Zemblanity

My two cents:

Scrapper - Easier to buff damage by popping red pills. Less HP. Survivability is very similar on /secondaries based around Def, Regen or Res+Heals without godmode, since you can only buff Res to 75%. Damage remains constant even if you alt-tab every 10 seconds to check your twitter

Brute - Much harder to buff damage by popping red pills. More HP. Survivability is only significantly higher if you pick Res-based /secondaries with a godmode, since you can buff Res to 90%. Damage crashes everytime you alt-tab, click a clickie on a mission, wait for the escort victim to catch up, go bio, etc.

That said, both are the most friendly AT in the game, with very similar results. The main advantage of a scrapper is that you can pump up max damage whenever you want and obliterate anything at any moment's notice. If a brute just happens to be low on fury just as he gets ambushed by a sapper... he'll usually win anyway, but not before taking an endurance hit.

On another note, the first 10 levels before Brute damage modifier decays back to 0.75 are gold, since fury stacks with the extra damage Also, since brutes don't get as much out of Damage Enhancers as the other classes (since they don't modify extra fury damage) a pre-stamina Brute can safely slot only Accuracy/End Redux into their attacks without significant damage decay, while a Scrapper (and pretty much everyone else) doing the same takes a much greater damage hit.

I just want to leave a message here for the Devs about the changes to Fury. I think it works much better now, it's much easier/faster to build and maintain it and I'm falling in awe of Brutes playstyle. I'm not exactly sure why, only that I used to to find Fury building frustrating before the changes, and I no longer do. It just comes naturally now.

Thank you for a job well done

What I'd want the most is that abilities would not interfere with whatever weapon's drawn, and would actually offer an alternate animation compatible with said weapon, ala brawl being turned into a kick if you click it while using twin swords. That would mean for example:

Illusion Control / Trick Arrow - Spectral Wounds being turned into a Spectral Arrow, Blind being turned into a Blind Arrow

Forcefields / Dual Pistol - Force Bolt being turned into a Concussive Shot, Repulsion Bomb being turned into a Repulsion Shot

Assault Rifle / Devices - Web Grenade and Taser being fired from the rifle

Warmace / Whatever / Fire Mastery - Fire Blast being fired from the left (free) hand while the warmace is held on the other hand

... and so on.

Of course, I'm sure it's impraticable, but I know I'd love it

Thumbs up for this idea, I'd love Minimal FX For All!

The way I see it, sometimes we want to play a certain powerset but not be bound by its names and descriptions. For example, I have a Forcefield / Dual Pistols Defender that, for me at least, rather than a green soap bubbler is actually a gunslinger with precog powers that shouts out warnings to nearby teammates. I coloured the bubbles dark brown so as to make them almost invisible. Emphasis on the almost, though, if I could make them completely invisible in PvE, I would. Point being, sometimes I want the numbers and playstyle of a set but not be dragged by its concept.

Now, two things. First, there's a certain precedent for this in the alternative animations, like in martial arts where Storm Kick is actually a punch, or in Superstrenght where Jab is actually a low cross to the gut, so the idea is not outrageous.

Second, it's Minimal FX For All! but only in PvE. If I want to make an INVISIBLE STONE ARMOR and call it diamond form or something, what's it to you? Or extraplanar flames that don't burn visibly in this world? Or layers of pressurized air below 0 degrees instead of ice? Why are people actually arguing against this possibility? Does it really offend you to the point where you would deny everyone else the chance to be creative just out of spite?

P.S. The Cole Administration supports this idea

I'm royally pissed off at this. I purchased Going Rogue for the content, which so happens to be limited lvl 1-20, and because I had the indecent thought of actually TEAMING for like 10 minutes I reached lvl 16, and now Praetor Sinclair decides I'm too good for him and the only way to complete THE LAST MISSION of that story arc is to roll a new character...

And I'm sorry, but justifying this little piece of brilliance in any way goes beyond any and all fanboy requirements, it's just plain trolling. What's the intended idea, don't team or you'll miss out on your 30$ content?! I'm thinking it'll be fixed in like 6 months or so, but by then my toon will be out of Praetoria and locked out forever.

Just great...

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.

I just wanted to add my opinion on a few thoughs.

Regarding P114's suggestion of increasing damage via TD, and Moondog's mini-stealth crit ideas, of course I'd defend it like a rabid dog More damage for /Devices seems only fair, since it already loses out by lacking Melee attacks (it technically has none) and Build-Up (especially important for spike damage and nukes). It has been argued a million times already, and very few players would disagree with it. But I don't think the devs want it (probably related to their datamining detecting some very odd damage spikes from /Device blasters - 3 minutes spent setting a minefield before an EB fight). And since it had been covered before, I tried to stray away from suggesting anything related to a direct damage boost.

Regarding the more radical and controversial approach to TD, by making it a click instead of a toggle, I'd say it's not something easy to justify unless you soloed from 1 to 50 on difficulties greater than heroic. If you're below lvl 35, you probably don't think it's necessary at all, since the City of Stuns and Sleep darts hasn't reached you yet. If you're already 50, it's not necessary anymore since you're probably already covered by invention sets and the detoggling doesn't hurt as much (+acc in the damage powers, +knockback protection in karma, detoggling is an annoyance, not a real problem).

But between lvl 35 and 47, if you solo, detoggling TD is a killer. It was for me, since I tended to slot only 1 accuracy in my powers. When I started to get mezzed every fight against carnies, malta, and most importantly knifes (those not only detoggle but can spot you while invisible), I really got my xp progress held to a complete stop and seriously questioning whether I should just delete my /devices blaster. It does get better after you start slotting your sets, but it is a serious problem. Hence my suggestion.

Finally, regarding Cynic's comments about blasters not needing a buff, that it was the players underperforming...

It's a moot point, as the buff to blasters is already live, but what you said is very limited. The discussion that went on in US boards wasn't even about that, it was about the disparities between good blaster primaries/secondaries and bad ones, a fear that led to a very limited normalization of the primaries (activation times for tier 1 and 2 attacks, but not on the secondaries).

It becomes very hard to argue with any logic that starts with "Well, on my defender..." Yes, we all know of plenty of people who leveled their defenders from 1 to 50 just cycling their first 2 tier attacks - after ED - before I.O.s - before influence and keeping your toon optimally slotted ceased to be an issue. In fact, I'd not be surprised if the next Scrapper challenge was to level their toon 50 levels with just brawl and RPD.

Truth is, while their soloing issues (especially FF and Emps) are a real pain, their role in teams is very different from a blaster's. They're meant to support, not maximize their own damage output (coincidently risking much less exposure to return fire from mobs). Do you honestly want us to believe that if you brought a defender to a team and refused to use your primary (buff), stating you're just there to do damage with your medrioque secondary, you wouldn't get replaced at first opportunity? Or if that same brawl-only Scrapper I mentioned tried to squeaze into your team he wouldn't be kicked within a minute?

In essence, /Devices blasters, or /Gadgets as the devs cherishly named them, are more or less in the same situation. Their secondary doesn't help them much in teams, so they're carried by what they can do with their primary and pools. All I meant was that I have a problem with this.

That said, I rest my case.

Personally, I love reminiscing about /Devices. I love the power selections, the potential to initiate the engagement minutes before everyone else, on my own terms. I had my moments. Madame of Mystery and the Clockwork King still regret not looking at where they stepped (and no, I don't mean something squishy and stinky). If anyone annoys me in a PvP Zone they better have Teleport Protection But overall, once I log in, I lag behind what I could accomplish with another, pardon, *any* other secondary. Many of those powers weren't specifically made weaker themselves, i.e. nerfed (well, some were), but the game itself evolved away from /Devices. It's still playable, but the ghost of "under-hero" is always hovering nearby.

This is never going to happen. I know. Because alot of people will see it differently. Because the Devs believe all Blasters to be "fixed" now. Because these are the European Forums. Because I'm not qualified to make this assessment. Because the sky is blue on Mondays (and Tuesdays too )You'll still feel the need to tell me, of course. Go ahead.

But this is how I see it, my opinion on the matter after extensive play (by my standards, I'm no CoX methuselah ) If only a single of these changes actually happened, I believe my experience with this secondary would improve dramatically. So bear with me, and go ahead and leave your views as well.



1) Web Grenade - This is a good power (similar to chillblain, trading damage for -jump). It suffers only from a delayed delivery, since it has to draw and thrown the distance with the speed of a badminton feather. Especially hurtful if we're mezzed and relying on it to immobilize a foe before he reaches melee range.

Suggestion Speed its activation up to Chillblain/fire ring/electric fence level, like you did for the primary 1st and 2nd tier attacks.


2) Taser - A decent power, but only at the higher levels when the stun duration becomes significant. The boost to range a few issues back did wonders to it. Since its recharge time is much longer than a traditional controller hold, it's hard to stack it on a boss short of combining it with a second stun.

Suggestion Keep it as it is


3) Caltrops - Very good power, very low on damage but an excellent way to prevent mob melee incursions. An example of how powers should be designed.

Suggestion Keep it as it is


4) Targetting Drone - I think this power is the fulcrum of the set, what makes or breaks it. Currently, it's pretty bad. It might be useful in the early levels, but a pain once you start getting mezzed every fight. You can't depend on it being on from levels 35+, especially since the new defiance is based around shooting while mezzed, making it redundant (you're already slotting your attacks to hit without TD). At the highest levels, once you reach sets and hamidon levels, it's completely useless for anything but the +per bonus (which was also made redundant by Stalkers using +Stealth IOs, we can't see them anyway when their stealth cap is higher than our perception cap). Changing it from a toggle to a click would do wonders to this set, enabling /Devices users to really depend on TD being on when they most need it (i.e, when they're mezzed).

Suggestion Change it from a toggle into a click


5) Smoke Grenade - The most amazing thing about this completely redundant power is that people still take it. A +Steath IO or Super-Speed combined with Cloaking Device does a better job at making the blaster stealthier. Something cool and flashier could go here. Change it into a Stun Grenade, similar to the Knives of Artemis power.

Suggestion Change it into a Stun Grenade


6) Cloaking Device - This power, when combined with another stealth power, enables the blaster to Toe-bomb when soloing. But Toe-bombing in teams is almost impossible once the fight begins, since enemy AoE fire tends to interrupt alot. If CD could have significantly increased AoE defense (surpressed during battle, of course), it would do wonders for /Devices performance in teams.

Suggestion Increase AoE defense (surpressed when attacking)


7) Trip Mine - These mines are balanced upon an often forgotten issue, that is, they don't respond to team buffs or inspirations. While they sound impressive on paper, try running in a team with Fulcrum Shift or the likes of it and the mines suddenly become much less impressive than a simple fireball. As it should be. Still, there is a problem that could be solved. This power seems to have 2 checks, one to trigger the mine, another to explode. The best thing that could happen to this power is twinking it an attempt to reduce the lag between detecting an enemy and the mine exploding. Even normal minions can just run past a minefield, detonating them all in perfect safety. But I don't know if this is possible, from a programmer's viewpoint.

Suggestion Twink around the delay between trigger and explosion


8) Time Bomb - A reviled power, often the leading to counter-arguments between actual /Device players and theorycrafters. From this player's perspective, it's bad. Bad. Since it can't have its damaged buffed, in large teams it's not worth waiting the long set time + 15 seconds till detonation to shave off 1/3 of an red lieutenant's health in a 10ft radius. And forget about it if the fight is already on. The best that could happen would be to make it a triggered mine (like a toggle that'd blow up when dropped), but even then it'd only be marginally more useful than an ordinary trip mine, making them overlap rather than complement each other. So just drop the timer to 5 seconds, more than enough time to set an extra trip mine and get out of Dogde.

Suggestion Reduce the timer to 5 seconds


9) Auto-Turret - I see the Malta engineers drop these babies instantaneously, yet when I try to use it, it takes forever to set one up. Why does a "pet" with so many limitations even have an interrupt time? Shave it off.

Suggestion Remove the interrupt time



What would these changes entail for the /Device Blaster's playstyle:

- When Soloing - The first and most important difference is that you can count on Targetting Drone even after a stun or sleep. You can actually hit things! And when you're mezzed, you feel a bit safer with the knowledge that you can root an enemy to the ground in a second. When facing a large group, you place a mine, and instead of stunning the Lieutenant with Taser, you prefer to toss a stun grenade to leave all enemies disoriented. If there's a boss you can even stack stuns now. And if things get really rough, you drop an Auto-Turret and run around the corner. It'll keep you safe for a moment.

- When in Teams - You can Toe-bomb in the midst of mayhem! Unless an enemy specifically targets you, until you reveal yourself you're much more elusive to AoE strayfire. People are actually taking you seriously now, not just as an amusing distraction, especially when you decide to add the extra carnage that comes with your pocket Auto-Turret If the tank crashes and things start to look rough, you can patch up a little stun grenade and buy a few seconds to regroup. And when you nuke, you're just one blue pill away from jumping right back into the fight.


One more suggestion: about IO sets. I'd like to see Interruptable Damage Sets, ones that would add -Interrup Time to the list of goodies in the normal damage sets. These would really improve Trip Mine, Time Bomb, Auto-Turret (and also Snipe and Assassin attacks). I wonder if there's anything planned on this.

I like it. It might put a dent on Fire/ and Ice/ sets but, the way I see it, as they are they're simply stronger than the remaining sets. Animation times and rooting are very important (Power Bolt has killed me more times than I'd like to admit). It'd balance the scales abit, and give alot of punch back to the primaries that really need it.

The Tier2 Ice/ nerf, from a Power Blast perspective (1.667s) it's not as bad as it sounds. It still hits hard, and the rooting time is not as significant as Power Bolt/Burst (those really hurt). Ice/ is currently very strong, with a good chain, slows and two holds. It'll survive, I think (and probably still better than alot of other primaries, even after receiving this buff).

But on Fire/ I'm a little dubious about nerfing Fire Blast, since it has a lower base damage and faster recharge than the remaining Tier2. I've always equated it to a Tier1.5 and Flares to a Tier0.5 so I'd really keep it with a lower animation than the standard (at the cost of keeping fire as the most damaging set, but also the one with no control).

One last thing I feel is important, beyond animation time and rooting, is the disparity between pressing the power, the animation playing out and it actually hitting the enemy for damage and status effects. I think Explosive Blast is getting this checked out in Issue 11, but there are still countless other powers that need it tweaked too (like Power Burst, or Mesmerize on a Mind Controller, to name a few). This should also be looked at.

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Apologies in advance to the other forum users here.

I have something of a pedant for trying to correct an incorrect view if its held up as "fact".
For that reason, I'm responding to this person for the last time in this topic, to attempt to clear up a few remaining points. Dark_Blasphemy has already backed up my earlier response (thanks Dark! ), so I don't think I need to address the previously-addressed points again unless someone has something new to add.



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Agreed, Maelwys. I'd rather keep the flamewar in the US forums. You've made your point, I've made mine. I'm not anti-stalker or pro-blaster, playing both. I just think it's not as black and white as you put it.

Anyway, let's hope for good things to come in I11.

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I think the meat of the "war" is that Blasters perform much better when teamed than Stalkers do. PvE or PvP.

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Questionable statement, at best.

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Really? What's your question then?

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I'm sorry, my dominion over the english language isn't perfect. I meant that the veracity of your statement is debatable, as in, some people might argue against it.

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Because if it's "Why" then the answer is in my previous post.
Solo, a good Stalker will not be able to kill a good Blaster.
Solo, a good Blaster will not be able to kill a good Stalker.

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By a "good" blaster and stalker, you mean a perfectly played one in a scenario of perfect skill, full power allocation, perfect primaries and secondaries, zero interference and full slot of inspirations? How is that relevant to day-to-day play?

Because most of the time, pit an ordinary blaster against an ordinary stalker and the hero will faceplant.

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Because all it takes for a Stalker to avoid being hit is to stay hidden, and all it takes for the Blaster to avoid being Assassin Striked by the Stalker is to stay mobile.

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Blaster tactic, running away... how heroic

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Blasters are least favoured for teams??!? Fire/, Ice/, AR/, Archery/, Elec/, /Fire, /Dev.... most of the primaries and at least two secondaries (/elec is questionable) offer very good AoE damage.

Taken as an AT, Blasters are AoE damage kings. They do a lot of their damage at range. They have many powersets which are not based on solely Smashing/Lethal damage and thus are much less resisted by mobs and players alike (Energy/, Ice/, Fire/, Elec/, /Energy, /Elec, /Fire, /Ice, /Dev). They have a "Nuke" power which can wipe out most of a large herd in a split second.

I don't know what server you play on, but on the two that I frequent (Defiant and Union) a good Blaster is a godsend in a team with buffs and solid aggro control.

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I'm sorry, but I put my reasoning in the first post. Read through it if you want.

And you must be somewhat misguided if you think Electric/ (lol) and /Devices offers good AoE (or anything other than caltrops, really) on a team.

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I'm comparing a typical Blaster to a typical Stalker in PvE team situations.

Those are not all urban myths, that are how many non-veteran Stalkers actually play. I am not being Bias, I have three Stalkers and I've levelled Villains to 50 on each of the english-speaking EU servers. I can count on one hand the number of PUG Stalkers I've encountered who can team effectively in PvE.

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I don't even get your point. Most stalkers you've encountered don't know the tip of their blades from the hilt, so no one wants one in teams?

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On the other hand, even the most foolish PUG Blaster generally takes several attacks along with their nuke. Such a "worst nubish Blaster imaginable" can still be relied upon to deal damage effectively as long as the other teammembers competently handle aggro and buffing.

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I can tell you that a nubish blaster is the primary party wiper in the game, precisely because of those vaunted ranged attacks and mistimed AoEs aggroing a second spawn. Usually the blaster is the first to be kicked in a PuG gone wrong. The thing is, since it's so hard to solo one past their 30's, either they've adapted to teamplay or changed AT. Go figure.

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In PvP Blasters will do better in teams simply because they can hit from range.

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That's... just... wrong... in so many ways.

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Really? What ways?

In my experience that's exactly why Blasters are so popular, and why [Blaster + Empath] combinations work so well.

I'll give you an example: Fire Blasters and Ice Blasters are virtually always FOTM. Why?
Because those primaries can cycle their Single Target ranged attacks quickly and those Single Target ranged attacks hit heavily with a damage type that is generally unresisted.

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Ok... A blaster in zone PvP needs: 3 powers for stamina, 3 powers for accro, 2 powers for aid self, 2 powers for superspeed, 2 powers for tactics = 12 powers

There's no way around it. And then they start to pick their attacks +aim +build-up.

Do you begin to see a problem here?

PvP blasters, and by that I mean Fire/ or Ice/ coupled with /Energy, despite being the best primary and secondary choices, make for very tight builds. You can't have that and still be a PvE AoE monster like you claim. It's very hard to make even a Sirens PvP blaster that isn't /Devices (and therefore a complete suckfest in teams), and even in Warburg and Recluses it's still pretty tight.

That's why most blasters you see wandering the PvP zones are just target practice.

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In PvP teams, zone or arena, it's all about killing the opposition before they can kill you.
Your own self-buffs don't matter nearly as much as the damage you can do to the opposition, because buffing damage dealer toons is handled by dedicated support toons.
Blasters ranged damage can hit someone who is kiting them. Stalkers Melee damage can't.

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There are ranged stalker attacks, in spines and claws. If that means so much to you, pick those primaries. Or you can stop arguing nonsense because scrappers are melee and make for excellent PvP toons.

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That's also why /NRG and /Elec Blasters tend to use their melee secondary pool powers much less in teamed PvP, and why /NRG's Boost range is such a popular choice for top-tier PvP.

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/Electric blasters tend to be sappers, not damage dealers. Electric/Electric is one of the few good blaster combos because of it.

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Given good skill levels on both sides:
A Blaster can not kill a hidden Stalker. A Stalker can not kill a mobile Blaster.

This is a very common situation in solo zone PvP. A Stalker will only get a kill on a Blaster when the Blaster stops moving, and likewise a Blaster will only get a kill on a Stalker when the Stalker drops out of hidden.

If you disagree, I'd be interested to hear your reasoning...

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Tight, specialized PvP /Devices blaster builds can spot stalkers from a distance. They're aptly named Stalker hunters, because that's the only thing they're good at. They usually jump up from high above to 1 health, then strike with maximum defiance. Either that or teleminers. A sad build, nonetheless.

On the other hand, an ordinary PvE oriented stalker will still do fairly well in zone PvP.

Comparing highly specialized toons is hardly appropriate for determining average player performance on a given AT

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I think the meat of the "war" is that Blasters perform much better when teamed than Stalkers do. PvE or PvP.

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Questionable statement, at best.

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(i) there are more opportunities to team hero-side.

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This is not related to blasters at all, or their performance. While it is certainly true, it is also true that Blasters are by far the LEAST favored AT in hero side, even less than scrappers (by their very nature, the solo-friendly class). When you set up a team, you favor a tank (1), a controller (2), a defender (3), an off-tank scrapper (4) and then you'll likely try to double up those numbers. The blaster is only invited as the fifth character, if he's lucky.

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(ii) Blasters are generally favoured in PvE teams - big AoEs, unresisted heavy damage, pulling ability.

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Correction. Fire/ and Ice/ offer very good AoE and ST less resisted damage, on an experienced player's hands only. The other primaries lag behind those two, by a wide margin. By the same assumption, stalkers are awesome damage dealers because they're all either EM or DM.

And the 30% unresistable damage blasters get only works in PvP. Never in PvE, which is most of the game for most people who aren't stalkers.

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(iii) Stalkers are generally shunned in PvE teams - not taking their share of the aggro, placating onto squishies, no AoEs, running off when they get hit, uncovering the map before it's cleared, etc.

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So now you're comparing the best blaster's primaries played in extreme to the worst nubish stalker urban myths we've been hearing about? I say the reputation here lies in the people who generally choose to start the game playing stalkers and never end up learning how to team, not on the AT itself.

Stalkers don't get invites because the other villain ATs are plainly better at doing damage+something else than they are. It's a problem with all damage ATs. If blasters could play villain side, I'd wager they wouldn't get alot of invites either, not in favor of brutes, masterminds, doms, corruptors... maybe they'd steal stalkers' places, if played in competent hands.

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In PvP Blasters will do better in teams simply because they can hit from range.

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That's... just... wrong... in so many ways.

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Solo, they're just about even when played well... if they're both alert they won't reliably be able to kill each other, and if one is caught unawares then the other can reliably kill them in two to three hits.

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Again, you must be joking. Or your definition of playing well depends on carrying like 20 breakfrees, going back to the store as soon as you run out. If that's the case, might I suggest you try bringing 20 lucks on your stalker? Might help...

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A Stalker will do much better against [unskilled to mediocre] opponents than a Blaster though. The differences really come down to (Higher HP and ranged damage) versus (built-in mez protection and hide).

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Yeah. Squishy1 in plain sight with 10% more hp as armor and squishy2 invisible with enough defenses to make Recluse cry in frustration... who am I going to target?

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I don't think that anyone could reasonably argue that Stalkers are squishier than Blasters when taken one-on-one without outside buffs...

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Wow. Unbiased clarity. I thought you were going to pull out that extra 10% hp again.

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but give the Blaster mez protection and a little more spike damage survivability (Fortitude and Clear Mind?) and there's no contest. The Blaster's pitfalls can be covered by team buffs, but you can't buff a Stalker to give them unresisted, heavy ranged damage.

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Corruptor secondaries have alot of tricks too. Might I suggest having a /rad debuff said blaster back into squishiness levels? I mean, it's a team, and anything goes... right? Or did you mean a blaster in a good team versus a stalker in a bad one?

Last note. I prefer stalkers to blasters, as they are, but both have problems. And I feel like BOTH are my ATs. I just don't understand the US pressure groups to hinder improvements to either of the ATs. They both clearly need help. So it's blasters' turn first. Fine. Larger player base, long (and I really mean long) awaited fix (if it even comes). But if stalker fanboys keep putting pressure on Castle to leave blasters out to dry, believe me when I say stalkers'll likely get the same treatment when their turn comes.

Also, the only definite buff right now is coming to stalkers (hide no longer costs endurance). Defiance fix might not happen after all.

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I spend ages chatting while I play my blaster, hit an attack, queue next, talk, hit an attack, queue next, talk. Its probably one of my simplest characters cause of the AoE attack chain and slow animations I guess.

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I guess I play it differently. With hurdle and combat jumping, it's a hopping game to avoid getting hit. I only shoot when way, way clear from anything melee related. But then again, I play /devices so my experience might be a bit different.

Keep it simple or automatic. Blasters are tricky enough to play, me thinks.

The lack of Build-up in Devices makes it alot less useful in PvP than most theorycrafters might tell you (I speak from experience here).

Webnade's good on Tankers and Scrappers, not that special on a blaster. It's only mag3, the -rech is kinda lost given that you WILL go down if hit anyway, and the -fly component can be found on the other secondary 1st tiers (except energy). And who flies in zone PvP anyway

Targetting Drone doesn't let you see stalkers beyond 10 feet. With even a tiny amount of lag, that's all it takes for them to set up an AS.

Caltrops, on the other hand, is useful. But other than it and telemining, Devices really lack punch in PvP.

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Hehe, in one of your earlier posts you used the wording "crit out of hide" in conjunction with MG which had Zemblanity believe that you were talking about critting while unhidden while others (me included) thought you were talking about critting from hide.
There was a small misunderstanding and following thread derail because of it.

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This has become a sort of rethorical fencing match

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I think he means alot of tier 9 stalker attacks are described to have a chance to crit (15%) even in plain sight. Midnight Grasp doesn't have that in the power description, hence

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MG doesnt crit out of hide afaik.

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only scrappers have that ability

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I'll quote from the game, directly from the Stalker Ninja Blade descriptor:

Golden Dragonfly - You perform a devastating Golden Dragonfly attack that deals massive amount of lethal damage and can even knock a foe down to the ground and reduce his defense. The power of this attack can actually extend a short distance through multiple foes. If executed while hidden, only some affected targets may be hit with a Critical, however, there is a chance you may land a Critical hit with Golden Dragonfly even if you are not hidden.

It has been said alot, but to clarify, Midnight Grasp ONLY crits if you are hidden or after placate. OTHER tier9 atalker attacks, however, have a small chance to crit on their own.

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With all due respect, but I don't see how the latter interpretation makes sense. MG has just the same chance of critting without being hidden as every other stalker attack and that's that small percentage against held opponents. So, I guess Eddy was talking about critting from hide but used a somewhat ambiguous wording.

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I think he means alot of tier 9 stalker attacks are described to have a chance to crit (15%) even in plain sight. Midnight Grasp doesn't have that in the power description, hence

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MG doesnt crit out of hide afaik.

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I like RotP. Handy, and pretty cool animation

Low level stalkers have a tendency to over-abuse of their primary and take none of their secondary. Even a single well-slotted armor can make a difference if you have to make a stand without cloudcover.

Like all scrapper derivate primaries, it suffers from the disparity between stalker/scrapper base damage (0.9/1.125 - yes, stalkers do 80% of scrappers' damage with the same attack). It's not just ninja blade, martial arts suffers too, and claws as well (but we don't care because of the uberness that is focus

In my katana scrapper, the only things I didn't like about it was the redraw issues, which devs tell will be solved soon, and enemy lethal resistences in the later levels, which won't be solved.

I can't really speak for stalker NB, since I didn't move past the early teens with it, but I'm willing to bet the lvl 18 Divine Avalanche would work really well with the defensive sets.

I had a dark/dark up to level 25, but ended up with alot of problems, some related to the +res nature of the armor, which just doesn't combine well with stalkers. So enemy hits are only doing 70% damage, even psy. Cool. But my hp was so low that it didn't really matter. If I grounded my feet, I face-planted. And the armor simply wasn't good for hit-and-run tactics (almost no defense).

There were also a couple of other annoyances, such as the need for either acrobatics or hover (knockback protection hole in the mez armor) when I wanted tp for concept. Other than that, I admit I deleted it because of dark melee (utter lack of hard critters from stealth made placate useless), and not over the /dark armor issues.

Endurance problems are virtually non-existence with stamina depending on your view of the stalker's role. If you do hit-and-run, then no problem. If you scrap alot, then you should consider slotting the primaries with end-red.

I've found claws/regen and energy/energy playstyle much more interesting, and with better looking animations to boot

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Ooh I can only imagine fire/dev/regen and ice/dev/regen blasters going around PvP zones with MoG and cloaking device on... What's there to stop em?

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Well, for starters, the level cap in the zones (25 for BB, 33 for SC and 38 for WB), since these are epic pool powers that only come after lvl 47 (for MoG)

Still, I know what you mean, it's a bit of a crazy idea.

Hey Castle, everyone.

I have a small suggestion, about adding synergy to Defiance through an Epic Pool, from the scrapper's regen pool.

41 - Quick Recovery
41 - Fast Healing
44 - Resilience
47 - Moment of Glory

Now, the key points here are resilience (which adds minor resistances and a little stun protection, which in the later levels I feel blasters could really use) and MoG (which, while somewhat lackluster for scrappers, would work wonders on blasters because of defiance).

Maybe a little *too* out there Anyway, I'm eager to hear what's being tested regarding defiance.