Nice guide Mime. Scanned through it and it shows you've got a pretty good grasp of being a stalker and it's (potential) role. Thumbs up! 
I actually like this guide. I will say one thing in that in placating a foe you can have them turn on someone else thats only 5 hp from defeat so be careful on the outcome.
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
I'd like to add that, for certain melee powers (Dark mainly) I believe it's best to limit choices on your Primary pool and focus on your Secondary more.
I've also taken Air Superiority which provides some soft but very effective control against tougher enemies due to the knockdown element - also it stops those darned Wyvern, Longbow and Sky Raiders from flying off with its -Fly.
Great guide
Shannon - I did actually include a note about to be wary about using placate when duoing especially with a squishy partner.
AP - Didnt wanna make a guide about how to build a toon, just merely how to play them. With DM i found it was a balance between prim and sec. There are 2 easily dropable powers in DM, but plenty of essentials.
Any other input people can offer on how to play PvE stalkers they feel I have left out of here, please feel free to add input. I'le probs clean this up a bit and then post it to the guides section.
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Shedding aggro is great for your health, but your squishy partner, might not appreciate it.
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Oh yeah! Easy Miss.
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
Stalkers shouldnt be carrying aggro, at least to my opinion. I have been doing it because the team situation required it, but obviously the devs didnt want stalkers to (even though they have higher survivability than several other types of characters).
I cleaned this guide up and have posted it in the "guides" section.
http://uk.boards.cityofvillains.com/show...ge=0#Post955861
What I would really like is to know how to play a Stalker, effectively, in a mid to large sized team. Or even a small team come to that. Cant see any good advice about this.
I would like to play a team stalker some-day but all my efforts (and to a lesser extend efforts of freinds and stalkers I have teamed with) seem to result in an embaressment.
Aside from the obvious hide, AS nstiest enemy and get recall freind, any idea on this?
I have prevented probs with caltrops b4 and had to use them alot thru out the mish especially as it was full of ambushes. Blinding powder might be good but i aint so sure.
My energy stalker can get repulse and a team full of MMs prolly wont complain 
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
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What I would really like is to know how to play a Stalker, effectively, in a mid to large sized team. Or even a small team come to that. Cant see any good advice about this.
I would like to play a team stalker some-day but all my efforts (and to a lesser extend efforts of freinds and stalkers I have teamed with) seem to result in an embaressment.
Aside from the obvious hide, AS nstiest enemy and get recall freind, any idea on this?
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Get Energy Melee...
I'm serious about that: EM is the primary that relies least on hiding and using AS (TF and ET don't do 2x damage from hidden) so you can stay and scrap without losing DPS. This means that (i) you stay in PBAoE buff range (ii) you don't need to placate mobs onto squishy teammates (iii) your teammates don't think you're running off and leaving them every other hit.
Secondaries? /DA has Oppressive Gloom which can help via the PBAoE stun. Ninjitsu is fairly self-sufficient and has Caltrops which can greatly boost survivability by itself. Energy Aura only really has the Endurance Leech (you shouldn't be low on end anyway in teams). Regen is probably the most self-sufficient and conters Stalker low base HP with Dull Pain. SR has slightly higher defence than EA, plus Quickness.
One thing to consider is that apart from Kins and the odd Thermal, buffers are few on villain side. When teaming you will be expected to stay in Melee range for the most part, and take some Aggro. If you're EM then you'll be staying in Melee range to scrap mobs. Despite the Stalker AT's low HP, /Regen can survive in melee range for long periods through a combination of Dull Pain and IH. The other secondaries have other tricks to help them Melee sucessfully for long periods, though SR and EA are at a disadvantage here since they only have defence to fall back on and no uninterruptable Heal/Gloom/Caltrops.
Or roll a Dark Melee/
Touch of Fear is an awesome power for a stalker to have and its team utility is often noticeable, especially when its got a good recharge rate. I have managed to control entire mobs with this alone, an awesome power solo, in small teams or in large teams. Even if you dont have them all quaking, the amount of to hit debuff that gets applied on multiple applications to a boss is pretty awesome. Try going a whole fight, solo, vs a ballistae and get hit only a few times. ToF allows this to happen, my record was getting hit 4 times in the whole fight (lasting a few mins).
Good secondarys for stalking ide say would be /nin for its toys, the caltrops help often in teams, especially when multiple people have them.
Also the reason the guide has little about playing in large teams is mostly cos stalkers tend to suck in large teams. we have our uses, but many people wont pick a stalker over another AT.
Only advice i can offer is this. get scrap-happy.
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Or roll a Dark Melee/
Touch of Fear is an awesome power for a stalker to have and its team utility is often noticeable, especially when its got a good recharge rate. I have managed to control entire mobs with this alone, an awesome power solo, in small teams or in large teams. Even if you dont have them all quaking, the amount of to hit debuff that gets applied on multiple applications to a boss is pretty awesome. Try going a whole fight, solo, vs a ballistae and get hit only a few times. ToF allows this to happen, my record was getting hit 4 times in the whole fight (lasting a few mins).
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IIRC ToF can't stack as (de)buffs from same power generally don't stack. Think you hardly getting hit was due to all the combined -accu from primary and +def from secondary 
If I continue levelling my Dark/Dark called Nether Eclipse I'd be tempted to provoke fear provoke fear. Provoke was mickey moused some time ago I believe cos of a type of exploit thats not acceptable for almost everyone to be able to have but that might of just made it less useful with the Presence Pool fears.
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
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Or roll a Dark Melee/
Touch of Fear is an awesome power for a stalker to have and its team utility is often noticeable, especially when its got a good recharge rate. I have managed to control entire mobs with this alone, an awesome power solo, in small teams or in large teams. Even if you dont have them all quaking, the amount of to hit debuff that gets applied on multiple applications to a boss is pretty awesome. Try going a whole fight, solo, vs a ballistae and get hit only a few times. ToF allows this to happen, my record was getting hit 4 times in the whole fight (lasting a few mins).
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IIRC ToF can't stack as (de)buffs from same power generally don't stack. Think you hardly getting hit was due to all the combined -accu from primary and +def from secondary
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Actually a lot of debuffs do. Sonic Blasts, for example, do. So do Dark Blasts. But their durations are so low its hard to ramp it up meaningfully for long.
Generally its just very powerful debuffs but quickish to recharge powers that won't stack, Acid Arrow being a good example. A lot of Placeable Debuffs have it too, this means each instance of the Placeable Debuff can't stack but two seperate instances from the same caster casting it twice will double stack. So two Glue Arrows will do double the Slow & Recharge debuff. The reason they have "Don't Stack" is that placable debuffs are applied every 0.5 seconds but the duration of the debuff is frequently a lot more.
Touch of Fears 11.25% accuracy debuff will stack apparently. And it lasts a decent amount of time too, 20 seconds. Source. So with a decent Recharge bonus you should be able to spam it to double stack pretty easily.
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Actually a lot of debuffs do. Sonic Blasts, for example, do. So do Dark Blasts. But their durations are so low its hard to ramp it up meaningfully for long.
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This is true. The attack debuffs usually are in the 5-10 second range so its not usually possible to stack a lot of them from the same power though.
Stacking ToF when you have Hasten, quickness and good rch from set bonuses, its pretty easy to stack it. But then stacking all of the -acc from DM set really does add up when your getting scrappy and using ToF alot. Just try fighting a ballistae, without god mode, and only getting hit 5 times or less. With any other powerset other than DM/SR, maaaaaybe nin, i doubt this is possible.
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Actually a lot of debuffs do. Sonic Blasts, for example, do. So do Dark Blasts. But their durations are so low its hard to ramp it up meaningfully for long.
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This is true. The attack debuffs usually are in the 5-10 second range so its not usually possible to stack a lot of them from the same power though.
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I could have sworn that you generally can't stack debuffs with same powers from same caster, so no stacking res debuff with 'shriek' (nor ToF) by one person. Though stacking res debuff with shriek+scream+shout for example would work.
Except for placables like tar patch, freezing rain and such it would be possible with same power by one caster. (SB plix!).
But seems i learned something
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Actually a lot of debuffs do. Sonic Blasts, for example, do. So do Dark Blasts. But their durations are so low its hard to ramp it up meaningfully for long.
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This is true. The attack debuffs usually are in the 5-10 second range so its not usually possible to stack a lot of them from the same power though.
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I could have sworn that you generally can't stack debuffs with same powers from same caster, so no stacking res debuff with 'shriek' (nor ToF) by one person. Though stacking res debuff with shriek+scream+shout for example would work.
Except for placables like tar patch, freezing rain and such it would be possible with same power by one caster. (SB plix!).
But seems i learned something
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Its possible to stack debuffs from same caster in both pve and pvp.
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Actually a lot of debuffs do. Sonic Blasts, for example, do. So do Dark Blasts. But their durations are so low its hard to ramp it up meaningfully for long.
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This is true. The attack debuffs usually are in the 5-10 second range so its not usually possible to stack a lot of them from the same power though.
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I could have sworn that you generally can't stack debuffs with same powers from same caster, so no stacking res debuff with 'shriek' (nor ToF) by one person. Though stacking res debuff with shriek+scream+shout for example would work.
Except for placables like tar patch, freezing rain and such it would be possible with same power by one caster. (SB plix!).
But seems i learned something
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Its possible to stack debuffs from same caster in both pve and pvp.
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Point was stacking debuffs with same powers by one and the same caster. I updated my internal database already, but thnx for repeating the answer already given. [Post bumps FTW!]
After spending 50 lvls of playing a stalker, and a few other stalker alts. Playing alongside stalkers as other ATs, reading the forums, listening to the rants and complaints against and by stalkers, I decided to write this guide on learning the way of the stalker. Much of this is taken from my own opinion, and isn't by any means definitive. I will also welcome other usefull pieces of info that stalker vets can pass on to others.
The shadows hide us, the dark is our ally.
Hide is a great lvl 1 choice to have to have. It allows us to pick our battles. Where we choose to fight and most importantly, who we choose to fight, is a choice given to us by Hide. This power is essential to our being. Learn to love the shadows, for they will learn to love you.
A dagger to the back is more effective than a punch to the face.
Hide allows us to choose where we fight. Choose to fight behind your target. We get no actual real bonus from this, but we do get something else. Time. If you stand in front of a target and hit them, then they have a chance to fire off an attack at you before they die. Even if you have one hit them, they can still do this. Standing behind a target, removes this chance, as you are not in their line of sight, and so don't attack you. Unless of course they hit a PBAoE, this split second it takes for them to turn around and target you can mean the difference between you getting set on fire, or smacked in the face. Remember "Stalkers do it from behind"
Know thyself and thy enemy
Know your enemy. What are their powers? What havoc can they cause? Do people hate, loathe and fear them? Knowing your enemy means you know who to target first. We are snipers. The tactical kill done quickly, can change how a battle goes. Learn what mobs people want taken out first. Mostly these are Lts and Minions. Bosses such as Wardens everyone hates, but unless you have 2-3 stalkers on your team, you can't one hit them. Take them out only if their is nothing else of concern.
The second thing to know is, CAN you actually take them out quickly? Without Build Up, you wont take an LT out in one hit. Even with BU, mobs like Mu cant be taken in one usually. Be prepared for this. Have a follow up attack queued up and ready.
Knowing what mob to take out first is one of the main roles of a stalker on a team. Leave the bosses to the brutes and others to take out, unless there is nothing else of concern, or there are enough stalkers to take them out in one.
The sniper who shoots first reveals his position. The sniper who shoots second is but another sound to be heard.
In teams, we are not alpha soakers unless in god mode. As entertaining as it can be to take the alpha away from the brutes, try and avoid it. We are of no use dead. Let others know when you are ready. Tell them to charge in when you hit BU if you like, but refrain from attacking beforehand. Unless of course you are aiming for those debt badges.
Be more than the pony with one trick
AS is NOT our only attack. We do have others. Yes we make poor scrappers. But we can still scrap. Our secondary effects (stun, KB, slow, -acc etc) are noticeable. We can do damage to foes out of hide. Your damage output is still relatively high compared to some ATs. Use placate to get back into hide quickly in the midst of a fight, but dont expect to get another AS from it, use your most powerfull quick attack, often best if its a single target one. This can massively increase your damage output. Also, stick to one target. One dead target is better than 3 targets with any amount of health.
AS is an awesome attack. But its slow, interruptible and end heavy. Use something else in the midst of a fight, unless you only have one left. Running and hiding is fine when you are solo, but in teams, it just isn't as effective.
Know where the darkest shadows are
In teams, troublesome mobs are often ranged and like to be slightly away from the fray. This is where you can carefully select your targets, and take some time with them. They are alone and vulnerable. Not a good place to be when a stalker is around. Pick off your targets from the outside in, unless you are going after something very specific. In the midst of battles, AoEs, Cones and all sorts are going off. This is bad for a stalker's health and wellbeing. Being on the outside means we can get behind that flamethrower and not be a target. The Darkness is our friend. The darkest area is at the edge, in the corner, or just where your target can't see you.
Order creates the best kind of chaos. Chaos is a good way to create order.
Soloing and the effective use of placate is essential to our survival and efficacy of damage. These tactics can be used in Duo's, but be aware. Shedding aggro is great for your health, but your squishy partner, might not appreciate it.
You have 3 mobs. You can take out one pretty fast, and probs take out the second pretty fast, but that third, or fourth will likely spoil your day. Learn to use placate effectively. There are many bad ways to use it, but below is how to use it right.
AS mob A (An LT preferable, or just the most potentially annoying)
While your doing your AS potty dance, select mob B. This should be either a boss, 2nd Lt, or a mob further away from you, but still in range of placate.
Select mob C, preferably one very close to you. If you have time, use AS again, otherwise use your second most powerful attack, and finish off mob C quickly. Hopefully this will be before placate runs out on mob B.
With mob B left wondering where his mates went, you can either run and get back into hide, use AS if you didnt before, or whatever. But with one mob left, you are able to take your time.
If there are 4+ mobs, then you might have to scrap 2 mobs, or use hit and run tactics. Placating a Boss or nasty LT is often a good way to escape if you are using hit and run. One less mob chasing after you is always helpful.
Leave the boss or higher till last. By removing all other threats, there is little left to knock us out of hide, or just generally cause us hassle. We can focus on the 1 on 1, something a stalker excells at. If you are facing an EB, either bring back up in the form of team mates or shivans, or be ready for a long fight. Against an AV, get a team, get shivans, get your pet hamster. We can't solo an AV. Ever.
Tactic withdrawl is an valid option. It is not cowardly to live to fight another day.
Hitting and running solo is fine. Hitting and running, especially towards your unprepared team mates, will likely get you yelled at and booted from a team. Running should only be used in a team situtation, when your team is wiped and your not looking too good yourself. If your in godmode, then you are more likely to stay and fight, but otherwise, run and save your insps for a more worth fight. Running and hiding during a fight in a team where its going well, will just leave people wondering where you went and likely getting annoyed at you. Remember, AS is NOT your only attack.
When soloing, things are different. Hit and run is a nice way to thin out a crowd, especially if its a little too big for you. 3-5 mobs can be dealt with depending on their type and your lvl. Any more than that, or when you are low lvl withouth the survival skills, then run.
Learn how far you need to run to lose aggro. Running down a lift works great, or out of the mish door. Otherwise, learn roughly how far you need to run from them for them to leave you alone. Once aggro is lost, and you are rehidden, run back to the now disinterested mob. They are often walking back to where you first engaged them. This creates easy pickings for you as you take out the stragglers. Be carefull though, dont draw too much attention to yourslf when doing this, or you just might get the whole lot coming back on you.
Be like the ghost. Unseen, unheard, a silent whisper of the wind.
Ghosting your stalker is an effective way to quickly complete mishs. Gotta defeat X? Find him and kill him, and if that aint enough, anyone around him. Easy. Gotta find a glowie? Find it, click it, do the happy dance.
Things arent always that easy though. That glowie might be surrounded by a mob. This is where Line Of Sight is your friend. Can you hide behind something? a corner, a piece of equipment? You dont have to stand right in front of it to click it, stand to the side, stand back, whatever, just so long as you still get the blue hand coming up. This becomes especially usefull in store raids in Mayhems. A nice way to avoid those search lights.
You should also be aware that if you have ghosted a mish, running is not always the best option. There will more than likely be mobs along your escape route. This can make things go from bad to faceplanting very very fast.
The downside to ghosting is missing out on all those nice enhancements and salvage drops. So if your solo, and you see a lone Lt, take them out. Its fast, its fun, and adds to your rewards.
Scouts are usefull. Information is vital. A wayward scout is just someone lost.
Stalkers make great scouts. "He's here guys!" is great for a team to know which way to go, especially if they dont want to clear the whole map. Also things like "2 wardens and 3 nullifiers spotted" is usefull for a team to know. Especially when facing things round corners that others will likely blunder into. Try and stay ahead of the team to maximise this info. Often not possible to a brute in fury lock, but try at least.
Scouting out the entire map while your waiting for team mates, running off and going to the end, jumping up and down saying "Boss here" without Recall Friend to make you of use, or just generally leaving your team without any use other than it will keep you entertained is a good way to get kicked from a team. This sort of behavior just annoys people. Uncovering the whole map leads to people running into rooms and not paying attention to the 20 longbow stood waiting for them.
If you are asked to scout by the team leader, do it. Especially when you are short on time. Taking Recall Friend can be very very usefull in this situation. However, do this when asked, or if you have asked and the leader says ok. Otherwise your team are fighing a man short, and likely just get annoyed at you.
Timing is the key to unlocking your potential.
Do you know how long it takes you to get back into hide? If not, learn. Count to yourself. 1 Elephant. 2 Elphants. 3 Elephants. If you learn to time it right, you can use your AS the second that you are back in hide. You don't have to be in hide to use it, just so long as you are back in hide by the time it goes off. Learn this timing. It maximises your damage output and minimizes your kill times. There is nothing quite as satisfying as timing this perfectly so that you barely are back in hide as it goes off.
An enemy held is an enemy facing death.
Held foes are doomed. When a stalker is around, they are doomed faster. We get a chance of critting while out of hide off held and slept foes. Remember this. Can really help maximise your damage output.
Be Villainous. Be Vicious. Be Relentless.
The above difficulty levels are where you want to be training at. Villainous for those low levels or when you want to do all your contacts. Vicious when you wanna take on something harder. Relentless for when you really want a challenge.
These difficulty levels are perfect for stalkers. Smaller mob sizes, but just higher level. The other diff levels you get more mobs. This is bad for stalkers. Large mobs = death. Small, but higher lvl mobs = good bonuses and still quick kills.
When the hunter is hunted, he is often easy prey.
Ambushes are the bane of a stalker life. Kidknaps, store robberies, rescues, anything that triggers an ambush to come your way will always cause you a problem. To help with this its good to know a few things.
Many ambushes are location based. They are triggered when you click a glowie, or hit a certain point. The ambushers will then come to this point. If you are not there, they ignore you. Simple. Just move away from where the ambush is triggered, and its likely they will leave you alone.
If you have a pet/captive in tow, things get tougher, especially if you have to keep them alive. If they can be left, leave them and come back for them later. If they cant and need to be babysitted, stick close to them. If they are fighting, help them. Just keep an eye on them and keep close. Failing these kinds of mishes is a pain.
This is the Tao of the Stalker. Learn the Tao. Learn yourself.