Nice guide! I've been playing CoX for ages and read the forums daily, but this is the first post that's made me want to create a forum account and say something. 
Keep up the good work!
Play hard and dirty!
Rev
Great guide, I love my regen builds, and have a hard time even trying any other build, but I have one question. I was just wondering about the numbers on resilience. I have a lvl35 C/R scrapper and a 28 C/R Stalker and they both carry resilience, and IN GAME the numbers are 56% on my Scrapper with 3-35 SOs, and 22% in the Stalker with 1-30 SO on the dmg res. If these numbers are incorrect can you point me in the direction of something that will give me more accurate numbers on these powers?
I agree that there are an awful lot of Love them or hate them powers in this set. Personally when I fall in a fight I love coming back without the disoreint affect so I can get back in the swing ASAP, but others dont like redundencies, and I can respect that.
Any way thanks for the guide it helped get my head back in the stalker game and out of trying to make my hero a villian.
According to Hero Builder Resilience gives a 5.625% resistance buff to S/L/Toxic. According to City of Data those numbers are correct for smashing/lethal, but you get 7.5% toxic resists. Personally I trust City of Data more, so assuming those numbers are correct, with 3 SOs in resilience you come out with around 10% res to S/L and a little below 15% toxic.
Ok cool, thanks for th info.
So far I havent had a build where I didnt take Resilience, maybe I will give it a look on test for poo and laughs. Might give me another power to take in its place.
One of the great things about claws/regen is it is one of the loosest combos for stalkers. Because stalkers are basically forced to take 4 powers in order to be effective most build are tight, but claws only needs a few attacks to be effective and regen only needs the heals+integration to be doable. Everything past that is just gravy.
I've made a few of these Claws/* 1 was a regen, 1 DA, 1 SR.
I found that with the claws primary, life is sweet.
I can get away using Swipe, Strike Slash, as my main combo, it does quite good damage over the entire 1-50. I decided i would take Jump Kick for SJ for my SR for concept, and it turns out well using Strike, Slash, JK. Lol, it doesnt do much damage, but its up fast enough to actually string the combo along, and add to DPS. Anyways, Nice build >
Awesome post. This has really helped me a lot.
I am new to the game, and really was struggling with how to build a character. This post has really helped clarify a lot of questions I had about build. I am going to give it a try, so far, it's working much better than the mock-ups I attempted on my own before venturing to the forums here!
Kudos!
Welcome to the Issue 8 guide to the PvE Claws/Regen stalker. When I was leveling my first character ever, I turned to the forums for help, hoping to find a handy guide to claws/regen, only to be disappointed and find one of the worst guides I had ever seen (sorry Aenix). Now that I am in the mid 40s I decided to share my knowledge of this build for any other fans of this great PvE combo. As this is my guide, I will be expressing my own opinions, and some of what I have heard. Any numbers that I post are taken from either the Hero Builder or City of Data (http://www.nofuture.org.uk/cox/) Feel free to comment on things that you agree/disagree with, and enjoy.
Power Discussion
I use a rating of 1-5 to rate powers, 5 being the highest. Then I comment why the power received that rating, and give any other advice, followed by a recommendation of slotting the power, should you decide to take it.
Claws : The secondary effect of claws is a 20% boost to recharge and a -20% endurance cost. Use this effect to your advantage. Since this is one of the most endurance efficient stalker builds (claws/Energy beats it out) some people may even be able to get by stamina. However my playstyle dictates spamming my attacks, generally taking too much agro for my own health, which leads to spamming heals, and all of this leads to a need for stamina.
Swipe :
Rating : 2
Commentary : You perform a low damage, quickly recharging attack similar to Energy Melee's Barrage. This power receives a rating of 2 for longer animation and lower damage than strike, the other choice. I find that nobody needs this attack even after the i7 animation changes (although the animation is SWEET), and everyone would be better off taking strike if you want to get the most use out of your first attack. However usually I will stop using strike ASAP (once I have slash, focus, and eviscerate slotted). If you want an attack to fill out your attack chain early this one is decent.
Slotting : If you choose to take it, I wouldn't waste slots, put in 1 acc. But I highly recommend against taking it.
Strike :
Rating : 3
Commentary : The better choice for lvl 1, Strike does a sort of stab in the gut; quick animation, low end cost, and recharge makes this the superior lvl 1 choice. However, I took fly as my travel power, so I used Air Superiority in my attack chain in place of strike.
Slotting : I wouldnt slot this except for 1 acc, as you could use the slots better in some other powers. If you take flying like I did you are going to have a full attack chain with just slash, focus, and eviscerate, with air superiority thrown in there to fill the gaps.
Slash :
Rating : 4
Commentary : You slash the enemy, dealing moderate damage. This power does good low lvl damage and has good recharge time, mixed with low end cost. I would recommend picking this up at lvl 2. It also has a defense aspect to it, and while this is definitely a nice bonus I have never noticed it in my entire career. Regardless, this is one of your main powers in your attack chain, and will be good to you your entire career.
Slotting : 5 slot this as soon as possible, as this is one of your main attacks in your attack chain. If you have space for one extra slot I would go recharge (3 dam, 2 acc, 1 recharge)
Assassin's Claw :
Rating : 5
Commentary : The signature stalker attack, when executed from hide you deal massive damage (7X normal). Grab this at lvl 6 (as soon as you can) and love it. If you don't take this power I will hunt you down and use my Assassins strike on you to demonstrate its effectiveness.
Slotting : 5 slots like your other attacks. Some people slot for recharge and thats completely up to you.
Build Up :
Rating: 5
Commentary : One of the "holy trinity" of all stalkers, this gives a huge boost to your damage and acc for 10 seconds. However in early lvls this power is somewhat overkill. You can wait until the late teens to pick this power up, but I took it at lvl 8 just to have a little extra power. If you get it at 8 I would use it for scrapping, not for the initial AS.
Slotting : You want this up as much as possible, so get in 3 recharges ASAP. If you plan to PvP you should consider tohit buffs as well.
Placate:
Rating : 5
Commentary : One of the most useful powers for stalkers, you make your target forget that you are there, effectively "rehiding" yourself. However the catch is, while you can critical now, only the placated target will stop attacking you... meaning that yes, when you placate, if you are hit by any of the mobs unplacated friends you will loose the ability to critical. Regardless, this is an essential skill for every stalker and should be taken at 12.
Slotting : As with build up you want this up often, especially for pve, so 3 slot with recharge.
Focus:
Rating : 5
Commentary : Now claws starts to get interesting. Focus is one of the best primary powers for stalkers. Period. It is most definitely the gem of the set. You send out a focused burst on energy with a range of 40 ft (the range of the new impale) that upon hitting the target will knockdown the target 100% of the time (unless resisted). Fast recharge, good damage, and reasonable end cost makes this the best power in claws, hands down. Used in conjunction with air superiority you can permanently knockdown anything that isnt resistant to it.
Slotting : 6 slot this baby fast, for 3 damage, 2 acc, and 1 recharge to spam it as much as possible.
Eviscerate :
Rating : 4
Commentary : The "heavy hitter" of the set, this power actually deals something like 20 damage more than focus. You flip in the air and slash in a cone, although not a large one (the most I have ever hit is 5, and that was with the help of a mind/ dominator with telekinesis). Eviscerate cannot critical from hide every time since it is an aoe, but instead gets a random chance to critical. Outside of hide eviscerate has a 15% chance to critical. Some people love this power and others dislike it. I took it, and like it. However I can see why people would dislike the long animation and hefty end cost. If you play on a team with dominators Telekenesis will be your new best friend, as it groups the mobs up right next to each other for evisceration goodness. I personally would recommend eviscerate for a claws stalker, as it is a good damage attack that can critical on multiple enemies.
Slotting : 6 slot for 3 dam, 2 acc, and 1 end redux.
Shockwave :
Rating : 3
Commentary : You project a shockwave in a wide cone in front of you, knocking back everything that you hit and dealing moderate damage (about as much damage as strike, in a cone). This is a very fun power, but it is certainly not newb friendly. It will instantly cause every single mob you just hit to hate your guts. And then comes the pain train. If used on enemies with powerful ranged attacks (Wailers come to mind) the return fire will most likely kill you faster than you can click reconstruction. To fill out your attack chain you really only need shockwave or eviscerate. If you have the space (claws/regen is a fairly loose build) you can take both, but just remember that both those powers are fairly slot hungry.
Slotting : This power seems to miss a lot, even for an aoe, so slot 3 damage and 2-3 acc.
Regeneration : Regen is one of the most powerful secondaries stalkers have access to. You dont have to worry about insane tohit buffs, neutering your defenses. There are two situations that spell doom to a regener, and that you should look out for:
Stacked -recharges: you will really start to regret not taking fast healing when fighting Barracuda and your click heals are taking twice as long as usual to recharge.
Massive Burst Damage- usually this will be an AV, or maybe a huge mob that decided to utterly destroy you. If damage is coming in too fast your heals wont be able to keep up. However this is fairly unusual, and in paper missions and most story arcs this wont be a problem.
Hide
Rating : 5
Commentary : You have to take this at lvl 1, but frankly if you didnt want this power dont play a stalker. You have the ability to toggle on hide, making you invisible to enemies around you. No this is not seudo invisibility like in Super Speed. You can actually run up to a mob and do the Truffle Shuffle and they wont notice you. In PvE you will not be seen by anyone, save for a few specific types of mobs (Rikti Drones come to mind) and some AV/Heroes. Will in hidden status your attacks critical, doing double damage (except for Shockwave and Eviscarate, which receive a chance to crit since there are AoEs).
Slotting : Hmmmm. Some people swear that 3 slotting for defense helps them, but I just slot for 1 end redux and use the slots better on something else.
Fast Healing :
Rating : 3
Commentary : An auto power (it is always on) that makes you heal 75% faster unslotted. This power is one of the useful, but not necessary powers in regen. If you plan to pve lots take this, as it will decrease the downtime in between fights. However, I would not take this power until you get SOs, as that is when the power really becomes noticeable.
Slotting : 3 slot for heals, and this will raise your healing rate ~140%. Once this power is 3 slotted with SOs you begin to realize how useful it is.
Reconstruction :
Rating : 5
Commentary : Your reliable heal; this power heals 25% of your health unslotted, and has a reasonable recharge. This power also gives you a 15% resistance to toxic damage, and this effect lasts 60secs, which can help against those nasty arachnoids. It also fires off in 1 second. You want this power, as it is one that you will use a lot, and also one of the best heals in the game. I would suggest taking at lvl 4
Slotting : I want this power up as much as possible, but without sacrificing healing ability, so I have it 6 slotted for 3 recharge and 3 heals. With 3 heals this power heals ½ your health in less than a second (Wow) and with the 3 recharges youll have it back up in 30 secs.
Dull Pain:
Rating: 4
Commentary : The other heal, which heals for 40% of your health unslotted, and gives you a 40% increase to overall health for its duration, and if you get the +max health accolades you can hit the stalker ceiling for hp. However, this power has a long recharge time, so I wouldnt use it as a heal. Instead, click it before a fight to help you take any unwanted agro without flinching.
Slotting : Go for 3 rechargers. If you have spare slots and want to use this power as a heal slot it for recharge.
Integration :
Rating : 5
Commentary : A toggle that protects you from holds, sleeps, disorients, knock back, and immobilize, and increases your healing rate dramatically (150% unslotted). This is the best power in Regen (not counting hide ). Back in my noob days when I first got this power my first impression was so im not getting knocked on my [censored] anymore cool. Now that I know what it does, I find it hard to explain this amazing package of loveliness. Take at lvl 16. No debate.
Slotting : Im not quite sure, but I believe that the 150% regeneration is broken into to parts. 1 part is 50% which is unenhancable, and the other is the 100% which can be enhanced. So with slotting you would get around a 250% regen boost. So in other words, three slot it
Resilience :
Rating : 3
Commentary: This power is always on, and it gives some resistance to stuns and minor resistance to smashing/lethal/toxic (around 5% unslotted). I find this power to be more of a luxury than a must have. It is around 10% resistance when three slotted, which is nice, but you already have stun protection in integration, which is the primary focus of this power. I have had a few times where I have been stunned through integration by the Tsoo, but other than that the stun aspect is largely useless in pve. So depending on how many power slots you have you can make the call on this one.
Slotting : Only thing you can slot for is resistance, so depending on how many slots you have to spare you will want 1-3 res boosts on it. The resistance is useful however, because it gives you more time to heal that damage away.
Instant Healing :
Rating: 4
Commentary : Back in the day when City of Heroes started this used to be the power of the game. You click this power, making you heal at godly speeds for 1 min and 45 secs. However, it takes10 mins to recharge >.<. While it has been nerfed too many times to still be insanely powerful like it once was, it is still very good, unless you are aggroing everyone on the map you probably wont die.
Slotting : You want this power up ASAP, so slot for 3 recharge. It heals great out of the box, but if you want to get back to full even faster you can slot for heals.
Revive :
Rating : 2
Commentary : Should you die in battle you can rez yourself, coming back with around ¾ health and ½ your endurance. However, I find this power way too situational to ever be of use to me. I have never seen a regen stalker take this power, and neither have I so if you try it and like it please tell me, but I would much rather spend 50 infamy on a wakie than take a self rez.
Slotting : Probably Recharge Reduction, maybe healing I dunno. I highly recommend against this power.
Moment of Glory:
Rating: 3
Commentary: When activated you receive huge buffs to defense and resistance, and recharge endurance very quickly (you wont run out even if you tried to). However, your health drops to 25% health, and you cannot heal yourself during the duration of the power! This effect leads many people to not take this power, and I find that this doesnt really fit into the concept of regen very well (if we are supposed to heal fast why would we get a power that stops you from healing for 2 mins???) Regardless, the defense and resistance are astronomical, and you will have a tough time dieing. Evil Geko has a nice Guide to Why MoG SUCKS! if you want to know more about the power. However, I personally use Dull Pain coupled with Instant Healing as a ghetto Tier 9 Power. You know that Regen is good when you don't even need a great tier 9 power to be as effective as the other sets.
Slotting : I would do 3 res, as the defense is pretty much capped.You could add recharges to it, but... do you really want this power up that often???
Power Pools :
Concealment :
If you PvP this is definitely useful, but has absolutely no value in pve.
Fighting :
The reason you would take this is for tough. Slotted up with resistances and coupled with a slotted Resilience that gives you around 25% resists to smashing lethal. If you have room to spare this is a viable option, as it gives you more time to click your heals.
Fitness :
I grabbed Stamina at lvl 20 and am very happy. While some say that this build doesnt need stamina I am doubtful. Even with the low end cost of claws you can still run yourself down if you are in really long fights, so I find this power pool worth it. As for the first two, I took hurdle for unsupressed movement and health (which boosts your regen rate even more ).
Flight :
Even with the boosts to flight speed this is still not a very fast travel power, however you get loads of movement control. If you take it you will most likely have to slot heavily (maybe 3 speed, 1/2 end redux) to get the most use out of it. If you choose to go this route you will also want to take Air Superiority, the best power pool attack in the game. With Air Sup and Focus you can perma ground a boss, and with an attack chain like : (BU, AS, Focus, Slash, Air Sup, Strike) you will never get hurt past the first boss attack, which you simply heal back with reconstruction. Many people have noted success in pvp by using both fly and tp, but I have yet to try that combo. 1 thing to note about air sup is the fact that it will put away your claws, so you will have to redraw after every use, which is definitely annoying.
Leadership :
Gives minimal returns for a stalker, and costs a lot of endurance. I cant really see taking this unless you need +perception for PvP from tactics.
Leaping :
A very reliable travel power, I love the speed at which I can travel, for reasonable end costs. Take combat jumping for unsuppressed travel (pvp) and immob protection, and get super jump obviously. As a regen boasting integration we have no need for acrobatics.
Medicine :
Of absolutely no use to a regen. You already have good heals.
Presence :
Not very useful, unless you want Intimidate for fear in pvp.
Speed :
Hasten a very useful power, while it cannot be made perma it is still very useful, making your attack chains even faster, and boosting the recharge of your heals. I dont like SS personally, due to all the vertical areas in CoV
Teleportation :
From a pvp standpoint you want this, both for teleport foe and teleport. Teleport foe is one of the best tools you have to pull enemies to you, and teleport is useful as you can perform sneak attacks that a scrapper might have noticed had you run in at him, trying to attempt an AS. However, I find it to be somewhat cumbersome, so you wont get any use of it in actual fights.
Build : This will do you well throughout your career. The lvl 38 power is blank because many people dont choose MoG. By lvl 35 you have all the essentials that a claws/regen needs, so past that is just personal preference and/or Pool Powers.
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Exported from Ver: 1.7.2.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder - (http://home.comcast.net/~SherkSilver/index.html)
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Name:
Level: 38
Archetype: Stalker
Primary: Claws
Secondary: Regeneration
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Strike==> Acc(1)
01) --> Hide==> DefBuf(1)
02) --> Slash==> Dmg(2) Dmg(3) Dmg(3) Acc(5) Acc(5)
04) --> Reconstruction==> Heal(4) Heal(7) Heal(7) Rechg(9) Rechg(9) Rechg(11)
06) --> Assassin's Claw==> Dmg(6) Dmg(11) Dmg(13) Acc(13) Acc(15)
08) --> Build Up==> Rechg(8) Rechg(17) Rechg(19)
10) --> Dull Pain==> Rechg(10) Rechg(23) Rechg(25) Heal(37)
12) --> Placate==> Rechg(12) Rechg(15) Rechg(17)
14) --> Air Superiority==> Acc(14) Dmg(34) Dmg(36) Dmg(36)
16) --> Integration==> Heal(16) Heal(25) Heal(34)
18) --> Focus==> Dmg(18) Dmg(19) Dmg(21) Acc(21) Acc(23) Rechg(34)
20) --> Fly==> EndRdx(20)
22) --> Hurdle==> Jump(22)
24) --> Health==> Heal(24)
26) --> Stamina==> EndMod(26) EndMod(27) EndMod(27)
28) --> Eviscerate==> Dmg(28) Dmg(29) Dmg(29) Acc(31) Acc(31) EndRdx(37)
30) --> Instant Healing==> Rechg(30) Rechg(31) Rechg(33)
32) --> Fast Healing==> Heal(32) Heal(33) Heal(33)
35) --> Hasten==> Rechg(35) Rechg(36) Rechg(37)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Assassination==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
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Closing : Thanks for reading, sorry if I dragged on. Also if anyone would like to comment on anything I have said, or point out something I missed I would be more than happy to change the guide. PM me if you have questions on my build, slotting etc, and for anyone who tries this awesome combo good luck.