One of my older Stalkers is lvl 50 Spines/EA. I actually didn't think /EA was that bad. It is just harder to push that defense higher since it's type defense.
I have not respec my Stalker to try the new stun aura though and I believe they add +20% recharge?
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.
Yeah +20% recharge plus Energy Drain gives +def for every foe hit.
If I remember correctly, replacing Lunge with Throw Spines is better DPS.
BrandX Future Staff Fighter
The BrandX Collection
So the Stalker changes, while not yet set in stone, got me interested in making a new Stalker so I decided on Spines/EA. I never played spines to a decent level before and the new and improved EA is pretty awesome.
I suppose the idea for this build is to focus on huge AoE burst followed by being able to quickly chain AS with the Assassin's Focus ability that Synapse was posting about.
Figure I will select the hardest target and open with Build Up>Fireball>Throw Spines then jump in with Spine Burst and either Lunge or Impale. At that point I'll just use AS for the near guaranteed crit then cycle Lunge, Impale and Ripper, making sure to have a level 3 Focus in time for AS to come back.
As far as survivability goes I've soft-capped myself to everything but Negative and Psi -before- Energy Drain. Assuming full Energy Drain I will be sitting a fraction of a % from the soft-cap to Energy and a bit short on Psi. I've got some decent resistance to S/L and with the HP accolades + Overload for an "Oh Crap!" button I should be ok (assuming the HP cap improvements go through).
Just wondering if I missed anything obvious!
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.952
http://www.cohplanner.com/
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Level 50 Mutation Stalker
Primary Power Set: Spines
Secondary Power Set: Energy Aura
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Blaze Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Lunge -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(3), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(3), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5)
Level 1: Hide -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 2: Kinetic Shield -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(7), LkGmblr-Rchg+(7)
Level 4: Power Shield -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(9), LkGmblr-Rchg+(9)
Level 6: Assassin's Impaler -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(11), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(11), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13)
Level 8: Spine Burst -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(15), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(15), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), Oblit-%Dam(36)
Level 10: Entropy Shield -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 12: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(19), RechRdx-I(19)
Level 14: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 16: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 18: Impale -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(21), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(21), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(23), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23)
Level 20: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(37), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(39)
Level 22: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(25), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(25)
Level 24: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(27), LkGmblr-Rchg+(27)
Level 26: Ripper -- Oblit-%Dam(A), Oblit-Dmg(29), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(29), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(31), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 28: Energy Drain -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(31), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(33)
Level 30: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(33), RechRdx-I(33)
Level 32: Throw Spines -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(34), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), Posi-Dam%(36), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 35: Char -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(40), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(40), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 38: Energize -- Dct'dW-Heal(A), Dct'dW-Rchg(40), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(43), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 41: Fire Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Decim-Acc/Dmg(42), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(42), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 44: Fire Ball -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Dam%(46), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 47: Kinetic Dampening -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), Aegis-ResDam(48), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(48), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(48)
Level 49: Overload -- Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(A), Numna-Heal/Rchg(50)
Level 0: Born In Battle
Level 0: High Pain Threshold
Level 0: Invader
Level 50: Spiritual Core Paragon
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Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(39)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(37), P'Shift-End%(37)
Level 1: Assassination
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run