I found it a bit odd at 1st too. Have you ever played any of the "thief" games. I play similar to that with my stalker. Today i had to clear out a lvl and kidnap someone. 1st section had 2 mobs bunched together and 1 mob a short distance away. I scouted ahead to find a suitable place to run to if need be, came back AS'd him, then ran like linford christie on laxatives. I done pretty much the same thing through the whole lvl, analysing the lay out of the mobs, which one was best to attack, which of his mates might see me and chase, if i would be able to take on his mates and survive, and scouting for hidey holes. I'm only just starting to enjoy playing my stalker, largely cos i tried to use him as a scrapper and got a proper kicking. Now that i'm enjoying it more, i think i prefer the challenge of soloing missions.
When i am in a team, i simply hang back, pick the target which is the biggest threat to the team (not necesarily the boss, could be a ranged attacker thats firing off at a fair old rate), attempt to AS then kill them, then run and wait for hide to work again. If the team starts to outnumber the mobs, and i think we will clear up pretty soon, i'll skip the running part and switch to taking the mobs down as fast as i can using regualr attacks.
My MA IDs:
Fiend Space: 211464
Yeah played 1 II and III, also Rogue in BG 1 and 2 and Planescape 
This is my problem though, I find it all very time consuming, In Thief there was a palpable sense of tension, risk vs. reward, in CoV, it manifests it self as a "bit of a pain in the bum"
Regarding teams, last night I was told to Assist the Brute....W TF? Prior to this I was killing the yellow orange and red mobs that were waiting ahead of the team using hit - run - hide techniques which is waht I figure I should be doing...
LOL @ "assist the brute".
I've seen me attack the mobs surrounding the brute, but i still leg it after one or two strikes, sticking around is a recipe for disater IMO.
I agree with the sense of tension in thief, and it would be great if we had that here. Only way to add it would be to give some chance of being caught out while hiding. I still enjoy analysing the layout of the mobs and the zone, i tend to treat it as a puzzle, which is excatly the same way i play the thief games (and Aliens Vs preditor2, those alien missions could be described as stealthy).
Something i've tried in teams is to double assasinate a mob far too big for one stalker. ie. me and another stalker will attempt to AS them at roughly the same time. I've also arranged for a single stalker to attempt an assasination while i tp them out right after it. That hasnt worked so far though, mostly because recal friend has such a long wind up I end up teleporting a corpse :S We agreed it would require expert timing.
My MA IDs:
Fiend Space: 211464
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I agree with the sense of tension in thief, and it would be great if we had that here. Only way to add it would be to give some chance of being caught out while hiding. .
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Yeah its coming in I7....honest :P
Yeah sometimes when I'm doing my MM Schtick, I try to TP folks out of danger, do it to late you get a corpse (that you can rez in relative safety i might add ), do it too early and you get a "...." or a "erm...." now I just let them die, Life is tough deal with it 
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Any advice?
I have become used to steam-rollering through missions with my MM, no faced with soloing my Stalker, I'm finding it a bit awkward.
I am level 12 EM/Ninjitsu, I find it a bit of a chore, kill a few mobs, run away, hide for a minute for aggro to die down, then rinse/repeat.
When I go into a mission, I tend to go straight for the "glowie"/boss, whack'em and then kill a few mobs in that area and exit the mission.
Now I could kill all the mobs and progress naturally through the mission, but my problem lies in the Kidnap/Escort missions, I dont think I could handle an ambush, with any more than 4/5 mobs at a time, or I will get swamped.
Is there any technique I am missing that I could use in these situations, I have Placate, but that only works on one mob for about 10 seconds, just about gives me time to take out 2 others, before they get back into the action.
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Soloing you should be fighting groups of 3 or 4 max. The first one gets an AS. Save the Placate for the last one and use AS on him too. This means you have to scrap enemies number 2 and 3.
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When in a teamed mission, people seem to think a Stalker is like a Scrapper and expect you to stay and go toe-to-toe with a lot of mobs in aggro mode, so I try not to let them down in these situations, but get face plant syndrome more often than I would like.
Maybe it's because i am more used to playing my Scrapper and am not approaching this AT (Stalker), correctly, but any advice on any of the stuff above would be appreciated.
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I do hit and run into the throng. Team play is where hiding in combat becomes effective. Scrapping as a stalker is of less use to the team, get an AS off, kill that enemy and then shed any excess aggro before rehiding and doing it again.
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Regarding teams, last night I was told to Assist the Brute....W TF? Prior to this I was killing the yellow orange and red mobs that were waiting ahead of the team using hit - run - hide techniques which is waht I figure I should be doing
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Assist the brute, haha, you might as well not bother fighting. Brutes rip through enemies like buzzsaws, giving you no chance to use your unique abilities. I generally stick to the spawn my team is fighting but go for the hard and irritating targets. On some large teams this can be bad as nothing lasts long enough...
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
Just a little note, I remember there might have been some bug originally that made the stalker get a lot of aggro after using AS - well I certainly have not noticed anything with my just-started stalker.
Soloing one of my missions, theres for example 4 mobs in front of me. I circle so that I approach them from behind their backs, and then AS the closest one. The next one turns and aggroes me, but the other two continue staring to the distance regardless of being just about 7 feet away from me. Apparently line of sight has some meaning in this game. More often than not I have managed to avoid aggroing extra mobs by placing my approach carefully. I do hope that they'd make the mob spawns a bit more dispersed..
What Unthing says!
When soloing start with the biggest mob. If there are two lieutenants and a minion, As the lieut, scrap the minion, placate the second lieut.
Also think about any secondary effects your attacks might have. I regularly use the immobilise effect of Impale to keep a mob out of the immediate combat (get out of line of sight so his friends come to you - as you finish them the immobilised mob usually comes round the corner.
In teams don't feel bad about not staying to scrap. I'd think that most teams would prefer you popping up every 10 seconds to take out the bosses and lieutenants, rather than spending five minutes scrapping to take out a minion.
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In teams don't feel bad about not staying to scrap. I'd think that most teams would prefer you popping up every 10 seconds to take out the bosses and lieutenants, rather than spending five minutes scrapping to take out a minion.
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That's possibly one of the best pieces of advice you can have for a stalker. By the time you scraped with your regular attacks, your AS would recharge and you can deal so much more damage by that time.
Don't be afraid to hit and run, that's what stalkers do, you're not a scrapper.
Got my fastest mission complete ever with a stalker..
Take out Ghost Witch from Doctor Boco - Enter map, run to Ghost Witch - Open Crate - Build Up / Assassin Strike - Mission complete
Easiest XP ever
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What Unthing says!
When soloing start with the biggest mob. If there are two lieutenants and a minion, As the lieut, scrap the minion, placate the second lieut.
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This doesn't always apply. It's not worth going after the biggest enemy in a group soloing if you can't take him to low enough hitpoints to scrap him to death easily. The aim is to reduce each spawn to 1 enemy. Once you are facing a single enemy they have no chance unless they are a particularly danagerous Boss or better due.
So when against Spectral Daemons ( who have a large resistance to Spines ) I always would go for a minion in a group of 2 rather than an Lt as I can almost kill the minion ( how embarassing ) with an AS and then scrp him to death. Placate then goes on the Lt with an AS and then scrap until placate is back on.
Generally a stalker is more a tactical meleer than a scrapper, whilst fighting you need to be able to alter your tactics to suit the situation.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
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Generally a stalker is more a tactical meleer than a scrapper, whilst fighting you need to be able to alter your tactics to suit the situation.
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With my experiences playing a stalker I've found this to very much be the case (especially as I left out stamina and have to juggle my defense toggles depending on the type of combat I'm in). After you've fought a type of enemy a few times, you get to know which ones need to die first. I have to say though I've not found my stalker to be as squishy as I expected, there are times when I've managed to go toe to toe with 5 or 6 +1s and come out of the fight still standing (I also had fun trying to tank Calystix, and probably would have succeeded if it wasn't for those pesky golems).
I think probably one of the more important skills you need to pick up is judgement of what a situation will require before you engage in it. Hesitations during a fight could have a big say in the outcome.
As for things like kidnapping missions, remember when an ambush hits you, running away hiding and then attacking them on your terms is a valid option. The person you're kidnapping may think they've lost you for a moment but they'll follow you again when you return.
As far as teaming goes, I've not had a great deal of experience in this, one tip I can give however (more from observing stalkers when I've been teaming with them) is not to get the alpha hit unless you have a good escape plan.
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So when against Spectral Daemons ( who have a large resistance to Spines )
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Really? 
I'd not registered spectral daemons as being particularly more difficult for my spines stalker than for other heroes/villains I've played. I'm pretty sure that the lieutenant versions of spectral demons go down with a build up - AS - Impale combo, but could be wrong. I'll have to test that tonight 
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So when against Spectral Daemons ( who have a large resistance to Spines )
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Really? I'd not registered spectral daemons as being particularly more difficult for my spines stalker than for other heroes/villains I've played. I'm pretty sure that the lieutenant versions of spectral demons go down with a build up - AS - Impale combo, but could be wrong. I'll have to test that tonight
[/ QUOTE ]They have high smash/lethal/dark resistance, but stalkers usually have so high damage that foes go down fast even with resistances.
I've reached lvl 24 with my stalker the other day, and there's only a little advice I can give you, and something you'll probably have picked up when playing anyway. Everyone I've heard from here say that it's a tight build for the first 20 lvls, deciding on which powers to go with. Personally, when I took the chance, I made sure I got A Stike ASAP, Placate ASAP, and Build Up ASAP. Between these three moves, you've got quite a set to start an attack. If faced with two guys, you're laughing. If three or more, I would generally get behind the hardest guy, use build up, AS to make sure he's down, have my next target already lined up with Placate, then use a strong attack. At the minute, I'm using focus slotted with damage, and I can pretty much make sure he's dead after that attack hits too. With one guy left, you'll make short work of him. If there's more, whittle it down to one guy.
ANother piece of advice though. If you get the chance, partner with a dominator. Your attacks have a chance of being critical if the minion is held.
A big thank you to all who contributed advice
I put into practice all suggestions, last night, and simply tore through missions, no shortcuts or anything
I learned alot about mob placement/patterns that I never noticed before and how to use these to my advantage.
I was unfortunate enough not to get a team last night and if I hadn't had the advice given above, i think I ould have found it pretty frustrating.
Taking out an Orange and two Yellows, or three Yellows, (grouped in close proxinity), in seconds, made for a very satisfying series of missions.
Thanks again
The only thing better than a stalker is two stalkers ;-) If you're on Union, give me a tell, I'd be happy to run through some missions with ya!
Mercury Pain - Lvl 24 Stalker
ps If you're gonna go hunt in Siren's Call or Bloody Bay, one quick suggestion - get resilience. The standard technique for many against Stalkers are to use Hold powers, and beat ya to a pulp. Resilience means you're very unlikely to be held or immobilised, giving you a chance for quick escape. But always take a "Break Free" just in case. 
Thanks for the offer Symposium, I'm on Defiant though
I was on a mission with 7 Stalkers the other night and it was pretty amazing
Thanks for the tips on PvP, my reason for the Stalker was precicely for taking part in PvP while waiting for the level cap to be raised to 50 for my MM (which IMO, isn't a very effective PvP build).
I'll check out Resilliance tonight as I should be 14 shortly and I can get it then
Thanks again all
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Just a little note, I remember there might have been some bug originally that made the stalker get a lot of aggro after using AS - well I certainly have not noticed anything with my just-started stalker.
Soloing one of my missions, theres for example 4 mobs in front of me. I circle so that I approach them from behind their backs, and then AS the closest one. The next one turns and aggroes me, but the other two continue staring to the distance regardless of being just about 7 feet away from me. Apparently line of sight has some meaning in this game. More often than not I have managed to avoid aggroing extra mobs by placing my approach carefully. I do hope that they'd make the mob spawns a bit more dispersed..
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Interesting, I've found the exact opposite. I'll have to look more carefully at what I'm doing. I was wondering if they'd increased the aggro range, I find it extremely tough to kill one mob in a room without the whole room being instantly aggroed. Even mobs standing yards away facing in the opposite direction instantly turn around and start attacking. I'll have to scout ahead and see if I can find a better approach angle and see if it helps.
Have you noticed (and this one is annoying) how police mobs in bank raids chase you to the door and hang around waiting inside. As soon as you go back in, even fully stealthed, they attack. Takes the meaning of hit and run to a whole new plane. Put one down, click on door. Wait outside for health to recover. Go back in, instantly get pounded on. Repeat. Bit boring to be honest. What use is all that stealth when they can see right through it?
I am finding my stalker fun in PvE though, a bit exasperating sometimes but still fun to play. Maybe because it needs whole new approach to playing the game.
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Interesting, I've found the exact opposite. I'll have to look more carefully at what I'm doing. I was wondering if they'd increased the aggro range, I find it extremely tough to kill one mob in a room without the whole room being instantly aggroed. Even mobs standing yards away facing in the opposite direction instantly turn around and start attacking. I'll have to scout ahead and see if I can find a better approach angle and see if it helps.
Have you noticed (and this one is annoying) how police mobs in bank raids chase you to the door and hang around waiting inside. As soon as you go back in, even fully stealthed, they attack. Takes the meaning of hit and run to a whole new plane. Put one down, click on door. Wait outside for health to recover. Go back in, instantly get pounded on. Repeat. Bit boring to be honest. What use is all that stealth when they can see right through it?
I am finding my stalker fun in PvE though, a bit exasperating sometimes but still fun to play. Maybe because it needs whole new approach to playing the game.
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Hmm, makes me wonder if theres a powerset-related bug present. I have ninja blade and certainly have no trouble soloing my stalker (tad boring yes, but that was not the point ). Bank raids (those with "defeat security to escape") have ambushes and thats a different ballgame. Recommend doing those with a team. Equally annoying soloing them with a MM as well.
Being the idiot that I am, I tend to solo mostly, and as a stalker, I have never had problems with running from mobs, because when I attack a cluster of them, I damn straight clear it out. Resting after, yeah, perhaps, maybe, but not in the middle of them. I couldn't dream of running.
Compared to other MMO's stalker type character, the CoV is versatile and equal to the DAoC assasins (in my opinion), which makes it good at what you call it, hmm, scrapping?
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Interesting, I've found the exact opposite. I'll have to look more carefully at what I'm doing. I was wondering if they'd increased the aggro range, I find it extremely tough to kill one mob in a room without the whole room being instantly aggroed. Even mobs standing yards away facing in the opposite direction instantly turn around and start attacking. I'll have to scout ahead and see if I can find a better approach angle and see if it helps.
Have you noticed (and this one is annoying) how police mobs in bank raids chase you to the door and hang around waiting inside. As soon as you go back in, even fully stealthed, they attack. Takes the meaning of hit and run to a whole new plane. Put one down, click on door. Wait outside for health to recover. Go back in, instantly get pounded on. Repeat. Bit boring to be honest. What use is all that stealth when they can see right through it?
I am finding my stalker fun in PvE though, a bit exasperating sometimes but still fun to play. Maybe because it needs whole new approach to playing the game.
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Hmm, makes me wonder if theres a powerset-related bug present. I have ninja blade and certainly have no trouble soloing my stalker (tad boring yes, but that was not the point ). Bank raids (those with "defeat security to escape") have ambushes and thats a different ballgame. Recommend doing those with a team. Equally annoying soloing them with a MM as well.
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My stalker is a lvl 13 EM/Regen and I don't have any troubles with the aggro range of AS.
I can do that thing you described earlier without any problems Hammerfall...
And ambushes are indeed annoying!
Any advice?
I have become used to steam-rollering through missions with my MM, no faced with soloing my Stalker, I'm finding it a bit awkward.
I am level 12 EM/Ninjitsu, I find it a bit of a chore, kill a few mobs, run away, hide for a minute for aggro to die down, then rinse/repeat.
When I go into a mission, I tend to go straight for the "glowie"/boss, whack'em and then kill a few mobs in that area and exit the mission.
Now I could kill all the mobs and progress naturally through the mission, but my problem lies in the Kidnap/Escort missions, I dont think I could handle an ambush, with any more than 4/5 mobs at a time, or I will get swamped.
Is there any technique I am missing that I could use in these situations, I have Placate, but that only works on one mob for about 10 seconds, just about gives me time to take out 2 others, before they get back into the action.
When in a teamed mission, people seem to think a Stalker is like a Scrapper and expect you to stay and go toe-to-toe with a lot of mobs in aggro mode, so I try not to let them down in these situations, but get face plant syndrome more often than I would like.
Maybe it's because i am more used to playing my Scrapper and am not approaching this AT (Stalker), correctly, but any advice on any of the stuff above would be appreciated.
Thanks