AND you're using active mitigation (ie. gravitic for stuns, kb/kd from your blasts and gravity wells hold) Quantums should not pose a threat. They have been significantly toned down over the years. If you are still finding difficulty with said mobs then I don't think it's a build issue. That being said, I would be more inclined to suggest my latest Human Form WS build, just a few posts up from here, over this one. Assuming you are married to the idea of the human form build and are thus avoiding Tri-form altogether. A solo WS definitely still leans on smart inspiration usage and active mitigation, and as more and more enemy factions get revamped, this statement is becoming ever more true. Defense bonuses alone can only get you so far, and while my older builds posted in this thread certainly have them in abundance, revamped enemy factions are coming loaded with more ways to debuff said defenses.

We're on Discord being sh*theads and pretending like we're young. Well some of us anyway. Welcome back old man. 😛

Tri-Form even without Changeling is still great make no mistake. But outside of the realm of Changeling, I think human-centric WS builds got more from the Toggle Suppression changes. Human: - gained access to double mire effectively. This was way too clunky before to really use well. Now Human can enjoy Double Mire just like Tri-forms can. - gained access to taunt effectively which a lot of solo players felt had value for managing aggro from your pets. The real difference now for Triforms, is any toggles you had, be-it Orbiting Death, or otherwise, can be more than mules if you want them to be, but they still see no real value while you're shifted. Changeling uses this to a great degree with how OD and Inky can ticket in-between macro'd attacks but if that functionality goes away/gets patched out then it's back to, well, how much value and use do those toggles powers really bring you if they still only work in 1 of 3 forms? Really depends on your build.

Yeah I probably wouldn't play that build at all. Since the defense changes, s/l defense isn't as valueable as it used to be and stacking Kinetic Combats wasn't ideal to begin with. If I was going to play something that utilizes the benefits of toggle supression, and wasn't concerned with playing with Changeling macros I'd play this build I posted to the discord recently. It's basically a Human Shade build that can also macro Dwarf Mire and Dwarf Antagonize so that you have an extra aoe attack, double Mire and built in taunt on an otherwise conventional Human Shade build but with 30%-ish melee/ranged defense. Doom's New Humanshade (if you have to play humanshade) - Warshade (Umbral Blast - Umbral Aura).mbd