Jibikao

Yeah, I also think 4 Enforcers would be pretty sick too.

And for ST damage, I would go with 4 Grave Knights than 4 Jounins just because GK has way better range attacks.


What would be the worst combo? 4 Spec-Ops? Maybe 4 Spec-Ops can do alright in pvp due to all the web grenades (but probably not enough damage to take down anything).


Two Lieut Demons can stack resistance but their damage is kinda low? I made a Demon but I am not too familiar with them to be honest.

Now, two Lieut Demon and two Protector Robots could be fun. Resistance + defense combo.

I would also try Two Jounins and Two Grave Knights because GK has range tohit debuffs that may help Jounins. Or maybe just two Jounins and one Lich.

Ok, I am the one that started this thread but I've been playing Bane a lot lately in TFs and I'll be focusing on using Bane in i19 just because I like Stalker a lot too and I feel Bane offers way more to the team than what Stalker brings (but that's another topic).

Several things:

1. I took Surveillance, Venom Grenade and Shatter Armor. When you are on a full team, these resistance debuffs can REALLY make a big difference. Shatter Armor is a must-take in my Bane build.

2. Bane's range attacks suck, yes, even with Poison Ray because Poison Ray is DoT (and take 2s to shoot) and if you use Venom and then draw back to Poison, you might as well just use Shatter (10' radius) or simply chain Bash and Pulv. The only range attack I use is Venom.

3. Using pets to prove that Bane has one of the highest DPS in the game is pretty misleading IMO. I use Reinforcement and in dangerous situations, they either die too quick or just serve as meatshields (yes, they are very useful, don't get me wrong). When you solo, it's great for sure but none of SoA has soloing problem.


4. I think if you only go for melee Bane build, Bane is fine due to all the resistance debuffs he offers. I feel range attacks are pretty lame and the range hold isn't that useful on Bane. The only thing I wish they could do is get rid of re-draw in Surveillance.

My Spines Stalker did quite well in TF but my Bane does even better due to all the team buffs and debuffs (up to 60% resistance debuff) from Surveillance, Venom and Shatter Armor. When I feel I want to play like a Stalker in a large TF, I use my Bane. In fact, I've decided that the first toon that I am going to focus in i19 is Bane, followed by Fortunata.

If it's a TF that is not so hard, I'll consider using my Stalker. Spines Stalker's experience is a lot better on a large team to be honest. I also have good experience with my Kin/Dark Stalker but I messed up his build when I took epic powers...blah, they don't critical (yet)!!!

The burst damage from Surveillance, Build Up, Shatter + Shatter Armor is very very comparable to Assassin Strike. There is no setup time. Just run in and smash.

It is kinda sad that the ONLY thing that is holding back on any buff for Assassin Strike (like Activation time or no Interruption) is PvP balance. This game's pvp is dying so can't we just make a PvE-friendly Stalker?

And I don't even think Stalker is the best in PvP. Stalker is only the best at ganking newbies like me. lol I pvp in other games but not in this game. I know when I see a buffed Blaster and Tanker, I stand almost no chance (my Trapper's defense doesn't matter when a Blaster comes to me with BU and Aim). And didn't somebody say Tanker won the best pvp matches? How is Stalker ranked? I have a feeling, not too high.

I really hope the dev can see that just because Stalker does "reasonably well" in PvP, it doesn't mean this AT has to suffer in PvE teaming. And seriously, even if it means the dev needs to nerf Spines. As I understand it, dev feels Spines is still a bit too powerful (well, I think so too). I just wish the dev could modify each set to make AoE a bit better. Make Headsplitter's arc larger for example.

This is a stupid hypothetical question but I've been thinking about being able to customize your own pets by choosing specific tiers. Basically, you can only choose two tiers and these two tiers can mix-match from another set or even from the same set. The down-side is, you can only have TWO group(s) of pets, not the usual three (minion, lieut, boss).

So to give you an example, on my Necro/Dark, I am willing to try two Lich and get rid of zombies and grave knights. Yes, I know I am gimping myself but I don't mind blasting myself. This is just a "what if" combo. I want to cast three Fear and debuff the !@#$ of everything. I know my damage will be poor.

Another example is I want to take Oni and Prince Demon. This is like having two Dominators both have a mix of range, melee and holds. :P


How would you customize your two groups? You can go with two Assault Robots. That's a lot of aoe damage but you'll lose the defense and heal from Protector.

(and yes, I am bored at work...so)

All I'll say is if they are going to proliferate Ninjitsu, they better not make it better than what Stalker gets in Energy Aura, REPLUSE. Freaking useless, costly toggle.

Well, now we know the answer, which is no. Thread closed.

The only thing I can remember is that Jounins won the lieut battle?

My suggestion, make some new friends and form SFs yourself. PUGs don't like to invite Stalker especially in very hard ones and you probably won't have a good time anyway.

Castle, have you considered "unsuppressed stealth" on Stalker? That may reduce a lot of that "shared aggro" issue? Are you afraid Stalker is getting too much aggro or not enough?

I've played so many Stalkers and I honestly don't think aggro is even the Top 20 issue for me. Yeah, if I want all the aggro, I can do stupid things like opening alpha with AS before the team arrives but most ATs would have died in that situation as well.

Yes, some of the game's mechanisms like target-ambush and hostage-lead-out are unfriendly for Stalker but that's not even my main issues. It's annoying I admit. The key issue for those that chose Stalker is that they are not getting enough attention/love from other ATs. I invited a Stalker in St. Martial two weeks ago by PMing him. He told me that I am the first person that asks him to join for the past two weeks. That is kinda sad... I have nothing against Stalker on my team (well, except for stupid ones that runs ahead and gets himself killed).

So the new data shows many new players made new Stalkers in Preatoria? Is that why Stalker doesn't need any more buffs because their popularity remains the same?

If your team is steam rolling then the setting is too easy. In that case, you can bring whatever AT you want.

Stalker's role only seems to matter "a bit" when the team is NOT steam rolling. The team needs a bit time to get organized and figure out which target to kill first. (this is not to say Stalker is the only AT that can take out target fast. A good Dominator can stop most things faster than Stalker can ever dream of)

Yes, I, too, thought my Stalker sucked when the team steam rolls but later I just tell myself that the team can steam roll with or without me. I didn't even bother with Assassin Strike (hence the reason why I believe Assassin Strike's activation is a bit too long on a team because in critical time, it is easier too slow or gets interrupted).

Wow... "shared aggro" issue is like my least concern. I feel my Stalker is not getting enough aggro when I want to (well, limited AoE to start and I don't generate Taunt so the AV that I am focusing on runs all the time).

To give you an example, we were doing an ITF and I was the only melee AT. I was spines so I felt very comfortable taking alpha using BU + Throw Spines. It all went very well until the last two AVs. I mean we didn't die or anything but since my Stalker doesn't generate taunt (and for a good reason), the AV kept running away and we didn't have enough immb.


I am a bit disappointed that Castle won't increase the Critical radius to match Cosmic Balance's.

By the way, last night we were doing Air Pirate SF in Martial and during the first mission, there was a big ambush when you try to lead the target out. Everyone was running ahead of me and I thought I could handle that big ambush (8 Tsoo Ancestral Lieuts and 1 Sorc). That ambush was only a location based (instead of them chasing you nonstop).

I found them and started attacking the first two Ancestrals. Guess what??? The other 6 didn't even react to me! Then I took out two more Ancestral plus one sorc. The other 4 Ancestrals still stood there!!

I don't know if this is a bug or it's what unsuppressed stealth is supposed to be like but I've encountered several situations where /EA stealth is even more beneficial than Stalker's Hide. I felt I was more like an Assassin than Stalker just because I could stealth in and kill some targets without fully aggroing all of them.

Then in the second last mission where there were many vampires in the cave. I basically stealth through it and tp my friends to the big room. :P Sure, I get seen by some of them but they can barely hurt me.


It's just my experiences. You can give it a try if you want.