Stalker: A Case Study

It is my firm belief that all ATs should have something to contribute to at least as close to all situations as possible, especially in the most common ones a team will encounter. And, let's be realistic here - what's the one most common situation a regular mission team will encounter these days? The mosh pit. Large teams mean large spawns of many enemies, with lots of auto-hit effects flying about (Caltrops, Chill of the Night, Hurricane, Sonic Grenade, etc.) which break a Stalker's Hide, rob him of his Assassin's Strike and reduce him to a gimped Scrapper for the majority of the fight.

I honestly don't believe that Stalkers have serious problems against single targets (though I wouldn't refuse a -regen on some powers), nor, to be quite honest, do I feel they have real trouble surviving. Health Cap aside, the survivability gap between Scrappers and Stalkers is academic, hence why I don't believe support powers are largely necessary for them. These mostly help with survival, and Stalkers survive well enough.

What Stalkers need is either better damage so that they can single-kill many enemies quickly, or otherwise AoE so that they can slow-kill many enemies at once. The real problem is that which sets need more AoE and which more single-target is a question without a universal answer. Some sets, like Energy Melee and Martial Arts need AoE BAD, while others like Electric Melee and Spines really don't. As such, a broad-sweeping AoE improvement will help some sets, but overpower others while a broad-sweeping single-target improvement will help others, while still giving some redundant powers.

Assassin's Strike is the offender here, as it is its presence that caused sets to lose anything at all, and I believe it is Assassin's Strike that we should look to to give some of that back. In general, it is a power which loses its effectiveness VERY rapidly both as the character levels up and as the action becomes heavier. Doing something to enable Stalkers to use this power without it being twice-limited would help, in my opinion.

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If I were looking for off-the-wall suggestions, the way to work with Stalkers isn't to make them more like Scrappers, as they're close to them enough. It is to give them an easier way to use their own gimmicks. Make Hide harder (or impossible) to suppress by outside forces, make Hide easier to regain (by enemy kills, by successful criticals, by random chance, by faster Placate), make Placate affect more enemies, divorce Placate from Hide... There are things to do, but almost all of them start at the root design decisions behind Stalker balance. It's not a question of fixing or changing a power or two. It comes down to fixing the very foundation the AT is built on, and that really is a whole Issue's worth of work.

I still respect Castle for putting in the hours to fix Blasters, Stalkers, Kheldians and Dominators. Not completely, of course, but what he did made a BIG difference. I'd like to see that done again, and I'd really like for our development team to stop ignoring long-standing issues in favour of new shinies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

i agree that hide should prolly be an inherent and placate be made into a target aoe instead of single target

i also agree with most of the replacements for hide in the powerset should it go inherent

Round 2 for Hide replacements! I think what I previously suggested for Dark Armor, Electric Armor and Ice Armor are fine, so I'll just touch on the others.


Energy Aura

With the change from Repulse to Disrupt, along with Energy Drain, the set works pretty well for returning to Hide mid-combat as it is. Sure, only the minions are affected by Disrupt, but it keeps them busy not attacking you while you're in melee range. On a Defense-oriented set, that's important because of that 5% minimum hit chance clamp. The fewer total incoming attack attempts, the less likely you are to be interrupted.

Energy Drain grants +Defense for each enemy now in addition to its Endurance Drain. In a group of mixed enemies, this manifests itself as a reduced chance to hit, and minions are out of the picture. In fact, the more minions there are to get stunned by Disrupt, the more targets there are to get Defense from Energy Drain off of. But the one problem I've had with Oppressive Gloom is that enemies tend to wander away in a stupor, which is all too often not within range of the power.

So what I'm thinking, since the set already favors Hide on paper, is a countermeasure to the wandering effects of stun so that the minions in range of Disrupt stay there. It shouldn't be a super-awesome power, but it should mesh with Energy Drain and Disrupt, while at the same time preferably working on bosses, whatever it is. I think a momentary, strong debuff to speed might be just the ticket, and reducing recharge would also help reduce the total number of attack attempts during that time. So kinda like a short-duration, PBAoE version of Shiver. It's distinct from Chilling Embrace in that it's a one-off debuff, and its effect is much stronger.

Energy Aura's concept theme pertains to atomic matter and energy, so maybe write it off as some sort of molecular friction that slows everything down. So with that, I present to you:

Interference - Click PBAoE - Foe -Speed -Recharge


Ninjitsu

This set just rocks hard from all angles if you forget about Caltrops. It's positional Defense like Super Reflexes, but it also comes with an AoE Placate and a self Heal for when things get rough. Blinding Powder is something you'd generally only see in a Control set, so Ninjitsu in general really doesn't need any help. Finding a power to replace Hide isn't an easy thing to do.

Because of Smoke Flash in particular, I don't think the new power should have anything to do with returning to Hide. Instead, it should find something Ninjitsu doesn't already do and do it. That's the rationale I used with the auto power that grants resistance to Endurance Drain and Slow. I don't want anything too awesome, else we risk making Ninjitsu overpowered compared to the other secondary sets available.

One thing that ninjas do that Ninjitsu doesn't accommodate is that they jump around a lot, doing triangle kicks off of walls and stuff. Sure, there's Kuji-In Retsu, but that's only there because it's an Elude clone. So I think, in addition to the End Drain and Slow resists, something that gives the movement benefits of Combat Jumping without the Defense boost would fit thematically and work functionally. I can see people stacking it with Ninja Run for some displays of fancy footwork...

So what the hey, let's go for it:

Ninja Leaping - Auto - Self +Jump +Res(Slow, Endurance Drain)


Regeneration

Quick Recovery was the original WTF moment for Stalkers. Of all the powers to remove, why that one? Well, who knows? Point is, it's gone, and adding it back won't help you hide any more than a random dance emote will. Can't really give a mega Defense buff because of doubling up on Shadow Dweller... Can't grant insta-Hide because of the offensive advantage that'd give the set... Don't really want to do another PBAoE Placate for risk of it getting overabundant...

The only thing that really comes to mind is Invincibility. I don't know if an explanation was ever offered for that power, but I imagine your enemies are so determined to defeat you that they just start swinging wildly and begin to miss. For Regeneration, that works because the more you heal, the more reckless your enemies will get to try and wear you down; and the more likely they are to miss... or something.

Invincibility may promote a playstyle where being in the middle of the action is preferred, but it's better than Quick Recovery, so I'm going with it for now until a better idea comes along:

Invincibility - Toggle PBAoE - Self +Def +ToHit, Foe -ToHit


Super Reflexes

Super Reflexes doesn't exactly need help returning to Hide, since it's all about being dodgy anyway. My beef with the set is that it's entirely about being dodgy and doesn't have any support powers. And it doesn't really matter how you look at it--being dodgy won't much do anything to your foes. But it doesn't need help returning to Hide mid-combat... So it presents a pickle.

The only thing I can think of, which others have suggested, is that moving around so fast can be bewildering to your foes, causing them to strike where maybe they think you are and not only missing, but maybe hitting their own allies by accident. So you could thematically perform a gesture so quick and disorienting that it becomes a PBAoE version of Blinding Powder:

Astonish - Click PBAoE - Foe -ToHit -Perception Confuse


Willpower

Willpower's another one of those purely-defensive sets in the same boat as Regeneration and Super Reflexes. Unlike those two, it offers some moderate Resistance and Defense to all attacks and grants protection to Terrorize and Confuse. Its only real weakness is that it can't take sudden alpha strikes and, you guessed it, it does squat to help you return to Hide mid-combat.

I really like Vanden's suggestion about damage-less knock down. It's something that fits the Willpower theme of grit and determination, and gets the job done without being an attack. However, rather than be a cone, I think targeted AoE would be better. For a cone to be of best value, you'd have to jump back out of a group to use it, which means you have to partly run away before charging back in, and it'd be a power to help you get out of sticky situations from the outset, so AoE makes more sense to me.

Incidentally, the exact same logic was used for Shield Charge. In Issue 12 closed beta, the power WAS a cone teleport and it was changed to a targeted AoE because the cone wasn't as versatile for characters already in the thick of it who only cared to use the power for its offensive benefits.

So anyway, a ranged teleport knockdown that doesn't do any damage. Rather than "tackle," which suggests knock back, I opted for "bull rush" which, humorously, suggests knock up:

Bull Rush - Ranged AoE - Self Teleport, Foe Knock Up

EDIT:
Oh yeah, Bull Rush here requires a target, not a location like the other teleport powers.

When was it decided that the Stalker should be a support AT? The write up was nice and makes some interesting points, but is working off of a flawed premise. The Stalker is, and always has been a Damage AT, not support.

Quite frankly, as someone with a level 50 Regen Stalker, I really would want QR back as a swap in for an inherent Hide. I am not particularly interested in a fancy replacement for it.

The main thing I want Stalkers to get, because of Regen Stalkers in particular and Willpower Stalkers to a less severe degree, is a higher HP cap. At the very least, the +HP of fully slotted Dull Pain should not be truncated the way it is for Stalkers. I have a long-winded exposition on why I believe this is so, but this thread, as a more general Stalker AT discussion, is not really the place for it.

I also have a level 50 regeneration stalker. I have the Spiritual Core boost, and I still don't have endurance troubles. If Hide were made inherent and Quick Recovery was added to the Regeneration set, I would be looking at the power pools to see what else I could add to my build.

However, something added to the set that improved my ability to reduce incoming damage? That would be exceptionally helpful.

Prior to this thread, I too have called for Hide to be made an Inherent Power of the Stalker AT, so as to free up a power slot. Along the same lines, I would even go so far as to say that Assassination (the current Inherent) should be reconfigured so as to replace Assassination Strike as well ... which would free up 1 power slot in both the Primary and the Secondary of every Stalker Powerset.

All of the current "assassination" info about dealing double damage from Hidden and so on would be moved into the (new) Inherent Hide gained at Level 1.

All of the Assassin Strike attacks would be transferred into the (new) Assassin Strike Inherent (dependent on Primary) that would be gained at Level 6.



Now ... above and beyond that (pair of) change(s) ... there is something that I would love to see done universally to all Stalkers.



Change Stalker Criticals



Right now, Critical Hits from Stalkers, either when delivered from Hide or when scrapping it out in normal combat simply deliver DOUBLE DAMAGE (with a couple exceptions, which still need explaining). This is, broadly speaking, identical to Scrapper Performance as far as this goes. The only real difference is the "100% chance to Crit" from Hide that sets Stalkers apart from Scrappers in this area.

What if ... instead ... Critical Hits when NOT Hidden operated as "free" Placate of affected $Target(s) and regain Hide effect ... which then turned your next attack after an unHidden Crit into a (100% chance to) Critical Hit From Hide for double damage?

Essentially, Stalkers would "flicker" in and out of Hidden status while in combat ... and be dealing *all* of their double damage effects while Hidden, because Stalkers would be able to "vanish" during regular combat when they "Crit" while NOT Hidden.

Over an infinite time span, the difference between the system we've got now, and what I'm proposing would be no dramatically meaningful gain or loss of DPS (or even DPA, really) when averaged out over infinite time. However, within finite time spans, especially of 20 seconds or less ... there would be a rather marked performance (and gameplay!) differential away from what we've already got on the Live Servers. Stalkers would essentially turn into "freestyle combo builders" for delivering double damage.

When Hidden:
Primary Attack(s) automatically Critical for Double Damage.

When NOT Hidden:
Primary Attack(s) that Critical immediately Placate $Target(s) affected by your attack (for 4 seconds?) and restore Hidden status ... granting your NEXT attack an automatic Critical for Double Damage (see "when Hidden" above).

For my game mechanical design of gameplaying challenges, this seems like a far more interesting way to achieve the necessary "Uniqueness" that the Stalker AT is currently lacking. You wouldn't even need to change the current game mechanic of Stalkers having a 10% Crit +3% Crit per Teammate within 30 ft that the AT already has. The whole point of this change is to better leverage the existing Hide Mechanics so as to bolster the unique playstyle that the Stalker should have and encourage. Stalkers would *flicker* in and out of Hidden status somewhat constantly while in combat, and attentive players (who aren't just button mashing) would be able to take advantage of that to achieve better results ... ie. Player Skill is Rewarded.

The beauty of it is that this change wouldn't even be "that difficult" to implement. All the necessary parts and pieces of Game Engine Tech already exist within the game. It's just a matter of someone like Second Measure "liking the idea" and deciding to put it on the schedule for someone like Synapse or Black Scorpion or Arbiter Hawk to implement.

It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for ...

The idea is good but it does not address the resistance vs defense issue we have. It still favors defense sets.

You know, they should change Build-Up for stalkers. Rather than a Damage Buff, it should give every power a 100% chance to critical, allowing for guaranteed triple criticals when hidden.

Edit: Hm, that wouldn't work at all for Kinetic Melee though.