FlammeFatale

"Kheldians naturally thrive off the energy and essence of their enemies. Warshades' absorbing nature allows them to draw on the power of their enemies to increase their protection from control effects. When you team up, your pent-up control energy can be so much that part of it diffuses to your teammates." I trust the devs to come up with some nice fluff. 🙂

edit: I am answering to Laucianna, not to the message that was posted while I was typing. Okay, but this is still advocating for a change in the inherent which favors one specific build and one specific playstyle: a tri-form constantly switching, like some do today to abuse procs in dwarf and nova. This is a valid and respectable playstyle, but limited to a few number of players, generally min/maxers. I think that the vast majority of kheldians in the game, not on the forums, play differently. They will change forms but infrequently, only to adapt to the specific combat situation or team needs. What I would prefer is a change benefiting equally to all players, playstyles and types of builds. We agree that kheldians mezz mitigation should be improved. I will give an example that would address this issue while benefiting all players. It would also make kheldians add value to teams, which they do not today. Example: the inherent gives mezz protection which scales based on the number of players in the team. - 1 player (solo): +7 prot to the kheldian, +0 to the team (obviously). - 2 players: +6 prot to the kheldian, +1 to each teammate. . . . - 8 players: +0 to the kheldian, +7 to each teammate. This also has the merit of being simple to understand and implement.

This is not what I wrote. I wrote that the proposed change to the inherent would be detrimental to human only players. A human only would lose the buffs in team content and gain nothing. This is called a nerf. Human only are already weaker than bi-forms and tri-forms. No need to nerf the former while boosting the later. I prefer to improve all types of builds equally.

I hesitated to answer, because I am using Spectral, but not on a Night Widow. I am using it on my Beast/Dark MM, so this is a bit off-topic. But since you got little or no answers, I am answering anyway. Beast/Dark loves immobs: runners are a loss of DPS for beasts, and dark prefers tightly grouped mobs (darkest night + many cones). So I tried Spectral and kept it. I get very few runners. It procs really often, but perhaps it is because of the many attacks from the beasts, and my many AoEs. Not sure a Night Widow can proc as often, you should test on a dummy. I recently respecced. I kept Spectral but added the fears from the presence pool. They stack with Fearsome Stare and are even more efficient at immobilizing mobs than pure immobilizes. Fears are another solution then. Placates too. I am just brainstorming here.

I agree 100%. In addition to the annoying graphic effects: - it would corner kheldians into a non-stop switching style. Less build diversity. Less playstyle diversity within a build... boring. - it would be detrimental to the human-only builds and also the bi-form ones. - it would also be very difficult to balance because too much form switching reduces DPS without changeling, which is supposed to go when AT improvement takes place. I am very much in favor of an inherent revamp. Present inherent is useless when soloing. If anything, I think the only thing kheldians need is a better inherent. Perhaps also epic/ancillary powers. They are the only AT without those. Epic/ancillary powers would be very interesting inasmuch as they would allow more types of builds. Any inherent change or epic addition should address the AT weaknesses. In my opinion, the main AT weaknesses are: - poor mezz protection. - lower performance against 1 or 2 mobs, in the case of warshades.

My build is in the appended file. This corruptor is my best controller. Better control than my actual controllers and dominators. This is achieved by zeroing enemy endurance with the help of power boost and clarion radial. This works on any mob except most AVs. Solo, in case of trouble, it is also possible to heal via the pet. I have a macro to target the pet fast. Not the fastest damage dealer, but extremely safe. Terawatts - Elec Elec Corruptor.mbd

I second Dungeoness' suggestion to post recent, working builds, with some details. Here are my kheldians: - Bi-form human/dwarf warshade. - 0% defense peacebringer. Some remarks: - the warshade build is expensive, the peacebringer relatively cheap. - they are both end game builds, not leveling builds. - they both start with AoEs to clear the mobs and finish with ST attacks to clear the bosses. - boss phase: the warshade relies on inky+gravitic emanation to perma-stun them. - boss phase: the peacebringer relies on good heals in general, plus Melee Core against Master Illusionists and Ageless Epiphany against Mu Guardians. Skill choices: - Unchain essence is good damage and its stun stacks with inky, which I always keep on. Use binds for quick corpse targeting. - Gravitic emanation is slotted for perma-stunning bosses, which is essential, rather than for damage, which is not needed. - Quantum flight and Nebulous form are very useful. For instance, they can be used to deal with ambushes or to corner pull. The PB can use quantum flight to wait while endurance refills. That is against two Mu Guardians when ageless radial is on cooldown. Tri-Man - Tri-Form PB.mbd Flamme Fatale - Bi-Form WS .mbd

This is why my WS is bi-form. I do not need the squid: - quasar/ion/unchain clears the spawn - my human ST attack chain finishes the bosses, and it has stronger ST damage than the dark nova. This way I have more slots available. Beside hasten, I use only 4 pool powers and they are all LOTG mules. This leaves even more slots for the archetype powers.

The experimentation set has a teleport power, Jaunt, which comes together with Speed of Sound. I do not think experimentation is a good power pool for most characters. But I wanted to have at least one character using it. I also wanted to try a DB/Ninjitsu stalker. So I rolled one with the experimentation set. I have only started leveling it, but I tried it at 50 on the test server. It is performing well enough. For this character, there are few wasted powers in experimentation: - Experimental injection is not useful, but at least it can mule a +Absorb proc, which frees a slot elsewhere. - Toxic dart and corrosive vial provide ranged damage. - Speed of Sound provides super-speed and teleport. - Adrenal booster is a steroid.

I agree too that fortunatas are OP: - incarnate softcap to all positionnal defenses - strong scaling resist damage - native mezz protection - one of the best nukes in the game - a decent amount of controls - spammable ST confuse They also add value to teams without much effort: maneuvers/assault/tactic/perma mind-link. Frankly, it is difficult to find a better AT/powerset.

This one could be a good start: You can actually fit in a few more procs than in the proposed build. This is the build I started with for my poison/plant controller. I have since moved away from it. I am using different powers, less procs and more set bonuses, to boost my survivability. But it fits your requirements: lots of procs and utter chaos. Else, the most procs you can fit in a power is 6. You just need to get accuracy from other sources: nerve incarnate, tactics, set bonuses, kismet etc.

I am sorry to commit a second answer, but I realized my first list was based on how much fun the characters are to play. Now I will post a second list based on power. Previously mentioned characters are not weak, mind you. They can all solo at max difficulty. But most require some finesse and basic knowledge of game mechanics. The following ones can just leroy any spawn without checking stuff like boss types and worrying about tactics. Energy/Energy blaster Survived many group wipes. Generally last one standing. Crabbermind Immortal. Ranged Fortunata See above. Elec/Shield Stalker Almost Unkillable. Good damage. Ice/Ice Tanker Slow but Immortal.

Human/Dwarf Bi-form Warshade Rare build, rarest AT. I guess I am an elitist. Plant/Poison Controller Confusion profusion (seeds of confusion + word of confusion + cognitive interface). Trick Arrow/Archery defender Oil Slick Arrow is so pleasant to watch. Elec/Elec Corruptor Great sapper. Better control than my controllers and dominator. Spine/Regen Scrapper Old school cool.

Poison is great too. It provides a ton of debuffs. And it is somewhat thematic.

This may not be a popular opinion: I do not think damage type matters much. There may be better information about resistances somewhere, but this is my source: Comparing the second most resisted damage type, Lethal, to second least resisted one, Fire, one could say that Lethal is 10 to 11 times more resisted than Fire. But these are small percentages. Across the whole game, this translates into a 5% difference in resistance. This is negligible compared to the variance induced by AT choice, powersets, slotting and rotations. Moreover, what I think matters more than averages, is the specific resistances of some boss combos, in a 54/8 solo context. Playing at lower difficulties or in a team is easy. At 54/8, minions and most lieutenants are easy. But some bosses can be a pain in the neck for some characters. The amount of pain in the neck depends at least as much on character mitigation type vs boss damage type, as it does on character damage type. Let me give two examples based on what are considered more difficult enemy groups. Example 1: two Mu Guardians. They deal ranged energy damage. A toon with poor range or energy damage mitigation can get his endurance sapped very quickly. They resist fire, cold, energy and negative damage. A character with poor range/energy mitigation and a F/C/E/N powerset can suffer. A character with Lethal damage will do better. Example 2: two Dark Ring Mistresses. They have ranged debuffs and deal ranged psionic damage. Any character with no ranged defense and a psionic hole will suffer. They resist psionic damage but have negative resistance to Lethal. These annoying bosses can be safely ignored by a character with ranged defense and lethal damage. This is why I always create my characters based on concept and not damage type.

I have a TA/A defender and I have never found it lacked damage. Actually, it does a ton of damage. TA has some good damaging powers: Oil slick and procced Ice Arrow. It also has good res debuffs: entangling and disruption arrow, plus -res procs in a couple powers. For mitigations, Flash Arrow + Power Boost and/or Clarion Radial Epiphany is really powerful. Miss Arrows - Trick Arrow TA Defender.mbd

I have one too! 🙂 It is interesting how we took very different routes with the same powersets. I am guessing yours is a team player. Mine is more of a solo corruptor. I am emphasizing survivability: - Rune/Melee hybrid rotation for mezz protection and resistances. - Hover-blasting capabilities (with ranged + E/N softcap). - Perma-holding bosses with suppressive fire / dominate. Corruptor - Dual Pistols - Empathy.mbd

Yes this could be a different thread, because this is not specifically about Council and CoT changes. But there is really no point in starting a thread. Testing is finished. I tested a few builds on the test server prior to patch release. I test solo, because there are too many variables in a team environment and everything is easy for a team anyway. I had a couple remarks (increased unbalance between strong performers and weak performers, problem with Fortunata Mistresses for some powersets). But people had already made the same remarks on the feedback threads. I did not feel the need to post the same thing. After patch release, I played my level 50 characters (all T4 incarnate). I have only 21 or 22 of them. So not many, but I believe I know them well since they are the only characters I play. I tested each of them against arachnos/carnies/CoT/council. My findings confirmed what I had found on the test server for a few of them. The characters suffering disproportionally are the characters with: - weak damage (controllers and to a lesser extent, masterminds). - weak mitigations, mezz dependance for survival (controllers again and to a lesser extent my dark/dark dominator). - weak powersets (empathy). All the other characters are unaffected. There is some extra tediousness (rezzers) but increased interest too because of the new mobs.

I agree 100%. I will just copy-paste something I wrote in another sub-forum: "Maybe it is only me, but I feel the page 7 patch, which increases some enemy groups difficulty, has widened performance disparity between powersets. My stronger characters remain unaffected by the patch, while my weaker characters feel the increased difficulty. My kheldians are mid-tier performers and do not notice any increase in difficulty. My VEATS which were already extremely strong are buffed, WTF? We have a situation, unchanged strength and weaker weakness, which is the opposite of balance." I should add I do not have real issues with the council and CoT changes, except that I have never liked self-rezzing mobs. It does not add difficulty, only tediousness. What bothers me most is the change to Arachnos Tarentula Mistresses. Confuse and fear immunity to whole enemy groups is a nerf to some weaker ATs like controllers. I do not blame the devs who are a small volunteer team doing a great job. They cannot test everything and foresee every potential unbalance increase. But I feel if you cannot test thoroughly, then perhaps you should not make too many changes.

Yes. There could still be randomness, but the process would not be purely binomial.

Incarnates: You will cap damage against a crowd but not necessarily against the bosses left once the crowd is cleared. For this reason, my incarnates are geared to getting more damage. My defaults are Musculature Core Paragon for the Alpha and Assault Radial Embodiment for the Hybrid. Against easy mobs or in teams, I can also use Spiritual Alpha or Melee Hybrid. But solo against tougher mobs, I prefer damage.

I forgot I park my crafter in Wentworth for the discounts.

I like this one. I posted the same idea inadvertently without having read your post. Else, as far as the inherent is concerned, why not give small buffs based on missing ATs in the team, rather than today's opposite? 1) This would help solo play. 2) No one needs extra buffs in a team setting. 3) This is probably easy to code. Now to be frank, as much as I like Kheldians, my WS was my main back on live, I think some specific powersets in some ATs are much more in need of a change than kheldians. Maybe it is only me, but I feel the page 7 patch, which increases some enemy groups difficulty, has widened performance disparity between powersets. My stronger characters remain unaffected by the patch, while my weaker characters feel the increased difficulty. My kheldians are mid-tier performers and do not notice any increase in difficulty. My VEATS which were already extremely strong are buffed, WTF? We have a situation, unchanged strength and weaker weakness, which is the opposite of balance. This is not a criticism of the dev team, which are a small group of volunteers working for free. They can only do and test so much. But I think, since they have limited resources, these type of things should be prioritized compared to changing kheldians for the sake of it.

To come back to my original post, what I find nice with changeling is not the damage. As I said, I only use it for the warshade double-mire and the PB dwarf heal. Okay, I use it also to proc Warp perception, but this is a rare situational use. Kheldians, warshades in particular, do not need more damage. They have plenty already. If anything, what my warshade lacks the most is endurance. The boss combo I dislike the most is two mu guardians. What I like with changeling is how it makes the combat flow feel smoother, more fluid. Else, I find the kheldian playstyle can be a be jagged and very clicky. I would not care about changeling removal, without any compensating buff to Kheldians, provided the devs find a way to make the gameplay smoother, with ideally less clicks. Perhaps something like triggering the form change automatically when using a power from a different form. BTW, animation cancels works on some other ATs too. But I cannot find any discussion about it elsewhere than in the Kheldian section.

I am sorry Koopak, but results from a "log parser in development" by someone "that you cannot name", are not even anecdotal. Also, I just checked the pylon testing rules. First post in the thread: "External survivability buffs can be used, but only if explicitly stated and can ONLY affect survivability or mez resistance". I think this summarizes my point. You can do great on pylons if you forego survivability and mez resistance. I am not sure this is good advice for general game play though.