Okay, recent convert of Katana stalking. My main question with this set is, while leveling (and intending not to respec later), it seems like you get Sting of the Wasp and... brawl/inherent ranged to do you til 18. I mean. Does that bother anyone else? Or am I just missing something?
"Scrappers don't want the bit of dignity that Brutes left them taken away by (lol)Stalkers." -Delta_Strider, on Stalker buffs.
Current Project: Hard Goodbye, StJ/Nin
Retired: Blitzwulf, Claws/Nin (50); Perdition's Blade, Night Widow (50)
Bothered me, yes. So much so, that I took Gambler's Cut and abused the living hell out of the bugged crit 
So, I'd recommend taking GC, and then respeccing it out.
Doom.
Yep.
This is really doom.
Ah, that's I what I was thinking. Just hoping I didn't need to do that. Well, I will be leveling up, I just really really hope your thread on stalker damage gets some attention from the devs.
Thanks for the guide!
"Scrappers don't want the bit of dignity that Brutes left them taken away by (lol)Stalkers." -Delta_Strider, on Stalker buffs.
Current Project: Hard Goodbye, StJ/Nin
Retired: Blitzwulf, Claws/Nin (50); Perdition's Blade, Night Widow (50)
I believe there is a very good reason they didn't call the weapon set Katana. The traditional sword of a ninja was actually The ninjato, also known as Ninjaken. It was shorter that the Samurai's Katana and had a straight blade not a curved blade. I know the powers in the two sets are pretty much the same as is the animation but I am willing to bet there would have been a nerd uproar if the vilians were using the sword to the honorable samurai. (history nerds would have had a fit too). So while there is no significant distinction in the game there is a real difference between a Samurai sword and a Ninja sword.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninjaken
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katana
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You'll like this.
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i laughed for like, five minutes.
Thanks for saying that, Matt.... I was going to put up an almost identical post.
I DO wish they they would change a few of the powers of the 'ninja blade' to make it different from the katana, also.
First of all, Most Ninjato were more-or less disposable. They were often made of low-grade steel and were not an honor weapon. the 'blinding powder' in the Ninja defense set would often be stored in the extra length of scabbard.
First of all, a ranged attack 'throw your sword' would probably not be out of line. similar to what claws have available. the 'slashing multiple opponents' attacks should probably remain gone, since often a ninjato was ruined and blunted after a very short time.
anyway, I doubt any of it would happen, but I am pleased someone else mentioned the 'true' ninja sword.
Ninja didnt have a true ninja sword. The ninjato is fake. A ninja using something that would instantly identify them as a ninja like that is a pretty stupid idea. I do like the ninja sword still but you wouldnt use it like a katana at all. I wish the ninja power set had shuriken. Whats a ninja with NO shuriken? Come on!
Hmm maybe as a blaster/corrupter power that could be kinda cool. :-p I know there are Shuriken as a Epic power.
this is wonderful and its really helping with my ninja stalker
you should do a dual blades/ninjitsu guide when it comes out!
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this is wonderful and its really helping with my ninja stalker
you should do a dual blades/ninjitsu guide when it comes out!
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Fully plan on it.
And a DM/Ninjitsu, too, once I can safely say I've actually played it to 50.
Doom.
Yep.
This is really doom.
awesome because i was thinking of rerolling my ninja as a dual blader when it came out
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Ninja didnt have a true ninja sword. The ninjato is fake. A ninja using something that would instantly identify them as a ninja like that is a pretty stupid idea.
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Sure buddy, whatever you want to say without backing it up.
Hell, ninja themselves were fake. The whole concept comes from a caste of spies in 12th century China, not even Japan, who were trained in the art of looking in peepholes before the idea was taken back to Japan as a legend.
Then again, 'swashbucklers' didn't exist, 'superheroes' aren't real, and magic is purest fiction.
As far as the legends go, There was a caste of Ninjas. and they used a special sword. and they had a kind of powder that made a huge cloud of dust to escape in. As for whether it's 'real' or not, Who gives a damn? It's documented. That's enough for me to maintain my particular ninja fiction.
<QR>
First and most importantly, excellent guide, Angry_Citizen! Flawless!
Secondly and far less importantly, history has little to do with gaming, but, here goes:
Ninjitsu skills were practiced by both regular samurai and special peasant-caste warriors that were used for spywork, assassination, and other "black ops". The ninjato is a real sword, and was indeed considered a highly disposable weapon, but to call it "the standard ninja sword" is both misleading and downright false. Like all things related to ninjitsu, it was special tool with special uses.
Most ninja working as spies or assassins went about in some sort of disguise, often as tradesman or peddlers. In this case they often carried a wakizashi because non-samurai in classes or occupations that required road travel were allowed to apply for permission to carry a single sword, but not a "shin-katana", or "new-style long sword". In these cases a good quality wakizashi perfectly fit the bill.
For battlefield ninja doing recon missions, officer assassinations, and so on, some preferred a special version of the "shin-katana" that was straight rather than curved and often fitted with a square hilt guard rather than the ornately carved oval hilt guards of a proper samurai. To the Japanese, this was a "shin-katana", even though it was not curved, but many Western writers and whatnot have mislabeled it the "ninjato", which is an entirely different weapon. The advantage to the straight sword was that it could be worn on the back with far less chance of catching in branches and snagging on bushes the ninja was crawling through.
It might surprise many of you to learn that the favorite weapon of a battlefield ninja was not a sword at all. The battlefield ninja's best loved weapon was an octoganal barrelled Portugese or Dutch flintlock rifle. It was sturdy, reliable, and allowed them to pick off targets while still beyond the range of smooth-bored rifles and high-powered recurved bows.
Remember, my friends, Hollywood is not the best place to study history. 
================================================== ===
AE Story Arc #536752: Torn Asunder
An army from far, far away has been driven from their homeland and landed on Earth. They desperately need a new home and they're liking the look of ours.
================================================== ===
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You'll like this.
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i laughed for like, five minutes.
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What part of phnglui mglw'nafl Cthulhu r'lyeh w'gah nagl fhtagn don't you understand?
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You'll like this.
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i laughed for like, five minutes.
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heh also from that comic http://machall.com/view.php?date=2004-10-26
and its sequel
http://machall.com/view.php?date=2005-11-17
The ninja's shorter/straighter sword also allowed the bugger to get up into the gaps of the samurai's armor... such as armpits... which would be much more difficult with the longer/curved katana.
My Arc - #51736 Here Wolf... There Wolf... Werewolf!!!
Don't worry about the mule going blind, just load the wagon.
>")))>< ~~~~
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Archetype: Stalker
Primary: Ninja Blade
Secondary: Ninjitsu
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sting of the Wasp==> Empty(1)
01) --> Hide==> Empty(1)
02) --> Ninja Reflexes==> Empty(2)
04) --> Danger Sense==> Empty(4)
06) --> Assassin's Blade==> Empty(6)
08) --> Build Up==> Empty(8)
10) --> Recall Friend==> Empty(10)
12) --> Placate==> Empty(12)
14) --> Teleport==> Empty(14)
16) --> Kuji-In Rin==> Empty(16)
18) --> Divine Avalanche==> Empty(18)
20) --> Swift==> Empty(20)
22) --> Health==> Empty(22)
24) --> Stamina==> Empty(24)
26) --> Soaring Dragon==> Empty(26)
32) --> Golden Dragonfly==> Empty(32)
35) --> Blinding Powder==> Empty(35)
38) --> Kuji-In Retsu==> Empty(38)
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I had a similar build in mind although i'd like other people's advice on it.
Although I use Hurdle instead of Swift and reordered my power selection so I have Stamina at 20 and Teleport at 28. I'll take CJ at 30 more as a getto travel power although I could swap that out for stealth, but I was planning on putting a Stealth IO in either Sprint or possibly Teleport.
Other than the "Must haves" of the Primary, Secondary, Teleport, and Fitness pools I have two powers slots I can play with: One at 30 and One at 49. The one at 30 I was going to go with either Stealth or CJ. The one at 49 was either going to be Hasten, invisibility if I took stealth earlier (even that seems iffy)
Here's what I'm looking for out of my Nin/Nin Stalker:
1) The ability to "ghost" missions that have you run around big open maps with random mob points.
2) A certain amount of emphasis on PVP since that's where a Stalker can really shine. (Running missions in Bloody Bay allowed my stalker to level quickly)
3) I like the idea of Teleport since I could TP next to someone in PVP, Click AS, and TP out of perception before they can really react. The problem with Perception I see is that even maxed out they'll see you coming from 10 to 40 feet dependng on how well you've stacked stealth. Since TP is point-to-point that limits the time someone has to react to you.
4) As for Patrons: Ghost Widow taking the Blast, Hold, and Pet (Night Widow)
5) I've been using the Craftable Etheral Shift as a poor man's phase shift.
I did have a question on slotting defense, is every last percent really worth getting? Take Divine Avalanche, putting 3 SOs/30-35 IOs hits the ED cap of 56% percent, which give a total defence of 23.5%. However Dropping one SO/IO (or slotting a set with a Def and a Def/recharge only lowers it a couple of defense points while at the same time upping the recharge rate so I can use it more often.
"Steady as a mountain, attack like fire, still as a wood, swift as the wind.
In heaven and earth I alone am to be revered."
- Motto on the war banner of Takeda Shingen (1521-1573)
this is a really great, detailed guide and it makes me want to play a /ninja stalker, but i can't decide to do ninja/ninja or dark/ninja or maybe even (but probably not) a claws/ninja stalker please help me decide.
Eradicate, Rampage, Annihilate
For Fame and Fortune ~ #109709
If you want a bit more damage, Dark Melee. If you want survivability but slightly slow kill speed, Katana. If you just want to be gimped, Claws.
Doom.
Yep.
This is really doom.
Cool. I think I'll go with the ninja/ninja stalker and I'll be using this guide.
Eradicate, Rampage, Annihilate
For Fame and Fortune ~ #109709
any chance of an updated kat/nin guide A_C? I'd like to see your opinion on IO sets as well as a revised build with such as well as change to hide coming soon.
I might, but probably not. Think I'll just finish up my DM/Ninjitsu guide, which will contain a great deal of IO info. Really, I'm just waiting for my DM/Ninjitsu to hit 50 in order to "validate" the opinions in the guide before finishing it up. I already know Dark Melee very, very well and consider it to be my new favourite primary.
Doom.
Yep.
This is really doom.
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.21
http://www.honourableunited.org.uk/mhd.php
The Ninja Assassin: Level 50 Natural Stalker
Primary Power Set: Ninja Blade
Secondary Power Set: Ninjitsu
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Teleportation
Ancillary Pool: Leviathan Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Gambler's Cut -- Acc(A), Acc(3), Dmg(7), Dmg(11), Dmg(15)
Level 1: Hide -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(46), DefBuff(46)
Level 2: Flashing Steel -- Acc(A), Acc(3), Dmg(7), Dmg(11), Dmg(15), EndRdx(42)
Level 4: Ninja Reflexes -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(5), DefBuff(5), EndRdx(46)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- DefBuff(A)
Level 8: Assassin's Blade -- Acc(A), Dmg(9), Dmg(9), Dmg(19), EndRdx(37), EndRdx(45)
Level 10: Build Up -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(13), RechRdx(13), ToHit(40), ToHit(43), ToHit(43)
Level 12: Placate -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(19), RechRdx(45)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump(A)
Level 16: Kuji-In Rin -- EndRdx(A), RechRdx(17), RechRdx(17)
Level 18: Hurdle -- Jump(A)
Level 20: Health -- Heal(A), Heal(21), Heal(21)
Level 22: Stamina -- EndMod(A), EndMod(23), EndMod(23)
Level 24: Kuji-In Sha -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(25), Heal(25), Heal(29), Heal(29)
Level 26: Soaring Dragon -- Acc(A), Dmg(27), Dmg(27), Dmg(31), KBDist(34), KBDist(34)
Level 28: Acrobatics -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(31)
Level 30: Assault -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(31)
Level 32: Golden Dragonfly -- Acc(A), Acc(33), Dmg(33), Dmg(33), Dmg(34), KBDist(43)
Level 35: Blinding Powder -- Acc(A), Acc(36), Acc(36), Conf(36), Conf(37), Conf(37)
Level 38: Kuji-In Retsu -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(39), DefBuff(39), DefBuff(39), DefBuff(40), EndMod(40)
Level 41: Water Spout -- Range(A), Range(42), Range(42)
Level 44: Tactics -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(45)
Level 47: Teleport Foe -- Range(A), Acc(48), Acc(48), Acc(48)
Level 49: Vengeance -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(50), DefBuff(50), ToHit(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Assassination
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</pre><hr />
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I might, but probably not. Think I'll just finish up my DM/Ninjitsu guide, which will contain a great deal of IO info. Really, I'm just waiting for my DM/Ninjitsu to hit 50 in order to "validate" the opinions in the guide before finishing it up. I already know Dark Melee very, very well and consider it to be my new favourite primary.
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in that case, once your dm/nin is finished I expect a fire/psi dom guide. =P now go abuse that psi shockwave
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oh another question, is stamina as critical for a stalker as other ATs?
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Yes. Especially nin/nin. Mine is level 17 with only AS, Sting of the Wasp and Sands of Mu for attacks and he still needs it bad.