Shatterblast's Electric Armor Guide for Stalkers
By
Blastor_NA,
Posted on: 2009-04-28 21:15 in Player Guides
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More info to provide in case someone else's idea of Tanking is to be the one more enemies go after:
Brute's Threat Level: 400%
Corruptor: 100%
Dominator: 100%
Mastermind: 200%
Stalker: 200%
Soldier and Widow: 200%
If I understand the threat level's correct (I can't find the posts for it anymore).
A Corruptor would have to do over 4x more damage than the brute to snag agro.
For a Stalker to hold agro they'll need to hold about 2x the damage, which is extremely hard to do as soon as a brute builds fury..
Masterminds throw it off thanks to the pets.
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Even with Foot Stomp at least, I don't see brutes or the few tanks my stalker has teamed with holding pure aggro on everything. I am not trying to prove stalkers as superior to brutes or tanks. How ever, a brute or tank that does nothing is not getting aggro. On occasion, brutes have stolen aggro from any of my Electric Armor stalkers and died there after. My stalker of choice then continues to resume aggro from the bulk of an enemy spawn.
Properly supported and with or without inspirations, I think any "aggro-holder" can tank in my opinion. Several opportunities exist where neither become required.
While I could point out Siphon Life, I don't think of it as necessary. It doesn't define Electric Armor. Rather, Electric Armor helps define it because that it what it does well. The same could be said for Impale and Spirit Shark for PvP.
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Because you reference Dark Melee numerous times previously, with some confusing oddball remarks that didn't make much sense (as pointed out previously)
As well as stated how a dark/electric can tank AV's which is largely going to be because of Siphon Life giving back HP, while debuffing to-hit. None of the other Primaries (except nin blade) are going to really help /electric when it comes to tanking av's or whatever.
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Part of what makes this game interesting to me is the varieties of mitigation available. Many different abilities achieve almost exactly the same results. How ever when put into proper perspective, some abilities arise as better for different scenarios.
Defenses or resists allow the opportunity for a character to not die in a single hit. A "slow" effect though will not prevent an unprotected character from dying in a single hit should an opponent's ability of that magnitude go off. What a "slow" effect allows is more time to react.
A heal might be a little more obvious. Personally, I don't consider a heal as mitigation. Some individuals will. Multiple ways exist to recover a character's health. To me, mitigation includes the effects that preserve a character's health amount. A heal is more like "disaster recovery" or something.
Electric Armor emphasizes the primary in such a way that it becomes more important to consider mitigation from the primary. How ever, I think it is important to not do so at the expense of enjoyment. Offense with built-in mitigation serves better for this purpose. Not every power of every set offers survivability the same, yet each primary has reasonably similar output.
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Once again I'd argue whatever you're doing is NOT tanking, because i'd be willing to bet that as soon as the brutes and masterminds go in and start doing damage the agro goes away.
You were a meat shield, which is a big difference.
But it appears our definitions of tanking are substantially different.
Yours means taking damage and soaking an alpha, and having outside support to be sustained
Mine means taking damage, soaking an alpha, controlling agro to the team, and having a generally self sustainable health if the fight is drawn out. Any outside support for me just makes me even better at what I do.
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I think our views might be very similar.
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Later on you elude to the Awakens being generally for you to give to your team when they face plant. 2 for yourself and 2 for other people. That's great, but unless you've agro'd too many groups or things have gotten seriously out of hand a good TANK is going to keep the agro to themselves.
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For clarity, tanking single spawns is easy. Two or more tends to cause a problem like the need to go overboard on a ship due to flooding. Also, aggro can from many sources. That may include out-of-control pets, an "accidentally" fire snipe, a pre-emptive rain of any kind, and the list goes on.
It's not like people have patience in this game or something. That would be silly! 
Oh wait, that's just me.
Anyhow, multiple spawn pulls go either way. I can't think of anyone tanking that many unless it's someone with Storm. Even then, aggro still spreads.
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And yes Presence pulls agro blah blah blah. That doesn't somehow make /elec a "better" tanking stalker set than /nin or /sr or /ea or /dark or /wp..
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I will say it does better than Willpower in that regard. Willpower does better in other areas.
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My Thugs/pain can tank, heck all my MM's can just by sending their minions in before the rest of the team.
My Db/Stone Brute can tank.
My elec/electric brute generally can't. Relying on powersurge is nice on an AV or whatever situation but not the way I approach every group. Anything witha DoT destroys the electric armor brute, whom has MORE hp than the stalker.
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Electric Armor has that nasty toxic hole. If Power Surge isn't up in PvE, occasionally I have to activate a few of the orange resist inspirations. Those tarantulas with the green legs can almost one-hit kill an Electric Armor stalker without preparation. (And I don't mean Preparation H.)
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Hence why I am posting here. Anyone in the unknown about /elec armor deserves to at least understand that it's not as tanky as you make it out to be, as /elec makes even a brute rather squishy..
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Here comes the DM reference. Sadly enough, my Dark Melee / Electric Armor stalker has out-performed several Electric Armor brutes as well. The advantage of a stalker comes from the need to think more creatively. Oddly enough, the same tools mostly exist the same for both stalkers and brutes. All I can suggest is to please be careful of the toxic hole and use Hibernate and Water Spout in a PvE environment.
On the flip side, I've seen a few Electric Armor brutes just absolutely lay waste to PvE spawns by themselves without focusing on endurance drain. Super Strength / Electric Armor appears like a strong combination for brutes, and it functions well in PvP. An alternative might be Stone Melee / Electric Armor.
Here is an example of a stalker with Spirit Shark. In this case, it might be the shark who has Electric Armor. I am so jealous. 
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I would have liked a more in-depth guide.
Start with the primary set choices and describe how they mesh with Electric Armor. Justice started off with Ninja Blade and Dark Melee, perhaps you can touch on the others.
A detailed look at the powers would be nice. Even though I am familiar with Electric Armor, I'm sure many reading may not. It'd be nice to explain to them what the power does, when it opens up, if you should learn it right away or push it of, etc.
Since you talk about tanking with your Stalker, perhaps you can share your build and show us how it is a good tanking Stalker. Because, as of right now, I am a bit skeptical. If you mean "tanking with a /Pain behind you," then pretty much any AT can tank.
Also, give some helpful advice or tips on how to play an /Elec Stalker well. So far, the only advice you gave is get Phase Shift...which reflects rather poorly on the set as a whole. Based on that, it seems that the only way to live is to AS and Phase. If you're /Elec is IO'd, maybe you can touch on IO strategies and what to focus on.
Rising to the Challenge: Spines/Willpower
But his guide has graphics!
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I would have liked a more in-depth guide.
Start with the primary set choices and describe how they mesh with Electric Armor. Justice started off with Ninja Blade and Dark Melee, perhaps you can touch on the others.
A detailed look at the powers would be nice. Even though I am familiar with Electric Armor, I'm sure many reading may not. It'd be nice to explain to them what the power does, when it opens up, if you should learn it right away or push it of, etc.
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Electric Armor for stalkers tends to be a very simple and quick-minded set. Only Power Surge usually requires a decision.
Guides exist in the forums that cover the available primaries in each of the four melee archetypes excluding dominators. Except for tweaks and class-specific values, set-defining powers mostly keep the same advantages between each class type.
The only thing I haven't mentioned so far is the Lightning Aura of the brute's version. Assassin Strike's "non-aggro" fear aura provides a very good substitute by discouraging incoming attacks from PvE opponents. On the flip side, Lightning Aura encourages incoming attacks at a brute. Stalkers benefit from Lightning Aura's absence in their set version.
For an individual considering the option of a stalker "meat shield" as described by Justice, I would highly suggest Tough and Assassin Strike at minimum. Leading with an Assassin Strike before a battle has begun should produce its fear aura the majority of the time, but waiting too long may not, which may indicate good or bad in perspective.
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Since you talk about tanking with your Stalker, perhaps you can share your build and show us how it is a good tanking Stalker. Because, as of right now, I am a bit skeptical. If you mean "tanking with a /Pain behind you," then pretty much any AT can tank.
Also, give some helpful advice or tips on how to play an /Elec Stalker well. So far, the only advice you gave is get Phase Shift...which reflects rather poorly on the set as a whole. Based on that, it seems that the only way to live is to AS and Phase. If you're /Elec is IO'd, maybe you can touch on IO strategies and what to focus on.
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Does a stalker need Phase Shift even without a heal? No, it is not a requirement. A think any travel power suffices for making a quick escape. Obviously, running into walls by accident and getting lost come up as problems. If you enjoy a specific travel power, you are more likely to make an escape with it.
Phase Shift provides self-rescue in most situations. Sometimes this may get described as "resetting a battle" by different people. While it allows a bit under half of a minute of safety, it doesn't always drop aggro. Aid Self can go together with Phase Shift. I personally don't like Aid Self and prefer to use green healing inspirations, which is why I chose to not mention it.
As for healing from other players, doesn't that come quite randomly? Unless you have a friend, I don't think we can know what tomorrow will bring in that regard though planning helps. 
nice guide
I don't get it, what is this supposed to be a guide to? Do you actually describe or talk about any of the Electric Armor powers, or what they do? You throw out the names of every primary and secondary and the names of a few random powers, but dont say which power goes with which set, or what they do.
And the guide started off so promisingly with yellow-colored titles and everything!
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Shatterblast's Electric Armor Guide for Stalkers
Introduction:
So what we have here is some odd resist set that doesn't really fit in with the lowest health melee in existence of this game. Further more, let us consider that in PvP settings. As such, this guide will focus on both the PvE and PvP concepts around this resist-based set.
Why:
It's different. It has no perception bonus, but it offers a bonus to attack speed if anything. It's difficult to play with yet possibly the easiest at the same time. And if none of that convinces you, I love a fantastic paradox, an irony of sorts if you will.
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Yeah, its obvious you love paradoxes when you say stuff like this:
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I also never took Placate. While a good power, it serves scrapping better. While other play styles may not include the idea of tanking, doing so for the better part interrupts Placate. Taking or breaking an alpha strike means randomly getting hit for the remainder of battle.
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snip
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I have used power pool attacks, the Leviathan pool, Build Up, Placate, and Assassin Strike as the only support for Electric Armor. PvP as an environment brings that necessity. A PvP build still works in PvE. I believe ranged attacks exceed melee in PvP, though melee attacks can still bring the business. I am aware of Thunder Strike for issue 14.
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How did you use Placate if you never took it? Who cares how it serves scrapping or tanking, how does it serve Electric Armor Stalkers?
What do you mean "ranged attacks exceed melee?" You mean they have longer range? Isn't that true for PvE too?
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How to Deal with Frustration:
First of all, this is no weak-willed set. It's like some kind of wild horse that's hard to tame, but if you master it, you might find something stronger than anything else. There will be dying. Not just of your opponents, but of your character as well.
First thing to do is to carry at least four Revive inspirations,
[/ QUOTE ] So, one of the key power choices from Electric Armor is Revives, because youll die a lot with Elec Armor?
Any tips for mastering it? Like, which powers to choose or what to do with them?
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How ever, there are times when escape abilities are beneficial. So we must consider Phase Shift and Hibernate. Hmm, let's think of Phase Shift. If you want to PvP, you will need to pick up Stealth anyways. So do we want to consider Invisibility or Invis Other? Well, Invisibility is weaker than Hide among other reasons. Also, Invis Other might help for those times you want to get accolades so you can make your team mates Invisible while they rush to the bank. Now for Hibernate, why would we want that? Excuse me, I'm dodging a SHARK. I'll let you think on that. Hibernate and Phase Shift don't work together. Also, Phase Shift is 3 minutes for cooldown compared to Hibernate's 4.
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Why in the world are you dodging a SHARK? Ill be thinking on that for a while I guess
So the only powers I need from Electric Armor are Phase Shift, Hibernate, Stealth, and Invis Other? And a bunch of wakies?
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The Business of Tanking with a Stalker:
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Oh, so this isnt actually a guide about Elec Armor, its tips on how to be a squishy tank? Why would I want to tank with a powerset that requires me to be Hibernated or Phase Shifted, or dead and waiting until its safe to Wakie?
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Powers to Take:
And here we are at the conclusion of this guide. Such a long read it was: the journey from one word to another, syllable by syllable, space by space. Who would allow such silliness? I have no idea, but I wrote it anyway.
Take them all. You can skip Stamina with Conserve Power and Power Sink. Properly slotted, Power Sink as an auto-hit power will drain PvE spawns near you down to 40%. That may allow team mates to suck them dry. Lightning Reflexes provides a 20% recharge bonus to EVERYTHING. Grounded is another reason to not take Dark Armor, and it helps much in dealing with energy draining foes like Sappers and a few from the Carnival of Shadows I think.
How ever in PvP, I would consider not taking Power Sink. Power Surge should also be slotted for heavy accuracy if taken in that environment.
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Oh, there you say to Take them all. Yeah, I dont know who would allow such silliness as this guide when you could have just said Take them all and been done with it.
But there you go again with your fantastic paradoxes and unexplained associations of powers and powersets that kept me puzzled through the guide: Grounded is another reason to not take Dark Armor is Grounded a DA power or Elec Armor?
What does Power Sink drain? What is proper slotting of Power Sink?
So much silliness, so little useful information. Is Electric Armor so sucky for Stalkers that its better to not even try Stalking with it?
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So the only powers I need from Electric Armor are Phase Shift, Hibernate, Stealth, and Invis Other? And a bunch of wakies?
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The Business of Tanking with a Stalker:
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Oh, so this isnt actually a guide about Elec Armor, its tips on how to be a squishy tank? Why would I want to tank with a powerset that requires me to be Hibernated or Phase Shifted, or dead and waiting until its safe to Wakie?
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You forgot to add the, Or play with a team that's rounded out with support because a good tank such as an electric armor stalker needs that.
50s:
White Valkyrie - BS/Regen Scrap
Fear of Silence - Ninja/Dark MM
Corporate Zombie - Necro/Poison MM
Ardent Cataclysm - Stone/Fire Tank
Angelic Heart - Peacebringer
Maelstrom - Elec/Elec Brute
Novastar - Energy/Fire Blaster
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Reaching those numbers are quite doable on a stalker of course, even with out Power Surge. Taking Tough and 6 slotting it and every resist-based power of Electric Armor with only the resist type of the Invention category produces good quantities. I have done so, but without Tough. It also required very frequent usage of Power Sink in PvE.
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Why in the hell would you 6 slot Tough?
Folks, save your fingers the trouble of typing. I put in a rather harsh rebuttal to this "guide", letting the OP know just how disappointed I was in the farce, and it got deleted, probably by a mod. Just move along and forget you ever saw this particular thread.
Victory
Schattenbolt - Blaster Elec/Elec/Elec
Pierce Steele - Blaster Arch/MM/Munitions
Paragons of Victory
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Folks, save your fingers the trouble of typing. I put in a rather harsh rebuttal to this "guide", letting the OP know just how disappointed I was in the farce, and it got deleted, probably by a mod. Just move along and forget you ever saw this particular thread.
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They key word to your statement is, "rather harsh"
If you had just given the rebuttal it probably would have stayed.. But I agree this guide doesn't do justice to an electric stalker.
50s:
White Valkyrie - BS/Regen Scrap
Fear of Silence - Ninja/Dark MM
Corporate Zombie - Necro/Poison MM
Ardent Cataclysm - Stone/Fire Tank
Angelic Heart - Peacebringer
Maelstrom - Elec/Elec Brute
Novastar - Energy/Fire Blaster
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Yet more Mis-Information I'd like to correct:
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Brutes have tanker caps but stalker stats for health, defenses and resists by the way.
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Brutes have Tanker Resist Caps 90%
Stalkers max out at 75% (as do scrappers)
ALL At's in the same Defense softcap (45%), however for MAXIMUM possible defense a Brute/Tanker can get up to 225.05%, a stalker can only attain 200.38%
Max HP (ie Capped):
Tankers 3212.7
Scrapper 2409.5
Brute 3212.7
Stalker 1606.4
Health Regen:
Scrapper/Stalker 3000%
Brute/Tanker 2500%
So Brutes are on par with tankers for their caps, and Stalkers are on par with Scrappers for everything except health which is on par with a capped blaster, controller, defender, dominator, corruptor, or mastermind.
But even at their Base stats, Brutes are never on par with a stalker, only the resistances/defenses gained from armors are on par. Health is still higher on a brute (than even a scrapper)
http://cityofheroes.wikia.com/wiki/Limits
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I made the (stalker = scrapper) mistake you made earlier. I have corrected my earlier post and notated it as such. And yes, brutes start out with scrapper numbers on resists, defenses, and health, but after investment or buffs, they can reach tanker caps.