Person34

Anyone know the name of the stalker set? It's one of the few I haven't seen linked yet (along with VEATs/HEATs).

I would say the primary would depend on what you enjoy playing, because outside of AS every one is a bit different. Do you want single target, AE or a mix of both? Some are single target heavy (energy, MA) others the opposite (elec, maybe DBs). The new Street Justice seems to hit that sweet spot between the two; it has both a cone and a PBAoE plus a T9 that out-damages AS on a combo 3 crit (I hit a lvl 50 freakshow tank with crushing uppercut for over 1800 with proc the other day, but this also had the benefits of a T2 muscular alpha slotted).

For secondaries, they all work IMO. Nin, SR, EA and Ice are all great out of the box because of the ability to placate and followup crit without much worry about interruption from an attack. Ice is unique due to it having a debuff aura, which works pretty well but interrupts placate if it is used defensively ---> but you still get a free crit, so I never worried.

I think even better though are the resist-based secondaries, specifically /elec and /dark. This is because how easy defense is to come by in the game plus the irresistable -tohit applied to critters after an AS. These sets both have heals and both also have resistances to uncommon damage types (psi and NE, although dark has these is spades where elec just has a moderate amount). Elec is 100% immune to recovery debuffs while dark has some killer soft control.

Oh, and shadow meld makes resist armors even more powerful: +30% to all defensive positionals/types? Yes please!

When you consider the role of a stalker, as a "precision damage specialist" or whatever, I don't think it ultimately really matters what build you pick. Of my 9 level 50 stalkers only one has been shelved: MA/regen (who is now just a spirit shark harrassment toon I log on in RV when bored silly). The rest were effective enough to hold my interest for at least a little while. So my best answer? Just pick what's fun to play and bide your time until the devs finally port over SS/FA.

Hey, a guy can dream can't he?

... rules the planet. This is what a T9 armor ability should be like.

Quick activation, no end crash, fast recharge (slotted and with sufficient global haste we are talking about @ 80 seconds before incarnate's are applied), and it does a bit of everything. When fully slotted the combination of +50 hp/sec regen, +55% resist (to all but psi), and 200% recovery makes this a kind of "mobile hibernate" IMO: you activate it and for about 30 seconds you are effectively indestructible. They should have named this the "I Win Button".

Ice all around has been a surprise, but I thought this new T9 was worth mentioning. I'm not sure this set will replace /nin as the top performer, but it has so far been a pleasant ride. I just kinda think it's funny that stalkers got this crazy awesome power and tankers (brutes too when it gets ported) will have to make due with hibernate. I know the reasoning behind it, but honestly this should be the default T9 for -all- ice armors, it's just that good.

Thanks for the quick response Aggelakis!

Street justice's crushing uppercut has a chance to apply a hold if it is set at combo level 3. Does that mean if I slot the a hold-specific proc (such as the purple's chance for smashing damage) will it only fire if the combo level is set at 3 (indicating there is a chance to apply a hold), or could it go off at any time regardless of the combo level?

Reason I'm asking is I'm aware pets can slot procs, but those will only fire if a power that is appropriate to the proc is used. Does the same pertain to player powers?

Thanks in advance guys.

Thanks for the insight DSorrow, this calls for a visit to my friends the Knives of Artemis for further investigation!

Only question remaining is do I make a DM/ice ( <--- thematically this is a great combo and should be an unkillable with the spammable heal in siphon life and added soft control in ToFear) or StJ/ice (with better AoE, Achillies resist debuff proc and the potential for 1400+ damage CU crits)? Dang, gonna have to make both I think...

I have never played an ice tanker so don't know a whole lot about the set. I messed with a permahasten /IA build on the new mids and the stats were impressive to say the least: slotted at 88% icy bastion showed a 82.5 sec recharge and it can cap a stalker's S/L/E/NE resistance (need tough to do this), put F/C/Toxic at @ 53%, hp regen @ 61/sec (if at the 1606 hp cap) and end recovery at 6+/sec. This is in -addition- to having softcapped defenses to S/L/E/NE, energy absorbtion and chilling embrace.

This seems like a completely potent armor set.

But what amazed me the most is under debuff protection it listed recharge and movement at 100% with all toggles up. Is this true? Caltrops/quicksand/glue arrows are a few annoyances I just can't stand, and the complete lack of psi defense in the set wouldn't bother me one bit if its secondary effect, the recharge debuff, became meaningless.

Anyone have ice armor experience that can confirm this?

Could you imagine if the set had a taunt power?

"You wave a slice of delicious bacon at your opponent, grabbing their attention for a moment"

Of course, it would have to be mag 30. And if used on Warwolves they would get a tohit bonus against you...

I think /FA is better on brutes than scrappers, mainly because brutes get a taunt in blazing aura. On a scrapper, you hit burn and the critters flee but on the brute they just hang around and happily melt into nothingness.

It's pretty small, I'd say equal to spin's radius. I've used it to TP into large groups of critters and only only the mobs closest to my character would take damage.

TY for the sword pic Lazarillo. Has me wishing I could somehow jump to T9 just for these pieces!

Wow, amazing costumes guys. The axe/mace, pistols and rifle are nicely done, does anyone have a pic of the celestial sword by chance?

I just got my kat/fire brute to 50 this morning (PLed by my son's claw/fire brute ironically), the combo has some synergy: you can cap vs melee attacks pretty easy using DA, and you have a taunt aura that keeps mobs in that melee sweet spot. Redraw is a little silly, things like the heal and fire's BU will cause you to lose your weapon but I don't really mind it that much. It doesn't do as much AE as claws or SS, but isn't too far off (this is /FA after all).

I only have generic IOs in the build now, not sure which direction I will go with it but if you are wanting a non farm-only toon then picking up darkest night from the soul PP should increase your survivability immensely: 3 slotted with enzymes will place -16.5% tohit and -21% damage on your targets. Use it to pull around corners into your damage aura, then DA + BU + FE and goto town. Add in tough, weave, CJing and manuevers + some IOs and /FA should be robust enough for most things.