Well a lot of people,to me, it seems like they expect you automatically have recall a friend and stealth to ends of missions etc, but I have my main toon which is a stalker more solo friendly and don't have that stuff. I did though finally get the assemble the team vet power so tat will help a lot too.
VIG0S: 1356 badges in counting
Something for ppl to use Don't be running back and forth trying to get hidden all the time. Use your AS at the start of the battle but then be a normal damage dealer and stay out in front of the other players so it looks like you are contributing (AS contributes quite a lot to teams but they never appreciate it). That does mean that you will need to build for defense and end use.
From a strictly numbers point of view it is probably hard to argue that you wouldn't be better off with a similarly built Scrapper.
That said, you can contribute. I like Ninjitsu mainly for defense, heal, and caltrops. Caltrops is available much earlier on a Ninjitsu stalker than on a Scrapper, who has to wait for epic pools. On a team it can be used to block doors or corners and bunch up an ambush for the team's AoE. That's nice if things are going south and the aggro handlers on the team already have their hands full.
One thing I like to do is have a key bind for targetting bosses. You can make up various macro buttons for targeting bosses (or other important targets) in various enemy groups like:
macro LB targetcustomnext Warden $$ targetcustomnext Ballista
macro Malta targetcustomnext Gunslinger $$ targetcustomnext Sapper
maco Cim targetcustomnext Praefectus $$ targetcustomnext Surgeon
...and so forth.
This is handy for picking your target out of a confusing mass of enemies so you can very quickly go Assassin Strike him and get him out of the way while the team deals with everything else.
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!
Quote:
This part is only half-true. That's what the dev wants people to believe by giving Stalker a 10/10 Melee Damage Rating.|
Originally Posted by Vauluur
The strength of Stalkers seems to be taking down hard targets quickly, but what's the "Stalker experience" like?
|
If it's just against regular bosses, Stalker can kill him pretty fast but so is Brute/Scrapper/Blaster and even high level Dominator/SoA. Stalker can deliver pretty high raw "critical" damage but other ATs like SoA/Corr can buff team's damage or debuff mobs' resistance. Other AT's raw damage may not be as high but on average it's more useful than a Stalker with Assassin Strike.
And if you are fighting AVs, Stalker doesn't kill AVs faster than most counterparts. In fact, Stalker ranks the worst in high-level performances. When I say high-level, I mean when you have whole bunch of set bonuses, etc. Other ATs have set combinations that allow them to solo AV. Not all set combinations can do it but at least they have the great potential. High-level performances are probably "broken" because AV encounter is designed for teams, not soloing.
Stalker is the most "restricted" AT IMO. You can say Stalker's performance is probably the most "balanced" of all ATs because the only thing that really separates from this Stalker and that Stalker is ST damage VS AoE damage. Other ATs have huge gaps in damage performances, survival performances or all of above.
I would say if your goal is to perform well on a larger team, I would go with sets that have more AoE. Electricity Melee, Kinetic and Spines are great choices. I like Claw but your teammates may not like it. :P Dual Blade has a really good mix of ST and AoE too.
Edit: Stalker's performance is NOT weak. It's just not as "broken" as other AT's. If your goal is to solo things that are not designed for soloing, then Stalker will disappoint you.
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.
The stalker experience for me isnt about only running to the end and teleporting the rest of the team...although i do that alot.....it also isnt about taking on the biggest and hardest targets.
For me its about the ability to hide and being not detected by most enemies....and the perks and abilities that come with that.
I find my play style to be all over the board with a stalker....as sometimes i have even tanked for groups....other times i was simply a back up damage dealer.
I do find for the most part that I tend to be a back up jack-of-all trades player.
In that i deliberatly may run forward and scout ahead......and if other players are doing that alot....then i let them do it......
I do have recall friend...on purpose i use that to not only go to the end and transport but also to pull dead characetrs out of the combat areas and then rez them...i can get the ability at level 4 so i can use my hide and recall powers on any mission or trial or task force...whihc makes my stalkers sometimes more valuable then other players like onthe hollows trial.
I try to make sure i have completed my pysician and proffessor day jobs so i can get the rez ally power..
I also in combat when i am with the team i will either accompany the tanks/brutes/whatever is tanking...becasue they take aggro and i can kill as i wish and i also watch out for the blasters and controllers and defenders and corruptors and dominators....i more or less play a bodyguard many times....
And this has nothing to do with whether or not they are squishy or dieing....its because i am getting rid of the idiot targets that are disturbing them from actualy using their powers on other players or enemies.
Thats how i play a stalker......
Quote:
Stacking AS's AE tohit debuff with blinding powder's would work well for teams, caltrops could create a designated "safe area" for squishies, etc. For teaming /nin would work great I think.|
Originally Posted by Vauluur
I'm thinking about making a Nin/? Stalker. But I am wondering what that character would bring to teams. I have very little experience with the AT, but from what I know it seems like a Scrapper is better on almost every front. The strength of Stalkers seems to be taking down hard targets quickly, but what's the "Stalker experience" like? I want to get some thoughts on being a Stalker and joining up with TF and trial teams before actually making the character.
|
Regardless of solo or teaming, I just play a stalker the same either way: BU/ AS/ placate/ heavy hitter, then start scrapping. With StJ, the "heavy hitter" (CU) does @ 1400-1500 damage, so yeah the "burst" mentality still exists I think.
Quote:
I will caution against Dual blade on stalkers. Of all ATs that can use it, it has the worst performance for us. It is fun if looked at in isolation, but if you have played it elsewhere it is not as "good" (ie damaging, powerful, etc) on a stalker.|
Originally Posted by Jibikao
I would say if your goal is to perform well on a larger team, I would go with sets that have more AoE. Electricity Melee, Kinetic and Spines are great choices. I like Claw but your teammates may not like it. :P Dual Blade has a really good mix of ST and AoE too.
|
Claws loses eviscerate as an AoE, and lacks spin. So again, brute or scrapper have a better version. I've played it everywhere but on tanks, and I gotta say if you want claws, go brute. Just trust me. Go brute.
Electric Melee is best on Stalkers out of all ATs that have it. Can't go wrong.
Kinetic is great. Again, can't go wrong.
Spines, well, I'm a downer about spines but many people love the set. I have a 50 spines/nin who is slowly getting his incarnate powers. He sucks. He doesn't just suck he swallows. He's my second gimpiest level 50 after my merc MM. Buildup + Spineburst can't kill +1 minions and I have it with 98% damage after ED, plus assault, plus 9% damage from sets and the obliteration proc. I really don't like how low the damage from spines is.
Dark Melee is one of my favorite primaries. I love how I can two-shot almost anything, even lieuts reliably. I just run all over and death follows. It's reasonably fast, hits very hard, and is a low resisted set. Built in heal for 140+ (depending on slotting, mine gives 170) on a fast recharge as part of your attack chain is just awesome.
I haven't picked up street justice yet, but hear good things.
Martial Arts, again I haven't tried it, but teamed with MA/Nin quite a bit and it is a very solid set. Does bad things to good people plenty fast. highly recommended.
@the OP, I'll also back Klaw. Don't worry about hide. Yes it is great, but don't let the timer get you hidden. Fight it out. Stalkers are a bit more fragile than scrappers, but we are still melee fighters with a secondary that keeps us alive. We have a boatload of tricks. Learn to cheat and profit. That's what we do and we are good at it.
Placate is an awesome power with many more uses than just setting up Assassin Strike.
You can pull two and send one back (great for the end of statesman's taskforce if you're blueside). You can get a mob to aggro onto your buddies for giggles. You can guarantee that you'll never get rings in the BAF trial. You can jump into a group of three, AS the first, pacify the second, and now you're just fighting the third, oops, you auto crit thanks to pacify and he's dead, you're only fighting one person and he's going to stand there picking his nose until you attack him. You can pacify one of the MOBS that is immune to staelth to get past (rikti drone, knives of artemis, rularuu eye, etc).
"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:
I guess we have very different gaming experiences. I have a 50 DB/Nin, 50 Claw/Will and 50 MA/Will. |
Originally Posted by GavinRuneblade
I will caution against Dual blade on stalkers. Of all ATs that can use it, it has the worst performance for us. It is fun if looked at in isolation, but if you have played it elsewhere it is not as "good" (ie damaging, powerful, etc) on a stalker.
Claws loses eviscerate as an AoE, and lacks spin. So again, brute or scrapper have a better version. I've played it everywhere but on tanks, and I gotta say if you want claws, go brute. Just trust me. Go brute. Martial Arts, again I haven't tried it, but teamed with MA/Nin quite a bit and it is a very solid set. Does bad things to good people plenty fast. highly recommended.. |
Dual Blade is ok. Even if the combos suck, it still has some good aoe. Some is better than nothing. I was hoping they can increase 1K Cuts' radius from 10' to 12' because melee range used to be 5' and now it's 7'. So 1K Cut's advantage seems diminished.
Claw's Eviscerate is messed up, that I agree but the two bread-and-butter powers Focus and Shockwave are still very useful. Stalker has the advantage of positioning yourself for a better Shockwave. You can take your time to line up and knock them to a wall or something. Claw is you either hate it or love it. I enjoyed it.
Martial Arts is actually one set that I would not recommend to new Stalker players. It has all bad Stalker stereotype. Lack of any AoE. Yes, Martial Arts hits pretty hard (still not hard enough because my MA still can't take down pylon) but it has ZERO aoe. I enjoy my MA but only because I want something different and I enjoy Eagle Claw a lot more since I hate using Assassin Strike. Eagle Claw's critical hits hard. (although I may change my view once I try SJ's uppercut because combo 3 uppercut hits harder than AS)
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.
If I'm playing my stalkers, I don't care about AoE. So MA would not bother me. I guess I'm biased becasue my dark has no AoE and my spines AoE sucks hehe.
For claws, Eviscerate and Spin are so much a part of the experience for me that it is why I miss them when I tried my claws stalker.
"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.
I'm thinking about making a Nin/? Stalker. But I am wondering what that character would bring to teams. I have very little experience with the AT, but from what I know it seems like a Scrapper is better on almost every front. The strength of Stalkers seems to be taking down hard targets quickly, but what's the "Stalker experience" like? I want to get some thoughts on being a Stalker and joining up with TF and trial teams before actually making the character.
@Rorn ---- Blue Baron ---- Guardian