Yeah... A Stalker without Hide is only very slightly short of a Scrapper.
Now you're selling Scrappers short. Now if you've seen me in a Stalker vs Scrapper debate, I'm usually the guy backing Stalkers. And while they can provide much to a battle without needing to resort to their inherent, that inherent provides a great deal more than simply crits. There's also the utility of starting a fight with 1 less foe that many discount in the overall survival/dmg equation.
But there is more to a Scrapper than you account for. Granted, it's subtle but it all adds up. Stalkers have less HP (they cap at 1600 while a scrapper *starts* at 1300), while their base dmg is close a scrapper will pull ahead because dmg buffs on a higher dmg mod will grant more dmg and scrappers plain get higher buffs from self dmg buffs (stalker BU is 80% and scrapper BU is 100%). Anyway, a Stalker without hide is far and away from a Scrapper. Far enough, at least, with regard to effectiveness yet close enough to warrant altering the sets to facilitate a new style.
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When it gets into 50-60 and up, then I start feeling like "Hey, these guys are going down fast! Why is that?" then I'd look to the Fury bar, slap my head and go "Duh, of course!" But 20 Fury? Forget it. I can't even tell it's there.
Yeah, usually people won't notice the 'damn that attack sucked' to 'well at least I don't suck' change.
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I'd actually describe that as a Stalker, but it's obviously your character, so you get to choose. It's actually pretty close to one of my own Brutes, an Energy/Energy woman, on second thought. I guess to avoid contradicting my own character, I'd say it can go either way, but that just shows it's not all Juggernaut Headcrush to Gamma Crush.
Not even close to a Stalker. I like to call that Brute's style with words like 'Predator' or 'Hunter'. While a Stalker will walk up to a group and calculate, prioritize and plan their course of attack (usually deciding if you want to BU>AS the boss, take out that Lt or open with a big AoE crit and then in what order) to get the fastest and least painful result; a 'Predator' or 'Hunter' will simply strike out at the weak and exposed. Since EA has unsuppressed stealth, it's usually picking off the guys near the edges (they'd probably shoot at you from range anyway if you just changed into the middle) before ripping everything else apart (and by then, it's too late because you've got fury and AoE ready to unleash with).
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I don't mind Claws as a concept, or indeed even as a powerset, but I mind them as a benchmark for how a Brute should fight, e.i, with lots of small attacks. That's fine for some sets, but it REALLY sucks for others, specifically heavy weapon sets and heavy strength sets.
Then answer this: In your DBZ example, would Vageta waste his full strength on nobodies like General Tao and the Red Ribbon Army? Because in the game, the majority of the foes are smaller weaker minions and quickly-disposed Lts. While big hulking smash attacks are nice, having 1-2 is usually all you'll ever need because Fury just makes those small attacks moderately big.
But there is more to a Scrapper than you account for. Granted, it's subtle but it all adds up. Stalkers have less HP (they cap at 1600 while a scrapper *starts* at 1300), while their base dmg is close a scrapper will pull ahead because dmg buffs on a higher dmg mod will grant more dmg and scrappers plain get higher buffs from self dmg buffs (stalker BU is 80% and scrapper BU is 100%). Anyway, a Stalker without hide is far and away from a Scrapper. Far enough, at least, with regard to effectiveness yet close enough to warrant altering the sets to facilitate a new style.