As a dark armor stalker, there is pretty much never a time when I think Im not contributing to the team with Opressive Gloom running. Sure with playing Dark melee I wish I had more AoE damage but I live with it. My recharge is good, I always have an attack ready to fire before I can even target my next victim. In fact thats probably the biggest headache of an ST based melee character. You dont have PBAoEs or attacks that dont require a target so you have to tab to next closest target all the time to be able to fire off an attack.
But Im always contributing to the team, even just standing there being gloomy.
-Largo
Founder of A.G.O.N.Y. Supergroup on Victory
Member of Thought Sanctum VG on Victory
Member of St0rm Batallion SG on Guardian
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If you want a somewhat "steamroll" Stalker build, I would go with either Electricity Melee or Spines. I vote Electricity melee because your ST damage is still respectable. Spines' ST damage is just ... slow.
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Originally Posted by streetlight
I've been working on filling out my roster with at least one of every archetype and Stalker is the only one I've left blank. Based on everything I've seen, there's no reason to make one for teaming. Many people are stripping their Stalkers of IO sets to put them on something else, even off PVP builds.
Teams are fast now. Good teams are incredibly fast. In a game of fast gameplay, Stalkers are an entire AT that feels like the "Devices" secondary, needing time to setup in order to be at their best. You can either slow down the team to let the Stalker stalk or you can steamroll. Only a rare team will actually want to slow things down and drag out the game so that the Stalker can feel he's contributing to the best of his abilities, so you end up with Stalkers stuck in a watered-down Scrapper mode. With that in mind, Stalkers seem to make the most sense in a solo or all-Stalker team context where everyone is on the same track. Otherwise, it's back to being a watered-down Scrapper. |
What's left is to normalize all Assassin Strikes and improve Stalker's old sets (Claw, MA and EM)! You don't need to bring back the missing PbAoE attack. You just need to make the existing ones better! For example, make Slice a WIDER and LONGER cone.
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I vote EA brute.|
Originally Posted by Jibikao
If you want a somewhat "steamroll" Stalker build, I would go with either Electricity Melee or Spines. I vote Electricity melee because your ST damage is still respectable. Spines' ST damage is just ... slow.
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SS/EA
FM/EA
DB/EA
El/EA
You get the stalker playstyle (Superior in one way with combat steatlh) and you get all the benefits of being a Brute.
I just took apart my min maxed Spines/Ninjitsu build in exchange for FM/EA and I love it.
Thinking of taking apart my Elec/Nin minmax build as well, but holding out for a new AT/Powerset combo.
When something good happens to me, I can never enjoy it....
I am always too busy looking for the inevitable punchline...
BEHOLD THE POWER OF CHEESE!
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I think he wants to complete his project of having one lvl 50 for each AT so...
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Originally Posted by Test_Rat
I vote EA brute.
SS/EA FM/EA DB/EA El/EA You get the stalker playstyle (Superior in one way with combat steatlh) and you get all the benefits of being a Brute. I just took apart my min maxed Spines/Ninjitsu build in exchange for FM/EA and I love it. Thinking of taking apart my Elec/Nin minmax build as well, but holding out for a new AT/Powerset combo. |
What's left is to normalize all Assassin Strikes and improve Stalker's old sets (Claw, MA and EM)! You don't need to bring back the missing PbAoE attack. You just need to make the existing ones better! For example, make Slice a WIDER and LONGER cone.
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I'll second this.
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Originally Posted by Jibikao
If you want a somewhat "steamroll" Stalker build, I would go with either Electricity Melee or Spines. I vote Electricity melee because your ST damage is still respectable. Spines' ST damage is just ... slow.
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"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.
Quote:
One double XP weekend when I was getting my first VEAT to 50, I ran a 8x redside team for about 8 hours. For about 3 hours of that, I had a Brute who would not run in and take the alpha. He'd use his patron AoE, or a vet ranged attack, and the spawn would split, some running for the team, some staying put and shooting ranged attacks. . .|
Originally Posted by Jade_Dragon
And a Stalker taking the Alpha Strike is just crazy.
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So I recruited another Brute who promised he was aggressive. He waited for the first Brute all the time. . .
Finally, a Stalker on the team I'd been chatting with on the side started running in and taking the alphas. Don't recall the powerset, but he did fine at it (I'm sure he had some IOs). He didn't need to take down the whole spawn, we just needed someone to stall them long enough that the rest of the team could unload AoEs on the spawn and melt it before they could scatter or mezz people. I don't think he died once doing this in a couple hours of back to back missions.
So, go stalkers!
Teams are fast now. Good teams are incredibly fast. In a game of fast gameplay, Stalkers are an entire AT that feels like the "Devices" secondary, needing time to setup in order to be at their best. You can either slow down the team to let the Stalker stalk or you can steamroll. Only a rare team will actually want to slow things down and drag out the game so that the Stalker can feel he's contributing to the best of his abilities, so you end up with Stalkers stuck in a watered-down Scrapper mode.
With that in mind, Stalkers seem to make the most sense in a solo or all-Stalker team context where everyone is on the same track. Otherwise, it's back to being a watered-down Scrapper.
Placate opens at level 12, and is your friend. Why? Slot for max recharge in it, and then use either your heaviest ST attack against a hard target, or your AoE* against a group. Giggle. Repeat.
*sorry EM and MA
Also, on a tight team, Stalkers have a higher crit rate than Scrappers.
If you need more setup time, then make it. Jump ahead to the next mob, learn to time your AS so it'll go off shortly before/after the aggro sponge jumps into the mob. Grow a pair and be the aggro sponge yourself, it's doable, mebbe not all Stalker combos, but many. Screw AS, just use your hardest hitting strike so you've got no set-up time.
I wonder who these "many people" are, 'cause I missed that memo. I've got DM/SR and Claws/Will at 50, an EM/Regen at 33 (parked for drops), and a baby Kin/Nin I need to work on. The three finished toons don't seem to be lacking, and there's insane promise on that baby Stalk. Yes, they aren't as tough as my scrappers (Kat/Regen, MA/Inv), but where my scrappers are uncontrolled violence (and the MA is more tank-like), my Stalkers excel at Controlled Violence.
Examples:AS without BU for Demoralize, then BU>Placate>Beatdown something else.
BU+AS a few seconds ahead of the tank to drop that Nullifier/Succubus/other tough and troublesome mob before they get in and draw fire.
Hard hitter from Hide on the Engineer/Sapper/minion PITA, and just not using AS EVERY time it's up.
My Kat/Regen doesn't lean on DA all the time, my Stalkers don't need to lean on AS. Assassination applies to more than just one power.
But, if you hate stalkers (much like I hate MM's, they make the game BORING), then don't play them. There's 11 other AT's with nearly 1,000 build combos between them all. You'll certainly find something fun. And if you don't, leave! ^_^ It's a game, not reality, this is supposed to be fun.
I am the 99%. Occupy the World.
Minister of Infinity's Secret Police, Official Mooch of dUmb and League, Official Purveyor of Free Straws, the Most Interesting Man in the World.
http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes