I found that retsu not slotted at all in pvp is fine with hasten and one recharge in retsu you can use it at least twice and the tanks can never hit me once i activate it.
Also you can't one hit a tank i tried i one hit everyone but when i tried it on a tank it didn't hurt them to much and also im lvl 40 ninja blade/ninjitsu how do i kill the tank after I as them and afterwards while they are running they heal?
If you can one hit everything but tanks you must be doing something right. Me I can 1 hit only a few ATs and probably only a few powerset types in those ATs. The only way I know to take down a tank in a relative short fight is to use about 5 damage insp and get off an AS a long with another big hitter. If you dont have a second big hitter you can try AS + placate + next biggest attack. The placate gives them more time to get away but it will allow your next attack to crit causing more damage than normal.
This is my guide to PvP as a Stalker. I will continue to update it with any new information that I can.
DISCLAIMER
The only stalker I have is a Energy Melee / Ninjitsu (EN/NIN). I've gone up against all the Archetypes but probably not all the combinations of powersets. So while most of this information should be applicable in general terms, any specificity will be along the lines of my particular build.
TOC
General Info
Travel Powers
PowerSets
Zones
Stalking
Tactics
Revenge
My Build
General Info
Stalkers by their powersets are built for PvP. I'll let the developers work out the balancing and for those that have to work hard for kills in PvP zones I can sorta sympathize with your frustration. I agree that in situations where all gamers have limited PvP experience a Stalker is going to wreak havoc. So some will complain that Stalkers are too powerful in PvP and others will claim they hate playing Stalkers because its too boring. I don't want this article to be a pro and con against stalkers but I do want to say this. The field levels out a lot when both sides understand better the nature of PvP and the capabilities and weaknesses of those they wish to slay. I want this article to help stalkers become more skilled and it will also let the 'targets' know what the stalkers are trying to do so they can work out their own defenses and become better at PvP and raise the bar for PvP playing.
Travel Powers
Very important in PvP and the only one I would recommend is Super Jump, but I'll cover them all.
SuperSpeed - I started off with this travel power and the escape and close rates are very nice but the lack of vertical is just brutal. Even if you were to pick-up Teleport Foe or get some knock down for the flyers (breaks stealth, our best advantage [yes placate is possible, but now the world knows youre there ]) I still see this as being the most limiting travel power in terms of PvP (Offensive: 3 | Defensive: 3)
Teleport - This definitely has some pluses. Especially with escaping but I think the process is a little too cumbersome to really be effective in PvP. In general most 'good' victims will be moving around a lot to avoid stalkers, teleport isn't very flexible in terms of adjusting movement to accommodate a non-static target. Other travel powers are much better suited for making the quicker adjustments. However, for escape you wont find anything better than teleport for getting out of sticky situations that is if you haven't run out of endurance. (Offensive: 3 | Defensive: 5)
Fly - This travel power will get you the most surprise kills as you take out static airborne targets but the speed limitations are much too slow to be an all purpose solution to PvP. The speed will kill you in stalking and kill you in escaping. (Offensive: 2 | Defensive 2)
Super Jump - By far the best all purpose PvP travel power there is. Super jump has great movement speed, has good vertical abilities, has great ability to adjust movement and has great escape abilities. It allows you to pop off your "build-up" before you land to mask the tell-tale sound, allows you to joust flyers, allows you to escape quickly. Sure in some zones flyers will always be able to hover at some height out of your reach but they'll come down eventually (Offensive: 5 | Defensive: 4)
PowerSets
I didn't want to get into specific powers but wanted to explain some important powers that you should look for in your set.
First off... POWER (a.k.a. damage)... the shorter the fight the better the odds of the stalker being able to avoid face plants from collateral 'future victims' (i.e. other on lookers taking advantage of an exposed stalker). POWER will also help you take down the elephants (Tankers, Scrappers, and Brutes). For the EM power set - Build Up + Assassin Strike + Energy Transfer + Total Focus will dent even the thickest heads. I max out the Damage enchancements (3SOs) on all my big hitters. POWER is also important if you can't get off an AS (ex. jousting, player-based AoE toggles , etc). See more in the tactics sections for how to compensate for a lack of AS.
Next is DEFENSE... A lot of toons are going to see you coming.. a lot of toons are going to turn on the stalker the minute you start attacking. Though Ive found some satisfaction in taking down a revenge target knowing I was going to pay the ultimate price.. I still like to get-in, get the bounty, and get out. So being able to take some punishment on the way out is very important for a successful stalker. I run all the defensive toggles in my powerset (NIN) and also run Combat Jumping (when SJ is off) and Acrobatics. I max all my defenses (3 SOs). I like all the defense I can get. And yes Retsu is the ultimate.. I know some of the other powersets have a similar power and it has its use but you can't keep it up all the time. I have Stamina and can run all my toggles and super jump without loosing any Endurance. I can also last a good amount of time in a fight with all the toggles on.
Next is HEALING... This may not be a requirement for all powersets but I always look for Powersets (no matter what AT) that have self healing. When I'm fleeing, my self heal has made the escape possible in more cases than not when I draw a lot of attention on the exit. I max the Healing capabilities (3 SOs) on this power.
Last is UTILITY... I won't get a lot of this until they open up 40+ pvp zones because I needed other powers for the 38- pvp / pve zones. But a stalker with Teleport Foe and Caltrops or some sort of sleep or disorient is going to be a nasty little stalker. I think a lot of this will be situational and there are a lot of defenses against these.. but thats why its UTILITY and thats why its the last place to focus on.
Zones
Bloody Bay -- I haven't found much enjoyment in this zone. Due entirely to the lack of population. I rarely see heroes in this zone. When I do, the squishies are still easy and the meat shields are a bit more difficult due to the lack of powers available to you at this level. You may have better success in finding large number of heroes here and in that case you may find it more enjoyable (Fun Level: 1)
Sirens Call -- This is usually the most crowded pvp zone for me. The bounty collection is nice and turning in 6K in bounties to the Arbiter for a +3 SO (yes at 40 you get 43 SOs even though the zone is capped at 30) is a great bonus. Contrary to some stalkers' opinions, I dont mind that there are goggles available to "see stalkers", I enjoy the tactics. Going around "1 shotting" all the squishies without fear of being seen wouldn't be that exciting, well at least not in the long run . The zone is great. Its a small zone and a lot of side activities that keep it fun. An added plus is other stalkers aren't stalking you so you have more time to wait for a good strike against a target and you can plan longer fights if needed.(Fun Level: 3)
WarBurg -- This zone has a decent population and some more challenges with the higher levels and more powers but its dominated heavily by Scrappers and Stalkers.. not always the most diverse selection. The plus is the availability of the stalkers 'super defense' skill that i believe most stalker secondaries have - 'Retsu' is the NIN powersets version. I'll pop this on, jump in the middle of a group of scrappers and see if I can drop 1 or 2 before it wears off. Not always easy thing to do... but always fun. And then you'll hear all the scrappers complain that stalkers only hang out when they have that power on... every time I hear that line or others lines on stalker tactics I think of the exchange between 'Jack Sparrow' and 'Will Turner' in the "Pirates of the Caribbean"... "(Turner) you cheated .... (Jack) <shrug> Pirate!". Another challenge is other Stalkers.. most of my deaths have come at the hands of other stalkers... its fun.. its exciting.. and its challenging.. what more can you ask for. (Fun Level: 2)
Stalking
Some basic things to have in mind as you hunt and attack your victims.
1) Don't be afraid to hang out and watch a group work. Feel free to jump in the middle of a group and not attack. Its amazing how many people give away that they can see you before they have a plan to defeat you. If I jump into a crowd and hang out for a sec and I hear "AIM" fire off, or someone in the group turns directly towards me and closes then I soon learn who can see me and who can't. Then I can apply that knowledge to the tactics to defeat them.
2) Don't commit to long fights unless you know who else is around. I like long fights if I know its going to be a 1v1 for the whole fight. But I don't hang out for more than 3 hits... 5 if i feel risky / aggressive. This is especially true in Warburg... remember in there.. stalkers are stalking you too .
3) Determine ASAP if you need to make a hasty exit. I usually decide by the second hit if I'm staying in the fight till the finish. If you hesitate or loose focus on the objective... thats when you get mobbed. There are numerous times when I'll beat on a meat shield.. .flee and then come back to finish the job. (I'm not always sure why wounded toons don't find aid ASAP. Their loss!)
4) Pick your pause stops carefully. In general I would say move as much as you can, especially in Warburg. If you do rest be vigilant. If you hear an 'Aim' or a 'Build-up' fire up.. .flee.. pop Orange and Purples (cause if you hear a build-up... chances are an AS is incoming regardless of how far away you have moved. Only thing you can hope for at that time is enough added defense or hit points to get you out of the '1 shottable stats'.
5) Last tip.... be patient... your a stalker... not a brute... be cold.. be calculating!
Tactics
THE INITIATOR: This is the basic attack. Some unknowing toon just standing still enjoying the scenery -- Fire off build up, close in, hit AS... if they aren't a squishy queue up your next most powerful shot, get the kill, flee the scene. (they'll soon learn not to stand still) [DOWNSIDE: Bores quickly]
[From here on out we'll assume the target is now well initiated and mobile]
STOP TO ASK QUESTIONS: 8 out of 10 kills will be on a target that is engaged in something else. Learn to be patient for the target to find something they are interested in. [DOWNSIDE: Requires patiences]
SHOW SOME LEG: if someone just wont stop... stop them . Stuns are helpful in this category. stun + placate + build up + AS and you have one racer back in the shop for repairs. [DOWNSIDE: AoE toggles and collatorals can make success harder]
THE STRAW MAN: if you dont have a stun or one that will work, engage the target in conventional warfare... if they fall for that.. build up + placate + AS (notice the build up first, a smart target knows that if he cant hit or see you he needs to flee... this way you can placate and queue up the AS, so even if he flees its going to fire. If you wait to fire up build up after placate a wise target will have time to escape) [DOWNSIDE: AoE toggles, DoTs on you and collatorals can make success harder]
THE CHASE DOWN: if the target survives the AS (and secondary... you always queue a second attack right!) and flees you need to track down quickly and hit hard (this is why JUMP and POWER) are so important. If you have a powerful second attack then you just need to have it queued up before the pursuit and then you just need your characters to come close to eachother, whether thats in mid flight or on a landing. If youre close enough to trigger the fight it wont matter how far away he moves in the next few seconds) [DOWNSIDE: Intersecting takes some skill and luck, if you dont have the power for a one shot kill strike I wouldn't bother pursuing]
THE DEAD WEIGHT: can't seem to get those flyers? Again stuns and anti-fly attacks are important. Jump, have the attack queued, pass through the target, the attack will begin to fire but not execute until you've landed. Watch the target fall from the sky, move in quickly, Build-up + placate + AS usually results in a good kill [DOWNSIDE: takes some speed on your side and slowness on targets side to get everything you need off in time]
RINSE AND REPEAT: this is a lower level tactic. Engage one of those big elephants.... do as much damage as you can in 3 hits. Then flee, some of those thick heads never seem to want to heal themselves. Move back in and finish them off. [DOWNSIDE: very easy to negate the damage with some healing]
THE PLACATER: If theres a DUO running around and one can see you and the other can't dont let that stop you. Fire off build up.. move in on the one that can see you. placate him (remember placate has some good range on it) turn to the blind one and AS and unlease on him. The placate on the scout will give you enough uninterrupted time to get that AS off on the second one and remember to follow up with other attacks to seal the deal. Another good reason to do reseach and know who can see you and who cant. [DOWNSIDE: takes some timing and some luck to have it all fall into place]
ALBINO GATOR: If theres a scrapper (or whatever with preception) that is hunting you down. Let him. Keep in eye on him. while he's closing, fire off a placate. By the time he gets to you and realises he cant hit you, your build-up has fired and AS is in the process and continue beating on him till he realises he should find an easier target. [DOWNSIDE: AoE toggles, range attacks, DoTs on you will negate AS and make the fight that much harder]
THE TANK?: If you have one of those high defense powers in your secondary (Retsu for NIN). Get it. Fire it off, jump into a crowd that is in chaos and focus on one target.... blast the hell out of him. Most of those tanks don't realise that they arent hitting you much before they see the concrete. Again, this is why POWERFUL attacks are important
THE ESCAPE: Once you get a kill, or find your self detoggled, stunned, held, immobilized, your attack fizzled... whatever the reason beat feet and get out of there. Remember the following points. Always have break-frees... let me repeat.. always have break-frees. Use them instantly if youre stuck. always remember to re-enable jump if you were detoggled and get out of there. Remember to apply heals, renable defenses, etc on the downside of the jump. Alot of these actions stop movement which could make for a short jump if you use them on the up swing. Be wise and always get out of every situation in a hurry.
Revenge
Now every stalker has a bad day, and theres always someone around to point those days out. So the following are geared more towards getting some much deserved payback. They involve the use of inspirations but hey im not looking for displays of skill and finese, im looking for payback.
The 2 shotted tank: Is there an elephant that just rubbed you the wrong way and needs to be taken down. Consume 5 damage inspirations and you can 2 shot any toon with build-up + AS + powerful second attack. A lot of tanks, scrappers, brutes travel in packs and long fights just arent going to work for you so make them like the squishies with a few damage insp.
The AoE Toggle: A lot of toons have the AoE that will interrupt AS or they sit on caltrops, whatever. So pop some reds ... 5-7 and move in with your next two highest damage attacks and teach them to still fear stalkers. (A very important reason why POWER is important in a PvP build)
The Trapper: Theres a few ATs out there that like to plant lots of mines and caltrop and teleport foes into their web of destruction... hell sometimes they just wait for you to walk in on your own. Well, they need some lessons in why immobility isnt always the safest bet. Eat about 5 purples and 5 reds and move in with your highest attacks (not AS, AS will probably get interrupted) and teach the trappers a lesson in POWER.
The Stalker's Stalker 1: Stalkers are a PITA. guess whats good for the goose is good for the gander so there are a few tactics for taking out these hotshots. The first is the simple one. Hang out near a crowd. Stalkers like crowds. Once you see one engage a target, jump in and fire off that AS. Baselined stalkers are 1-shottable so as they are fleeing the AS hits and they do the concrete swan dive. You have to be quick since a good stalker wont stay exposed for a long time and you have to be patient but this is usually the most successful way to hunt stalkers.
The Stalker's Stalker 2: What I've found with jump is that sometimes invisible toons will be visible for a split second here and there as your flying through the air. If you see a stalker for a split second or think ones in the area. Pop a few yellow inspirations and they light up like a christmas tree. You still have the problem of closing on them but you'll get the hang and timing of it.
The Stalker's Stalker 3: If a stalker really pissed you off you can play a different version of THE STRAWMAN on them. Fire off that high level defense power and jump in on a group of scrappers or the closest meat shield. That stalker is going to think of you as an easy target. but your target isnt the scrapper its the stalker. The minute that other stalkers AS fires off. Hit build up + placate + and AS his [censored]. In most cases the defense power will keep his AS from landing and your AS from being interrupted. Now you got a little payback on a not so sly stalker!
The STORM ATs: This is the grand marshall of PITAs. The math is simple... Most Stalkers are pure melee, storms (and other knockbacks) keep you out of their range and hence are your biggest nightmares. Outside of waiting for another person to attack them and detoggle that storm I only know of two (and only used one) of the following tactics which are only slightly successful. The one I'm not able to use is Teleport Foe. I've heard you can teleport them to you and get enough time to try and land a detoggler (stun, disorient, etc). The only tactic available to my current build is the SANTA CLAUS and that is to jump up in the air, queue up my stun (total focus) and try and come down right on top of them. If things go in my favor the attack will launch, even if im knocked back. If im really lucky, when it lands the detoggle kicks in and that storm is gone. Then I can rush in build-up + placate + AS and then let them scratch their heads as to what happened. But I'll tell you that that situation doesnt occur that often. I'll wait till 40+ pvp and see if some of my utility attacks can help there.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Build
I've included my build so you can see how I am setup (I cant say the enhancements are 100% since im not looking at my toon when i did this but its at least 95% correct). I wouldn't say this is a pure PvP build, I'm very successful with PvP and PvE. One important note is on stealth. I think stealth is a very important power and I would also recommend getting it no later than 30 so its available for Sirens Call. I achieved the 400 reputation in PvP without many deaths and hardly ever run into problems in groups or solo in PvE
Some thoughts on why I chose EM and NIN. EM was easy. I'm not sure there is a more POWERFUL primary in terms of individual shots. Plus two stuns... even though I only took one are a thinned skinned stalkers best friend. The downside to that is range. I don't have any ranged attacks but the NIN utilities and some good tactics more than make up for that. NIN was a good choice for me... primarily the self-heal is very appealing. And a life saver over and over again. Next is the defense. I get defense on every type of attack. The way I'm slotted when I fire off Retsu I have resistance or defense (forget which) at 100% and when Retsu isnt up my defenses serve my tactics well. And lastly, utility once I start to get into utility at 40+ teleport foe on to caltrop, a 'ranged' disorient, a mass placate can be very useful in allowing me to get to my target. Though I can't validate my theory until they raise the cap for Villians.
Name: ShadowBone
Level: 41
Archetype: Stalker
Primary: Energy Melee
Secondary: Ninjitsu
01 ) --> Energy Punch :: 3 Damage | 2 Accuracy | 1 Recharge Reduction
01 ) --> Hide :: 3 Defense
02 ) --> Bone Smasher :: 3 Damage | 2 Accuracy | 1 Recharge Reduction
04 ) --> Ninja Reflexes :: 3 Defense
06 ) --> Assassin's Strike :: 3 Damage | 3 Accuracy
08 ) --> Build Up :: 3 To Hit Buff | 2 Recharge Reduction
10 ) --> Combat Jumping :: 3 Defense
12 ) --> Placate :: 1 Range Increase
14 ) --> Super Jump :: 2 Jump
16 ) --> Swift :: 1 Run Speed
18 ) --> Health :: 3 Healing
20 ) --> Kuji-In Sha :: 3 Healing
22 ) --> Acrobatics :: 3 Endurance Reduction\
24 ) --> Stamina :: 3 Endurance Modification
26 ) --> Energy Transfer :: 3 Damage
28 ) --> Stealth :: 3 Defense Buff
30 ) --> Danger Sense :: 3 Defense Buff\
32 ) --> Total Focus :: 3 Damage | 2 Accuracy
35 ) --> Kuji-In Rin :: 3 Recharge Reductions | 1 Endurance Reduction [ I sorta goofed in a respec on this slotting but the 3 recharge reductions do allow me to keep this on all the time]
38 ) --> Kuji-In Retsu :: 3 Defense Buff
01 ) --> Sprint :: 1 Run Speed
01 ) --> Brawl :: 1 Damage
01 ) --> Assassination :: Not slottable
02 ) --> Rest :: 1 Recharge Reduction