The one thing to keep in mind is that you are never going up against three even minions. You are going up against two even minions and a body cooling on the floor.
Your first shot is the important one, make it count. Do not strike until you know what is around you. You don't have to be in a hurry, you will never be seen (well, until you get to higher level, and you'll just have to learn how to deal with Drones and so on) you can take your time. Take the extra second to turn around and see that no one is behind you before you strike.
Basically, you should know the terrain better than your enemies do. If there are blind spots, make sure you can get behind them, not that they are behind them to jump out at you. Slipping behind an obstacle to get back into Hide, then leaping out with a Critical just as the foe tries to come around the corner at you is a VERY good way to take enemies out. You can stand and scrap if there is no where else to go, but remember that you don't have to, and sometimes it's even better to lead your foes around by the nose.
Once you have Placate, use it for a free Critical. You don't have to run away and go into Hide, that's what Placate is for. A useful trick if you're fighting multiple foes is to Placate one, and Critical the other. The second foe will keel over dead, or if he doesn't you can finish him off, and the first won't be able to touch you until you hit him first.
Another trick I love to play, although with Kinetic Melee I don't know how likely this is, but to stun a foe and then pause a moment, before using an Assassin Strike. If you have like 8-10 seconds before a foe can strike, count 6, then use the AS. You will go into Hide (because you've been doing nothing but winding up your AS) and then IMMEDIATELY strike. This is lots of fun because it takes precise timing.
I am guessing that with Kinetic Melee you will have a lot of foes flying out of range to attack you. This is a good time to switch to one that is hitting you and attack him instead. Unlike a Tanker or Brute, or even a Scrapper who will be weakend by foes being knocked away, you don't have to worry about that. All that matters to you is that he's on the ground and won't hit you until he gets back up.
Quote:
I wish we still had rep. Outstanding post.
|
Originally Posted by Jade_Dragon
The one thing to keep in mind is that you are never going up against three even minions. You are going up against two even minions and a body cooling on the floor.
Your first shot is the important one, make it count. Do not strike until you know what is around you. You don't have to be in a hurry, you will never be seen (well, until you get to higher level, and you'll just have to learn how to deal with Drones and so on) you can take your time. Take the extra second to turn around and see that no one is behind you before you strike. Basically, you should know the terrain better than your enemies do. If there are blind spots, make sure you can get behind them, not that they are behind them to jump out at you. Slipping behind an obstacle to get back into Hide, then leaping out with a Critical just as the foe tries to come around the corner at you is a VERY good way to take enemies out. You can stand and scrap if there is no where else to go, but remember that you don't have to, and sometimes it's even better to lead your foes around by the nose. Once you have Placate, use it for a free Critical. You don't have to run away and go into Hide, that's what Placate is for. A useful trick if you're fighting multiple foes is to Placate one, and Critical the other. The second foe will keel over dead, or if he doesn't you can finish him off, and the first won't be able to touch you until you hit him first. Another trick I love to play, although with Kinetic Melee I don't know how likely this is, but to stun a foe and then pause a moment, before using an Assassin Strike. If you have like 8-10 seconds before a foe can strike, count 6, then use the AS. You will go into Hide (because you've been doing nothing but winding up your AS) and then IMMEDIATELY strike. This is lots of fun because it takes precise timing. I am guessing that with Kinetic Melee you will have a lot of foes flying out of range to attack you. This is a good time to switch to one that is hitting you and attack him instead. Unlike a Tanker or Brute, or even a Scrapper who will be weakend by foes being knocked away, you don't have to worry about that. All that matters to you is that he's on the ground and won't hit you until he gets back up. |
My Characters
I had not realized I could pillar dance things outside of roguelikes. I have been able to get multiple crits-from-hide on a lt just by running around scenery. 
You can do a lot in the animation time of AS - even select another target and cue up another attack.
Try it - choose your first target and position yourself so that you're in easy range of both that target and another. Hit build-up and AS. Then, while AS is animating, select the second target and cue up your next biggest attack. The AS will kill your first target, and your next attack will go off without you having to think about it. Within the span of two heartbeats one foe is dead and the other is well on the way. Makes the most out of buildup and is immune to server lag.
Once you get caltrops, your next move should be to throw them out on the floor around you. The fear in caltrops will do a great deal to keep you alive while you finish off the remaining targets.
The Scrappers' Guide to Dark Melee | Kheldian Binds and Strategies
Quote:
Yah that was good |
Originally Posted by Tatmia
I wish we still had rep. Outstanding post.
|
*sniffle* Caltrops, how I long for thee.
Made it to 6, that will help a LOT for opening fights. I can now do more than about 25% of a lt's health, I hope.
Caltrops, and Blinding Powder later on, will help greatly with distracting groups while you pound their heads in.
Quote:
As the original developer of Gumband (an offshoot of ZAngband which is an offshoot of Angband which is an offshoot of Moria |
Originally Posted by seebs
I had not realized I could pillar dance things outside of roguelikes. I have been able to get multiple crits-from-hide on a lt just by running around scenery.
|
), I say you win the Internets for that comment.
Quote:
OP will be glad to hear caltrops are great for this. Toss them down right in front of a corner, duck behind it; when they come running they'll slow down, giving you more time to get hidden again for your next crit.|
Originally Posted by Jade_Dragon
Slipping behind an obstacle to get back into Hide, then leaping out with a Critical just as the foe tries to come around the corner at you is a VERY good way to take enemies out.
|
I love caltrops too
Quote:
I developed the spellbook reorganization code which was in Vanilla for, oh, a good month or so before it got replaced by the Lua conversion. But I did the thing that replaced a bunch of 0x00007f00 with|
Originally Posted by JD_Gumby
As the original developer of Gumband (an offshoot of ZAngband which is an offshoot of Angband which is an offshoot of Moria
), I say you win the Internets for that comment. |
SPELLBOOK(MAGIC_MISSILE, ...)
and was VERY briefly in Vanilla.
But yeah, it's totally pillardancing. sprint = +7 speed or so.
Good advice so far.
The thing to realize with Stalkers is that they're most effective as a "Tactical" AT.
While you can scrap with stuff fine (typically), it's not your forte.
Guile, Cunning, Planning, and Surprise are what you do best...
Since you're a Caltrops fan, consider TP-Foe as well... It offers great
synergy, and with practice, it's a great way in PvE to divide and crush
the enemy.
Nemmi-Staff is also good for pulling a mob - long range, and KB. While the
mob is picking itself up, you've broken LoS and are re-hidden around a
corner. By the time the 1/2 dead guy gets there... Crit, and presto - dead
mob. It works great with Lt's or when you have two groups close enough
together that you'd aggro both - the Nemmi Pull or TP-Foe are good ways
to split them up safely.
For typical groups, the good ole "Triple Whammy" is still as effective as ever too.
AS #1, Placate #2, CritKill #3, then its you vs #2 mano-a-mano -- Cake.
A variation on that theme:
BU + AS #1, Scrap #2 (should be pretty quick since BU is still in effect),
Placate #3, AS #3... Done.
As another poster mentioned, you can be targeting the next guy while the
current attack is animating. The only wrinkle is if the current attack
misses - you need to be a little bit careful about queing the next attack
until the first hits (unless you like to gamble on RNG & the 5% miss rate) 
Generally though, if 3 mobs of less than Boss level are *any* trouble at
all, you should probably re-assess your tactics and approach.
Regards,
4
I've been rich, and I've been poor. Rich is definitely better.
Light is faster than sound - that's why some people look smart until they speak.
For every seller who leaves the market dirty stinkin' rich,
there's a buyer who leaves the market dirty stinkin' IOed. - Obitus.
No staff for a couple of years yet.
But yeah, TP-foe looks useful.
Quote:
Fair enough. Any ranged power will work for pulling just like it does for Blasters.|
Originally Posted by seebs
No staff for a couple of years yet.
|
So, Impale, Sharks, whatever you have, or heck, even one of the temp
powers like Revolver will do in a pinch.
Some are definitely better than others, but really, the only down-side is if
you aggro the whole group. Of course, that's when your other powers along
with some tactical thinking and cunning come into play...
Regards,
4
I've been rich, and I've been poor. Rich is definitely better.
Light is faster than sound - that's why some people look smart until they speak.
For every seller who leaves the market dirty stinkin' rich,
there's a buyer who leaves the market dirty stinkin' IOed. - Obitus.
I rolled a Kinetic Melee/Ninjitsu also.
It is fantastic.
Over time, I slowly grew my Broadsword/Regeneration scrapper into, well, basically a tough stalker; I rely a lot on Stealth + Stealth IO, then Build-Up + Headsplitter positioning. I'd wanted to try a stalker, but none of the sets appealed to me (or I've used them before, and didn't feel like treading old ground).
Gameplay is basically the same, except now I get a bunch of /Ninjitsu toys to help, and KM feels nicely different from Broadsword.
Also, as another RL player, the pillar dancing metaphor is spot-on. ;D
So far, no ranged powers except the tranq dart origin power. Won't have any others for a long time unless I, say, craft temp powers.
On the other hand, I've gotten pretty good at abusing caltrops. I can do AS in melee with three critters because they're too busy running slowly in place to attack me. Add in placate, and life is pretty good, at least thus far.
I'm also, at level 12, pretty much fully geared with level 15 IOs, some of them dual-attribute ones from sets. This makes life MUCH more pleasant.
Okay, so, I've heard that stalkers are awesome, that stalkers suck, and so on.
I decided to roll a kin/nin stalker. Rationale:
* I haven't played Kin Melee before.
* I will take ANY set that has caltrops in it. You could have a set that had eight forms of self-suicide or instant crash with no benefits, but also had caltrops, and I'd probably pick it.
So, what should I be going for? I really like the basic concept of running around not being seen, setting up fights, picking targets... But I don't so much like the fact that three even-level minions are a genuine threat to me if I'm unlucky.