suggestion Kheldian rework (mostly Warshade related)

[NyxiaSnow]

Hi everyone, I've been a long time Kheldian player and have quite a few of them as I can't get enough of tweaking and working on them till they're a diamond in the rough. That being said, I would like to address the state of the archtypes post the Christmas update with a few things I find as pet peevs playing them.

 

 

First of all, Kheldians are relatively well balanced if you use them as intended as group support characters. I've personally managed to build a powerhouse tri-form/human only Warshade and Peacebringer on a single character build and can solo AVs as either playstyle. However, that being said, I do agree the Warshade is weaker in the respect that they cannot solo as well as any other archetype in the game, and really do need mobs to fuel it for it to be an amazing class, making it a long winded affair to fight singular AVs or EBs. I would suggest in this regard maybe changing the Kheldian mechanic of group play to something more in line with a Defender's archtype, where as a solo player you receive larger benefits, but in group play the Kheldian buffs are weaker, but wider ranging. For example a +10% damage and defense boost as a solo player; But a +2% resistance, defense, damage (ect.) boost in teams. Obviously not those values, but the concept overall. This would not only circumvent the frustration many players had in Live and now in Homecoming about a shortage of enhancement slots (I personally don't mind it but I agree more slots would always be nice! 😉 ), but it would also make the class more friendly for newer players. 

 

The main peev I personally have is the new long range teleport rework. I enjoyed being able to jump into a purple portal across entire zones, since it felt like a very 'Warshady' thing to do. The new rework takes away some of the joy playing as a teleport inherent Warshade since the cooldown and the gfx have made Warshade teleporting feel as if the archtype was left behind. I would request that the long range teleport either be brought back as an inherent power, or as a power in the set, since that would make it fun to jump around again. If that's not possible, then please reduce the cooldown on the new teleport for Warshades, and allow for the customization of the gfx to allow for the purple portals. Keeping the badge collecting feature for the teleport would actually work really well if you see it in the terms of the Warshade having to see a place first before being able to teleport there. 

 

Another rework for the Warshade that I would suggest is removing starless step. It isn't practical in a fight to be jumping all over the place, especially in a group setting given that for a majority of 'triformers' they'll be either in Dwarf or Nova anyway; As for Human-only, the powers are geared for ranged fighting, with a handful such as Essence drain or Gravity Well needing you to be in melee range. I saw that Unchained Essence and Quasar worked okayish with the to-hit buff, but after popping a sunless mire as either a triform or human-only player, do you really need the to hit bonus Starless Step gives? Perhaps a melee power or even a new pet (permanent or otherwise) would really be appreciated here. You could even use this power space to provide a boost for solo players through a toggle or pet to circumvent the problem outlined in the first paragraph.

 

Peacebringers are much more player friendly. There is not much you can change about them as they really do feel like duct tape as a super hero. Need a tank? Be a Dwarf. Need a ranged blaster? Be a Nova. Need a swiss army knife? Be a human only or a PB with any combination of the shapeshifting powers. However, Combat Flight for Peacebringers could use a rework in its visuals, as it feels goofy 'flying' so slowly around in a Hover-type power. It would be nice if the power was at least customizable to be changed into the same look as regular Hover. 

 

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So in summation:

 

Warshade:

Rework Dark Sustenance to make it more solo player friendly, 

Bring back the Long Range Teleport or lower the cooldown on the new teleport power and add an option for Kheldian gfx,

Remove starless step and add a melee or pet power that can either help human only players or circumvent the first problem.

 

Peacebringer:

Allow for the change of Combat Flight's gfx to that of Hover. 

 

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Thanks for taking the time to read, and I hope y'all have a happy new years!

[Greycat]

Don't have much to say about the first two - I wouldn't hold my breath on our LRT version, Shadow Slip, coming back, though I get the argument - but for the third...

 

4 hours ago, NyxiaSnow said:

Another rework for the Warshade that I would suggest is removing starless step. It isn't practical in a fight to be jumping all over the place, especially in a group setting given that for a majority of 'triformers' they'll be either in Dwarf or Nova anyway; As for Human-only, the powers are geared for ranged fighting, with a handful such as Essence drain or Gravity Well needing you to be in melee range. I saw that Unchained Essence and Quasar worked okayish with the to-hit buff, but after popping a sunless mire as either a triform or human-only player, do you really need the to hit bonus Starless Step gives? Perhaps a melee power or even a new pet (permanent or otherwise) would really be appreciated here. You could even use this power space to provide a boost for solo players through a toggle or pet to circumvent the problem outlined in the first paragraph.

 

Starless Step (for the non-'shade among us) went from the ranged TP Foe to our version of Combat Teleport. (I kind of wish they'd changed the name, because this threw me - someone who's played 'shades live and here - with this comment.)

 

I'd say it's a bit early to talk about removing or replacing it, on one hand. I still haven't quite worked it into how I do things on my 'shades. I disagree with your reasoning *why,* as I really *am* "jumping all over the place" when I play, and there's a lot more going on in melee range (TP in - Mire being an early opening, Eclipse being fairly standard fare to start with late game. Orbiting Death is, of course, melee range, as well as Inky Aspect. By late game I end up in melee range more often than at range for most things.)

 

That said, Warshades by default have Teleport from level 1 - no power pick needed. I use that out of habit for travel *and* combat. I don't see myself binding one thing for travel, then binding the other for use in combat. Starless Step's ... advantage is the tohit buff (which is nice for the *first* mire/eclipse, sure, and/or if you're dealing with small groups) and shorter animation. But given my 'shade "does stuff" when teleporting in, the shorter animation between SS's jumps doesn't really confer an advantage. It's one thing when you have to dip into a pool because you *want* a combat teleport aside from whatever you use for travel. It's another when you have TP from level 1.

 

I'd sit on any change for a while 'til we get more of a feel for where this could fit into playstyles... but I'd probably say "fold the buff into the first three times a 'shade just uses inherent teleport" and agree they should replace with... something, the way it seems now. It does feel a touch redundant with our Teleport not requiring a power pick at all and being given on character creation at the moment.

 

 

 

[SeraphimKensai]

I've said it sadly about a hundred or so times since Kheldians were first introduced: Mez protection in human form armor toggles would be amazing.

 

Otherwise Toggle Suppression while shape shifted would be perhaps the best QoL change imaginable for Kheldians.

 

That all said it's good to see other Kheldian supporters.

[Doomrider]

Dear OP, 

Your Kheldian Rework comes off as more of a "I don't like the changes to teleport powers" and "the inherent should do something for us solo" than it does any actual ideas for a rework.
Can I suggest a title change to your post? OR, If you want to get a dialog going for rework ideas I think many would be game, but we need flushed out ideas to build off of. 

I do agree that the inherent having some bonus for the solo player would be a welcome change, and it has been suggested before many times but coming to a consensus on what that would be may be difficult.

As for the TP power changes, while I can certainly empathize with players who lose out on LRT from their builds, I think it is what it is at this point. 

Warshades for the most part can solo just fine out of the box but their reliance on buff fuel could be lessened to make their 'peaks and valleys' style performance a little less drastic without losing their identity. I had an idea that was shared between myself and other posters in the past, but namely @Microcosm. The idea in essence was to give the same (or similar) treatment Dark melee received, to Warshades. My post per another recent thread:

"Give Warshades the Dark Melee treatment.

Frontload Sunless Mire to grant 50% +damage for first target hit, 10.416% for each target there after. Adjust max target count to 7 max, down from 10. (Similar to Soul Drain)
Max damage buff remains the same as current, but requires less saturation.

Add Mez protection to Eclipse; Mag 3.11 to Hold, Immob, Stun, Sleep for first target hit. (Same mag values as Light Form. ) 

Give Essence Drain the Siphon Life buff.
End cost  reduced to 10.19 down from 15.6
Recharge reduced to 10 sec at base down from 15
Damage increased to 92.65 up from 47.27 (92.65 base damage same as Radiant Strike for PB)
Cast time and 10% heal remain the same.

Fix the Dark Extraction AI that causes Essences to charge into melee despite having ZERO melee abilities."

I'd like to emphasize the last bit regarding Dark Extraction because this is something that is sorely needed. When pet AI was overhauled last year to prevent them from kamikazeing into melee, I believe this may only have extended to MM pets for the most part. Someone can chime in and correct me if I'm wrong, but for a pet like DE, who has ZERO and I mean ZERO melee abilities, they should stay out of melee range. Period. Full stop. 

I would also go as far to suggest that either DE should be able to inherent self buffs such as Eclipse or that they are given an independent survivability pass. 
Currently Warshades ST dps is anything but stellar and relies heavily on their pets to supplement this. Problem is, they die to a stiff breeze making them difficult to leverage, particularly in AV fights.
If WS ST dmg output is going to be tied to it's pets, I would argue they should be more reliable and less easy to defeat regardless of environment be that solo or in a buff saturated team. 

Khelds in general could use more QoL, and I have other ideas, but I will leave my input at that for the time being.

TL;DR:

Frontload Sunless Mire like Soul Drain.
Add Mez protection to Eclipse ala Light Form.
Give Essence Drain same recharge/base end as Siphon life, same damage as Radiant Strike.
Fix fluffy AI's melee obsession and/or make them stronk.

Edited January 7, 2021 by Doomrider

[SwitchFade]

On 1/4/2021 at 1:29 PM, SeraphimKensai said:

I've said it sadly about a hundred or so times since Kheldians were first introduced: Mez protection in human form armor toggles would be amazing.

 

Otherwise Toggle Suppression while shape shifted would be perhaps the best QoL change imaginable for Kheldians.

 

That all said it's good to see other Kheldian supporters.

I'll go you one further, human needs mez protection as a passive power pick, or built into a shield that toggle suppresses, if the end drain while in form can be figured out.

 

Orbiting debt should carry over to dwarf.

 

Raise the damage cap to be in line with other ATs

 

Now, WS is fixed.

 

[TheSpiritFox]

Raise the damn damage cap. It is absolute fucking absurd that my PB can damage cap ITSELF almost PERMANENTLY just with perma inner light. It is absurd that on any high level team I cannot begin to benefit from shit like fulcrum shift. 

 

Also, photon seekers are dogshit, just straight up replace the power with something else. 

Edited January 16, 2021 by TheSpiritFox