Reiraku

I heard everyone who played a /regen to 50 eventually died of cancer. True story.

So, then you saw all the references to the other thread and saw the parity between the two as far as the OP goes, thus able to come to the obvious conclusion that the OP was in fact a spoof and in no way serious, thus not requiring a serious response, like the one you gave, right?

I don't believe you read the rest of the thread. Please do so, then get back to us.

This thread is for posting Guide or FAQ links for Stalkers. Please create your guides in the "Player Guides" forum (since posts in that section do not roll off) and link the thread here. Also, do not post your guide in this thread - only the link to your guide. For non-Stalker guides, check the master list of all Guides in the Guide to Guides.

Failing any clear identifier from the poster, I will go by the original post date vs. Issue releases (I1: 6/30/04, I2: 9/17/04, I3: 1/5/05, I4: 5/5/05, I5: 9/1/05, I6: 10/28/05, I7:6/6/06, I8 :11/28/06) - e.g., if it was posted in March/05, it is an I3 Guide.

Guides appearing here were gleaned from links posted in one of the "Guide to Guides" threads (the Stalker GtG or the GtG threads in the "Player Guides" forum). We cannot sift through the hundreds of individual threads to find a posting, so be sure to 1) place your guide in the "Player Guides" forum, nowhere else and 2) post a link to it in a "Guide to Guides" thread!


STALKER (See Scrapper Guides for some Primary power discussions.)

** GENERAL
The Stalker Guide (v1.1) (Aleksander) [I6]
SDT: A Stalker's Role (Group PvP Guide) (Slyfe) [I6]
The Ultimate Stalker Guide! (Mageman) [I6]
Stalkers Galore: 8 Man Stalker Teams (Strategy) (Govtmorgue) [I6]
Things Every Stalker Should Know (Choff) [I6]


[color=”red”]***PRIMARIES[/color]

** CLAWS
The Velvet Slayer's guid to live long. Claws/regen (Aenix) [I6]

**DARK MELEE
Death and Darkness -- Dark Melee/Ninjitsu (Angry_Citizen)[I11]
Dark Melee / Regeneration Stalker Guide (HaifanK)[I9]
Scrapping with Style - A Guide to the Dark Melee/Ninjitsu PvE Stalker (FreelanceWizard) [I7]
Dark Melee/Dark Armor Stalker Guide for pve (Innocta) [I7]

** ENERGY MELEE
Issue7 - Stalker PvP Guide (EM/Nin/BS) - New Build (Elernet) [I7]
Pink Pom-Poms of Death v.2--The EM/SR Stalker Guide (Shadow_Poison) [I6]
Energy/Energy PvP/PvE Stalker (v.1.0) (Aleksander) [I6]
Energy Melee - A Comprehensive Stalker Guide (Tulzar) [I6]

** MARTIAL ARTS
Dr.Fu's *Girls Only* Guide for MA/REGEN Stalkers (Dr.KungFu)[I9]

** NINJA BLADE
Guide to the Ninja Blade/Regeneration scralker (Sneaky_Beef)[I8]
A Ninja Blade/Ninjitsu Stalker guide to PvP (Serpentosen) [I7]
The Art of Ninja: Ninja Blade/Ninjitsu (Angry_Citizen)[I7]
Rundown of Ninja Blade/Ninjitsu Powers (Uplink_OoT) [I6]


** SPINES
Guide to Making/Playing a Spines/EA Stalker v.2 (TypicalHero)[I7]

**DUAL BLADES
The Stalker's Dual Blades/Willpower Guide (Stormwind_Rider)[I11]

[color=”red”]***SECONDARIES[/color]

**DARK ARMOR
Dark Melee/Dark Armor Stalker Guide for pve (Innocta) [I7]

**ENERGY AURA
Guide to Making/Playing a Spines/EA Stalker v.2 (TypicalHero)[I7]
Energy/Energy PvP/PvE Stalker (v.1.0) (Aleksander) [I6]

**NINJITSU
Scrapping with Style - A Guide to the Dark Melee/Ninjitsu PvE Stalker (FreelanceWizard) [I7]
Issue7 - Stalker PvP Guide (EM/Nin/BS) - New Build (Elernet) [I7]
A Ninja Blade/Ninjitsu Stalker guide to PvP (Serpentosen) [I7]
Rundown of Ninja Blade/Ninjitsu Powers (Uplink_OoT) [I6]
Secondary Power Strategy: Ninjitsu Guide [I6]

**REGENERATION
The Velvet Slayer's guid to live long. Claws/regen (Aenix) [I6]

**SUPER REFLEXES
Amauros' Guide to SR Scrappers (and stalkers) 3.5 [I6]
Pink Pom-Pons of Death v.2--The EM/SR Stalker Guide (Shadow_Poison) [I6]

(last updated by Reiraku 3/01/08)

(Also, not all the issue dates have been verified, but the guides should be accurate in their links)

The solution is clear with /Regen. Just turn IH and DP into toggles to make up for the increased endurance recovery offered by QR.

Sound good?

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Fear Protection? This comes up, what, twice in the PVE game? There's a Tsoo boss that uses fear, that's the only thing I recall encountering.


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There's also a recurring mayhem boss that will use spectral terror as well as the occasional LB Warden that will do the same, still fairly rare.

Trust me, considering Haetron's history on these forums, I seriously doubt he's going to avoid posting something for fear of a negative reaction. He isn't one to soft tell something because someone might be offended by it.

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I see more people that haven't read it as that. Is it really that hard to say "Do you believe /DA is useless?" instead of just assuming that is what he meant? It definitely would have saved a couple of pages worth of pointless semantics.

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The only person I see chasing the semantic argument here is you. You are the one who specifically started it, asking someone to quote where the OP said "useless" in response to Gilfred's use of that word. I just happen to be playing along.

The only people I have seen reply in here in an affirmative way are folks I either don't know from Adam or who their posting history specifically indicates to me that I will not aggree with their conclusions (or how they came to them). On the other hand, the people who disagree with this guide's survival assertions are some of the names on thos forum who I most respect and trust, especially in terms of the viability of powersets in terms of survival. Given that, and given my own play experience which contradicts the conclusions in this guide, and given the strong terms used ("you should never do this") I find this guide of low face value. I think that's worth discussion. I think it's worth efforts to show readers why this guide presents poor advice and backs it up with poor conclusions.

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I did indeed ask for someone to point out where the OP said that /DA was useless, mostly to the effect that false claims are being attributed to him. If anyone wants to disagree with his guide with their own evidence, be it of better or poor quality, fine. Just don't put words in his mouth on an assumed meaning.

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I seriously doubt the OP believes that /DA is useless, but that for all its use, there are other sets that could do a better job.

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Then by your claim the OP has made very unreasonable assertions in his "guide", because a reasonable person would not advise people to "never" play something that was not so much less useful than the alternatives that it wouldn't be considered to be of vanishingly small use.

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By my view of it, I'd say never say never to use something. If it's fun and you like it, go for it. If he wants to write a guide on why one shouldn't use it, groovy. Just take the guide at face value instead of the subtext that might not be there.

I see more people that haven't read it as that. Is it really that hard to say "Do you believe /DA is useless?" instead of just assuming that is what he meant? It definitely would have saved a couple of pages worth of pointless semantics.

I assume that's a QR, since I don't have any particular issues with /DA one way or the other.

That's the thing though, by one definition, there is value to it. Just that the value is not equal to the other sets. The desired effect being that it should be equal, but isn't according to the OP. The other is that there is no value to the set at all.

I seriously doubt the OP believes that /DA is useless, but that for all its use, there are other sets that could do a better job.

If his guide was to instruct people to play only FotM builds, then he would have stated it as such. He doesn't say to stay away from other secondaries that are considered lacking, such as /EA, just that /DA is not an optimal set for a brute. Again, this is also brought up in points that seem to be ignored such as the increased amount of endurance usage and to-hit debuffs effects on the primary survival tool for the set.

I can understand the idea of subtext in written form, but what you're looking for isn't there. Unless, of course, you are using a different definition of useless than myself. In which case, this is more of a failure to communicate.

To use your fire analogy. If said fireman called the fire a "big fire," then the local newspaper prints that he said it was an "unstoppable inferno," the paper would be incorrect. He did not say it was unstoppable, or an inferno. Just that it was a big fire. In your example, you have two different sources saying the same thing, not one source claiming the other source said something they didn't in a different way.

Ineffective- Not producing desired effect. Lacking in force and adequacy. (The effects are there, just not in the desired amounts)

Useless- of no use; not serving the purpose or any purpose; unavailing or futile. (There is no effect. No difference is made by the subject)

See the difference between the two now?

Perhaps, but once again you are taking an assumption on his meaning based on "reading between the lines." If you wish to find out if he thought the set as useless, then ask him for clarification on whether or not he does feel the set useless. If he answers positively to that, then you can make such a claim. Otherwise, you're reading into a conclusion that is not presented.

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I see the OP saying that playing it is a bad idea, that it is overall weak and ineffective, and that other than concept or difficulty, one should not play /DA, but at no point does he say that it is useless. There IS a difference. Even /EA is weak and ultimately ineffective, but by no means useless.

So yes, please, try harder.

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IMHO the OP is like some people that do not want to say what they really feel because they know what would happen if they did. Just like people would not say what the radio announcer did about a girls basketball team that got him in trouble. Instead they beat around the bush and hint at it. That is what the OP is doing. He is hinting at DA is useless, because he know that if he says it is useless he would get all kinds of nasty pm's and responses.

The title of the thread alone along with the body of the post is basically saying he is trying to prevent players from ever using DA for brutes. He is the type that may even try to do the same while he is in the game. If players never use a set then you have to ask the question why. The logical conclusion would be either he is trying to get everyone to play the FoTM's of the month, the min/max builds or he is saying to stay away from DA because it is useless without really saying it. The word useless does not have to be in his post in order for him to say it.

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That is taking assumptions on what he is saying. So, if you wish to attribute him to saying that /DA is useless, please do so when he actually does and not when you feel they do. Otherwise, are we to believe that Arcanaville thinks /SR is useless because it has a lower immortality line according to her comparison?

I see the OP saying that playing it is a bad idea, that it is overall weak and ineffective, and that other than concept or difficulty, one should not play /DA, but at no point does he say that it is useless. There IS a difference. Even /EA is weak and ultimately ineffective, but by no means useless.

So yes, please, try harder.

Weaker does not mean useless. Try harder.

Actually, you'd have to include DM in with said stalker primaries as well as EM. And if one looks at the threads inquiring as such, yes that is exactly what people are saying in regards to stalkers.

All that aside, at what point does the OP say that one should not take /DA as a secondary as it is useless? He says that it's generally weaker than other secondaries with a number of holes and will be more difficult, but never does he say it is useless. I think it's more a matter of people taking offense to what they feel he is implying as opposed to what he is saying.

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No, actually Im not invalidating anything haetron. I challenge you to find an instance of a single RSF team that has EVER been formed on these boards made up of any 8 members of a single AT that did not at least use one of the most commonly used temp powers.

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So, by using temps that allow any all-AT LRSF a successful completion, you're going to prove that /DA is superior? Hell, even an All-Stalker team completed the LRSF using nukes.

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Also, I challenge ANY other power-set combination of Brutes to do the same thing. You make it sound so simple, yet I have never heard any thread or topic mentioned about a successful all-brute RSF. If it's so simple a task that any armor set could do it, please provide a link to the post containing proof that it has happened.

[/ QUOTE ] All brute LRSF

This was done on the Liberty server, and is not even the first completed All Brute LRSF.

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I do not think that anyone is trying to say that dark is superior, but in the same breath it is not totally useless either.

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Interestingly enough, the OP didn't state /DA as useless, yet some have no problem attributing that to him.

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No, actually Im not invalidating anything haetron. I challenge you to find an instance of a single RSF team that has EVER been formed on these boards made up of any 8 members of a single AT that did not at least use one of the most commonly used temp powers.


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The closest you'll find will probably be this run of an all corr LRSF. No nukes, and only one shivan in the last mission with 7 players.

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No, actually Im not invalidating anything haetron. I challenge you to find an instance of a single RSF team that has EVER been formed on these boards made up of any 8 members of a single AT that did not at least use one of the most commonly used temp powers.

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So, by using temps that allow any all-AT LRSF a successful completion, you're going to prove that /DA is superior? Hell, even an All-Stalker team completed the LRSF using nukes.

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Also, I challenge ANY other power-set combination of Brutes to do the same thing. You make it sound so simple, yet I have never heard any thread or topic mentioned about a successful all-brute RSF. If it's so simple a task that any armor set could do it, please provide a link to the post containing proof that it has happened.

[/ QUOTE ] All brute LRSF

This was done on the Liberty server, and is not even the first completed All Brute LRSF.

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I thought you couldnt build fury with a /DA brute...well at least thats the impression the OP seems to be under?

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I'd like for you to point out where the OP said one couldn't build fury using /DA. I recall him saying that fury generation wasn't as fast with /DA, but nothing saying it couldn't be done.

As for the video, there's a few things I'd like to note as to what could have helped improve your performance where other sets would not have had as much of an issue.

The biggest problem you faced was the alpha burst of a new mob. This is a given with /DA's lower resists. It also makes it more recognizable how much reliance /DA has on Dark Regeneration. This can make spawn to spawn chains risky if one is not at peak condition. A secondary with higher resists wouldn't have had as much of an issue with this.

I noticed that you were very endurance light on your attack chains, with not as many ET's and TF's as would have been allowed. Your build seems to show a considerable amount of IO use (how much is there versus how much you planned for is unknown) including one of the biggest factors, the KB IO in place of acrobatics. In a standard SO build, or generic IO build, how would your endurance have held up? Undoubtedly, the addition of acrobatics would have put a fairly large dent in your blue bar, and a more endurance intensive attack chain would have caused an increase in kills per minute. It didn't seem like this would have been an option for you, as it would have bottomed you out in relatively short order. The capability to eliminate enemies faster without worrying about your endurance would have increased your survivability greatly.

To date, I have seen this same mission run on a six person spawn by an EM/Elec, EM/EA, and Fire/Stone brute with no outside assistance. If a four-person spawn caused an EM/DA problems, then it does not show favorably on the build itself.

So... it's easier to insult the people you don't agree with rather than actually post constructive data on why you disagree with them? Huh.

Funny, I don't recall anything about him saying one couldn't be successful with /DA, or that doing so would be a fluke, just that for most cases and situations, other secondaries are generally better picks.