Jibikao
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My guts tells me Staff will rank middle in terms of ST damage and GOOD for pbaoe damage.
Now, don't get discouraged! One of the cone attacks is a Parry type of attack. It's a pretty wide cone with 9' reach (Guarded). You can easily use that as part of the attack chain. Unlike Parry, it does good damage on its own so you don't feel like you are losing dps by using a parry-like attack. You can simply use BU + Guarded and gain +defense to start the fight. With Ninja/Broadsword, you almost never start the fight with BU + Parry because that's such a waste of critical damage. Guarded is what Parry should have been like IMO.
Sky Splitter looks decent as a heavy hitter but it's kinda slow.
I have not tried Eye of Storm but it shall be a good pbaoe.
I do feel Stalker Staff will be just as good as other versions. Stalker's Staff excels in dps, burst damage and ST damage. Other version excels in having one more cone attack and a bit more versatile with two other Forms. -
If you don't pvp, I think I would drop Thunderstrike first but it's just me.
With enough recharge, Chain Induction can provide similar pbaoe damage and it's fast.
Thunderstrike has better burst damage but its activation time is terrible. If you need one more aoe, I would take patron aoe.
I do use both Charged and Havoc because they cost less endurance and they have better dpa than Thunderstrike.
I would probably drop Charged Brawl. Yes, it has better dpa but it doesn't gain Focus as reliable as Havoc. And if you have Stalker ATO proc, you want the next follow up attack hit harder. -
Quote:I took out my old Kin/Dark out. Clicking Build Up all the time does get a bit annoying and besides I don't always use critical Concentrated Strike. I like critical Burst too. :POriginally Posted by MisterD
Also..does anyone else seriously NOT think KM stalkers being able to perma build up isnt broken? Really? I would ask if the devs considered this..but..
Kinetic's Assassin Strike also needs to be increased to 1s casting time. I think it's currently sitting at 0.67s? -
Have you considered adding "time limit" as a way to make it more interesting?
Some examples:
1. An elite boss appears and you only have 30s-60s to kill him off. If you can't, the mission fails. This kind of scenario probably favors burst damage, which gives people more reason to pick Blaster/Stalker.
2. If an elite boss survives more than 30s, another elite boss appears.
3. You cannot hurt the elite boss until all the surrounding minions/bosses are killed off. If all the minions are not killed off before 30s, another group of minions show up. The ambush will only stacks up to 3 times and you have to clear all groups of minions until Elite can be killed.
I do feel the difference between an Elite and a real AV is pretty big. Is there any way to make Elite a bit strong but not as strong as AV for soloing or very small team play? -
Quote:Oh, Elec Stalker is excellent. :P The new change fills Elec's hole perfectly.Originally Posted by Leo_G
I
Haven't tried or heard from any Elec stalkers so no idea... -
I've come to realize that when you play Stalker DB, you should just focus on using AS, Ablating, Sweep, 1K and Vengful. Attack Vital combo is useful when you level up but its usefulness drops big time due to having 3 worse attacks in the combo.
1K Cuts is still very good. That's Dual Blade's advantage. 10' wide cone can cover quite a bit.
The other benefit is the ability to trigger AoE procs with Ablating. Ablating is actually a pbaoe attack but suppressed to do ST damage without combo. When a proc is triggered, it affects all the mobs around you. I don't know what's Sweep Combo's radius but I have to say it's close to 10' radius.
So basically, freaking slot Ablating with the best procs you can get and just keep using it. That's about it. -
Quote:Oh, I didn't know that. Purple set bonuses remain even when you get scaled down lower than -3 levels? Cool to know.Originally Posted by Grim Saint
Purple set bonuses don't ever go away so my recharge was as high as ever. It wasn't optimal, but I was never waiting around for something to refresh. Being able to use AS as a recurring part of your chain and not just an opener is a huge boon as well.
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Quote:But what happens when you get maled down? You lose Heavy and Sweeping Cross? That's two early attacks.Originally Posted by Grim Saint
On my StJ/Nin stalker I'm currently running with this (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. This sets me up for a critical/fully combo'd Spinning Strike or Crushing Uppercut (depending on whether I want AOE or ST).
I almost never assassinate from hide anymore since Crushing Uppercut does nearly the same critical damage and is instant. With this chain I can solo a Rikti Pylon in 3 minutes 52 seconds (no inspirations or pets). I was also able to drop Heavy Blow and Sweeping Cross in lieu of other goodies. I even dropped Placate since AS and CU always critical anyway.
What two other goodies that you got in place of Heavy and Sweeping? Just curious.
I did more arcs in DA last night. Sometimes I start with BU + AS and sometimes I just run in with BU + Uppercut since Uppercut's critical damage is so high. The fear from AS is still decent to slow down some aggro on me.
I am still not used to the new AS change. My attack chain is all messed up. I just know I want to click AS as soon as 3 focuses are up! -
Quote:I think it's only based on the "base" recharge because one time I PMed A. Hawk about Claw's chance of getting Focus. I think Claw suffers a bit in a way that its "innate" bonus is to have 20% faster recharge and endurance bonus but the focus generation is based AFTER that 20% bonus, which means Claw generates Focus slower. Basically, the formula, I think, is based on whatever is listed in the description. I've been playing my Elec Stalker and I can tell that charged brawl doesn't generate focus often enough. Thunder Strike and Chain Induction give one Focus every time I hit because both of them have recharge higher than 10s.Originally Posted by Tenzhi
Silly question: is that wholly based on the base recharge of the power, or does it scale with enhancements/debuffs?
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What are you talking about? I LOVE that orange circle! When the initial change was on a beta, you could barely see when you have 3 stacks of Focus. The orange circle is there to let you know that you are ready to unleash one of the BEST ST attacks in the game. Love it and use it!
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The initial patch note was wrong. Focus generation is based on the "base recharge" of the powers, not "animation" time.
We don't know the exact formula but 1s base recharge is pretty much equal to 10% chance. This means if you use an attack with 10s base recharge (Crane Kick), you get Focus every time you land a hit. The formula should be quite close to this. -
Quote:Actually, another problem that Genins have is their endurance. I already slot them with -35% end but they will run out of endurance after a while. It's actually annoying when you try to solo an AV.Originally Posted by Mad Grim
Yes, Genin... Genin are quite squishy. And by quite squishy, I mean they take about a tap to fall over. I highly recommend getting the 15% aoe def from the ATO, it helps quite a lot. Mine rarely die unless fighting a large enemy, though admittedly Black Scorpion hurts. Wiped them out almost instantly, so I just left them dead when I fought him.
Though the upside to Genin is that, if I recall correctly, they attack faster than any other pet in the game... A good deal of your DPS comes from them, so focusing on keeping them alive is very beneficial.
Yes, I love Ninjas and I've always said Genins do the most damage as Tier 1. In fact, if the game setting is on +0, the 3 Genins deal more damage than 2 Jounins! I've done a small test against +0 Freakshow tank boss. I want to see which group of ninjas kill faster. Genin > Jounin > Oni.
Oni has AI problem which I will keep harassing dev to fix. :P Oni doesn't use all the attacks at melee range. If Oni truly uses all of his attacks, he should do amazing damage with smoke flash. -
I've soloed Black Scorpion with Ninja/FF but that's with alpha incarnate I think. I didn't use judgment or interface or destiny.
I couldn't solo Black Scorpion before they changed FF buffs to group because one hit, Genins are usually dead and I just didn't have that much endurance to resummon, reupgrade and re-bubble each pet.
Ninja is definitely not the best choice because any serious aoe will wipe them out. Robots tend to spread out a bit more so they don't all die in one aoe.
And it really depends on what type of AV you are fighting, but if you want me to guess, I say Robot is the best AV killing and mostly it's because of that nasty -500% regen from Assault Robot and all pets are ranged. -
Quote:Not so quick! CB only has 3s recharge. You can't reliably gain Focus with just CB + JL + CB. The most reliable way to get 3 stacks of Focus is JL + Thunder + Induction. The chance of getting focus is based on the base recharge of the power. The faster the recharge, the less the chance. And due to my little testing, a 10s recharge power has like 100% chance to get Focus.Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
Man, I was totally pumped for my KM/Ice, all ready to go for today and everything, and now you guys have me thinking of rerolling with Elec/Ice. I hadn't even thought of that! The best part is now you can skip thunder strike and instead run CB > JL > CB > AS > CB > JL > CB > CI. Dang that chain looks nice, and it doesn't involve any lame-o powers like focused burst... But no perma-build up! But perma-build up is kind of annoying to actually put into practice... So conflicted. Then again one of the sets gets lightning rod and one of them doesn't.
The fortunata hypnosis proc can't actually work the same way as placate the power for stalkers, can it?
Lightning Rod doesn't give you Focus but it's too good to even criticize about it.
Fortunata set's proc doesn't give you critical. I think you just lose aggro from that target for 10s. I think the original intent of the proc is for the Mass aoe sleep because sometimes you use aoe sleep and then people wake them up right away. If they suffer from the proc, they should not attack you for 10s? That's just my guess. I have never tried the proc. -
Quote:Synapse said it should be easier now but I haven't tested the new change. I also don't know if the new change has made it to today's patch.Originally Posted by StormDevil
I'm going to continue to level my KM/Ice/Levi Stalker; here's hoping that Hide Proc+Chilling Embrace bug is either fixed, or just some rumor I heard (never did make it in to Beta this time around).
The proc is only supposed to grant you one critical status once every 10s. However, since the proc functions like an "auto buff" power, you may not always within the 10s timer so you'll need your next attack chain to get the critical status. All and all, you should get a critical within 15s.
The old bug is to fix duplicating proc that may put you back into hidden status before an assassin strike goes off, even though you did not use placate. I know some people claim they can get a critical every single time an assassin strike lands but that's not how it's supposed to happen. Their attack chains could be longer than 10s and that's why they are seeing it 100% chance. -
Quote:With the new changes, I believe the following sets received the best buffs:Originally Posted by robwigg05
What are some primaries that would stand out with the new changes?
1. Electricity Melee (this is probably the only primary set that is better than Scrapper's version if you don't include secondary aoe). Ele lacks ST damage a bit and with the new Assassin Strike, it's good!
2. Spines: Scrapper has Quills for more aoe but Stalker version has the best ST attack in the game.
3. Dual Blade: Never tried Scrapper's version but the new assassin strike change allows you to use Sweep Combo without being interrupted and it gives you one more heavy hit. -
Oh, patch is coming out today? I am at work!
Edited: I read that Staff is not out yet so not sure what I want to play yet. I may just keep using my 50 SJ/Ice to see how it performs on a large team. -
Quote:I think those that "lolstalker" are the ones that no matter what the dev do, they just prefer Brute/Scrapper and maybe for good reasons. They just prefer more AoE.Originally Posted by _Hush_
With the upcoming issue due next week and Synapse mentioning that stalkers still have a ways to go, Will the title of "lolstalker" start dwindling and is it now viable to have stalker on team over a scrapper?
PS: I love playing my stalker. I am just curious on what others think.
Yes, some stalker combos have good aoe but you can't match /shield and /fiery and dot aura.
I don't think the current issue 21 Stalker is "lol". It's not as competitive as Scrapper/Brute but it's certainly not a "joke" AT.
Yes, there are ways to go to balance Stalker. Somethings that won't happen in i22 but should happen later:
1. Normalize all Assassin Strike animation time to 1s. Kinetic Melee is at 0.67 and Ninja/Broad Sword are at 1.67.
2. Allowing Epic/Patron attacks to score Assassin's Focus (and possibly power pool powers?)
3. Balancing some old sets like Energy Melee, Martial Arts and Claw.
Regular players don't normally "lolstalker". I think they are just happy to find a player to play with. Those min/max players that laugh at stalkers will also laugh at certain builds and Peacebringers. :P -
I have not tried the new /EA 'cause my old Spine/EA hit 50 already and that was it. I didn't find the 2nd version of EA that bad for Stalker so I didn't even bother respecing him to try the third changes.
Having said that, I feel Ice Armor is better. It definitely feels more sturdier and I really enjoy Chilling Embrace. Even if IA has less defensive values, the aoe slow alone makes up for a lot of things because Stalker doesn't have taunt and mobs do run away. The slow just makes it easier to kill them off before they run too far.
I think IA is better. Both have holes in psionic. Icy Bastion is such a great god-mode. It has very high +regen and +recovery. I think many people don't know that Bastion has an amazing 500% +regen which is like a great DoT healing on yourself. It has shorter duration but it has no crash and it activates so fast. IA does lack a true healing power but that's why I save the +HP when my health is low. It heals and gives me extra HP!
IA also gives you amazing resistance to -slow/recharge debuffs. You can run through caltrops all day long.
Here is what I think. Both are very good defensive sets:
Energy Aura - more offensive due to the new +20% recharge
Ice Armor - more defensive due to some +resistance and -damage/slow debuffs -
Quote:Hello and welcome to the forum!Originally Posted by Mad Grim
Yea, I've never posted on these forums (I just stalk them), but this comment has forced my hand, if only because Ninja/Time is my main and I am therefore incredibly biased.
Ninja/Time has great powers for keeping those insane ninjas of yours alive. The two most obvious are Farsight and Time's Juncture. With both of these active and well slotted on just SOs, you are looking at just about 20% defense buff and -15% accuracy debuff on the enemy. Combine this with the small amount of defense the ninjas get (except jounin, those guys have great defense) and they suddenly become nearly tough. Instead of wet tissue paper, they are now wet cardboard.
However, this is not the end. Temporal Mending is a nice initial heal, with an equal amount in a heal over time. It will heal up your ninjas and keep them healthy. Put enough recharge on it and you could have a constant stream of impressive green numbers going off.
Then you have Chrono Shift, which while its main function is lost on MM pets, it still serves as an emergency heal, and a buff towards yourself. As well as this, it will help with endurance problems... your ninjas won't run out of endurance. Distortion Field is great mitigation, cuts down the amount of incoming attacks by a tremendous amount. Last but not least, Slowed Response! Death is mitigation too, and using this will certainly make sure everything dies before your ninjas do.
There is the problem that you have no recharge intensive pets, so you can only slot one 5% enhancement, and the 10% ATO for AoE defense... though if you are going to use a catalyst on anything, this would be it. Increases to 15%, all my pets are soft capped to AoE.
And I do believe Ninja/Time has good synergies. Just Farsight and Time's Juncture are good enough for me. If I remember correctly, Time's Juncture has good tohit debuff and also slow which should help the mobs run away slower which decreases extra aggro from the Ninjas chasing.
Too bad I've already devoted so much time on Ninja/FF (incarnate +3). I really don't think I want another Ninja. I still haven't tried /Time and I think I want to go with Beast/Time. -
Quote:Before they made /FF a group buff and aoe upgrades, I have tried to only summon two Jounins and Oni because I really couldn't stand casting shields 12 times and plus two upgrades on each pet. Genins' dying was really driving me nuts.Originally Posted by Berzerker_NA
I find the ninja set at least doubles in playability if you just skip Genin altogether. (Either that, or take them and never summon them - just use them as your proc mule.) I just take snapshot and slot all the procs I can to it. (It has quick recharge and high accuracy - a good combination for proc bonuses.)
This makes you slightly less powerful, but saves you the incessant mindless tedium of having to continually resummon the gimpiest pet in the game. When people say ninjas die a lot, I'm pretty sure that's the pet they're talking about. Jounin do ok even if your secondary isn't exceptionally defense oriented, but if it is defense oriented then they do amazingly. You hardly ever even have to resummon them on /ff.
The performance with two Jounins and Oni was ok. I had less hassle but I could notice the drop in damage. I didn't take any arrow attacks. They have no secondary effects so they are pretty poor proc damage. I just keep throwing smoke flash. -
Quote:Necro's biggest problem is 1. their survival (lack of lethal resistance which is like the most common type in the game) 2. lack of aoe damage. Majority of Necro's aoe damage comes from the 3 tier 1 zombies and that's not reliable enough. A set should never rely on tier 1 for aoe damage IMO.Originally Posted by Grendar
Necro mostly needs upgrades to the AI. Compared to bots, they seem to do better damage but have a suicidal tendency to run after groups of enemies unprovoked. If you keep an eye on them though, they're fairly solid: they all have self heals and tohit debuffs making them great for going after bosses, do good single target and AoE damage, and the lich is like having your own pet controller. If you balance the difficulty settings, they chew through content like it's nothing.
Zombie also has the worst 2nd upgrade in the game. Most tier 1 pets get a 2nd upgrade with aoe attack that has 16s recharge. Zombie's Siphon Life has 30s recharge??? It's only a single target melee attack that does the same damage as their "slap". It is really pathetic if you ask me.
Both of Necro's Life Drain and Siphon Life need to be improved just like the other versions. They should either improve their damage to match the current version or decrease recharge down to 16s or less. There is no way it should be at 30s (this applies to Grave Knight too).
I can go on and on about Necro but my main complaint is their lack of lethal resistance and poor 2nd upgrade on zombies. I don't have as much with zombies chasing runners because they don't run as fast and they don't have knock back (unlike Genins!). -
Quote:I would say even though /thermal has several offensive debuffs and tools, most people find /thermal mostly for the buffs and heals. I would keep Forge up if I were you. The duration is pretty long.Originally Posted by Berzerker_NA
The real problem isn't whether it's tactically wise to forgo Forge in single player. I'm pretty sure I won't miss it with Mercs.
It's whether people will feel ok about it on teams. Is a /thermal with no Forge like a /FF with no shields, or is it a really optional buff? I like to do everything I can to make people want to team with me since.... you know.... I'm playing an MM and all. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Miladys_Knight
Mobs only chain aggro if you miss and are within perception range. That's why AoEs that are short range (ie:60' or less) are bad for blasters. If you miss one mob they all notify and aggro instantly. If you hit them all they don't aggro until a debuff or the damage is applied. When they chain aggro they queue an attack instantly and because of the way the game mechanics are they roll to hit instantly. Then, even if the mobs are subsequently mezzed, (Sirens Song is a good example here) their animations will complete, their attacks will fire all at nearly the same time, and land and do damage and/or apply mez.
This is what we mean by the alpha strike.
Being outside perception range of the majority of the spawn will only chain aggro the ones in perception range. Snipe range solves this problem with all most all enemy types. (Rikti drones being a notable exception)
From what I understand, if the enemy is "mezzed" (knocked back, held, stunned), then most of the enemies within that group will be notified even if you are at very long range. People do corner pull (hit and then hide in the corner before the attack lands) all the time and I see people use Nemesis Staff which has knock back and it always pulls majority of the group. The Black Wand is a much better way to pull because it only has -tohit debuff.
I've seen Sniper Rifle pulls and knocks down and alert majority of the enemy. I am not sure if he didn't stand really far enough or what, but I am pretty sure if you want to pull, don't use any attack with control effect. Control effects my exclude confuse and fear. I know knock back, stun and hold will alert.
My whole point is that if they want Snipe to be an aggro-less super long-range attack, they shouldn't add control effects in them. -
So one Performance Shifter Proc is as good as Stamina?