Lost Ninja

See bunny, shoot bunny and have rabbit pie for tea.

I just feel sorry for all those left handed Samurai.

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Don't as I can't hear TS if I have music as well.

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...I play music so I can't hear TS ;p

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And there was me thinking you were just ignoring me

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A change I could live with for stalkers though, to not make them so much a 1-trick AT. Would be to remove Placate. Remove our abillity to re-hide, If you miss/fail your AS, well then you made a misstake and deserve to get "punished". Removing placate I feel would stop allot of the hate on stalkers, I wouldn't mind not having placate in exchange for more hp/def so that I could duke it out in melee longer.

My 2 cents.

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I agreed with your earlier post, it said all that I would want to say but was far more thought out than anything I could say.

Now though, the problem with the above is that an AS can miss through no fault of your own but due to the way the game works, IIRC there is always at least 5% chance to miss any attack.

Personally I would change hide... not in a bad way. Make it so you have a choice once you have attacked, you can either re-enter hide (placate etc) or run away. If you run away you are no longer being stealthy so the stealth part of hide drops, and remains dropped while you have a travel power active. To get into hide then you have to drop the travel power entirely for 10s or something, hide comes back and you can try again. It would stop the annoying AS -> Run like fook tactic that seems to be far more annoying to most than the AS itself.

When you AS/Attack from Hide your travel power is dropped (as in detoggled) if you retoggle it or teleport (including Recall, NOT TP Foe) Hide is detoggled. If you placate or don't use a travel power the system works as now.

I did think of Blasters TBH but discounted them for two reasons.

1) I don't like Blasters.
2) To work I need to be nearly dead.

Scrappers seemed ideal, we can withstand a lot of damage, we have good damage. ANd I know scrappers having played several to high levels.

The tank thing was a joke.

Don't as I can't hear TS if I have music as well.

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Can i make a point here, dnt know if its been said but...

about the "dont need to have any skill"

heloooo, masterminds....

stalker takes some skill

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Oh yeah?

Try a non bubble master mind in PvP then. No defense except the pets and the human players ignore the pets entirely. And even a bubbler is @#$%ed up when there is a rad controller around.

No need of skill? Hmm try Regen scrappers or */DA Brutes. But even there the skill full ones will do much better.

01) Hack ->Acc | Acc | Dmg | Dmg | Dmg | Rechg
01) Fast Healing ->Heal
02) Slice ->Acc | Acc | Dmg | Dmg | Dmg | Rechg
04) Quick Recovery ->EndMod | EndMod | EndMod
06) Hasten ->Rechg | Rechg | Rechg
08) Combat Jumping ->Jump
10) Reconstruction ->Rechg | Rechg | Heal | Heal | Heal
12) Parry ->Acc | Acc | Rechg | DefBuf | DefBuf | DefBuf
14) Super Jump ->Jump
16) Integration ->Heal | Heal | Heal | EndRdx
18) Whirling Sword ->Acc | Acc | Dmg | Dmg | Dmg | Rechg
20) Dull Pain ->Rechg | Rechg | Rechg | Heal | Heal | Heal
22) Build Up ->Rechg | Rechg | Rechg
24) Swift ->Run
26) Disembowel ->Acc | Acc | Dmg | Dmg | Dmg | Rechg
28) Instant Healing ->Rechg | Rechg | Rechg | Heal | Heal | Heal
30) Hurdle ->Jump
32) Head Splitter ->Acc | Acc | Dmg | Dmg | Dmg | Rechg
35) Stamina ->EndMod | EndMod | EndMod
38) Moment Of Glory ->DmgRes | DefBuf | DefBuf | DefBuf | Rechg | Rechg
41) Focused Accuracy ->EndRdx | EndRdx | TH_Buf | TH_Buf | TH_Buf
44) Resilience ->DmgRes
47) Laser Beam Eyes ->Acc | Acc | Dmg | Dmg
49) Super Speed ->Run

This is my take on the build, its similar to my current build, I have dropped Parry though as I was finding that I hardly ever used it. I've also added Hasten, I normally duo with a Kin/* defender and find that even with speed boost my attacks don't recharge quickly enough. Perhaps as I'm used to DM/Rgn. I personally feel that with out hasten you would need a longer attack chain, so getting a filler attack instead of hasten.

Slotting on IH and DP is optimal with three of each, Reconstruction does cap with three recharges at 30s recharge, however two recharges gives 36s I feel that the extra slot is wasted.

This build, drops hasten in favour of tactics at lvl30, as tactics provides about 1 ACC SO (IIRC) this means you can drop down to one ACC in your attacks allowing two recharge SOs which is about the boost provided by Hasten, freeing up the power choice, it also means that you won't have to worry about finding an extra attack for when hasten is down.

01) Hack ->Acc | Dmg | Dmg | Dmg | Rechg | Rechg
01) Fast Healing ->Heal | Heal
02) Slice ->Acc | Dmg | Dmg | Dmg | Rechg | Rechg
04) Quick Recovery ->EndMod | EndMod | EndMod
06) Combat Jumping ->Jump
08) Reconstruction ->Rechg | Rechg | Heal | Heal | Heal
10) Parry ->Acc | Rechg | Rechg | DefBuf | DefBuf | DefBuf
12) Dull Pain ->Rechg | Rechg | Rechg | Heal | Heal | Heal
14) Super Jump ->Jump
16) Integration ->Heal | Heal | Heal | EndRdx
18) Swift ->Run
20) Assault ->EndRdx
22) Hurdle ->Jump
24) Stamina ->EndMod | EndMod | EndMod
26) Disembowel ->Acc | Dmg | Dmg | Dmg | Rechg | Rechg
28) Instant Healing ->Rechg | Rechg | Rechg | Heal | Heal | Heal
30) Tactics ->EndRdx | EndRdx | TH_Buf | TH_Buf | TH_Buf
32) Head Splitter ->Acc | Dmg | Dmg | Dmg | Rechg | Rechg
35) Whirling Sword ->Acc | Dmg | Dmg | Dmg | Rechg | Rechg
38) Build Up ->Rechg | Rechg | Rechg
41) Focused Accuracy ->EndRdx | EndRdx | TH_Buf | TH_Buf | TH_Buf
44) Moment Of Glory ->DmgRes | DefBuf | DefBuf | DefBuf | Rechg | Rechg
47) Resilience ->DmgRes
49) Health ->Heal

Last two powers are filler as you are running out of usefull slots, personally I would drop MoG but thats because I don't like its situationalness, I prefer to have my regen under my control.

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Erm... minus the getting out alive bit.

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Rather why I prefer scrapper over Blaster. Did try and work out a good Tank/Stalker build...

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lol, I've got quick recovery and stamina and in long fights I still run out of end with my BS/Regen.

I can only assume all the people saying you don't need it, stand around too often

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Just read what we said again.

It is certainly not needed IMO before 30, after 30 yes and if you intend on running FA certainly.

Meaning before 30 you can concentrate on the attacks and regens that you will need. Potentially if you do decide to take up PvP I would try and get it in by 30 giving yourself stamina in PvP (sirens) is a bonus.

Conversly when I don't have it I actually miss hurdle/swift ore than stamina.

You can live without stamina so early, my BS/Regen took stamina with one slot at 30, I didn't slot it with three until 37 (respec) and did fine.

Technical question then:

How many stealth effects would equal a stalkers hide? By effects I mean Grant Invis, Stealth or Group Invis.

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could you quote the exact part where i say they are cowards? I dont say they are cowards, its just that bout every stalker i meet got the same tactic: move up, try to AS, run whether or not he gets the kill. If you have even a decent group, you walk away with your life and if you can get him fast enough you kill the stalker. With eluded scrappers, its just a matter to keep em occupied till elude wears off. GA tanks are actually pushovers in most PvP (presume you mean granite armor). Spam em with slows or fear and there aint much they do. At least those two can put up a different fight each time.

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Apologies should have said, it was a reply to the thread rather than your specific post.

Having said that, I disagree with you as well Stalkers use their abilities as they have to, Stalkers are not designed to run in AS, Placate, Crit/AS, then scrap like a scrapper, they may have some staying power, but in my experience while I may have difficulty killing them I don't have an issue surviving them. And with my non optimal build I can't follow a stalker away. Something like a tank in Granite or a scrapper in Elude, or a bubbler in PFF I can't do anything to, sure if I have a team mate with a debuff but in general I can't hit them period. That is boring. I suspect the stalkers that sharpened their claws/knives/glowing fists/etc on me the other night were finding my regen rather boring too, four x AS, several crits and I'm still on full health. I would have stayed longer but my build is crap and I took reconstruction post lvl40, so half my hit points every 30s isn't happening

Now true if I was playing other ATs extensivly my view on stalkers might change, regen scrappers only fear burst damage, one toggle (excluding pools), and a generally insane regen rate means that other than perhaps being ASed at the same time we are pretty damn resilient. And my personal fear is being held, because when held I have no more say in what happens. Even then if I have clicked Instant Healing and Dull Pain before being held I'm still difficult to kill.

Ultimately I get bored of PvP mainly for the reasons you state, fighting, or trying to fight, a character that never stays still long enough for me to do anything to, is a pain. Back in i4 I played a fair bit in the arenas and I got to the asme point non-team PvP is Rock, Scissors & Stone. Open PvP is too unless you have a team backing you up.

Could try double/triple slotting swift and hurdle + CJ I've heard good things about that. Personally I hate SJ because until the freespec comes along I'm stuck with fly.

What the title says, Spines/DA PvP build, emphasis on stealth. More of a squishey killer than a stalker hunter.

Okay sort of changed my mind, I'm going to make it pretty much a full PvP build, as that is pretty much all I do with Lost Ninja now.

Hopefully by the time they actually add some new lvl50 PvE they'll offer another free respec or some more earnt ones. Anyone fancy posting a build? Not so much to copy but to see how things are done differently.

Maybe I should have said I want emulate the stalkers stealth, the poorer burst damage is made up for by being far more survivable in battle. The idea being that once a stalker has done its burst damage it either gets out or gets dead.

BS/DA sounds doable, I'm not too bothered about the extra perception for spotting stalkers, the aim of the build is taking down loners and squishies with minimum fuss.

Don't even know if I will bother, doing a regen/BS at the moment not sure I can be bothered with another.

Saying that Stalkers are cowards because they hit and run is like saying Regens that regen the damage are or tankers with all their armours on are. And to be honest an Eluded Scrapper (or stalker) or a GA Tank is far more boring than a stalker, at least I have a chance with them.

No I'm not going to start slagging off stalkers here.

Just thinking about creating a PvP specific Stalker.

Wrong forum? Actually I want a Hero stalker, so would such a thing be possible? Make a Stalker using a scrapper AT and having a friendly Ill/* controller to whack group invis and grant invis on you for the hide component, plus stealth.

Would such a thing be possible?

And if so which sets would be ideal etc?

True which is why I mentione NTrailz listed build instead rather than posting my updated build.

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Often said but bearing in mind how few of the server population actually posts on the boards and even then there isn't a consensus. I would love to know where you get the idea that Stalkers are the most hated. We all know you hate them, but isn't what you are saying.

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Just look at the amount of stalker threads there are. And I haven't even started one for months.

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And as I said we still haven't reached a consensus.

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Unlike most other ATs you can at least get powers that help against them, take holds for instance, they drop all your toggles, and very few of us have any way of reducing the effect. +Perception can at least be taken from a power pool. Holds can only be broken from inspirations.

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That's what I mean. The secondary effect of powerpool buffs should be bigger. like the mez protection from acrobatics (or whatever it is, or give it mez protection), defence buff from combat jumping hover and stealth, whatever it is you get from tough and weave. as well as having the hide power enhanceable for stealth.

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Perhaps if you had mentioned this then I wouldn't have been so confused, giving Stalkers hide enhancements for hide/stealth and everyone perception enhancements won't change anything much. Most non defender/controller types take tactics for its perception and not the accuracy, they become better. But if the stalkers can slot stelth enhancements instead of defense then they become better too. Its not a sensible solution. (Note: I don't actually think there is a problem.)

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Well obviously with your uberness, you no problem hitting through PFF/Bubbles, Elude, MoG, Storm, Telekinesis and a range of other powers, that either slow you, keep you away or in other ways prevent you from killing the person. The rest of don't try and solo the annoying storm controllers we get a team.

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Now you'r just pretending. right? If I can see the opponent, and he isn't able to one/two hit kill me, then then game is still on. With a stalker, they disappear if you don't hit them for a short while, and once that happens your in the hosp before you know it. And really, I don't mind the one hit kills, OR the two hit ones. I just want to be able to prevent it from happening from every stalker who can pick the stealth powerpool. because that's ALL they need to be completely impervious to my elite perception skillz. That means every stalker out there with an ounce of inteligence.

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If I am in SC and see a bubble defender sure i might take a pass at it but if I'm alone and its in PFF I'll leave it, I can't hit it solo, period. Stormies I can't get close to, and if I do my accuracy is debuffed to hell. I'll happily hit scrappers in MoG but scrappers in Elude are all but impossible for me to kill. Powers like Telekinesis just make me swear. If I am not on a team i don't even bother trying, whats the point, I may as well be fighting a war wall or a drone.

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So why bother?

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Your really not paying attention, are you? j/k
With stronger effect on the pool power buffs, and more to choose from, you'll get the sense that you are sacrificing something in order to get something else. That way only people who want's to be good at hunting stalkers will pick the leadership pool, slot that right, and stand a greater chance of spotting stalkers. and since I didn't pick the SJ pool so I got Acrobatics, I'm very voulnerable to mez. Or I don't have any defence because I haven't got CJ hover or Stealth. Then you make up some more, and you got a diverse system, that's flexible and makes truely unique characters.

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So why bother? Was directed at your assertation that if Stalkers were given hide enhancements and everyone else was given perception enhancements that would be good. However Either the hide enhancements are not as good making stalkers underpowered and impossible to play due to anyone with tactics being able to see them. Or due to their additional hide skills nothing changes, ergo what is the point?

If I was to play a stalker and I was given the ability to slot hide with stealth enhancements I would, I might even go as far as to slot it with 6, I'd now be more stealthy. Even if you prevent stealth being used at the same time, that wouldn't stop Grant Invis being stacked too. So the only way roundthis is to make Tactics overpowered thus crushing any usefulness that stalkers might have.

What might be more sensible is to make hide drop travel powers/supress TP so Stalkers in Hide are limited to Swift Sprint, Hurdle. Which would sort of fit with the power. They would still be able to get close and AS but would have the choice of getting away or returning to hide. With one they are followable with the other a team would soon find them.

However then they could spec into Phase shift, phase for 30s and get away that way.

If you ignore teams you cannot balance any of the ATs in the game.

If you have TP yourself ctrl click as soon as you see/hear the TP Foe activating, that portion of it is uninteruptable so even if they stun/hold you you go to where ever you clicked before getting to them.

If its happening a lot, just keep clicking where you are when you are there.

Mentioned this somewhere else, but the Oranbega Prison doors have TP supression making it impossible to perform TP in either direction surely the addition of TP supression to the drones PBAoE would mean an end to the tactic of base TPing, it would also stop TP foe onto the drones.

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1) The fact that there's no other AT's in the game that is more hated, and for good reasons, should be a warning sign.

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Often said but bearing in mind how few of the server population actually posts on the boards and even then there isn't a consensus. I would love to know where you get the idea that Stalkers are the most hated. We all know you hate them, but isn't what you are saying.
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2) There's no other AT's in the game that REQUIRES one of a select (very) few powersets to be countered.

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Unlike most other ATs you can at least get powers that help against them, take holds for instance, they drop all your toggles, and very few of us have any way of reducing the effect. +Perception can at least be taken from a power pool. Holds can only be broken from inspirations.
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3) There's no other AT's in the game that don't allow the 'victim' a chance to fight back.

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So when I'm held, slept, telekinessed, sniped or terrorized I have a way of getting away? In open Team PvP any melee class that has any of these happen is as good as dead.
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4) The fact that you need a TEAM to take out ONE stalker tells me that stalkers are overpowered.

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Well obviously with your uberness, you no problem hitting through PFF/Bubbles, Elude, MoG, Storm, Telekinesis and a range of other powers, that either slow you, keep you away or in other ways prevent you from killing the person. The rest of don't try and solo the annoying storm controllers we get a team.

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I've killed every villain AT there are, but none as rarely as stalkers.

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This must be you or your build then, I know two PvPer blasters, Jag and TG both of whom seem to have little issue killing any villain AT (MM in PFF seems to stymie both.)
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...there's nothing I can do. apart from running three medium inspirations continually, and having to zone out every 10 minutes to buy more yellows. This, in my opinion is not a viable tactic.

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Yet for me to face alot of the other 'non-overpowered' ATs I'm expected to run perma breakfree?

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My solution would be to have Hide exclusive from other stealth powers, have Hide Enhancers to enhance the hide power AND have perception enhancers to go in Tactics. This would give everyone a fair fight, and wouldn't in the least ruin the stalker AT.

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So basically you don't want stalkers nerfed at all you want the type of enhancements they have changed but otherwise they will have exactly the same powers and abilities that they have now? So why bother?

A buff to tactics might be the answer but I have little problem seeing Stalkers close up without any +perception that I know of, sure I can't always react quickly enough to avoid death, but its not the visiblity thats at issue there, its my old persons brain. And while I wouldn't say that you are the only person with this issue you are the only one I have read recently who complains about the complete inability to see stalkers.

However unless I spend my entire time in level 50 missions, or recluses victory, something that is unlikely to happen FA is not availabe to me at all times. Having tactics in a build similar to NTrailz' build would give me the boost to perception/accuracy in Sirens Call and Warburg that could be handy. And to be honest I will have a play round on test and see if I can swap an accuracy for a recharge in each attack.