Jibikao

I can almost guarantee you that Power Push in other sets won't be changed to Dominator's version. Assault set is a lot different. They increased damage in some "utilities" powers as a way to balance the whole set (Energy Assault and Psychic Assault are two that I can think of).

Lift in Controller should be matched to Dominator's version. I can't remember the exact number but does Lift cost as much endurance as Levitate? You can have one power having a bit more activation time but still does the same damage, have the same endurance cost and recharge. Somebody told me activation time in Levitate is actually shorter than the listed value?

Very well thought. I vote for BaB too. He no longer works here and maybe they'll introduce a new Redname to the group.

You know what's the worst I've done with Dimension Shift? During the 3rd mission of ITF, I thought it would be cool to phase all the robot bosses when they activate. I click a robot that stands pretty far from the Computer but I guess the radius is freaking huge. Needless to say, we couldn't finish off Computer for 30s. lol

That's what I get for trying to find a use for a almost-useless power. I tried. I just didn't click far enough.

On a side note, I never enhance Intangibility. I only put one ACC. I thought AVs/Elite require more than mag 4? Ugh.. that computer situation really pisses me off. It would have been cool if I can phase out most of the robots so the team can safely finish off the computer. Oh well..

Taking away the extra combo from AS and adding to other sources doesn't change your beloved Assassin Strike. You CAN still use it just like all the other Assassin Strike. While I don't like AS, I don't think it's a total waste. I just don't want to lose out on opportunities to build extra combo points when I am under heavy attacks or fighting with lots of burning patches on the ground.

I don't know how many points AS grants and I don't know if using other attacks build slower or faster. I just don't like it if the extra combo 'feature' is tied to AS, then it won't be as efficient, unless AS grants a lot of points. At this point, the max. seems to be 3. If they want to tie AS to extra combo points, then it should be at least 6 points so you can use two Finishers afterward. In fact, one of the things I was thinking is if combo points "expire" and if they can allow Stalker to carry more points than Brute/Scrapper/Tanker. If so, this could make SJ very interesting as Stalker finally has a way to "save up" more Heavy hits for next spawn. All is just pure speculations on my part. This is just one way I would set Stalker apart from other melee ATs because Stalker would need more opportunities for burst damage than the other 3.

It has a lot to do with how good the finishers are, which I have no idea. And I also have no desire to find out because I like to try new things when they come out. :P

It's really hard to say but I really don't want them to tie any features to assassin strike. Same reason why I don't like Empowered Combo or Sweep combo on Stalker dual blade. They did increase 1k cut range for Stalker and that's one feature that is good.

If Stalker needs more way to gain combo points since they don't get it from regular "build up", then I rather it be from other source(s).

I've given many reasons why I think using Assassin strike to gain extra combo points is inefficient. I want an overall improvement on AS but not specific features that tie to it because if the situation is bad and I can't get off an AS, then I am missing out on extra combo points that other melee ATs can have access to.

Stalker can start with more points but it is hardly an advantage because Finding Target, BU and then AS takes time. For all the time spent, the other melee probably already hit 3 times which give them 3 points.

Good points. Looks like SJ's combo system is going to be superior.

Yeah, the DoT part is the reason why I go with Reactive on all of my toons. The damage is just too good to pass on. The -resist part is ok. It's only decent on a very large team but in most situations, the DoT part makes the other 3 paths look bad especially when you take AV's resistance to those debuffs.

Exactly. Some people think that the best "defense" is Defense but in reality, the best defense is Defense + Offense. If the team can take down the enemies quicker, then it means you don't need to support as much/often.

SoA is built in a way that they are supporting both Defensively and Offensively at the same time and do it very well.

By making a SoA, you are already an Defender/Offender.

My only doubt is extra combo points in Assassin Strike because there are situations where it's hard to set it up (burning patches on the ground being the most annoying). I do use AS but only when I feel the situation is right. I don't go out of my way to try to use AS whenever placate is up because I don't find it efficient enough.

I also don't know what Stalker is losing from SJ. We don't know if Stalker actually loses a pbaoe or just a single target attack or utility power of some sort.

Hopefully the "finishing" moves are so good that you feel you have to build up extra combo points by using AS. From reading the description, other regular attacks build up one point too. If that's the case... you can probably do two attacks before landing a successful AS and gain two points. The description only says 3 is the max. he can build for. At this rate, AS needs to give more than 3 points to make it worth the setup time because when you have all the attacks, you can gain combo point just as fast.

The only benefit is Stalker can start the fight with 3 points right after AS at the beginning of the battle.

I want to say that PB has the potential to be "decent" but they have to put so many restrictions on what you can use in forms.

Changing forms, in my honest opinion, is annoying and mostly because of the delays. On my lvl 42 PB, I mostly play Dwarf form because its damage is not that far behind human form and I've never played a Tanker before. If I try to be versatile by changing from Dwarf to Nova or to human, I may get killed because I tend to draw a lot of aggro. And even if I took the human shields, they are de-toggled when you change forms. So if you have any mez on you, you will be held/stunned/feared and whatnot.

Peacebringer's versatility is really hindered by those restrictions. The lack of mez protection in human form is kinda annoying too and all those knock backs... ugh. Solar Flare should not do knock back. It should do knock down or hell, just don't do any knockings! It's like on my first build, I tried to create a Hovering Peacebringer that you see in enemy group. Well, you can't use solar flare in air.


Peacebringer has the potential but I can't stand all those restrictions. The shifting delays just makes me not want to shift. All forms should be able to use at least Photon Seekers and Glowing Touch. Do they seriously think the game balance is ruined if Dwarf/Nova can use Photon Seekers? That power's recharge is too long for its effect IMO. You also can't cast them like you can with Trap Seekers because you can easily drop Trap Seekers to take alpha damage. With Photon Seekers, they only appear around you and they follow you to battle, which means their total damage output could be wasted by hitting just the minions that stand up front. Of course you can save it and cast them in the middle of the crowd. It just does even more KNOCK BACKS. That's all.

It's like whatever you think they might be good for, they have to put something that say "oh no... you are not going to do that easily!".


I am leveling a Warshade right now and he is only lvl 30. Warshade, while I think it's still weak at the current stage, at least has a good STYLE. And their powers have way more synergies than PB's.

I guess they can buff other energy powers more. I understand why they can't give full critical to TF but the fact that these two powers don't receive full critical value puts Energy melee at disadvantage when Stalker has full team critical buff and Energy Melee has zero aoe.

I've never tried EM but I've seen how fast ET was.

And doesn't Energy Melee have a regular stun power? Does that do anything special? I know they buffed Cobra Strike to match Crane Kick. Not sure if this is an option?

Yes, Lift is now a decent and fast and very good soft control power. That's why I chose Gravity/Fiery. I only need attack chain of Lift, Fire Blast and Blaze. I'm all range and I hover in air for extra protection.

Lift doesn't need a buff, which I agree.

I think people just want to replace Propel/Dimension shift or both with something that we can use more regularly and effectively. Group Lift is an excellent idea because I just love that animation so much, watching them get lifted up and fall. :P

I tend to think it could be a mix of both. Some +damage with combo points. I can't imagine not having another +tohit buff.

Let me give you another reason why I hate any of the "features" tie to Assassin Strike.

Tonight I started a Tin Mage team and I was on my martial arts Stalker. I specifically tried to use more AS because I really want to know what you see in AS that I don't see.

Well, in the first mission we actually aggro a lot of Clockworks. I don't know what it is but now most "Incarnates" think they are invincible and they just don't take their time anymore. Needlessly to say, we just "go, go, go". We killed the first two elite robots and moved on to the next field. Oh my, was there even a moment that I didn't have any dot damage on me. Those clockworks shoot some kind of beam that just keeps doing "dot, dot, dot". Not a whole lot of damage but I couldn't even get one AS off when we get swarmed. This means I only have time to do Placate + Eagle Claw. Great damage, not setup and no loss of endurance due to interruption. The only way I could get an AS off is by running away, wait for 8s and then set it up. Do you know how much dps is loss by doing that way?!

The AV part is even worse. There are so much s!@#$ going on (bombs, missles..blah blah blah) that I just didn't even bother with setting up AS.

Ok, fine. Let's move on to 2nd mission. 2nd mission is even worse!!! Those IDF shoots so many burning missles on the ground. Every where I go there is some dot damage. Again, not a whole lot of damage but enough to annoy the hell of me. I say to hell with assassin strike and just stick with the good ole Eagle Claw and Ball of Lightning.

The final mission is where I use a few more AS but not many. Maybe 3 times that I can think of? Once at the first of the fight against Neuron and maybe twice against the other two big robots. As for kitty, she was a mad woman when the lover died. Her Spin did over 1600 damage on me and at one time she hit me over 2500 damage. Needlessly to say I died both times so I end up doing more "run and hit, run and hit". I didn't want to stay near her to let her spin or shockwave hit me.


The gist? Assassin Strike is pointless. The team doesn't need it and using it doesn't improve any of the gaming experience at all. Assassin Strike's damage isn't even high enough to take down 25% of a Clockwork Boss. I am +1 with tier 3 Musculature. And I rather use a BU + Eagle Claw on a Mender so I can start with a 100% stun and then finish off with other attacks.


So if Street Justice features combo points with Assassin Strike, then I won't be too interested unless they do other fancy stuff like 100% aoe damage or whatnot. I know it's bad habit to trash a set before it comes out but the one thing I really don't want them to do, they did it. I don't care if I can score 3 combo points with a regular AS outside of hidden. I just don't want the setup time, interruption and possible more endurance cost.

PS: And you wanna talk about Apex? Assassin Strike will be even more pointless. The first mission there is auto dot damage around pylon. And then there's endless ambush that you are better off using regular attacks. The final fight is even more worse. You need to watch out blue flame and tons sword ambushes. Why even bother setting up AS and taking the risk of getting interrupted and not doing enough damage when the chance is presented? Honestly, the only time that Assassin Strike is good for is when you run away, shake off some aggro and come back to the battle.

I complain about AS because I simply don't like using it. It is slow, it gets interrupt and it costs more endurance than what I want to pay for.

I want the new "features" like build up refresh but I don't want combo points to tie with AS. I do use AS sometimes but only when I feel like it. This means when I feel like taking my time to find a target or when teams aren't stream rolling so that I am not ASing a dead body.

Why can't Stalker build extra combo points elsewhere like how Concentrated Strike refreshes build up?

I would much rather I get extra combo point when I critical or something. I don't mind Placate + an attack (like Concentrated Strike) but I do mind Placate + Assassin Strike. And I am hoping for an overall improvement on Assassin Strike, not just for one set.

Judging from the description, Brute/Scrapper may not get any kind of build up +damage so Stalker could be getting Build Up on top of 3 combo points.

The one thing I was really hoping they wouldn't do..they did it. When I read about the combo points, the first thing that came to my mind is "they better not tie combo points to Assassin Strike". Oh well. We'll see when the set comes out.

And this also means that some resistance-based sets (like Electricity and Regen) may be at disadvantage because their Assassin Strikes could get interrupted more. That's why I don't want any "features" tie to AS.

This is true. I haven't played my 50 Merc/Poison in years. I can't remember what the duration is. Mids doesn't show duration but the recharge is 300s. I think the duration is only 45s? If that's the case, then you can't really perma Venom Gas.

We don't know if it's going to be the exact same debuff except you cast it on yourself. If the duration is longer or recharge is shorter on Corr/Troller and the Gas can be made perma or almost perma, then /Poison can be a VERY deadly set.