Leo_G

Kermit the Frog Muppetic judgement?

My friend was actually suggesting trying to use those flares to burn the zombies in some way (I think it involved gasoline) and I'm all like, 'Right, so then you have a bunch of flaming zombies coming after you?'.

Sure, eventually the fire would consume the zombies' bodies, but how long does it take to cremate a body? And they don't need to see to get you. They go by sound as well. You'd have to wait for those parts to be consumed by heat or obscured by smoke. Worse yet, touching them could spread that fire uncontrollably...so better not let them touch you...or any trees/grass...or flamable stuff...because if you *are* running away from them for your life only to run into *another hoard*...good luck going back the way you came

And yah, I played Left 4 Dead. What of it?

But I've used swords before (mainly chinese broadsword and straight sword though), I think I can get the hang of a katana after a few uses.

You wouldn't be playing Scrappers or Brutes either. You'd be playing Doms and Controllers.

I still say I like the controlled calculating manner of Stalkers in a lot of situations. Mind you, I can't say Stalkers are my favorite AT, but I definitely have more Stalkers than any other melee AT.

There's something about knowing what your powers can do, gauging the foe and then executing a series of actions to dispatch a target quickly that I enjoy vs allowing more variables to mess with that outcome.

For instance, I've got a Kin/EA stalker and a KM/Elec scrapper. One past-time of that stalker is to hoard lots of reds, pop them all at once + BU and one-shot a bunch of minions then follow up with placate > concentrated strike on the Lt or Boss. He can do that with a degree of certainty that the scrapper cannot. The reason I like the scrapper is another reason, namely using Power Siphon to buff up the damage aura and watch the numbers getting bigger and melting the enemies around me.

Maybe it's because I'm not focused on a particular type of playstyle in the game, but I don't value high AoE burst or AoE DPS over ST burst or ST DPS or herding or farming or AV killing or any of that jazz. If a character can do some things well to very well, that's all that really matters. And Stalkers have particularly low variable controllable on-demand burst capabilities that cannot be captured by other melees. That's why I like them and play them. And I like Tankers and Brutes and Scrappers too.

Probably because it wouldn't be fair.

Why should this AT get a shield that is basically a buff and an armor and won't ever suppress when mezzed or cost endurance. Just to state a fact, I believe Corruptor Thermal Shield is a grantable 15% res to fire, smashing and lethal (dunno, can't check Redtomax atm) while Tanker Fire Shield is 15% res to fire smashing and lethal.

Do you think it'd be fair to have one power make this AT as sturdy as a Tanker and buff/debuff as well as a Corruptor?

If this AT is to have any type of attainable self-protection, IMO, it should give up some of its capacity to buff the team. For instance, if the AT got a version of Thermal Radiation, I'd expect it to have the 2 team shields and cauterize (ST ally heal) as its staple while giving up Warmth for Healing Flames, Forge and Melt Armor for the 2 self Shields and probably change Thaw into a PBAoE self-inclusive team mez resist buff. It'd be up in the air to exchange Power of the Phoenix with something like Blazing Aura or Burn to keep with the theme of Fire being damaging.

This would still make this AT decent at supporting a team, able to stand up on its own, but neither be as good at buffing/debuffing as Defender/Corruptor/Controller, and not be as sturdy as Tanker or Brute.

Besides that, it's just easy to pair armor sets like that to make them hybrids:
-Empathy:Regen
-Thermal Radiation:Fiery Aura
-Cold Domination:Ice Armor
-Dark Miasma: Dark Armor
-Force Field:Invulnerability
-Pain Domination: Willpower
-Kinetics:Energy Aura
-Storm Summoning:Electric Armor
-Time Manipulation:Super Reflexes

The only ones that don't have direct couplings are...

-Radiation Emission
-Sonic Resonance but you can simply do the same as you did for Thermal, replace 2 powers for self shields (probably Sonic Dispersion the PBAoE res buff, and Liquify), turn Clarity into a PBAoE version, and maybe alter Disruption Field into a personal aura power.
-Traps
-Trick Arrow
-Poison which would be harder because you'd most likely have to get rid of one of the bread-n-butter debuffs for one of the personal shields since you want to contain the debuff capacity under a Corruptor without making them useless...but you can't have the AT with all the important goodies a corruptor can do plus self protection beyond what debuffs provide.
-Shield Defense
-Stone Armor
-and Ninjutsu

...Although it might work to link Trick Arrow and Ninjutsu...hmmm...maybe even just call it Ninjutsu, rename all the arrows into thematic 'ninja-y' names and boom.

1. Entangling Arrow
2. Hide in Shadows (stealth power)
3. Ninja Reflexes
4. Danger Senses
5. Glue Arrow
6. Poison Gas Arrow
7. Kuji-in Rin (self only...yeah, buff sets without the ability to buff mez resists wouldn't get PBAoE versions for this AT)
8. A mix of Flash Arrow and Blinding Powder so an arrow with -ToHit, -perception, confuse and sleep that doesn't notify foes and can stack with Poison Gas Arrow's sleep
9. Oil Slick Arrow

Hmmm, I think this would be overpowered >_>
It wouldn't have the -res of TA which would have put it in the running of usefulness as other TA users, and it doesn't have the heal which ties together Ninjutsu so well...but it might synergize a bit too well. And a Ninja stalker with OSA? Heh, that'd be too much...maybe those 2 sets are just that awesome?

No, you seem to disagree with the premise of my suggestion which coincides with the vision of the devs themselves, which is that certain ATs have certain themes and certain sets do not line up with said themes so such sets should not be given to those specific ATs.

My idea is to side-step this thematic speed bump by adjusting the look/feel of said set while balancing it to better fit the AT.

Again, you do not oppose my idea, you oppose the dev's vision. So you need to be posting in threads lobbying for sets to be ported, which I've noticed you really haven't...

Meanwhile, I'll be making suggestions that are a little more possible to get something done vs sitting on my hands and waiting 2+ years.


*ahem*

Here's your chance now, Agge. I guess Stalkers just aren't thematically practical enough to wield large weapons...even on the premise of the set being themed as an *Executioner's Set*. Are you going to tell me now that Stalkers can't be executioners? Or that executioners didn't use large weapons like Axes or swords to behead people? Or thematically that Death doesn't silently stalk people nor carries a scythe in common media?

Another thread, please. That is discussion for another thread...

Just to state for completion, Stalkers also get that extra 15% flat chance of crit on those same attacks (Ripper, Eviscerate, etc) but I believe those chances aren't affected by the scaling crit buff. Not sure but can be wrong.

And do not discount the one crit you're guaranteed at the start and the reliability of Placate. You go onto mention the scaling crit infringing on the usefulness of placate, but remember that range to get the buff is only 30ft. Also something to think about; Stalkers can double crit which works off of placate giving you a crit + base chance of critical hit. Can't recall if it was tested or not, but if your scaled crit chance is taken into account for double crits, you're simply shifting its use from guaranteed crit to chance of double crit.


And I will! I think I'm at least decent brainstorming and collaborating with others.

But I'm with the others on some of your ideas regarding the secondaries.

The ones for Dark Armor, Ninjutsu, Ice Armor and Electric Armor are great. I'd absolutely love the sets to have those.

Energy Aura: Weak. Do not like it nor the idea of adding psionic resistance to it (it doesn't have any psi resists to stack with it to make it at least useful). I'd suggest either a click Targeted AoE or PBAoE Knockback/knockup power...but this is coming from someone who, despite not using it all the time, liked Repulse. I think the ability to AS then follow up with some AoE knock- would be amazing utility for the set. Or use it before or after Energy Drain to either establish your +def drain or to keep the foes busy while you drain their endurance.

Super Reflexes: As mentioned, don't need Lucky. How about Blink, a passive +res (minor) power that occasionally placates nearby foes around you. The chance improves the lower your HP is. Mechanically, it's an auto mez aura power that does not notify mobs.

Regeneration: Superficial Wounds. Could be a click or a passive that grants a bit of recovery but also grants the user a second 'Hide' power. Whereas Hide will unsuppress so long as you do not attack, click a glowie or are hit by damage, Superficial Wounds won't care if you are hit with damage. As long as you do not attack or click any glowies, it will put you back into Hidden status.

Willpower: Unbending Presence. A second placate (doesn't hide you) but much longer recharge. When clicked, you regen and recover a bit faster and the foe you placate stays placated...the entire duration...no matter what. That is, you can attack the foe *while* placated and the foe cannot hit you back (in PvP, it will work like regular placate). Many people applaud Ninjutsu for being so amazing, but I find Willpower better for general play. Especially if you have other tools that can be considered support (Dark Melee/WP is one survivable set, IMO), WP provides solid protection to back it up. So this little piece of support wouldn't require much planning to use, just use it on something you know you have to deal with (now or later) but are unsure if it can be done in as timely a manner as you'd like.

Personally, I've always thought all of Stalker's 'better damage' should have been through critical hits. That is, it'd be kinda like Brute in that it has lower base damage than Tankers but ramp up way higher with fury. Stalkers would have lower base damage than Scrappers but pull way ahead when the Stalker lands beefy crits.

And since the actual damage of critical hits is completely controlled (they simply put a chance of doing xxx points of damage in the attack itself) all the devs would have to do is increase the damage of the critical portion. So rather than doing 1x extra damage, it could be something like 1.33x or 1.5x

And this statement is invalid since no matter what the 'devs stated', they can simply go back against what they say.

It doesn't matter what you think an AT is supposed to be. It matters what the devs think an AT is supposed to be. Since the matter has and still is brought up, no point in being two-faced hypocrites and acknowledging themes of one AT while ignoring those of others.

Also, the devs never said they will port TW to Stalkers later, they simply said it wasn't out of the question. That's no promise nor even stating a desire to do it. But it's still all beside the point since there has been no word if Stalkers will get Shield Defense and that set has been out for years.

My suggestion is, if a straight port will not work thematically, a thematic side-step is just as good, so long as it stays within the original spirit of its cousin. If Titan Weapons isn't thematic for Stalkers, it isn't for Scrappers. Side-step that theme and make it into a large weapon executioner's set for Stalkers and the flashy scraptastic flare of staff melee for Scrappers and there's really no issue.

Your misgivings are not with my idea, so they must be with representing the ATs so probably better for another thread.

If you took the time to press quote, then it serves is purpose of:

1. Stating grievances with the direction of the game and people reading it while...

2. Not being off topic.

Any new issue threads involving add-ons to Brutes/Tankers/Scrappers I find will get the same reminder until Stalkers receive just as much attention as them.

Lol that means "no port" or "wait 2+ years port" which is as good as ****, really.

So when will Stalkers get some exclusive powersets and actual ports, then? Cause comparatively, again, they get ****.

Tanker: Martial Arts, Super Reflexes, Street Justice, Titan Weapons
Brute: Broadsword/Katana, Regeneration, Street Justice, Titan Weapons
Scrapper: Axe, Mace, Energy Aura, Street Justice, Titan Weapon
Stalker: Ice Armor, Street Justice

If you can't tell, Stalkers get half of anything and that's BS. Heck, if it was going to be planned not to release TW for Stalkers, they could have pooled the resources that could port *5* sets to Scraps and Brutes and at least give Stalker 1 more proliferation.

Or maybe I'm just annoyed and peeved with the laziness of the devs but they're really going to pump out an exclusive set or two for Stalkers. That would be *smart* vs the stupidity I've seen thus far and in the foreseeable future.

And I JUST told you what the forms do.

You pick a form, your hits build perfection points and certain attacks expend them in various ways. Some of those ways buff you, others add damage to your attacks. Also, while accumulated them, each level of perfection buffs you (up to 3) depending on what form you use. Oh, and you get a cone +def power clone from TW in the set too.

But if you *REALLY* don't know you could just, you know, *search* in one of the staff threads.

It kinda is. DP just changed the secondary effects and swapped some of the damage.

Staff's forms does give you different effects but also combines it with Street Justice's combos. The forms are 'Mind', 'Body', and 'Soul'. I remember the body form giving you regen and/or resists when you use power that spends your perfection points and mind form adding psionic damage to your attacks.

You can take a look in-game or find the pics floating around somewhere. Not sure if the forms replace BU but do you think it'd be balanced to have the choosing of effects + BU when DP couldn't even get Aim? And the combo points feature? I dunno. Maybe.

Yeah, the main direction with this possibility is that any extras the set has that goes along with AS would be more usable and gated less through the initial strike. Things such as Street Justice's extra combo points with AS, Dual Blades' Empower/Sweep combo (although still gated by Placate and Build up timers), and inevitable adds such as 'points' and/or 'momentum' from new sets.

The idea generally keeps the current balance but makes play more simplistic. Simplistic isn't a bad thing but if you know me, I don't want everything to be the same and simple button pressing. It's an idea, though, and one that, if the devs ever consider taking a new look at QoL improvements, this may actually be how it's changed if a change of this nature is on the table.

It was more of an afterthought when I typed it, but #2 would probably be the coolest change for the attack, IMO. I always thought of AS as a situational attack anyway, but not in the same sense as some that simply do not like using it except at the start or when they have no other attacks.

If the interrupt from AS was diminished (or even removed) while hidden and the attack sped up (in PvE), this would make Placate+AS a no-brainer combo for taking out hard targets. It would go without question. Even for Street Justice, whose tier 9 hits harder with that crit, AS would be just as or nearly as fast, demoralize everything in a 30ft radius and grant you 2 combo points too!

And if unhidden, you decide to try and use AS without Placate, if it at least crit every time (just regular crit, not Assassination crit) you aimed it and didn't get interrupted, that'd at least make you try to time it so it does go off.

Then for #3, it was just an idea but I doubt it'd ever come to pass. Not only would it take balancing of past and future sets, it'd plainly require more effort to proliferate anything else to the AT since rather than 1 new power, we'd need 2.

But wouldn't that be funny, turning AS into the set's missing attack when unhidden? That'd be just awkward for Kinetic Melee, funny for Electric Melee, and downright overpowered for Dark Melee.