DrJest

I7 has tempted me back into the CoX fold and having seen the patch notes I thought I might revisit an old (much rerolled and eventually discarded) hero with the Claws/SR set. I'm more than a little out of touch now though, so if I could presume upon you forumites to critique this build..?

For the record, I have no particular interest in PvP; while I might dip into it for kicks now and then, PvE is my primary interest.

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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name: Warrior X
Level: 50
Archetype: Scrapper
Primary: Claws
Secondary: Super Reflexes
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01) --> Strike==> Acc(1)Dmg(3)Dmg(5)Dmg(7)Acc(15)Acc(50)
01) --> Focused Fighting==> DefBuf(1)DefBuf(9)DefBuf(9)EndRdx(25)EndRdx(37)EndRdx(40)
02) --> Slash==> Acc(2)Dmg(3)Dmg(5)Dmg(7)Acc(15)Acc(46)
04) --> Agile==> DefBuf(4)
06) --> Focused Senses==> DefBuf(6)DefBuf(17)DefBuf(17)EndRdx(37)EndRdx(40)EndRdx(40)
08) --> Swift==> Run(8)
10) --> Practiced Brawler==> Rechg(10)Rechg(11)Rechg(11)
12) --> Hasten==> Rechg(12)Rechg(13)Rechg(13)
14) --> Super Speed==> Run(14)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16)
18) --> Focus==> Acc(18)Dmg(19)Dmg(19)Dmg(23)Acc(23)Rechg(25)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20)EndMod(21)EndMod(21)
22) --> Quickness==> Run(22)
24) --> Dodge==> DefBuf(24)
26) --> Eviscerate==> Acc(26)Dmg(27)Dmg(27)Dmg(29)Rechg(29)Acc(37)
28) --> Lucky==> DefBuf(28)
30) --> Follow Up==> Acc(30)Dmg(31)Dmg(31)Dmg(31)Acc(34)TH_Buf(34)
32) --> Shockwave==> Acc(32)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Acc(34)Rechg(36)
35) --> Evasion==> DefBuf(35)DefBuf(36)DefBuf(36)EndRdx(43)EndRdx(43)EndRdx(43)
38) --> Elude==> EndMod(38)EndMod(39)DefBuf(39)DefBuf(39)
41) --> Focused Accuracy==> EndRdx(41)EndRdx(42)TH_Buf(42)TH_Buf(42)
44) --> Laser Beam Eyes==> Acc(44)Acc(45)Dmg(45)Dmg(45)Dmg(46)Rechg(46)
47) --> Energy Torrent==> Acc(47)Acc(48)Dmg(48)Dmg(48)Dmg(50)Rechg(50)
49) --> Hurdle==> Jump(49)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Critical Hit==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
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[ QUOTE ]
I basically respec'd out of TK and put CAK in my attack chain - Air Superiority took TK's place as a quick recharge attack.

[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly the same here. Air Sup is a great power, since its knockdown is almost guaranteed.

DoTs also count, so if you have one it's the best thing to put on a stalker to stop us hiding (I can't believe I'm giving people tips on killing me...)

I might add that Rad/- is a good set for taking advantage of Scourge. Because the Rad blast powers are low damage/fast recharge, you'll score more Scourge hits.

I've got a low level corruptor (rad/rad) and I've noticed Scourge a lot. It seems to kick in reliably around 25-30% of target health, maybe a little lower, at which point your attacks do double damage (the damage indicators also say "scourge").

Mostly, it's not much help against minions - except, ironically, if I'm fighting four or five at once, when I can knock a couple down to scourge levels and kick off an AoE, then concentrate on a new one secure int he knowledge that the wounded ones will be scourged to death.

Having also played a blaster since - what's it called, Defiance? - came in, I prefer Scourge. It's less risky to my precious skin

Amen, I'm angling after self-heal and status protection in my next two picks, and then I really can't put off ranged defence any longer. And of course once into the 20's, some more attacks open up... <sigh>

[ QUOTE ]
Anyone playing a Stalker as if they were a Scrapper is going to be face down a lot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Amen. I made that mistake - briefly - in beta. Now I know better, and I don't try and fight like a scrapper. Hit, exchange a few quick blows, run away. That is how you live to fight another day.

And I think that's what gets peoples goats. We don't hang around to slug it out toe to toe. I'm not an advanced player of other AT's - mostly I play scrappers, a few blasters, an offender - but from what little I do know, I get the impression that even controllers hang around to duke it out; metaphorically speaking, of course, in that they exercise their powers instead of literally standing toe to toe.

But that doesn't work for stalkers. In the final analysis, our secondaries are there to keep us alive while we hightail it, hide up and come back for another try. Against mobs, they'll keep us alive enough to scrap one or two, thin the odds before we have to bail. Against an equal level player AT... I don't think that works. We don't have the DPS of blasters or scrappers, the defence of tanks, the buffs of defenders or the control capability of (natch) controllers. We don't even have much in the way of hit points; heck, even a Blapper could (probably) take us in a standup fight. The only thing we have going for us is assassination and stealth, and it makes us play, I think, in a way that is unlike any other AT. I personally think this is a good thing, but I appreciate that YMMV.

I'm prepared to test it out. If we can figure a way to arrange some duels, my stalker is 14 going on 15, I'm happy to go up against different AT's in a standup fight to see how it goes. But I expect to be capped for debt by the time I've gone through all the AT's.

DA is very end-heavy, I get it. So I'm assuming from the comments that Dark Consumption is a really bad end recharger then? I'd always been under the impression it was quite decent, but then my DM/DA scrapper is only a sideline and hasn't made it into the high teens yet.

[ QUOTE ]
Its not worth getting stealth as I susspect that stealth powers will soon no longer stack.

[/ QUOTE ]

I really, really hope you're wrong about that. Consider the data Bridger posted for us:

[ QUOTE ]
Hide
Tactics - Stalker visible from a very long way away.
Inspirations - Stalker visible from a good distance with 1 Inspiration.

Hide + Stealth
Tactics - Stalker visible from a good distance with 2 Inspirations + Tactics.
Inspirations - Stalker visible from a good distance with 4 Inspirations.

Hide + Invisibility
Tactics - Stalker visible at melee range with 2 Inspirations + Tactics.
Inspirations - Stalker visible at melee range with 4 Inspirations.


[/ QUOTE ]

Unless Hide got a HUGE stealth buff (and by that I mean equal to the current Hide + Stealth as a minimum level), then entering a PvP zone would be nothing short of suicide as a healthy percentage of active PvPers will be running at least one yellow candy whilst fighting anyway.

I think there is a tendency to forget that Stalkers pay for their AS by being uber-squishy - controller hp's, remember.

Which of course means, when we finally have the option to "redeem" villains, that Stalkers could conceivably be able to 1-shot other Stalkers. I shall be interested to see if anyone calls for an AS nerf at that point...

My necro MM has a superstar complex, so his zombies are all famous people. SO far we have Jimmy Hoffa (I know where the body was buried!) and Elvis Presley (who has definitely left the building ). Jim Morrison and Lord Lucan may be making appearances later...

Hmm, well the AoE def alone makes that worth the price of entry for slotting, especially if you plan to do any PvP at all (not a priority for me, but still). Probably worth investing 3 slots in then. Thanks!

[ QUOTE ]
But no amount of +Perception will get around stealth, accessible at level 8. I have no problem with Stalkers being able to one or two shot me as long as I have a chance to spot them. Currently, unless they have a bad build, I don't.

Thats not fun.

[/ QUOTE ]

IIRC, Stealth had its def bonus removed in I6. That being the case, there is little or no reason for a Stalker to take it except for the sole purpose of PvP. And for the record, imo you'd have to be some kind of crazy to take it at 8 - power picks for a Stalker are so tight up to around 20 that it's completely not worth it, especially since Hide is 100% effective against PvE mobs. Not taking Stealth is not a "bad build" - in fact, I'd go so far as to say that taking Stealth at level 8 is a bad build.

EDIT: Just as an addendum: I'm not a huge PvPer in any game, and I don't expect CoH/V to be any different, so how the devs get around this in PvP doesn't really bother me unless it impacts my PvE play. So for the love of God, if people feel the need to whine about Stalker powers, at least suggest boosts in +perception as opposed to another round of nerfs.

Do we have a reasonable estimate of the base +DEF for Hide? I'm considering 3-slotting for defence, but if it's a really naff percentage it may not be worth it.

Stalker power selection is very tight, at least in the early to mid game. AS coming available at 6 - you can't pass that up, let's be honest. Placate at 12 - far too useful, one of the iconic Stalker powers (classic 3-mob engagement strategy is AS #1, scrap #1, placate/AS #3). So at either 8 or 10 you need to pick up the prereq for your chosen travel power. I don't know about the other sets, but Build Up comes in there for me as well (Ninja Blade) - it's not mandatory, but imo you'd be crazy not to take it.

Assuming you pick your second attack at 2 and a defence at 4, that's your power build spoken for up to 14. Regen and SR will have 16 already mapped out to Integration or PB. As a SR Stalker, I'm guessing you - like SR scrappers - will want Stamina asap, so yes, 18-22 are also covered.

I can't think of another AT whose power picks are so heavily... well, almost predefined, really, for so long (I'm sure someone will come along and prove me wrong, but still).

But it sure is fun watching the enemy uttering dire threats as they collapse to the ground...

...stalkers...overpowered...

snerk

snrf


BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ahem...


Sorry

Listen, we do one thing and we do it very well: we deliver an absolute shedload of frontloaded damage. Thereafter, we usually have to run away; blow hard on us and we fall over, an asthmatic controller could knock us down.

To deliver that damage, we have to be hidden right next to you. This means you can't be running any PBAoE powers, or we unhide. And it had better be the case that nobody drops an AoE in the general vicinity. I also believe - correct me if I'm wrong - most, if not all, AT's have a +perception power to assist in picking us out.

In short, not the easiest state to achieve.

So forgive me, but I am totally underwhelmed by you being 2-shotted by a Stalker. For all the trouble it can be to get you - and then to get away afterwards before your team mates turn the poor bugger into a deep-fried pinata - I figure it's a decent enough tradeoff.

I've often seen insps referred to as "candy" as well.

With the option to move characters from the US to Euro servers, I've transferred my old MA/Regen scrapper Hadiya across. Obviously, I haven't played this lad since the Euro version of CoH came out, and with 6 slots in such powers as Hasten and Quick Recovery, and with Stealth originally taken for the now non-existent def bonus, he's in dire need of some respec attention (which also loses his Prestige Power: Surge, something that annoys me no end )

Hadiya is currently level 28, and the respec I have planned out for him runs something like this:

Exported from version 1.5B of CoH Planner
http://joechott.com/coh

Archetype: Scrapper
Primary Powers - Ranged : Martial Arts
Secondary Powers - Support : Regeneration

01 : Fast Healing hel(01) hel(46) hel(50)
01 : Thunder Kick acc(01) dam(3) dam(5) dam(11) recred(40) recred(46)
02 : Storm Kick acc(02) dam(3) dam(5) dam(11) recred(40) recred(43)
04 : Reconstruction recred(04) recred(19) recred(21) hel(36) hel(36) hel(37)
06 : Quick Recovery endrec(06) endrec(7) endrec(7)
08 : Air Superiority acc(08) dam(9) dam(9) dam(15)
10 : Dull Pain recred(10) recred(19) recred(21) hel(36) hel(37) hel(37)
12 : Crane Kick acc(12) dam(13) dam(13) dam(15) recred(39) recred(43)
14 : Fly fltspd(14)
16 : Integration hel(16) hel(17) hel(17)
18 : Swift runspd(18)
20 : Health hel(20) hel(50) hel(50)
22 : Stamina endrec(22) endrec(23) endrec(23)
24 : Focus Chi recred(24) recred(25) recred(25)
26 : Resilience damres(26) damres(27) damres(27)
28 : Instant Healing recred(28) recred(29) recred(29) hel(34) hel(34) hel(34)
30 : Dragons Tail acc(30) dam(31) dam(31) dam(31) recred(42) recred(46)
32 : Eagles Claw acc(32) dam(33) dam(33) dam(33) recred(40) recred(43)
35 : Revive recred(35)
38 : Moment of Glory recred(38) recred(39) recred(39)
41 : Focused Accuracy thtbuf(41) thtbuf(42) thtbuf(42)
44 : Laser Beam Eyes acc(44) dam(45) dam(45) dam(45)
47 : Energy Torrent acc(47) dam(48) dam(48) dam(48)
49 : Group Fly fltspd(49)

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01 : Brawl Empty(01)
01 : Sprint Empty(01)
02 : Rest Empty(02)

Now, I missed most of the ED fuss and palaver (I was away for about a month at the time), so I'm not 100% sure I fully understand the new slotting guidelines. Any advice, comments or critiques would be welcome.

A couple of rambling points:

Yeah, yeah, Fly, I know I just like it as a travel power, and Air Superiority is an amazing single-target control power. Originally I went with perma-hasten and SS, but hasten's utility went down somewhat and with spare slots on the attacks from un-needed damage I can add recreds to those instead.

Originally I had Resilience and Dragon's Tail swapped around in the order they show in, but post-ED I figured I'd want the defence early.

Should I cannibalize some slots to add DefBuff to MoG? I honestly can't remember where it hits its caps, not having had the opportunity to actually test it.

Something else I hope is a bug. Facing two +1 mobs in an instance today, thought - can't be bothered to scrap the second, what I'll do, AS the first, placate the second, run round round a corner back a bit until AS recharges (by which time I'll be properly hidden again). Here's the thing - although I was out of sight of the second (placated) mob, when the placate hide became normal Hidden, she immediately started running towards where I was hiding (I still had her targeted from the Placate, so I could see this).

Something that occurs to me _might_ be a bug - when you 1-shot an enemy with AS but they still get a hit on you despite being dead at the time.

Since my tactics against the typical 3-mob group is - AS, Scrap, Placate/AS and the AS is normally back up by the time I want it again, I'm unlikely to slot it for recharge - maybe one recred if I really feel the need. 3 damage, that's a given - I'd originalyl intended to slot it for 2 acc 4 damage, but post-ED I'm in doubt as to the value of that 4th damage slot. That benig the case, either I simply won't put a 6th slot in or I'll put an endred in the last slot (or recred if, as I said, I really feel I need it).

Recently kicked off a Rad/Rad Corruptor, and I suppose the obvious question is: Does Hasten stack with Accelerate Metabolism? In the Post-ED world, I can see that being incredibly useful

[ QUOTE ]
You are literally unable to target the Stalker (even if you can see them!)

[/ QUOTE ]

...sometimes no amount of evil laughter is sufficient...

Question - how does Placate work on players? I never got a chance to test that in beta.

[ QUOTE ]
Mine's set to placate and is the opposite it's:-
"now you see me,now you don't" usually follwed by AS and the targets swift death


[/ QUOTE ]

I haven't bound it yet, but given the Placate anim, I'm considering "This is not the Stalker you are looking for..."