My DB/Nin is level 34 now and is a lot of fun to play. At 18, you're in that awkward stage where you're still fighting with END problems, lack of SOs, and limited enhancement slots. Stick with it, and you'll see some major improvements at around level 22 or so.
At 18, I'd taken Power Slice, Ablating Strike, Assassin Blade, and Vengeful Slice, all good powers that will be useful to you throughout your career.
I'd recommend you give it a few more levels, as no build performs up to expectations in the hgih teens.
Please try my arcs:
Arc# 63910 "Why Do Bad Girls Like Bad Boys?" (length=Long, levels 40+)
Arc# 401500 "How to Be a Successful Professional Criminal" (length=Very Long, levels 1-10)
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I'd recommend you give it a few more levels, as no build performs up to expectations in the high* teens.
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This, but in any situation you should have all of your def toggles as early as possible.
Here's a build I quickly put together. It's not my best but I think it'd preform quite nicely in PvE out of the box sort of thing.
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]
Level 50 Natural Stalker
Primary Power Set: Dual Blades
Secondary Power Set: Ninjitsu
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Nimble Slash -- Empty(A), Empty(3), Empty(7), Empty(34), Empty(34), Empty(43)
Level 1: Hide -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Ninja Reflexes -- Empty(A), Empty(3), Empty(5), Empty(15), Empty(19)
Level 4: Ablating Strike -- Empty(A), Empty(5), Empty(7), Empty(15), Empty(33), Empty(42)
Level 6: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 8: Assassin's Blades -- Empty(A), Empty(9), Empty(9), Empty(13), Empty(33), Empty(42)
Level 10: Danger Sense -- Empty(A), Empty(11), Empty(11), Empty(13), Empty(19)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- Empty(A)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Empty(A)
Level 16: Kuji-In Rin -- Empty(A), Empty(17), Empty(17)
Level 18: Health -- Empty(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- Empty(A), Empty(21), Empty(21)
Level 22: Build Up -- Empty(A), Empty(23), Empty(23)
Level 24: Placate -- Empty(A), Empty(25), Empty(25)
Level 26: Vengeful Slice -- Empty(A), Empty(27), Empty(27), Empty(34), Empty(36), Empty(46)
Level 28: Kuji-In Sha -- Empty(A), Empty(29), Empty(29), Empty(31), Empty(33)
Level 30: Hasten -- Empty(A), Empty(31), Empty(31)
Level 32: One Thousand Cuts -- Empty(A), Empty(36), Empty(36), Empty(37), Empty(37), Empty(43)
Level 35: Blinding Powder -- Empty(A), Empty(37), Empty(39), Empty(39), Empty(39)
Level 38: Kuji-In Retsu -- Empty(A), Empty(40), Empty(40), Empty(40), Empty(42), Empty(43)
Level 41: Zapp -- Empty(A), Empty(50)
Level 44: Ball Lightning -- Empty(A), Empty(45), Empty(45), Empty(45), Empty(46), Empty(46)
Level 47: Summon Adept -- Empty(A), Empty(48), Empty(48), Empty(48), Empty(50), Empty(50)
Level 49: Super Speed -- Empty(A)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Assassination
DB/Nin is the ONLY stalker I've stuck with to 50.
The beauty of the DB set with the survivability of Nin helped. True pre 20 you're gonna find the road bumpy.
DB can be pretty AoE intense. The Weaken Combo which is Sweeping Strike > Power slice > 1K cuts can hit so many targets. Wait for the Brute/tank to herd up a room and let her rip! The Dmg of the set is very light and DoT. I find sometimes fights lasting ALOT longer than I want but I've built my stalker to scrap...and have done quite well solo'ing a handful of EB's and an AV.
For Nin, the heal is so useful cause I was only able to manage low 30's when talking about my defense percents. I'll get hit but I can heal up and stay swinging. Also the powers people tend to skip (Blinding Powder, Smoke Flash) help when the Sh*t hits the fan. I've successfully ran from a teamwipe via Smoke flash and giggle as I holler to myself "Ninja Vanish!"
I also went via Ghost Widow's parton pool and picked up Shadow Meld. A MoG wannabe which give ya Elude like defense for 15 seconds. Good for running or to start a AV fight with or to retoggle after a tier 9 crash.
@Absolut. and @Absolut-
Liberty Server's own Liquor Store Owner.
Way to many 50's to list here...and adding....
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I also went via Ghost Widow's parton pool and picked up Shadow Meld. A MoG wannabe which give ya Elude like defense for 15 seconds. Good for running or to start a AV fight with or to retoggle after a tier 9 crash.
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I was really excited about Shadow Meld until I saw how easy it was for a */Nin stalker to cap all positions. With Hide, CJ, and the two def toggles I'll be a little over in all 3 positions, so Meld would only help against +tohit or -def situations. Went with shark mastery instead for Hibernate, figuring it is a better panic button.
Thanks for the input, guys. I'm still a bit new, so some of the acronyms are a bit over my head, but I get the gist of it.
Hey guys. I'm new to the game so excuse me if I'm asking stupid questions. I've browsed around these forums a bit getting some idea of how to best play my stalker. Ive seen several discussions on some of the favored builds but I've not seen any mention of my build, specifically Dual-Blades. I have a level 18 D-B/ Ninj Stalker. Is D-B a poor build? Should I start a new one before I spend too much more time on it. It's a blast to play but the damage is a bit underwhelming outside of Assassin Strike and I'm pretty squishy (although, admittedly, I haven't really picked up any defensive abilities yet). Any suggestions would be appreciated.