Praetorian Missions and Stalkers

AnElfCalledMack · 08-31-2010 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polecat7

Devore: Hit the talky phase and I went to hide... and ALL her illusory doubles auto-targeted me from range and blew me out of stealth. When I tried the second time with a better hiding place, they all came right for me, and while I was able to nail a good number of her doubles, she herself stood back and blasted away with a handful of doubles. And, as a note to someone about resetting earlier, she regained her illusory doubles at the middle health each time, and I didn't reset the mission.

Sorry about that. I said it because my dominator had soloed that mission just before I posted, and I faceplanted on the second spawn. By the time I'd gotten back, she'd regenerated to full, and I was expecting to have to do it all over again, but she just fought me herself from 100% to 0% - no more spawns.

Novella · 09-01-2010 07:06 PM

At level 15 I have yet to have a single problem leveling up my Kin/Nin Stalker and I have only been defeated 3 times. I am honestly shocked that so many people are having issues playing a Stalker in GR.

In the JFA 2010 Channel I have seen people mention that GR is harder on a Stalker, but in my personal opinion I feel that most times GR was made for a Stalker for the most part.

"People love to talk, but hate to listen." Alice Duer Miller, American Author (1874-1942)

Jabbrwock · 09-01-2010 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Novella

At level 15 I have yet to have a single problem leveling up my Kin/Nin Stalker and I have only been defeated 3 times. I am honestly shocked that so many people are having issues playing a Stalker in GR.

In the JFA 2010 Channel I have seen people mention that GR is harder on a Stalker, but in my personal opinion I feel that most times GR was made for a Stalker for the most part.

What leads you to this conclusion? I mean, people saying GR is rough on stalkers provide specific examples - notably the huge number of player targeted ambushes - that completely negate the hide/assassinate core mechanic of the AT. What are you seeing that makes you think GR is nicer for a Stalker than CoV?

Not trying to pick nits, I want to hear what mechanics you're encountering that let you leverage your way to easy success with a Stalker. I'm playing a Stalker myself and finding it hugely frustrating. Then again, I don't think a Scrapper would deal with the ambushes much better, they've been really excessive.

TEH WERDZ ON SKREEN HURTZ MI BRANE!

Armath · 09-02-2010 04:38 AM

And some people also say that it's just fine. I realize some people will be inadvertently new to this and naturally they will faceplant, which they would faceplant anyways, albeit in GR content more times, but aside them, i believe that GR content has to do with how experienced the player is. For an experienced one (which is an irony, considering the content is for new players) has it easier going with a Stalker.

Apart from buggy or not intended spawns, as people have mentioned here (and devs corrected/will correct), i really don't see any other class aside the mastermind to be able to just pick their targets and finish the mission with "tactical attrition". Line of sight, running away, popping lucks, respires and rages for an AS alpha strike is crucial if you want to survive multiple enemies. After that, it becomes a matter of how fast can you scrap most of the spawns before you run away. Some sets have it easier than the rest and some don't. When i leveled my Elec/SR up to lvl 14 i only used 3 attacks, my character's starting Brawl, Havoc Punch and AS. Being far from an experienced Stalker, but knowing what to expect, i learned to time my AS attacks outside of stealth between attacking intervals of 1-3 opponents. Luck had always something to do with it, but if you kept an eye on how frequently they use their attacks, you too could be able to dispose of the enemies faster than the usual.

Saying (and some people do) that "baw baw i can only use once the AS" is a fallacy and their inability to properly use it outside of combat, especially when you need that extra bit of damage in low levels. Learn, adapt, survive!

Freedom: @Negatron T-130
Currently on:
Aenisha - Titan Weapons/Energy Aura Scrapper Redside

--The fatal flaw in every plan is the assumption that you know more than your enemy.--

AnElfCalledMack · 09-02-2010 05:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Armath

Saying (and some people do) that "baw baw i can only use once the AS" is a fallacy and their inability to properly use it outside of combat, especially when you need that extra bit of damage in low levels. Learn, adapt, survive!

This. There are lots of little things you can do to make sure your in-combat AS goes off in early levels. For example, I always kill PPD Suppressors last. Their AoE attack doesn't hurt too much, is slow to recharge, and is their only attack, so if I Placate + AS the second-last guy just after the suppressor blast hits, it's almost guaranteed. To do this, I just tab past any PPD Suppressors until there are no other targets - a little bit of extra effort, but hardly back-breaking. Even with Placate on cooldown, you can fit an AS somewhere into the attack chain of nearly every non-boss enemy in GR, so once you're one-on-one, it really isn't that hard to use it as a straight-up attack.

As far as targeted ambushes go, they invariably involve some sort of comment from the ambush squad. Find a nearby corner and cue up your best non-AS attack, and you get to turn the tables once again, ambushing the spawn even when they can "see" through your stealth. GR occasionally forces you to rely on more than just the same tricks that you can use from 1-50 blueside or redside. Sometimes, you need to stretch yourself, and that's a good thing.

GavinRuneblade · 09-02-2010 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jabbrwock

What leads you to this conclusion? I mean, people saying GR is rough on stalkers provide specific examples - notably the huge number of player targeted ambushes - that completely negate the hide/assassinate core mechanic of the AT. What are you seeing that makes you think GR is nicer for a Stalker than CoV?

Mission glowies are less often placed in the middle of or inside aggro-range of enemy spawns, making clicking them easier.

More missions are just kill the enemy boss rather than "boss and everyone in the layer-cake cavern room" or "boss spawn plus all enemies within a variable range that gets larger the more of a hurry you are in".

Missions like the longbow invasion in Neutropolis, where you just talk to a guy inside the mission, don't need to fight at all if you don't want to.

Enemy groups where specific powers are key to the group danger levels. Ghouls as a key example. Kill the lieut and they can't aggro additional spawns. Leave the lieut alive and end up being attacked by 2, 3 or even 4 groups at once. Ghoul damage and defenses were apparently based around this mechanic as small packs of hunters are wusses.

I can probably give more, but just off the top of my head, those are the mechanics I've come across that favor stalkers compared to CoV.

Yes the ambushes are rough. The losing stealth to talk is also rough. But unless you attack, you can run out of aggro range and come back with stealth. So as I see it, only the ambushes are the issue.

"Hmm, I guess I'm not as omniscient as I thought" -Gavin Runeblade.
I can be found, outside of paragon city here.
Thank you everyone at Paragon and on Virtue. When the lights go out in November, you'll find me on Razor Bunny.

Zem · 09-02-2010 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GavinRuneblade

Yes the ambushes are rough. The losing stealth to talk is also rough. But unless you attack, you can run out of aggro range and come back with stealth. So as I see it, only the ambushes are the issue.

Ambushes are the only issue I have with Praetorian missions at all. And while you *could* stealth many missions on a Stalker, this only helps if your goal is merely to complete missions. If you do this however, you will end up running out of missions quickly without having leveled up enough for the next ones in your chosen path. So you'll have to run multiple alignment paths in Praetoria, street sweep, or team for the XP you're missing.

"Ghosting" stopped being the best way to earn XP while running missions on a Stalker a long time ago.

Villains: Annie Alias, Dr. Amperical, Shade Golem, Knight Marksman
Heroes: The Clockwork Mime, Soccerpunch, The Fissioneer, Samurai Houston, Oversteer

Join The X-Patriots on Virtue!

Novella · 09-02-2010 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jabbrwock

What leads you to this conclusion? I mean, people saying GR is rough on stalkers provide specific examples - notably the huge number of player targeted ambushes - that completely negate the hide/assassinate core mechanic of the AT. What are you seeing that makes you think GR is nicer for a Stalker than CoV?

Not trying to pick nits, I want to hear what mechanics you're encountering that let you leverage your way to easy success with a Stalker. I'm playing a Stalker myself and finding it hugely frustrating. Then again, I don't think a Scrapper would deal with the ambushes much better, they've been really excessive.

I don't think you are nitpicking, you are asking a legitimate question.

The simplest answer I can give you is that many of the issues that people are complaining about I simply am not facing. For example, when an ambush occurs they typically run to the location where you were when the ambush spawned and once that happens I turn off Hide and lead my hostage along the outskirts of the room and then retoggle Hide once the ambush is near. This does not always work, but it works enough to the point that in 15 levels I have only been defeated two or three times tops. My first defeat didn't come until I ran into a Pyrokineticist. I could have easily won that fight, but I queued up another attack after my AS missed so that broke hide and she pretty much owned me. Since then the other defeats have been because I just wasn't paying attention to my health.

Also I have noticed that in GR I do not have to run all my toggles at once like I did when I was leveling up two Stalkers in CoV. I hardly ever run Ninja Reflexes so Hide and Danger Sense are the only toggles I have to worry about.

The main reason I say I feel like GR is suited for Stalkers is because a lot of the missions I have come across (Resistance) are stealth missions or missions that require to you be quick. The targeted ambushes that people keep talking about which negate Hide, simply are not an issue for me.

In truth I am finding GR to be A LOT easier than low levels in CoH or CoV (especially CoV), and after leveling up two /Nin Stalkers in CoV this feels like a breeze.

"People love to talk, but hate to listen." Alice Duer Miller, American Author (1874-1942)

Novella · 09-02-2010 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zem

So you'll have to run multiple alignment paths in Praetoria...

That's the best way to experience all that Praetoria has to offer. During the beta people complained about running out of missions before reaching level 20, but I doubt those people ran multiple arcs and experience the full scope of the new content and story.

"People love to talk, but hate to listen." Alice Duer Miller, American Author (1874-1942)

Jeuraud · 09-02-2010 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Novella

At level 15 I have yet to have a single problem leveling up my Kin/Nin Stalker and I have only been defeated 3 times. I am honestly shocked that so many people are having issues playing a Stalker in GR.

In the JFA 2010 Channel I have seen people mention that GR is harder on a Stalker, but in my personal opinion I feel that most times GR was made for a Stalker for the most part.

Lol, I love these types of comments.

You say this,

Quote:

yet to have a single problem

then this,

Quote:

and I have only been defeated 3 times

which contradicts the first part of your statement.

Unless of course you are used to being defeated a lot more than 3 times before you reach lvl 15, and don't consider those 3 defeats worthy of being listed as even a single problem.

AnElfCalledMack · 09-02-2010 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeuraud

Lol, I love these types of comments.

You say this,
then this,
which contradicts the first part of your statement.

Unless of course you are used to being defeated a lot more than 3 times before you reach lvl 15, and don't consider those 3 defeats worthy of being listed as even a single problem.

Bad things happen. Personally, if I get to level 20 without being defeated, I'd think my difficulty was too low. The problems are when you run into something you can't see any way out of - the Noble Savage fight, for example, is a straight-up DPS check, since he has rock-solid status protection, hits like a truck, and doesn't have any tricky mechanics. If you can't beat him with a tray full of purples, then you just can't beat him. Accidentally aggroing a second spawn, or leaving the Painted One alive long enough to get Marked for Death, is just a mistake. It might result in defeat, but you can avoid it next time.

Polecat7 · 09-03-2010 04:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeuraud

Lol, I love these types of comments.

You say this,
then this,
which contradicts the first part of your statement.

Unless of course you are used to being defeated a lot more than 3 times before you reach lvl 15, and don't consider those 3 defeats worthy of being listed as even a single problem.

I will note that as anything but a scrapper or brute, I'm used to being defeated at least a dozen times before I hit 15.... Only my Scrappers and Brutes seem to manage a much lower figure (Usually barely breaking 5 or 6). I hate faceplanting, but it tends to happen a fair bit until I reach about 30....

Armath · 09-03-2010 05:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeuraud

Lol, I love these types of comments.

You say this,
then this,
which contradicts the first part of your statement.

Unless of course you are used to being defeated a lot more than 3 times before you reach lvl 15, and don't consider those 3 defeats worthy of being listed as even a single problem.

You are so wrong in this statement that i cannot stress it enough. All MMORPGs currently in the market share this trait at starting levels: frak it up and you die. Don't be careful, and you die. What makes you think CoX has the right to be different? What makes you think that CoX has to be different? This community has been pampered too much by the game's easyness. Stuff like:

1) You aren't good if you die 3 times before lvl 15.
2) You MUST not die 3 times before you ding lvl 15 (like someone self proclaimed expert and his elite club ruled that this must be true...)
3) "Baw baw i died 3 times before lvl 15...This HAS to be a problem! /sadface/"
4) If you use tactics and not just scrap and follow the mathematic formulas of scrappers>all, then you're not worth it.
5) If you use inspirations to take down anything Boss and above you're weak.
6) If you can't solo AV's then you suck.

Seriously, who made up these rules? Cause i really need to punch him in the face and remind him this is a game and not everyone wants to follow those idiotic self-made handicaps.

It is a game where you will inadvertently die at some point, so, i'd rather die in the beginning and correct my mistakes while i'm at my low 10-20's rather than keep faceplanting on higher levels. If you can't stand and had enough of leveling such characters in GR, then i'd rather advise you to not play the GR content. Simply because some people can't figure out how to play GR content i would hate to see the devs easing it up just for your sake.

Freedom: @Negatron T-130
Currently on:
Aenisha - Titan Weapons/Energy Aura Scrapper Redside

--The fatal flaw in every plan is the assumption that you know more than your enemy.--

Zem · 09-03-2010 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Novella

That's the best way to experience all that Praetoria has to offer. During the beta people complained about running out of missions before reaching level 20, but I doubt those people ran multiple arcs and experience the full scope of the new content and story.

Running multiple paths with a single character is possible, but usually at the expense of concept. Unless your concept is "multiple personality disorder" that is. Each path is designed for a particular kind of character. It doesn't surprise me that people were running out of contacts and complaining. They were probably doing the most OBVIOUS thing the game leads you into doing... a single path based on what kind of character you're playing. I suspect most people who intend to explore the other paths will do so on other characters.

Working undercover can explain working both sides but that's not well explained either. I still see people in broadcast asking how to do that. And it still doesn't really explain playing both, for example, of Power and Responsibility arcs or both Warden and Crusader arcs.

Villains: Annie Alias, Dr. Amperical, Shade Golem, Knight Marksman
Heroes: The Clockwork Mime, Soccerpunch, The Fissioneer, Samurai Houston, Oversteer

Join The X-Patriots on Virtue!

Jeuraud · 09-03-2010 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Armath

You are so wrong in this statement that i cannot stress it enough.

My error with my statement was forgetting that my experience is not the same as everybody else's experience. That having only died 3 times by level 15 was a good day for some people. You have also made the same error.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Armath

All MMORPGs currently in the market share this trait at starting levels: frak it up and you die. Don't be careful, and you die. What makes you think CoX has the right to be different? What makes you think that CoX has to be different? This community has been pampered too much by the game's easyness. Stuff like:

This games easiness is in the upper levels, where you have the slots and SOs to make the game easy. That being said the only MMO that I have played that I would say has any more difficulty than CoHV does, in the lowb levels, is the early EQ.

If you haven't played that then you dont know what difficulty is. You wont train a group of MOBs across the whole fricken zone. You wont have someone else train a whole group of very upper level MOBS on your lowb butt. You wont actually drop a level from dying. You dont have to try to find your body, somewhere in a huge zone, with no indicators to tell you where your body is, so that you can get your stuff back. You dont have to broadcast in zone asking for a upper level player to come drag your body away from the fricken MOBs that are currently camped on it. You dont have to worry about getting that body within 2 actual days of death or all your gear goes poof. Death in CoHV is a joke compared to this, but

I still hate dying (Especially stupidly.). It's my competitive nature, and it's how I measure my success. In CoHV everybody can level eventually. I'm also an Altiholic, I have built every AT, and I would say most of the power sets to at least the upper teens. I prefer the redside AT's to the blueside ones. If I've died three times by the time I've reached lvl 15 then something is very wrong, to me.

My experience with Praet MOBs was not that I was dying more often, but that I was having to run more often, use my inspirations more often, take a knee more often, or not having rest available more often, with AT's I am quite familure with, at these levels. These to me are indicators that the Praet world is more difficult than even the CoV world, and to have someone else say that this is not so, because they have only died 3 times by lvl 15, definitely pushes my buttons.

AnElfCalledMack · 09-03-2010 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zem

Running multiple paths with a single character is possible, but usually at the expense of concept. Unless your concept is "multiple personality disorder" that is. Each path is designed for a particular kind of character. It doesn't surprise me that people were running out of contacts and complaining. They were probably doing the most OBVIOUS thing the game leads you into doing... a single path based on what kind of character you're playing. I suspect most people who intend to explore the other paths will do so on other characters.

Working undercover can explain working both sides but that's not well explained either. I still see people in broadcast asking how to do that. And it still doesn't really explain playing both, for example, of Power and Responsibility arcs or both Warden and Crusader arcs.

May contain traces of spoilers.

My first Praetorian to get to Primal Earth went Crusader Nova -> Crusader Imperial -> Responsibility Imperial -> Responsibility Neut -> Warden Neut. She was a radical environmentalist who wanted to force Cole and the Praetorians to get back in touch with nature, instead of coating everything in steel and gold. So she starts off as a Crusader, trying to break down the walls and make some space for nature, but the Neutron Bomb had too much collateral damage for her - think of all the plants and animals it'd kill.
Anyway, she betrayed the Resistance and started the Responsibility arc to try and stop the Crusaders pulling any other loony tricks like that. Of course, she'd tend to warn Calvin Scott about the craziness the Crusaders were up to, as well. In the end, when Kang found his tape, she was in complete agreement - the people of Praetoria had to see it. So, with Cole pissed at her, and still regarding the Crusaders as too unstable to be trusted, she took up the Warden path, trying to stop the outbreak of interdimensional war that her "loyalist" days had uncovered. And really, what's a better finale for a defender of Gaia than restoring the water to its natural state?

So, yes. Multiple paths can make for a good story that isn't "multiple personalities".

GavinRuneblade · 09-03-2010 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeuraud

My error with my statement was forgetting that my experience is not the same as everybody else's experience. That having only died 3 times by level 15 was a good day for some people. You have also made the same error.

I've gotten the third damage taken badge and second slept/stunned/held before level 24 on more than one character. The first mezzed badge was 99% from the stun from using a wakie.

Quote:

That being said the only MMO that I have played that I would say has any more difficulty than CoHV does, in the lowb levels, is the early EQ.

If you haven't played that then you dont know what difficulty is. You wont train a group of MOBs across the whole fricken zone. You wont have someone else train a whole group of very upper level MOBS on your lowb butt. You wont actually drop a level from dying. You dont have to try to find your body, somewhere in a huge zone, with no indicators to tell you where your body is, so that you can get your stuff back. You dont have to broadcast in zone asking for a upper level player to come drag your body away from the fricken MOBs that are currently camped on it. You dont have to worry about getting that body within 2 actual days of death or all your gear goes poof. Death in CoHV is a joke compared to this, but

Try Eve Online. If you don't prepare properly, death is hardcore = lose all money, possessions, and start over from level 1. If you do prepare properly and get killed twice in rapid succession it is always hardcore.

Or try Final Fantasy XI. If you're not teamed it will take about 3 or 4 hours of solid grinding to kill enough mice and rats to go from level 3 to level 4.

Quote:

If I've died three times by the time I've reached lvl 15 then something is very wrong, to me.

Game balance is not around top end performance, it is around general public. Remember that the average player of CoX doesn't know the official forums exist. Many don't understand the market. You gotta assume the average player dies before level 15. Hell, I see people get taken out during the tutorial from time to time.

"Hmm, I guess I'm not as omniscient as I thought" -Gavin Runeblade.
I can be found, outside of paragon city here.
Thank you everyone at Paragon and on Virtue. When the lights go out in November, you'll find me on Razor Bunny.

Officer Omega · 09-04-2010 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kazuo_Kiriyama

In the new missions, I'm noticing that after I die and return to the ambush spawn, they see through my hide.

This has been 20 levels of torture.

Same, I've had many issues as a Stalker through Praetoria, given I could just be really bad at playing a Stalker as well.

It's been an interesting 17 levels so far.

Rooftop_Raider · 09-05-2010 05:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnElfCalledMack

The problems are when you run into something you can't see any way out of - the Noble Savage fight, for example, is a straight-up DPS check, since he has rock-solid status protection, hits like a truck, and doesn't have any tricky mechanics. If you can't beat him with a tray full of purples, then you just can't beat him.

One bit of advice: a tray full of reds, with 3-4 purples at most, is generally all you need for most EB's. Get as close to the damage cap as you can, and it reduces the amount of time spent on an EB considerably, and limits the amount of hits over time they can get on you.

LINK - Youtube vid

Here is my level 19 Ninja Blade Stalker taking him out in something along the lines of 20 seconds, including all the buff time before combat. My tray was actually 1ACC, 6DMG, 3DEF and I used Build Up, AS, Placate, Sting, Cut, Sting and that was it. I took out Maelstrom right after that, using the same approach, only he teleported out before I could get the killing blow in with Sting.

EB's at the lower level are much easier to deal with, since they don't really have any tricks. The ones at high levels might pop a tier-9, or phase shift you, or do anything else that might be crazy.

Zem · 09-05-2010 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnElfCalledMack

May contain traces of spoilers.

My first Praetorian to get to Primal Earth went Crusader Nova -> Crusader Imperial -> Responsibility Imperial -> Responsibility Neut -> Warden Neut....

...So, yes. Multiple paths can make for a good story that isn't "multiple personalities".

That's not really what I meant by multiple paths. I meant just taking and running missions from more than one path for a particular level range. So doing both the Crusader and Warden contact missions in Nova, for example. If you stealth missions on your Stalker you will end up having to run missions from more than just your chosen current alignment path (even if that path switches from time to time at morality missions).

Heck, on my first stalker attempt (which later go re-rolled) I was sticking to a single path and NOT stealthing. I was clearing. And I still ran out of missions and had to team/sweep for a bit at some points.

And I wasn't saying it was a huge problem. Just something to be aware of when taking the advice to stealth missions on a stalker. It means less XP and in Praetoria there are currently not a lot of contacts to choose from unless you do play multiple sides at the same time. If you want to stick to a single route through the story (again, even if you switch sides when presented with the choice) then you will want to clear those missions you do have rather than skipping past most of the enemies.

There is still an advantage to being a stalker in this situation though. Even if you want to clear a room, you get to decide where and when you'll start and how to progress. Maybe the entrance is a bad place to fight from because there are spawns to either side that are too close together. You can stealth to the opposite corner of the room and pick it apart from there or avoid just the problem spawns.

Villains: Annie Alias, Dr. Amperical, Shade Golem, Knight Marksman
Heroes: The Clockwork Mime, Soccerpunch, The Fissioneer, Samurai Houston, Oversteer

Join The X-Patriots on Virtue!

Polecat7 · 09-05-2010 02:06 PM

To throw a thought into the mix, how many folks are running with a lot of IOs at low levels? I know I don't have any more then the one I made from the school, but it struck me suddenly that people with a lot of IO bonuses and doing "Money is no object" type builds may be having a far easier time then people like me, who were lucky to have a handful of DOs come the end of Praetoria.

KillerShrike · 09-07-2010 10:35 AM

I like the IDEA of a stalker, and prefer melee characters over ranged and support. I enjoy my scrappers and tankers and brutes, but had epic failed stalkers a couple of times in CoV and written it off as not for me.

So, as an experiment in GR, I took a Kin/EA Stalker up to 12, and deleted him.

The ambushes were manageable for the most part. It was more that I felt light in the rear end and not able to really stick out a good fight. I had to run away, hide, and run back a lot and spent a lot of time engaged in running battles.

On the plus side, it was definitely not boring. Very edge of the seat at times.

On the down side, it took forever and was aggravating.

It wasn't impossible, but it was frustrating and a lot slower and less fun than the couple of brutes I started at the same time (parked one at 22, and the other is a going concern about to hit 38).

But I didn't feel like the AT itself was busted, just that my play style does not favor it. I really don't have the patience (or copious free time) to spend so much time running around and hiding. Or personality type for that matter.

I've teamed with a good number of stalkers, and I've noticed that some are VERY good and really help the team out with well placed assassinations, and solid scouting. However MOST stalkers I've teamed with were almost useless and simply couldn't pull their own weight.

My own personally theory is, being a good stalker involves a combination of tricks, a solid understanding the stealth, placate, and threat mechanics, patience, and good judgment. Unfortunately (myself included) not all of us have all of the various components and for us playing a stalker is frustrating and anemic, and that's as true in Praetoria as in the Rogue Isles.

GavinRuneblade · 09-07-2010 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polecat7

To throw a thought into the mix, how many folks are running with a lot of IOs at low levels? I know I don't have any more then the one I made from the school, but it struck me suddenly that people with a lot of IO bonuses and doing "Money is no object" type builds may be having a far easier time then people like me, who were lucky to have a handful of DOs come the end of Praetoria.

Rule #1, sell TOs, DOs, etc to the vendor. Put everything else on the market.
Rule #2, rule #1 means you will always be rich on all characters.

Ok, take your character to the tutorial, never skip this bit. Bring your inspirations to the trade house. List them for 1 inf each. On a good day you'll have 1 million Inf right there. On average it will be 150,000 inf. Before you do anything else, go to the "fixed price" section of the auction house and buy a teleport power to the auction house itself.

You only have two slots, so pick one of the following types of common IO: Accuracy, Damage, Recharge, Endurance Reduction. Look at the salvage and place two bids for 10 each of what you need to make them. Luck charms for accuracy are expensive, most of the rest you should be able to bid at around 301-ish and you'll fill up almost immediately.

Now go back and do your praetor white missions etc leaving the auction house to do its thing. Before you log out for the day, teleport back to the auction house and log out there. If your bids all filled collect your salvage and run to the university and craft (you can buy your recipes directly from the crafting table). If not, just wait until you log back in. Remember to buy a new auction-house teleporter they are 1 use only.

Every day use your teleporter or run to the auction house and sell all your salvage any any recipes you choose not to craft. Craft a few of the good guaranteed to sell common IOs, post and log out. Log back in, collect lots of money and go back to playing.

I had 12 million by the time I left imperial city and 2/3 of my slots were using set IOs. There are still more bids for the IOs I crafted and sold than I was able to fill. Meaning someone could make a lot more money at this than I did. Once you memorize the key recipes you can earn a ridiculous profit.

It's slow when you first start and you have only a few slots to sell with. Rapidly that changes, and you can start earning. The really painful bit is the recipe limit until you hit level 10.

"Hmm, I guess I'm not as omniscient as I thought" -Gavin Runeblade.
I can be found, outside of paragon city here.
Thank you everyone at Paragon and on Virtue. When the lights go out in November, you'll find me on Razor Bunny.

Polecat7 · 09-08-2010 01:20 AM

Wow. I mean seriously, just wow. That entirely litanty on making money never would have occurred to me, and I've got a lot of experience on CoX and other MMos. I can also state that sort of market playing not only doesn't really interest me (Frankly I think the market was a bad idea from the get go). Literally, I just sell all the salvage I have, and move on.... this sort of litany about how to make money is downright painful.

Now step back a moment. How many inexperienced players do you think will have that figured out? Seriously, if that is what it takes to play a stalker, I'll just re-roll. That is just.... words cannot describe it. I know my perpetually broke self can survive as a scrapper or brute....

AnElfCalledMack · 09-08-2010 04:52 PM

Gavin gave you the full rundown, but you don't need to do all of that. Selling the two T3 insps from the tutorial for seed money is solid advice, but keeping up buy orders on salvage and selling common IOs is a high-turnover proposition. If you make sure to auction all your salvage, and craft any proc recipes that drop for you (Praetoria has a *lot* of recipe rewards, so you'll probably get at least one) then you'll be comfortable in no time. Keep an eye out for any recipes with "chance for" in their name, and generally ones with weird bonuses (Accuracy in a Defense set, Defense in a Resistance one, or just random stuff like Regeneration, Recovery or Perception). Some of these can sell for a small fortune, and are just as good at level 12 as level 50 - they even exemplar lower.