Can Stalkers scrap and have epic moments?

Hi folks, long time player, first time Stalker here and I’d appreciate some guidance. Despite being here for almost 5 years, I’ve never mastered the Stalker AT so I’ll admit ignorance to a lot of how they play and what they contribute to a team.

Basically, I have been planning on a character to explore Going Rogue content and although I thought I’d settled on a Blaster, however, a couple of kung fu movies later and suddenly I'm considering a martial arts master, a character type I’ve never done before.

Now here’s the thing. I’ve played plenty of Scrappers before but never a Stalker and the impression I’ve always got was that Stalkers could hit a single target very hard and then scrap it out a little bit before having to run and hide again. Whereas by contrast I’ve watched a friend’s Dark/Regen Scrapper solo the entire final room of Gaussian’s RWZ arc. (Myself and the rest of the team were faceplanted at the time, it was quite epic to watch.)

So I guess what I’m wondering is: Are Stalkers capable of the same kind of insane feats such as these? Or are they the exclusive domain of insane Scrappers? Can I hang around and take on a few mobs or are Stalkers still limited to taking a few hard targets down and then fleeing before being swamped?

For information, the Stalker I have in mind will be MA/Nin. Thanks for your time.

Yes it is possible. The problem with Nin is the most DDR you can get is around 30%. Defense Debuffs can be a real problem.

I have lived when all the rest of the team has died. Just sitting in the middle of the mob wailing on them. (Using a DM/Nin). He is not soft-capped yet either.

The thing I hate about stalkers is their low HP =( even when HP capped, two or three lucky hits can kill yah =(

Stalkers have lower HP than scrappers, so they are more susceptible to burst damage than a scrapper. With that proviso, Stalkers can scrap pretty damn well IMO.
So enjoy.

Another note:

The very first scrapper I had was an SR scrapper. So to me, anything less than 95% (or is it 90%) DDR is just a disappointment. =(

My MA/SR Stalker has survived several teamwipes, and cleared up the mess so that others can rez. I'm at 45% to all positions, but that isn't hard to get there with SR, and there's always a cheap purple pill for those epic moments before reaching the softcap.

The difference from a MA/SR Scrapper is not that noticeable. Less hit points, and I miss Dragon's Tail. But the epic moments are still there.

I'd seriously consider Super Reflexes. I've played Ninja too, and don't miss the extra perks like the self heal much at all. Ninja starts off much better, but SR finishes ahead.

I'll chime in with an affirmative also... They can scrap.

For NB/* Stalkers, Divine Avalanche is a beautiful thing.


Regards,
4

While I agree that the easier softcap and capped defense debuff resistance is very nice, /Nin has a few tricks that /SR doesn't get for those "epic" (read: oh ****) moments. Caltrops alone does enough to keep you alive even with low DDR, since they're too busy trying to get off of the patch to take advantage of the debuff while it's active. Blinding Powder, especially with Contagious Confusion in it, also helps when you're getting swarmed. And that's not even accounting for the uninterruptible heal.

Also, not that it matters since it's temporary, but Ninjitsu can get a little over 70% defense debuff resistance, but half of that's coming from Retsu (the Elude clone).

And with all of that said, any AT can have those moments - Stalkers are no exception, and are one of the easier ATs to do it with. Yes, it'll be easier on a Scrapper just because of the difference in hit points (and the occasional random number generator hatred), but that same line of thinking also leads to it being easier on a Brute than a Scrapper.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brillig It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.

My non-IO'd EM/Nin has done some insane things. Same for my Claws/SR, Nin/Nin, EM/Regen, and Dark/Nin.

If built properly, IO's or not, you can surprise even yourself.

My nin/nin has tanked before. Divine avalanche is a very beautiful thing.

Since the stalker upgrade in i12 stalkers are really just higher damage, lower hp scrappers who can sneak. You should be able to feel epic too just occasionally a few lucky blows will take you out.

My EM/Ninj stalker used to take the alpha strike for most 8-person groups I was in before I semi-retired her with the EM nerf.

Thanks everyone, much appreciated insights. I guess the impression I'm getting is that Stalkers are single target specialists and don't fare as well against large groups. Given that the Scrapper I'm considering instead is MA/Shield, I guess I couldn't get more opposite.

Ninjitsu still looks appealing, I've never been able to muster the time to try Super Reflexes properly. I think it's because there's nothing really unique to the set these days, it's just Defence, more Defence and a little bit more Defence with a cherry on top. But I can't deny I've seen some impressive things done by those with it.

Thanks for your help.

Quickness is the one thing that makes super reflexes more appealing than ninjitsu, to me.

/Nin is always the best secondary a stalker can have. Altho this story my weigh your attitude towards stalkers being single targeters....

I was duoing with a friend, an MM of some sort, with my DB/Nin stalker. We were running his missions and hit the one where you take down that Crey lady... I'm foggy on the details of the mish, but anyways, we went into the room, she's an EB or something, conning red to me...

And my friend dies, told me he'd stupidly forgotten his toggles or something like that.

So there I am, here comes the Crey lady and maybe half a dozen other Crey baddies. Caltrops kept most of them from teaming up on me all at once (and by that level my toon could get two active patches out at a time), I used Placate+AS and the /Nin heal whenever available, whatever the /Nin set calls it MoG (I can never remember that), etc. Basically I used my secondary for everything it was worth while I cutcutcut at anyone foolish enough to let me get close to them. My friend just laid there on the floor all through it, expecting me to be toast at any second. It took a few intense minutes of playing and most of my Insp's (it seemed like Crey lady was never going to die, I swear...), but I was able to take them all down without dying. It was one of the more fun scarpperlock moments I've had in this game.

AV soloers and their ilk out there probably sneer at this story, but you have to understand this comes from a player who doesn't play thier way; I also don't use Mids to squeeze out every last fraction of a percent (I'm old enough to be out of school, no more homework for me dammit). My toon had some IOs, but not tons and certainly not the horribly expensive ones (and certainly not the "well planned sets" version of "having IOs" either).

So - "stalkers, can they scrap?" Yup.

Electric Melee... I strongly reconmend it.

Its a fun ride to 3 anyway, the AS animation is good. Lightning Rod doesnt break hide, but will agro.

With a high defence secondary (i have nin, but i SR would do well too) you can BU>>LR>>AS

or, my favourite is BU>>LR>>Thunderstrike, which i believe is guarantee critical on your target, and a good chance of critical on the rest. The throw out a chain induction, Placate and then AS on whatever is big and left standing.

Quite often I neglect to use AS, especially on teams beyond occasional oppeners because I'm having too much fun with all my other utlities. I really should respec him though, since he doesnt have Tough/Weave etc, and is still very survivable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VoodooGirl [*]Watching out for the Spinning Disco Portal of D00M!*

Yes, Stalkers can definitely scrap. You have 2 guaranteed critical-strikes, from Hide and Placate, which means that you wont have to spend as much time on Bosses as a Scrapper would. It also means that you can take out annoying mobs a lot quicker, such as Sappers, and not have to worry about a thing.

Your health is weaker than a Scrapper but that's about it, everything else is pretty close. I do admit that it's a bit more difficult during early levels of gameplay, but you should be fine once you get to the early 30s.

I just started dual blades and the sweep combo is already epic fun (assuming you avoid the retaliatory alpha). :P

Stalkers can scrap and scrap very well indeed.

Few things to remember though:

One of the major complaints about stalkers is their low HP/HP cap. But stalkers do have Hide and Placate. They draw less aggro than all other 3 melee ATs. So the way to compensate the problem is to carefully position youself before strike. Take out the biggest threat first to minimise the magnitude of the returning fire. Also, you don't always have to attack the target you have Placated: you just leave him there and scrap the others. So you have one less target to worry about - especially when you are juggling to tough targets. Picking defence or regen secondary helps out a bit too. That is why most people like /SR, /Nin, /WP and /Regen for stalkers.

Another common complaint is to do with playstyle, which has very little to do with the AT itself. Traditionally, stalker players did not play stalkers well: they mostly did hit-and-run or scout the map ahead leaving everyone behind. But that is just bad playstyle. If a player think of stalkers as scrappers with precision strike/high burst damage, and play so accordingly, stalkers are just as good as other melee ATs. By 'precision' I mean you can pick-and-choose which target to attack first, without drawing too much aggro to yourself. A good stalker player should not only just be able to make the most of the Hide-Crit capability but also be able to use their general melee scrapping ability as well.

Playing a stalker well needs thinking ahead before attacking, which is different from all the other 3 melee ATs. Their higher HP and armour mean they have a wider margin of error when engaging foes. Instead of the traditional charging-in, herd or taunt-pull, stalkers need to think how best to lay down the first hit (normally in the form of an BU+AS). Then of course, stay your ground and scrap, trying also to make the most of the sliding scale of crit chances. You need to find a rhythm or pace between the Hide-Attack-Hide cycle for your stalker (I have counted the semi-hide function of Placate as Hide as well for simplicity's sake).


So, yes, stalkers can scrap and certainly can have 'epic moments' (what ever that means). It is all up to how well a player choose to play them.

Enjoy

My best Stalker experience so far was on a lvl 6 energy/energy. 1 mob, 10 skulls, 1 small red, 10 dead skulls.

Again, thanks for all the advice. My MA/Nin is primed for August 17th.

My DM/DA stalker has had plenty of epic moments. I wish you luck on your MA/Nin.

My question to the OP: Can tanker control like controllers/dominators? Can scrappers debuff mobs like corruptors, defenders, and controllers?