Officially Unofficial Weekly Discussion #33: Space Invaders (Team Peacebringer or Team Warshade?)

[SeraphimKensai]

Welcome back to another weekly discussion. Sorry for the delay in posting, been at home watching my infant daughter and entertaining out of town guests. This time we look into Kheldians and how they fit into CoH. 

 

What are your thoughts about Kheldians? How do they play in your experience? How's their lore from your perspective? Do you miss voidstalkers and random cysts occasionally popping up while running missions? What story elements would you like to see implemented for Kheldians? Would you like to see any changes to how the ATs play?

 

Do you embrace the changeling playstyle swapping forms as you desire, or do you play and prefer one form more than others, or maybe even eschew shape shifting in general?  Do you embrace shape shifting binds/macros or play without them?

 

Lastly Team Peacebringer or Team Warshade?

Edited June 24, 2023 by SeraphimKensai

[UltraAlt]

17 minutes ago, SeraphimKensai said:

What are your thoughts about Kheldians?

 

Dual form is manageable. 

I see no reason to go tri-form unless you really want to spread your slotting out over the additional powers. I'm assuming those that do go tri-form skimp on the human form and use the slots in squid and dwarf forms.

 

I have made one Peacebringer on Homecoming. I had a couple of Peacebringers and one Warshade before the sunset (I know I had at least one of each and sure I had more PB than WS, but not entirely sure of the numbers).

I ran in a duo with a Warshade on Homecoming. The other player didn't like it that much.

I ran human/squid. They ran human/dwarf.

We made it up to level 30 something and bailed for another project.

 

They seemed to have been created to be a challenging archetype for those that had already played the game through at least once (obviously, at least once, as you had to have at least one 50 before they could be unlocked - no real challenge or badge of honor to get to 50 at this point as you can get there by doorsitting to level 50 ... and could before the Sunset as well).

The VETAs by comparison don't seem to be very difficult to play. I haven't played either on Homecoming. I didn't level either very far before the Sunset. But I recall that the Khelidans were more challenging to play.

 

38 minutes ago, SeraphimKensai said:

How do they play in your experience?

 

Obviously, more difficult to play well due the possibility with three different form with different tactics that need to be used with each build.

They can be fun to play if you know when to switch back and forth between forms.

Having all three forms slotted allows you to fill any hole in a team except for healing and control.

 

42 minutes ago, SeraphimKensai said:

What story elements would you like to see implemented for Kheldians?

 

They have their own story line level 1-50.

Are we talking about end-game Kheldian content?

 

46 minutes ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Would you like to see any changes to how the ATs play?

 

There already have been a large amount of changes to make them (and their enemies) much less of the challenge to play that they were designed to be ... much less of a threat for a team to have a Khedian among them.

 

51 minutes ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Do you embrace the changeling playstyle swapping forms as you desire, or do you play and prefer one form more than others, or maybe even eschew shape shifting in general? 

 

I have tried tri-form and human only Kheldians, but I primarily play human/squid and try to balance the power purchases. 

I try to stay in human form until extra damage is needed and/or there is a taunting tank on the team - or - I need to regain end quickly - squids can regain end very quickly if you slot for it.

 

53 minutes ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Do you embrace shape shifting binds/macros or play without them?

 

Since I play with a game controller, I already do tray flipping with macros.

Playing a 2-form Kheldian, add a third tray for squid form. 2nd tray has form change, tray flip to primary squid power tray, flip back to primary human power tray ... I haven't played my Homecoming Kheldian for a while - but I think there are some powers that both human and squid could use and those would be in the 2nd tray as well. 

 

59 minutes ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Lastly Team Peacebringer or Team Warshade?

 

On Homecoming, I'm Team Peacebringer for sure.

 

 

[KaizenSoze]

Team Peacebringer for starters.

 

Probably an odd complaint about tri-form on PB or WS.

 

Too much flashing during form changes, it actually hurts my eyes. I am not sure if there a way to dull that.

[kelika2]

Peacebringer.  warshades are nice but most enemies in this game die before before setup time with pbaoe drains are done.

with peacebringers you click and go.  20~ second buildup with a decay, lightform or healing.  no need to spend precious seconds finding enemies to tap or corpses to harvest

[DougGraves]

I have never tried either.  They don't fit my concepts.  And they don't display costumes in changed form.

[lemming]

I keep trying, but have never gotten a build I enjoy playing.  Though I should get my warshade that bonded with an Elvis Impersonator at least playable

[JasperStone]

I love both, but favor the Peacebringer because I have played it way more.

 

I prefer Tri-Form because there is just too much to offer Dmg-wise.

Once you get used to the rhythm, you can cycle thru all 6 of your AoEs pretty quick and Dawn Strike too 🙂 

Ummm ... 3 self heals? ... yes please. Plus an Ally heal, yup. 

Conserve endurance as well.

 

Cycling thru forms is not that hard. I use the key-mapping in game to map access to my Numpad.

Believe it or not a majority of the powers fit into the first three trays.

I have extras that I don't use very often in tray 5. 

This is my preference as I have done it since Live and the muscle memory is ingrained across all my characters.

 

Dwarf is your Mez protection, it is an Instant Breakfree.

Nova assists endurance recovery.

 

Highly durable, high degree of survivability.

 

 

TriForm - can handle anything. Slotted to maximize AoE. When I was on Indom I was on the taunt team for Mitos and did just fine.

Human/Nova(Lvl4) - lower level work. Really nice in Posi and Synapse. I will also switch to this when on a primarily Melee team.

Human/Dwarf(Lvl20) -Mid levelish work, depending on how I want to handle things. I will switch to this build when tanking is needed. Or on a heavily Ranged Team or a team without Melee.

 

No human only form.

 

A  PeaceBringer does not need anything. Self contained. Buffs are welcome.

A Warshade needs the foes around it to heal and boost attack. Not a con at all, can be dangerous to foes.

[catsi563]

PBs are like true Alien superheroes powerful figures akin to angels swooping down to save everyone

 

Warshades are like the dark titans of myth delivering cold justice in the shadows

 

Both are heroes though

 

PBs really do play like a force of nature slamming into a group with heavy hiting melee and ranged atacks then shifing forms to dwarf for the reprisals and then to nova to finiish off any stragglers theyre so versatile you can play what ever role you need in a group and succeed

 

Warshades have to be a bit more cautious as they advance but when they hit certain milestones they become veritable gods and goddesses of the battlefield. a properly placed Eclipse can make them virtually invulnerable a good double mire can push their damage to heights most blasters can barely imagine/ add in that mire and eclipse transcends forms means you can have a nova raining down death from above while laughing off most return fire or a dwarf hitting harder than most scrappers

 

kheldians do have a bit of a learning curve but once you learn their ins and outs you have a powerful force on your side

[Techwright]

I do miss the cysts and voidstalker.  Once I started becoming skilled at the game, the cysts were one of the few things that made me start sweating.  It was frightening and exhilarating at the same time.  I gather they were nerfed because people stopped putting kheldians on the team lest they encounter these, but that's just sad.  Disconnect these from Kheldian presence, or make a kheldian presence like a 1% chance increase to seeing them above norm, and hopefully the team will not be so biased going forward.

 

I likewise miss the Quant gunners who could wreck a character.  These current ones shoot like they're using Nerf ammunition.

 

As to playing them, I've only played 1 warshade, and I really wasn't sure what to do with the human-form.  I really should go back and review him soon. 

[Uun]

I took a tri-form warshade to 50 on live (back when you needed to have a 50 to unlock the AT). Fun to play, but very busy. As others have said, it's difficult to slot all 3 forms effectively. I never found human-only to do anything that another AT can't do better. No inclination to build another on HC.

[SeraphimKensai]

Personally, I'm team Warshade all the way. I personally am all about triform changelings and using binds to quick shift as necessary. Warshade is fairly unique in playstyle.

 

When the servers went dark I missed Kheldians the most as it was fairly unique in their lore, albeit the Klyntars are similar in nature (I've been a huge Venom fan since back in the 80's when I was a kid, so it's fitting I like Kheldians).

 

I've been an advocate of Kheldians in general getting a balance pass as I find them underperforming compared to many other ATs. I also miss voids and cysts, as unique aspects that made playing Kheldians more chaotic and challenging.

[drbuzzard]

On 6/24/2023 at 6:07 AM, SeraphimKensai said:

Welcome back to another weekly discussion. Sorry for the delay in posting, been at home watching my infant daughter and entertaining out of town guests. This time we look into Kheldians and how they fit into CoH. 

On 6/24/2023 at 6:07 AM, SeraphimKensai said:

What are your thoughts about Kheldians? How do they play in your experience? How's their lore from your perspective? Do you miss voidstalkers and random cysts occasionally popping up while running missions? What story elements would you like to see implemented for Kheldians? Would you like to see any changes to how the ATs play?

 

I think they need a balance pass. VEATs are drastically better in performance. HEATs amount to being an odd mix of powers in human form,  a lousy blaster, or a lousy tanker. I suppose it's nice to be flexible to suit what a team may need, but on a server where near unlimited alts can be made, you can instead have an optimized blaster and tanker as they are needed.  Unless I missed it (which is possible since I don't follow HEATs much, I only recently leveled up my WS) while there have been balance passes of fairly major effect on blasters and tankers, the HEAT which mimics both remains a pale clone of the way those ATs used to be. Heck, just on that basis they need a bit of love. 

 

I built up a humanform WS made for durability and recharge which can, if all the fluffies stay alive, do OK damage. He'll also sit at 85% resistance to most things which when coupled to a very nice corpse dependent heal is very durable. However you can't just dive right in. All WS abilities (or good ones) depend on enemies or their bodies. The lack of status protection is also pretty annoying since 85% resistance isn't much good if you are just mezzed all the time. 

 

Both my crab spider and my fortunata do more damage, and do more for a team in general through force multiplication. 

 

Honestly, I'm not really sure how one should go about fixing the HEATs. People seem to like them as is I suppose, but then I've had people defend petless MMs as well. 

 

On 6/24/2023 at 6:07 AM, SeraphimKensai said:

Do you embrace the changeling playstyle swapping forms as you desire, or do you play and prefer one form more than others, or maybe even eschew shape shifting in general?  Do you embrace shape shifting binds/macros or play without them?

 

Lastly Team Peacebringer or Team Warshade?

 

PB did not appeal after looking at powers/numbers. I made and played to 50 my WS, and as mentioned above it is acceptable. I imagine I'll keep it for theme events or something, but I would not bother to play it otherwise. I have a multitude of more effective alts which are both more fun to play and do much more for a team, or are worlds better solo. 

[Greycat]

On 6/24/2023 at 7:07 AM, SeraphimKensai said:

Welcome back to another weekly discussion. Sorry for the delay in posting, been at home watching my infant daughter and entertaining out of town guests. This time we look into Kheldians and how they fit into CoH. 

 

What are your thoughts about Kheldians? How do they play in your experience? How's their lore from your perspective? Do you miss voidstalkers and random cysts occasionally popping up while running missions? What story elements would you like to see implemented for Kheldians? Would you like to see any changes to how the ATs play?

 

Do you embrace the changeling playstyle swapping forms as you desire, or do you play and prefer one form more than others, or maybe even eschew shape shifting in general?  Do you embrace shape shifting binds/macros or play without them?

 

Lastly Team Peacebringer or Team Warshade?

 

Given I wrote up the Kheld backstory guide back in the day... I really should revisit that, clean it up a bit, update here and there. (As well as a bit about raising a Peacebringer that probably hasn't aged as well.) Somewhere in my "mains stable" is always at least one Kheld.

 

How do they play? Fun. But each does it differently. More direct at the outset for a PB, more of a slow burn for a WS.

 

Do I miss Voids and Cysts? (Real ones, not the inert costume jewelry we see now) - Yes. They weren't that big a deal unless people were not paying attention, and Quantums and Voids now are just ... meh.

 

Story elements: I want the Nictus storyline redside. And mention of the Battalion and "using them for fuel" (which is stupid, frankly, given how *wide ranging* Khelds are) ripped out and binned.

 

Shapeshifting or not: Depends entirely on the character. But rarely pure humanform - and if I'm doing that, it's PB.

 

PB or WS? There is no or.

 

[UltraAlt]

On 6/24/2023 at 1:36 PM, catsi563 said:

Warshades are like the dark titans of myth delivering cold justice in the shadows

 

Warshades were the villains before COV.