JuliusSeizure

That difference is even lower you factor the 1.0 self buff modifier for Scrappers versus the 0.8 self buff modifier for Stalkers, and the 15% critical rate on some tier 9 and tier 8 attacks for Scrappers. Certain sets like Claws, Dark Melee, Dual Blades, and KM will pull even farther ahead for Scrappers with their perma-duration self buffs. A Stalker probably has no actual damage advantage even with a full team of 8 augmenting their critical rate.

The difference is internalized +damage buffs-- cycling Build Up, Blinding Feint, Follow Up, etc. These heavily favor the Scrapper and put it well ahead of the Brute when it comes to damage comparisons. The comparison is flawed if you ignore self buffs and their disproportionate affect on Scrappers.

You kinda acknowledged it, but things like Build Up which may only have a 33% up time in constant DPS comparisons can easily have something like a 45% uptime in actual combat given the way that spawns melt in this game. Build Up recharging between spawns while Fury decays is a swing in favor of Scrappers.

Regarding Stalkers, I am really beginning to think they need to bring something more to a team-- something other than DPS. I wonder if Assassin Strike could somehow allow allies to critical on a hard target for a narrow window? It would be pretty sweet of the Stalker increased the burst damage of the entire team...

You can receive multiple heals from the Proc-- so if it procs 3 times, you would get 15% hp returned.

The Placate should come after damage is dealt, wiping you from the agro list, but i can't say for sure with this particular skill.

I think Warshades don't team nearly as well as VEATs. They are wonderful soloers, but take quite long to setup their mires and other tactics. The VEAT is far and away the superior teaming AT.

Warshades are similar to Fire/Kins-- amazing while solo, but very average on a large and chaotic team.

All of those players asking for "debuffs" when forming Task/Strike forces are often asking for one thing in particular: -regeneration. It really would be nice if players could say "looking for a Rad, but a Stalker would suffice if necessary."

I kind of agree with this even though I think Stalkers need a buff. More damage isn't necessarily needed. Two things should happen, however:

1: Assassin Strike should offer some kind of debilitating debuff against AVs/EBs/GMs. Stalkers don't necessarily need to do more damage, but when they take the time to attack the vitals of a powerful opponent it should hinder them drastically. If it were up to me, I would basically attach [Benumb] to the bonus damage from Assassin Strike, but limit it to a 5-10 second duration.

2: A Stalker has very little control over Assassination's ability to augment your critical rate by having players nearby. Allow for the first player within 15' of the Stalker to add a 10% critical rate. Allies 3 through 8 within 30' should add 2%. This would allow players to "flank" enemies and offer a sense of reward for strategically attacking foes that are distracted by a nearby ally. Front loading 10% and having 2% added by other allies would leave maximum performance pretty much the same-- 32% versus 31% under ideal situations, including the 10% base.

Now wait, didn't I just say that increased damage isn't needed? I personally view this change as a QoL enhancement, giving the player more control over one aspect of the Assassination inherent. It never made sense to me that Assassination wasn't implemented in this fashion from the get go.

Anguishing Cry compares very favorably to Freezing Rain in my experience. Freezing Rain has higher -resist values, but it also has a bug where any enemy that is in the debuff patch when the rain stops falling has all debuffs removed. That means that Freezing Rain is often only applying its debuff for 15 seconds versus a full 30 seconds for Anguishing Cry. They actually have the same unsocketed uptime because of this bug (25%).

Pain also has World Of Pain granting all pets +resist, +acc, and +damage, and can keep Pain Bringer permanently on the Commando.

I'm really beginning to agree with this, despite the vast changes that were made to the Stalker AT recently. The most bothersome for me is that it takes 4 players to be within 30 feet of me while on a team to roughly equal the AT damage modifier of a Scrapper (1.1+0.12 vs 1.21).

Then there is Assassin Strike, which I have tried to use primarily for concept reasons. The problem is that I am more useful employing Throw Spines from hide than using Assassin Strike. When I do want to Placate->Assassin Strike, it tends to both get interrupted and feel underwhelming; the net animation of those two skills is over 5 seconds, which means that big tasty number is easily surpassed by most Brutes and Scrappers that have been simply hammering out an attack chain.

If I could change anything, I would suggest that Assassin Strike employ a mechanic that Arcanaville suggested for Martial Arts: the increased critical chance found it Eagle's Claw on Scrappers. When a Stalker chooses to employ an Assassin Strike, no other AT in the game should have higher DPS or burst damage against that target. The problem is that burst damage isn't just about a single massive strike, it's also about layering damage during a buildup phase, which Scrappers are flat out superior at doing. I would like to see Assassin Strike grant a period of increased critical chance following a successful Assassin Strike from the hidden state, something along the lines of 30% for 5 seconds.

I have also noticed that Burst from Kinetic Melee has a 100% chance to critical from hide-- which makes the skill incredibly fun to use, but no more potent than Foot Stomp on a Brute that can be spammed without consideration of Hide/Placate. If it works for KM, why shouldn't it be applied to at least one AoE attack from the other stalker primaries? (And yes, this unfortunately does nothing for the primaries that lack any AoE attacks...)