Shadestorm

Given what people have managed to build for, and the incarnate system, there should definately be badges for soloing Giant Monsters. Some people can do it already, and that number will only grow as more incarnate slots are unlocked.

For colliding with the edge of any zone map, here's an easter egg reference, and a "me too!" badge for everyone who couldn't quite get that troublesome OTHER War Wall blueside badge:


War Wall Inspector (Hero)

They look safe, but you just had to be sure.


Needs a Bigger Boat (Villain)

There are worse things than sharks in these waters. Things like you.

In light of the above post, here are a few ideas:

AS:
Leave it be. The next suggestion passively buffs it more efficiently for team usage anyway.

Hide:
Distraction bonus - For each team member, it takes the stalker one less second to passively re-hide by neither dealing nor taking damage.

Distraction (effect added to assassination inherant):
You are more lethal when your enemies are otherwise occupied.
For each team member, the stalker gains a 20% damage buff effect every two seconds while remaining hidden, stacking to a maximum of 140% this damage bonus is applied as bonus damage for any strike the stalker executes from a Hidden state. The larger your team, and the longer you remain hidden before striking, the more damage you will do to any enemy you ambush from hide.

Bonus points if stalkers get a bar for this to make it a readable as brute fury!

This means that stalkers that want to scrap will have identical performance to what they do now. However stalkers that choose to be more selective, or are tasked with quickly eliminating problem targets can adopt an extremely efficient hit and run playstyle without suffering a net damage loss on teams. In practical terms, this allows the stalker to do a combination of spikes and sustained DPS throughout the course of a fight as he sees fit by using increased critical chances from straight scrapping, guaranteed bonus damage from letting distraction build, or (more likely) a combination of both.

For AS alone, you're getting at least 80% more damage on a team of four because you're hidden for at least 9 seconds while activating the power. However, on a team you might not necessarily use the long-firing AS because your distraction bonus is letting you do nice alpha damage with your other attacks. Case in point, if my Nin?Nin decides he's going to just golden dragonfly assassinate people, and I can fire it every five seconds, I'm getting a crit plus 20% damage from one stack of distraction every activation, assuming I take no damage and make no other attacks between golden dragonfly strikes. This allows me to choose the pacing of my alphas, and know I have a reliable chance of re-hiding and oneshotting those minions or LTs if I choose to adopt a stalk-and-oneshot approach with an attack I know is beefy enough.

The upside is that no matter what the team is doing, I am pulling my weight. If a target I'm about to hit falls over, I remain hidden while I move to the next target, stacking more distraction. If I hit the target, I contributed damage and made it fall over. This makes me far more useful at killing LTs and bosses swiftly and efficiently, but gives me the option to scrap it out with minions and large mobs if I need to. Stalk and snipe will get me more overall DPS, but I can still do decent damage like I do now if I have to scrap.

For single hard targets like AVs, I'm doing my best of the team by ASing as appropriate and placating, dealing superior single target burst damage as long as I have someone else to keep its attention while I re-hide and build up more distraction. In the mean time I can placate adds off of squishies, or I can figure out a rotation that makes best DPS by timing out my scrapping with my AS recharge, rehide timing, AS casts, and distraction buildup. This means I need to fine tune my timing to get the absolute best DPS rather than repeat an attack chain over and over. So, carefully considered strikes rather than constant spam.

Placate:
For each team member, Placate grants a single use auto-placate fired from that team member to your target. This does not modify aggro, and will not grant your team members a hidden state. This means a placated target is unable to target the entire team.


To explain group placate and aggro, here's an example:

Full team, stalker placates a boss. Boss drops all targets (Because he's been placated by everyone) but retains aggro list. However, the boss is standing in the tanker's Fiery Aura, and is hit. Thus, the Tanker's placate fizzles, and the boss continues to aggro on the tanker as before the placate.

Example 2:

Same boss, but the boss is outside the radius of Fiery Aura, and is hit by a corruptor's AoE. The corruptor's placate drops, so the boss may attack him, however any attacker with aggro higher on the list that hits this boss (and thus drops their placate) will immediate get the Boss again.

Example 3:

Stalker calls "I am placating Boss" and placates the boss outside of AoE range. The boss sits there with its thumb up its *** until the stalker hits it with an AS. Because of the team's placates, it is unable to attempt to attack anyone else until the placates wear off, but is still being affected by the tank's aggro AoE. Thus, the stalker can happily take down the boss with impunity, draw it to the tank, or simply leave it sit there with its thumb up its *** with a second placate. This effectively allows the stalker to placate lock a problem target for the team as long as it is not being attacked in the same manner the stalker would placate lock a target for himself, but this mechanic does not prevent the tank from stacking aggro aura, or simply engaging the target directly to build up aggro while it is unable to attack the rest of the team.

Any fix related to stalkers is all very much dependent on isolating what stalkers do.

I think the issue in comparing us to scrappers, brutes, or hell, even blasters is simply unfair to the stalker AT as a whole.

Lets face it, when you're playing solo, you don't PLAY a stalker like any of those ATs until you're slotted to the hilt with IOs because it's bloody impossible. Even after you've got your massive softcapped, or massive damage, or massive recharge, or whatever build you've dreamed up, that playstyle continues to assert itself.

Sure, I CAN play my Nin/Nin like a scrapper, but he's not a scrapper, and playing him like one impacts both my damage potential and survivability. I CAN play him like a stealthed blapper, but doing so still impacts both of those things. I CAN play him like a brute, but that confers the same problem as a scrapper.

The fact of the matter is that Stalkers are not scrappers, they are not brutes, and they are not blappers.

AoE Considerations are not a stalker consideration, they are a stalker powerset consideration.

Stalkers, no matter the powerset are built fundamentally around hide, AS, and Placate. No matter what sets you're using, you have, and use, all three of these powers.

Hide is not just stealth. The hidden state represents not only being unseen, but a state of calm on the part of the stalker that allows him to carefully plant a strike for best effect.

Placate is not just an aggro control. Placate is an avenue to create that state of calm for a brief moment in both the stalker and the target.

AS is not just damage. AS is the mastry of that state of calm, used to devastating effect on a single target.

What sets stalkers apart in terms of playstyle is the reliance on a state of calm in others and himself to defeat his enemies.

Any changed to stalkers should be approached in terms of "How can we alter stalker signature abilities to make them more useful in group play?" and more importantly "How can the hidden state be made more useful to the stalker's group?"

Stalkers are not defined by damage. Stalkers are defined by successful use of the Hidden state. The problem with this is that as soon as you're in a group, the Hidden state is immediately less useful because if you're getting hidden, you're not dealing consummate damage for the time spent, or you're using placate and placing others in danger for a tradeoff in damage that is of immediately less benefit to both the stalker and his group.

In this manner the current critical bonus for group members is actually antithetical to the stalker's role. It's a nice patch for the inability to fulfill that role. The implementation of the terrorize debuff was a step in the right direction. It rewards the stalker and his team for successfully employing his role. Even if the mobs don't stay terrorized, that tohit debuff is a rather nice tertiaty debuff.

Stalkers need a way to use their tools more efficiently and effectively in groups so that their experience in groups is closer to their experience solo.

I think the EA-stealth upgrade to hide is a good start. I also think (as I have previously stated) that cutting AS interrupt based on team size is a good idea, and possibly even re-hide time. I also laid out my reasoning for allowing placate to be used as a team buff in some way rather than its current use on teams which is more often than not effectively a debuff.

I don't think more damage, even if its a mastry of single target damage, is the answer for stalkers. I think more efficient use of the Hidden state on teams is the answer.

So, today I finally polished off my defeat badges and unlocked Viridian. I enjoyed his arc IMMENSELY. Now one of my favorite arcs. And hey, 13 merits for arc completion ain't too shabby either.

However, to get to the point of the thread:

**********SPOILERS AHEAD!!***********

In the next to the last mission (Invite The Center) you're only required to defeat Burkholder, but you've got the option of either running for the door afterward to exit, death, or staying put and taking down a full gauntlet of council AVs.

Now, after the slick intro movie, and the fact that I simply never play blueside, I was thrilled that I had the opportunity to give Center the finger by sticking to my guns and beating the tar out of everything he threw at me (This was actually pretty difficult. They're auto-target ambushes.) By the time I took out Requiem I was severely pleased with myself.

Then I realized... I didn't really get anything out of it, and if I had died, I wouldn't have had a second chance.

There really should be a badge for that. Not only is it one hell of a task just to unlock Viridian, but the fact that the entire gauntlet is optional and doesn't leave room for failure just screams "shiny accomplishment badge"

So here's the thread. Tell me what else you've done that you SWEAR there should be a badge for!



Left of Center

You showed The Center you're not to be taken lightly, and left his cronies with an expensive lesson in pain.

As much as I hate to say "redside only" if I were personally going to participate, it would have to be.

All you newfangled blue stalkers are welcome to do what you wish, but I won't be personally joining you.

That said, it appears there is little to no interest in such a weekly event anyway. Oh well.

Musculature>Radial Paragon for my nin/nin stalker. Stacks pretty much everything I'd like to do a little better, but not so much I want more slots for it.

Plus, you know, more AS damage. Gotta love that.

Ninjitsu?

It's alright I guess.

System 1: The Archnemesis.

The Archnemesis system aims to put two players from opposing factions in to a long terms relation of mutual disdain. Its design goals are to promote interaction and combat between the two players in a manner that is acceptable to both of them, and create a gameplay environment where awareness of ones Arch is an inescapable fact of life for both players.

Upon reaching level 50, the player will be given the option to opt in to the Arching system via notoriety contacts. Each player selects the level of involvement they prefer from among the following options:

Legal attack conditions - Where can I be attacked by my Arch? City zones, SG base, inside instanced missions, on TFs, etc. It is important to tailor these options so that players can specifically choose their level of involvement.

Death Penalties - None, inspiration drops, salvage drops, recipe drops.

These conditions go both ways. When you've selected the specifics of your arching arrangement, the system will randomly select a player from the opposing faction with matching conditions. This means if you want the potential to beat down your arch for recipes by ambushing him in the middle of a door mission, your arch can do the same to you. This is a mutual system that ensures the players involved get exactly what they signed up for. The system is random to promote player interaction and target diversity, as well as prevent exploitation of additional reward mechanics.

Tracking - Okay, great, you've got an Arch. Where is that arch? With the vastness of the game, how do we find out where to spring our trap, or stop that villain from finishing off a longbow base?

The answer is informants. Informants are an inf sink which allows each player to spend a specific amount of infamy on a per zone basis to keep a "man on the street" with an eye out for your arch. For each zone I want watched, I can pay an informant contact a static amount in inf to notify me via the events channel for 24 hours if my arch is sighted in that zone. If I am normally unable to travel to that zone, I would have the opportunity to do so as as long as my arch has not travelled to another zone. (Example: My Arch was sighted in Atlas park, but I am a villain. I can travel to Atlas Park, and remain there even if he enters door missions or his SG base. However, if he hops a train to go to another zone, I will be ejected.)

Additionally, if my arch is a moral tourist (vigi or rogue) I will be automatically notified by any NPC my arch talks to on my "home turf" (E.G. If my vigilant arch sells salvage at the Cap Au Diable black market, Shady Mia would tell me about it.)

Rewards!

In addition to the optional loot drops, The arching system confers a themed power called victory. Victory is roughly equivalent to an accolade power in terms of effect and recharge. There are multiple versions of victory, and they are all self-only powers. These include a full range buffs (self +damage(all) Self +res(all), etc.) but I can only select one.

However, if I am defeated, I lose access to the victory power. In turn, my arch gains access to his. This means that between the two characters, only one will have access to victory at any given time... the current victor of our last battle.

The Strength of victory is directly proportional to the amount of legal attack methods I have selected. If I have selected zone-only vulnerability, my victory power (and that of my arch) will be far less powerful than that of someone who has elected to be vulnerable at all times.

Quitting -

I can end the arching relationship at any time by visiting an notoriety contact and surrendering. If my Arch surrenders, I gain not only badge progress, but I get to keep a disposable (stacking) temp power version of the victory power. In addition, my Arch's name is added to my personal info under "Arch-nemeses Defeated" to prove that I am clearly the superior crimefighter/agent of discord. My defeated nemesis gets to keep nothing.

Problem: Heroes and Villains have been repeatedly pushed toward mutual understanding, love, peace, and cooperation.

In the beginning, it was Pocket D. A fun little distraction with a weird mission involving valentine's day.

Then came the coop zones and TFs.

Then came the grey moralities.

These are all great things, but with I19 around the corner advertising even more cooperative content, I fear we've lost sight of something.

Heroes and Villains are not friends. They are as diametrically opposed in ideologies as it gets.

Villains and Vigilantes are even less so. Vigilantes don't want Villains Arrested. They want them DEAD.

Heroes and Rogues are about as morally compatible as it gets in the general theme of things. Rogues aren't picky as long as there's a payday involved, and Heroes might logically tolerate them as long as they're not being TOO evil... at the time.

I'm not saying these features are bad. The coop zones are fun, and from a development standpoint a smart way to design content that can reach a broader number of players.

However, I am saying that with all of these optional systems to enable cooperation, why haven't there been similar systems put in place to encourage being enemies?

Yes, PvP zones exist. However they were implemented at one point, found unpopular, and forgotten. Part of it is the repeated changes and updates which turned PvP in to a buyer's game. Part of it is that those systems require the player to stop what they're already doing to go enforce the law or sense of powersonal power upon someone else.

Why does a vigilante go to the rogue isles? Thematically, he's be doing it to punish the wicked. In reality, he's going there to get lovey dovey with the enemy.

Thus, I begin this thread to focus on think tanking optional systems to promote the struggle of good versus evil in the player space.

So, these "Tanker tuesday" Events are fairly popular. The general idea (well, before they could get respectable damagethrough slotting) was that if you take enough Tankers and put them all together, you end up with enough damage to kill things, and end up going MUAHAHA at all of the aggro sucking going on.

I started thinking... Stalkers. In the current metagame, a full team of stalkers could provide a really unique experience once a week.

Call me insane, but I think it may even be possible to tackle some of the rougher content in the game in this fashion.

Sure, a group of tankers can sit there and suck up damage while sleeping through missions, but imagine how you'd approach content with a full team of stalkers.

I want to do this. All I have to know is... Who's coming with me?

Personally, I hope that doesn't happen. Cooperative zones and grey moralities are bad enough. No reason to further homogenize Heroes and Villains in to one big happy family.

I'm already miffed that Vigilantes can walk up to me in Grandville and call me names... and somehow I'm magically incapable of stabbing them for it.