Drunkard's Walk Forums

Thanks to various help from a number of people, Sylia dinged 50 a couple nights ago.

Obviously, my terminal altitis and the fact that I'd had a Warshade concept in mind since Sylia was 26 meant I rolled one almost immediately.

Which leaves me with a rather interesting situation. I have no idea how to play a Warshade.

There's powers that seem to work well with tanking, blasting, and controlling....and then there's the shapechanging. So, I beseech ye of the 'Shade
playing persuasion for the benefit of your experience, and any advice you could impart.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

Not to toot my own horn, but, for useful bind hints, may I point you at my previous thread? (which I note you've already seen, actually.. hmm )

Aside from that... situational awareness is essential. Use terrain (such as it is -- crates, walls, etc) to your advantage. Try to pull one at a time if
possible if you're solo, and ease off on the trigger finger until the tank REALLY has aggro if you're in a group. Things like to kill you; don't
give them the chance. Do not be afraid to run away long enough to heal/insp up/rest/whatever.

Set up a targeting bind that favors names starting with "Quantum" or "Void". You need to kill those -first-, always.

Hm. If I think of more, I'll post... but really, in my experience they're mostly glass cannons, moreso than Blasters even. They can deal out some
serious damage, but you have to be careful how you do it because they can't take what they dish out very well. And while they're capable of it,
they're not ideally suited for solo work... so try to team up.

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs

Warshades are quite squishy until the mid 20s. Once you can pick up the Lobster and Stygian Cycle and also Eclipse later, you can usually tank decently.
Otherwise, Khelds are very team dependent.
---

The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI

don't roll a warshade.
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies

Quote:don't roll a warshade.

Agreed. They're hard to get drunk, and they rarely have cash in their pockets.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

I have only rolled a lightbringer, but the lobster attach chain is rather slow so hasten is all that more important if you plan on soloing. And I will
definetly agree with others that they are glass cannons. But most cases you won't have to worry about it if you setup keybonds to swap forms.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

As always, your main concern will be dealing with Voids and Quantums. On a large team, this shouldn't be an issue...but you need to watch 'em on your own if solo or in a smaller team.

It's already been mentioned, but you probably want a targeting bind - customtargetnext alive quantum$$customtargetnext alive void - should do it, though there are probably more elegant syntax solutions than mine. Customtargetnext is a catch-all and can crap out on occasion.

How do you actually deal with 'em? Presuming you can't just leave it to your teammates. Early on, staying in Nova form and popping 2-4 purple insps isn't a bad idea; should let you blast the heck out of the Q or Void before they drop you. You can do similar staying in human form, though the lower damage might make that a slightly riskier proposition.

Later on, I suggest taking Shadow Cloak. It's a self-stealth power in your secondary. It won't stack with pool power stealth, but it will stack with Super Speed or a Stealth IO. While it might seem counterintuitive to take Super Speed on an AT that already gets an innate travel power, a Warshade benefits a lot from Hasten, as discussed by others here. Also note if you pop hasten then switch forms, the buff carries over.

But the point of this is - with Shadow Cloak plus another stealth of some kind, you get full invisibility. Now, you also get a melee damage/hold attack at level 18, Gravity Well. Thus this lets you run into an enemy spawn and start off by HOLDING the Void/Q before they can get a shot off.

It is also possible to dive straight in with human form and just Shadow Cloak alone - they will aggro on you when you're almost on 'em, but there's a short delay between enemies noticing you and enemies actually attacking - which may be enough time for you to get off the Gravity Well. However there's greater chance for error there.
Other folks have mentioned it, but I'll say it again - you want some sort of bind or macro setup to swap your primary power tray when going between forms, as the Nova and Dwarf powers are a different attack set from your regular powers.
-- Acyl

So, bumping this for something slightly more relevant....

Rolled a Peacebringer recently. I know that these are...aheh...SLIGHTLY more popular than Warshades among the Legendary, and that there are several high-level
ones around. So, since Cleansing Dawn is hovering around level 2, any advice is welcome. Powers to take first, second, and last. Useless powers. Pools
that're invaluable. IO sets or powers that need certain slotting. Gimme whatchya got in bulk.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

Hokay, I have a WS that's been stalled in the 30's for years, but let me give you some of my advice:

1) Do *not* try human-only. Warshades, far more than PBs, really need the Dwarf form for the Tank/Mezprotect, and the Nova's damage is essential until very
late.

2) In Sad-but-true land, most of the basic attacks of the humanform WS are lackluster.

3) Standout powers in the primary:

.Dark Nova (duh)

.Starless Step - this is *really* usefull with Gravity Well, and for dealing with Voids/Quantums. More on that later.

.Sunless Mire - PBAOE Damage/Acc Boost. Get this. Love it. When you get Dwarf, appreciate the beauty that is Double Mire.

.Grav Well - BIG damage, and a hold. Shame it's Melee, but still. Use with Starless Step.

.Grav Emination - Not great damage, but a Cone Disorient. *Very* nice. Use with Inky Aspect for great fun.

.Dark Extraction - Pet summoning power. GET THIS. They're pocket Novas. Use the dwarf to tank for them. Have loads of fun.

4)Standout powers in the secondary:

.Shadow Cloak - it's Stealth. Combine with Neb Form for Invis.

.Black Dwarf (duh)

.Stygian Circle - OMFG get this. On teams, it means after every combat you have 100% health and end. Solo, it's a handy post-combat pick-me-up, with decent
slotting, that is.

.Neb Form - It's an Intangibility power, but provides minor stealth as well. Can be used with Shadow Cloak to ninja missions. Dubious value else.

.Inky Aspect - Debatable power. It's basically Dark Armor's Oppressive Gloom. Run it, take a small drain on health (which Fitness/Health negates) and
run a low-level disorient on enemies.

.Eclipse - it's Sunless Mire but it gives you RES. It is stupidly easy once you get this. Jump into a group, hit Eclipse, and you're golden.

5) Starless Step and Grav Well are great for Voids/Quantums. Trigger the Step, and while the baddie is being ported trigger the Well. Insta-held enemy, whom
you can kill in relative leisure.

6) Inky Aspect + Grav Emination make you a Disorienting MACHINE. If you max-out Orbiting Debt - er, Orbiting Death - and exploit your Mires, this allows you to
jump into a spawn, disorient them all, Mire them, and YAWN your way to victory.

7) Eclipse Mire Dwarf Mire Nova BOOM. Or, Eclipse Dwarf Mire Human Mire Quasar. We understood?

8) In general, I tend to use my Humanform for most of my work, pulling out the Nova when I want to really hurt things (or hunt outdoors) and the Dwarf when
I'm in trouble. Unlike PBs, where your humanform is a Scrapper/Blaster, your Nova's a Blaster, and your Dwarf is a tank, making for smooth transitions
in ability from human->dwarf or Human->nova, the Warshade humanform is a Blaster/Controller. You'll really need the damage the Nova provides, and
the tanking the dwarf provides, at least until you get Eclipse.

9) As much as I say Eclipse it cool, it isn't everything. Humanform has no mez protect for warshades (PB's equiv power, Light Form, includes Mez
protection), and it's possible to get perma-held easily.

It's a long hard slog solo. Just so you know.