The Powers of Ninjitsu
Ninjitsu, like Super Reflexes, is a Defense-based defense set. This means that it specializes in increasing your characters Defense, or, to look at it another way, reduces the number of times your character gets hit. The debate about whether Resistance-based or Defense-based sets are better is ancient; in general, Resistance-based sets are more predictable, since youre always taking damage, albeit less of it. Defense-based sets are less predictable, and you do have the unfortunate possibility of suddenly dying due to a run of bad rolls, but you also have the possibility of going through entire fights without ever being hit. Resistance-based sets have to deal with secondary effects from attacks more often, since those are a function of being hit. These are less of an issue with Defense-based sets, as youre being hit less often. Astute readers will note that Im oversimplifying things by not including Regeneration in this analysis. Regeneration is complex, which is why Im not, but in many cases, it acts like a Resistance-based set except you have control over what, exactly, you resist.
Unlike Super Reflexes, Ninjitsu isnt a pure Defense-based set. In return for a lower Defense, it offers some fun and useful utility powers, as well as some neat animations. I will say now that Super Reflexes is likely a better companion for Dark Melee, but Ninjtsu is more fun and more reactive. Compared to Energy Aura, Ninjitsu offers whats called positional defense; to make a long story short, positional defenses are usually superior to damage-typed defenses, most importantly because they protect you against the dreaded Psionic damage type.
Its important to know that Ninjitsu offers no protection against Knockback a very common and very annoying status effect. This can be corrected by taking Acrobatics, a power from the Leaping pool. However, since Ninjitsu is a Defense-based set, youll actually be getting hit by Knockback attacks less than you might think. I would recommend this route, even though I didnt take it. Note well, however, that it essentially requires that you take Super Jump as your travel power.
HIDE (Hide): You have to take this power at level 1. You wouldnt want to skip it, either, because its the key to being a Stalker. When you activate Hide, youre Hidden at least until you attack or take damage, at which point you cease to be Hidden for ten seconds. While youre Hidden, you have a massive bonus to Stealth, which makes you essentially impossible to see except by very Perceptive foes (such as Rikti Drones). You also have a small (5%) Defense bonus against ranged and melee attacks, as well as a huge (37.5%) Defense bonus against area effect attacks. Perhaps most importantly, all of your attacks do critical damage. This is mostly for PvP purposes, though in groups, it can keep you from getting knocked out of Hide by a stray AE. Once youre no longer Hidden (your Hide is suppressed), your Defense bonuses drop to around 1.75%, which is to say, essentially nonexistent. This doesnt mean you want to turn off Hide, though, when it suppresses. For one, the recharge time is quite long; for another, every little bit of Defense helps. I recommend keeping Hide on all the time, except when youve got a captive following you (Hide will prevent them from following) or when youre role-playing.
I slot Hide with one Endurance Reduction. Its Endurance cost isnt particularly high, especially when compared to your attacks and other defenses. If you have the slots to spare, you may want to consider up to three Endurance Reduction Enhancements. Defense Buff Enhancements are probably only useful if you PvP, which means I dont recommend them. The benefit from each one is too small to be useful when the power suppresses.
NINJA REFLEXES (+Def vs. Melee, Resist vs. Defense Debuff): Ninja Reflexes is your first defensive power. It grants you protection against melee attacks, which not only includes the usual fists, knives, and swords, but also some AE melee attacks like floor sweeps by Council Archons. Footstomps are not, however, considered AE melee attacks so beware. You also receive protection against Defense Debuffs, which reduces the extent to which youll get hit more after being shot or sliced. Those are the two most common sources of Defense effects. Before Resistance to Defense Debuffs was added to Defense sets, such attacks in large groups would quickly reduce your Defenses to nothing, which tended to produce a slippery slope effect; the initial attacks would hurt you, but theyd also make you easier to hurt, too.
This power opens up at level 2, but I took it at level 4, on the grounds that, while one needs defenses, one needs attacks more. Without this power, you will be torn to shreds by most foes and will be forced to play a game of hit-and-run, which isnt what this guide is teaching you how to do. Therefore, take this power early and slot it well when you can. I like 1 Endurance Reduction and 3 Defense Buffs. You may also, when you get higher level and have the slots to spare, try 2 or 3 Endurance Reduction. The effect on this toggle alone isnt substantial, but when youre running multiple toggles, it can be.
DANGER SENSE (+Def vs. Ranged and Area Effect, Resist vs. Defense Debuff): This power is just like Ninja Reflexes, except it works on Ranged and Area Effect attacks. This includes shotguns, flamethrowers, and other cone attacks, as well as the obvious rifles, guns, and grenades. Interestingly, it also affects attacks like footstomps, which are melee, but considered area effect.
You can take this power at level 4. I put it off until level 22, which in retrospect probably wasnt very wise. If I had to do it again, Id take it at 10 instead, and push Stamina back to 22. Ranged and area effect attacks are particularly prevalent in City of Villains, unlike in City of Heroes. The mobs are also smart enough to not enter melee for no particularly good reason, unlike those in City of Heroes. That means that youll be taking a lot more ranged damage for which youll have difficulty compensating, even if you focus on the ranged attackers (Gunners) first. As with Ninja Reflexes, I recommend 1 Endurance Reduction and 3 Defense Buff, and you can add more Endurance Reduction to taste when you have more slots available.
CALTROPS (Location AE, Minor DoT Lethal, Movement Slow): All true ninja use caltrops. Ask any Tsoo or Knife of Artemis and theyll agree that caltrops are excellent for annoying your opponents and interrupting their actions. Caltrops do essentially no damage; the text says Minor, but really, it means to say Minimal. However, they do this damage very quickly, and slow the movement of those inside the area of effect to keep them in it. Your caltrops will therefore prove very detrimental to SWAT Equalizers, Raider Engineers, Operations Engineers, and any other mob thats a fan of summoning annoying pets. You can also use caltrops to keep foes at bay, though unlike most such effects, the caltrops wont make your opponents run in terror. Instead, theyll happily run right through the spiky devils to get to you.
Im not a big fan of caltrops, which become available at level 10, though theyre great for role-playing purposes and could be useful in the right hands, or to protect squishier members of your team. If I were to take this power, Id take it very late. Id also slot them for Recharge and Slow to get the most use out of them.
KUJI-IN RIN (Resist vs. Disorient, Hold, Sleep, Immobilize, Confuse, Fear, Psionics): The meditation of Kuji-In Rin shields you against a wide variety of status effects, some of which are common and very devastating (Disorient, Hold, Sleep, and Immobilize), and some of which are rather uncommon in the PvE game and not too problematic for a melee character (Confuse and Fear). This power opens up at level 16, and you want to take it then. At that point, youve no doubt become painfully familiar with the Disorients of every mook (and Mook) with a stick, and the Holds and Sleeps of the Lost. This power also offers a low (about 15%) resistance to Psionic attacks, which despite being unable to be improved, can be quite handy. The status shielding effect of this power increases with level. Because of PvP concerns, this isnt a perfect protection; if youre hit by several status-causing attacks, they may take hold. Unlike toggle status shields, though, Kuji-In Rin will continue to work even after youre knocked out. This lets you get back into the battle faster, since you only have to worry about one effect fading, instead of all of them.
With two Single Origin Recharge Enhancements of your level or higher, this power is on permanently. Hold down Control, click it, and forget about it. If the Enhancements are lower than your level, or if youve been hit with an Attack Speed Slow at some point, the power will cease to be on permanently. Three Recharge Enhancements will protect you against that, however. I recommend two to start, then three if you have a slot to spare.
KUJI-IN SHA (Heal, Resist vs. Toxic): This power is a portable, regenerating Respite. It heals you for around 25% of your hit points, while simultaneously granting you a weak resistance against Toxic damage a relatively uncommon damage type sported mostly by Vahzilok, Devoured, and Meat Doctors, to which your Ranged defense already protects you (you did take Danger Sense, right? Good). This power recharges slowly enough that youll want to have as many Recharge Reduction Enhancements in it as you can afford, and its utility means that youll want to arrange as many Heal Enhancements as you can. My intended slotting, after I take this power at 28, is 3 Recharge and 3 Heal.
SMOKE FLASH (Personal AE, Placate): Holy geez! I can see you thinking. With this power, I could lay out total pwnage when everyones Placated! Unfortunately, the developers anticipated such evil, and so Smoke Flashs Placate doesnt put you into pseudo-Hide like Placate itself does. More importantly, Smoke Flash is considered an area effect attack, so it has to make a successful to-hit roll against its targets to affect them. It also suffers an accuracy penalty (around 20%) like other area effect control powers, which means itll miss more than you like, especially against higher level targets. A secondary issue is that Smoke Flash has a cap on the number of targets it can affect.
Even with all of those disadvantages, though, and a glacial recharge, Smoke Flash (available at 28) has its uses. When youre solo, if a fight goes sour, you can drop the Smoke Flash to buy yourself time to escape. In groups, you can use Smoke Flash to drop unwanted aggro that the Brutes and Masterminds havent soaked up. When youre scrapping, this can be a problem if you cause too much trouble for your foes. Shedding large amounts of aggro can be very important in groups so that you dont get turned to paste, or alternatively drive your local friendly Corruptor or Mastermind insane. With these uses, I plan on taking this power at level 30, or possibly 41 (in favor of Touch of Fear).
BLINDING POWDER (Cone, -Accuracy, -Perception, Sleep, Confuse): Available at level 35, Blinding Powder is a curious blend of Smoke and crowd control. Those opponents caught in the cone effect of this power will suffer what appears to be a Magnitude 3 Sleep and Confuse effect, as well as taking a healthy hit to their Accuracy and Perception. Im not a very big fan of Confuse effects in general; they tend to leech experience, and that bothers me. On the other hand, Confuse is extremely useful for getting the drop on foes that have vicious alpha strikes Ring Mistresses, with their Mask of Vitiation (-Endurance Recovery, -Defense, and Regeneration, for those not blessed with level 40+ characters) come to mind. Sleep is nice, of course, but only solo; most groups dont have the discipline to not awaken Sleeping targets, and they probably wont listen to a Stalker, of all people, trying to enlighten them on such issues.
The other two elements of this power are its Perception and Accuracy reductions. Weakening a foes Accuracy is always welcome for a Defense-based character, and that alone makes this power handy. Reducing Perception is rarely useful in PvE, especially for a class that already floors the Perception of most characters, but it could be handy in tough pulls or against Rikti. The Confuse and Sleep can always be used as emergency escape buttons, if nothing else, and this power is rife with role-playing possibilities. As a result, I plan on taking it at 35 when it opens up. As a side note regarding slotting, while this power may possess the inherent accuracy bonus of ranged cone attacks (about +20%), I suspect it has no accuracy modifier, or even the area effect control penalty (-20%). Youll probably want to take this into account with your slotting, probably by using 2 Accuracy Enhancements instead of 1.
KUJI-IN RETSU (+Def vs. All, +Movement Speed, +Endurance Recovery, Resist vs. Defense Debuff, Delayed Endurance Drain): High level Scrappers will recognize this power as a replication of Elude. The effects are identical for a time, you receive a massive bonus to your Defense, significant boosts to your Movement Speed and Endurance Recovery, and near immunity to Defense Debuffs. When this power is combined with your toggle defenses, you become nearly invincible.
The downside, however, is that once the power fades, you lose all of your remaining Endurance and cant, save for Inspirations, recover Endurance for a while (under 30 seconds). If Kuji-In Retsu drops during a fight... get the heck out of there. Personally, I use these godmode powers for fighting Bosses and higher only, or if I desperately need Endurance, or if I just want to show off. You technically dont need to slot this power, given how great it is, but its base 10 minute recharge means that it will benefit significantly from 3 Recharge Enhancements, and the high base Defense bonus means that youll definitely see the effect of up to 3 Defense Buff Enhancements. If you can six slot this power thusly, I strongly suggest it, especially if, like me, you enjoy soloing +2 Elite Bosses. Thats an adrenaline rush, I must admit, and will definitely pump up your confidence in your character.
The Power Pools
You have access to up to four power pools, starting at level 6. You can take as many powers as you like out of those pools, but as you can only select powers from up to 4 of them, its important to choose wisely. Initially, you can only select the first or second power from a pool. If you have at least one power from a pool, any time at level 14 or later, you can select the third power. Once you have two or more powers from a pool, at level 20 or later you can select the fourth power.
CONCEALMENT: You have Hide. Hide is perfect concealment from all but the most Perceptive foes. In PvP, this pool is critical; in PvE, its next to useless. Id strongly suggest skipping it unless Rikti Drones really annoy you, in which case Stealth is the only power worth taking. Grant Invisibility can be handy in groups, but others will likely have that power, thus obviating the need for you to take it.
FITNESS: Arguments aside, the general consensus is that the Fitness pool is critical for all characters in the game. The power you absolutely want to take is Stamina, which grants a significant increase to Endurance Recovery. Its important to take this power as close to level 20 as you can arrange, and then slot it with 3 Endurance Recovery Enhancements. Itll totally change the way your character plays. In order to access Stamina, however, you need at least two of the other three powers: Swift (+Movement Speed), Health (+Regeneration), and Hurdle (+Leaping). I generally choose Swift and Health, bringing Health to 3 Heal Enhancements when I have a chance, but the choice is yours.
FLIGHT: Fly is the slowest travel power in the game, and the second most expensive in terms of Endurance. If youve never flown before, though, you should. Flying through the Rogue Isles is an almost magical experience the first time; more pragmatically, Fly lets you travel so far above the ground that nothing will attack you until you reach your destination. The Flight power pool has two other useful offerings besides Fly, though. Hover offers a very weak form of Knockback protection, insofar as it lets you get back in the action faster, and Air Superiority is a power that does almost as much damage as Smite while offering what amounts to a 100% Knockdown secondary effect. Knocking your foes down keeps them from attacking you, of course, and as any Claws Scrapper can tell you, this provides a good defense against damage especially if you can deliver the Knockdowns fast enough that your foe cant get back on his feet at all to strike you.
Air Superiority is a great attack and one worth investing in, especially if you have a tight build and want another attack before 18 that isnt Shadow Punch. I took it on Coral Shade (using my usual attack slotting of 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 1 Endurance, 1 Recharge) and havent looked back. The final power out of Fly, Group Fly, is better suited to characters that group more, and because of some curious aspects of its effects, its usually considered buggy. Id skip it.
LEADERSHIP: The Leadership pool offers group buffs to Accuracy, Defense, and Damage, as well as some minor resistances to uncommon status effects. Tactics also increases your Perception, which is key in PvP yet effectively useless in PvE. Vengeance provides a quite substantial buff to your entire group, but it requires someone to die. The sizes of the buffs from this pool vary based on the Archetype of the user, with offensive archetypes receiving very small buffs indeed. I would suggest skipping it.
LEAPING: Jump Kick is a truly mediocre (and poorly animated, in my opinion) attack power, while Combat Jumping is an inexpensive, yet small, Defense boost and a weak resistance to Immobilization that Kuji-In Rin supersedes. Super Jump is one of the best travel powers in the game, though. Its inexpensive, very fast, and gives you enough aerial distance to avoid most forms of harm by simply jumping from rooftop to rooftop (beware of rooftop groups in Cap au Diable and Nerva Archipelago, though). The gem of the Leaping pool, though, is Acrobatics. It provides a very weak resistance to Hold effects, which is of little interest, but a very strong resistance to Knockback effects the hole in Kuji-In Rins status protection. As I stated before, Defense sets like Ninjitsu dont need to worry as much about Knockback as Resistance sets do, as youre simply not going to be hit by the effects as often, but Knockback from powerful opponents like Bosses can be devastating to you. I highly recommend the Leaping pool and Acrobatics in particular if you can afford the power slots.
MEDICINE: Medicine offers a slew of interruptible healing powers, all of which are readily supplanted by those possessed by Corruptors and Masterminds. In a pinch, however, they can be useful, especially when slotted heavily and paired with Interrupt Time Reduction Enhancements. Stimulant frees your allies from most status effects and provides protection against them for a time; this can save squishies in trouble. Aid Other is a fairly strong Heal that can save people in emergencies, but wont keep up with the punishment that a Boss or higher can deliver. Aid Self is an interruptible self Heal that more or less is easily replaced by Kuji-In Sha. Resuscitate lets you return your allies from the dead, but with very little health and Endurance.
In general, as a Defense-based character that can shed aggro almost at will, youll find youre in a better position to use these powers than others. On the other hand, if you dont group very much, theyll be extremely situational perhaps so much that youll forget about them. I tend to think that melee characters have enough to do without having to worry about healing the rest of the team, so I recommend leaving these powers to the Dominators.
PRESENCE: The Presence pool focuses on two things acquiring aggro and inducing fear as a form of crowd control. The first is something you dont want to do except in extremely rare circumstances, and the second is something you can already do using several tools in both Dark Melee (Touch of Fear) and Ninjitsu (Smoke Flash, Blinding Powder). Given that, this pool is quite useless, I think.
SPEED: Speed has two relatively useless powers, Whirlwind (a Personal AE Knockback with an ugly animation and sound effect) and Flurry (Shadow Mauls animation with low Smashing damage), as well as two quite useful powers, Hasten and Super Speed. Hasten provides a gigantic boost to Recharge, roughly equivalent to two Single Origin Enhancements plus a Dual Origin Enhancement. This lasts for around two minutes before fading and taking a chunk of Endurance with it. Before Enhancement Diversification, this power could be made permanent or nearly so with heavy slotting, but now, its a shadow of its former self. This doesnt mean its not useful, though. When fighting opponents that like to Slow you, such as Council Marksmen and SWAT Equalizers, or in Boss fights, the burst of Recharge of Hasten can be quite handy. The other power, Super Speed, is an inexpensive travel power that gives you incredible running speed, but no increase to your leaping height. The lack of aerial travel ability is balanced for some characters by the powers inherent Stealth bonus, but since Hide already covers you in that regard, the only reason to take Super Speed is if you want Hasten.
TELEPORTATION: Teleportation is the only travel power pool with no attack power in it. Recall Friend is a nice utility power that lets you summon members of your team, including pets, to you from practically anywhere in the zone. Your teammates will love you for this, but most groups usually have at least one person (usually a Mastermind) who has this power. Teleport Foe lets you summon some opponents to you on a successful to-hit check; more powerful opponents cant be affected. A mob struck by this power does broadcast an alert to those in his group, so it cant be used to pull single mobs from a group, either. Generally, this power finds most of its use in PvP. Teleport is the games fastest travel power, but its very expensive and difficult to use properly, even with keybinds. I like it, but it certainly isnt as simple as Fly, Super Speed, or Super Jump. The final power in the set, Group Teleport, is just like Teleport, except it teleports your entire team at once and has a correspondingly higher Endurance cost. Its probably the most useful group travel power, but it could also drive your teammates to kill you.
PATRON POWERS: Your Patron Power Pool is a fifth power pool, after a fashion, from which you can take powers after level 41 and even if youve taken all four of your other power pools. However, these powers are so abysmally bad for a melee character that I would advise not bothering with them unless you have a compelling character reason, or unless you want some neat powers to look cool. The pets will only get you into trouble, as you cant control them, and the ranged damage modifier for Stalkers is quite poor. Scrappers generally dont bother with their epic power pools (with the exception of Body Mastery, which offers two of the most powerful epic powers in the game), and neither should you. On the other hand, you may want to pick a patron just for the extra content they provide. Selecting a patron and unlocking their pool doesnt obligate you to take any powers from it, after all.
One Is the Loneliest Number Solo Strategies
Stalkers, like Scrappers, are biased strongly to soloing. A solo Stalker can pick and choose his fights, and can almost always fight on his own terms. However, this flexibility comes with a cost; youre built primarily for taking on single targets, and especially at low levels, a battle can go bad quickly when you have multiple foes facing you. While thats true of most characters, its especially true for Stalkers, who live in melee where the highest damage numbers are delivered. Without some quick thinking and some tactics, you could find yourself debt-ridden, hospital-bound, and frustrated. In my time scrapping with style, Ive figured out a few strategies that could prove helpful in minimizing the number of face-plants youll take.
A large part of playing a Stalker effectively is managing mob positioning and aggro. I wont say that I know exactly how aggro in this game works, but in my experience with many characters from low to high level, I think this is a reasonable facsimile of how it operates. Mobs exhibit a sort of hourglass perception which is larger for hearing than for seeing. In other words, mobs can hear, so to speak, whats happening to each other over a longer range than they can see, and this perception range is longer in front of them than behind them. Theres also a sphere of perception around a mob, which is usually the size of an average spawns starting size. Spawns can spread out through mob movement, which leads to a tactic Ill explain in a moment. A mobs visual perception and, to a lesser extent, aural perception are blocked by a loss of line of sight. Whenever a mob is attacked, it broadcasts an alert that other mobs can hear; this is why its so hard to pull single mobs off a group in most cases. This alert aggros the other mobs on you. To an extent, the loudness of this alert varies based on your distance to the target, the type of attack used, and your archetype threat modifier. Stalkers, rightfully so, have a very low threat modifier, though this is mitigated by their high damage.
The amount of aggro generated varies. The first target sighted by a mob receives a significant amount of aggro, and attacking always generates more aggro than just being seen. The aggro gained for those in the same spawn as your target is always much higher than that gained for those in nearby spawns that simply saw you.
You can shed aggro by running far away from a mobs line of sight, using Placate, or letting someone else take it by reducing your damage output. The extent to which you need to run or reduce your damage output varies based how Stealthy you are (you dont have to run as far when hidden), how quickly the mob loses line of sight to you, and how much aggro you have.
CORNER TRAPS: Since mobs lose a lot of their Perception against a target out of their line of sight, corners are your friends. One way to split multiple spawns that are very close to each other is to attack (tag or pull) one of the mobs in one of the groups, then run around a corner or any other object that blocks line of sight between you and the mobs. The mobs that are in the group that saw you, but that arent in the group whose member you attacked, will usually give up and return to their spawn point. Sometimes, if you run far enough and hide effectively enough, the other mobs in the spawn whose member you attacked will give up as well. Even if they dont, youre only fighting one group instead of two or more.
THE KENSHIN: Theres a scene in a certain popular anime about a reverse-blade swordsman in Meiji Restoration Japan in which the hero demonstrates a technique of running away from a group of foes, then stopping to fight the one that manages to follow closest. The others are either tired out or give you enough lead time to pick the group off one at a time. You can use a similar technique to split groups. Run up to one of the mobs and tag it, then run as far away as quickly as possible. Youll get shot at, of course, but when you get far enough away, the mobs will stop, pause for a moment, then start to run back to their spawn point. The moment they stop theyve lost aggro for you. Once you see that, you need to quickly move back into range and drop Assassins Eclipse on one of the mobs. If all goes well, the mob you tagged will hang around longer than the others, which will mean most, if not all, of the others will be out of hearing range when you drop their friend.
The timing on this technique is critical, and sometimes it doesnt work because the mobs dont spread out enough. If nothing else, it will at least split two groups into one. Remember that if youre using Assassins Eclipse on the chosen target, you need to be in range and not moving for a brief moment before executing it so that it doesnt get interrupted.
DEFENSIVE PLACATE: By Placating a mob that youre not fighting, you effectively take him out of the fight for 10 seconds, while simultaneously setting yourself up for a critical on the target you are fighting. Get used to using your targeting keys instead of relying on the game to autotarget for you. I personally like binding e to next target and shift+e to previous target. This lets me quickly cycle targets in the middle of a battle, though sometimes I use my mouse and a high camera angle.
Bear in mind that the pseudo-Hide of Placate is broken by any damage. Youll need to practice this technique a bit to get a feeling for when you can Placate in between rounds of attacks so that you can maximize the effects with a critical or, if youre feeling daring and lucky, Assassins Eclipse. Even if your pseudo-Hide is broken, youve still taken a mob out of the fight briefly. I suggest avoiding Placating the mob youre fighting unless its the only mob around, or its a Boss or higher where getting a moment of breathing room can save your life.
GETTING RID OF THE RIFF-RAFF: When I face a set of minions, I first ensure that Im in Hide and that all my defensive toggles are active. I then eliminate one of the mobs the most annoying one with Assassins Eclipse. I dont hit Build Up at this point; I usually save Build Up for large spawns, annoying targets, or if I find the fights going poorly due to misses. My next step is to try to get all the mobs into melee range, since most mobs will prefer melee to ranged if youre in range. Then, I try to line them up in a straight line to hit them with Shadow Maul. The rest of the fight is just an alternation of attacks.
LIEUTENANTS: Most Lieutenants are terminated easily by a single Assassins Eclipse (even without Build Up!), or at least will be severely wounded. Target them first unless theres a compelling reason otherwise, then finish them off with something fast like Smite.
BOSSES AND ELITE BOSSES: These are the hardest mobs youre ever going to fight solo. First, be sure that any nearby groups are eliminated before engaging. The last thing you want is to be chasing one of these say, Aurora Borealis and running face-first into a swarm of angry Longbow. Take advantage of your ability to pick your fights and clean the area first.
Once the area is cleaned, youll have the boss and, usually, one minion left. Shadow Maul will let you pick that mob off if you can get it into melee; otherwise, unless its a damage over time user, you can probably ignore it. Target the boss and, if you have it, activate Build Up. Youll probably want to use at least one Rage and one Luck inspiration to be safe as well, especially if you dont have a knockdown power like Air Superiority, if its an Elite Boss, or if its immune to knockdown (Greater Devoured, for instance). Tag the boss with Assassins Eclipse, then dont take your target off it for a second. You need to maximize your damage output to survive. Keep a close eye on your health bar and be prepared to use Kuji-In Sha or Respites; youll most likely be using Siphon Life every time it comes up to help mitigate the damage. Bosses, especially at higher levels, can do significant damage very quickly, and you may be tasting dirt before you know it if youre not watchful.
You may be tempted to use Placate and follow it up with Smite or some other attack. I suggest not doing this, and instead waiting until Assassins Eclipse comes back up. The moment it does, expend any Inspirations you need, hit Placate, then follow it up with Assassins Eclipse. You want to maximize the amount of damage your Placate gives you, and Assassins Eclipse is the way to do so.
If you have Kuji-In Retsu, most of the prior discussion is academic. You wont be getting hit anyway, so itll be unlikely youll need to use Inspirations and pay careful attention to your health. If, however, you see the icon for this power flashing... you have about 5 seconds to flee before you lose all of your Endurance and likely die. Only if the boss is almost (within one to two hits) dead should you consider continuing the battle at this point.
ARCH-VILLAINS AND GIANT MONSTERS: Dont try to take these on solo. You have neither the damage output nor the hit points to do so. The game isnt kidding when it says these are a match for a full team.
WATCH THOSE AMBUSHES: Some ambushes can be avoided because theyre targeted on your position rather than you. As long as you get away from that location and stay out of its line of sight, you should be able to treat the ambush group as just another regular spawn. Whatever the spot youre standing on when you hear the NPCs (you do have NPC chat turned on, right?) is the ambush location. Move away, watch, and prepare to drop in as the angel of death you are.
Other ambushes are targeted on you. You can recognize these ambushes because, when you move away from the apparent ambush spot and Hide, the mobs will veer off towards you. Most Mayhem Mission ambushes are like this, as are some mission ambushes. Sadly, the NPCs have the advantage here. Youll have to use every tool you have, including Inspirations, to survive these fights; you wont likely be able to get off Assassins Eclipse, especially in Mayhem Missions where you often have multiple ambushes on you at once, and so youll be reliant only on scrapping it out. Lucks and Respites are your friends here, as is defensive Placate. If all else fails, use Smoke Flash or Blinding Powder and run away. The mobs will still follow you, but those powers will delay them enough that you can get somewhere safe, Rest, and regroup. In some cases, these ambushes will kill you. Dont get discouraged; it wasnt your fault.
KNOW WHEN TO HOLD EM...: Because Dark Melee and Ninjitsu have Healing options, and because Defensive sets are notably random, you can never be sure when a fight will turn around in your favor. I try not to run from any fight unless its glaringly apparent that I cant win it. Bad pulls of Bosses are one example.
...AND WHEN TO FOLD EM: Especially at lower levels, youll have to engage in hit-and-fade tactics when the dice are unkind. If your health drops below 20% and you have no heals available, or if youre facing mobs that use status effects (including chain knockback, a favorite of the Sea Witch), get out of there. Placate, Smoke Flash, Touch of Fear, and Blinding Powder are all useful for this. A Kenshin may let you salvage the fight, but usually its best to find a safe corner, Rest, and try again.
Group Strategies
Stalkers arent particularly well-suited to group play. Brutes can deliver higher sustained damage, Masterminds are more survivable, Corruptors provide necessary protections, and Dominators can provide crowd control. However, Stalkers do have a key role, in addition to providing a nice bit of damage they can eliminate problematic targets before they become real problems. A Stalker built for stylish scrapping, like this one, can act as a Boss-killer, much like a Scrapper. The one-hit-kill button of Assassins Eclipse can eliminate annoying mobs like Sorcerers, Illusionists, and Sappers before they can appreciably harm the group.
When youre playing in a group, remember that you cant take the initial alpha strike. Brutes and Masterminds fill that role, so let them. I recommend selecting your assassination target before they engage, then moving in and behind (to avoid any forward area effect attacks). The moment the Brute or Mastermind acquires aggro, fire your Assassins Eclipse. At that point, you can proceed to scrap, preferentially attacking targets that are being Held or Slept (to take advantage of the critical chance) and those that are aggroed on someone else. If a mob is attacking you, but you havent attacked it, bring it by the Brute or the Masterminds pets and let it peel off onto them. This is one of those situations when knowing the other Archetypes is helpful; a pet in Aggressive Attack, for instance, will switch to another target automatically when its current foe is dead. If you arrange the mobs properly, that can be whatever mob is annoying you.
If you catch too much aggro, you can always use Placate defensively, try one of your crowd control powers, or if things truly go bad expend an Inspiration and run for cover. Most groups are used to Stalkers who use their Assassins Strike and then run away, so youll not likely raise eyebrows by doing this.
The Example Build: Coral Shade, 28 Magic Stalker
This is the current build of my Stalker, followed by what powers I propose to take. As I noted earlier, in retrospect, Im not entirely in favor of some of the choices I made, but this is the build as it stands so far. If you want to know what choices Id change on a respec, youll have to read the rest of the guide. However, since Im sure youve done that, youll know what changes to make when you build a Dark Melee/Ninjitsu character for PvE play.
1: Smite (1 Accuracy, 3 Damage)
1: Hide (1 Endurance)
2: Shadow Maul (1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 1 Endurance)
4: Ninja Reflexes (1 Endurance, 3 Defense)
6: Assassins Eclipse (1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 1 Endurance)
8: Air Superiority (1 Accuracy, 3 Damage)
10: Swift (1 Run Speed)
12: Placate (1 Recharge)
14: Fly (1 Flight Speed)
16: Kuji-In Rin (2 Recharge)
18: Health (1 Heal)
20: Stamina (3 Endurance Modification)
22: Danger Sense (1 Endurance, 2 Defense)
24: Siphon Life (1 Accuracy, 2 Damage, 2 Heal)
26: Build Up (1 Recharge)
28: Kuji-In Sha (1 Recharge)
30: Touch of Fear
32: Midnight Grasp
35: Blinding Powder
38: Kuji-In Retsu
41: Smoke Flash
44: Caltrops
47 and 49: I havent decided yet. 
Theres a lot of things i really dont agree with you here even though i dont play DM. I can tell that your trying to scrap (you said it) so you added an end reduc in most of your attacks. The problem is is that stalkers mainly fight higher lvl baddies which would require more than 1 acc enhancement.
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A Stalker built for stylish scrapping, like this one, can act as a Boss-killer
[/ QUOTE ] -you wont hit many bosses with 1 accuracy and on top of that you wont get the damage output fast enough with only 1 rech in buildup not to mention you put it off till 26
You have an amazing self heal that at lvl 50, can recover 500 hit points and yet you have decided to slot it with only one recharge.
In order to scrap i assume you are looking for critical hits however placate only has 1 recharge.
You seem to believe that inspirations make the world go round, but there is a reason why people slot build up instead of allways buying reds, or slot defence instead of using blues, and why they put heals in kuji in sha other then clicking 3 greens.
You did say something about Stalkers being the premiere PvP class. Well unless you are using a Spine/Regen Stalker, I can fairly confidently say that there is no way you will ever defeat my Ninja/TA MasterMind in an Arena. I know this because I've beaten Stalkers there, I've beaten Rad/Dark Defenders, I've beaten Kin/Psy offenders, I've beaten an Illu/Storm Controller, but I've gotten my [censored] handed to me on a silver platter by a Spine/Regen Scrapper. I think a Stalker with those sets won't be as hard as the Scrapper, but they are still the perfect combo of abilities to make a MM cry. I still need to say that Stalkers are no longer the premier PvP class they are made out to be. Even if a Stalker uses additional stealth powers to get past my Tactics, what is he gonna do, AS me and have 75% of that damage be dispersed among my pets? I realise you're a PvE build but saying that about Stalkers being so good at PvP, you must have never fought a good MM. Also just to make sure noone thinks I'm bragging, I lost badly to another MM, a Necro/Dark. The healing he unleashed was even enough to combat my Oil Slick damage, but it was a cool fight nonetheless.
[ QUOTE ]
Theres a lot of things i really dont agree with you here even though i dont play DM. I can tell that your trying to scrap (you said it) so you added an end reduc in most of your attacks. The problem is is that stalkers mainly fight higher lvl baddies which would require more than 1 acc enhancement.
-you wont hit many bosses with 1 accuracy and on top of that you wont get the damage output fast enough with only 1 rech in buildup not to mention you put it off till 26
[/ QUOTE ]
Well, I don't have any problems hitting Bosses with 1 Acc, nor did I have problems dropping them without Build Up. BU is nice, and does help now that I have it, but it's in no way necessary to deliver considerable punishment between AS and being an offensive melee class using a high damage set (like Dark Melee).
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You have an amazing self heal that at lvl 50, can recover 500 hit points and yet you have decided to slot it with only one recharge.
[/ QUOTE ]
I actually said 3 Heal, 3 Recharge was the final slotting in the text of the guide. The slotting listed at the end of the guide is for the character as built at SL 28, not the intended slotting over time. In fact, as of now (32), I have 2 Recharge and 1 Heal in Kuji-In Sha.
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In order to scrap i assume you are looking for critical hits however placate only has 1 recharge.
[/ QUOTE ]
Nope, I'm not. Stalkers do considerable damage even without the criticals. They're nice, and I do recommend 3 Recharge in Placate, but they're certainly not essential. Stalkers are an offensive melee class. They don't need to rely on their criticals to succeed. Scrappers don't and Stalkers shouldn't, either -- not if they're scrapping it out, anyway. The ability to set up your own criticals is a class-defining ability that has a lot of utility, but it doesn't define how you scrap.
[ QUOTE ]
You seem to believe that inspirations make the world go round, but there is a reason why people slot build up instead of allways buying reds, or slot defence instead of using blues, and why they put heals in kuji in sha other then clicking 3 greens.
[/ QUOTE ]
I don't. I just realize that they're common, available, and in tight builds you'll probably have to realize you need to use them. You appear to be making assumptions about how this character plays that just don't bear out in practice.
As for the other poster, um... the guide isn't about PvP and addresses PvP only in the context of explaining why and how people usually build Stalkers. I even said that I don't PvP, so yeah, I wouldn't know how it'd hold up against your particular MM build.
I do admit i made a lot of assumptions because i skimmed through most of the guide but i do know first hand what works for one player doesnt for another. So yes i can see how you can work with your build and slotting.
What manner of demon are you who can summon Dark Melee/Ninjitsu PvE Stalker guides with neither flint nor tinder?
Nice guide. The idea of being a ninja is the only thing that gets me to play the one and only Stalker I have. I went Nin/Nin of course, but I can see how DM/ works quite well with the Defense heavy /Nin.
Good job!
The best comics are still 10�!
My City of Heroes Blog Freedom Feature Article: "Going Rageless?"
If you only read one guide this year, make it this one.
Super Reflexes: the Golden Fox of power sets!
WARNING: I bold names.
Good guide overall in my opinion. I just have 1 point of contention and 1 question as it concerns midnight grasp.
Ok, here we go.
Point of contention: ToF is a far bette rpower than you give it credit for. True, it will not "fear" a boss in one application. It will in ttwo tho and it isn't all that hard to stack. Also, and most important, ToF grants a sizable ToHitDebuff in the neighbothood of 15% when 3 slotted for THD. As I mentioned above, it is easy to stack this on a tough opponet. The result is a 30% debuff from ToF alone + other DM attacks + your base Def. This can floor a mobs chance of hitting you. OK, I feel better now.
Question about Midnight Grasp: I know that when I team with Dominators, I receieve a 25% bonus to crit while out of hide when they hold, immbolize, sleep or disorient a mob. Will the immbolize on Midnight Grasp grant me that same 25% bonus?
Thank you for your time.
I agree that ToF is better than I initially thought and said. 
I had to play with it to get a good feel for its utility, and now I use it quite a bit -- something I should update the guide to reflect. The power's a shadow of its former self, but for a Stalker especially, it's still terribly impressive. Being able to cut a fight down to only one mob is very useful, especially if you've got a situation where you're facing down a Longbow Warden (or other Boss) and a Longbow Spec-Ops or Flamethrower. Rather than wasting AS on the minion, I find it's better to AS the Warden, then ToF the minion until the Warden's dead. Another option is to follow ToF with Placate and back off around a corner, which should split the boss from his friend. Unfortunately, that does burn a Placate, but that's not too much of a problem depending on slotting.
As for Midnight Grasp, I don't believe you receive the Assassination critical chance on Immobilized mobs; I've never received a crit out of hide off any Immobilized mob, and Assassination's help text doesn't suggest that you would (Held and Slept targets only). If you did, of course, any Immobilize would be sufficient to trigger it -- not just those of Dominators. Much like Containment, Assassination's critical against controlled foes checks for the presence of a specific status effect, not for its user's AT. This means that Dark Miasma users (what with their Petrifying Gaze) can be very handy friends to have.
Thanks for your speedy response to my question. I just thought it would be fantastic if the immbolize in Midnight would grant us a 25% bonus to crit the affected mob. That would make Midnight on par with stalkers other lvl 32 powers (I.E. Total Focus = massive damage + disorient, Soaring Dragon = Higher crit chance, small cone and great damage etc...).
you get crits off of held and slept foes.
Placate and Build up are terribly under rated in your build. I would suggest 2-3 recharges in both. a build up + critical + smite will almost kill an even lvl minion. not to mention doing more damage more often is good. I do not like to depend on inspirations.
I do mention the issue of criticals against Held and Slept opponents, which is a percentage chance, not a guarantee, unless that was changed in a recent patch.
As for Build Up and Placate, the slotting of BU is a personal choice. I find I can usually use the slots elsewhere, and a DM Stalker's damage is high enough that you don't need Build Up early, and you don't need to use it often. That having been said, 3 Recharge is welcome, as I mentioned, but a Stalker build is often tight enough that it's more important that you get Build Up eventually rather than emphasize it. With regards to Placate, I do advocate 3 Recharge in it, in addition to going through a long explanation of tactics with it... did you just read the sample (and not updated in a while ) build at the end, then just assume I don't like Placate?
http://cov.nofuture.org.uk/powersets/powersets.php
Smoke Flash has an inherent 1.4 Accuracy, there is no penalty on it.
Blinding Powder has an inherent 1.0 Accuracy, no bonus, nor penalty. Not all cone attacks (I'm speaking about non-control ones, such as Buckshot, Fistful of Arrows, and Energy Torrent) have bonus Accuracy to them.
Damage Proc Mini-FAQ
Just noticed Damage Proc Mini-FAQ wasn't working with new forums, it's been updated.
Your guide is incorrect regarding blinding powder. It is mag 2 sleep and confuse not mag 3 so , no, you will not be getting the drop on ring mistresses. Blinding power by itself only effects minions. IMHO not very useful at all.
50 EM / SR Stalker
50 Spines / Regen Stalker
50 Claws / SR Stalker
50 DM / DA Stalker
42 DM / EA Stalker
40 Nin / Nin Stalker
Scrapping with Style A Relatively Comprehensive Guide to the Dark Melee/Ninjitsu PvE Stalker, Version 1
Introduction
Stalkers are generally recognized as the premier PvP class in the City of * universe. Why wouldnt they be? They have a terrifying ability to strike from surprise that forces players to adapt to the Stalker with specialized builds. Even then, they have a devious power to misdirect their foes long enough to deliver a devastating blow. On top of all of that, they can readily escape from most battles using their defenses, and have enough offense to prove dangerous to squishier targets even without the benefit of surprise. The only downside is their low HP.
I dont like PvP. I do, however, like challenging characters and heart-stopping battles, as well as melee characters. I like my Controller, but I adore my Scrapper. To that end, I figured Id try Stalkers. After a few failed attempts to get one even into the teens, I moved to Brutes for a while. Only with the addition of Dark Melee, a set for which Ive always had a soft spot, and a great character concept did I decide to try one again.
With some practice, I found that I was hooked. By building carefully, I didnt have to worry about emptying my Endurance bar every fight, nor did I have to employ the hit-and-run tactics so commonly considered the Stalkers forte. Coral Shade grew from a weak assassin into a devastating, yet stylish, melee warrior. I had to arrange this using my own knowledge of melee characters, but you dont have to. This guide will show you the way.
Oh, in case you didnt notice already this is a PvE Stalker build. I make no claims on how it will perform in PvP (probably poorly). If you try to use it in PvP, its your funeral. I have no interest in PvP, so I dont build to be effective in it. Additionally, I should confess that my Stalker is only level 28 at the time of this first versions writing, so my opinions on powers and strategy may change as I continue to play her. Lest you worry about my street cred because of this, I should note that Ive been playing since beta and have a level 50 Controller, a level 48 Scrapper, a level 40 Peacebringer, a level 32 Tanker, and wide variety of other characters. I specialize in melee classes; even my Controller is in melee most of the time.
Build and Play Philosophy
Stalkers in PvE are defined by two things relatively high melee damage and relatively low hit points and weak defenses. The closest analogue in play style, other than the Blapper, is the human-form Peacebringer. The trick to playing such a character is to make sure you have as strong defenses as you can afford, but to make absolutely sure you have enough damage so that your defenses are a backup, not your primary means of protection. To that end, the initial focus in slotting should be on your attacks, not on your defenses. Thats not to say that your defenses should be neglected, of course. My slotting technique is to bring the attacks to four slots first, then focus on bringing the defenses to four slots next.
During play, you should focus on knocking out your opponents quickly, starting with the most annoying one. That often means the strongest one, but sometimes its worthwhile to knock out an obnoxious minion near a boss before taking out the big bad himself. Longbow Flamethrowers and Spec-Ops, for instance, can rapidly turn a boss fight from a tour de force into an exercise in frustration or Inspiration use. Part of this methodology involves using Placate defensively, a technique Ill discuss a bit later.
Interestingly, this style of build and play also means that you dont necessarily need a full attack chain that you can continuously cycle. In fact, that can sometimes be a liability, as often during combat youll need to stop your attacks to use a utility power. Devoting too many powers and slots to building a fast, continuous attack chain could prove a needless hassle.
The Powers of Dark Melee
Dark Melee is the most utility-oriented of the Stalker melee sets. In addition to the usual attack powers, it offers a melee Fear power, as well as an attack thats also a self-heal. Dark Melees secondary effect is an Accuracy Debuff. This, of course, synergizes well with Defense sets. It does broaden the level of protection offered by Regeneration or Dark Armor, but I dont think its enough to really work well with those. In general, youll not want to slot for this secondary effect, as its relatively small, and the stacking from multiple hits will be what makes it significant. However, there are always exceptions, and Ill mention some options when I discuss the sets powers.
Dark Melee inflicts Smashing/Negative damage. The balance of these two components varies based on the power used. When I know which one is favored, Ill mention it. In general, while Smashing damage is very commonly resisted to some degree (non-Arachnos robots being a notable exception), Negative often isnt (ghosts, like Spectral Demons, being a notable exception). Some say this makes the set outperform others. I cant say that with certainty, though I will say that having two damage types is often an advantage over a set that only has one.
For those who arent familiar with Stalkers, Dark Melee attacks, like other Stalker attacks, will score a critical hit for double damage (or, in the case of Assassins Eclipse, septuple damage) when executed from Hide or pseudo-Hide (see Placate). When used against a Held or Slept target, they have a 20% chance to score a critical hit. The two criticals are exclusive, so you dont get the chance for a double critical if you attack, from Hide, a Held or Slept target.
Unlike other guides, Im not going to rate the powers. Ill tell you what I took on Coral, when I took it, and why, but Im not going to claim one power is necessarily better than another. Hopefully, you can make your own decision on that after youve read my description and come up with your own build idea. My descriptions of the powers will be rather subjective, because Im not a big fan of Brawl Index numbers, and you can look those up yourself if you want.
SHADOW PUNCH (Minor Negative/Smash, -Acc): Shadow Punch is the first power in the set, and indeed, it does do relatively minor damage. I recall its damage being notably less than Smite enough that I find it to be relatively useless except to fill out an attack chain. Its speed and low Endurance cost do suggest that it could be used as a quick recharging Accuracy Debuff power. With 1 Accuracy, 3 Accuracy Debuff, and 2 Recharge Enhancements, you could use this to quickly destroy a mobs ability to hit you. Some people to which Ive suggested this like it; others cant figure out how to fit it into their attack chain.
SMITE (Moderate Negative/Smash, -Acc): Coral took this power at level 1. Smite does reasonably good damage its about 20% more than Air Superiority. Most of Smites damage is Negative, with only a small Smashing component, which makes it woefully underpowered against Spectral Demons. However, it animates quickly, recharges reasonably fast, and is a good follow-up to Placate. My current slotting is 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage. My intended final slotting is 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 1 Recharge, 1 Endurance Reduction.
SHADOW MAUL (Cone, High DoT Negative/Smash, -Acc): Available (and taken) at level 2, Shadow Maul is the workhorse of a Dark Melee character. The cone is rather thin and shallow, but its enough to catch two or, if youre lucky, three foes with careful positioning, and the damage is pretty impressive; Id say its close to twice that of Smite. Yes, others bemoan the fact that youre rooted in an animation for approximately four seconds while this power fires off, but thats why you have your defensive powers. I say its worth it for the punishment this power can deliver. The Negative and Smashing components of this attack are equal. Its also important to note that Shadow Maul only has a percentage (20%, I believe) chance of landing a critical hit from Hide, so its not well-suited for your initial attack unless you can use it to hit a lot of opponents, or unless youre just showing off. My current slotting is 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 1 Endurance Reduction; I plan to add 1 Recharge when I get the chance.
ASSASSINS ECLIPSE (Moderate/Extreme Negative/Smash): As with all Stalkers, your Assassin power becomes available at level 6, and you should take it then and slot it immediately. At low levels, while your defenses are weak, youll have to hit-and-run to an extent, and this power lets you do so effectively. At high levels, youll use this power at the beginning of every fight and, if youre so motivated, at the end.
If youre not familiar with Assassin powers, theyre interruptible melee attacks that check line of sight and range upon activation. When theyre used when not in Hide or pseudo-Hide (see Placate), they do Moderate damage. When theyre used in those conditions, though, they land an Assassin Strike for septuple damage. Because Assassin powers are interruptible and have long activation times, theyre essentially useless while scrapping. Dont consider Assassins Eclipse part of your attack chain; I put it on my secondary (Alt) tray so that I cant accidentally hit it during a fight.
Assassins Eclipse is, sadly, saddled with a rather mediocre animation involving pushing a giant skull at your target. Fortunately, it more than makes up for this with devastating damage. Interestingly, most of the initial attack is Smashing damage; only a small part of that and all of the Assassin Strike critical are Negative damage. Since the critical is calculated based on how much base damage is inflicted, this can prove obnoxious against strongly resistant foes with a lot of hit points Bosses, for instance. Regardless, this power is a critical one no pun intended and needs to be taken and slotted with haste.
How to slot it is a matter worthy of discussion. When Stalkers fight, they dont fight over when to take an Assassin power or how many slots it should get; everyone knows that (immediately, and 6 as soon as you can). They fight over how it should be slotted, which is really a matter of personal taste. I like 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 1 Recharge, 1 Endurance, just like any other attack. Assassins Eclipse recharges rather slowly and is quite costly, especially before you have Stamina. However, some prefer 3 Accuracy, 3 Damage, or 2 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 1 Recharge the idea is that, if youre going to have an attack thats basically a one-shot kill with a long recharge, you definitely want it to hit. However, since Assassins Eclipse has a rather substantial Accuracy bonus built into it, I think 1 Accuracy is fine. I dont have any problems hitting +2s with that. You may find, however, that before you have access to Single Origin Enhancements, your accuracy stinks. I would say stop fighting +2s, but others would say slot more Accuracy. The choice is yours.
BUILD UP (+Damage, +Accuracy): Players are of two minds on this power. Some Id say the majority take it immediately and slot it heavily (3 slots, all Recharge, thanks to Enhancement Diversification) because they want more damage. Others, like me, think that the Inspiration tray is a wonderful source of damage, and that Stalkers already do tons of damage. Admittedly, at low levels, Build Up (available at 8) is very helpful, but since it only adds to your base, pre-Enhancements damage, its not quite as amazing after you have more slots and Single Origin Enhancements. Its still quite useful, though.
I personally tend to put off taking Build Up unless I have a relatively free power choice. Corals build is extremely tight, however, so I put it off until 26. If I had to do it again, I think I still would; Rage Inspirations are cheap, but surviving without a key power for two levels is expensive in terms of debt and willpower to not hit the Delete button on character selection.
I generally only slot Build Up with one Recharge, but if I have the slots, 3 Recharge is always welcome. Any more than three slots in this power is a waste. The to-hit buff is large enough that, while you can slot to increase it, youll probably never notice a difference unless youre fighting things you really ought not to be (+4s and higher). The Endurance cost of this power is likewise small enough that if you dont have enough Endurance to activate it, youre in deep enough trouble that it wont help you.
PLACATE (Placate, +Hide): Placate becomes available at level 12, and you must take it then. This power, which all Stalkers have, sheds the aggro from a single target for a time (about 10 seconds, varying by relative mob level, or until you attack the target). That alone is nice, because you can use it to reduce the number of opponents you have to fight. This is using Placate defensively; basically, you dont primarily care about the Hide component, only about taking a mob out of the fight until youre ready. This power also puts you in a sort of pseudo-Hide for the duration of the effect. Youre not less visible, but you do attack as if you were Hidden; this means your next attack will score a critical hit. Because of this, Placate can also be used offensively, by Placating the target youre currently fighting, then following it up with a (usually fast) attack that will then critical. A combination method, and one of my favorite tactics for taking on large groups, is to Placate a mob Im not currently fighting, then to use the pseudo-Hide to land a critical on the one I am. This is tricky, since any damage you take while pseudo-Hidden will knock you out of that state, but you should be able to master it with practice.
As I mentioned earlier, just like Hide, the pseudo-Hide of Placate is broken by any damage. This means that damage over time effects and most especially fast, auto-hit damage over time effects like Ignite patches and Circle of Thorns damage crystals are your enemy with this power, and will substantially reduce its utility except to shed aggro. This means that, sometimes, youll need to eliminate a DoT user near a Boss before engaging the Boss himself if you want to use multiple Assassin Strikes to get rid of him. Remember, you want to take out the most annoying target first, and sometimes thats not the most damaging one.
My slotting for Placate is 1 Recharge, which I plan to bring to 3 Recharge as soon as Im able. Others do suggest going with six slots and adding Range Enhancements, but since this power is primarily used against targets at medium range or closer, that seems too expensive to me. Placate always hits, so even if you could place Accuracy Enhancements in this power, you wouldnt need to.
SIPHON LIFE (Moderate Negative, -Acc, +HP): Siphon Life is a fun power that will significantly increase your survivability. It becomes available at 18, but I didnt take it until 24. The attack inflicts Negative damage roughly equivalent to that of Smite; it also has the usual Accuracy Debuff effect. However, this power will also heal you for 10% of your hit points if it lands. A 10% heal that can be part of your attacks is very handy, and will substantially improve your survivability, especially against resistant targets. The heal isnt affected by the resistances of the target, though it wont take effect if the attack misses.
This is a very handy power to have. My slotting is 1 Accuracy, 2 Damage, 2 Heal, with 1 Recharge coming when I have the chance, but you may want to adjust that your taste. Some may prefer more healing, while others might prefer to do more damage. This power is somewhat expensive in terms of Endurance in addition to being slow, so its worth considering adding Endurance Reduction to it as well.
TOUCH OF FEAR (Fear, -Acc): Once upon a time, Touch of Fear was truly a power to behold. A single application would render Bosses unto kittens, paralyzed with terror until you were ready to deal with them. Nowadays, this power is far less impressive. Its low magnitude makes it mostly useful on minions, who will cower for a relatively short time. During this time, if theyre struck, they get to make a single attack in retribution. The astute reader will realize that this power can be used to knock a mob out of a fight until youre ready for him, or at least until the crowds been thinned somewhat. As a result, this power does have its benefits for a Stalker, though its certainly not a must-have in my opinion. I plan on taking this at 41, or possibly 30 instead of Smoke Flash.
MIDNIGHT GRASP (Superior Negative, Immobilize, -Acc): The final attack in Dark Melee isnt an Extreme damage power with an added critical chance. No, its just a very damaging power that paralyzes the target in a pit of tentacles. Animation aside, this powers great to fill out your attack chain, and more damage never hurt. While I dont have this power yet, I can already say how Ill be slotting it: 1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 1 Endurance Reduction, 1 Recharge. Ill be taking it at 32, as soon as it becomes available.