Stalker Epic Power Crits

Can stalkers' Epic Power Pool attacks crit?

If so, is it worth taking the Snipe from epic pools for this reason?

Yes they can, with aoes have a 50% (I think) chance to crit instead. The snipes should crit from hide every time..but they take sooo long. I think moonbeam is like an 8 second animation? Just about every other attack you have will be loads better to crit with.

Opening a fight? Umm..wouldnt you be opening a fight with..Assassin Strike?? Maybe snipe in pvp..but in pve, theres basically no map where you will need to be sniping. Besides, if you reaaally want to take an enemy out at range, lots of the epics offer a standard ST blast, that will fire about 6 times as fast.

AS is always the choice for opening an attack (Lightning Rod is an exception), simply because it doesn't do double, but triple damage from hide compared to every other attack.

Best Epic Power pool for crits comes from Blaze Mastery. Everything else is just...meh.

I think they fixed that in a more recent patch, so Fireball should be using the 50% Crit like it's supposed to.

As for the snipes, they are not worth taking.
the animation takes forever (8 sec) and the damage is severely lacking.
The Snipes use the Stalkers Ranged damage mod (which is .5 or .6) so the snipes end up doing 75 damage, 150 with crit at the base. Not worth the power slot

Patron/Epic attacks cannot build Focus so I don't plan on taking them unless I am MA or EM with zero aoe and I need one badly.

Yep most attack powers critical from hide and they will tell you in their description too now....as with the stalker changes the developers went through and updated that bit as well.

Sniper Attacks are useful....because they let you stay out of the normal ranges associated with very stupid things.....like for example on a certain underground Trial....you can float in the ceiling....and not get effected or targeted by much...while you sniper the enemies....

This is not something that should be done only, in my opinion...as with the assassin strike changes i feel more like now that its the stalkers job to help the other characters on the team with eliminating the targets....but if you are facing a big boss....then why not use just a sniper....especialy if when ever you get close you get hit by some aura or damge effect that almost kills you.

From my own personal usage.....i found while solo or while i was split from the team...i could sniper a foe....that would either kill it or leave it in such a state of hurt that by the time it got to me...i was hidden again. and then could assasin strik eit if it was close or shoot it again with the sniper shot. I have cleared areas before only using the sniper shot.....just sat back and used it...no muss no fuss.

On a stalker Snipers are extremly useful for pulling things too.....where many blasters seam to (I am not sure why they do this either) they try to make themselves melee characters or worse they dont bother with enhancing their powers (like the sniper attack they all get) with range or anything....and the majority most of the time tend to not be able to pull very well.(which bothers me, an archtype designed for range unable to pull things)

On a stalker for pulling you want to slot that sniper to get usage out of it....if you can get at least one range enhancer in it the better.....because you will be hitting things at extreme range...any over flow you can simply placate or lead away from the team...you can pull singles anytime you want. With the added bonus that the hide power will engage again right before the shot fromthe sniper attack will hit most of the time, thus making enemies more likely to not be able to find you and aggro on you....as i have personaly demonstrated on many trials and task forces stalkers can pull just about any target they want.....and due to this I have also had 100s of players deliberatly mess up my pulls because i assume i do it better then they can.

Now there is one thing about Sniper attacks too....if you are going to get the Sniper attack...you are commiting to using that Pool....and as such you wil never have any other Patron or Epic Pool.

Sooo make sure you really want that pool....instead of Stamina Recovery or something else.

I had to comment about sniper shots because it looks like alot of the replies are from players who just dont use them.....for them...its not becasue they cant or wont...its simply the situation and their powers sets.

As one Poster pointed out, they will use Thunderstrike instead.....another couple players if you read what they have said on other threads, tend to scrap it out alot at close range...thus hitting at extreme range is not how they made their character or play them.

It boils down to you should get the Sniper shot if thats how you want to play...but you shouldnt get it if you will never use it.

On a personal note....it depends on the stalker I am playing whether i use a sniper shot or not....if my stalker has one....I will use it alot as i intended to utilize the Sniper shot which was my over all reason i took the power set it came from.....if I dont have it...its becasue the powers i have just never seamed to make having a sniper shot work or a differing pool seamed better.
Out of many Stalkers I have 3 Stalkers with a Sniper Shot...and I tend to use it alot with those character. But i have many Stalkers sooo I have alot more with out the Sniper Shot but then i dont play those Stalkers in a way that would get much value from having it.

I am sorry. I can't think of any situation except for Apex where you can snipe that pylon at very long distance but you know what I do in that situation if I play a stalker? I invite range specialists. That SF requires 8 people and range damage is very common and required.

Stalker snipe sucks. I just can't think of any situation where I need it.

1. Pull? Most vet attacks work and dark blast works better and can be used in an attack chain and can be used to finish off a runner. Trying to finish off a runner with a 7s casting snipe is just.. . stupid? I rather hide and wait for that runner to come back.

2. Damage? I am not going to waste build up on it and wait for 7s to cast it. Its base damage isn't that high to begin with so you need to slot it. If I need to slot snipe for decent damage, I rather save the slots for something else.

3. To say Snipe works well it's like saying slotting Brawl for damage works well too if you have the patience for it.

4. Let's just say you successfully pull a boss from a group. Well, that boss is aggroed so you are not likely to set up BU + AS on him. You can get interrupted and waste endurance. This is the same as pulling with dark blast.


I already have a big problem with Snipes in general. Adding extra 3s casting time makes me want to PUKE. I have more problem with the casting time than the damage itself. The damage vs casting time ratio is just terrible.

There are instances for me when using Moonbeam is fun. That's why I use it.

Doesn't matter if I can kill it faster another way.

Lets try sniping it.

OK!!

All that matters.

Not trying to start a fight, here. Just that there are different reasons to play this game, than maximum efficiency. I know, Mr. Pither squirms whenever I say that.