I wouldn't mind some advice on early slotting in general, too.
I read a guide advising to slot Hide to begin with and stick some Defense enhancements in there, is this also wise?
I wouldn't bother slotting Hide, at least not early on. The base defence it gives is quite sufficent for PvE.
Slotting Damages into Assassin's Strike is pretty important, but realistically you won't see much difference until level 12 (when you can slot level 15 Dual-Origin enhancements) and again at 22 (level 25 Single-Origin enhancements) which are respectively 2x and 4x as powerful as the starting "Training Enhancements".
I'd normally stick with either using no enhancements or only accuracy enhancements until level 12. With i9 you may be better off skipping SOs entirely and kitting yourself out with level 30 Inventions (since you won't have to replace them you won't keep paying more-and-more inf on SOs every 5 levels!).
Assassin's Strike is usually a good opening attack, but you'll find yourself using other attacks to finish foes off. Assassin's Strike does crazy damage when hidden, but most other attacks do 2x normal damage too! 
Yeah...by level 15 you should be able to start slotting in IO's. By level 17 I was fully equipped...so I don't have to worry about anything expiring. That's the real strength of IO"s at early levels. Nothing sours the victory of getting a new level quite like realizing all your enhancements don't work anymore and you have to buy new ones with infamy you don't have yet.
-jared
I did wonder about slotting Hide to be honest. Not like me to follow a guide so blindly. I'm going 1-6 again anyway so can reslot as need be.
So at levl 3 and 5 would you advise spreading those four slots evenly across my attacks (Strike and Slash)? Then I can 6 slot AS?
I had been focusing on Accuracy. Seems less whiffing is more important than slightly more damage.
I did realise I was starting out of Hide but then 'scrapping' the mobs down after that. At least the ones I couldn't one shot but I figured this would become less the norm and I'd be more and more one-shotting then re-hiding, in which case slots on the other ST attacks would be wasted.
Is this not the case then? Can I expect to be 'scrapping' with the other attacks all my career?
Also, I found trying to attack, then rehide, to be a bit of a pain. If solo I could run away (only if in danger) and rehide but in groups it seems the time it took me to rehide and re-strike from hidden negated any extra damage so I just ended up attacking from hide and then just 'scrapping' the mob to death. Is this mostly the case, or should I be trying to rehide in groups as much as possible?
Any tips on rehiding? What effects how fast it happens? Is it related to LoS or being attacked? Is there a set amount of seconds for hide to re-kick in?
Would it be massively expensive to get level 30 inventions? How early can I use them?
I'm not quite sold on the whole idea of stocking up on IOs before level 25/30 (when they are about the same strength as SOs and can realistically be left slotted until you hit 50), but if you have the inf, go for it!
Generally I'll get low-level DOs in order of priority... Accuracy, then Endred/Damage, then Resist/Def/Heals.
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I did wonder about slotting Hide to be honest. Not like me to follow a guide so blindly. I'm going 1-6 again anyway so can reslot as need be.
So at levl 3 and 5 would you advise spreading those four slots evenly across my attacks (Strike and Slash)? Then I can 6 slot AS?
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It's really up to you. You'll probably end up slotting those early attacks later on anyway. It's normally fairly hard to irrevocably gimp your build before level 20 or so... and that's what respecs are for! 
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I had been focusing on Accuracy. Seems less whiffing is more important than slightly more damage.
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That's my view on it too!
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I did realise I was starting out of Hide but then 'scrapping' the mobs down after that. At least the ones I couldn't one shot but I figured this would become less the norm and I'd be more and more one-shotting then re-hiding, in which case slots on the other ST attacks would be wasted.
Is this not the case then? Can I expect to be 'scrapping' with the other attacks all my career?
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Pretty much. The problem is that you'll rarely come across one lone LT or Minion in missions, they tend to travel in groups of 3-6 solo and up to 10-12 in teams. Once you attack one, the rest of that group will see through your hide unless you can 'lose aggro' (by running away until they lose interest or using Placate, etc).
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Also, I found trying to attack, then rehide, to be a bit of a pain. If solo I could run away (only if in danger) and rehide but in groups it seems the time it took me to rehide and re-strike from hidden negated any extra damage so I just ended up attacking from hide and then just 'scrapping' the mob to death. Is this mostly the case, or should I be trying to rehide in groups as much as possible?
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See above, generally in groups you'll find most people dislike Stalkers who keep running away to hide and re-Assassin's Strike because it either (i) leaves the other squishier toons with the aggro (ii) is worse damage-per-second than if the Stalker simply cycled an attack chain and used Placate.
Generally, AS the first (biggest) enemy, and scrap the rest of the mob. Placate is used to Critical instead of re-hiding. Rehiding between groups of enemy mobs is perfectly fine though, and playstyle will differ wildly if you solo or happen to get into a Stalker team/duo! 
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Any tips on rehiding? What effects how fast it happens? Is it related to LoS or being attacked? Is there a set amount of seconds for hide to re-kick in?
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5 seconds or so after you've last attacked/been damaged by an attack you will rehide (if you keep Hide ON). This is not related to line of sight and can't be enhanced by slotting... other stealth powers (like power pool "Stealth") won't reactivate if you're under the effect of a debuff, but Hide will.
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Would it be massively expensive to get level 30 inventions? How early can I use them?
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It's not TOO expensive to oufit a toon with level 30 IOs if you use the Consignment House/Black Market, maybe 1-2 million inf. And you can slot any enhancement at -3 to it's level... so can use a 25 SO at level 22.
Okay, thanks again. You've been an awesome help and answered everything I was wondering about.
I still need to get my head around IO's but not for a few levels yet 
One final question.
In Outbreak there is that god awful badge involving killing 100 Contaminated and that is the only easy chance to get it.
Is there anything similiar in Breakout? I know there is an explore badge somewhere, is that all? Can I safely leave Breakout after that without later finding out I've missed something totally annoying?
There's nothing that contributes to accolades that I'm aware of in Breakout or Outbreak, they're the only thing that I've ever bothered about badge-wise... at level 30 my NRG/Regen Stalker currently has "High Pain Threshold", "Born in Battle", "Demonic" and "Force of Nature" and is working on "Invader"!
For CoV I tend to use the below checklist:
[u]CoV Accolades:[u]
***** Important Missions *****
Level: 15 - 20, Contact: Willie Wheeler (Cap au Diable), Defeat all Arachnos personel.
Level: 20 - 25, Contact: Lorenz Ansaldo (Sharkhead Isle), Bust up the dockworker's strike.
Level: 25 - 29, Contact: Archmage Tarixus (Sharkhead Isle), Offer soul of Akarist.
Level: 30 - 35, Contact: Hard Luck (St. Martial), Steal Artifact from Tavaris.
Level: 30 - 35, Contact: Timothy Raymond (Nerva Archipelago), Eliminate Kit'Vul.
******************************
+ Marshal (+5 Endurance)
Paragon of Vice - Defeat all Arachnos personel, Contact: Willie Wheeler (Cap au Diable), Level: 15 - 20
Annihilator - Defeat the Heroes in the Recluse's Strike Force to earn this badge.
The Mongoose - Defeat 50 Snakes to earn this badge.
The Next Big Thing - Zone: Mercy Island, Badge Info: -1215, 239, -152
Weapon Inspector - Zone: Warburg, Badge Info: -768, 144, 0
Arachnos Rising - Plaque, Sharkhead Isle 762, 32, -373, St. Martial 456, 33, 1230, Warburg -1038, 100, 816, Grandville 1724, -459, 1514, Grandville 2764, -340, 794
+ High Pain Threshold (+10% Health)
Bad Luck - Steal Artifact from Tavaris. Contact: Hard Luck (St. Martial), Level: 30 - 35
Gangbuster - Defeat 200 Marcone Family Bosses.
Spider Smasher - Defeat 200 Arachnos Wolf Spiders to earn this badge. (Rogue do not count)
Deathless - Pay off 1,200,000 debt.
Locked and Loaded - Zone: Nerva Archipelago, Badge Info: 3286, 126, 3644
Freak of Nature - Zone: Sharkhead Isle, Badge Info: 1227, 90, -2183
Technofreak - Plaque, Cap Au Diable: 923, 21, -1422, Cap Au Diable: 2345, 3, 1544, Cap Au Diable: -2428, 224, -932
+ Born in Battle (+5 Endurance, +5% Health)
Exterminator - Eliminate Kit'Vul. Contact: Timothy Raymond (Nerva Archipelago), Level: 30 - 35
Pirate - Trap 10 ghosts in Port Oaks.
Lanista - Badge Info: Win 1 single gladiator match.
Siren's Song - Spend a total of 5 hours in Siren's Call to earn this badge.
Unbreakable - Take 10,000,000 points of damage to your base hit points.
Primal Instinct - Zone: Nerva Archipelago, Badge Info: 2305, -110, 798
Triumphant - Zone: Warburg, Badge Info: 228, 274, 32
Swashbuckler - Plaque, Port Oakes: -3113, 207, -1550, Nerva Archipelago: 3796, 12, 7727, Bloody Bay: 605, 0, -150, Siren's Call: -942, -157, 200
+ Invader (+5% HP)
Global Threat - Atlas Park (Mayhem Exploration) 5-10
King Maker - Kings Row (Mayhem Exploration) 10-15
Road Raged - Skyway (Mayhem Exploration) 15-20
Tyrannical - IP (Mayhem Exploration) 20-25
Steel Worker - Steel Canyon (Mayhem Exploration) 25-30
Talon of Talos - Talos (Mayhem Exploration) 30-35
Brickhouse - Brickstown (Mayhem Exploration) 35-40
Anarchist - FF (Mayhem Exploration) 40-45
Gate Crasher - PI (Mayhem Exploration) 45-50
+ Force of Nature (+Endurance, +Accuracy)
Reformed - Defeat 1000 Longbow (any)
Impounder - Destroy 200 vehicles in Mayhem Missions.
Outlaw - Defeat 1000 Paragon Police Department members (PPD)
Vandal - Destroy 25 Fire Hydrants, Newspaper Vendors, Pay Phone Booths, and Mailboxes in Mayhem missions.
Safecracker - Destroy 10 Vault doors in Mayhem Missions.
Firebug - Complete 10 Arsons in Mayhem Missions. Only the person who completes the Arson gets credit.
Hero Slayer - Defeat 100 of any "signature" hero. Freedom Phalanx, Vindicators, WISDOM, or Paragon Heroes.
+ Demonic (Eye of the Magus, +Def/+Res)
Soul Taker - Offer soul of Akarist. Contact: Archmage Tarixus (Sharkhead Isle), Level: 25 - 29
Coldblooded - Defeat 200 Helfrosts or Hordeling Lashers.
Overlord - Zone: Grandville, Badge Info: 1356, -441, -597
Forged by Hellfire - Zone: Sharkhead Isle, Badge Info: 1971, 64, -193
Lorekeeper - Plaque, Cap Au Diable: -1711, 0, -1108, Mercy Island: -907, 100, -378, Port Oakes: -1545, 35, 1946, Sharkhead Isle: -827, 0, -410
+ Megalomanic (Vanguard, +Mez Duration)
Crystal Keeper - Ice Mistral's Strike Force. Contact: Ice Mistral, Level: 35 - 40
Strikebreaker - Bust up the dockworker's strike, Contact: Lorenz Ansaldo (Sharkhead Isle), Level: 20 - 25
Man in Black - Defeat 100 Shivans
Last Stand - Zone: Recluse's Victory, Badge Info: 1081, 0, -135
Triumphant - Zone: Warburg, Badge Info: 228, 274, 32
Funny, my next question was going to be about Accolades, so that's excellent, thanks.
Thing is, I'm anal enough that if there is some "kill one hundred prisoners" badge or something it'll do my head in if I find out at level 30 that I missed it
Whilst I still have you. Is there any Stalker primaries or secondaries favoured for PvP or PvE?
I'm going Claws/Regen. I like the speed of Claws, slow activations is one of my main annoyances in this game but I might go something else if it's particulary better for PvP or something.
I like Regen because it's on-demand fire-stopping, which I like, but again if it's fairly middle of the road PvP or Pve I would change.
I like to go with what I like, but I think picking the more powerful sets is more important to me
Also, is Swipe rubbish? Since I7 there seems to be some debate.
For PvP it's either Energy Melee (Stun + Energy Transfer) or Spines (DoT + Impale), and Regen or Ninjitsu.
Try to pickup Force of Nature for the +ToHit if you intend to PvP. It's made a big difference to my NRG/Regen.
For PvE? Anything goes really. Claws and Spines are the AoE sets, Energy is the big Single Target Set. The rest are really a mixture with some Utility (like Touch of Fear or Divine Avalanche) thrown in.
I haven't used Claws, so I can't really comment on Swipe... Claws is possibly one of the better not-so-good PvP primaries because of "Focus", but it's all lethal damage and you don't get any mez attacks.
Now I'm somewhat torn between the fact that I like claws and the fact that it's not so good for PvP.
How big is the difference? Are we talking merely "not ideal" or will it be a case of Controllers and Defender laughing off my alpha-strike?
Hmmm. Probably be best to ask someone with a PvP Claws Stalker that question. I know Hammerfall has one...
From my vantage point (NRG/Regen), I can two-shot regen scrappers (out of Dull Pain) in Siren's Call with Build Up + Assassin's Strike + Energy Transfer. I can stand and "out-scrap" any scrapper, and INV or Stone tankers in there thanks to good slotting, Energy Transfer and Placate. I can do a very damaging "Drive By" stun attack on Squishies by using Build Up + Energy Transfer. I can't, however, stop toons that run away or keep bouncing all over the place without landing a lucky stun or one of the temp power web grenades.
Spines Stalkers (and therefore Claws Stalkers too) can bring down fliers with their ranged attack, and can use Build Up + Assassin's Strike on a squishy and queue their ranged attack so that the squishy still gets killed when they run away from panic due to the AS damage.
Spines have Damage Over Time, slow and slightly better spike damage ("Ripper") than Claws. As a rule of thumb Higher Damage + Longer Recharge is better than Lower Damage + Faster Recharge for PvP.
In terms of the secondary, Regen is pretty much tops for survivability against most heroes (assume they can hit you, and focus on healing) whilst Ninjitsu has +perception (useful in i9's "land of +stealth IOs"), clicky mez protection and is better against toons with poor accuracy like non-rad Controllers and most Villains.
Would it be Focus to bring down fliers?
Are any of the Patron Powers useful in PvP or could be used as subtitutes in powersets that are lacking certain PvP utility?
Yes it was Focus I was thinking of... I know Impale does -fly, and I was under the impression that Focus did it too... mind you, when I check on nofuture it doesn't list fly for Focus, only Knockback... hmmm...
AFAIK, it's Web Grenades (Mace) or Waterspout (Shark) for PvP Patron pools. Web Grenades for the lovely ranged -recharge, -jump and -fly, and Waterspout for an autohit stun that doesn't break "Hide".
Focus doesn't have any -fly :\
Apparently it's the dogs of an attack though. Does that mean I'd want to use Focus out of Hide instead of my AS attack?
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Claws and Spines are the AoE sets
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What?
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Now I'm somewhat torn between the fact that I like claws and the fact that it's not so good for PvP.
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Don't listen to Mael. Claws is just fine for pvp inasmuch as any powerset is for stalkers. My own stalker is claws. Dark melee would propably be the only one Id scratch over from the list.
ps. Focus is great, but it does no -fly, only 100% chance of knockdown.
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Claws and Spines are the AoE sets
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What?
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OK, "Claws and Spines are the only sets with slightly decent AoEs"
Happy Now?
I speak of Shockwave/Eviscerate/Spin and Ripper/SpineBurst/ThrowSpines... I think Shadow Maul (DM), Flashing Steel (NB) and Golden Dragonfly (NB) are the only others available. MA and EM Stalkers get none IIRC.
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Hmmm. Probably be best to ask someone with a PvP Claws Stalker that question. I know Hammerfall has one...
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Don't listen to Mael. Claws is just fine for pvp inasmuch as any powerset is for stalkers.
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(Now if a set had both Energy Transfer and Impale in it.... )
Is it worth slotting attacks before Assassins Strike or should I put the slots in my secondary?
This might sound like a stupid question but I'm new
I was just thinking as AS is going to be the main event in killing things the slots might be better not going into the other ST attacks.