The_Private

[ QUOTE ]
[...] Do yourself a favour and give up for dark/ and roll a EM/* stalker. [...]

[/ QUOTE ]
I can't do that. Well... I can... but I won't.

First of all, I already have three Energy Melee characters; a Tanker, a Brute and a Blaster, so that's quite enough Energy Melee for me.

Secondly, I'm not looking for 'easy mode', which... and let's face it... Energy Melee is (at least when it comes to PvP, from my experiences [of being on the receiving end]), with its disgustingly extreme and overpowered, in comparison, damage output. Sure, being a Stalker is all about blowing off insane amount of damage in as little time as possible... but no... just no.

Third... I postponed rolling a Stalker until Dark Melee hit the live servers, of conceptual reasons (which is another reason I won't cheapen myself down and go Energy Melee like ~75+% of the other Stalkers out there). It's bad enough I had to compromise with the secondary, going Ninjitsu instead of Dark Armor.

[ QUOTE ]
[...] the only thing im worried about is the snipe. (its the thought of being stood there for a few secs becoming easy prey for another stalker in Warburg)

[/ QUOTE ]
How are you going to use that snipe in Warburg again?

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

[...] 5) Teleport foe doesn't need line of sight and seems to totally ignore SRs defense. [...]

[/ QUOTE ]
[...] 5) it does and it doesn't [...]

[/ QUOTE ]
Must be a PvP-specific change, because I have no problems TP Foeing from around corners and what not in PvE.

[/ QUOTE ]
You need to be able to see a target first to target them though . That would mean you were in LOS. [...]

[/ QUOTE ]
You don't need to be in line of sight of a foe to target it, though.

[ QUOTE ]
I think that Chiefette mentioned that when she first started the game, she was new to defence/resistance and jumped around like crazy.

I think we all did.

[/ QUOTE ]
...and still do .

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

[...] 5) Teleport foe doesn't need line of sight and seems to totally ignore SRs defense. [...]

[/ QUOTE ]
[...] 5) it does and it doesn't [...]

[/ QUOTE ]
Must be a PvP-specific change, because I have no problems TP Foeing from around corners and what not in PvE.

Surely you don't take Midnight Grasp for the immobilization... but for the damage (which is slightly higher than Shadow Maul - and significantly higher than Shadow Punch)?

Why don't you post yours?

Then we can gasp in awe over the best build ever?

Yeah, I had originally planned on taking Shadow Maul at L4, but since I kept being interrupted by ranged attacks when waiting for hidden state to kick in, I went for Danger Sense to migate that a bit.

I find building a Stalker to be really hard. Not figuring out what powers to get... but when to get them and which of them to delay for others. There's a damn lot to fit in during the early levels; Assassin's Eclipse, Build Up, Placate - and then you ideally want prerequisites to Stamina and a travel power... and a bit of defense .

According to plans, I'll pick up Shadow Maul shortly after Assassin's Eclipse... and then no real attack until Midnight Grasp (Placate and Build Up early and Touch of Fear just before Midnight Grasp).

How is this going to work... (Brawl/[Tranq Dart/])Smite/Assassin's Eclipse/Shadow Maul for... a lot of levels...?

[ QUOTE ]
---------------------------------------------
Name: GenericVillain29482
Level: 40
Archetype: Stalker
Primary: Dark Melee
Secondary: Ninjitsu
---------------------------------------------
01 : Smite : Acc(1), Acc(3), Dmg(3), Dmg(5), Dmg(27)
01 : Hide : DefBuf(1)
02 : Ninja Reflexes : DefBuf(2), DefBuf(25), DefBuf(34)
04 : Danger Sense : EndRdx(4), DefBuf(5), DefBuf(25), DefBuf(34)
06 : Assassin's Eclipse : Acc(6), Acc(7), Dmg(7), Dmg(9), Dmg(19)
08 : Shadow Maul : Acc(8), Acc(9), Dmg(15), Dmg(17), Dmg(19)
10 : Hurdle : Jump(10), Jump(11)
12 : Placate : Rechg(12), Rechg(13), Rechg(13)
14 : Build Up : Rechg(14), Rechg(15), Rechg(23)
16 : Kuji-In Rin : Rechg(16), Rechg(17), Rechg(29)
18 : Health : Heal(18)
20 : Stamina : EndMod(20), EndMod(21), EndMod(21)
22 : Kuji-In Sha : Rechg(22), Rechg(23), Rechg(27), Heal(29), Heal(31), Heal(31)
24 : Combat Jumping : Jump(24)
26 : Super Jump : Jump(26)
28 : Acrobatics : EndRdx(28)
30 : Touch of Fear : Acc(30), Acc(31), TH_DeBuf(37), TH_DeBuf(37), TH_DeBuf(40)
32 : Midnight Grasp : Acc(32), Acc(33), Dmg(33), Dmg(33), Dmg(34)
35 : Blinding Powder : Acc(35), Acc(36), Rechg(36), Rechg(36), Rechg(37)
38 : Kuji-In Retsu : Rechg(38), Rechg(39), Rechg(39), DefBuf(39), DefBuf(40), DefBuf(40)
---------------------------------------------
01 : Sprint : Jump(1), Jump(11)
01 : Brawl : Acc(1)
01 : Assassination : Empty(1)
02 : Rest : Rechg(2)
---------------------------------------------

[/ QUOTE ]

So in the beginning it's basically just a matter of "sucking it up" and taking the time necessary?

I'm going to have to see if I can't suppress that darn scrapping instinct then and stay on track, not picking up "lesser attacks" along the way ... and try out the newspaper tactic .

...is possibly not so great an idea.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf...Number=5802054

Get the patience to play a Stalker, that is?

Granted my newly rolled lowbie Stalker is only L4 so far, but it has also been insanely boring and very slow levelling so far - waiting and waiting for hidden state to kick in again and again (usually only to have the waiting time being a waste of time as the foe(s) hit you just at the wrong moment). Waiting for Smite to recharge isn't a rollercoaster ride of fun either, and Brawl+Taser Dart doesn't pump out too much damage either - but it seems counterproductive to have taken eg. Shadow Punch at L4 at that'd result in less hidden time due to attacking.

[ QUOTE ]
IIRC AS gives slightly more damage than haymaker, although it's been a while since I played my SS brute.

[/ QUOTE ]
Air Superiority does the same damage as Punch (BI 2.7778) [more than Boxing and Kick, same as Jump Kick, and less than Flurry ].

Haymaker and Hurl both do BI 4.5556 damage.

[ QUOTE ]
do i even need to say im going to be there.... :P also i came up with this... Detention Shield will still work... so if people with that can run it on perma he cant even attack

[/ QUOTE ]
That seems rather counter-productive as captured foes can't be attacked either.

Heh, the whole "defeat the henchment, then go for the Mastermind himself" tactic works fine in theory, but it's a whole different matter in praxis, with the Mastermind having other means of migating damage than just the Bodyguard function.

I do have Follow Up (of course!) on my Claws Scrapper to buff my damage output, but it was of very little use in my case... Necro/Dark MM with Bodyguard enabled: I successfully attack the Mastermind or any of his pets and my accuracy is instantly shot to hell due to all the accuracy debuffs in their attacks... and if some significant damage is actually dealt to the Mastermind (by miracle) or the henchmen, the Mastermind can casually fire off Twilight Grasp and negate any of the work done towards downing him.

Eventually I just jumped back to the hero base and logged off as there was very little else to do villain-wise (the other villains in the zone were Stalkers, and I can't very well fight what I can't see).

I'm probably just going to target Corruptors more now (not that I can easily take them out, since they all seem to have either Super Speed or Fly), as Dominators very easily hold me through Integration, I can't see Stalkers and Brutes I might take down following an extended fight with a lot of lucky Criticals (but with Stalkers around, what are the odds of being able to fight it out).

In the time it takes my Claws Scrapper to defeat anything (especially if the MM is a /Dark), the MM has plenty of time to resummon if I actually manage to defeat one henchmen .

Hah yeah... earlier today in Siren's I toyed around with (or got toyed around with, really) a Mastermind running probably all of his henchmen in Bodyguard mode, and my Claws Scrapper was pretty much useless.

I should probably have gotten a number of high criticals very quickly after eachother to have taken him down - or overdosed on Rages . Was great fun to see all the orange numbers, though !

So that's one more AT not to spend time trying to take down on my own... that leaves me with Corruptors (and to a much lesser degree, Dominators) .

Hmm... might just do away with a travel power. You get temporary travel powers from Mayhem Missions, right?

Thanks for the constructive feedback - much appreciated .

I'll try to see if I can shoehorn Neurotoxic Breath in somewhere, possibly in place of the M30 Grenade, if it really is that bad. I still want to keep both Burst and Slug as I do want to be able to contribute actively to a fight and not just "defensively" (/Poison). That and I quite like the sound of Burst .

For that reason I'll also want to be keeping Stamina, as /Poison alone (with pretty much only Alkaloid at this time) seems to be rather endurance intensive over time.

ToHit Debuffs in Weaken... yeah, I didn't find any base values for it, so I didn't know if it was worth enhancing, but as I understand its effects stack - unlike those of Envenom - it all adds up, so I'll probably see if I can fit some in.

The Private (Pvt. Ringkobing) is Inv/SS/Energy .

[ QUOTE ]
[...] I find nothing more frustrating [...], than going to target a villain[...], and spending 5 mins wearing out my tab key. [...]

[/ QUOTE ]
For the very same reason, I'd love to see MMs banished from PvP zones.

After having tried out a Mercs/Traps MM in CoV Beta and shortlived Mercs/Traps and Mercs/FF MMs in late I6, I finally pulled my act together and rolled a Mercs/Poison I fully intend on keeping and levelling.

As I have extremely little experience with MMs, how awful a planned build is this? I have thought about swapping Hurdle/Hasten/Super Speed for Swift/Combat Jumping/Super Jump to mirror the powers of the Private (and Sergeant)... possibly with an Air Superiority in there somewhere, if not post L40, as well.

[ QUOTE ]
---------------------------------------------
Name: Gen. Ringkobing
Level: 40
Archetype: Mastermind
Primary: Mercenaries
Secondary: Poison
---------------------------------------------
01 : Burst : Acc(1), Acc(19), Dmg(40), Dmg(40)
01 : Alkaloid : EndRdx(1), Heal(3), Heal(9), Heal(9)
02 : Soldiers : Acc(2), Acc(3), Dmg(5), Dmg(5), Dmg(7)
04 : Envenom : Acc(4), Acc(11), EndRdx(11), Rechg(19)
06 : Equip Mercenary : EndRdx(6), EndRdx(7)
08 : Hurdle : Jump(8)
10 : Hasten : Rechg(10), Rechg(25), Rechg(25)
12 : Spec Ops : Acc(12), Acc(13), Dmg(13), Dmg(15), Dmg(15)
14 : Super Speed : Run(14), Run(17)
16 : Weaken : Acc(16), Acc(17), EndRdx(23), Rechg(23)
18 : Health : Heal(18)
20 : Stamina : EndMod(20), EndMod(21), EndMod(21)
22 : Slug : Acc(22), Acc(29), Dmg(37), Dmg(37), Dmg(37)
24 : Antidote : EndRdx(24)
26 : Commando : Acc(26), Acc(27), Dmg(27), Dmg(29), Dmg(31)
28 : Serum : Rechg(28), Rechg(36), Rechg(36)
30 : Paralytic Poison : Acc(30), Acc(31), Hold(31), Hold(33), Rechg(34), Rechg(34)
32 : Tactical Upgrade : Rechg(32), Rechg(33), EndRdx(33), EndRdx(34)
35 : M30 Grenade : Acc(35), Acc(36), Dmg(39), Dmg(40)
38 : Noxious Gas : Rechg(38), Rechg(39), Rechg(39)
---------------------------------------------
01 : Sprint : Run(1)
01 : Brawl : Acc(1)
01 : Supremacy : Empty(1)
02 : Rest : Rechg(2)
---------------------------------------------


[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Wouldn't the best travel power for an /elec Brute be Super Speed - I mean with the knockback protection being present in a 'must be on ground' power?

[/ QUOTE ]

No

[/ QUOTE ]
Thank you for your elaborate answer. I definitely see now why it wouldn't be. It's perfectly logical. Thanks again .

Straight (or well... relayed) from the horse's mouth; http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf...umber=5758066.

Wouldn't the best travel power for an /elec Brute be Super Speed - I mean with the knockback protection being present in a 'must be on ground' power?