Official Thread for Stalkers: Dark Armor

I can barely hear CoF.. the only time it makes noise (as far as I can remember) is when I turn it on and it makes that wailing sound (which should continue while it's on but it doesn't.)

And not to thread jack but, how have you guys slotted CoF for it to be effective? It barely works for me so I must be doing something wrong. I understand barely anyone has res against Fear, so that should make even Scrappers and Tanks vulnerable to CoF, right?

you turn CoF on for 1 enemy, then turn it off? why not just use touch of fear and save a power choice

[ QUOTE ]
After six plus hours on test last night and multiple tests solo these are my personal findings about cloak of fear, hang on it seems to be complex. 1) Cloak of fear in itslef will not break hide

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats not what I found at all, and not consisten with other stalker secondary powers that have mez effects (blinding powder, energy drain). I think what probably happened is you didnt slot it for accuracy...it has a -20% if I remember correctly. I had it two-slotted with acc SOs and standing next to a boss hidden, I couldnt get it to hit. Then all of a sudden I was unhidden and the boss attacked me...the fear finally connected.

Overall I was pretty unimpressed. The resist shields werent mitigating much damage with the bosses three-hitting me. The two mez auras seem like they need to be independent of each other, and with the lousy accuracy and end drain, youll have to make some choices. The rez I tried to work but apparently I wasnt close enough to hit with it, and yet the power icon started recharging...when you click it, it goes off even if you arent near enough to use it.

I think /da would play out better in PvE against lts and minions, but my bosses battles went pretty bad. Also, I think the resists work better on toons with higher hps like scraps and brutes, then us weak stalkers. The rez isnt bad...for a rez, but I would much rather have overload or elude. The psi resist is nice, but Im not sure I would slot it outside of dealing with arachnos or carnies.

Trying out powers I didnt take acro, but we know thats pretty close to mandatory. Another strike in my book.

Like Ive been reading for awhile, this is much more of a PvE set then a PvP set. With the resists not strong enough to protect me, I would dread the end of missions.

EDIT: I did more testing with cloak of fear. You'll see a miss above someone's head when it misses. I also managed to hold a couple bosses with it, but you have to stand there and let it tick. This is powerful, but being that CoF also breaks hide, you would have to toggle it on after AS and toggle it off after placate.

Probably because ToF isn't a power in the spines primary.

[ QUOTE ]
i honestly think DA will be the worst like it is for scrappers. All it was put there for was to make ninjitsu stalkers realize that they dont have it so bad afterall

[/ QUOTE ]

werd

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
No other sound in game is as peircing and as loud for as long as the dark armor toggle stack.

[/ QUOTE ]

Interesting. What kind of sound setup do you have? When I made a Dark/Dark Stalker this morning, with all the armor toggles enabled I could barely hear it. The attacks were louder for me, and I know my Fire Tanker's auras are louder.

The only toggle I admittedly didn't activate was Cloak of Fear. Is it that much louder than the rest?

[/ QUOTE ]

Err. I stated what kind of set up I had, but you clipped it:

[ QUOTE ]
I use teamspeak, my system volume is such that using headphones, I can hear incoming speach at normal talking levels. I've set CoX to 10% sound, 0% music. This lets me hear all the game sounds, but not to the point I can not hear someone speaking to me. No other sound in game is as peircing and as loud for as long as the dark armor toggle stack.

[/ QUOTE ]
A few bolded points for emphasis. The only things that I did not mention was that I've disabled 3D sound, and set it to preformance (on a SB Live Audigy Gold, current drivers).

And it is 3 toggles, at least ONE does not act like this on live the 3 powers are:

<ul type="square">[*]Dark Embrace[*]Death Shroud[*]Oppressive Gloom[/list]I can personally verify that Dark Embrace on live does not at this way. This is a NEW BUG and it extends to all three ATs that use the DA set that I could test with the recent RV Event.

Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters

[ QUOTE ]
I can barely hear CoF.. the only time it makes noise (as far as I can remember) is when I turn it on and it makes that wailing sound (which should continue while it's on but it doesn't.)

[/ QUOTE ]

As I mentioned upthread, that is how the sounds for the toggles are supposed to work

[ QUOTE ]
While not the same AT, they are the same powers. Here is a redname saying it is a bug that the sounds are not fading for the Dark Armor set for scrappers nearly 7 months ago:

See here.

And Here.

[/ QUOTE ]
As per Jonyu.
[ QUOTE ]
I've seen a lot of complaints about this so I brought it up before we went live. We changed it so certain toggle effects fade out but it didn't make it into live. Dark Armor shouldn't be so bad anymore once this gets updated. The same goes for Mud Pots.

[/ QUOTE ]
And

[ QUOTE ]
Not really sure what happened but the sounds for Dark Armor still aren't fading away. I'll let Sound know so we can get this fixed right away.

The fade to Mud Pots is in as is the one for Super Speed. I also asked Sound to fade some of the Warshade toggles, namely Orbiting Death, Shadow Cloak and Nebulous Form.

[/ QUOTE ]

Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters

[ QUOTE ]
Err. I stated what kind of set up I had, but you clipped it:

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I had forgotten about the headphones, but I was also curious about the soundcard which I don't recall seeing previously.

[ QUOTE ]
And it is 3 toggles, at least ONE does not act like this on live the 3 powers are:

<ul type="square">[*]Dark Embrace[*]Death Shroud[*]Oppressive Gloom[/list]I can personally verify that Dark Embrace on live does not at this way. This is a NEW BUG and it extends to all three ATs that use the DA set that I could test with the recent RV Event.

[/ QUOTE ]

The reason I was curious is because I created a Dark/Dark Stalker (while the level 40 thing was still on test) and the toggle sounds (while continuous) were barely audible for me. A long way from "piercing" and nowhere near as loud as my Fire Aura tanker. Made the complaint seem a little strange from my end.

However, I believe I'm using a Live! 24 rather than an Audigy. Mayhap it's a good deal louder with the Audigy for whatever reason. Or perhaps teamspeak forces the sound to play on a different channel and that has something to do with the increased volume. Considering that other noises in the game are as loud or louder, it seems like battle would be an unbearable cacaphony if their volumes are similarly amplified.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
i honestly think DA will be the worst like it is for scrappers. All it was put there for was to make ninjitsu stalkers realize that they dont have it so bad afterall

[/ QUOTE ]

werd

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, it will be terrible what...with the 20 percent defense + around 30 percent damage reduction across the board and perception and a 30 second super heal that can unhide stalkers within 20 feet if they get hit. The only thing that it doesn't have going for it is a lack of a tier 9 godmode but as was posted earlier, the revive has a nice and nasty effect. It is very possible to create a very survivable DM/DA stalker that is many times more dangerous than its scrapper counterpart.

All said and done...with shadow dweller, hide, stealth, and combat jumping slotted correctly, you end up with 60 percent of the defense that ninjitsu is capable of getting fully slotted, 50 percent of what SR is capable of getting + the most damage reduction to psionic damage in a toggle that is possible.

Oh...and if you slot correctly, the endurance drain isn't "all that bad" as far as stalkers go. It uses about the same amount of endurance as ninjitsu or ea.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
i honestly think DA will be the worst like it is for scrappers. All it was put there for was to make ninjitsu stalkers realize that they dont have it so bad afterall

[/ QUOTE ]

werd

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, it will be terrible what...with the 20 percent defense + around 30 percent damage reduction across the board and perception and a 30 second super heal that can unhide stalkers within 20 feet if they get hit. The only thing that it doesn't have going for it is a lack of a tier 9 godmode but as was posted earlier, the revive has a nice and nasty effect. It is very possible to create a very survivable DM/DA stalker that is many times more dangerous than its scrapper counterpart.

All said and done...with shadow dweller, hide, stealth, and combat jumping slotted correctly, you end up with 60 percent of the defense that ninjitsu is capable of getting fully slotted, 50 percent of what SR is capable of getting + the most damage reduction to psionic damage in a toggle that is possible.

Oh...and if you slot correctly, the endurance drain isn't "all that bad" as far as stalkers go. It uses about the same amount of endurance as ninjitsu or ea.

[/ QUOTE ]Right on the money, DA is nowhere near the worst, infact I do not remember it being the worst for Scrappers either. In the RV event, AOEs like quills and spin attacks were missing me while I was hidden after properly slotting shadow dweller and hide and the damage reduction in the shields saved my butt more often than ninjitsu would. With FA in play, that may change considering hide+SD's defense then again I will be playing more often in SC (if that zone doesn't die in I7).

The one thing I considered during the RV event was not to worry about concealment since even without FA, even /regen Scrappers were seeing me mostly because they were running tactics from leadership (does it scale with level?) so I thought like a Scrapper instead of a sneaky Stalker and I did fine with +50 rep in less than 2 hours after character creation on EM/dark and only used AS twice. My spine/dark took more effort but had fly for safety.

I am sure that SC will survive as will Warburg. Free SO's through the fun of PVP is attractive and in Warburg, it takes so long to get from 1-50 that I am sure it will maintain a sizeable population. Warburg may have a stronger villain population if RV proves to be as terrible towards villains as everyone is making it seem.

To stay on the subject...do you have any idea how much perception shadow dweller permits at higher levels?

I think it would be the same as cloak of darkness which is +300.

[ QUOTE ]
The reason I was curious is because I created a Dark/Dark Stalker (while the level 40 thing was still on test) and the toggle sounds (while continuous) were barely audible for me. A long way from "piercing" and nowhere near as loud as my Fire Aura tanker. Made the complaint seem a little strange from my end.

However, I believe I'm using a Live! 24 rather than an Audigy. Mayhap it's a good deal louder with the Audigy for whatever reason. Or perhaps teamspeak forces the sound to play on a different channel and that has something to do with the increased volume. Considering that other noises in the game are as loud or louder, it seems like battle would be an unbearable cacaphony if their volumes are similarly amplified.

[/ QUOTE ]
Hmm, it might just be that my ears might more sensitive to noise in that range, I just dont know.

I do know that I would aggree with someone upthread that there was a slider for all looping sound effects so that I could just set it to "play once, then quit", while those that want to keep the sounds going could do so. This would be the ideal solution.

Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters

Hey guys, question about Soul Transfer:

a) How big is it's reach in circumference? or to put it simply, it's range?

b) How long does it take to start or 'grab a soul' once you activate it? (one scenario for example would be: you're dead, and an enemy is going to [quickly] fly by you, how would you precognatively time it's activation?)

[ QUOTE ]
Hey guys, question about Soul Transfer:

a) How big is it's reach in circumference? or to put it simply, it's range?

b) How long does it take to start or 'grab a soul' once you activate it? (one scenario for example would be: you're dead, and an enemy is going to [quickly] fly by you, how would you precognatively time it's activation?)

[/ QUOTE ]


Range = 25 feet.
Recharge = 300 seconds
Duration = I would assume the duration of the debt free period which is 20 seconds but I am not sure.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Hey guys, question about Soul Transfer:

a) How big is it's reach in circumference? or to put it simply, it's range?

b) How long does it take to start or 'grab a soul' once you activate it? (one scenario for example would be: you're dead, and an enemy is going to [quickly] fly by you, how would you precognatively time it's activation?)

[/ QUOTE ]


Range = 25 feet.
Recharge = 300 seconds
Duration = I would assume the duration of the debt free period which is 20 seconds but I am not sure.

[/ QUOTE ]
Hm, what about activation? (thanks btw.)

Activation is 1.2 seconds.

As far as I have experienced with this power...similar to rise of the phoenix...even with the best individual status protection, I have been detoggled through disorient and made somewhat useless for a bit afterwards. As this typically happens in a controlled environment like arena, it rarely gets me killed. Happened one time in Warburg and had I not been using elude, I may have died. With the hatred that stalkers have attained, in the RV environment, this power grants a stalker the ability to suicide a hero huddle. Get 2 of these stalkers in a large team or from a couple of teams trying to break a huddle to harikari a hero huddle and you may find a bunch of heroes [censored] over broadcast.

Haha, that's interesting. Thanks

For some reason, when using ST + Fly, people usually can't come after me. Keeps me from getting insta-killed.

Looks like they fixed the dark armor sounds for the 5/31 patch. A quick test just now and at least the beginning armor's sound fx faded. Thank you devs.

Neither the breakage or the fix ever addressed in the patch notes though, funny that.

[ QUOTE ]
Can anyone confirm or deny that Cloak of Fear, and Oppressive Gloom break Hide?

It was my understanding that only when you activate an attack does Stealth/Travel supression come into play (Such as Radiation "Anchor" Debuffs, they used to suppress the entire time, but no longer. Only for the activation).

I suppose OG might break Hide due to the damage taking, but I hope they don't break hide (maybe they just don't effect enemies until after leaving Hide?).

Otherwise, really enjoying the DA set for Stalkers. As much as I want to make a Defense based toon, I just have so much trouble playing them. DM/DA has been really fun for me so far, especially the surprise of Assassin's, but that's a little offtopic I 'spose.

[/ QUOTE ]

According to stealth supression it should. I don't have proof, but I can tell you that any offensive power breaks hide and that includes secondary effects.

Now. Here's why the toggle will always suppress continuously. Targeted AoE maintained debuffs are target local and thus it is considered a drop power or a pet power just as mortars won't suppress when they fire cause they are seperate from you.

However oppression and cloak are considered player local and thus they work by ticking effects every second or so. Whereas the area debuffs are applied to target when they enter and not applied when they exit, they don't tick but force a -res or whatever.

Oppression and cloak don't force a debuff but they tick holds. It's the same thing as a damage aura without damage and only secondary effects.

So the source of effect over time is different between the two sets of powers.

What I would like is that while hidden the Cloak of Fear/Oppressive Gloom can be on, but not do anything to enemies. Once you attack, hide is broken, and the Cloak/Gloom start affecting the enemies. I'd be fine with the fear/disorient ticks preventing you from getting hidden again outside of Placate, but this would lead to a lot less toggling it on and off constantly

What's the fear duration on 'cloak of fear' wihout enchancements?