Reposting from I19 Beta threads

Here are my few ideas on what could be done to diminish the issues.

1.Make Placate an inherent power you receive when you take AS replace it with a PBAoE attack almost every Stalker primary has had an aoe removed and that alone makes them half crippled on large teams.

2. shorten the interrupt and animation times on AS its only use full in hide as it is and since you cant be seen in hide the idea of siting still that long is just pointless from game play stand point

3. Spawn the fear/debuff pet off the caster not the target so it wont be useless if you kill the target.

4. remove crit from hide from all AoE dmg but increase its base dmg of said attacks yet still keeping them below scrapper equivalent.

5. expand the crit chance buff area of effect to something useful on most teams. A few extra feet would make this far more helpful

That's 5 thoughts of things that would help stalker without changing how they play/where they stand.

That leaves the smaller Issues that can never be fixed in order of there danger to stalkers

1 Ambush seeming infinite perception number

2 Placate bug

3 long animation attack that has a team steam roll past them every few seconds making them seem useless causing them to be ignored by the player base

4 Sheared aggro, not the big issue is it.

IDK it may just be me but the statement you started this thread with seem like you are righting off an AT as un-fixabull and that kinda makes me angry just a bit.

not a problem for me as I don't team with my stalker.

he's great fun solo, the few times I've accepted team invites with him he ends up feeling like a big, fat leech who's main contribution is slightly increasing the size of the spawns my teammates steamroll.

If your team is steam rolling then the setting is too easy. In that case, you can bring whatever AT you want.

Stalker's role only seems to matter "a bit" when the team is NOT steam rolling. The team needs a bit time to get organized and figure out which target to kill first. (this is not to say Stalker is the only AT that can take out target fast. A good Dominator can stop most things faster than Stalker can ever dream of)

Yes, I, too, thought my Stalker sucked when the team steam rolls but later I just tell myself that the team can steam roll with or without me. I didn't even bother with Assassin Strike (hence the reason why I believe Assassin Strike's activation is a bit too long on a team because in critical time, it is easier too slow or gets interrupted).

Castle, have you considered "unsuppressed stealth" on Stalker? That may reduce a lot of that "shared aggro" issue? Are you afraid Stalker is getting too much aggro or not enough?

I've played so many Stalkers and I honestly don't think aggro is even the Top 20 issue for me. Yeah, if I want all the aggro, I can do stupid things like opening alpha with AS before the team arrives but most ATs would have died in that situation as well.

Yes, some of the game's mechanisms like target-ambush and hostage-lead-out are unfriendly for Stalker but that's not even my main issues. It's annoying I admit. The key issue for those that chose Stalker is that they are not getting enough attention/love from other ATs. I invited a Stalker in St. Martial two weeks ago by PMing him. He told me that I am the first person that asks him to join for the past two weeks. That is kinda sad... I have nothing against Stalker on my team (well, except for stupid ones that runs ahead and gets himself killed).

So the new data shows many new players made new Stalkers in Preatoria? Is that why Stalker doesn't need any more buffs because their popularity remains the same?

I want to be able to protect squishes by using placate, not have them crushed. As a stalker I do not fear having too much aggro, I fear that I can't do enough damage to protect my teammates, and the inability of not being able to use placate cuts into my damage potential.

Thanks for the update, Castle. There has been a lot of speculation and discussion about the direction future Stalker fixes will take. It's nice to have an official statement on the "state of the game" WRT Stalkers.

I realize any systemic changes will be slow coming, but I look forward to them, especially if a solution to ambushes seeing through stealth (and escorts not seeing through stealth) can be found. I don't think anyone was lobbying for a fix to allow offensive toggles to suppress while stealthed, but I guess you guys had it on your minds and managed to squeeze it in eventually. As a result I have a new(ish) /DA Stalker, currently level 42, that I never thought I would.

I'm still of the opinion that the lack of AoE is the main limiter on Stalkers' contribution on teams (and therefore the perception of them), but it looks like that discussion is over.

Count the number of people saying "oh yes, I agree, their problems are withing the game system" and the people saying "um, there are much bigger problems here." Then go to one of the many So...Stalkers style threads with hundreds of posts with informed people voicing their concerns about the AT and how one could possibly fix it. Next, run the numbers on dps and survivability compared to the other Melee ATs. (If you think they are a special exception because they can neutralize an opponent, then compare them to doms, which have greater ability to do the same gimmick, can softcap to s/l defense, and can outperform the Stalker in dps and AoE dps all at the same time). Then tell me the AT is where it should be.

This thread is interesting in how the devs see things versus how things actually are or how we see things in regular play. I just find it odd that Castle would see that aggro is one of our problems when practically every thread about stalker issues since issue 6 has had something to do with either not enough aoe damage or other team contributions. Never had I seen aggro be an issues. We have had a few folks to complain about hit points but to me thats pointless to ask for. What can 1 shot you at stalker level health can just as well 1 shot you at scrapper level health. Its not like we can ask for tanker level health so the asking for more HP just needs to stop because it does absolutely nothing for us in PVE. The only disparity I see is really defense versus resistance sets but there isnt much that can be done to fix that.

I think that one problem is that stalkers pay a powers tax for AS, Placate and Hide - three powers that arguably all Stalkers should get as inherents but now they take up spots on the powersets that could be used for other powers like AoEs.


I would make all three of those powers inherent, or at least Placate and Hide (since AS is thematically tied to the powerset). Placate would of course be replaced by the PBAoE attack that was originally removed from the powerset to accomodate for it, and Hide should in my opinion be replaced with a thematically appropriate debuff.

• Regen: Venom. A strong -regen debuff.
• Dark: Blind. A strong -tohit debuff.
• Elec: Synaptic Overload. A sleep mez and -end/recovery debuff. Like a single target Static Field.
• Energy: Sap. A strong -damage debuff.
• SR: Hamstring. A strong -speed and -recharge debuff.
• Nin: Dart (use the Knives of Artemis hand crossbow animation!). A short but powerful Hold.
• WP: Nerve Pinch. A strong, long-lasting Stun.

Eh, I thought the only problem was Brutes/Scrappers doing more damage myself.

But hey, at least we know no changes are incoming.

I'm not sure "systemic problems" only refers to aggro, at least from how Castle phrased things in that post. Ah systemic problem to the game is also potentially how AOE damage is seen as more desirable than ST damage. Part of that is player perception, but it also comes from how the game works. Powersets or ATs that are more ST focused tned to get graded lower on player's interest because of this.

That doesn't mean ST damage is bad, just that people slight it. However, any system changes to address the balance issues that are there would have far reaching consequences. Some ATs are characterized by their AOE potential (like Blasters, and potentially Defenders and Controllers, if you count debuffs, etc.), and changing how AOE works in this game could really impact the quality of those ATs.

I'm rather surprised that some ideas for making Stalker improvements better aren't in the works, though. As people have pointed out, the debuff from AS is nice, but a little wonky in how it actually works. Same thing for the critical hit increase from teammates. Making those changes would help, but hardly overpower the AT beyond what Scrappers or Brutes can do.

There aren't only systemic issues to the game that affect Stalkers.

Less survivability and less damage than a Scrapper. All the utility is nice but, in the end, doesn't matter as much.

Personally, what I'd like is...

*Quicker Placate cast/recharge.
*Placate offers short (1-2s) period of unbreakable hide (if you Placate, you will still crit, even if mobs shoot you. Unless you try to AS and get interrupted.)
*Fix Placate bug
*AS to deal set's debuff as well, stronger from Hide. Por ejemplo:
-Broadsword: -def, bleed Lethal DoT from Hide
-Claws: Faster animation than other AS, possibly bleed Lethal DoT from Hide.
-Dark Melee: -toHit, double chance for Demoralize to Fear.
-Dual Blades: Already part of a combo., bleed Lethal DoT from Hide
-Electrical Melee: -end, guaranteed mag 3 Sleep from Hide
-Energy Melee: %Stun, guaranteed low-mag Stun from Hide
-Kinetic Melee: -dam, %KD from Hide.
-Martial Arts: %KD, TAoE 'shockwave' Smashing, %KD from Hide (no, it doesn't make sense, but fits the set)
-Ninja Blade: -def, bleed Lethal DoT from Hide
-Spines: -regen, -recharge, -speed, Toxic DoT, more from Hide (like the rest of the set. Hocrap, Spines has a lot of debuffs)

(and yes, I am aware that a Bleed DoT would require a bit of playstyle change. Don't placate the guy you just AS'd! Keep in mind that all three Sword sets can already cause Bleeding)

To be honest if they make Stalker Hide like Brute's energy cloak that would be a quick, and easy change which would profoundly alter how Stalkers play.