Welcome to the I7 guide to the Claws/Regen stalker. When I was leveling my first character ever, I turned to the forums for help, hoping to find a handy guide to claws/regen, only to be disappointed and find one of the worst guides I had ever seen (sorry Aenix). Now that I am in the mid 40s I decided to share my knowledge of this build for any other fans of this unlikely but (if used correctly) devastating combo. As this is my guide, I will be expressing my own opinions, and some of what I have heard. Feel free to comment on things that you agree/disagree with, and enjoy.
First, the mindset of a claws/regen:
As a claws/regen, the first thing that you need to realize is as claws you will not deal out the fantastic damage boasted by Energy Meleers. If you are looking for a huge hitter, or the easiest way to pvp, this is not the place you should be. If you came here to ignore FotMs and attempt a vastly rewarding combo, this is the place for you. As said earlier, you will not be the best damager, but instead receive fast, low end-cost attack chains. This combo is one of the more effective "stalk-scrappers", meaning that while we do deliver the signature burst damage of stalkers, we can also scrap it out while other stalkers would either die or have to run and hide. This is one of the reasons to play a claws/regen. If you like the concept of stalkers but dislike the idea of AS/run/hide/AS you will love this build.
Power Discussion:
I use a rating of 1-5 to rate powers, 5 being the highest. Then I comment why the power received that rating, and give any other advice, followed by a recommendation of slotting the power, should you decide to take it.
Claws:
Swipe:
Rating: 1
Commentary: You perform a low damage, quickly recharging attack similar to Energy Melee's Barrage. This power receives a rating of 1 for longer animation and lower damage than strike, the other choice. I find that nobody needs this attack, and everyone would be better off taking strike
Slotting: If you choose to take it, I wouldn't waste slots, put in 1 acc. But I highly recommend against taking it.
Strike:
Rating: 3
Commentary: The better choice for lvl 1, Strike does a sort of stab in the gut; quick animation, low end cost, and recharge makes this the superior lvl 1 choice.
Slotting: I would leave this baby 3 slotted until you hit the mid 30s and start getting lots of slots to work with. You want to eventually end up with 6. (3 dam, 2 acc, 1 recharge/end redux)
Slash:
Rating: 4
Commentary: You slash the enemy, dealing moderate damage. This power does good low lvl damage and has good recharge time, mixed with low end cost. I would recommend picking this up at lvl 2. This is one of your main powers in your attack chain.
Slotting: 6 slot this as soon as possible, as this is one of your main attacks in your attack chain. (3 dam, 2 acc, 1 whatever)
Assassin's Claw:
Rating: 5
Commentary: The signature stalker attack, when executed from hide you deal massive damage. Grab this at lvl 6 (as soon as you can) and love it. If you don't take this power I don't even know what to tell you.
Slotting: 6 slots again, you DO NOT want this to miss, so I would recommend 3 damage, 3 acc.
Build Up:
Rating: 5
Commentary: One of the "holy trinity" of all stalkers, this gives a huge boost to your damage and acc for 10 seconds. However in early lvls this power is somewhat overkill. You can wait until the late teens to pick this power up, but I took it at lvl 8 just to have a little extra power. If you get it at 8 I would use it for scrapping, not for the initial AS.
Slotting: You want this up as much as possible, so get in 3 recharges ASAP
Placate:
Rating: 5
Commentary: One of the most useful powers for stalkers, you make your target forget that you are there, effectively "rehiding" yourself. However the catch is, while you can critical now, only the placated target will stop attacking you... meaning that yes, when you placate, if you are hit by any of the mobs unplacated friends you will loose the ability to critical. Regardless, this is an essential skill for every stalker and should be taken at 12.
Slotting: As with build up you want this up often, especially for pve, so 3 slot with recharge.
Focus:
Rating: 5
Commentary: Now claws starts to get interesting. Focus is one of the best primary powers for stalkers, and is most definitely the gem of the set. You send out a focused burst on energy that upon hitting the target will knockdown the target 100% of the time (unless resisted). Fast recharge, good damage, and reasonable end cost makes this the best power in claws, hands down. Take this at 18.
Slotting: 6 slot this baby fast, for 3 damage, 2 acc, and 1 end/recharge
Eviscerate:
Rating: 3
Commentary: The "heavy hitter" of the set, you flip in the air and slash in a cone, although not a large one (the most I have ever hit is 3). Eviscerate cannot critical from hide since it is an aoe, but instead gets a random chance to critical. It does seem to critical fairly often however, making it usable. Some people love this power and others dislike it. I took it, and like it. However I can see why people would dislike the long animation and hefty end cost. The rating of 3 is not really accurate. It is more like a 5 if you like it or a 1 if you don't.
Slotting: 6 slot for 3 dam, 2 acc, and 1 end redux.
Shockwave:
Rating: 3
Commentary: You project a shockwave in a wide cone in front of you, knocking back everything that you hit and dealing moderate damage. In a claws stalker I feel that this power can get you killed more than it can help. If you are interested in fun, this power is hilarious to use on large groups. I find that a claws only need eviscerate or shockwave, not both. Which one you pick depends on your play style (power of utility). However, with both focus and shockwave you can effectively become a stalk-troller and can keep a boss perma grounded, or those annoying blasters in pvp.
Slotting: This power seems to miss a lot, even for an aoe, so slot 3 damage and 3 acc.
Now onto Regen:
Hide:
Rating: 5
Commentary: You have to take this at lvl 1, but frankly if you didnt want this power dont play a stalker. You have the ability to toggle on hide, making you invisible to enemies around you. In PvE you will not be seen by anyone, save for a few specific types of mobs (Rikti Drones) and some AV/Heroes. In pvp hide will not be enough to prevent most heroes from seeing you. This is why many stalkers resort to the concealment pool to further their stealth abilities and remain hidden.
Slotting: Hmmmm. Some people swear that 3 slotting for defense helps them, but I just slot for 1 end redux and use the slots better on something else.
Fast Healing:
Rating: 4
Commentary: An auto power (it is always on) that makes you heal 75% faster unslotted. This power is one of the useful, but not necessary powers in regen. If you plan to pve lots take this, as it will decrease the downtime in between fights. For a respect build for PvP I would not take it, as burst damage will easily overcome its healing ability. For PvE I would not take this power until you get SOs, as that is when the power really becomes noticeable.
Slotting: 3 slot for heals, and this will raise your healing rate 140%. Once this power is 3 slotted with SOs you begin to realize how useful it is.
Reconstruction:
Rating: 5
Commentary: Your reliable heal; this power heals 25% of your health unslotted, and has a reasonable recharge. This power also gives you a 25% resistance to toxic damage, and this effect lasts a good duration, which can help against those nasty spines scrappers in Sirens Call. You want this power, as it is one of your defining powers, and also one of the best heals in the game. I would suggest taking at lvl 4
Slotting: I want this power up as much as possible, but without sacrificing healing ability, so I have it 6 slotted for 3 recharge and 3 heals. With 3 heals this power heals ½ your health in less than a second (Wow) and with the 3 recharges youll have it back up in 30 sacs.
Dull Pain:
Rating: 3
Commentary: The other heal, which heals for 40% of your health unslotted, and gives you a 40% increase to overall health for its duration. Sounds good right? The problem is, it takes 6 mins to recharge. Most people (myself included) agree that this power is useful from a pvp standpoint, but if you are not planning to pvp lots, this is one of those skip able pve powers in regen, as reconstruction outdoes it with superior recharge.
Slotting: Go for 3 heals and 3 recharge again, as you want it up and healing well. However even with 3 SOs for recharge it is still a long time to wait.
Integration:
Rating: 5
Commentary: A toggle that protects you from holds, sleeps, disorients, knock back, and immobilize, and increases your healing rate dramatically (50% unslotted). This is the best power in Regen (not counting hide ). Back in my noob days when I first got this power my first impression was so imp not getting knocked on my [censored] anymore
cool. Now that I know what it does, I find it hard to explain this amazing package of loveliness. Take at lvl 16. No debate.
Slotting: You want 3 heals. With this power 3 slotted, added to the regen rate of fast healing you heal at almost 250% rate. This is what being a regen is all about.
Resilience:
Rating: 2
Commentary: This power is always on, and it gives some resistance to stuns and minor resistance to smashing/lethal/toxic (around 5%). I find this power pretty useless. You already have stun protection from integration, and the resistance to smashing/lethal/toxic is almost unnoticeable. 1 cool thing about this power is that since it is an autopower if you use an awaken it will stop you from being disoreinted, allowing you to get right back into the thick of things.
Slotting: Only thing you can slot this for is resistance
so even if you 3 slot resistance SOs you only get 10% resist to smashing/lethal/toxic. I dont find that enough to waste 2 slots, so slot 1 resistance, unless you have extra slots
and assuming you took the power in the first place.
Instant Healing:
Rating: 4
Commentary: Back in the day when City of Heroes started this used to be the power of the game. You click this power, making you heal at godly speeds for 1 min and 45 secs. However, it takes10 mins to recharge unslotted >.<. While it has been nerfed too many times to still be the ownage power it once was, it is still very good, and unless you are getting ganked by 3 heroes you will probably not die.
Slotting: Get 3 heals and 3 recharges into it, making you heal at astounding rates. The first time you see this power your jaw will drop.
Revive:
Rating: 2
Commentary: You revive yourself if you die
Sounds good right? The thing is, you only have ½ health, and 0 endurance, and are disoriented (if you took resilience this the stun is negated). I have never seen a regen stalker take this power, and neither have I so if you try it and like it please tell me, but I would much rather spend 50 infamy on a wakie than take a useless power.
Slotting: Probably Recharge Reduction, maybe healing
I dunno. I highly recommend against this power.
Moment of Glory:
Rating: 3
Commentary: When activated you receive huge buffs to defense and resistance, and recharge endurance very quickly (you wont run even if you run into a nasty band of sappers). However, your health drops to 25% health, and you cannot heal yourself during the duration of the power! Furthermore the effect lasts for 3 mins. This effect leads many people to not take this power, and I find that this doesnt really fit into the concept of regen very well (if we are supposed to heal fast why would we get a power that stops you from healing for 3 mins???) Regardless, the defense and resistance are astronomical, and you will have a tough time dieing. The Rating of 3 really describes both ends of the spectrum; if you dont like it you really dont like it, but if you do youll be happy with it. Evil Geko has a nice guide on "
Why MoG Sucks! " if you have more questions on it.
Slotting: 3 defense, 3 resistance
Power Pools:
Fitness:
I grabbed Stamina at lvl 20 and am very happy. While some say that this build doesnt need stamina I am doubtful. Even with the low end cost of claws you can still run yourself down if you are in really long fights, so I find this power pool worth it. As for the first two, I took swift and health (which boosts your regen rate even more ).
Leaping:
A very reliable travel power, I love the speed at which I can travel, for reasonable end costs. Take combat jumping for unsuppressed travel (pvp) and immob protection, and get super jump obviously. As a regen boasting integration we have no need for acrobatics.
Teleportation:
From a pvp standpoint you want this, both for teleport foe and teleport. Teleport foe is one of the best tools you have to pull enemies to you, and teleport is useful as you can perform sneak attacks that a scrapper might have noticed had you run in at him, trying to attempt an AS.
Speed:
Hasten
a very useful power, while it cannot be made perma it is still very useful, making your attack chains even faster, and boosting the recharge of your heals. I find the lack of vertical movement in Superspeed to be very cumbersome in CoV (Granville will make you want to kill something)
Fly: Fly can be useful in pvp as far as being able to sit out of everyone's sight. Coupling it with teleport can be very effective. If you take this you should grab Air Superiority. That and focus can lead some awesome boss ownage (Think:BU, AS, Focus, Slash, Air Sup, Strike, Focus... and if you miss one of your kd powers you placate and AS
)
Patron Powers:
Personally I think that the PPPs are the suck, especially for stalkers so I didn't take them. If I were to from a purely pvp aspect I would go Black Scorpion, for the Slows, -fly, -jump aspect in the hold.
My Build:
Note:
This is a pvp spec, as I am done pveing with this toon. That is why I took such powers as resilience and two travel powers, slotted dull pain for 1 heal instead of the suggested 3, and did not take fast healing. This is NOT recommended for a pve build!!!
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Exported from Ver: 1.7.2.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name: Harbinger of Night
Level: 44
Archetype: Stalker
Primary: Claws
Secondary: Regeneration
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01) --> Strike==> Dmg(1)Dmg(15)Acc(15)Acc(42)Dmg(43)
01) --> Hide==> DefBuf(1)
02) --> Slash==> Dmg(2)Dmg(3)Acc(3)Acc(5)Dmg(5)
04) --> Reconstruction==> Heal(4)Heal(11)Rechg(11)Heal(13)Rechg(13)Rechg(42)
06) --> Assassin's Claw==> Dmg(6)Dmg(7)Acc(7)Dmg(9)Acc(9)
08) --> Build Up==> Rechg(8)
10) --> Swift==> Run(10)
12) --> Placate==> Rechg(12)Rechg(40)Rechg(40)
14) --> Health==> Heal(14)
16) --> Integration==> EndRdx(16)Heal(17)Heal(17)Heal(42)
18) --> Focus==> Dmg(18)Dmg(19)Acc(19)Acc(21)Dmg(21)Rechg(33)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20)EndMod(23)EndMod(23)
22) --> Air Superiority==> Acc(22)
24) --> Fly==> Fly(24)Fly(25)Fly(25)EndRdx(39)EndRdx(40)
26) --> Eviscerate==> Dmg(26)Dmg(27)Dmg(27)Acc(29)Acc(29)EndRdx(33)
28) --> Instant Healing==> Heal(28)Rechg(31)Rechg(33)Rechg(34)Heal(34)Heal(34)
30) --> Dull Pain==> Heal(30)Rechg(31)Rechg(31)Rechg(37)
32) --> Hasten==> Rechg(32)Rechg(43)Rechg(43)
35) --> Teleport Foe==> Acc(35)Acc(36)IntRdx(36)IntRdx(36)Range(37)Range(37)
38) --> Teleport==> EndRdx(38)EndRdx(39)EndRdx(39)
41) --> Resilience==> DmgRes(41)
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01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Assassination==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
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Closing: Well thats it all. Sorry if I was dragging on and on, and I hope you enjoyed my guide to this exciting and potentially powerful combo. (if you have questions feel free to pm me)
). Back in my noob days when I first got this power my first impression was so imp not getting knocked on my [censored] anymore
cool. Now that I know what it does, I find it hard to explain this amazing package of loveliness. Take at lvl 16. No debate.