Sword/Nin Stalker build help please!

I've never gotten a Stalker to 50, so I have little clue! Any help making her not too wussy would be great.

I'd like her to be usable for normal teamings and soloing, but also not that bad in melee duels in PvP (mostly against other casual PvPers).

• At the moment, Stealth and Hide are adding 2.17% defence each when I'm not hidden, right?
• Budget isn't unlimited, but I can still afford a few nice things.
• Some more HP, recharge, AoE defence and Knockback Protection would be nice, or whatever else you think she needs.
• Her endurance management is also pretty rubbish.
• None of the power choices are set.

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The standard on the boards is you generally skip your patron powers and you get all of your primary, the tough and stamina powers, and as much of the secondary as you can. If you have ninja run, some say you don't need a travel power any more. another common is combat jumping and/or hasten.

Thanks MCM, nothing I really disagree with there.

Is there any other input? Because seriously, I have no idea how to get soft-cap and decent endurance management on her, never mind the other stuff.

Cheers!

Yeah Gavin is pretty much correct.

If you get your /Nin powers slotted as well as tough and weave and put a +3% res/def IO in tough, you should be set to just pop one small purple and be able to live through anything while that purple is active.

I personally like to build my toons so that I don't need insps. But that is a personal preference. However, when some one asks for help with builds, I see their build through MY perspective. And suggest things that I would do/want.

With /nin, I suggest picking up an 'Oh Carp' power. This is because of the low DDR of /Nin (Defense Debuf Resistance). Shadow Meld, Phase Shift, Hibernate, and Kuji-in Retsu to a lesser extent (because it takes forever to recharge) are good powers to take. I would say you only need one of these powers. If you fight anything that has a sword or a gun, chances are you are going to lose defense quickly if you start to get hit. Earth Thorn Casters of the CoT are HORRIBLE because they drop Quicksand, which lowers your defense drastically.

Comments on your build:
Don't skimp on slotting Ninja Reflexes. It helps you when you exemplar all the way to level 1. So slot it for some endurance reduction and defense.
Soft capped = 45% to melee, range and AoE. (If you turn on Stealth or Hide while looking at you defense numbers, you are looking at the wrong defensive numbers. Turn off Hide and Stealth, check the numbers they give, add them up, and subtract from 45%, that number is the number you want to build to... I.E. if Hide = 2.3% and Stealth 2.5% then they equal 4.8% Meaning you only have to build to 41.2% defense to all)

Slot Stealth for more Endurance Reduction. It can hog endurance, especially since you will want to run sprint with it one (since it slows your run speed).

Just a question: Have you used Blinding Powder? Since it is only mag 2, it will only be able to confuse minnions, and I think LTs. Don't slot it for To-Hit debuff unless you are trying to get a bonus. Most people who take BP take it to 6 slot the confuse purple set. (5% ranged defense +10% recharge and other purplie goodness). The Contagious Confuse Proc is great in this power.

Caltrops, well they aren't bad. I just don't use them very much, not helpful on teams, and since I activate powers with the numbers on the keyboard, I usually don't have a place for a power that I do not use often. It IS good if if you are PvPing another Stalker in the arena or WB.

Try to pick up Placate earlier.

No travel power. I like that for stalkers. Nothing feels Stalker-y like Ninja Run.

Parry is just a slow down to DPS to a soft capped toon. It doesn't do a lot of damage, and if you don't need the defense, its kinda worthless. It's great for Regens or Resistance based toons though.

You prolly want more KB prot than mag 4.

I think that is it =).

I can make a build up for you if you wanted something to look at.

Cheers! Stuff I've not quoted is just stuff I'm nodding along to. But yes, I'd love to see a build if you have the time, thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Pine_ If you get your /Nin powers slotted as well as tough and weave and put a +3% res/def IO in tough, you should be set to just pop one small purple and be able to live through anything while that purple is active. I personally like to build my toons so that I don't need insps. But that is a personal preference. However, when some one asks for help with builds, I see their build through MY perspective. And suggest things that I would do/want.

Not a fan of requiring insps either. I can see needing to use a few purples to stop a defence crash being deadly, but not for 'normal' play.

Quote:

With /nin, I suggest picking up an 'Oh Carp' power. This is because of the low DDR of /Nin (Defense Debuf Resistance). Shadow Meld, Phase Shift, Hibernate, and Kuji-in Retsu to a lesser extent (because it takes forever to recharge) are good powers to take. I would say you only need one of these powers.

Just Retsu is enough?

Quote:

Just a question: Have you used Blinding Powder? Since it is only mag 2, it will only be able to confuse minnions, and I think LTs. Don't slot it for To-Hit debuff unless you are trying to get a bonus. Most people who take BP take it to 6 slot the confuse purple set. (5% ranged defense +10% recharge and other purplie goodness). The Contagious Confuse Proc is great in this power.

I wasn't sure how the procs interacted. Like, because BP only has a chance to confuse, does that mean the Contagious Confuse proc only has a chance of a chance?

Slotting it for -tohit was to help cover my lack of high defence, especially in PvP. But, I guess the 5% defence set bonus would be handier.

Quote:

Caltrops, well they aren't bad. I just don't use them very much, not helpful on teams, and since I activate powers with the numbers on the keyboard, I usually don't have a place for a power that I do not use often. It IS good if if you are PvPing another Stalker in the arena or WB.

That's a good enough excuse for me. Out of the the Ninja toys (Blinding Powder, Smoke Flash and Caltrops), caltrops are my favourite. The other two I could take or not, I don't mind. Whatever is most effective.

Quote:

Parry is just a slow down to DPS to a soft capped toon. It doesn't do a lot of damage, and if you don't need the defense, its kinda worthless. It's great for Regens or Resistance based toons though.

It's been a life-saver as I'm levelling, and I think it's pretty handy in PvP too. I'm not going to drop Parry, I think.

Cheers!

I can't look at the build at the moment, but I would focus on ranged and AoE defense since you can use Parry to easily softcap melee. Of course you can softcap all 3 positions, would just be a little more expensive. If you went that route you could skip Parry as it's not really needed for PvP.

Parry and Divine Avalanche both suffer from Diminishing Returns in PvP. So the defense you get in a PvP zone is going to be very small. Add into the fact that it has to HIT before it works, AND the fact that it's animation time is so long. You are better off throwing in another attack and hoping to KILL your target than trying to boost your defense by 2%.

I'll admit, it is a good leveling tool. But once you are soft capped, it should be thrown out the window.

Kuji-in Retsu would be a good power for PvP, since it gives you Elusivity. The -Acc of Elusive defense is better than just a +defense power. It is a panic button, but on a long recharge. That's why it is to a lesser extent, its up less. Meaning if you are fighting a group in a mission that likes to debuff defense, save it for when you have no more purples.

Oh, and if you want to PvP well, you have to Devote a build to only PvP, because there are things you have to screw yourself over with for a PvP build. KB protection for one, Lack of AoE is another.