Stalker or Bane/Huntsman for ST and more?

Hi, I have been gone for a while but have been around long enough to know what the SoA class is......however, I do not know how they compare to Stalkers.

Which is better at single target damage?
Which has greater survivability when it comes to melee (after their own Alpha strike)?
Which is more capable of soloing the majority of the content...not the entire game though?

Thanks!

Oh, use a DM/Nin stalker as the basis for the stalker comparison, thanks again.

A Stalker will almost always excel over the Bane at single target damage and have greater personal survivability. The Bane/Huntsman can still easily solo most of the game by itself due to a larger pool of powers and such to pick from.

HOWEVER, a Bane or Huntsman will almost always be more welcome in a team than a Stalker due to the -resistance powers it has, cone and AoE powers available, along with buffs - all Banes/Huntsmen/Crabs have a more powerful version of the Leadership power pool built into their initial secondary powerset - renamed as Tactical Training, their version of Maneuvers offers 10% def BASE, and has less endurance cost than the Leadership power pool version (which offers, what, less than 4% to the AT who can use it at the highest, the Defender). Not to mention it also has Assault and Tactics (renamed as Leadership).

One thing Stalkers have on Banes (at least SR stalkers) is that Banes lack defense debuff resistance. I haven't found this to be a huge deal, I just carry purples around if machine guns begin to debuff me.

The Stalker would be a stronger soloer, with two self heals, higher spike damage with AS, better DPS due to DM being crazy good and defense debuff resistance.

The Bane/Huntsman would be much better for teams, as mentioned above. The -resistance from Venom Nade, Surveillance and Shatter Armor are huge damage multipliers for a team, double Maneuvers and Assault (or even just single if you don't want the pool versions) are a great asset for a team. You've also got much better AoE damage, which is king when teaming.

I'd say make the call based on two factors. One, whichever concept/idea/powers you like most and two, how much time you're going to spend soloing/teaming.

Stalkers can be frustrating to team with on big teams, because you've got pretty much 0 AoE and even bosses will be dying really fast anyway. If you do a lot of teaming, the Huntsman/Bane would bring a lot more to a team and probably be more fun.

More important than that though is the first point though. If you like the DM/Nin powers or AS more than the rifle/mace powers (or vice versa, whatever) then go with that. Both will be strong characters, just the Stalker solos better and the Bane/Huntsman teams better.

This is a tough question because I believe the initial comparison is slightly flawed. Even though a Bane/Huntsman has stealth I wouldn't equate them with a stalker. They are more closely related to the Defender/Corrupter family IMHO.

If you want crazy ST damage and survivability, the DM/NINJ is your best bet. However a Bane/Huntsman (especially one with double leadership buffs) will be very welcome on a team. You'll bring reliable defense (as good as Force Field), debuffs, and damage. My favorite description of this build is that "It's a corrupter with teeth!".

I'd like to see a stalker keep up with a perma pets Bane or Hunstman.

Hmm, i guess I mis understood what SoA were all about. i thought they were DPS first and support second. I guess they are really more about support with DPS second...like a defender?