StJ/Nin ramblings and questions


Auroxis

 

Posted

So I like Street Justice. Really like it. Made a StJ/SR scrapper shortly after the set dropped and basically haven't played anything else since. This is part lack of available time, part the toon being insanely fun. Massive ST, surprisingly decent AoE with SS and Spring Attack and loads of recharge, quite survivable, subtle as a sack of hammers to the face.

...OK, she does have a stealth proc in Sprint.

Anyway, I really like Street Justice, and I really like the concept of a stalker, but until now I've really felt my stalkers have been boring in practice. So I figured I'd try to make a StJ/Nin. I really want to like Ninjutsu as well, it does say Stalker a lot more than the other sets and I suppose this is for obvious reasons.

And as with the scrapper, I want the toon to eventually be a bit of a monster.

Anyways, for Basic Average Girl (the scrapper) I went with a natural idea. Ninja Run, Body Mastery, a nice ST chain backed with Spinning Strike. Musculature and Vorpal.

Killer-Queen will be a whole different beast if I can pull it off. Sweeping Cross in the ST chain, SC and SS the only AoE, SS+CJ for travel. Burnout for 4 minute godmode against incarnate content. Will want Musculature and Vorpal here as well. Much more a boss-buzzsaw for teams though. So...

Is it in the opinion of you Stalker vets doable to make a reasonably End stable, perma hastened, (normal) softcapped StJ/Nin?


 

Posted

@BrandX:

Thanks! That's really all I needed to know - I'm confident I can get close to the goal and in doing so accumulate most of what I need to do so, but the conflicting defense/recharge needs may yet prove a bit daunting.

Still, I've got the ATO set, some other goodies, a Hecatomb set and the Glad Armor lined up, and I'm pretty close to grabbing the PvP -res proc as well. Or I may get the Panacea bit for +end and wait for the -res, I reckon it's mostly for EBs and up.

Still, will not be cheap!

@ShadowMoka:

So far he has been unstoppable though I expect the RNG to catch up soon, if nothing else in Faultline.

And he was always the star of the show! :-)


 

Posted

And now, bit of a diary from someone who's effectively a stalker noob.

As I mentioned, I always wanted to like stalkers but they never really took off for me. Sure, I liked the Hide-BU-AS thing but that and cheap laughs with Placate was really all Stalkers offered for me. Not enough to pimp one for good defence and do TFs.

And even though I do like the cheap Placate laughs, when StJ dropped and I could do Stealth proc-CR-CU on my scrapper Stalkers were basically dead to me. Most of the laughs in a survivable package and 30 seconds later I could do it all over again. But then... i22. The promise of good fighting with Stalkers, and ST to beat my scrappers. And a good toon idea, so I hogged the name Killer-Queen on Union and waited. Lurked. Hid away.

And yesterday I actually logged on to the guy, refined the costume, twiddled the sliders, cursed the lack of that special mustache in the creator and walked out of the Atlas tailor.

Levels 1-4 I beat on Fallen by the Fort Trident entrance. I know, Death from Below, but I don't really like teaming at low levels. I feel like a leech I guess. Heavy Blow from Hide, Blackwand and Nemesis Staff. After this I almost had something like an attack chain, using some of the Praetorian enhancements and getting some slots in attacks. Alas poor Matthew Habashy, but I couldn't be bothered to check my voicemail.

After dinging 4 I went streetsweeping, and at 5 I got me a shiny police radio. Some missions, AS, and getting those pesky lowlevel accuracy issues. And not really enough of an attack chain to leverage Assassin's Focus with the long recharge on AS. Still getting there. Did the Atlas safeguard, dinged 7 in it, streetsweeped to 8 and headed off to the Hollows.

At 8 I went into the Hollows arc and hello Mr. Bone Daddy BU-AS-HB-SC JEBUS! I'd forgotten just how fun that one trick actually was and now the pony knows more tricks. Blah blah Outcasts, punching out bosses for bonus XP, off to hang with Flux and presently I ding 10. At this point I've got 5 slots in AS and in go the ATOs except the Acc/Dam.

And then I finish off Flux. (with some sweeping along the way) Things get iffy with Frostfire but with some purples and reds and greens I beat him down and ding 11. Maybe I should have actually toggled up Ninja Reflexes? It seems purples are better than brains. In my defense this was in the morning and I hadn't gotten through my first cup of coffee yet.

So, 11 and that means new police contact and at one point I can't avoid doing hostage rescue. Yep, still horrible on Stalkers but at least my stealth drops immediately when I turn off Hide, unlike the stealth proc. Some Outcast bosses, some police missions, and I'm 12. DOs, some sweeping and a final police mission and I'm at 12.5 with the King's Row safeguard selected. Off to Pocket D to rack up the hours on Clubber.

Overall... this was fun. Maybe not quite as fast as scrapping or especially bruting, but the toon's showing promise. There may be some issues with having two sources of Orange Circles but I'll just have to hit the keys to make them go away. I had a hard think about Placate but so far I've been able to solve things just by punching faces and with the Hide proc in AS I can take down the primary target good and quick.

I was a bit more hesitant leaving Caltrops out, but I'm pretty sure I'll get more mileage out of Hasten. They look like a late 40s power pick, with all the procs I can put in.

Tonight it's KR safeguard, 2xSSA1 and then we'll see. (EDIT: Or not, I'm not sure I can get hero merits yet without running some tips)


 

Posted

You cannot choose Hero Merits without having confirmed your alignment first (through the first 10 tips and Morality Mish completion).

...or perhaps I should say you aren't supposed to be able to and they were supposed to have fixed the bug that allowed you to. I didn't bother to recheck after they said they fixed it.


 

Posted

Got mine to 22, likely run her alot over DXP weekend,.... lovin' it.

On the border about investing in an ultimate build even though I have the enhancements in hand, will have to see how she plays out.


 

Posted

Stalkers have always been my AT of choice but since i22 and the ATO sets they have become exactly what you said - single target chainsaws. Throw in the awesomeness of Street Justice and you have a freaking monster on your hands. In fact yesterday I was able to solo a Rikti Pylon in 3 minutes 52 seconds (no inspirations or pets) with my StJ/Nin. That's down from 7 minutes prior to i22.

I'm currently running with this chain (starting in hide, using Build Up whenever it refreshes). AS has the ATO set, Initial Strike has the Hecatomb proc, and Shin Breaker has Achilles Heel:

Crushing Uppercut --> Initial Strike --> Shin Breaker --> Initial Strike --> Assassin's Strike --> Spinning Strike/Crushing Uppercut (alternating)

By the time I use AS it almost always has full focus for the guaranteed critical, plus with the ATO proc I drop instantly into hide (base 15 sec recharge guarantees it will trigger 100% of the time). This sets me up for a critical/fully combo'd Spinning Strike or Crushing Uppercut depending on whether I need AOE or ST at that moment.

I almost never assassinate from hide anymore since Crushing Uppercut does nearly the same critical damage and is instant.

You'll notice I dropped Sweeping Cross since Spinning Strike is ALWAYS the better option and will be always be refreshed and fully combo'd with enough recharge. Skipped Heavy Blow since Initial Strike fits more comfortably. I even dropped Placate since AS and CU always critical in this chain anyway. With the extra powers I was able to pick up more situational goodies like Vengeance and Afterburner (for trips to the Shadow Shard).

I didn't take haste since perma doesn't add anything I don't have already, plus you can only auto one power and that power should be Kuji-In Rin. I also can't stand having my hands glow all the damn time.

Definitely don't pass up Caltrops - the mitigation is outstanding. Throw a Ragnorak proc in there to turn a horde of enemies into fleeing/falling/flopping fish. Throw in Reactive Interface and they're also on fire

Best of luck with your character. Can't wait to hear how it goes. The "Batman Build" is no longer just a novelty!!


The Grim Saint - Virtueverse [1323 Badges]

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grim Saint View Post
Stalkers have always been my AT of choice but since i22 and the ATO sets they have become exactly what you said - single target chainsaws. Throw in the awesomeness of Street Justice and you have a freaking monster on your hands. In fact yesterday I was able to solo a Rikti Pylon in 3 minutes 52 seconds (no inspirations or pets) with my StJ/Nin. That's down from 7 minutes prior to i22.

I'm currently running with this chain (starting in hide, using Build Up whenever it refreshes). AS has the ATO set, Initial Strike has the Hecatomb proc, and Shin Breaker has Achilles Heel:

Crushing Uppercut --> Initial Strike --> Shin Breaker --> Initial Strike --> Assassin's Strike --> Spinning Strike/Crushing Uppercut (alternating)

By the time I use AS it almost always has full focus for the guaranteed critical, plus with the ATO proc I drop instantly into hide (base 15 sec recharge guarantees it will trigger 100% of the time). This sets me up for a critical/fully combo'd Spinning Strike or Crushing Uppercut depending on whether I need AOE or ST at that moment.

I almost never assassinate from hide anymore since Crushing Uppercut does nearly the same critical damage and is instant.

You'll notice I dropped Sweeping Cross since Spinning Strike is ALWAYS the better option and will be always be refreshed and fully combo'd with enough recharge. Skipped Heavy Blow since Initial Strike fits more comfortably. I even dropped Placate since AS and CU always critical in this chain anyway. With the extra powers I was able to pick up more situational goodies like Vengeance and Afterburner (for trips to the Shadow Shard).

I didn't take haste since perma doesn't add anything I don't have already, plus you can only auto one power and that power should be Kuji-In Rin. I also can't stand having my hands glow all the damn time.

Definitely don't pass up Caltrops - the mitigation is outstanding. Throw a Ragnorak proc in there to turn a horde of enemies into fleeing/falling/flopping fish. Throw in Reactive Interface and they're also on fire

Best of luck with your character. Can't wait to hear how it goes. The "Batman Build" is no longer just a novelty!!
POST BUILD PLEASE!

Seriously, you refer to it a lot in the post above. So post it so that we can look at it. Thanks!


"Hi, my name is Ail. I make people sick."
A partial selection from my 50's on Freedom: Ail = Ice/Traps, Luck = Street Justice/Super Reflexes Stalker, Mist = Bane, Pixy = Trick Arrow/Archery, Pure = Gravity/Energy, Smoke = Fire/Fire Dominator

 

Posted

Quote:
POST BUILD PLEASE!
Sigh... sadly I can't since I'm a mac user and Mids has yet to have an equivalent for me. Here's a very rough breakdown though. (Warning: This is a straight up end game build so price may be prohibitive).

***

Initial Strike: 5 Gladiator's Strike, 1 Hecatomb proc
Assassin's Strike: 6 Stalker's Guile (catalyzed)
Build Up: 6 Gaussian's
Spinning Strike: 5 Ragnorak, 1 Endurance IO
Shin Breaker: 5 Gladiator's Strike, 1 Achilles Heel
Crushing Uppercut: 5 Hecatomb, 1 Endurance IO

Hide: LoTG global recharge
Ninja Reflexes: 3 LoTG (global recharge, def, def/end), 1 Endurance IO
Danger Sense: 3 LoTG (global recharge, def, def/end), 1 Endurance IO
Caltrops: Ragnorak proc
Kuji-In Rin: Recharge IO
Kuji-In Sha: 5 Panacea, 1 Gladiator's Armor +Def
Blinding Powder: 6 Coercive Persuasion

Sprint: Microfilament Exposure
Swift: Flight Speed IO
Hurdle: Jump IO
Health: Miracle healing, Miracle +recovery, Numina regen/recovery, Numina healing, Regenerative Tissue regen
Stamina: PShifter end mod, PShifter +end, End Mod IO

Recall Friend: Zephyr KB protection

Fly: Zephyr KB protection
Hover: Shield Wall +res
Afterburner: Zephyr KB protection

Kick:
Tough: 5 Aegis, 1 Steadfast Protection +def
Weave: 3 LoTG (global recharge, def, def/end), 1 Endurance IO

Maneuvers: 3 LoTG (global recharge, def, def/end), 1 Endurance IO
Assault: Endurance IO

Web Grenade: 5 Gravitational Anchor
Physical Perfection: PShifter +end

Alpha: Musculature Core Paragon
Judgement: Vorpal Radial Final Judgement
Interface: Reactive Core Flawless Interface
Lore: Robotic Drones Core Superior Ally
Destiny: Incandescence Radial Epiphany

***

Anywhere it says 5 slots instead of 6 assume I'm skipping the proc.

Ranged, melee, and aoe defenses are all between 46% and 50%. Tons of regen coupled with 28% s/l resistance with tough on makes him very survivable. 12 KB protection thanks to Zephyrs covers the only status weakness. Global recharge is 95%.

Because nearly all the sets are purple or pvp the bonuses don't go away at lower levels, meaning he rips things apart even when exemp'd. The only problem with purple sets is the lack of endurance reduction, hence the End IOs you see in there. With these slotted I can run 7 toggles, run my expensive attack chain, and never run out of endurance.

I went with Weapon Mastery since it afforded me Physical Perfection and Web Grenade (which is better than you think). It's a -fly immobilize that recharges so fast you can stack them one right after the other, holding pesky fliers and even AVs if you need to. It also mules for an inexpensive purple set and is nice for the "natural" stalker vibe.

Sorry this couldn't be in Mids but I hope it gives you the basic idea. Like I said - it's very expensive and it took me a while to build, but you can easily use Touch of Death sets, Mako's Bite, etc. and still be highly effective.


The Grim Saint - Virtueverse [1323 Badges]

 

Posted

@Sir Hextor:

Thanks for the confirmation! Looks like I'll be doing some SSAs tomorrow night then...

@OmegaS:

Looking forward to hearing how it plays out. I likely won't be at ultimate level when I hit 50 on Killer-Queen, but pretty close to it. Well, I could be but I'd have to strip my main...

@Grim Saint:

Some nice twists there, I probably won't play it quite the same way but somewhat close. Specifically, I reckon I will go with Hasten and something like (BU-AS-CU)-SB-SC-HB-SB-AS-CU-(repeat) for ST and HB-SB-AS-SS for hordes. But we'll see. HB may well turn to IS, a procced-out, frankenslotted IS has very nice DPA.

Sweeping Cross does have some nice things going for it - it lets me put in a PBAoE purple set, and get another purple proc and the PvP -res proc in my chain. This may well fall under "stupid pylon tricks" though.

Caltrops will definitely end up in the build eventually, probably slotted with only procs, and with some attack trimming in a respec it may end up fairly early in the final build.

Not assassinating from hide is certainly an interestig ploy, I'll have to try it once I've got CU slotted.


 

Posted

And now, the continuing adventures of a killer queen.

Getting from 12.5 to 15 and Faultline went stupidly fast. I did some missions to get the Spelunker mish because old habits die hard, started in on the Midnighter arc, and put the boot in whenever I saw an appropriate boss or lieutenant spawn in Steel. I also started up some new contacts, again from habit... it turned out I was to outlevel them right away.

At 15 I headed to Faultline. Again, missions. Jim Temblor, Penelope Yin, radio and Skyway safeguard saw me close to 20, along with the usual boss/lieutenant street sweeping. The final effort was a quick street run in north Steel. At this point BU-AS is still incredible, but it seems that increasing boss hit points is starting to catch up. Ah well.

At 20 I headed to Talos and feeling the need for SOs and popped Experienced for the first time. Not really sure when doing so is optimal but I do know it's wasted if I haven't burned my charges when I ding 50 so hey. A radio netted me some tips and after a bit I'd done my 5 tips and an additional radio to refill. Open air bosses were scarce. Ding-21 and now all attacks are 4-slotted with 6 in AS for the ATO set.

Right now I'm feeling the slot crunch pretty badly, and I may respec sometime in the 20s to take out SC for now - at this stage SS I believe is indeed better, especially with the Force Feedback proc. Ah well, at 22 I'll go to SOs and put in some LotGs for 30ish recharge.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Resolve View Post
Specifically, I reckon I will go with Hasten and something like (BU-AS-CU)-SB-SC-HB-SB-AS-CU-(repeat) for ST and HB-SB-AS-SS for hordes. But we'll see. HB may well turn to IS, a procced-out, frankenslotted IS has very nice DPA.
My current pylon chain is:

(BU-AS-CU) SB-HB-SC-SB-AS-CU (repeat)

That's with hasten. Proc'd out. (Stalker's Guile set in AS 5-slotted with Heca dmg proc).

Code:
| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|MxDz;1553;727;1454;HEX;|
|78DA65544B6F5251103E172E6DA120455A5A4A4B81BE78945BE82BC6561BB56A6A8|
|BD610357183488F9414815C68B4EE5CB874A30BB7EA0FF03FF827B4465D57173E96|
|6E0C0E773ECA8D90C037F39D3333DF0C736FE6F186F3DDD5A7EB42715D2AE7EBF55|
|CB6912FEF4BDD96C9174B05AB10C29D3DB8FF44EAD550B67C502C4ABD97381F6EE5|
|32B22CA57651CF3F2A972A457F9BDE900F64A52EB5CD82CC5DD01F5675CF66654FE|
|AB2D2D0DA866BA75A2D6B574AC5BD06453A0D6F5BE66BE4B8DBCEAED4EB7BA59AC3|
|F0B3352977FD976BA582D62E93AD1E9473997CBD21F5C3119295A4EF079FC0A7691|
|36B04AA5558FE43354A8DA55511DB1706260F2D427855A175621511E4B351E0473A|
|53905739633138759DF3F49C65BF678DB16F9571E01CE33CC55A8DE0A6D53AA4189|
|C631038C098FC4BC7E3AA38A2BB36D4B135E923FA129CC56978FC7BCAF4FB89227A|
|A1BA37C16AE780293AB37365D5BEC5954E6780D719076F007718D314D3CF31A23FC|
|C79142AE0E21AC26554B512E3466677848C59EA77827124C8383AAC183DC516784E|
|9F29B307BD7916B8ABB145E012637019B8C2187E8659533D2FD7B37831C3106618C|
|20C1729FF10EE0C414B08DAC2D0B4407786F98E32BCDADA0721E2C02F74E6873EFF|
|3DEE3C9CE7FF65F23DEFC86481F9C95D4C5A322E516C00B503D037057D41E8F3510|
|FE3A83D8E3BF100CFE62BC54FA0F6C40CF73C35DB42BB9889B23F13831FC7F926E3|
|32C5468CED6C2A9197CCA59F33AED0D934D7B44DA7B9E66C029805DE82166CC6DC1|
|CF7E421BD51F41485DE187A9A474F11BA93C09D04B62E099C071E538B1AF766D15E|
|33977E037CCBF8C729440A5B9742DC0F073D73E01463EB7E75188B721B53BD86AD3|
|BCFDBF6B32BEAB739EA05CFC51782C657EC07D49367BF39D6B15B2E65887731A92E|
|26DDC52C76314B5DCC7617B3A39EBC69A0DF3E40EF0F683BEEBCA39ADF4CF677937|
|DC7616433ECBB26FBA6C9DEF252DBB08F4CF63F127E0A44|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|


 

Posted

Quote:
Sweeping Cross does have some nice things going for it - it lets me put in a PBAoE purple set, and get another purple proc and the PvP -res proc in my chain. This may well fall under "stupid pylon tricks" though.
SC certainly has its uses, but the cone is very limited and the damage sub-par, so when I have a full combo ready to fire I'm always more inclined to go with CU or SS since either of the two or both will be refreshed with any decent amount of recharge. And while it does let you slot Armageddon, the power's lackluster performance basically turns it into a mule (hence the 5-slotting of Web Grenade for Grav Anchor, which I at least use on a semi-regular basis and is FAR cheaper).

Quote:
That's with hasten. Proc'd out. (Stalker's Guile set in AS 5-slotted with Heca dmg proc).
I'd recommend six-slotting AS with Stalker's Guile since you pick up a nice 2.52% s/l resist and put the Hec proc in your quickest recharging attack. The proc is a static 107 damage at level 50 so you want it to fire as many times as possible. I put mine in IS which I use twice in every chain. Enhanced it does 107 damage itself, so with Hec it has a 33% chance to do double damage essentially with every hit.


The Grim Saint - Virtueverse [1323 Badges]

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grim Saint View Post
SC certainly has its uses, but the cone is very limited and the damage sub-par, so when I have a full combo ready to fire I'm always more inclined to go with CU or SS since either of the two or both will be refreshed with any decent amount of recharge. And while it does let you slot Armageddon, the power's lackluster performance basically turns it into a mule (hence the 5-slotting of Web Grenade for Grav Anchor, which I at least use on a semi-regular basis and is FAR cheaper).



I'd recommend six-slotting AS with Stalker's Guile since you pick up a nice 2.52% s/l resist and put the Hec proc in your quickest recharging attack. The proc is a static 107 damage at level 50 so you want it to fire as many times as possible. I put mine in IS which I use twice in every chain. Enhanced it does 107 damage itself, so with Hec it has a 33% chance to do double damage essentially with every hit.
@Grim: You actually answered a lot of my questions regarding certain attacks. This past weekend I managed to get my STJ/NIN to 32nd lvl. After playing with a few teams I found myself questioning the need for Heavy blow & Sweeping cross in my build,..i found i simply wasn't using them. My other two questions fell on Placate & Hasten. Placate I was now finding I didn't really need. Most enemies were dead by the end of my chain. Hasten I chose simply because my MA/Regen had it (which is phenomenal on him) yet it didn't seem like a must have on my Stalker. I think many will be drawn to split paths on the choice. I feel i'm going to respec out however. I wasn't quite sure if i should go the Fighting pool again, but it seems only logical for the added defense & resist. What I found intriguing about your build is you chose the flight path. Since the creation of Ninja Run. But you answered yet another annoyance I was running into which is being knocked down. I'll look to invest in those recipes to help against it. My final problem to my build was the chain attack endurance issues. Last night before retiring, I purchased Miracle & Numina to help counteract, plus 3 performance shifters. I'm hoping todays run will show a significant difference. @Resolve: Keep up the journal, i am enjoying it big time!


MA/REGEN: 50th Shadowgeist
SHLD/SS: 50th Justice Machine
ENG/ENG: 50th Dr. Fear

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grim Saint View Post
SC certainly has its uses, but the cone is very limited and the damage sub-par, so when I have a full combo ready to fire I'm always more inclined to go with CU or SS since either of the two or both will be refreshed with any decent amount of recharge. And while it does let you slot Armageddon, the power's lackluster performance basically turns it into a mule (hence the 5-slotting of Web Grenade for Grav Anchor, which I at least use on a semi-regular basis and is FAR cheaper).
With my slotting (5 Armageddons including Fire proc, Gladiator -RES proc), SC actually does more damage than Heavy Blow, Shin Breaker, or Spinning Strike. It seems to have better DPS than Shin Breaker (by a smidge), Spinning (by a lot), and just under HB. With the -RES Gladiator Proc, it also provides a second source of -RES for hard targets. If you really want to pump up your ST dps (for pylons or other hard targets), it may be worth keeping in your chain. It also costs significantly less end than Spinning for single targets. Just a counter point.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Granite Agent View Post
With my slotting (5 Armageddons including Fire proc, Gladiator -RES proc), SC actually does more damage than Heavy Blow, Shin Breaker, or Spinning Strike. It seems to have better DPS than Shin Breaker (by a smidge), Spinning (by a lot), and just under HB. With the -RES Gladiator Proc, it also provides a second source of -RES for hard targets. If you really want to pump up your ST dps (for pylons or other hard targets), it may be worth keeping in your chain. It also costs significantly less end than Spinning for single targets. Just a counter point.
A sound counter point & food for thought.


MA/REGEN: 50th Shadowgeist
SHLD/SS: 50th Justice Machine
ENG/ENG: 50th Dr. Fear

 

Posted

Quote:
With my slotting (5 Armageddons including Fire proc, Gladiator -RES proc), SC actually does more damage than Heavy Blow, Shin Breaker, or Spinning Strike. It seems to have better DPS than Shin Breaker (by a smidge), Spinning (by a lot), and just under HB. With the -RES Gladiator Proc, it also provides a second source of -RES for hard targets. If you really want to pump up your ST dps (for pylons or other hard targets), it may be worth keeping in your chain. It also costs significantly less end than Spinning for single targets. Just a counter point.
Hmm... I may need to give it a shot in the training room. When I was trimming fat from my build it basically came down between SC and SS and SS simply offered the better AOE, though I suppose having an alternate, more ST-friendly finisher on standby would be useful.


The Grim Saint - Virtueverse [1323 Badges]

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grim Saint View Post
Sigh... sadly I can't since I'm a mac user and Mids has yet to have an equivalent for me. Here's a very rough breakdown though. (Warning: This is a straight up end game build so price may be prohibitive).

***

Initial Strike: 5 Gladiator's Strike, 1 Hecatomb proc
Assassin's Strike: 6 Stalker's Guile (catalyzed)
Build Up: 6 Gaussian's
Spinning Strike: 5 Ragnorak, 1 Endurance IO
Shin Breaker: 5 Gladiator's Strike, 1 Achilles Heel
Crushing Uppercut: 5 Hecatomb, 1 Endurance IO

Hide: LoTG global recharge
Ninja Reflexes: 3 LoTG (global recharge, def, def/end), 1 Endurance IO
Danger Sense: 3 LoTG (global recharge, def, def/end), 1 Endurance IO
Caltrops: Ragnorak proc
Kuji-In Rin: Recharge IO
Kuji-In Sha: 5 Panacea, 1 Gladiator's Armor +Def
Blinding Powder: 6 Coercive Persuasion

Sprint: Microfilament Exposure
Swift: Flight Speed IO
Hurdle: Jump IO
Health: Miracle healing, Miracle +recovery, Numina regen/recovery, Numina healing, Regenerative Tissue regen
Stamina: PShifter end mod, PShifter +end, End Mod IO

Recall Friend: Zephyr KB protection

Fly: Zephyr KB protection
Hover: Shield Wall +res
Afterburner: Zephyr KB protection

Kick:
Tough: 5 Aegis, 1 Steadfast Protection +def
Weave: 3 LoTG (global recharge, def, def/end), 1 Endurance IO

Maneuvers: 3 LoTG (global recharge, def, def/end), 1 Endurance IO
Assault: Endurance IO

Web Grenade: 5 Gravitational Anchor
Physical Perfection: PShifter +end

Alpha: Musculature Core Paragon
Judgement: Vorpal Radial Final Judgement
Interface: Reactive Core Flawless Interface
Lore: Robotic Drones Core Superior Ally
Destiny: Incandescence Radial Epiphany

***

Anywhere it says 5 slots instead of 6 assume I'm skipping the proc.

Ranged, melee, and aoe defenses are all between 46% and 50%. Tons of regen coupled with 28% s/l resistance with tough on makes him very survivable. 12 KB protection thanks to Zephyrs covers the only status weakness. Global recharge is 95%.

Because nearly all the sets are purple or pvp the bonuses don't go away at lower levels, meaning he rips things apart even when exemp'd. The only problem with purple sets is the lack of endurance reduction, hence the End IOs you see in there. With these slotted I can run 7 toggles, run my expensive attack chain, and never run out of endurance.

I went with Weapon Mastery since it afforded me Physical Perfection and Web Grenade (which is better than you think). It's a -fly immobilize that recharges so fast you can stack them one right after the other, holding pesky fliers and even AVs if you need to. It also mules for an inexpensive purple set and is nice for the "natural" stalker vibe.

Sorry this couldn't be in Mids but I hope it gives you the basic idea. Like I said - it's very expensive and it took me a while to build, but you can easily use Touch of Death sets, Mako's Bite, etc. and still be highly effective.
Thanks Grim! This gives me some ideas for my build... appreciate it.


"Hi, my name is Ail. I make people sick."
A partial selection from my 50's on Freedom: Ail = Ice/Traps, Luck = Street Justice/Super Reflexes Stalker, Mist = Bane, Pixy = Trick Arrow/Archery, Pure = Gravity/Energy, Smoke = Fire/Fire Dominator

 

Posted

@Granite Agent:

Looks like I hadn't my thinking cap on, that's obviously a more proper chain.

@Grim Saint:

You definitely should give it a shot - I'll be doing the same at some point on my scrapper just to see what she can do to a pylon when uncompromisingly optimized for ST.

(As an aside, one thing I really like about that toon is both having decent AoE and ST and being able to do pylon runs with no real endurance issues. I barely get those spamming Spinning Strike and Spring Attack for all I'm worth in missions!)

I had a marvellous insight but my browser eated it.

@Dr_Fear: Thanks! Sure will, though may start editing installments in. Or I'll just shamelessly bump...


 

Posted

So, what to do when at 21? Tips! I didn't really feel up to fighting myself in the clones arc, I'm just too wonderful for that... so I did some scouring and a couple of radios in Talos to pick up some tips. And when no tips dropped I saw I was close to 22, beat up some random people in the street and ding! SOs!

Being a magical and special snowflake I'd already had decent +Acc from Yin's market, but now I could slot my attacks End/Acc/2Dam (Acc/3Dam in HB) and grab some attuned LotGs from email. I'd messed up slightly at 21 so I couldn't get Pract... er, Kuji-in Rin perma right away. Still, good for situational use. And off to Striga.

Cue the beatings! SOs and the additional goodies made a huge difference, maybe even more so than the usual jump to SOs. Stephanie Peebles' arc went like a charm (ding-23, didn't bother to train because Striga) but then I'm still at +1x1 with bosses. The big hump I expected was Heracles, the Warrior EB with bonus resists.

The guy lasted maybe 15 seconds. If stalkers had played like this before I would definitely have played them a lot. Maybe not as much as scrappers but they would definitely have been a strong contender for my playtime. Of course putting 2+ billion worth of enhancements into the toon helps...

Next some tips and when that's done the available SSAs, and then off to First Ward.


 

Posted

Three costume slots and I'm struggling to use them. Ah well, Killer-Queen's first costume works for me so it's no big problem. And that's some of the solo stalker experience for me, it genuinely is no problem. At 25 with squishy hitpoints the guy has died no times.

I expect this post to jinx that. And there should be some can openers in the general First Ward weirdness.

The road to 24 was simple. Tips, sweeping, and the alignment mission, and I got another power I may very well end up not using: Tough. What I will be using is that shiny Steadfast Protection KB resist, though... and it does seem to be useful, after slotting it I haven't been knocked back even once.

So at 24 I went into First Ward and that was probably a mistake. 20-25 heroside is intense - the later Faultline contacts, Mercedes Sheldon, the clone business. Nadia (the first FW contact) turns out to be 20-29 but I misremembered and didn't want to miss out on the FW arcs. Ah well.

Working with Nadia and the Palatine was great fun. Did "pet" NPCs use to follow stealthy characters properly? I had only occasional problems with Noble Savage and the Carnival of War people, and leading a brute-type EB into combat with assorted Ghouls and Resistance types had me giggling.

Around there I dinged 25 and as I was about to log I ran into a proper, level shifted StJ/Nin. We had a nice conversation about builds and it's nice to see there are a whole bunch of ways to go about making a good StJ character.


 

Posted

What do you do when you're 25 and you can only get a few hours in on odd hours, and you missed most of DXP weekend? Embrace the solo stalker experience!

For 25-27 Killer-Queen did Noble Savage's arc, then SSA 1-2, some tips, some radios when the tips dried up, and some more tips. No huge changes here - Shin Breaker with 3 slots is about as impressive as you'd think. It may get that storebought Crushing Impact set I've got lying around though come lv29, though, and that's probably the time to swap out Sweeping Cross for a bit.

So right now I'm just doing the surprisingly fun routine of sweeping and missioning. Post-25 I expect to start actually taskforcing if I can - with 15 inspiration slots I should be able to chomp enough purples to actually see me through serious fights.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Granite Agent View Post
With my slotting (5 Armageddons including Fire proc, Gladiator -RES proc), SC actually does more damage than Heavy Blow, Shin Breaker, or Spinning Strike. It seems to have better DPS than Shin Breaker (by a smidge), Spinning (by a lot), and just under HB. With the -RES Gladiator Proc, it also provides a second source of -RES for hard targets. If you really want to pump up your ST dps (for pylons or other hard targets), it may be worth keeping in your chain. It also costs significantly less end than Spinning for single targets. Just a counter point.
The chain I had in mind for my StJ/EA is (BU+AS+CU)-SB-AS-SC-SB-AS-CU.

This means I don't have to use HB at all, while getting a 100% crit chance with CU(assuming the AS doesn't miss beforehand) since the chain is just above 10 seconds, and a 76%(while solo, on a team it's close to 100%) crit chance AS(assuming no misses) every 3.5-4 seconds.

AS requires tons of recharge to fit into that, but I can get close enough with purples, EA's +rech, and Ageless. On paper that's ridiculous DPS(and even more ridiculous burst), but it'll take a while before I get there.

As an aside, StJ is hella fun on a stalker. Bosses drop like flies.


Mains (Freedom) @Auroxis
Auroxis - Emp/Rad/Power Defender Pylon Video Soloing an AV
Pelvic Thunder - SS/Elec/Mu Brute
Sorajin - Elec/Nin Stalker
Neuropain - Sonic/Mental/Elec Blaster

 

Posted

In an earlier post I talked about the benefits of using CU from hide instead of AS but I did some number crunching and thought I'd share my findings.

From hide CU will critical for a base 353.68 at level 50 versus AS's 389.28. The difference is only 10% and you're paying for it with a 3.17 second interruptible wind-up. Granted you also get demoralize and the ability to stay hidden if you miss, but these perks are only really useful while soloing. On teams and especially in itrials you will almost never get through that wind-up before getting hit with something's AOE patch, and even if you DO make it through chances are your target will be at or near death by the time it fires considering the rapid pace of raids.

Long story short - there are very few instances where you'll want to use AS over CU from hide, especially endgame.

Another thing I noticed while looking over StJ chains in this thread was a neglect of the combo system. A fully combo'd finisher does an extra 25% damage along with enhanced secondary effects - CU's stun becomes a hold for instance. It's an interesting problem trying to optimize both focus and regular combos without compromising one or the other.

I'll be respeccing soon and when I do I'll be taking haste (despite poo-pooing it in an earlier post), and swapping IS for HB. This will allow me to perform the following chain. This is starting in hide with the ATO set in AS. 251% recharge required.

(BU) CU --> HB --> SB --> HB --> AS

I start with a critical CU followed by three attacks to build up focus for a guaranteed critical AS that also puts me back in hide, ready to start over with another CU. This CU will be critical, still under the effect of build-up, and fully combo'd. How does a critical AND combo'd CU compare to hidden AS you ask? It does 13.5% MORE damage. That's right. If I'm facing a large mob and want AOE I can also swap CU for SS whenever I like, which will still be combo'd, critical, etc.

One thing to keep in mind is the currently buggy nature of the Stalker's Guile proc - thread here. This will allegedly be fixed in the next patch so that the proc will only fire once every ten seconds, meaning every OTHER pass through the above chain (it takes just over 7 seconds). To compensate I plan on using placate after AS on the times it doesn't proc so I can still get the critical CU every time. With 251% recharge it will be ready just in the nick of time, every time.

I probably won't respec until that proc issue is fixed, but once it is I will excitedly report on the carnage


The Grim Saint - Virtueverse [1323 Badges]