I haven't played Stalker Dark Armor to any respectable level - my ElM/DA was deleted at around level 21 because it just didn't look right (prior to being able to color customize) and I only made it to look like a storm cloud. 
1. I'd personally take Oppressive Gloom. I like the version that my Warshade has, and the little ticks of damage are tiny compared to what Dark Regeneration provides you.
2. I haven't bothered with the chance to Placate proc on a Stalker, but your auras will break Placate when they tick unless you're in Hidden status, when they'll suppress.
3. Lightning Rod does not critical. It also doesn't break you out of Hidden status, which means you can follow up with a critical <whatever> from hidden status.
4. Soul Mastery is a good general-purpose patron pool, and Fire can work if you're just going to set mule the first couple of powers and slot Fireball. One thing to note is that in i22 the criticals in the APPs are going to be fixed, and that includes getting rid of the 100% chance for critical from hidden on Fireball. I personally took Mu Mastery (Mu Bolts/Ball Lightning) on my Elec/Nin just for theme.
5. Charged Brawl is a better DPA (damage per activation time in seconds) power than Havoc Punch, and so you'll end up doing more single target damage with it than with Havoc Punch. I consider Havoc Punch to be the skippable power in Electric Melee, since Jacob's Ladder has better DPA than Havoc Punch and also can hit more than one thing.
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Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
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Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
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Thats the answer I was hoping for. Thanks | 1. I'd personally take Oppressive Gloom. I like the version that my Warshade has, and the little ticks of damage are tiny compared to what Dark Regeneration provides you. |
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| 2. I haven't bothered with the chance to Placate proc on a Stalker, but your auras will break Placate when they tick unless you're in Hidden status, when they'll suppress. |
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| 3. Lightning Rod does not critical. It also doesn't break you out of Hidden status, which means you can follow up with a critical <whatever> from hidden status. |
. It does lead me onto another question though. Does Chain Induction cause critical hits on ALL targets it jumps to in hidden status or just the first? I'm just wondering on a follow-up e.g. Lightning Rod ---> Chain Induction OR Lightning Rod ---> Thunder Strike? Suggestions please Thanks for the reply in any event. Was very helpful
Life is one big practical joke that we as the human race have yet to see the punchline to. Once you work that out the rest is easy.
The offensive auras will break Placate because it removes you from the aggro list and then the next time the aura ticks, it affects the mob and you're added back to the list again. Note that some persistent secondary effects will also cause this, like the -recovery that exists in most of the Electric Melee attacks and the -damage from Kinetic Melee: I've had several cases where I Placate a mob, watch the animation complete, and then get attacked a second or two later by the mob I just Placated with both ElM and KM as a primary. Since I'm expecting it now, it's usually with KM and I queue either CS or Burst. 
Chain Induction only criticals on the first target, but is still one of the best attacks you have due to the fast animation; following up Lightning Rod is usually Thunder Strike (100% chance for critical on the smashing - single target - half of the damage, 50% chance critical on the AoE energy half) or Assassin's Shock since the knockdown in Lightning Rod gives you a good chance of getting it off from hidden status without being interrupted. You can also use a fast-animating Patron AoE like Fireball or Ball Lightning, both of which will have a 50% chance to critical in i22 (currently Fireball has a 100% chance from hidden status).
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Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
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Oppressive Gloom and Cloak of Fear both have their pros and cons but I personally prefer Cloak of Fear.
CoF has high end cost and a terrorize effect is not as good as a stun. I prefer CoF for the -tohit property. For tougher enemies where fear and stun would do nothing, they at least get a penalty to hit.
I would not bother with the Fortunata chance to placate for the same reason Siolfir pointed out. I also wanted to add with the stalker changes coming in i22, placate would make your Assassin's Shock go from a speed-AS to a the slower setup-AS.
I like Soul Transfer. Not that I die often but when I do have the occasional faceplant, it is an instant 25' radius, auto-hit, mag 30 stun. I usually have all my toggles back up before the enemies snap out of it. I also like knowing even if I die, I still have a chance to save teammates who are about to follow me to the floor.
My experience of Stalkers has until now been rather limited but I made one on a whim a few weeks ago and have suddenly found myself hooked. Who cares if stalkers are underpowered compared with other sets - they're FUN!
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So I've decided to make a second Stalker and for concept reasons I've gone with Electric / Dark Armour. He's only level 7 so far but I suspect he may be a keeper.
I do however have a few questions:
1. First of all Cloak of Fear vs. Oppresive Gloom. It seems that these powers are quite similar. They're both toggle PBAOEs, one keeps foes in a state of fear and the other keeps them in a state of stun. My draft build has taken both powers but that seems to be a bit of overkill as the range is the same so I was thinking of taking just one. The question is which one? On the face of it Oppresive Gloom looks the better power but for the hit point drain. Is this HP drain significant? Can you use enhancements etc to overcome it? I like the look of Oppresive Gloom because I can also slot five Absolute Amazements in it (I'm a recharge junkie) but will it hinder my toon more than help it?
2. Fortunata Hypnosis: Chance to Placate. It seems this enhancement was MADE for an electric stalker. I have a spare slot and I'm thinking of putting it in Havoc Punch because that power has the quickest recharge (no room in my build for charged brawl and it doesnt seem to do much damage anyway). Does anyone have experience with this? Is this a good use of a slot?
3. I'm taking Lightning Rod at level 32. If I use this power while hidden does it cause critical hits to a whole group of mobs as well as causing superior damage (I'm hoping the answer is YES
4. Finally whats a good patron / epic power pool. I like the look of soul mastery because of Shadow Meld but fire mastery also looks tempting - mainly because I can use the immobilise and hold as mules for relatively cheap purples (as I said, I'm a recharge junkie
5. I've only skipped two powers out of the entire set - Charged Brawl and Soul Transfer but presumably either Oppresive Gloom or Cloak of Fear is also skippable (but not both). Is there anything else which is absolutely not needed?
Sorry, I'm using up my question quota - so I will leave it at that. Any suggestions will be much appreciated!
Thanks