New to Stalking

I got a Dark stalker to low 30s like 2-3 years ago. I found that one of the toggles actually broke stealth. I think they have changed that, but it really peeved me off they designed something that poorly.

I am considering a new Stalker though, with actually no plan to 50 in the near future, if ever. Just going to run them as an off hand project.

Concept wise I am looking at a Silver Age style, tights/hero, mutant agent type concept.

I am considering Energy Melee/Regen. i saw that the Energy Transfer doesn't self-inflict wounds while in hide. Is that true in placate. Can anyone give me tips on whether that is a good combo? Also, any other primaries/secondaries I should look at?

I have limited experience with either of the combos that you recommend. I will point out that Stalkers have such a low HP cap that Regen is particularly ineffective.

The 2 combos that I have experience with beyond just starting and then quitting them in frustration are:

KM/EA which works very well, but is a bit intense on the video card
StJ/WP which I enjoy even more, and I find to be quite viable on teams and solo

Both of the primaries listed have very good ST damage and AoE capability, though not so great as a Stalker/Brute. Both of the primaries listed actually have a power (or two) that allow Placate to be used effectively for another power besides AS mid-combat, meaning that if the proposed I22 changes go through, Placate will continue to be directly useful.

EA as a secondary is easy to cap to all damage types other than Psi. Its AoE stun on the other hand, may make you have seizures and does not work well with placate.

WP as a secondary has been the most fun, I run capped to S/L/E/N with a purple capable to the rest of the damage types.

Both of the secondaries listed have a click heal, but WP of course does not enjoy the same 20% global recharge that EA does. However, it does enjoy a significant resist to S/L and some to the rest.

Personally I have found the Stalker to be a great amount of fun solo, and I hold my own in TF and teams, without listening to the general whining that you will hear if you continue to peruse these boards.

hrm. i'll start a new thread. i have questions about that dark/dark now that have been bothering me since i wrote this. that concept just feels unfinished.

I find Ninjitsu the best secondary being defense based and having the same heal as Regen (Recon) and toys, but it might not fit your concept very well. So in this case I'd go Energy Aura if you don't mind your toon glowing (you can always check the toon creator for the power effects). Haven't tried WP myself.

Primaries: the ones that were ported to Stalkers with no loss were KM and ELM. Some argue that they're even better for Stalkers because Burst has 100% crit from Hide, the only AoE that does that, and Lightning Rod doesn't unhinde you,letting you use Thunderstrike later for 50% crit or even AS if you have defenses. Also having AS makes up a bit for ELM's lack of good ST damage. StJ lost a ST attack, but the set still looks good on Stalkers compared to all the other proliferations except the ones I mentioned.

I'd never roll Energy Melee now... I loved playing my EM/Nin to 50 but the set is all ST and it's been overnerfed. As for your question, energy transfer doesn't drain your health when it crits (including when it crits and you're not hidden) but also doesn't do extra damage, like Concentrated Strike, no extra damage but refreshes BU. The -HP in ET never made a significant difference for me anyway.

Some nitpicks - currently Fireball from the APPs also has a 100% critical rate from hidden status, but I'm wondering how long those will last after i22. Thunder Strike has a 50% chance to critical on the AoE portion - the single-target part of it has a 100% critical rate, but since Lightning Rod also does knockdown you can usually get the Assassin's Strike off.

I'd recommend KM over EM because it has Burst for some AoE, regardless of the critical rate, and since you have a lot of control over Build Up's recharge with Concentrated Strike.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brillig It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.

I happened to make my stalker without reading up on the AT here on the forums and lucked into ElM/Nin. It has been a fantastic combo, and having picked up Lightning Rod this past weekend has taken my enjoyment level to just plain silly, wrong fun levels.

I've even gotten a few comments about how wrong my character is.

The only reason my newish Stalker is Elm/Ea is because I played Nin to death (although EA is very good, I still like Nin better)

I'm having a lot of fun with my Street Justice/Ninjitsu stalker.

It's the closest I've ever come to a "Batman" type character. I'm going with Weapons Mastery because A) I started him as a Hero, and Vigilante is the farthest he will ever slide, so no PPPs for me, B) It's thematically appropriate, and C) I can open the pool with Physical Perfection.

He's level 20 now, and already tearing stuff up. He'll be a beast once I get him soft-capped and the stalker buffs kick in (He'll end up with more HP than your average SR scrapper)