Couple of questions re- Placate and Concealment.
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1) Lots of people here seem to think Placate is a must-have power, but I'm unclear as to exactly what it does or how to actually use it in practice (ok, I admit it, I'm stupid) Could anyone explain to me exactly what placate does/how it should be used please?
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Placate restores your "Hidden" status - allowing you to strike for a critical, or use your Assassin attack at full capability again.
Hide > Buildup > Assassins X > Placate > Most Damaging Attack will be your staple use to take out the biggest threat in a group and will decimate nearly anything.
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2) I understand that there are various forms of concealemnt, main ones I'm aware of that seem most relevant to stalkers appear to be - Hide (naturally) Stealth and Invis, plus I believe Super Speed also has a stealth component? So, do all these stack with each other if used together - i.e. is a Hidden, Stealthed/Invisible Super Speeding stalker any harder to spot (say for snipers or other mobs with improved perception) than one with just the basic Hide running? Also, do the defence bonuses stack?
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Yes, though I am not sure of specifics - Hide, Stealth/Invis plus SS will stack multiple layers of invisibility and render you nigh on impossible for any PvE mob to see. Snipers may still see you though - that would need to be tested as I'm not sure what their Perception bonus is.
Placate is an anti-taunt, the 1 target u use the power on cant attack you for 8 seconds after you activate it, it also puts you back in hide, so u can AS or Crit your next attack on the target, but, the other mobs will be able to attack you, so sometimes its uselful to placate the fow doing the most dmg to you.
as for the concealment, ss gives slight concealment in pve, but not so much pvp, and taking steath does stack on hide as does the defence bonus but the stealth only increases your visability at long range, as u get closer, it gets less effective, same rule for pvp, so yeah it stops snipers seeing you, at a distance, not close range, not sure about invis, ive never seen any1 use it but i guess u would be undetectable to npcs.
Hope that helps
1 as the posters before have said it does rehide you and remove you from the npc agro list for a short time so they can not see you.
TBH if your just PVE'ing stealth or invis will not be worth taking (stealth and invis DO stack with hide so do the defence bonus) as hide will give you all the concealment that you would need but no amount of stealth will make you invisable to certain mobs types like rikti drones or nemesis snipers
Defiant's GoEH/MILITIS METUS
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1 as the posters before have said it does rehide you and remove you from the npc agro list for a short time so they can not see you.
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Thanks for all the replies, and sorry if I'm still being dense here, but Placate is just single target, yes? So, unless I'm only up against a single target (has never happened and don't ever expect it to) I still can't see how it's useful to me personally because anyone (everyone) else aggro'd and not Placated will still be wailing on me and interrupting my AS? ...and wail on me they will - because as a solo, there IS no one else for them to attack! ...or am I still not understanding what you're all saying about how Placate works?
My current tactic is to AS the big guy, and if that doesn't floor him maybe get in an extra hit or two on him whilst Build Up is still running. Then (unless I think I can handle it from there) I beat feet big time using super speed before the main mans mates batter me into a greasy spot. Has worked well so far, and I can't see how placate would improve matters for me. Though if it could, I'd love to hear the specifics.
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TBH if your just PVE'ing stealth or invis will not be worth taking (stealth and invis DO stack with hide so do the defence bonus) as hide will give you all the concealment that you would need but no amount of stealth will make you invisable to certain mobs types like rikti drones or nemesis snipers
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Yup, solo PvE only for me, so all other considerations are moot. Great, and thanks again, this is exactly the info I needed - I was hoping that enough stacked concealments might fool snipers and Rikti drones, sadly, seems like a no-go. Least I know now. 
I'm still considering stealth/invis for when I'm ghosting missions - just recently I'd got to the target without touching any other mobs and then my AS missed. Oops - no worries, I'll run away. Or not. I got nailed by mobs I'd bypassed to get to the target, who spotted me even with superspeed running (my hidden status hadn't yet returned obviously, nor did I have time to wait for it as the guy I'd failed to AS and his crew were in hot pursuit)
This isn't an isolated occurrence, and in fact these sort of situations are the only times I've faceplanted solo.
So in the case of a bungled AS and immediate withdrawal, I'm wondering if running stealth permanently with my existing superspeed (or better still full invisibility, if I can toggle it fast enough) would make it easier for me to escape past existing (previously un-aggro'd) mobs? - or would it make no difference?
Final thought - I'm also considering taking Stealth, and possibly Combat Jumping for their defence bonuses (and I kind of want Super Jump as well) I know they are only small bonuses, but I'm Regen so I currently have pretty much no defence adds at all once my hide gets voided by me attacking. Also, apart from possibly Placate, there are no other powers yet available to me that I really want/need, so I figured any extra defence, even a little, has got to be an improvement? I'd value your opinions.
I solo a lot too and I think Placate is very useful. As you increase in levels and the difficulty of your missions you'll come across harder elite bosses. I find it a great tactic to AS the minions around the boss one at a time, running away inbetween each if necessary (usually very necessary when you have an elite boss pounding on your squishy head), finally returning for the big elite boss (probably a scaled down AV or Hero). Once all the minions are gone you can use Build Up, Assassin Strike, and then Placate and with Hasten running you can usually kill them in relative safety by repeated AS and Placates.
Also in normal battles its very useful as has been said to be able to Build Up, AS, Placate, and then hit the same enemy again with your biggest attack for the critical damage and still with Build Up. This will drop most bosses where a standard Build Up, AS, normal attacks would let them get a hold or stun etc on you.
Placate is a great power for PvE solo and teams, and PvP so I've been told.
Useful post from castle on the US site:
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Placate (the power) has a couple of effects.
First, it applies Placate (the effect) to a single target. Any target that has the Placate effect on it cannot target the person who used the Placate.
Second, it applies a 'Hide Like' state, which is neither Hide, nor Stealth. It does allow for Stalker powers critical's, however.
It does not give any Defense bonus at all.
Other powers which can Placate (Smoke Flash) only apply the First part. The Hide like stat is not granted at all -- in other words, it is 100% defensive, not a Set Up power.
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I really should do something about this signature.
Okey doke, I get it now - he CAN be taught! - thanks all.
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Thanks for all the replies, and sorry if I'm still being dense here, but Placate is just single target, yes? So, unless I'm only up against a single target (has never happened and don't ever expect it to) I still can't see how it's useful to me personally because anyone (everyone) else aggro'd and not Placated will still be wailing on me and interrupting my AS?
[/ QUOTE ]Just use it to quickly set up hide from which you can do double damage with a high-damage attack (other than AS).
or, if you're stalking two bad things. Sneak up, AS-the first, placate the second, wait till as comes back up, and AS the second. It's quite amusing to stand there right in front of him, and placate lasts long enough for you to recloak. My solo levelling rate has gone way up since I got placate on my Nin/Nin, because I have to do less waiting around.
Placate: Take it, slot it for recharge, love it to death. You know it makes sense.
Edit: Almost forgot. It has a really really cool Jedi mind-trick animation. *handwave* "You don't need to see her ninja-to"
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
typically soloing on heroic I'm up against mobs of 3 white or yellows. AS the first. Hit build up (or focus chi in my case) scrap the second to death usually in 2 or 3 hits. Then placate the third and AS again. Lovely.
The only problem comes if your AS misses which it does occassionally even with slotting. Then it's 'run like @£$%*'! 
Useful info - I'm gonna get Placate now next chance I get...wasn't sure about how effective it would be for my own stalker. It does get wearisome running for the hills every time I AS but don't get the kill first time. Makes solo missions drag on...and on...
My first Stalker, some newbie questions.
1) Lots of people here seem to think Placate is a must-have power, but I'm unclear as to exactly what it does or how to actually use it in practice (ok, I admit it, I'm stupid) Could anyone explain to me exactly what placate does/how it should be used please?
I should add that I'm a solo/PvE only player on Heroic. I don't team and I don't do PvP. Obviously I don't want to waste a power pick on something that may not actually be of use to me specifically and that I won't be able to respec out.
2) I understand that there are various forms of concealemnt, main ones I'm aware of that seem most relevant to stalkers appear to be - Hide (naturally) Stealth and Invis, plus I believe Super Speed also has a stealth component? So, do all these stack with each other if used together - i.e. is a Hidden, Stealthed/Invisible Super Speeding stalker any harder to spot (say for snipers or other mobs with improved perception) than one with just the basic Hide running? Also, do the defence bonuses stack?
Thanks in advance.