I only played my 'Shade up to 20 before I deleted her but, it was pretty fun. Not so much my style though (hence the deletion) since I tend to gravitate more towards unadulterated melee butt whuppin (if I want to buff/debuff, I'll play my troller or defender

).
My Peacebringer on the other hand's a pure melee joy at 41

In the beginning, I relyed heavily on Nova form and in the 20s, Dwarf form but, by the time you hit your mid 30s, human form becomes so much more fun for me. With the 3 shields and Conserver Power and Hasten 6 slotted, I can rock on solo and with a good team giving me the kheld buffs, I can kick butt! My one achilles heel (besides psi damage which the vast majority of us fear) is getting a status effect on me. The voids and quantum gunners don't really bother me anymore since I can pretty much take em down in a shot or two. I usually take along 4 Break Frees at all times just in case and if a Controller or two's on the team, I breathe a little easier.
As with any AT or powerset, I think you have to play it to at least level 10 to get a really good idea of whether you'll like it or not so, when you can, give em both a shot.
