Hoarfrost/Dull Pain

Many people don't like the fact that hoarfrost and dull pain have a +max hp component that is underwhelming to a stalker due to the low hp cap.

Perhap stalkers should just get a different power.

Icy skin/Thick Skin
+%20 heal
+%10 resist to all but Psionic for 30 seconds

simply gain resistance vs max hp cap. The resistance would be more useable on the stalker.
This power should probably cost the same as energize and have same recharge.
The resistance wouldn't cap on a stalker and max hp can be achieved with i/o's if you miss it.

They would more likely change it to a clone of ninjutsu's heal, which still gives the toxic resistance from Hoarfrost but is much better at actually healing. I don't see them adding resistances instead, as that actually would not be the same as the +hp for /ice. Ice can cap certain resistances with its tier 9, at which point the extra hp is more worthwhile (even though partially wasted) than some extra resistance which would be entirely wasted. Also not sure why you would say no resistance to psi, as a change from hoarfrost to that would actually weaken /ice to psi damage.

I do agree it should be changed in some way that allows us more healing.

perhaps with ninjitsu heal. Never actually played ninjitsu but I have heard good things. I'm almost to icy bastion. Still if some +hp max was left in, then that would help with the psi.

Perhaps the Recharge could be lowered and the Heal and +HP proportionately lowered until it no longer put you over the HP cap?

WARNING: I bold names.

that is true. i'd rather have a faster recharge heal because over healing doesn't help me. i actually love energize (to which dull pain with a +regen makes sense). then ice armor could get a similar power but perhaps a %2 increase to defense vs regen.

I'd rather they just increase the HP cap.

increase of damage vs hp cap. I want a killer with moderate armor and lower life VS a decent melee damage with slightly above low life and mod armor. Give me all around more damage damage and crippling debuffs in the assassin strike (make it more worthwhile outside hide).

Arcannaville gave an interesting suggestion about regeneration and -regen debuffs that might be a cool mechanic to test here before putting on /regen:

a heal over time effect. Give the +HP over the course of the duration not as regeneration but as a heal over time. Works on all types of damage, even PSI and can't be debuffed away.

Make it small enough that it doesn't step on any toes and is only as effective as the +HP should be, but large enough that it IS as effective as the +hp SHOULD be. hehe.

As I've been thinking and reading more about this, I'm beginning to think that raising the HP cap is not the answer, not for fixing Stalkers as a whole, because that will continue to keep them as mediocre Scrappers.

So, these powers (Hoarfrost, Dull Pain, Overload, High Pain Tolerance) either need to be adjusted to mechanically provide benefit without waste within the current HP cap (Smaller +HP, Heal, less Recharge; Heal over Time through power duration; +Regen through duration; Smaller +HP, +Res (All); something else), Stalker base HP needs to be lowered so these powers work without overkill as is, or both adjusting the powers, and lowering Stalker HP.

Now, I realize I'm calling for a "nerf", however, it is a call with intent. Use the ground lost in survivability by lowering Stalker base HP to gain ground on Damage. Make Stalkers truly meritorious of their 10/10 rating. Ideas for more damage:
-Increase Stalker Base to 1.25 Scalar
-Swap Scrapper and Stalker Critical Mechanics and adjust the numbers given
-Restore AoE capability to Stalkers by making AS a 10th power pick, unlocked at 6 with normal Tier 4.
-Give AS a -Regen/DoT effect, in or out of Hide.
-Give "Placated" Criticals a -Regen/DoT effect.
-Speed up AS in Hide.
-Make AS uninterruptable in PvE.
-Something else?

I am not calling for every change mentioned, just spitballing a bunch of different options for both the defensive side and the offensive side, and seeing what'll stick.

Disagree HP base lower. Don't care about HP max.
Like -regen/heal.
increase damage, hell yeah.
AS speed up, interrupt reduced (or none).
AS should be inherent.
Give back AOE potential.
Isn't the stalker crit chance Higher?

If the HP cap isn't raised, then I would like to see dull pain and it's clones changed into energize clones. The extra Regen and end discount would be far more useful than having most of the +HP wasted due to the low cap.

I would also like to see the damage scalar bumped to 1.25 for the at. If this requires lowering the damage of an AS Crit so be it. I dislike the lack of aoe in the melee sets, and would like to have some of the missing aoe powers thrown back in. But I don't think making AS or placate an inherent is the answer without granting additional slots.

Not that it'd solve problems for Stalkers as a whole but I wonder if Hoarfrost or HPT could actually buff the HP cap for Stalkers, the same way Afterburner bumps up the flight speed cap? I think that would have the potential to increase their general utility.

Numbers for swapping the Critical Mechanics:

Give Stalkers a 5% crit chance base, with +5% per increase in rank from Underling [Underling 5%, Minion 10%, Lt 15%, Boss 20%, EB 25%, AV 30%] which stacks onto the Tier 8/9's with increased Crit Chance [e.g. Headsplitter vs. AV Crit Chance of 40% (30% Rank + 10% increased)].

Scrappers get the team scaling Critical chance, also stacking onto increased Crit Attacks: 6% base, +2% per teammate on mission map [drop 30' rule, gives Crit Chance of 20% with full team, 30% with increased Crit Attack]. This is a lessening over current mechanics for Lt+ ranked mobs, but significantly improves a teamed Scrapper's Damage.

This would give Stalkers a consistently* higher critical chance over Scrappers, encouraging Stalkers prosecuting hard targets and giving them a further role on a team (EB/AV Killer) aside from sneaky scout/weak Scrapper.
*[Yes, this results in Scrappers beating Stalkers versus Underlings, Minions with 3 Teammates, Lt's with 5, and tied on a team of 8 versus Bosses.]

Still would advocate for an increase in Damage Scalar to be at least even (1.125) with Scrappers, but preferred all the way to 1.25 DS.

I'm against changing Scrapper mechanics in an effort to make Stalkers better. A scrapper is sold as a soloist to the people playing it; Requiring it to be on a team to make full use of its' critical effect is going to make a lot of people, myself included, rather unhappy.

The thematic reason for allowing Stalkers higher crit chance when surrounded by allies is that the Stalker can take better advantage of combat to make more opportunistic strikes. I would not be surprised if team scaling critical hit chance was not derived from an effort to allow Stalkers to make 'back stab' attempts ala DnD's Rogue class. This overall theme of a Stalker is what should be making them different from a Scrapper in terms of combat; A Stalker is supposed to take advantage of his surroundings to do damage, while a Scrapper is supposed to be a premier combatant. To relate back to DnD terminology, it's basically the difference between a Rogue and a Warrior. While their goals in combat are the same, their methods are stylistically different.

When the first round of Stalker Changes where being applied in an effort to make Stalkers more viable in a team situation many people seemed to like the idea of diversifying Stalkers from Scrappers by allowing Stalkers to be much more critical hit oriented than Scrappers. I personally feel that this is the sort of route that should be attempted in an effort to increase the damage of a Stalker to be more competitive with Scrappers and Brutes, rather than simply increasing the damage scale to match that of Scrappers.

My own proposals are to make Assassin's Strike and Hide inherit powers of the Stalker AT, or add them as an 'extra' level 6 and level 1 option in order to restore the powers that their inclusion has replaced. This courtesy does not need to be extended to placate, as placate simply replaces taunt/challenge which has little use both mechanically and thematically for the Stalker.

Assassin's Strike needs renovating. I want to feel as though I'm actually assassinating someone when I use it, and it is hard to get this feeling when I cannot even take out most Lieutenants in one application. Currently, there are many powersets where using it is debatable, as often a Stalker will posses a powerful single target attack which can replace it by having comparable damage and being much faster to execute.

I propose either giving Assassin's Strike significantly more damage, to the point where I *can* take out a Lieutenant without having to amplify it with Build Up, or giving Assassin's Strike a chance to instantly defeat the enemy it is used upon. Personal preference is placed on the second option, assuming that such an option is possible to code on this engine. Without giving it a terrible amount of consideration, I'm thinking something like a 100% chance to instantly kill a minion, a 50% chance to kill a Lt, and a 25% chance to kill a boss. I'm iffy about permitting such devastation to occur on an Elite Boss, but Arch Villains should not have a chance to be instantly slain as these are supposed to be team oriented challenges, in which case I would simply increase the damage Assassin's Strike can do to such opponents.

Finally, I would like to see the Stalker base Critical Hit chance increased in such a way that their final damage output could theoretically match that of a Scrapper. With consideration to Stalkers still receiving increased critical hit potential on a team, I think Stalkers should have their base critical hit chance increased to 20% vs the Scrappers "10%" (minions excluded).

In a damage scale x critical hit rate formula this puts Scrappers at:

1.125 x 1.1 = 1.2375 Theoretical Damage Scale.

and Stalkers at:

1.0 x 1.2 = 1.2 Theoretical Damage Scale.

A higher critical hit chance will mean that a Stalker has the potential to do significantly more damage than a Scrapper, and given that a Stalker would still retain their team buff ability, the Stalker will be doing superior damage on average compared to a Scrapper in a team scenario, something I feel is justified given their lessened survival.