Bi-form PB (Nova/Dwarf) anyone...?

[Nostromo21]

I'm getting back into my PB after a long hiatus. Only at 23, but loving the Nova blasting & Dwarf tankiness+heal, really makes this a survivable, fun, mostly ranged build, which is my preferred play style. I only really use the human form for stealth, buffs & Fly/Hover, which is  lot more manoeuvrable than Nova Flight.

 

So, is this bi-form viable to end-game? Why no love for the pure alien build? Am I missing something major from the human form that will gimp me later on perhaps...? I was very pleasantly surprised to find that HC had fixed the toggles in HF, so they stay on when you transform back & forth, which is a huge QoL change imo! 🙂 If anyone has any links to a good, affordable build that will take me to 50, would be much obliged. I currently have all 25 IOs slotted, not sure how far they will take me and when I should upgrade again, or switch to attuned IOs.

Edited October 8, 2022 by Nostromo21

[Gulbasaur]

2 hours ago, Nostromo21 said:

So, is this bi-form viable to end-game?

Define "end-game", really. You can absolutely play shape-shiftin' peacebringers up to and including incarnate content. 

 

2 hours ago, Nostromo21 said:

Am I missing something major from the human form that will gimp me later on perhaps...?

 

Dawn Strike and Photon Seekers do a very respectable amount of AoE damage. 

 

The melee attacks in human form are clunky because their cooldowns mean they don't slide easily into a melee rotation, but they hit like a truck. Incandescent Strike deletes quantums and void hunters. 

 

Human form also has a number of click buffs, including a heal, and HP boost, a damage boost and an endurance discount. 

 

The other big one is LIght Form - it brings your damage resistances up to Dwarf numbers, but allows you to keep using the heavy-hitters. If you've got permanent Light Form or are on a team and getting the passive resistance buffs, you're probably not lacking survival skills. This sort of eats into Dwarf's space unless you're tanking and need the aggro control and extra hit points. 

 

I think, fundamentally, both forms hit a plateau, but human form is a late-bloomer. The vast majority of "high tier" powers are only useable in human form... but they don't really "fit" until you've got enough of them to make it worth staying in human form. 

Nova's blast powers area great for the level you get them, but they never really get past the equivalent of tier 4 or 5 powers for other ranged sets - your nukes are in human form. Dwarf is mathematically one of the better resist-based tanks at the level you get it and does okay (but not spectacular) damage but ten levels later it's just a resist-based tank with no T9 power and your high damage melee attacks are in human form so you're middling tank doing middling damage. 

Personally, I think all three forms have a place. By 50, I slide into human form for big damage numbers and self-buffing, hit nova and rain down balls of energy to keep up the pressure and drop into dwarf when I need a big sack of HP with a taunt on every attack. There's also the point about flashbacks, Ouroboros and exemplaring - you won't always be operating at top levels and sometimes being able to turn into a giant space lobster is exactly the right choice. Kheldians, having a solid toolkit quite early, scale down very well. 

 

@Doomrideris Homecoming's resident Kheldian-whisperer. The GD peacebringer guide is good, too.*
 

2 hours ago, Nostromo21 said:

I currently have all 25 IOs slotted, not sure how far they will take me and when I should upgrade again, or switch to attuned IOs.

The crafted IOs will generally take you all the way to top level to be replaced gradually. 

 

I'd recommend looking at the Archetype Enhancements, if only to get the Form Empowerment one - it's a flat damage boost to nova and then some other bits that aren't nearly as useful. The usual suspects (the two 3% defence boosts, performance shifter etc) are probably with slotting too. 

 

* although I feel like there is a better pun somewhere (c.f. the MF/MultiForm/MotherFumblin' Warshade). OP Peacebringer? Orl the Phorms? Go home, Gulbasaur. 

Edited October 8, 2022 by Gulbasaur

[Nostromo21]

Thanks Gulbasaur, I'm going to look into those suggestions of yours, should I keep levelling the PB. Still trying to find the sweet spot as far as which class resonates with me as a mostly solo carebear...even tried a couple tankers this week, *shock, horror*! 😉

[Gulbasaur]

Hmm. From experience, tankers are actually very good solo. They were, in my opinion, slight over-buffed when they were reworked.

 

Stalkers are a fun solo option. Defenders do more damage solo, so are more competitive in that department than you might think.

[Sovera]

A pure Nova build (with slips to other forms when needed of course, but 95% Nova) does appeal a bit to be played like a Sentinel. But lack of a nuke and a CC protection toggle fights against the idea.

 

That said there are people that play petless MMs.

Edited October 9, 2022 by Sovera

[Xiddo]

 

Doom’s got some very good affordable builds here!

[Nostromo21]

On 10/9/2022 at 8:22 PM, Gulbasaur said:

Hmm. From experience, tankers are actually very good solo. They were, in my opinion, slight over-buffed when they were reworked.

 

Stalkers are a fun solo option. Defenders do more damage solo, so are more competitive in that department than you might think.

 

Yeah, I barely lost any health just in the 1st 10 levels with a couple builds (Inv/Fire & Bio/Dark).

Defenders surprised me on HC - I don't remember them doing anywhere near that amount of dmg back on live, not that I'm complaining! Have a theme Spider-Woman look-a-like (Poison/Energy) & a Storm/Dark. I think the AT def deserves more play time solo, heh.

 

On 10/9/2022 at 8:41 PM, Sovera said:

A pure Nova build (with slips to other forms when needed of course, but 95% Nova) does appeal a bit to be played like a Sentinel. But lack of a nuke and a CC protection toggle fights against the idea.

 

That said there are people that play petless MMs.

 

Dafuq? LOL, kidz play the craziest things he he! It's like me deciding to play a pure melee blaster, or pure dmg controller say...😱

Which gives me an idea...has anyone gotten any AT to 50 before just on pool powers i.e. without picking/using a single primary/secondary (apart from the 2 or 3 you have to pick before level 4)...? That would be a challenge for someone like Voltak lol! 😉

 

On 10/10/2022 at 3:51 AM, Xiddo said:

Doom’s got some very good affordable builds here!

 

Read that in detail before, but there isn't an alien bi-form build specifically, which relegates human-form just to stealth, buffs/heals, no melee support. Perhaps I'm asking for too much, or gimping my PB as a result, I'm not really anti-human you know! 😉 Would a WS fair better without HF perhaps...?

 

Edited October 11, 2022 by Nostromo21

[Gulbasaur]

6 hours ago, Nostromo21 said:

Which gives me an idea...has anyone gotten any AT to 50 before just on pool powers i.e. without picking/using a single primary/secondary

I think the term is "pool boy" for that kind of build. A few people have done it!

 

 

6 hours ago, Nostromo21 said:

Would a WS fair better without HF perhaps...?

Warshades are very good at buffing themselves to higher damage and higher survivability, provided you're always in the thick of it in melee. You'll also be dipping in and out of human form, though.

[Xiddo]

7 hours ago, Nostromo21 said:

Read that in detail before, but there isn't an alien bi-form build specifically, which relegates human-form just to stealth, buffs/heals, no melee support. Perhaps I'm asking for too much, or gimping my PB as a result, I'm not really anti-human you know! 😉 Would a WS fair better without HF perhaps...?

 

I consider my tri-form bi-form tbh. I’m using Doom’s cheap soft-cap, fiddled a little and made a bit more £££, atm. Until about 30 I am in a form. Using human really only for Incan/heals/travel/veng. Most of the human powers are mules. Whacking on light form and then smashing in dwarf or shooting in nova.
 

You could remove some of the melee powers and take a couple more mules/mass slot more of the form powers I guess?

6 slot nova with sets and then Franken dwarf would do something. Could slot eye/blast for their in-form use too. It’d work I guess. Might not be able to perma as much maybe?