EM is okay. It's nothing special, and is eclipsed by DM in mitigation and damage. It has the second best damage type of the stalker primaries, which gives it somewhat of an edge against s/l primaries, but it's still overly nerfed.
The new form of Barrage isn't bad. Depending on your level of recharge, yes, Energy Punch is good to have, especially in the low levels.
Doom.
Yep.
This is really doom.
I have an EM/Nin at 33 right now. Very interesting and fun to play. Extreme burst damage and good stuns are the major bonuses of EM. Its great at what stalkers are great at, taking out a high threat enemy..fast..very fast. 
Barrage and E punch are still very useful IMHO.
The development team and this community deserved better than this from NC Soft. Best wishes on your search.
The last time I checked Red Tomax's site the Stalker version of EM had lower stun chances on most attacks than other ATs that get EM. Can anyone confirm that's true? In the past I've presumed it was a PvP balance thing, but with EM being nerfed and PvP reworked, I wonder if it wouldn't be worth trying to get Stalker EM brought up to match other versions.
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The last time I checked Red Tomax's site the Stalker version of EM had lower stun chances on most attacks than other ATs that get EM. Can anyone confirm that's true? In the past I've presumed it was a PvP balance thing, but with EM being nerfed and PvP reworked, I wonder if it wouldn't be worth trying to get Stalker EM brought up to match other versions.
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It's definately true - EM's stuns were nerfed out of the box for Stalkers and haven't been touched since.
And not that it's common knowledge, but once you account for the frequency of the server ticks (.132 seconds) and the effect it has on when you can activate powers, Bone Smasher is a slightly higher DPA than Energy Punch.
You can have a decent chain with Energy Transfer -> Bone Smasher -> Total Focus -> Bone Smasher with 216% recharge in TF, 191% in ET, and 176% in BS; if you're going to use damage procs to boost it you'll want faster animating attacks but those are the three highest DPA attacks in EM.
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Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
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I'd stay with Energy Punch until you get an epic blast or some good +global recharge, then switch to Barrage. EP is essential on a low-level build.
Would it be better now to skip Energy Transfer since it's slow and it can't critical on Stalker?
So you go with Energy Punch, Barrage, Bone Smash and TF?
Or, I am gimping myself a lot for not taking ET?
By the way, not sure if Hero Builder is messed up but how come Barrage's stun duration is only 0.3s??
What's left is to normalize all Assassin Strikes and improve Stalker's old sets (Claw, MA and EM)! You don't need to bring back the missing PbAoE attack. You just need to make the existing ones better! For example, make Slice a WIDER and LONGER cone.
If you like the animation and want the harder hitting, slower recharging attack, then by all means take Barrage.
But...
*** Warning: Personal Preference Ahead ***
Barrage is the lowest DPA of the attacks in EM, even after the damage increase (Stun isn't an attack in my mind). If you're building towards having an attack chain, it's still not worth it.
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Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
|
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If you like the animation and want the harder hitting, slower recharging attack, then by all means take Barrage.
But...
*** Warning: Personal Preference Ahead ***
Barrage is the lowest DPA of the attacks in EM, even after the damage increase (Stun isn't an attack in my mind). If you're building towards having an attack chain, it's still not worth it.
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Barrage has been increased to 6s recharge right? Its activation is 1.33s. Is it that bad? Bone Smasher is 1.5s. If DPA matters that much, shouldn't I just take Barrage and Energy Punch and use TF during Hidden?
I think Bone Smasher has better stun chance right?
What's left is to normalize all Assassin Strikes and improve Stalker's old sets (Claw, MA and EM)! You don't need to bring back the missing PbAoE attack. You just need to make the existing ones better! For example, make Slice a WIDER and LONGER cone.
[ QUOTE ]
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If you like the animation and want the harder hitting, slower recharging attack, then by all means take Barrage.
But...
*** Warning: Personal Preference Ahead ***
Barrage is the lowest DPA of the attacks in EM, even after the damage increase (Stun isn't an attack in my mind). If you're building towards having an attack chain, it's still not worth it.
[/ QUOTE ]
Barrage has been increased to 6s recharge right? Its activation is 1.33s. Is it that bad? Bone Smasher is 1.5s. If DPA matters that much, shouldn't I just take Barrage and Energy Punch and use TF during Hidden?
I think Bone Smasher has better stun chance right?
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Bone Smasher has the higher stun chance, higher damage, and higher DPA* when compared to either Energy Punch or Barrage.
It's also got the higher recharge (8 seconds).
Personally on my EM Stalker I went with Energy Punch and Bone Smasher, the obvious choice at 6 of Assassin's Strike, then used veteran attacks to fill as needed until level 26. Yes, Energy Transfer is a lot slower, but it's still the best DPA attack in EM.
* - once you account for the fact that the game will only let you fire a power every 0.132 seconds, so there's always going to be at least that much dead time between one power ending and the next firing; in-game numbers will show EP having higher DPA than BS.
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Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
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Well, dang.
Why didn't this little tidbit come up sooner? You know, like before I rolled up the character, and choose Barrage?
Oh well, now the question: to reroll, or just tough it out and use a Freespec when I hit Port Oakes?
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I have an NG stalker not really worth it any more... doesn't do the burst damage for PVP anymroe... and PVE doesn't really have any kind of mitigation or aoe to help with Spawns... I have not been able to play my stalker ever since they did there "FIX".
Triumph
Gavalin Kingsbury LVL 50 INV/SS Tank and 26 other LVL 50 heroes and villians (all Triumph)
Heroes of Justice and Liberty/Loved or Loathed
"NCSOFT doesn't fork for anyone but they might spoon you if they like you"
I'm really enjoying my EM/Nin stalker.
The development team and this community deserved better than this from NC Soft. Best wishes on your search.
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I'm really enjoying my EM/Nin stalker.
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I actually deleted mine after my ElM/Nin passed her in levels to free up the spot on the server.
I've since made an EM/WP Stalker on a different server, though.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
|
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
|
I still think the set is decent. When I play stalkers I mostly care about burst damage in pve anyways. The set works good for me. I think everyone cried over nothing on the ET nerf. So what if it takes you a few extra seconds to kill something you still can take out bosses pretty fast compared to the other sets. I look at things not in DPS but more so in what takes the least about of button clicks to kill something. Personally though if you going with */nin try to softcap when you can then go for extra recharge so ET and TF is up as much as possible.
Bump and Grind Bane/SoA
Kenja No Ishi Earth/Empathy Controller
Legendary Sannin Ninja/Pain Mastermind
Entoxicated Ninja/PSN Mastermind
Ninja Ryukenden Kat/WP Scrapper
Hellish Thoughts Fire/PSI Dominator
Thank You Devs for Merits!!!!
I'm intending to roll up a /Ninjutsu Stalker. Looking at the options, I want to know how Energy Melee works for a PvE Stalker? I know it remainls lacking in AoE attacks (to say the least), but the only guids seem to be from before the Energy Melee changes.
Is the new form or Barrage useful to have?
If so, will I need to pick up Energy Punch to fill out an attack chain?
Thanks for any tips!
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