FourSpeed

Gratz!

Nice achievment, great picture, and an even better story - Full Points!


Cheers,
4

I'll weigh in on this as well.

I have several Stalkers that I enjoy. Mine are primarily solo toons. Most
are PvE, but all of them are PvP capable, and a couple of them PvP fairly
often.

Primaries include: NB, Spines, Electric Melee, Kinetic Melee
Secondaries: Nin & WP

My favorite is NB/Nin, although, my EM/WP is a strong runner-up.

My least favorites are my two Spinys (one /Nin, and the other /WP)

The KM/WP is somewhere in the middle.

My NB/Nin is also my "main" PvP toon as well. I like him best because he
is the most "tactical" of the bunch. He has so many ways to approach a
fight, and several ways to escape a bad situation. He's also the most
survivable, and the only time he dies is when I've done something stupid.

His pace is relatively slow, and always very deliberate. He really is the
essence of a "Ninja Assassin". He picks battles on his terms, and will bug
out, and regroup if the situation starts heading South on him. He's careful,
cautious, very effective and nearly unkillable.

The EM/WP is more "brutish" in approach - the pace is quicker, and his
AoE's make him more "reckless". With /WP he has capped HP, and many
is the time he needed to be capped. He doesn't have as many tactical
options to fall back on, but his high regen/resist & HP mitigates it.
LR and TS are a huge part of the fun with this guy, and of all the toons I
have, across many ATs, this guy is the one that I love to hunt KoA with.

The KM/WP is only in his 30's, and he seems decent. KM attacks are so
slow to activate though that he feels "slow" to me... Still effective though.

The Spiny's feel meh to me. I like Impale, but overall they just seem substandard
in the damage department, but the toxic damage does help that somewhat.

Of course, those are just my subjective opinions. I hope you find a Stalker
you can enjoy.


Regards,
4

I guess the other thought I have on this is:

Cascading Def: The reason it's such a shock is that you don't get hit much
with high def initially. After a few debuffs though, everyone hits you, so you
really get a ramped effect that is very noticeable.

Resistance: You were always getting hit the same number of times anyway.
It just doesn't hurt as much. The -res debuffs really just increase damage
taken.

So, in that sense, it doesn't feel like a ramped up effect from nobody hitting
to everyone hitting. They were all hitting previously, so things feel "typical"
until you realize you're taking way more damage than usual (or, you end
up dead because you *didn't* realize that).

Either way, with Resist, it doesn't *feel* like a cascade effect at the time.


Regards,
4

For my PvP Stalker, there is one favorite. The Stealth IO.

Whichever flavor you like (Freebird, Celerity, etc), it's his number 1 IO.

After that, I like Damage Proc(s) in my attacks, along with a couple
Acc/Dmg HO's (but strictly speaking those Hami's aren't IO's)

Down the list a bit is the Perception IO (Reticle), especially now that
some Stalkers have grown soft and gone over to being namby-pamby
hero types...


Regards,
4

Maybe their security folks are former RIAA employees...

If they can bring lawsuits by IP addy, it must be reliable, and uniquely
identifiable to the person, right???



Cheers,
4

There are a couple things in play here.

Essentially, the market wants 10% of your sales as a fee. Period.

As has been mentioned, this is actually a good thing from an inflationary
standpoint (inf is made from nothing - without any drains, it would rise
infinitely as would prices until it all crashes into the 2B cap)

However, as you point out, at listing time, we don't know what "sales" amount
is going to be, so there's definitely going to be a fee when it does sell.

The other piece is the listing fee. This is there to favor the buyer (believe it
or don't).

It prevents "list creeping" - ie. repetitively re-listing an item from a high price
to successfully lower prices until I sell it. That technique would allow a seller
to get the maximum buy price out there, or simply not sell at all if nobody
is buying at the price he wants.

Listing fees make that an unviable approach.

Since those fees are 5% of the price you list at, it encourages the seller
to list for a lower price and leave it on the market...

This favours savvy buyers, because, the opposite of list creeping is "bid
creeping" which is highly encouraged, and has no penalty.

Any crazy pricing you see out there is a direct result of buyers who don't
bid creep, and have enough inf to "Buy it NAO" regardless of what it may
be listed for.

That said, if your "crazy priced" item would sell for your list price of 5K and
you paid 500 (10%), your profit is 4500... However, it sold for 5M, and a
500K fee was charged, you still got 4M+ more profit in the second case
than you would have in the first case.

Guess I'm not really seeing the downside here


Cheers,
4

Also, it's noted in this post that they are planning to hotfix this problem tommorrow,
so hopefully, SP3 won't be required anymore (for I20, at least)


Regards,
4

As a follow-up, this post http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=257229
indicates that they are going to correct the XP issue so that the game won't
require SP3 (for I20 at least).

Personally, I applaud that as an excellent business decision by NCsoft/devs.

Kudos!

Regards,
4

Thanks Leandro,

I for one will be applying this quickfix myself.

As for Spad & FFM, of course, FrankenPatching is *conceptually* a Bad
Idea for stability and future issues. On that, we basically agree, and I, like
the OP wouldn't recommend it for anyone but knowledgeable sysadmin types.

However, here's the mitigator.

1> We already HAVE those issues now ... ie. this game won't currently run,
period. That's a showstopper already -- for CoH players.

2> For those savvy enough to understand what Leandro is talking about,
this is a very quick, minimal cost, *relatively low-risk* approach, and we
already know that, at some point, the OS will need to be changed.


For me personally, I have 4 PCs on a home/hobbyist network all on SP2.

Why? Because, I have zero software on any of those machines that
requires anything more.

Now, a $15 / month *game* is mandating change?

Sorry, my don't-care meter is in the red on that. YMMV.

No other software I currently have requires SP3 at all (and I have a lot
of stuff on there including one dual boot dev box for .NET, Perl and
Android tinkering, along with a linux server and my gaming machines).

CoH is the only consistently problematic/unstable software I have currently.

While I'm budgeting for some new PC builds down the road (with a migration
to W7 when I do), that's a way down the road and, at my option, when
I feel it's worth it, cost-wise and time-wise, not NCsoft's - especially for
a game...

If this quickfix allows that game to run in the meanwhile, without
damaging anything else, super.

If not, NCsoft will be SoL for my business. A $15/mo *game* is NOT worth
the hours needed to update my entire network when nothing else needs
it, and it's currently functional and stable without it. Again, YMMV.

So, again, Leandro, thanks for your work-around and testing on this - you
may have saved NCsoft at least one subscription.


Cheers,
4

As others have mentioned, there are several good uses for Tp Foe, and
I have a number of toons that have it, use it, and love it.

I have stalkers that use it, for both PvE and PvP. In PvE, it's the Blaster
equivalent to a "pull" if you have either: a bigger spawn than you want
to deal with at once, or two spawns close enough to aggro both if you
attack, or if a spawn has a particularly pesky member in it (ie. sapper,
quant, void, stunner etc.).

For stalkers with /nin, it's especially useful with Caltrops.

In PvP, they've gotten zone kills with that very same technique, but by
and large, it's far less useful there than PvE for them (works just often
enough to be "nice to have"). In PvE though, they use it quite a bit.

For /devices or MM's, it's a very nice power to have... port onto Mines,
or port into the hungry maw of your pets, and it can be a lot of fun.

I've seen a number of Bot/Traps MM's use that technique to great
effect in PvP as well.

So, No, I wouldn't want the devs to get rid of it. I'd like some way
to potentially boost it's Mag, but even without that, I find it to be a
useful, if quite situational, power for a number of my characters.


Regards,
4

As the title suggests, I have one of these crafted and available for a mere 2.5B,
and you don't even have to contact me before midnight tonight...

If you're interested, you can reply to this post, send me a pm, or send
me an in-game tell to @Fourspeed.


Regards,
4

-----------------------------------

Sold.

Thanks for the massive amount of interest, guys...

I'm more in the 1B/week crowd, when I pay attention to it.

I guess I'm in the anti-fortune crowd, over-all. Without stirring up a ruckus,
I'll outline the reason's I don't like it, and usually decline it.

1> First and foremost, they make noise, a couple of which are really
irritating to me. (I haven't played a sonic toon since they first came out
for the very same reasons).

2> It lasts an hour of game time ... even if you log off and log back on,
which makes point #1 inescapable for that hour. There's no way to get
rid of it until it fades out on its own (afaik).

3> I'm a solo player and, in general, don't particularly need the buff - my
toon, by build design is already self-sufficient. The irritation of point #1
doesn't make the helpfulness of the buff useful to me.

4> More often than not, the yahoo that gives me the buff does so at the
market - that's an instant decline (and a playernote as well)

The pop-up generally doesn't bother me much, because I simply ignore it
most times, although I'd love an autodecline option in settings for it.

There is one instance in which I'll accept the buff. If I'm running a TF or
a Rikti Raid, then I'll accept. In that cases, I'm teamed by default already,
and more importantly, the chaos of a raid or a tf drowns out the noise of
the buff, making it tolerable.

As for giving out the buff, I don't have whatever pack you need to get it,
so it's a complete non-issue for me.

I understand the idea that most folks are simply trying to be helpful, but like
many things, oftentimes the implementation is more irritating than the help
is welcome.


Regards,
4

I can relate. I've typically played my Blasters and Stalkers the same way
from a tactical standpoint - It works for me, and I enjoy them.

It's nice to come across someone who views it similarly.

You may also want to give Electric Melee / * some consideration. While
it's not Energy, per se, it is *energy* It's also a pretty cool looking
set and comes with plenty of AoE. Maybe try it as your 2nd stalker.

I too am fond of the E3 Blaster. It was my very first toon way back in
closed Beta (long before you could even get the "3"), and I'm still playing
it today.

He plays a much more controllerish and deliberately tactical style than
most other blasters I've dabbled with.

I can't stress enough though, that if you don't have the secondary to go
with the Electric primary, forget the idea of end drain - it simply isn't
practical or effective enough, and is typically more risky than helpful at
that point.

With the right build however, end drain is very, very effective, but *only*
if you can fully drain them, *and* keep them drained (which an E3 can
do). It's definitely an "All or Nothing" strategy. Either do it well and fully,
or don't bother with it at all.

Personally, I enjoy my E3 quite a bit, but I can definitely see how it may
be less appealing to other folks.


Regards,
4

Gambler's Cut is higher DPS (mostly due to it's very quick recharge and
lower activation time).

Sting of the Wasp is a harder hitter from a burst perspective.

Personally, I prefer SotW, given my stalker's playstyle.

Stalkers are nicely suited to a "Hit Hard, Get the Kill(s), Get Out Quick"
approach, and I find that most fights against mob spawns are brief, typically
lasting the length of one full attack chain (or less). I usually play solo
at +2/1 settings.

That tends to make the higher, burst damage attacks more useful to me.

On the other hand, with Trops, and DA, NB stalkers can be successful
"pocket scrappers" and have extended fights (which you would if you're
running higher mob count sliders, x/2+, or in teams).

In that case, you may prefer GC for higher DPS over extended times.

Both attacks are decent enough, so it comes down to your approach
and playstyle.


Regards,
4

Sorry Granny wasn't able to put in an appearance at the party.
(Monday is her regular Bingo night, so she couldn't make it. )

She will be dropping in later this week to toss a billion into the fire pit.

Unfortunately, her investments haven't fared as well as hoped lately (alas,
if only "hyperinflation" actually was happening...). In any case, several
key sales items haven't moved in awhile due to the prices tanking on
them, so a paltry billion is all she's able to contribute currently...

Rest assured though, the Crazy 88's are always in her thoughts.


Regards,
4

Hasten isn't a must have power in my book by any stretch of the imagination.

I have several toons that don't have it, and don't want it. Actually, as I
think about it now, I'd estimate that fewer than 25% of my toons have it.

Perfect case in point: None of my (several) stalkers have it. No Need. A
standard spawn of 3 mobs is dead in one pass (or less) of my attack chain.

Everything will be set to go again by the time I get to the next group.

Also, with sets and frankenslotting, it is easily possible to have key powers
recharge "soon enough", which leaves me with a different pool or power pick
instead of Hasten.

That said, I do have a few toons where Hasten IS a cornerstone. My
SS/WP Brute, for instance is one. For him, it's critical for stacked Rage,
and enough DPS to solo pylons - you know ... Crazy Stuff

I have a few blasters that use it, because they're blasters - their entire
way of life depends on "Kill them before they Kill Me", so more attacks is
directly equal to fewer hospital trips.

In general though, they're the exceptions rather than the norms and few
of my other AT's bother with Hasten.


Regards,
4

I'm not sure I have 10, but certainly several things have been crucial
keys to my continued play in the CoX world.

In no particular order:

1> IOs & Sets (for us old-timers, it gave back what GDN & ED took away)

2> The Market first, and a merged Market second (even if the latter did
take the threat of pliers to Posi's nether regions to make it happen)

3> Ouroboros - for both the flashbacks and handy travel mechanism

4> /hide. If I actually were ranking these, this would be hands-down #1
for an antisocial soloist like me

5> GleeMail: Another long awaited QoL with huge benefits.


And, finally, an amusing flashback one for the old-timers -- a trade screen
where you could trade more than 9999 inf in a single bound...


Cheers,
4

I'm partial to my NB / Nin Stalker as a "pocket scrapper", and have run him
that way on more than 1 TF team quite successfully.

As others have mentioned, +Def is pretty decent for that AT. He also has
his anti-mez power and a self heal which are quite helpful in a melee role.

The two additonal powers I really like for him in this scenario are:

Caltrops: This is a hands-down beautiful power in PvE. You don't need
slots in it, but if you have extra slots, you can do some good things here
with procs & debuffs. But even by itself, it is a great damage mitigator,
and a sweet ambush remedy. It also synergizes nicely with TP Foe if you
want to cull a pesky mob out of a crowd, or simply thin/divide a spawn.

Divine Avalanche: If you're going to melee, this is the key power to have
(imho). Can you say "Capped Melee Defense" without IO's - the stalker with
this power can. With any recharge on it at all, it's double stackable - a
nice 30% bonus to Melee defense. On top of that, it does decent (~tier
1) damage. It's also an easy & helpful way to counteract pesky -def
debuffers.

NB is pretty much in the middle of the Stalker damage curve, so it's a decent
primary, and /Nin is one of the best Stalker secondaries. Taking these two
powers along the way, makes him very survivable and successful if he
wants to stick around and mix it up a little after his AS.

GL with whatever approach you take.


Regards,
4

I too, disagree with the hyperinflation assessment.

First of all, there are clear cut segments where there isn't (and can't be)
*any* inflation at all, nevermind hyperinflation.

These include the obvious TO/DO/SOs, tier 1 inspirations, and even common
IO recipes. Zero inflation at all.

Secondly, many market items are also not under *any* inflation at all (due
in some cases to built-in curbs). These include things like marketed SO's,
common IO recipes, and literally dozens of less popular set recipes, all of
which are sold on the market and all of which are cheap... A perfect
example imho is common IO recipes... More than 2 years ago, I wrote a
guide on vendoring those. If anything, that technique works even better
today than it did then.

So, of all the available (and purchaseable, of course) items in-game, you're
really only looking at two segments which are seeing *any* inflation at all,
namely: desirable and premium sets. That's it.

Even in those segments, there are multiple cases that come to mind where
prices are lower now than they were months ago (Perf Shifters, LotG recharges,
Regen Tissue +regen, to name 3 that I have direct experience with recently).

On top of that, several Purple recipes are also down recently, and many
PvP IO's (Jav Volley, Fury of the Gladiator, for instance) have less value
than many sets in the "desirable" segment.

So, no - I'm not seeing the hyperinflation position at all.

As for RMT metrics, that's not even comment-worthy imho.


Regards,
4