EM for Stalkers, the one shot wonder (and PPPs)

Energy Melee: the one-shot wonder (i12).

Hello guys! Since there are no new Stalker guides for energy melee, I wanted to make my own. I have an EM/Nin at 48 and haven't gotten her to 50 (she's over 1 year old) because I'm lazy and I'm currently trying some other Stalker combos. Now bear in mind this is my first guide, so feel free to add criticism to it.

Now, I won't write about the /Nin secondary because you can already find two excellent resources on it: Serp's guide to Nin/Nin and Angry Citizen's guide to DM/Nin. Seriously they both made a great job at analyzing Ninjitsu so I don't need to go over it again, and their guides are up-to-date.

Why Energy Melee?

Energy Melee is a damage powerhouse with great mitigation through Stuns and in PvE teams it will make you take the role of the boss killer, or the most dangerous enemy quickly (like Sappers and Longbow Nullifiers that Brutes loathe). It fits very well with the Stalker's role of being the threat eliminator. It's not the highest DPS set out there, but I feel great pleasure in one-shotting a dangerous mob. Another good strategy is to AS a mob, then using your heavy hitters in two others so you'll leave them with so few HP that the rest of the team can finish off with their AoEs and stuff. Energy Melee is great at nullifying enemies, be it by killing them or leave them incapacitated, or with so few HP that the rest of the team can easily finish them off. It's a great soloing set too.

EM's weakness is that it's a single-target set, that's why depending on the team I'm in, I like to switch targets often, to 'almost' finish mobs off for the team to 'arrest' them. It's also a slow recharging set and quite endurance intensive.

By the way, I'm not a l33t pvp'er, I just show up occasionally on the zones so don't expect this guide to be very useful for PvP.

So, let's get this train rolling by looking at the powers - I'll be using numbers from City of Data and Mid's Hero designer which you can download at cohplanner.com - also I had to load the game up a lot to check out the real numbers in the character creation screen - the damage shown is the base damage the attack does at level 50:

Barrage: available at level 1
Rating:
End cost 3.54, recharge 2s, cast time 1.33 sec, 10% stun chance (mag 2)
Damage: 37.8

Slotting: don't.

This attack stinks. Really, it has no place in a Stalker build, especially with them being so tight. It does less damage than Air Superiority, so you can see how suckstastic this power is. I kinda like the animation (the one-two punch) but that's it. Skip it. Nothing to see here.

Energy Punch: available at level 1
Rating:
End cost 5.2, rech 4s, cast time 0.83 sec, 10% stun chance (mag 2)
Damage: 55.61

Slotting: 2-3 Damage, 1-2 Accuracy, 1-2 Recharge

While not a great attack, it should be your pick for level 1. I use it mostly as a finisher in PvE and it's necessary for you to have something resembling an attack chain until level 26 because it recharges quickly. Better cast time than Barrage and acceptable damage (same as Air Superiority, but Energy Punch has Smashing and Energy damage components). I kinda wish I could get rid of it to loosen my build after I got my patron blast, but between this and Barrage as obligatory picks there's no question.

Bone Smasher: available at level 2
Rating:
End cost 8.53, rech 8s, cast 1.5s, 30% stun chance (mag 3)
Damage: 91.3

Get this at level 2 no matter what secondary you have. Now you start feeling the power of Energy Melee. A solid attack, with a higher chance to stun, can even be used to finish squishies after an AS in the lower level zones (Bloody Bay and Siren's Call). I like the animation as well, but don't rely on its Stun chance too much.

Slotting: 3 Damage, 2 Accuracy, 1-2 Recharge

Assassin's Strike: available at level 6
Rating: (yeah 6 stars, got a problem?)
End Cost 14.4, rech 15s, cast 3s (interruptible for 2s), base Accuracy 90%
Damage: 139 when unhidden, plus 250.25 when hidden
Special: -7.5% to hit debuff and chance to fear the target and nearby enemies

Finally, no more using Bone Smasher when hidden! Get this at level 6, don't argue. Now I'm having some difficulties getting the numbers right for this attack because CoD says one thing, Mid's say another, so I went with the real game numbers in the character creation screen (god writing a guide is tiring).

You'll be using Assassin's Strike almost everytime you're hidden, and even when unhidden - after the GSB (Great Stalker Buff), you can dish out more than Bone Smasher's damage using this while unhidden. Of course it's still interruptible, so it's risky, and even more if your secondary isn't defense-based. Since my Stalkers are /Nin and /EA, I use this quite a lot when unhidden with satisfactory results. Especially on teams when the enemy is not paying attention to you (he probably will be after the AS tho).

Another great thing GSB brought us is that if you miss an AS while hidden, you will remain hidden, so no need to go 'OSHI-' if you miss it.

Energy Melee's AS is nothing to write home about, you crouch and use your pom-poms of death to strike the enemy, so it's kinda lame. But you will smile everytime you land one of these. AS is that good. AS is the main reason heroes jump like mad monkeys in zones.

Slotting: 2 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 1 Recharge (but you'd better frankenslot it with cheap IO sets at level 22ish to get more recharge out of it - 'frankenslotting' is mixing and matching different IO sets to achieve better numbers)

Build Up: available at level 8
Rating:
End cost: 5.2, rech 90s, cast 1.17s
Effect: +20% to hit and +80% damage buff for 10 seconds

Now unlike most other ATs where you get BU at level 20-30, you should get this at level 8. Why? Because it makes your AS ZOMG godly!!!oneelevendyone!!!!!!! Early on, it's a great way to take out tough bosses - Hide, BU+AS+Bonesmasher will kill most targets even at level 8 when you don't have [censored] slotted. Get this NAO!

Slotting: 3 Recharge, 2 To-Hit Buff (if you plan on PvP)

Placate: available at level 12
Rating:
No end cost, rech 90s, cast 1.5s, duration 20.5s, Range 50 ft.

Another obligatory pick at the level it's available. Building a Stalker ain't easy son! Delay your travel power, fitness, whatever, but get this.

Placate puts you in Hidden status for the enemy you're using it on, so that you can follow up with an AS or another attack in case AS is not up. Again, that's a reason why I prefer defensive-based sets - you can Placate a foe and AS him while dodging his fellas trying to hit you in the heat of the battle. Placate will change your playstyle as soon as you get it, because you'll be able to use 'hidden' AS a lot more often.

Just be careful with this power - once you placate an enemy, he will cease to attack you and go for another target, so don't do like my stupid friend who used placate just to escape the longbow warden while my dominator was stunned after using a wakie, the warden went straight to me and killerated my dom. Ideally you will only use Placate to follow up with an AS or another attack (since hidden attacks crit) and only use it as a way to escape when you're solo or in Peeveepee.

Note that Placate accepts Range enhancements should you feel the need to placate from further than 50 ft - I don't think this is useful outside a zone PvP scenario.

Slotting: 2-3 Recharge

Stun: available at level 18
Rating:
End cost 10.2, rech 20s, cast 1.8s
Effect: mag 3 stun for 11.9 seconds.
Damage: 13.9

Stun is a power I'd like to have but I couldn't fit in my build. It doesn't get 3 stars because the cast time is quite long at 1.8s.

After Total Focus was nerfed, from a mag 4 stun to mag 3, having Stun+TF is the only way to reliably stun a boss. Also very useful for squishies in Siren's Call since Acrobatics doesn't prevent Stun and you won't have TF.

I'd say Stun is an useful power, but very skippable if you don't have the room for it.

Slotting: 2 Accuracy, 1-2 Stun, 1-2 Rech

Energy Transfer: available at level 26
Rating:
End cost 10.2, rech 20s, cast 2.67s, base Accuracy 90%, 50% chance of stun (mag 3)
Damage: 253.6

Hell yeah baby! You finally have an attack chain!

This power used to have a ridiculously low cast time, making it overpowered. Now I think the cast time is too long but what can I say? It's still a great power and you will be amazed at its damage when you get it, it will make you weep tears of joy. When you use this attack, you lose some of your hit points, but it's not a big deal. And look at the damage this baby does! Its ZOMGWTHBBQ!!!!one111!

This power doesn't crit in the 'normal' sense - when you get a critical, you only negate the hit point loss. Still an awesome power - the only thing I miss is that now, with the longer cast time, I can't use BU+AS+ET to kill those regen scrappers in Siren's, because while this power is animating with its new loooong cast time, they have time to use reconstruction or some other [censored] to regain their hp. In PvE I don't miss the old animation so much - plus the new one is a big booom - you 'concentrate' energy on your hands and deliver a two-handed blow with the footstomp sound effect and a big asplosion. Still a 5-star power to me, it uses just a little more endurance than Bone Smasher.

Slotting: 1-2 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 1-2 Recharge

Total Focus: available at level 32
Rating:
End cost: 18.5, rech 20s, cast 3.3s, base Accuracy 90%, 100% chance to Stun (mag 3) for 11.9s, just like Stun
Damage: 198

Total Focus is your other big hitter. It uses the Tremor and Thunderstrike animation, you jump with both your hands and deliver a blow in the ground. This power was recently nerfed, it used to be a mag 4 Stun, enough for bosses, but now it's mag 3. That's why it only gets 4 stars now, but it's still a must-have power.

Due to its long activation time, use this power only when you're sure your teammates won't kill the target quickly, and also be careful because if you're low on hp you won't have time to heal and may die while TF is animating. Don't use this to finish a mob that's low on hp.

Total Focus also crits differently - you don't get a 100% damage increase, just 55.6 energy damage is added - meaning a TF crits for about Energy Transfer's damage.

And that concludes the Energy Melee part of my guide. Hope you enjoyed it, I know I did making this guide - although EM has been FoTM for ages, I still see a lot of questions about it, so I hope this helped.

Patron Powers

Patron powers for Stalkers aren't that good - don't expect to see powerboost or anything like that in there - but it has some nice powers.

First, let me say that the snipes are total crap. EIGHT seconds of activation time, you can go make coffee while the power is animating, not to mention they do only a little more damage than the regular blasts, so I won't talk about them. I will also not talk about the pets because no one is as good as say, Mu Guardian from Dominators and they take forever and a day to recharge. The only pet I've heard good things about are the spiderlings from Black Scorpion but 15-minute recharges don't do it for me.

Blasts

1) Dark Blast
End cost 6.5, rech 6s, cast 1s, range 80 ft., tohit -5.6% to target
Damage: 111.2 negative

My blast of choice, I love how it compliments my attack chain (waaah I don't want Energy Punch anymore), plus it does a decent amount of damage and has a tohit debuff. I <3 it.

2) Mu Bolts
End cost 6.5, rech 6s, cast 1.17s, range 80 ft., -7% endurance to target, chance to transfer some end back to you
Damage: 111.2 energy

Red lightning! How can you not like it? Basically the same as Dark Blast, but energy damage, slightly longer cast time and a little end draiing effect. Another solid choice.

3) Mace Blast
End cost 6.5, rech 6s, cast 2s, range 80 ft., chance for knockdown.
Damage 111.2 (energy and smashing)

The bad things about this blast is the cast time (mace redraw) and it's part smashing and energy, like your energy melee attacks. Still a solid choice if you wanna go for Mace's hold (Web Coccon), very popular in PvP.

4) Spirit Shark
End cost 6.5, rech 6s, cast 3s, raange 80 ft., knockback.
Damage 116.8 (DoT, lethal)

Now... This is not very good. 3s cast time, lethal, DoT? Me no likey. Most people that go Mako is for Water Spout anyway.

* Slotting for Blasts: 1-2 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 0-2 Recharge

Holds

All the Patron holds (except Shackles, see below) have an end cost of 10.7, duration of 11.9s and 32s recharge time, meaning they need slotting to be real effective. Soul Storm and Spirit Shark Jaws have a range of 80 ft., Web Cocoon and Electric Shackles have a 60 ft. range. Their cast times vary from 1.87 to 2.17s so no big differences there. Suggested slotting for them is 1-2 Accuracy, 3 Hold, 1-2 Recharge. All them are mag 3 meaning you won't be holding people with Acrobatics or bosses with one application.

Now to the differences:

1) Soul Storm

Standard hold, VERY PRETTY - its damage is DoT, 11 ticks of 6.12, totalizing 67.3 damage.

2) Electric Shackles

The odd duck, since it has the same 32s recharge but only lasts 8 seconds. The end cost is lower (8.58) and it messes with the target's recovery (-100%) and also applies -7% end to the enemy, and may transfer some end back to you. It only does 8.34 energy damage.

3) Web Cocoon

A favorite among PvP'ers, this hold deals no damage - but it has -fly, -jump and slow effects (-40% rech, -40% run speed, -50000% jump height, -10 fly).

4) Spirit Shark Jaws

This hold deals 52 lethal damage in doT form, and the animation rocks - a shark bites you from the ground. It also has a -1.6 fly effect, not as good as the -10 from web cocoon but gets the job done in most cases.

* Slotting for holds - 1-2 Accuracy, 2-3 Hold, 1-2 Recharge

Other powers

1) Water Spout
End cost 26, rech 180s, cast 1.17s, range 60ft
Effects: -15% defense debuff, mag 6.23 knockup, mag 12.5 knockdown, mag 2 stun for 14s, mag 10 afraid effect.
Damage: 481 ticks of 6.67 = 3210

This is the power Mako gets instead of the [censored] snipe. This power has lots of fans since it's autohit and does all kinds of cool stuff, especially to immobilized targets and AVs (players too). I've yet to test it but a water spout is a menacing sight (I've seen it in action a lot of times) and basically people go Mako because of this power and the -fly of the hold.

Ok, next section will be about power pools.

Slotting - 2-3 Recharge or go wild with IO sets.

Pool Powers

1) Fitness

While you can make a Stalker without Stamina, it's not recommended if you like to pve (well unless you're /EA). Maybe not even for pvp because you'd be chasing recovery bonuses when you should be looking for damage buffs and recharge. Also, the Great Stalker Buff made us more than capable of scrapping it out, a playstyle that really benefits from Stamina. I don't see much use in Health other than putting uniques if you can, you could as well go with hurdle and swift for maximum unsuppressed movement.

2) Teleportation

I used a Teleport Build for the longest time, and it was fun on my Em/Nin. The thing is, while I love teleport and I liked it for pve, you'll only pick the noobest of noobs with TP if you go to the pvp zones. If you activate teleport to get near someone and that someone is still there when you arrive, the person is a noob. Nuff said.

3) Speed

Hasten is great for Energy Melee, being a slow recharging set. Not that you'll really need it if you have loads of recharge, except maybe for your godmode to come back faster, but I like it. It lets me AS-Placate-AS when it's on. It will benefit you more at the 20s, when you don't have a real attack chain - the road to 26 (and even to 32) is a bit hard because of the slow recharging attacks, you will go nuts in your 20s with only energy punch, bone smasher and AS.

Superspeed is awesome for Stalkers in PvP because it's the best way of positioning yourself to AS that guy running like crazy in zigzag for an Assassin's Strike. I don't think SS is that great fpr Stalkers in PvE unless you like to stealth papers real fast, so don't sweat it if you can't fit it in.

4) Leaping

Combat Jumping helps your defense, you can slot karma KB protection and kismet accuracy and costs almost nothing to run. Solid choice. Super Jump is a great power for mobility too, both in PvE and PvP.

5) Leadership

If your secondary has no +perception (regen, EA), this is a very interesting pool. Maneuvers is great for /EA for the defense, Assault is always good on a Stalker and Tactics give you +perception and +to hit. My DB/Nin PvE build has all three. Vengeance is great too if you're a team player but Stalker builds are tight.

6) Flight

I can only recommend flight for PvE, it's a cool power after all. You can always get Air Superiority and respec out of it later to round out your attack chain in the early levels, so it's a valid choice. For PvP, there are some fans of flight for Stalkers but I have no idea how they chase targets with it. I won't discuss it here because I'm not qualified to talk a lot about PvP.

7) Concealment

You WILL need Stealth, plus a Stealth IO, along with Hide, to cap your stealth so no one can see you more than 10 feet away in PvP (except the damn VEATs who have a higher perception cap I hear - I was told I could be seen at 200 feet from one of them - nerf VEATs! ). Also, Stealth opens the path to Phase Shift for srs PvPing. I even use Stealth in PvE for the extra defense it provides me, I wish I had 5 slots to use in it for end reduction and defense.

8) Medicine

Well medicine isn't a bad choice for some Stalkers... But you have to analyze your available pools - you probably have fitness, concealment and a travel power - Medicine, while useful for /Elec and /EA, might cost you a valuable power pool.

9) Presence

Srsly no. Only scenario I could see a Stalker getting this is if you're pve'ing with a /EA and need the typed defense provided by the taunt sets (Mocking Beratement iirc). The fear power can be useful in PvP but you'd have to take a taunt first, so no. No no no.

10) Fighting

As I said, Stalker builds are tight, very tight. But this is an interesting pool to pick for a pve stalker - Tough lets you fit the 3% steadfast unique in some secondaries (for ninjitsu just put it in the heal) and you can cap defenses for pve for /EA, /SR doesn't need it due to IOs. Tough might be useful on Regen and Tough/Weave on Willpower too (good luck fitting them in tho).

Build Example

This is the current build for my EM/Nin, focusing on maximizing defense and with the use of stealth:

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1,4006
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Stalkat: Level 50 Mutation Stalker
Primary Power Set: Energy Melee
Secondary Power Set: Ninjitsu
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Concealment
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Energy Punch -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg:40(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx:40(3), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg:40(3), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:40(5), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:40(5), T'Death-Dam%:40(7)
Level 1: Hide -- Krma-ResKB:30(A), Ksmt-ToHit+:30(42), LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(46)
Level 2: Ninja Reflexes -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:50(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg:50(7), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg:50(9), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(9), RedFtn-Def:50(11), RedFtn-EndRdx:50(11)
Level 4: Danger Sense -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:50(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg:50(13), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg:50(13), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(15), RedFtn-Def:50(15), RedFtn-EndRdx:50(17)
Level 6: Assassin's Strike -- Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg:50(A), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(17), Hectmb-Acc/Rchg:50(19), Hectmb-Dmg:50(19), Hectmb-Dam%:50(21), Mako-Dam%:50(50)
Level 8: Bone Smasher -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg:40(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx:40(23), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg:40(23), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:40(25), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:40(25), T'Death-Dam%:40(42)
Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(27), RechRdx-I:50(45)
Level 12: Placate -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(29)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Run-I:50(A)
Level 16: Kuji-In Rin -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(21)
Level 18: Build Up -- GSFC-ToHit:50(A), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx:50(27), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg:50(31), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx:50(31), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx:50(31), GSFC-Build%:50(33)
Level 20: Kuji-In Sha -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(A), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx:50(29), Dct'dW-Heal:50(33), Dct'dW-Rchg:50(34), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg:50(34), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg:50(34)
Level 22: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A), Jump-I:50(46)
Level 24: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:50(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+:40(33)
Level 26: Energy Transfer -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:50(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(36), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:50(37), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(37), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(37)
Level 28: Stamina -- EndMod-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(39)
Level 30: Stealth -- Krma-ResKB:30(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(50), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:50(50)
Level 32: Total Focus -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:50(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(36), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:50(39), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(40), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(40)
Level 35: Blinding Powder -- CoPers-Conf:50(A), CoPers-Conf%:50(36), CoPers-Conf/Rchg:50(42), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg:50(43), CoPers-Acc/Rchg:50(43), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx:50(43)
Level 38: Kuji-In Retsu -- LkGmblr-Def/Rchg:50(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(39), RechRdx-I:50(40), LkGmblr-EndRdx/Rchg:50(45), LkGmblr-Rchg+:40(46)
Level 41: Dark Blast -- Apoc-Dmg:50(A), Apoc-Dmg/Rchg:50(45), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(48), Apoc-Acc/Rchg:50(48), Apoc-Dam%:50(48)
Level 44: Combat Jumping -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 47: Super Jump -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 49: Caltrops -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth:50(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Assassination
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]<ul type="square">[*]19,5% DamageBuff(Smashing)[*]19,5% DamageBuff(Lethal)[*]19,5% DamageBuff(Fire)[*]19,5% DamageBuff(Cold)[*]19,5% DamageBuff(Energy)[*]19,5% DamageBuff(Negative)[*]19,5% DamageBuff(Toxic)[*]19,5% DamageBuff(Psionic)[*]3% Defense(Smashing)[*]3% Defense(Lethal)[*]3% Defense(Fire)[*]3% Defense(Cold)[*]3% Defense(Energy)[*]3% Defense(Negative)[*]3% Defense(Psionic)[*]11,8% Defense(Melee)[*]15,5% Defense(Ranged)[*]5,5% Defense(AoE)[*]77,5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]4% Enhancement(Confused)[*]4% Enhancement(Heal)[*]38% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]5% FlySpeed[*]135,5 HP (11,3%) HitPoints[*]5% JumpHeight[*]5% JumpSpeed[*]Knockback (Mag -8)[*]Knockup (Mag -8)[*]MezResist(Held) 5,5%[*]MezResist(Immobilize) 14,3%[*]MezResist(Terrorized) 2,2%[*]10,5% (0,18 End/sec) Recovery[*]36% (1,81 HP/sec) Regeneration[*]6,3% Resistance(Fire)[*]6,3% Resistance(Cold)[*]5% RunSpeed[/list]


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|)QT\E@F*@1%%B*'&amp;4!$H*)8.21_F`TO\#RY[PX@``|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|</pre><hr />

Note, this is a PvE build. I can use it in Siren's but I'll have no bonuses, that's why Stealth is at 30 - so that I'm at capped stealth. I asked around for a RV/Arena build (which I have no experience at all) and the focus, especially for Arena, is for more damage buffs from IOs, so someone kindly made me a build with better damage (and hella expensive too) in the post below:

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1,4006
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Stalkat 2: Level 50 Magic Stalker
Primary Power Set: Energy Melee
Secondary Power Set: Ninjitsu
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Energy Punch -- Mako-Dmg/Rchg:50(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx:50(3), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:50(3), Mako-Acc/Dmg:50(5)
Level 1: Hide -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), LkGmblr-Def:50(5), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg:50(7), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(7), Krma-ResKB:30(9)
Level 2: Ninja Reflexes -- Krma-ResKB:30(A), RedFtn-Def:50(11), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:50(11), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg:50(13), RedFtn-Def/Rchg:50(13), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:39(15)
Level 4: Danger Sense -- Krma-ResKB:30(A), RedFtn-Def:50(15), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:50(17), RedFtn-Def/Rchg:50(17), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(19), RedFtn-EndRdx:50(19)
Level 6: Assassin's Strike -- Hectmb-Dmg:50(A), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(21), Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg:50(21), Hectmb-Acc/Rchg:50(23), Hectmb-Dam%:50(23), Mako-Dam%:50(25)
Level 8: Build Up -- GSFC-ToHit:50(A), GSFC-Build%:39(9), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx:50(25), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx:50(27), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg:50(27), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx:50(29)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:50(29), RedFtn-EndRdx:39(46), RedFtn-Def:50(48), RedFtn-Def/Rchg:50(50), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(50)
Level 12: Placate -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:40(31)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 16: Kuji-In Rin -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 18: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 20: Kuji-In Sha -- Dct'dW-Heal:50(A), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx:50(39), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg:50(39), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg:50(39), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:50(40), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(46)
Level 22: Health -- Numna-Heal:50(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx:50(48), Numna-Heal/Rchg:50(48)
Level 24: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg:50(A), P'Shift-EndMod:50(40), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg:50(40), P'Shift-End%:50(43), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc:50(43)
Level 26: Energy Transfer -- Mako-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Mako-Dmg/Rchg:50(31), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:50(31), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(33), HO:Nucle(33)
Level 28: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(37), RechRdx-I:50(37)
Level 30: Super Speed -- Run-I:50(A)
Level 32: Total Focus -- Mako-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Mako-Dmg/Rchg:50(33), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:50(34), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(34), HO:Nucle(34)
Level 35: Blinding Powder -- CoPers-Conf/EndRdx:50(A), CoPers-Conf:50(36), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg:50(36), CoPers-Conf/Rchg:50(36), CoPers-Acc/Rchg:50(37)
Level 38: Kuji-In Retsu -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A)
Level 41: Dark Blast -- Apoc-Dmg:50(A), Apoc-Dmg/Rchg:50(42), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(42), Apoc-Acc/Rchg:50(42), Apoc-Dam%:50(43)
Level 44: Stealth -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), RedFtn-Def:50(45), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:50(45), RedFtn-Def/Rchg:50(45), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(46), RedFtn-EndRdx:39(50)
Level 47: Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A)
Level 49: Phase Shift -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I:50(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth:50(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 1: Assassination
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]<ul type="square">[*]30% DamageBuff(Smashing)[*]30% DamageBuff(Lethal)[*]30% DamageBuff(Fire)[*]30% DamageBuff(Cold)[*]30% DamageBuff(Energy)[*]30% DamageBuff(Negative)[*]30% DamageBuff(Toxic)[*]30% DamageBuff(Psionic)[*]3% Defense(Smashing)[*]3% Defense(Lethal)[*]3% Defense(Fire)[*]3% Defense(Cold)[*]3% Defense(Energy)[*]3% Defense(Negative)[*]3% Defense(Psionic)[*]5,5% Defense(Melee)[*]5,5% Defense(Ranged)[*]5,5% Defense(AoE)[*]92,5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]24% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]4% Enhancement(Confused)[*]4% Enhancement(Heal)[*]10% FlySpeed[*]171,7 HP (14,3%) HitPoints[*]10% JumpHeight[*]10% JumpSpeed[*]Knockback (Mag -12)[*]Knockup (Mag -12)[*]MezResist(Immobilize) 18,7%[*]MezResist(Terrorized) 2,2%[*]13% (0,22 End/sec) Recovery[*]38% (1,91 HP/sec) Regeneration[*]8,82% Resistance(Fire)[*]8,82% Resistance(Cold)[*]10% RunSpeed[/list]


<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>| Copy &amp; Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|MxDz;1413;700;936;|
|&gt;-JEE%M/$T$4QV=[H;3=WBS0&lt;B_7%MLNU"=OB0^"":'E8D,TBM2*0UEH%M)=C+S Y`7Q|
|2`D;CF]&gt;OH!_(K^`;GCG_*&lt;9GF_#_[9SYGSEG=F:IO5PTA7AU1QBQN^VFZS;J7K-](#|
|O!6K-E[X1YU/1RUT)"B"$]UZC)MI36DB,[K1,,LMVI1;DK'5=:J[:S;WON&lt;6K9V9,=Z|
|7A6]\%&lt;/SQL6U79/+*=%@;W;,^1KAOA0?U(RN&lt;I?EQV7MBN_&lt;QNV][)X-*1O6-UR]0/|
|C]N-6M/U9.&lt;D2ZW-T=]I6.C?A5_L$2K"UP)L1F"7L\!OL"HM_@F3Y&amp;3PI(,WI_D V5|
|45,ENP!XT$(K$V1"),$P3B#+B,&lt;*LJ%&amp;67V?YD15'5 A)92=BOQ(`$XXRR@MA",#CK4Z|
|&amp;^`I!G#,P!14;V@#=T3EDAG17ZQ#.]WWVJB^Q7'@U]`3XS1KYA#4H)ZP[#&gt;`TC:*V&lt;X|
|"W,H]\*&amp;JV@T7=4*XI:1K3(Y&lt;&lt;4\B)#Z\4P(V(%GEDC&l t;P(E1`+F'G*E="@%USJYTKJ1|
|]!I7F5T!JD"-D5]%=QE#O&lt;T0+=2/+%__)L_,;P!U'!\9,OJ8,V]YR_DWP"GCZCEPQGA|
|/70RB_&lt;`@+LH8+M$8;D]N'[A-"/C%)"T_#+]O&amp;'N;_@=39!C5.QTM&lt;^@#U1C7-&lt;91(X|
|&lt;:$Z@Q@1H3NL9]\D]J_^13;G-J"]@&amp;GC"F&amp;XPZV6?T"&lt;S@1'_YA2CH%0HE=LV5`0N8Q |
|TNH,&amp;+4&lt;U$?11$KE'`+2K@5R&amp;,BY#!1&lt;E 05F6KFLA*TFA!1U:P/L8"5Q^GO2OA$/5|
|P.672%\+=[`&gt;T!$*&amp;4@&lt;_IOX7[\?9K=:&gt;"-"3W42L:GD@1H^5/)(R6,5VU*RK:2AY.*|
|GV&gt;TB&lt;5TU=$/)326WE+Q6II#Z,J)*3"4Q)7$E"25))6DE`TJ&amp;E'Q4&lt;O $';A_G60``|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|</pre><hr />

Well, there it is, my first guide. I hope it's informative and criticism will be more than welcome.

The best part was the link to my guide, but the rest wasn't bad. Nice job.

Just saw this guide. Thanks for the work. Haven't pored over all of it yet, but will. Hopefully this will help me get my EM/Rgn stalker to the point I can enjoy playing him as much as I enjoy my MA/Nin and DM/SR stalkers. I may have just picked the wrong secondary for me, but I'll read this and see if I can come up with improvements on the primary to make him more fun.

RagManX

Thanks for the feedback!

Well Rag Regen is considered a very good secondary for Stalkers.. Very survivable and good to go with EM because you don't need to redraw like a claws, ninja blade, etc. I have no experience with non-defensive sets for Stalkers tho. Maybe I'd miss landing that AS placated with people shooting at me because I wouldn't dodge them, but since EM has more heavy hitters you could always use a critted total focus instead.

Quick update:

1) Mid's was showing critical numbers for the patron blasts, they do half the damage that's listed.

2) Barrage now does base 80 dmg at 50 (more than double the previous number) and recharges in 6 seconds, a good substitute for energy punch for a late respec WHEN you have some recharge and use an epic blast in your attack chain.

Info about the new PPPs in the next version of this guide when I feel like it.

[ QUOTE ]
Quick update:

2) Barrage now does base 80 dmg at 50 (more than double the previous number) and recharges in 6 seconds, a good substitute for energy punch for a late respec WHEN you have some recharge and use an epic blast in your attack chain.

[/ QUOTE ]

I just put up a post about this. Every guide that I read (most were Issue 6) talked about how gimped a power Barrage was. It would seem to have gotten some love since then and isn't nearly the waste of a power that it used to be.

I like how in your description of the powers, you say grab Bone Smasher at level 2, yet both of your builds take Ninja Reflexes at level 2