Jibikao
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Posts
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Joined
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I think I may know who this iGAMR is. Does he play on freedom? I think he recently added me when we were in a CoP run as Maryland Blue Crab.
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Quote:If you are looking for more "protection", then go with Fortunata. Mind Link is one of the best aoe defense in the game. It has an amazing protection against Psionic damage.Originally Posted by DrOctagon
I love being a defender. I get that sense of joy that a Stalker must get when he pulls an awesome AS, but I get it every single time I give out SB. Every. Single. Time. I pride myself on being the oil that keeps the gears of my little pubbie teams going. It's just something I think I'm built for.
And now I'd like to build an awesome SoA. Of course I don't want to do any damage. I'd be very happy if I only had attacks that did some debuffing, in fact.
Is this possible? What type of SoA would be best? Is it worth it to make a SoA that is geared strictly to pubbie teaming, where it can give tons of buffs and debuffs out? Pets are fine, especially if they're mini defenders. I honestly don't care if I can't solo a minion, I just want to defend. Help me!
I would do this:
1. Carry double Assault, double Maneuver, one Tactics from secondary.
2. Mind Link is a must.
3. Take Aid Other, Aid Self and the rez power.
4. Take more control powers than attack. Fort has quite a few control choices.
5. Once you have access to patron, take aoe immb and darkest night for even more debuff.
Da da! You've got a very strong supporter character that has one of the best mez-protection in the game and very awesome defense.
Oh and you CAN solo just fine with any of SoA. That I can assure you.
However, one of the best things about SoA is that they are providing excellent team buffs WHILE doing great damage. On most support type of characters, you can only do one thing at a time. -
Quite honestly, I think they should allow both Dwarf/Nova to use:
1. Photon Seekers (I SERIOUSLY doubt this power is going to ruin the game if Dwarf can cast it)
2. Glowing Touch (now you can have a blaster/tanker with a small heal power to give PB more uniqueness)
3. Conserve Energy
4. Dull Pain
5. Power Pool Powers: Leaderships, Medicine, Hasten. I can see why forms can't use super speed but if they can only restrict the whole set and not individual power, then please at least allow Forms to use Leaderships.
Human form can still have the shields, the blasts, stun and nuke. That is still very versatile. -
I only play on Freedom and I also haven't seen that many high level Stalkers. I've seen way more high level Dominators though. Dom and Stalker used to be the least favorite children but Dominator has really climbed up the ladder in terms of popularity contest.
I think being a "Stalker" means you'll never win the popularity contest.
However, the dev did go through some MAJOR changes for dominator. They adjusted damage/endurance/recharge ratio for a lot of powers in the old sets. They did it because Domination was changed and some sets were just very under-performing (Energy Assault and Thorn Assault for example).
I wish the dev could go through Stalker's old sets as well. Almost every set is an identical version of Brute/Scrapper (minus some important pbaoe). In theory, that isn't right because Stalker needs more powers that deliver big base damage (therefore, higher critical damage) than having smaller-damage with faster recharge. Claw is a perfect example. Claw Stalker really doesn't need both tier 1 and tier 2 attack. Martial Arts is another example. Why would any melee needs to have 7 melee attack? Thunder Kick really has no place.
In fact, when they improve critical chance, I am surprised they didn't do something more for Energy melee. One can't critical full and one can't even critical. -
Quote:I think they need to reduce both activation time and interrupt. Personally, I find activation time more annoying than the interrupt part. I can see why they put interrupt there so you don't super run and then activate AS.Originally Posted by Smiling_Joe
Perhaps the ability to slot AS with interrupt reducers would do exactly this? Wouldn't be an unreasonable thing to ask for, IMHO.
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I never farm and have no desire to but I did see one very wealthy SS/Fire Brute recently. Oh my god. What did they do to Burn? Not only it no longer "fears", it does ridiculously amount of high burst damage. Fury can really buff Burn's damage so much. I saw one dude camping at the door in BAF and literally everything dies before they even get out. That's ridiculous.
And the funny thing is I don't even think that SS/Fire survives that bad. At some point, the dev gotta look at Damage VS Survival ratio and say "mmmm, maybe they buffed Burn too much?" They could have just kept the old Burn but reduce the fear effect. The new Burn looks very overpowering to me on Brute because at least Scrapper can't critical with Burn.
Well, from what I've seen, we already have quite a few ATs that are doing "too much" damage. The gap between certain sets and set combination is just too wide especially when you put set bonuses and alpha into the equation.
Besides Stalker, I play mostly SoA and I know my Bane (all melee mace) performs way superior than any of my Stalker.
At the end of the day, I still think Assassin Strike is the main problem. This signature power sucks at high level. It is cool when you get it at lvl 6 because nobody else is overpowering at lvl 6. And the 2nd biggest problem is that some sets just need to be re-designed a bit like what they did for Kinetic Melee. -
Quote:Hey at least you asked. That's cool.Originally Posted by Chad Gulzow-Man
FYI, I specifically asked Second Measure at Comic Con about Peacebringers (at Grey Pilgrim's request).
He said they're currently in an informal discussion stage, where they realize that they need some love and are weighing their options, but they don't have an opening in the development schedule to get anything done prior to Issue 21's launch. I told him I assumed that Issue 22 was probably locked out as well given the way they're developing 2-3 issues in advance, and he said that wasn't necessarily the case.
So, I'm sorry to report that there won't be anything specific for Kheldians at Issue 21's launch, but there's still the possibility of mid-issue or Issue 22 changes. And you know the producer--the guy who handles the budgeting of resources (including time)--has Kheldian issues on his radar.
I think with Freedom coming out, they have a lot of new things to add to the cash store and I am pretty sure balancing Kheldians (mainly Peacebringer) isn't even in the top 20 priorities.
So realistically, they know Peacebringer has some issues but are they important enough to devote that much time to it? Probably not.
I truly think some of the issues I have with Peacebringer is design issues. PB has the tools to be very versatile but the shifting delays and restrictions on what powers can be used during forms just make this AT very frustrating. The "fun" value disappears faster for me. It's very cool to have a flying Squid at lvl 6 but it gets old because that's all you are going to get = 4 powers. -
Quote:I am just trying to find something that Stalker is better than Scrapper..... stop pouring down cold water! :POriginally Posted by Kioshi
I love Stalkers, I'm not like Johnny Butane who is proposing changes to Tankers all the time but he does sound likes he hates the AT. I truly love Stalkers. But honestly, my SM/Ele Brute and my FM/SD scrapper can solo anything at +3, +4, I REALLY don't see how a Stalker would solo better even at a low mob setting and my scrappers/brutes not using AoEs. Hell my ST focused dark/dark scrapper (not the sturdiest of builds, no defenses, etc) could solo much faster than my EM/Nin Stalker in Invincible (that's what's +3 was called back them right?).
I didn't mean this thread to be another 'compare ATs' but I really, really disagree Stalkers solo better than Scrappers unless you stealth and go to the glowie or stuff like that any toon with SS+Stealth IO can do.
That's not to say Stalkers aren't good soloers, I faceplant a lot more on my blasters (my fault for loving the /fire secondary, /ice is almost a controller and /mm has the crazy regen power). But since Stalker soloing, although I disagree with your statement, is fine (not excellent since Scrappers are still the kings of melee AV soloing, which already makes your argument that they solo better invalid), what I'm looking for is making them more useful for teams (ok desirable too, although I never had problems joining trials and stuff with my Stalkies) and fixing the damn broken HP cap (yeah I know I sound like a broken record, but with the exception of trollers and blasters not getting full advantage of Hoarfrost and Earth's Embrace, we are the ONLY AT that do not benefit fully from +HP powers, especially sincein the troller/blaster case we're talking about 2 specific powers in epic pools, not powers that every WP/regen/ice armor stalker will get like HPT, Dull Pain, etc).
I am not disagreeing that a well built Scrapper can solo better than Stalker. After all, what's the best time Stalker can take down a pylon?
I also don't play Scrapper/Brute/Tanker much, so my love for Stalker is pretty subjective and narrow-minded. Others, like you, who play other melee ATs can certainly share your opinions why Stalker needs more dev's attention. I'll take any buff I can get!
I know I am the only person who plays Stalker in our nightly group. We have a running joke. Whenever we get a team wipe, JUST BLAME STALKER! -
My Peacebringer just hit 42 last night. Gotta take advantage of weekly itf bonus in the end.
How should I put it lightly? Let's just say I've been forcing myself to level PB. I really want to like them but the design just frustrates/annoys me.
Originally I was a Human-only build. Well, I totally dislike Solar Flare's pbaoe KNOCK BACK. PB already has so many knock backs (hello? Photon Seekers) and I just don't see the point of adding one more. Not only that, my build uses Hover and you can't use Solar Flare in air.
Then I respec the build and focus mostly on dual forms: Dwarf and Nova. I mostly use Dwarf because 1. I enjoy the mez protection 2. I've never leveled a Tanker higher than lvl 10. Dwarf form is alright. Its damage is just so low. Are real tankers damage this low? They seem a lot higher than what my Dwarf is doing. And in comparison to Black Dwarf, sure, White Dwarf survives a bit better but I dare say White Dwarf takes 2x longer to kill a group of enemy.
I try to change forms and use human-only powers to make myself more "versatile" but I can't stand the freaking DELAYS. It is just so annoying. If I am on Dwarf form, I am usually grabbing aggro. Now if a friend is dying, I can switch to human to use Glowing Touch but guess what? My Dwarf's aggro is STILL ON ME and I may get hurt so bad or mezzed and spend another 3-4s to get back to Dwarf. The human shields are all de-toggled when you change forms so having them is meaningless if you are changing forms all the time.
Another annoying thing is slow debuff. I was on ITF last night and I usually jumped in first. Man oh man, those warshade debuffed the !@#$ hell of me. They didn't kill me but I also didn't have any attack available. I tried to switch to Nova a few times and almost got myself killed. It was in cave so I didn't have much space to escape.
The problem with Peacebringer is simple. It is not fun. I know it's subjective but the forms have zero synergies and they put so much restriction just to annoy the hell of you. Warshade, on the other hand, has good synergies and can be fun. My WS is only 27 but I am working on him now. I really enjoy the corpse leeching power. I can't wait for the corpse bomb and pet and Eclipse!
Some AT and sets can be under-performing (a bit) but they can't be annoying. Peacebringer is full of annoying restrictions that encourage me NOT to change forms and utilize PB's potential. Hell, I play mostly the most under-forming core AT in the game - Stalker. Statistically Stalker is inferior in almost any shape/form but it at least has a style. PB allows you to have access to different styles but then they also put so many restrictions.
I am lvl 42 but I haven't even picked any new power for a while. There's really not many powers that I would need since I can't use them in Dwarf/Nova form anyway. You want some synergies? Make the nuke crashless or keep it crashable but give Dwarf/Nova some powers to gain back the loss endurance so you can change to human to nuke and then switch back to forms. Let me cast Seekers in both Nova/Dwarf form. They are really not that powerful. I honestly just don't know what new powers I need. I even took Vengence but I have to switch to human and then wait another 3-4s to get back to Dwarf/Nova.
And those human shields should give some passive +resistance so you are getting something even when you switch forms. Is there any way to keep the toggles on after you switch? -
Here is what I think.
From what I've read, Issue 21 is going to have more content than any of the regular issues. We are going to get more powersets (some free, some are cash items that can be bought with your current subscription), new travel powers and new zones and other goodies.
Creating all the new stuff costs time and money.
With the old subscription, the company probably could only squeeze in half the size of Issue 21 and then we need to wait for another 3-4 months for Issue 22.
If you are VIP, you are getting points to spend. You can either spend all the points and some cash to buy everything NOW or you can wait 3-4 months like you would have needed to wait under the old subscription model. You are not really losing anything. It would only seem "more expensive" if you want everything NOW. I am an impatient person and I know I'll be spending more in the future just because I want things quicker.
However, the only argument I can see is that by pushing so many new things out faster than the old "normal pace", are those new powers balanced enough? Are they unique and interesting enough? We shall see.
Putting all the rewards/cash items aside, have you thought about that some of your old friends could return to this game because it will be "free"? You may meet new friends and have more people to team with. That's one benefit that can't be evaluated in terms of "cash". And if you really hate new people, there will be a VIP server for you.
By the way, I am willing to pay $10 if Dominator is getting something new in Issue 21. :P HINT HINT! -
Quote:That won't change my mind that I think Fire Control is better on controller due to the synergies in secondary sets.Originally Posted by Deus_Otiosus
You should try a Fire/Fire/Fire Dom sometime.
My one and only perma dom is Gravity/Fiery/Icy who I like a lot. My attack chain is only Lift, Fire Blast and Blaze and I use Freezing Rain to debuff. All range, hovering all day. :P
If the question is which "Primary" is better. My vote won't change. Mind Control is better on dominator by miles. Fire Control is better on controller. The rest is debatable.
I enjoy Gravity only because of wormhole. A well placed WH feels soooo good. Domination allows me to port and stun almost everything that's not elite/av/gm. But other than wormhole, propel and dimension shift are pointless. -
The pro is you can control which targets to receive the debuffs but the con is that activation time needs to be evaluated. Freezing Rain (aoe debuff + knock downs + slow) takes about 2.33s to cast but if you cast Envenom and Weaken, you already spend about 2.67s.
Comparing to /Rad's toggles, you'll be spending quite a bit time to spit those two poison out. However, toggle isn't always perfect. You may get de-toggled and the target may be running away too far.
Oh..one more thing, both debuffs require Hit Check and they don't have any inherent accuracy bonus.
And, to top it off, each debuff costs 13 for Mastermind. It should be lower for troller/corr. I guess we need to see how big of an AoE for the splash effect. You may only need to cast it once for a tight group.
The set was designed for Mastermind so activation time isn't that big of a deal 'cause MM has pets that deal most of the damage. As for most controllers/corr, you are either controlling/damage or you are supporting. You can't do both. -
Quote:Well, I truly believe Judgment is too good but that's for another discussion. Recharge is too short, damage is too high, endurance cost almost non-existent (it exists but it doesn't matter at that level) and it seems to always hit.Originally Posted by Crysys
Considering that once you hit 50 you will find yourself teaming with a lot of other 50+ full Incarnate-enabled players, PVE content dies WAY too fast for debuffs and the like to really even be useful. More damage is always useful, however. Damage in this game seems to always scale, but debuffs seem to hit a point of diminishing returns.
That plus with everyone now basically running around dropping blaster nukes on every single freaking spawn....what's there to debuff?
So, by comparison, Interface feels lacking. Not to mention Interface itself seems very imbalanced. -
Quote:I also want to say that before they give that many options for game setting, Stalkers could probably solo better at +3 because the mob size is usually just 1-3 enemies.Originally Posted by Siolfir
I actually like Stalkers for soloing because most of the time it's not just button-mashing (that's what Brutes are for); but with the way the game is set up, on teams button-mashing is pretty much all you need. I just think that if the devs are going to try to force balance on melee ATs they should force it on all of them. I want some consistency.
Now, other ATs like Brute/Scrapper can get faster exp by doing it +1x4 or 6 or even higher, so Stalker's advantage in soloing has suddenly decreased (not vanished because you can try to farm with Spines/Electricity).
I also like Stalker's soloing style as I can just take my time and find my target but soloing "efficiently" is no longer Stalker's speciality.
(This also applies to debuff sets like /Poison that used to have an edge in soloing but not anymore) -
Honestly, I've leveled more Stalker to 50 (I never power level or farm exp) than any other melee ATs combined and I can say Stalker is ONLY good at ganking the weak. Assassin Strike's design is only good at taking out trash enemies. There are some specific situations where Stalker shines a bit (taking out Sapper, Night Widow, etc) but majority of the time, Stalker is only good at ganking the weak, including PvP.
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Quote:It's actually pretty hard to solo a weapon/crate in Lam as a Stalker. Assassin Strike damage isn't high enough to take it down soon enough until you are overwhelmed by bosses. I am not saying it's impossible. I am just saying Stalker doesn't have that "edge" in Lam that many thought it would. I've tried it with my +1 MA/Will. Martial Arts is supposed to have the highest ST dps for stalker.Originally Posted by Arbegla
Maybe the containment chambers and weapon caches in Lambda fall under that. but just maybe.
Stalker also doesn't have unsuppressed stealth so any mob that's nearby WILL see you (unlike dark armor and energy aura in Brute/Scrapper who may get lucky and not to be noticed easily). I believe some Seers have better perception. They always see me from a far distance.
I've seen Scrapper/Brute soloing crate just as efficient. I haven't seen that many stalkers doing it efficiently. Partly because most of the stalkers aren't +2 or +3. -
Quote:This is just sad... as a Stalker.Originally Posted by Siolfir
I would expect Power Siphon to push Scrapper numbers well past what Stalkers can achieve - the +damage buffs are longer duration, you only need 3 of them stacked to go past Stalker Build Up's +80% damage, and they have higher base damage to start with. That's why I commented about Scrapper numbers blowing away the Stalker numbers - even with perma-BU - above.
Stalker's soloing damage is really way too low for an "assassin". Looking at these numbers, I have no doubt that even my fortunata can out-damage most Stalkers in soloing situation. -
As "average" as mercs are, they actually fit well with Storm because 1. tornado can give them another set of pet unique and 2. you get extra damage from tornado and lightning storm. Mercs will need any other damage source you can get and Mercs knocks back just as much as Robots do.
Mercs also don't have any fire, energy and cold resistance which /storm can provide.
And since all soldiers are range (although they do run all the time), Hurrican works well. I feel Merc/Storm has very good synergies but Merc isn't the "best" so.... -
Quote:Oh... that may be very martial arts like then. :POriginally Posted by Muon_Neutrino
It wasn't a 'staff blast' set, it was very much 'staff melee', lots of thwacky spinny beatdown goodness. Some of the moves looked similar to that dude from the soul calibur games who uses a staff, if you've ever seen him (I'm sure you can find youtube videos of him). There was a leaked video of the attack animations that (briefly) made the rounds, but the mods have been pretty relentless in nuking any links (which is one reason we're pretty sure it's legit).
I even wonder if it's possible to create a Staff set that uses the exact numbers from the current MA set? I guess they can just add weapon to MA and allow you to change animations?
Well, new set is always welcome. -
Quote:I am not so sure if claw attacks are simply "better" than range attacks. Sure, claw has better dps but range itself has a big advantage. The dps you lose by chasing the targets (running, knocked back), range attack already hits the target. Hover + range also gives you way more protection than all the defense you can have.Originally Posted by PhroX
Obviously it's melee focused, in order to take advantage of those claw attacks, which are much better than the ranged blasts.
Dominate and Gloom are two of the best range attacks in the game. If you stick in procs, they are even better. I consider Dominate one of the best range attacks because it is a sure mag 3 hold that does more damage than a regular hold. And Chance for smashing from purple set is a whole lot cheaper than chance for negative from range purple set.
Lunge has one of the highest dpa in the game for sure. Follow-Up build with claw does a lot of damage but I won't say it is simply better. If your goal is to take down something that doesn't move (like Pylon), then yeah, claw will do more damage.
PS: If you want to focus mainly on melee, then I will definitely stick Tough in the build. Tough determines whether you die in one hit or not. :P -
I definitely think Mind Control is a whole lot better on Dominator by a very large margin.
Fire Control is better on Controller because of Hot Feet and the fact that controller has powers to babysit fire imps and make fire do a lot more damage. -
I actually have zero interest in making a Psy Corruptor. I think Fortunata is a much better choice.
I would highly recommend Fortunata if you haven't tried one. Fortunata is such a classic "Psychic Blast" user. You fight them all the time.
Some build ideas:
1. Psychic with controls (Fort has confuse, aoe confuse, aoe hold, mag 4 stun)
2. Pure range, Blaster-like (take double assault, double maneuver, dominate, gloom, subdue is a great attack chain)
3. You like Dom/Blaster's Blapper style? No problem! Fort can use widow claws and in fact, somebody did an analysis that shows that a melee Fort only does a bit less melee damage than Night Widow, but you have access to great Dominate and a crashless Nuke (which also offers aoe stun).
The only reason I would go with Blaster/Dominator is for Drained Psyche. Now, that power is gold. -
If I am on a larger team, I still use Placate + Burst for the 100% critical damage. The new build up refresh is very fun to play with as you constantly try to count the seconds. Even if Stalker's build up feature does less damage, build up still provides more tohit buff? And because of this buff, I no longer open with Assassin strike.
I am curious to see detailed analysis of the two versions.
Stalker's biggest survival gap is Health Cap. Scrapper is at about 2400 and Stalker is only at 1600 which is at the same level as most squishies.
Energy Aura has a great god-mode. Scrapper will enjoy way more from the god-mode than Stalker.
(although in issue 21, Stalker will have a stun aura to provide more survival (stacking stun is going to be better for Kin/EA!). I just don't know if it has "damage self" portion or not) -
Would you use Assassin Strike outside of hidden more if it causes Fear?
If giving Stalker more damage isn't the option, then giving Stalker more controls. I may just use Assassin Strike more outside of hidden for the 25% mag 4 Fear effect. -
Quote:The staff attacks we have in this game are "ranged". I don't know if they are going to make it a melee set or does the link show that?Originally Posted by Benchpresser
Well there is a Staff Fighting set in the works.... (The video of all the animations with attack names surfaced over the weekend and all signs point to it being legit- especially the fact that the mods are nuking any link to the video...
A Staff Stalker would be... interesting.
Staff...as in a "fighting stick"?
I can see a Staff range set for sure. We have veteran staff attack and we have Vanguard Sorcerer (I am using Vanguard Sorcerer now and she is pretty good).
I anticipate Staff set having a mix of elemental attacks just like what Sorcerer has.