Ironman Challenge Leveling help

[Thunc]

So, I am not going to claim to understand how to level a Keld.  Ive never played one, but I like Ironman challenges(Solo to 50 unless you happen to find another challenge player, die, you delete, no p2w vender, cant play tanker/brute/scrapper/sent, must make the influence on that character for the build.)  I've completed 2 so far, mastermind and stalker. Im thinking a keld would be fun and a change of pace for this.  Problem is, every build and guide seems to aim at endgame, and Im looking for more info on leveling.  I have no idea where to start on either ws or pb.  Any info on leveling and things that would be important would be very helpful.

[Warshades]

Get the shape shifting powers when they become available. Depending on how you'd like to play later into the levels, you can respec out of it (as long as that's not an issue for ironman challenge). Nova form provides some strong early level blast powers, take advantage of the 100ft range on the 2 ST attacks and Detonation, you can easily stay out of hit range if clearing in open zone or outside mission maps. Ebon Eye is usable in Nova Form as well, so you may want to take that over Shadow Bolt at start. Dwarf form is your pseudo resist/tank form. It's not a great damage dealer, but Warshade side provides a secondary, short Sunless Mire AoE/buff that can allow you to maximize damage and stacks with the human form Sunless Mire. Dwarf form also provides you with mez protection while in it.

 

Do not underestimate Gravitic Emanation + Inky Aspect. These come a bit later into the build, but the stuns stack and you can even stun bosses with the combo. The downside is that you will have to engage in melee range for Inky Aspect which can make you vulnerable until you can build high enough recharge to perma Eclipse (this can cap your resists to all damage types at 85% with 4-5 targets). 

 

Stygian Circle is an amazing recovery power for both health and endurance, but does require dead enemies nearby to gain the heal and endurance (usually not an issue in when clearing mobs because there are a lot of minions, but can be useless in a long fight against a single target when there are no dead enemies nearby). Nebulous Form will be a useful emergency button to have for the ironman challenge to avoid death as you can become intangible and escape from sticky situations. Shadow Cloak can allow you to more easily stealth through missions if needed if you combine it with something like Celerity + stealth IO. 

 

You'll also want to take Gravity Well (good damage and provides you with a hold that you can use against problematic targets), Dark Extractions (the fuzzies can provide some good damage, though you'll notice this more with an end game build and high recharge so that you can have 2-3 up at a time), and human form Sunless Mire (basically Warshade version of Dark Melee's Soul Drain, 30 second damage boost). Quasar and Unchain Essence are also very useful nukes, though Unchain Essence can be a little tricky to use as it requires you target a dead foe before they disappear and you want that target to be in the middle of the mob you're trying to hit. It does also stun which again can stack with Gravitic Emanation and Inky Aspect. What you could do is open with Gravitic while targeting a minion, close in to use Gravity Well and kill that minion, then follow up with Unchain Essence for a mini nuke. I would slot KB to KD IO in Gravitic as it does knockback significantly otherwise. 

 

Part of the reason that Khelds are mostly aimed at end game is that they tend to heavily rely on getting their T9 permanent to have great sustainability (Eclipse for WS and Light form for PB). This is only possible with a lot of recharge set bonuses. A lot of the strong/useful primary powers like Dark Extraction, Quasar, Sunless Mire, Unchain Essence, and Gravitic also benefit from high recharge builds so that they are up more often.

 

I would say in very general terms that PBs are more straight forward blaster/scrapper mix of range and melee attacks with an armor secondary. Warshades combine more elements of control utility and also require larger mob sizes along with dead nearby enemies to gain the maximum benefit from their powers. I don't have a level up build for an ironman challenge as I've never done one for that purpose, but hopefully some of this provides you ideas on where to go with the build while playing. I'm not as big of a fan of PBs as I am Warshades (shocking considering my username, right?) so I'll leave it to others to suggest on powers to take for PBs. 

[Xalon]

Definitely get the shape shifter powers when available. Being able to switch to full blaster mode for ranged or tankier melee/aoe "lobster" form are very useful. And your main form gets several melee, ranged and aoe powers, as well as self healing and buffs. 

 

I have no played Nictus, but as PB, it is the most fun I've had playing CoH. No powerset compares, other than the other epic archetypes. You get tons of power choices, and I think after level 28-30, you can get a self res and then at 30-32 you can get "Light Form" which basically makes you invulnerable for 90secs (massive resists and defense bonuses so enemies do like 5% dmg, if even that for those 90 secs). 

 

You can focus on main form powers, or spec into dual-form or tri-form. Then respec in the future, but having those powers to shapeshift are very important. And when you get the shapeshift form, you get all the powers for that form instantly. It's amazingly fun. 

 

For leveling as PB, you will mostly be mid-range, stepping in for melee and aoe blasts and using ranged to keep distance. PB is great at taking out multiple enemies at once.  Try it and have fun!