Paradoxia

Nah a stalker and a scrapper can be surprisingly evenly matched even without as provided the stalkers build is geared in that way. A regen stalker and a regen scrapper can have a nice long fight in those situations, it comes down to burst versus constant damage which often falls on the side of the scrapper but the timing of the use of build up and placate can swing the balance. I've won some, I've lost some but at the end of the day the real problem with regens is they dont and wont die quickly which is the real issue for stalkers. In open play attacking a regen is suicide mostly due to the length of time you will be exposed, attempt it in a fight with other heroes around and you will die fairly quickly.Thats regens through and through though many a Hero has made the mistake of attacking me and thinking I'm a bit squishy only for me to use dull pain and reconstruction at the appropriate times forcing them to flee. But a regen with his skills on cooldown will drop very very quickly,

At this moment in time reputation is not a fair nor an accurate way of assessing peoples abilities in PvP.

I woldnt recommend a multi travel build until you at least get to 40. PvP for a stalker is very different fron PvE with a stalker.

The first thing to remember is the Stalker power sets are very tight and you dont really want to spend your power slots on anything not essential. Taking TP Friend is ok if you are then going for TP as your primary travel power but tp uses loads of end so prepare to slot it havily if you do.

By themsaelves Hover and Fly arent particularly suited to melee fighters on their own outside of PvP and are more suited to those that rely on range.

Superspeed is a good option with a choice of Hasten or Flurry as the initial must have power. Hasten is very useful if you are a regen and flurry is great if you want an additional attack without wasting a slot.It's also a fast travel power.

Superjumping is another good one with one of the initial powers being combat jumping which is very useful for defense and later on Acrobatics which is another useful power if you opt for it.It is also a fast travel power.

Out of the 4 as a stalker I would opt for either ss or sj as your travel powers as both have the greatest advantages for a melee fighter.

Had a funny PvP moment with Tailman earlier. Tail (a Blaster) had already gotton me a few times with his usual excellent tp onto caltrops and traps tactic which is guaranteed to give a girl a bad day. Anyway I was sniffing around him and a couple of controllers in the hotspot area near the Hero hospital when Tail caught sight of me and decided to pull it on me again while he was in the middle of a mob. Just as he does tp foe, a Tarantula engages him setting off his traps resulting in him tping a fully healthed stalker right smack next to him after his traps had detonated and while surrounded by Arachnos npc's. Needless to say I despatched him after a short fight. All credit to Tail though as despite being thrown off guard and being at a disadvantage he stood his ground and fought back well.

You have to look into what type of way you are comfortable to play your stalker as well before you pick the power sets. Stalk has a great build and highly effective in PvP but the build is only as good as the player behind it and Stalk is a great player with a great build suited perfectly to his style of play. Doesnt mean though that copying his build will automatically mean that it will be a good build for you or you would be very successful in using it. My build isnt as suited overrall to pvp as Stalks is but it suits my style of play despite a few limitations and my rep isnt bad at all. If I was to mimic Stalks build not sure it would suit my style of play in the same way my one does at the mo so bear in mind the ideal build is one that will be effective but most importantly suit your style of play. No point in crimping half your defence powers or picking a defensivly weaker set if you are going to be fighting out in the open a lot. Nor going the other way when you want a quick in and out with as type of stalker.

One thing I would say though is whatever you do get stealth, and if you dont definitely pick a primary with a range in it such as Spikes or Claws.

Only complaints I've made have been in regard to the dubious use of TP foe in Sirens call which is mostly down to Dev issues. TP'ing into drones from a safe zone is just wrong, if you are in a safe zone you shouldnt be able to fight nor be fought. My argument in that isnt so much the use of TP foe but the fact that it can be initiated from a safe zone and the argument on that is valid from both sides. The use of TP foe to tp people into unescapable objects, never happened to me but I've seen a few Villains do it to Heroes before again is just wrong but is purely a development issue again.

The only other complaint I have had and to which Tainted is mostly referring to in his post is my complaint about the use of Hurricane to pin people into unmoveable objects, such as Bus Stops containers etc by using tp foe. My argument is that it's not necessary to use those tactics to get kills and using it in that way unless you have tp is tantamount to creating a permanent hold which just isnt right. Now the counter argument is that its not a hold and you can fight back, however you cant really due to the large accuracy debuff that Hurricane has and if you are melee then its difficult to do it from that position. No issues with Hurricane or TP itself just a couple of ways in which each can be abused, the former is down to poor design but I still consider the latter to be an exploit. Interestingly enough though Ive only seen one controller use that tactic the others stormies such as Window Licker seem to fare very well in PvP without having to resort to that and dont feel the need to shout I pwn u n00bs in broadcast when they do kill you.Still the argument on that one is long and this thread isnt the appropriate place for this kind of discussion.
Most of what you hear in Broadcast is banter though and in good spirit which makes a really nice atmosphere in there. It would be sad to lose that and its nice to hear people across each side say things along the lines of 'what power did you use to kill me? 'Oh I used x to get you you made the mistake of doing this, what you need to do is this'. There are some really lovely people on both sides in this game and considering the state of some of the US servers at the moment we are lucky to have this kind of atmosphere on Defiant. Generally most people who PvP are quite considerate to their opponents and try to create a friendly and competetive gaming atmosphere. Of course there are those that will complain everytime they die but in the end of the day it could be that playing any competitive game just isnt right for them.

Oh and the reson why it always looks like its stalkers complaining is that the high majority of players in zone on the villain side are stalkers. The complaints would be no different im sure if there were more corruptors, masterminds etc in zone.

Don't forget in PvP you dont want to get into a sustained and lengthy fight out in the open. Ok does a bit more damage but at the end of the day you want to slip in AS and then get the hell out of there in which case any set is appropriate. Personally I would go Spines as it has the ranged ability and that is more useful in a PvP situation especially if your prey survives the initial AS and makes a run for it. Oh and also don't forget Claws has a very good ranged ability as well with Focus.

Paradoxia is a Lvl 34 Ice/Thermal corruptor and if need be I could make her available when I'm not playing Honey. Need to respec her first though as the few occassions Ive used her in PvP I've spent most of my time flat on my face.

I'm a Claws Stalker and I have a happy time of it. Claws has focus the the only other ranged move available other than Impale. Focus is very useful and with Build up or from Hide I can happily knock 50% of the health of a Controller or Defender type and more often than not bring down a runner as well. Quite happy with the damage overrall and due to my lack of stealth I find myself fighting out in the open a lot more than you should with a stalker and it serves me well. As for Ninja Blade, Dark Figment is specced along those lines and he seems to be quite happy with it as well as quite successful. Only gripe he has is the lack of a ranged ability which is quite a drag, I know I rely on mine a lot.

I'm a Claws Stalker and I have a happy time of it. Claws has focus the the only other ranged move available other than Impale. Focus is very useful and with Build up or from Hide I can happily knock 50% of the health of a Controller or Defender type and more often than not bring down a runner as well. Quite happy with the damage overrall and due to my lack of stealth I find myself fighting out in the open a lot more than you should with a stalker and it serves me well. As for Ninka Blade, Dark Figment is specced along those lines and he seems to be quite happy with it as well as quite successfull. Only gripe he has is the lack of a ranged ability which is quite a drag, I know I rely on mine a lot.

Certainly agree with you in regard to Dominators. The situation reminds me of how it was in CoH on the US servers when I started playing in 2004 with few people opting for Controllers as they didnt realise their true strenghs. Of course at that time there was no PvP in the game but it's a similiar concept with most people opting to go for the more direct damage types.

I played about with a Dom in beta and I've just started one again in the last few days. It is a fantastic AT to play, lots of fun and they are very sorely missed in PvP at the moment and will be essential as the higher zone comes in. I woukd certainly recommend that people try out the AT as its a lot of fun and requires a but more thought to play than your average AT.

Impale not the only way to stop them Focus is quite good as well. I usually use it directly after AS if it looks likely that the victim has no Knockdown protection that will but the time (if anymore is required). If they shoot off then its a matter of just getting within focus range and finishing them off. You will be surprised at how many Heroes get thrown by Spines and Claws Stalkers hitting them at range.

However they are the easiest to play for pvp n00bies.

[/ QUOTE ]

Anyone who comes against the opposition on Defiant at the moment thinking that being a stalker is an easy way to PvP with no idea how to play a stalker won't last long. It's true we can get easy kills usually from people standing around not doing anything in a PvP zone, which to be honest most AT's can take advantage of not just stalkers.A new stalker playing against the people we do on Defiant wont last 5 seconds in there.

I think Stalk will agree with me when I say that night by night Stalkers will leave Sirens because they can't get the kills in and its usually only the determined and more skilled of the Stalkers who will remain to fight it out. When CoV first arrived and Stalkers were a new concept then yes it was an easy class to play for new PvPing players but now we have to work a lot harder to get the kills in particularly if you dont have stealth.

Yeah ok you get a lot who will hang around the hospital picking of easy kills during the day but when the heroes build up they are usually gone as you need to know how to play a stalker to get your kills in then.

In the end you can play a stalker and get easy kills which is why it can be an easy class to play in part but dont assume its just for n00bs as when the game is raised like all other AT's a Stalker has to raise their game also.

As a Regen myself its possible to hold a decent fight against a Regen Scrapper depending on build but in most cases it's just a matter of how long until you get beaten. I fought a Regen Scrapper the the day in a 1 v 1 that lasted a good 10 minutes. At the time we had a very similiar build, both not having stamina, both with Reconstruction and Dull Pain. It would rotate between him pummeling me and get the odd crit in, I'd then self heal. I'd get an AS in and knock his health down considerably then he would self heal. In the end the fight came down to burst damage versus constant damage and I lost but it was very close he was in the red when I died and if Id got in one more evicerate maybe I would have won who knows.

I'd go with what Stalk says though, it doesnt really work in practice. As a Regen I can hold out possibly a bit longer in those scenarios but in the end we are relying on burst damage mostly while they are doing more constants with a higher rate of crits.In the end by the time you get your as's in they are likely to have a self heal up and cover the damage while their constant damage will just whittle away at you and unless they screw up it will kill you.

As for SinghMC, Regen or not in open battle I dont last more than 30 seconds against him assuming I have both Dull Pain and Reconstruction available. I tried it last night and spent each attempt face down in the mud.

You can beat a Regen in the way you propose its just the odds are stacked against you to succeed depending on the capabilities of your opponent. Still its fun trying you can get some nice battles out of it even if you are beaten.

[ QUOTE ]
Hi all !

For you, what's the best AT for villains in PVP ?

[/ QUOTE ]

At the mo I'd go for one of the following:

Brute - great fun to play and they can hold their own in there.

Stalkers - Natural PvP class which is fun to play and apart from one shotting lone Heroes is more skillfull to play than a lot of people give credit for, although it is the easiest AT to play in PvP on the villain side. Too many of them at the moment Id urge you to consider this the last option of the 3.

Dominators - A great and fun class to play with some of the power sets being ideal for PvP. Not as independant as the others but if you turn up as a Dom in Sirens Call most people will want to team with you. Sadly too few Doms about as well.

I wouldn't recommend playing a Corruptor in PvP, I like quite a few people have found them weak in PvP. As for MM's they are really only in their own element if you get one into a team that will stay grouped together in which case they come into their own. That doesnt happen that often at the moment die to the large amount of Stalkers roaming about so they dont often get the chance to shine.

[ QUOTE ]
Well at 40-50 every Scrapper and his mother has Focused Accuracy which gives +perception, so if they don't have Stealth+Hide atleast, they're mincemeat.

[/ QUOTE ]

Most people see through hide already in Sirens so most stalkers already have stealth in their build. As for being mincemeat thats not the case I dont have Stealth at the moment which makes things a lot harder but I still hold my own, ok I die a fair bit more than Stalk or Dark Figment do but I get my fair share of kills by changing tactics to accomodate the weakness. At the end of the day doesnt matter if you are seen or not its down to whether you can get the hits or AS in. If you get the same hits in as youv would have done if you are unseen then basically being seen isnt a problem.

Don't see the problem myself it's down to personal choice. Only insps I carry in to Sirens are Break Frees and thats only if there are a lot of Controllers about and once they are gone they are gone. They last 60 seconds so if you get into a situation where someone is popping about 20 damage insps each with about a second to activate each then that gives you a good amount of time to be halfway across the zone where you can wait for them to wear off.

Only situation where the use of them is a bit dubious is in duelling but thats something you need to agree on before a duel. No point arguing after a duel if you havent agreed that Insps can or cannot be used.

I beat a scrapper on Defiant on Monday in a fair fight without AS in a duel situation. This was witnessed by a few Heroes on the server and is not in itself an unusual situation. What can I say some scrappers you can out scrap some you cant I beat that one on Monday but no way Im going to be able to beat a scrapper like Singh in an open fight hes damn near impossible to kill even with AS. I mean I'm claws regen so if my cooldowns are up I can take a bit of a pasting and if they dont have Knockdown protection then Im throwing a focus their way which gives me 1-2 free hits before they are fighting again. Then you've got placate which will buy you a little time and set your next shot up as a crit.

Basically some scrappers I can beat in 1 v 1 without AS but a lot beat the living hell out of me if I even think of trying it.

Great article and true as well.

Hey I'm not whining I'm just pointing out the very real fact that there is a class imbalance at the moment due to the fact that there are few Dominators in the game at the mo and fewer still who participate in PvP. The majority of those that do participate are the two major melee classes Brute and Stalker which does cause problems against a varied and experienced Hero Team. We get the odd Corruptor and MM about but those are relatively few in comparison. I met a very good Dominator last night, who I'm sure if can be convinced would prove to be a real problem to you guys in PvP but for some reason most are just not keen on the idea.

Also true that the villains dont work together as well as the heroes in team based play. Thats partly down to CoV being some peoples first experience with this game, Stalkers dominate the villain effort which is probably the least team orientated of the AT's and the time factor hasn't come about to allow some of the relationships to develop to build dedicated teams. Would be nice to see some strong sg incentives for PvP then it might create a bit more diversity and team orientation.

As for PvP speccing on the Villain side you are not likely to see a lot of it at present as a lot of villains are still levelling. What you need to remember is that a team like that you propose is going to have a fairly easy time of it in PvP for a variety of reasons one of those is not that the players you will face are unskilled.. It will be a while before we will get to see true AT diversity in Sirens and when it appears and when it does Im sure the challenge would be welcomed. No whine in that just fact.

Hey I'm not whining I'm just pointing out the very real fact that there is a class imbalance at the moment due to the fact that there are few Dominators in the game at the mo and fewer still who participate in PvP. The majority of those that do participate are the two major melee classes Brute and Stalker which does cause problems against a varied and experienced Hero Team. We get the odd Corruptor and MM about but those are relatively few in comparison. I met a very good Dominator last night, who I'm sure if can be convinced would prove to be a real problem to you guys in PvP but for some reason most are just not keen on the idea.

Also true that the villains dont work together as well as the heroes in team based play. Thats partly down to CoV being some peoples first experience with this game, Stalkers dominate the villain effort which is probably the least team orientated of the AT's and the time factor hasn't come about to allow some of the relationships to develop to build dedicated teams. Would be nice to see some strong sg incentives for PvP then it might create a bit more diversity and team orientation.

As for PvP speccing on the Villain side you are not likely to see a lot of it at present as a lot of villains are still levelling. What you need to remember is that a team like that is going to have a fairly easy time of it in PvP for a variety of reasons one of those is not that the players you will face are unskilled ot as you put it in your first language l33tm n00bs. It will be a while before we will get to see true AT diversity in Sirens and when it appears and when it does Im sure the challenge would be welcomed. No whine in that just fact.

Lets get this right you are challenging us against a team, including 6 Controllers when you know we will be lucky if a single Dominator even enters the zone and that 99% of the opposing force will be either Brutes or Stalkers. As Gandrel above said good luck in finding anyone whio can be bothered to fight you.

There is nothing skillful about holding a player in a container with hurricane once they have been tp'd into the container its an exploit by which the definition is using terrain in a way not intended by the dev's. There is certainly nothing skillfull in that style of play. Anyhow a few of us sent petitions out on it as we were forced to disconnect to escape and quite frankly none of the dev's I'm sure want to see people bouncing on and off the server due to this.

Got no problem with most controllers in PvP I find them a challenging class to play against. I win some I lose some I got Talin with focus on the rare occassion he stepped out from his bus stop but I see no way as to how that tactic cannot be conceived as an exploit. In fact if anyone complains on Broadcast its usually got something to do with the misuse of tp foe.

Building a rep from tping people into enclosed spaces and using hurricane to keep them thus using a clear terrain exploit does not constitute playing with skill. Anyone can build a controller to do that all you need are a few mates to finish of the victim. It is solely Reputation farming.

Just like to say congratulations to my friend Dark Figment who reached level 40 this evening. Grats Fig.