Stalk_obot_EU

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Won't Total Focus do more damage than Energy Transfer from Hide/Placate, because ET doesn't crit? For PvP I was thinking:
Build Up -> AS -> ET -> Stun -> Placate -> TF - > BS -> EP
... and then probably Teleport, regardless of whether my target is alive or dead I’d be willing to eat a 10% HP loss for better burst dps


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Ah i wasnt aware that ET doesnt crit, that sucks. Still in a frantic situation I can see it being the better choice (given the long animation of TF) to get away before the hoardes and their pbaoes decend

My union stalker is only lvl 8 or 9, its hard not knowing anyone and I dont like to spam the sg for help from the highbies yet

I also make my pvp characters tiny to make it slightly harder for them to lock on me

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eek, listen to this guy

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Don't be sexist .. not all CoH/CoV players are guys

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I use guy in a strictly androgenous manner, as in if I had a group of friends round of both sexes I would still refer to them as "the guys"

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why have you skipped Entropy shield and taken acrobatics ?
Entropy is your anti mez power ..Resist knockback,disorient,hold,sleep,immob,TP wheres as Acrobatics is a mag 1 anti mez power with res V knockback and a mag 1 hold.

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eek, listen to this guy, dont skip entropy as its effects are awesome, it constantly runs at full power so no need to slot it for def or anything, couple of end reds and its essentially an auto

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Mine is rad and as you say compliments grav well, choking cload sucks and seems pointless imo as its acc seems to suck and you cant put any acc enhancements in it so in pvp you ahve no real pbaoe protection.

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This is simply not true but choking cloud is not a power all rads should pick. It's exellent for trollers and defenders who wants to get down and dirty...for instance I think it's a must for fire trollers; simply awesome combo.

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Clearly it is true as I have stood in choaking cloud with my stalker for quite a prolonged period of time before I got bored and ASd them, any my stalker has no defence, I have spent enough time in pvp to gauge what does have use If a stalker can stand next to a rad with choaking cloud running for several seconds before going through the AS animation and still not get caught it offers no pvp pbaoe protection. The lack of being able to slot acc in it ruined what could be a great power IMO, with ED messing up stamina running another toggle at the same time as the rad debuffs seriously limits what you can do, spamming holds is a recipe for end crashing, all for a hold that barely hits even lvl minions.

If you wanna get down and dirty far better to stand in the debuffs, choaking cloud is a weak toggle in the rad set imo

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The recharge in AS was for team PvE, so I could placate and get in a second AS more quickly. Admittedly it would be useless in PvP, where I'd follow the Placate with a Bone Smasher (later Total Focus).

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Ahh that would make sense, in pve my rotation goes, AS, placate, BU impale so 2 minions are dead straight away.

As for using placate followed by bonsmasher/Total focus /em slap, think big and dont plan for low lvls , Energy transfer is a great power with a fast animation time. It also doesnt hit you with the -10% to health if you strike while hidden I need to get my pvp stalker on Union lvld so give me a shoult and we can team

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Grav is a really fun set to play but IMO the "weakest" troller set there is ('cept maybe illusion?).


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Grav and illusion are weak? Funny as no other AT can create an indestructible army and have great pets at below lvl 30, as for my grav, i get numerous complaints in sirens regarding the strength and duration of my holds

Mine is rad and as you say compliments grav well, choking cload sucks and seems pointless imo as its acc seems to suck and you cant put any acc enhancements in it so in pvp you ahve no real pbaoe protection. Kinetic is fun but more defendery as is mainly a buffing set but repel is very good (but not 100%) at preventing AS strikes in pvp.

Thats about as tight as its going to get it seems and I agree, lvl 4 is a big waste. Using TP as your travel I feel stamina is vital.

I would however drop the recharge in AS, given that its recharge time is just a second or two behind hides rotation its a waste of a slot IMO, I grabbed the extra 5% on mine but I think yours would be better put into swift or hurdle for better manueverability while you are within the opponents. I would also suggest losing a dis dur from stun so you could get 3 slots in either hurdle or swift (lose one from stun and the recharge from AS)

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Odd question related to the above.

Say I let loose Full Auto (or any other AoE/Cone weapon) on an enemy, and there's a stalker or other Hidden enemy/mob that I can't see in the target area.

Do I still have a shot at hitting them, and would they magically appear if I did?

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yes

Spines/EA stalker, was one of the 1st to haunt sirens in defiant, recreating him for union

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Yeah I think I posted a build up here on the boards I was considering for the EM/EA - but my current build is based on tactics that I'm just not sure will work, and I think that's my problem and what I find dispiriting - I'm gimping myself in PvE when I don't even know if my power choices are good for PvP So I have a few more questions:

1) Do you kill more airborne targets than ground targets? Have you tried to AS targets in mid-air while in Fly, or do you switch to Hover to kill the momentum? Just wondering if a build could get by with Air Superiority and Fly, instead of Hover (because I can see obvious applications for Air Sup in both PvE and PvP for a Stalker).

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I kill about 80% on the ground and 20% in the air but this is just down to the fact that not many use fly, I dont ever use hover as dont have the time to swap to such a slow moving power, with 2 +3 SOs I rarely miss even with flys -acc. As for killing the momentum, i dont even think about it anymore, get used to it with experience i guess. ASing someone in mid air is great fun as not many stalkers take fly. Air sup and fly would work fine and I will probably slot out hover myself.

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2) Admittedly I've gone with Teleport in my build (I'd slot 3xRange & 3xEndRed SO eventually) for its unsuppressed speed, because it's hard to track TPers, and because I wanted TP Foe. But I've realised I need Hover too, so I can hang above the action to assess targets and be able to AS mid-air targets. I've considered slotting 3 Flight Speed SOs in Hover (planner suggests this will give normal running pace while airborne), because I'll need some air movement as TP isn't that accurate in the air. Does slotted Hover sound workable for PvP or do you think I'd really need Fly too?

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TP is used very well by some of the stalkers in Sirens, I would like to ahve it myself but dont have room in my build and its a little imprecise for my tastes. Hover would be a useful power to use in conjunction for the flyers. I hear (dont know from experience) that slotted hover is still pretty awful. As I dont think you will get more than 20% of your kills in the air and you already will ahve 3 dimmensional escape with TP I personally think you can do without fly.

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3) With Teleport, Flight, Concealment (Stealth) and Speed (Hasten) pools I can't take Fitness, forcing me into a no-Stamina build. I'm sure it will make PvE more painful, forcing a hit-and-run playstyle, but even if I did take Stamina (and not Hasten) I couldn't fit it into the build until L30+ anyway, so instead I plan to take Energy Drain (slotted with 3 Recharges) at L28.

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Ouch I dont like to consider any build without stamina I hope it works. Hasten is nice but not essential for a stalker in PvP at all IMO, I rarely use it to be honest.


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4) Does it sound like a workable tactic to TP Foe, then Stun (to stop them running), then Placate, then AS? Also I'm not even sure if disorienting an airborne target would make them fall - never really been in that situation in PvE - do you know?

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This works very well, I can sometimes get away from friends who try to do this to my troller as I am very aware about being TPd and can usually travel some distance while stuns animation is running, i get stunned but you have to come after me a bit

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5) Do you know if Repulse has much PvP application? I know it drops a toggle, but I've also heard about Stalkers dropping into an enemy group and hitting Repulse from hide to knock down all the squishies (mainly for laughs). I just can't make up my mind if it has enough useful applications to balance the fun factor

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It is a fun power (I dont have it myself) its not as good as the kinetics version though from what I have seen.

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Stalker builds are really tight, aren't they?

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VERY tight

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Admittedly I may hold off on playing my Stalker til I7 - as I said the concept I'm using for him (which I really like, cos it has a great bio) would fit both an EM/Invul or Elec/Elec Brute better (but I want to see what the Electric powersets are like in I7 before I commit). I'm always struggling to balance my min-maxing tendencies against my need to have a good concept/bio I really like EM, I want it on at least one of my characters on Union, but not more than one - that said, it's easily my favourite Stalker primary on paper, as much for concept reasons as anything (with all the "dark ninjas" running around I wanted something different).

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In my opinion EM is the best attack power for stalkers, it doesnt fit my pvp play but do ahve one in the works

Have just started playng with a specific AR/Dev SG and have to say that in a team of 6 we literally do pwn everything in our way. I know thats the same with any specific team dynamics (I have always found duplicate powerset teams to be awesome since our 8 man bubbler team herded the lvl 10/11s in hallows when we were at lvl 5/6)

It is a lot of fun at the moment, just wait till we hit sirens

has a ranged attack but no immob like spines

S/L is highly resisted as opposed to nrg and toxic

would be lowest on my pick of primary powers, if you want pvp ranged attack take spines otherwise nrg is most powerful

I would advise taking entropy at 10 and putting 2 end reds in it

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Looks like a fun PvP build, but was it a pain to level in PvE? Or did you have a different build for levelling to 30 then respec into this?

I really can't decide whether to stick with my EM/EA Stalker. I also went the "no shields" route. I find it fun yet slow solo, but in teams I feel weak and die more than with any of my other characters. If I hit-and-run in teams I feel like I'm slacking (I guess that's my Scrapper/Brute mentality poking through). Also because I wanted to avoid generic_ninja_01 syndrome I re-used a concept I had from a Invul/EM Tanker that I'd deleted, but it really doesn't fit a Stalker that well. So I'm considering a change.

Anyway one of the combinations I've been considering is Spines/Regen, because I have a concept for it. But I'd avoid the AEs/cones (I don't want extra aggro in PvE, and I've heard cones have problems hitting in PvP), so I'd probably be restricted to a hit-and-run playstyle without much scrapping potential - and that worries me a bit. So that's why I'm wondering what your soloing and teaming experiences were like in PvE.

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It was beyond awful to lvl up to 30, fortunately I team well and have good friends. Now I can solo easily enough with the 3 person mobs and teaming isnt a slackfest , its not a great pve build but it certainly does well enough if you know your limitations (and know how to run fast )

I like the hit and run style play (all I can do really with my minimal def ) I feel it fits a stalker properly, they will never be comparable to similar powered scrappers so I dont bother trying, stab, impale, run right round the building and stab again

Impale is great for those with PBAOEs and I really couldnt do without it but EM is a much stronger power, its also a lot of fun watching people try and TP u with entropy sheild on EA is worth it just for that (only reason I took it ) I would say you wont go far wrong with EM/EA imo, take TP foe though or the lack of range when they are in hurricane will frustrate (sure you know this anyway)

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but of course Invincibility was hit with a bit of a nerf recently (I think it maxes at either 14 or 17 mobs now) - SherkSilver does mention it stacks up in the power notes on his planner, but he doesn't say what the limit is now.

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I beleive its 16 max now, its funny but I wonder how the devs equate weaker with fun, why not make others stronger? Lazy

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Despite quoting you, my post wasn't aimed exclusively at you - I just see a lot of blanket statements flying around about /Fire being weak - without counter-opinions popping up I just think a lot of people would dismiss the set out of hand. I actually think /FA might make the game perhaps a bit easier in some ways for a new player - there are very few damage types you really fear (except Cold and the Tox/Psi that everyone except /Darks fear, but they're hardly common), and incoming damage is more regular/predictable in spawns with mixed damage types.

Just my opinion, of course



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I know what you mean and sometimes I just go off on one, I perceived it as people thinking I was saying FA sucked when I dont have a very high /fa brute, I try to avoid making specific comments unless I have experience to make such a judgement

My main brute is a kineitically charged (negates the slowdown ) Granite armoured killing machine against which all else pales in comparison (seriously, you should see it in action), I actually noticed the other night a lvl 40 /inv was dying all the time when I was just stood there laughing, I couldnt remeber my /inv being so squishy but I dont play him much now. That said my granite is built for duoing, a kinetic is vital for decent operation as I only ahve end reds in mud pots, I can solo but for teams I need a kinetic or just play a tank with mud pots (which is as dull as dishwater)

I think the comments you are talking about stems from the hate towards the burn nerf (which went FAR too far imo) as it was for some time the defining power for a lot of people in the /FA set, people dont like change or having to adapt around it, EA was lambasted to begin with but seems to becoming a very popular set in pvp (stalkers at least).

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Well concensus seems to be for pve, miss barrage and stun. That was my thoughts tbh.

Im not planning much pvp so I thinks thats how I shall go.

Thanks to all that posted.

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You're taking Taunt?

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ty i shall look into this and learn from it
which 1 can do u pic there a few links

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personally I downloaded CoH / CoV Character Builder Version 1.75 - Setup (7.3 MB)

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Thank you all guys, all i need is a build so i know wen to put slots on etc... i seen peeps map out a build before making the char how is it poss?

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I use the builder from here

http://home.comcast.net/~SherkSilver/index.html

Hmm kinda what I thought, most annoying, would prefer the damage to be lowish and mobs not to run personally

That said I have seen it used to good effect on the AV in the respec missions, stationary opponents ftw

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you do realise most stalkers out there dont realise what an anchor is and they think debuffs are some attack power.

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It seems in pve that most players dont know what an anchor is as well

Recluses Victory will be the lvl 40-50 pvp zone in (i believe) I7

I have a lowbie Fire/FA brute in the works and so far he is great fun, my only fear is taking burn which as far as I see has been nerfed far too much especially when in conjunction with the taunt nerfings too. As it stands burn only seems of any use getting rid of immobs and messing up the mob taking them out of reach of your fire sword circle, it doesnt even have slow like caltrops does.

My question with those who know is this, is burn worth taking or has it been nerfed to being totally useless?

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The big problem with teleport is that people can see where you are going to tp too

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Um...how? Maybe you can get the general direction...but there's no way you can get there before them - nothing is as fast as tp....

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Apart from an incredibly lucky /stuck command.

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yeah I been bounced over half a mile in sirens b4

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All a matter of opinion of course, I find FA far to squishy

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I really don't understand this commonly held opinion that /Fire brutes are squishy. There were very few occasions in my 40 levels as a Fire/Fire when I felt squishier or took more damage than the many many other brutes I teamed with: At L38+ I felt squishier than /Stones in Granite, but I'm glad I don't have their penalties. Against AVs/Heroes I felt squishier than /Invuls when they turned on Unstoppable... but only for 3 mins. If there were many mobs in CoV that dealt Cold/Psionic I'd probably have felt squishier than /Darks, but there are hardly any so I don't. And I always felt less squishy than /EAs.

In typical gameplay, both solo and in teams up to 8-strong, I never felt squishy - in big teams I'd usually be the one taking the alpha-strikes (unless it was against a spawn with loads of CoT spectrals as they do Cold damage) and I've tanked most of the AVs/Heroes in CoV too. Most of the time as a /fire you won't take more damage than Healing Flames can handle against smash/lethal/energy/neg.energy damage, and fire damage might as well be raindrops.

So /Fire isn't weak for a Brute and perpetuating that fallacy does nobody any favours. I wonder if that thinking comes over from CoH, where Tankers were generally better off with /Stone or /Invul for herding (before Invincibility got nerfed), so /Fire and /Ice (which brutes haven't had since beta, of course) were seen as weak.

Imho the few drawbacks /Fire does have - Burn being poor, being weak to Cold/Psi damage, CJ/Acrobatics being necessary to get full status protection (/Darks need Acrobatics for Knockback protection too) - are well worth it in exchange for:

1) resist shields not being toggle/End heavy (so you can run Tough if you want, no problem)
2) being incredibly resistant to Fire damage (my alts know how much Behemoths, Damned and Chief Plasma Scientists can hurt)
3) getting both a Heal and End-recovery power (consume) in the same set
4) getting a second build-up power with longer duration for Fire powers
5) getting the best damage aura available to brutes (Blazing Aura) - which with Fire Melee primary (which has the best Brute AE damage attack in Fire Sword Circle) means you will do more damage than any other Brute in PvE... easily.

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I play /Inv and /Stone both of which are FAR superior in terms of defence/resistance, it wasnt a statement about damage or anything like that, it was a personal opinion which was stressed in the very sentence that you quote. I find that FA is far to squishy, but thats MY playstyle. So as you can see I wasnt perpetuating any fallacy, merely pointing out MY opinion. I can solo +3 8 man team missions on my Stone and stand there laughing at the mobs (well most mobs). There is nothing wrong with /FA, I have one myself but its FA, not inv or stone, it is what it is but as I said (from my brute playing) it is too squishy for me given my past playstyle. I hope that burn is restored to its former glory (as taunt has been nerfed to the extent that the powerlvling with fire tanks is all but gone) as it doesnt seem to fit the set anymore (IMO) just seems to be flaming caltrops