Rewards for Stealth (A Stalker Thread)
By
Kiwi,
Posted on: 2010-12-03 24:59 in Suggestions and Ideas
Quote:
Whenever I have to escort someone I alway think "Why give me negative stealth when he would be perfectly fine with extra perception" unfortunatly allies would become broken... As they would see groups from far away and rush off to beat on them.
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Originally Posted by Lurker Hunter
4. Do Something About Escorts/Allies
Negative stealth is obviously one of the worst things to happen to a Stalker. It's particularly annoying to try to escort someone while under this debuff. I don't know what to suggest for this, just that something be done.  Any thoughts? |
Quote:
What I don't get is that the allies you pick up at the door in the Praetorian mission will follow you no matter what, while rescuees become horribly lost when you take one step away from them.
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Originally Posted by Kiwi
Whenever I have to escort someone I alway think "Why give me negative stealth when he would be perfectly fine with extra perception" unfortunatly allies would become broken... As they would see groups from far away and rush off to beat on them.
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Quote:
Ironically, when running my stalker through those missions, I'd turn on Ninja run and just run out of range of the ally |
Originally Posted by Red Valkyrja
What I don't get is that the allies you pick up at the door in the Praetorian mission will follow you no matter what, while rescuees become horribly lost when you take one step away from them.
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But I I completely agree that escorting hostages is a pain in the butt.As for the rewards, I honestly had never thought about it, but I think that was because I could ghost so quickly through an arc that I still seemed to level quickly enough.
Example: At the launch of Going Rogue, I was able to run my stalker through all of the Loyalist arcs (both paths) and the occasional Resistance arc, before being high enough to move on. So many of the missions there were/are ghostable that I was able to go through story arcs quickly, gaining more and faster mission bonuses. In terms of time spent between levels, it was about the same as any other character, but I was ripping through content about three times as fast.
Granted, this doesn't have thing to do with "stealth rewards," but I found my reward in getting to experience a multitude of stories, many of which I would have out-leveled on any other character. That being said, I would love to get a bit more of a bonus if, say, you get through an entire mission without killing a single enemy (although, on an AT that was originally villainous, that seems kind of counter-intuitive, heh).
@Winter. Because I'm Winter. Period.
I am a blaster first, and an alt-oholic second.
The idea of utilizing stealth rather than brute force has always been intriguing to me, and when a game rewards stealthy actions it makes things a lot more awesome.
Unfortunately in City of Heroes this idea doesn't translate well, as stealthy maneuvers always seem to be outclassed by brawn. Especially as a Stalker, but also with Cloaking Device/Superior Invisibility/Pool Power stealths, it's almost never been more profitable to approach situations in a stealthy manner. Yes, it's fun, and that should be all that matters. But the stigma towards Stalkers is unavoidable, moreso as the level goes up.
My Suggested Stalker Improvements:
1. Critical Chance Influenced by Debuffs/Controls
Logically, an AT that values precision would benefit most when their enemy is at a disadvantage. It would make plenty of sense to increase Stalkers' viability against weakened opponents. In this regard Scrappers/Brutes would outdamage Stalkers in normal situations, but when enemies are locked down and vulnerable the Stalker should have the most advantage.
Alternatively, just have slight extra damage (maybe unresistable depending on balance) trigger when a target is under a defense debuff/control, perhaps scaling to the magnitude of the debuff/control.
2. Improve Sniper Attacks
Again, with precision being a Stalker trait their APP sniper attacks are relatively useless. My suggestion would be to increase the critical damage to that of an Assassin's Strike, and to compensate increase the recharge rate by 30 seconds or so. This would provide more situational bonuses for the Stalker, while not allowing the sniper attack to be its primary method of attack.
3. Design Optional Mission Objectives with Stealth in Mind
There are already the occasional patrols that summon ambushes, but anyone who can take out the patrols power through the ambushes anyways. I'd like to see an optional objective near the end of the map that affects the entire map, such as a terminal that disables all of the robots in the building, or a desk containing a master key that allows the party to take a master elevator to the final floor. And I'd like to see these optional objectives interruptable, but not disable stealth.
This way, it would actually be useful to have a Stalker scout out the rest of the map. If more missions had this kind of stuff, Stalkers would become more useful to their completion.
4. Do Something About Escorts/Allies
Negative stealth is obviously one of the worst things to happen to a Stalker. It's particularly annoying to try to escort someone while under this debuff. I don't know what to suggest for this, just that something be done.
Any thoughts?