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I've seen some odd thing happen with fear where I could actually move while having fear on my blaster. The effect is so short I've never really had any time to figure out whats going on.
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Fear isnt an absolute mez, it gives you tiny breaks every so often so you can either move for a short while before the 'hold' part of fear kicks in again, or so you can fire off an attack. I -think- you get short breaks in the cowering-in-fear by getting hit by an attack.
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I don't know though, what is your secondary? 
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energy aura, immunity from TP
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Ah yes.Not paying attention when meant to be "working" FTW.
I've been on the receiving end from your Stalker a few times. And the obvious point being, it's in your sig' .
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Anyway, how good is Assault vs Placate out in the field? What sort of ratio are people getting resisting Placate.
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It doesn't protect you from Placate, it just lowers the duration. It's the same as what AM does for some mez effects.
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Curses!
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Been thinking of respecing ghostblade into a more team friendly stalker, basically taking recal friend to pull out team mates and grant invis for the stealth cap. Problem is i can see myself sitting in a hideyhole recalling and GI'ing every 2 minutes.
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Hence working a pair up for this to juggle the buffing & the fun between both 
.
I'd imagine moving around together, & double teaming for a kill. Maybe seperating to fish out a target from a team group. The other providing an evac before the vitims teamates can react.
It's all hypotheticcal from my point of view, I'm yet to actually play a stalker yet . Just some ideas I was mulling over to avoid boring solo PvP, but increasing the nastiness .
In my experience, Stalkers are basically cowards. There's a certain extent to which this is justified - they're lousy in direct confrontation, they only seem to be able to win when they basically cut the fight part out altogether.
So a good anti-stalker strategy is going to require you to trick him into comitting himself. Otherwise (if you can so much as think about putting up any sort of resistance whatsoever) he's going to hide, scream for his mother, teleport a random direction, and run up a tree.
So if you can see him, don't let him know that. Act oblivious until he commits himself. Stalkers appear to be at their most vulnerable when they try to land a kill - not from the intended victim, but certainly from anyone else. So watch your friends, and unleash the fires of judgement on any cowa - ahem stalker, who tries to pull something.
Keeping moving is a good defense against stalkers, but doesn't help taking them down. Another good defense against stalkers is an interrupt aura. Stand next to your friendly neighbourhood ice tanker or the like, and any stalker who tries his luck is going to be in for a very rude awakening when he not only loses his attack in the middle, but can't run away quite so quickly.
You can smell the stink of panic on a stalker who can't flee instantly from a failed ganking. The thought of actual conflict seems to terrify all the ones I've encountered.
Can't find a friend who's been marked by the stalkers so you can launch your assault while they launch theirs? Step up to the plate and get ready to take one for the team. Stalkers are opportunists; give them an opportunity. What they don't need to know is that while you're standing around waiting to be stabbed, your mates will be waiting for the same thing. When your health bar suddenly goes AWOL, your friends can make sure that the stalker's is next.
I'm a relative beginner, but that's my read of the landscape. It's served me pretty well so far, but then I'm no blaster.
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In my experience, Stalkers are basically cowards. /snip
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Ooh! He didn't? He did!
Union or Defiant Upsurge? I know a stalker or two who would love to re-educate you on that little comment 
(i should point out neither are me - never had the patience for one, yet )
I havent been able to try this myself yet (not on the training server) but I expect that the repulsion field in the force mastery epics for blasters will stop an assasin strike and send them flying I certainly intended to 3 slot it with acc and hopefully thats the last I will see of the stalkers.
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I havent been able to try this myself yet (not on the training server) but I expect that the repulsion field in the force mastery epics for blasters will stop an assasin strike and send them flying I certainly intended to 3 slot it with acc and hopefully thats the last I will see of the stalkers.
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wont do anything to EA stalkers, at least not until the 5% detoggle kicks in
**Acceptable "support" responses**
Its your fault
Its your computers fault
Its your ISPs fault
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I havent been able to try this myself yet (not on the training server) but I expect that the repulsion field in the force mastery epics for blasters will stop an assasin strike and send them flying I certainly intended to 3 slot it with acc and hopefully thats the last I will see of the stalkers.
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Its kinda useful, but you have to remember that a normal anti-stalker tactic is to keep moving. So lets say you're running repulsion field, and moving. A stalker manages to start their AS, and you walk off. All they have to do is dodge a single 'tick' of repulsion, and they have you. The best way for it to be effective? Stand still. Though isnt that the one thing you dont want to do around stalkers? Give them the space to approach you the best way and make a strong attempt? Unfortunately the damned thing doesnt reveal stalkers, so whilst it might frustrate them, you're still looking at basically the same equasion... only a small anti-stalker boost, and a fair end-drain. xP
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Union or Defiant Upsurge? I know a stalker or two who would love to re-educate you on that little comment
(i should point out neither are me - never had the patience for one, yet )
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Great! Tell 'em to play more in Siren's Call, we could use more courageous adversaries.
One of my favorite "stalkers are cowards" moments came a few days ago. The heroes were outnumbered by the villains, but we were fighting anyway. There's a large group of villains down the road, moving in towards us. They outnumber us 2 to 1, we know it's a losing battle, but hey - it's fun. Maybe we'll take one of 'em down with us.
A stalker is moving ahead of the group. He's hidden, but I can see him. He's getting close to another team-mate, so I target him, and fire off taunt.
Man, is he OUTTA THERE! Super-leaping merrily on his away, he disspears screaming into the night and isn't seen again until after his six friends give us the pasting we knew they would.
That's entirely typical of the way stalkers seem to behave. They don't enter any combat situation at all unless they're sure it'll be a three move kill with no actual combat whatsoever. Even if they have the advantage of numbers. Even if they know their side will win the fight anyway.
tbh i think thats fairly apparent for most builds and such like, however stalkers specialise in the first hit, take that one hit away and they cant do enough damage (another generalisation to show an example, please dont hit me!), so in this case and many others where their hide is blown i think its justified for them to bolt till the taunt wore off and hides back up.
i'd do the same in a case where either im missing too much or get target locked (like taunt), while you could go after the taunter, you'd get ganked by the taunters friends, thats the whole point of it.
imho if it wasnt for stalkers then when the odds outwiegh the villians there would not be any pvp, a lot of the times i've see sirens really one sided (in hero favour) its the stalkers who come out and play more than other classes, this i think is cool and respect to them for it.
@ExtraGonk
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One of my favorite... stalkers...moments came a few days ago....
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Mine too. I dropped into Sirens, while waiting for the Test Server to come back up. Stood at base, talking politely with some people there, I noticed a dancing brute outside the gate. "Hmmmmmm" I thought as I watched a Blaster apporach the Brute. Sure enough, out of hide pops a Stalker...not for long, following my BU+Impale & a Ripper to finish him off. SIlly fools tried the same baiting tactics over & over, to which I replied with a lot more BUs+Impales & Rippers . Er hey, bait & a "trap" only works when people don't know what you're up to .
What also didn't surprise me was the ensuing broadcast moronics that followed claiming all the heroes were "cowardly" for ambushing the Stalker back. LOL .
I don't mind playing against Stalkers at all. I love playing against Mr Not So Nice & Stalk-obot etc. They play well & frustrate the hell out of me, but they play with skill & effort & the freindly banter never turns sour. What I don't like is playing with the percentage of lazy Stalker Morons who stick to one plan & start throwing tantrums on broadcast when it stops working, or start wailing when a something other than an easy squishy kill turns up to give them a hard time .
Not to derail too much, so can Quills be employed to interrupt AS at all. I'm guessing a good stalker would be able to get in between "ticks" etc, and would I need to put some heavy accuracy slotting into it to give it more of a chance?
I currently have Quills outside the level range for Sirens, & just planning out what changes I might make next respec 
. Cheers.
I don't have any accuracy slotted in quills at the moment and I've never hit a hidden stalker with them. The "MISS" messages are almost as useful as an interupted AS though - if I see a "MISS" appear out of nowhere I pop Dull Pain and Build Up and see if I can survive the next 10 seconds I think I have Quills 2 slotted for End Reduction at the moment so what I can do this evening is switch those out for accuracies and see if I can interupt some stalkers. I'll let you know how effective it is or isn't.
Defiant 50�s: Generalissimo, Righteous Bob, Splortch, Brutus Cayuga
Union 50's: Chimera Obscura, Diet Anthracite, Grim Proctologist, Puny Little Minion, Raging Bitumen
In Soviet Russia, mission farm you!
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Union or Defiant Upsurge? I know a stalker or two who would love to re-educate you on that little comment
(i should point out neither are me - never had the patience for one, yet )
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Great! Tell 'em to play more in Siren's Call, we could use more courageous adversaries.
One of my favorite "stalkers are cowards" moments came a few days ago. The heroes were outnumbered by the villains, but we were fighting anyway. There's a large group of villains down the road, moving in towards us. They outnumber us 2 to 1, we know it's a losing battle, but hey - it's fun. Maybe we'll take one of 'em down with us.
A stalker is moving ahead of the group. He's hidden, but I can see him. He's getting close to another team-mate, so I target him, and fire off taunt.
Man, is he OUTTA THERE! Super-leaping merrily on his away, he disspears screaming into the night and isn't seen again until after his six friends give us the pasting we knew they would.
That's entirely typical of the way stalkers seem to behave. They don't enter any combat situation at all unless they're sure it'll be a three move kill with no actual combat whatsoever. Even if they have the advantage of numbers. Even if they know their side will win the fight anyway.
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Why is this cowardly? What's the point of a Stalker who is forced to reveal from hide by attacking a tanker? Running from that situation isn't cowardly... not breaking the taunt aggro and trying to take on a tanker would've been moronic.
Stalker kill tactics? Roll a blaster. Jobs a good'un.
Blaze. Nail. Head.
My brute would probably have SJ'd away, if only to break the taunt lock, never mind a atalker who (in the main) relies on the additional damage from criticals from hidden to stand a chance at taking down a tank.
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Why is this cowardly? What's the point of a Stalker who is forced to reveal from hide by attacking a tanker? Running from that situation isn't cowardly... not breaking the taunt aggro and trying to take on a tanker would've been moronic.
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It's definitely cowardly. Like I said in the first place it's understandable cowardice, almost cowardice by design, but it's stinking fear none the less. Let's try applying the same logic to the other ATs. "If I cannot win in three moves or less without my opponent being able to act, then I will not fight."
Cue tumbleweed rolling through all the PvP zones as no one ever engages in any combat.
Stalkers are deadly on the offense. This is a good thing - it means you can get punished for dropping your guard, it adds a sense of danger.
But there's no reward for facing that danger. Ocassionally you'll drop dead without having a chance to attack anything. But you can't really take the fight to the stalker, because if there's even a chance of him loosing a fight, he'll never enter it in the first place. If you manage to hit him through stealth with an AoE, he'll disappear and try again. If you manage to survive that first strike and pull off a lucky heal before he finishes you off, he's gone. If you can see him coming, he just doesn't come.
You don't "win" PvP by surviving. You have the most fun and get the most credit by scoring kills. Other ATs go along with this - maybe I'll take that brute down or maybe he'll take me, but we'll engage each other, enjoy a good confrontation, and one of us will get rewarded for it.
With Stalkers, there is no reward. It's either BOOM, you're dead, or BOOM, he's gone.
That's where tactics come in to play, of course. But the sad thing is, these tactics aren't needed to defeat a stalker. They're needed to even get a stalker to play. Even if said stalker is with a group of allies twice your number who are virtually guaranteed a win.
Oh broaden your perspective. If there wouldnt be tactics for survival and everyone would just charge headfirst to get kills or die trying, pvp would be very boring due to being one-dimensional.
Upsurge, I've been in Sirens and Warburg the last few days standing my ground - I tend to aim for other stalkers, corruptors, blasters, controllers and defenders -- I've also been trying my luck and standing my ground against various regen scrappers. I don't run away the second things go wrong, but I don't stick around if I'm going to be face down and take no-one with me.
If I was trying to AS a blaster and I got taunted by a tanker, would I attack the tanker and let the rest of the heroes jump on me? No, I'd break the taunt and then come back for more. The point of PvP is to fight and try to win. Not throw yourself at a tanker so the rest of his team can pound you - it's not a case of bravery or cowardice, it's a case of tactics or useless kamikaze strikes.
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"If I cannot win in three moves or less without my opponent being able to act, then I will not fight.
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That's not correct, the correct sentence woud be "If I cannot win in three moves or less without my opponent being able to act, then I will not win."
Stalkers damage without hide is pants, so they must trust in almost killing in 1 blow to finish it off in 2 almost non-damage more hits at max. Without hide a defender could easily kill a stalker
/em agree with blaze here
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It's definitely cowardly. Like I said in the first place it's understandable cowardice, almost cowardice by design, but it's stinking fear none the less. Let's try applying the same logic to the other ATs. "If I cannot win in three moves or less without my opponent being able to act, then I will not fight."
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That would mean I win by default
Yay me!!
Spurr FTW!
Screach-bonesmasher-shout-shriek-scream-stun-shout-bonesmaher-energy punch-teleport..Thats my attack chain
I only consider it a dangerous situation if my last four attacks have all missed in a row and I am low on end, then its time to scram out of there
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Oh broaden your perspective. If there wouldnt be tactics for survival and everyone would just charge headfirst to get kills or die trying, pvp would be very boring due to being one-dimensional.
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Like when heroes dive-bomb the villain base in SC, trying to grab a one-shot before the drone gets them? :3
I have to agree with Upsurge here. As he has said, its understandable cowardice, practically cowardice by design. He wasnt saying that tactics for survival are bad, he said that heroes often need tactics just to bring a stalker out to actually participate, rather being a thorn-in-the-side factor. I have to agree with that, too. Many times, people protecting stalkers in these threads keep pointing out that if a stalker cant make that insta-kill (be it 1-shot, or AS with placate and follow-ups), then they are likely to end up dead if they dont run for the hills. There is one little thing that people are missing here : Stalkers are in part a support AT. Thats right. Sure, stalkers can solo most single targets exceptionally well, but that doesnt rule out the fact that due to stalkers abilities and low hitpoints, they are support AT's. Attempting to assassinate a target who has strong friends around, and then getting floored after the kill, doesnt mean that stalkers are designed to be played on instakill->run tactics, it means that to show their real strengths, they need teammates.
If you have ever seen a good stalker actively participating AND supporting a team, they are far more lethal than when they are alone or even when teamed up with another stalker. Sure, stalker squads and drop targets fast, but stalkers still have their weaknesses. A stalker who knows how to compliment a team, with a team who actually works with the stalker in mind (rather than treating them as recruit-and-forget weapons), are incredibly powerful.
It does make me wonder. Stalker enthusiasts have asked for increased AS damage so they can better solo against tankers, they have asked for enhanced hitpoints and normal damage so they can be more effective in revealed combat, every time someone talks about AS/Placate or the hide/detect rules there are sure to be a handful of them accusing you of "NERF T3H ST4lkz0r5!!11" without actually reading your post, and the enthusiasts think they have it hard when they cant dive a crowd (invisibility or not), take out someone, then get away scott free...
I guess what im trying to say is, nobody is forcing stalkers to play it solo, and play it suicidally. Stalkers are not the only AT to have downsides.
Interesting post Qisnake. Solo stalkers in the zones really are nowhere near as effective as those who team (and work as a team). Watching Filth, Jacqueline, Blindfaith et al in action in Sirens is perfect proof of this. (Dominator/stalker combos for the absolute win)
Also, watching a regen scrapper slugging it out for over 10 minutes with blindfaith was enough proof (for me at least) that stalkers can "scrap" where the situation calls for it - but it is often easier to pick off the squishies, hence the calls of cowardice.
Its almost like the division between tauntless scrankers and aggro-managing tankers. Both are viable uses of an AT, and have their uses (an endurant but slow-progressing damage dealer, and a unit that focuses mostly on keeping the other teammates alive). The first thing anyone who picks a stalker will notice, is "Hide" "Assassin Strike", "Placate" and "Build Up" placed in all of the sets (not sure about BU though), and this reads to many people that the AT has but one solid purpose. Single-target oblitoration. Whilst I believe that stalkers are supposed to rely on their hiding ability, I dont think they were entirely supposed to rely on AS. The AS-placate-critical-run stalkers, are akin to the blasters who will only engage in combat with BU+Aim+Snipe, and coincidentally those kinds of fighters normally have some form of stealth too. The main difference is that blasters (and other AT's who resort to relying almost solely on a single powerful technique), have a more readily usable arsenal should things go awry.
Stalkers unfortunately dont have quite that same ability readily available to them. Its possible for a stalker to stand toe-to-toe to a lot of builds and hold their own, but for them to do that, they have to be careful with their build, and sometimes start the character with this unhidden combat in mind. I wouldnt see stalkers as underpowered, but more of an AT that requires a certain kind of player. Anyone can do the AS/Placate fighter, in the same way that anyone can spam holds, spam heals and snipe-hide-repeat.... but a competant AT user has to learn not only the AT, but their personal build inside-out. Whilst spamming holds and heals can be quite effective, those who know what they're doing see far more than just a few buttons to mash. Its the same with scrappers. Some scrappers think "I have a high damage AT" and run to melee range and do little else but mash buttons as they recharge. A good scrapper will learn what to use and when, how to move, when to engage, and in which order. This might lead back into the old thread of "there is no skill in PVP", but given what input we can use, there is at least an element of skill.
Whilst I cannot completely write off solo-assassins as being the inexperienced way of stalker using (devoted quick-killers have to learn timing, patience, and even psychological tactics to survive in PVP)... I would have to see it as the basic form of stalking. Way back when, I thought every stalker would be a gank machine, full-stop. I then had the (dis)pleasure of meeting some stalkers who actually had some real skill, and despite my flowing stream of blood-gargled profanity... it just showed that the stalker AT is simply hard to use to its fullest extent.
Its kind of like Tai-Chi, the famed "old fogies" martial art, considered useless outside of mere exercise by many, and often seen as a weak style by those who employ more forceful arts. Only if you tried to mug someone who had been practicing nothing but Tai Chi all his/her life, you'd still find yourself on the floor. Even 'basics' when honed enough, can be very effective, and shouldnt be looked upon as a a lesser form, exactly.
The frustration from stalkers does come from the basic stalking form, and how there is no gray area, the way that the stalker is either the nullifier or the nullified. They are hated because of the way they dont actually seem to take part in fights, but seem to be a "special rule" that the devs threw in.
"If target hero stands still, remove hero from play"
"If target hero spots stalker, roll rice, 1-2-3 : Stalker dies. 4-5-6 : Stalker escapes"
That is why stalkers learned to run, they had to, or they'd suffer the same ganking that they have come to rely upon to actually play a part in the game. Once a stalker gets hooked on that way of life, and devotes more and more time, thought and patience into raising and living as an budding one-shotter, the less likely they are to try develop another way of fighting. This may be why many stalkers are treated as "recruit and forget" weapons. They are added to a team, then ignored as they go about their own business elsewhere.
To be honest, I wouldnt try to raise a 'blitz' stalker myself, its difficult, and there is little advice or obvious hints on how to raise a less 'cowardly' stalker. That wont stop me from being annoyed at being a null-factor when a stalker makes me a favored target, though.
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I don't know though, what is your secondary?
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energy aura, immunity from TP
**Acceptable "support" responses**
Its your fault
Its your computers fault
Its your ISPs fault