InvaderStych

Nope. As stated Grant Cover provides benefit to the user. Removing the ability to use Hover/EvM with /SD because of a rooting power is complete non-starter, imo. We already have enough sets and powers that lock players out of the flight pool. This would make the set blatantly overpowered. Lack of a Heal and Heavy Endurance Cost are the Checks and Balances of the set. Absolutely not. True Grit is perfection. My /SD scrapper sits near 2100hp with True Grit and Accolades. The solution to Caltrops and Burn is Movement. Not entirely true. Combine /SD with a weapon set and you've got the single coolest Taunt/Confront animation in the game - one that cannot be replicated in any other way. /SD also give access to a kicking animation for Brawl. It doesn't need auras. Getting access to more emotes would be great, but that is really all that /SD needs.

Don't worry about it. For a solo project that is content oriented you can basically make any Scrapper you want and it will do just fine. Manage your expectations, if you're looking to do the entire run at +4x8 and burn down every AV in the MJ arc on your own, then maybe not with Regen. If you just want to run content, check out missions, and read stuff you can - probably literally - run any combination in the entire game. Hell, there's someone doing a blueside run using just Brawl. Not every toon needs to be built to top-tier-up-to-the-minute-meta standards. Game isn't built that way save for Hard Mode or other specific types of Challenge runs. (Old School Challenge, for example). Some stuff to know about PM: Psi Melee doesn't have much AoE even with Mass Lev coming earlier after the Page 5 update. Running x8 with Psi Melee solo (without additional AoE) can be a slog anyway (damhik), so once you get into the mid 20s or so just set diff to like x4 or less and set relative level to whatever is most comfortable for your desired level of challenge. At later levels you can add more with Mu or Blaze mastery, or shoot for Shadow Meld if you want to be more durable. Powers that are not boosted by Insight each have a variable chance to trigger it. TKB is your highest chance to trigger it. MS will outperform PB over time unless PB gets all three tics of Insight DoT. GPB, once you get to 50 can slot two Rare (Purple) %Chance for DMG procs, and/or the %Absorb piece from the Winter Hold set. I've only run the latter as a test, my Psi/SD gets more out of the %dmg pieces. On /Regen the little absorb shield might be interesting. This might be an interesting use case for Boggle. I don't care for the way it interrupted the flow of my Psi/SD, but with Psi/Regen while solo where one is approaching encounters with more forethought than BU -> SC -> ML -> (slaugh... er defeat whatever is left) one might find interesting uses for it. Don't sleep on the Hold in GPB. I added a pair of %Hold IOs to my Psi/SD's attack chain on a whim and it is hilarious to have a Scrapper with enough Hold power to lock down an AV when its purple triangles of doom are down. The duration of the Hold in GPB gets a massive boost when Insight is up; that's what makes this possible. If you've got the budget, throwing some of the standard unique IOs onto the build would be a good idea and increase the difficulty you could play at. At the very least Prioritize getting Crit Strikes +50% after crossing level 10. This can be easily done by racking up a few Reward Merits, cashing them in for Boosters or Converters, and then selling those on the auction house. I never did find a place on my toon where I was completely happy with the placement, but when Insight is up and GPB gets a Critical the damage is just ludicrous. Crits from Mass Lev are also very good. Definitely a piece worth prioritizing, even if every other slot on the toon is filled with SOs.

Welcome Home! ----- At first glance: Get that ATO set out of Shield Charge. Or at least the +50% piece. That piece is referred to on the forms, generally, as "ATO2." It is a very important Proc on a Scrapper and Shield Charge is the very last place you want it to be as you want a chance to trigger it far more often than SC will be up. On Savage I found it interesting to use in Leap, (looks like you've already figured out Leap's proc rate) for the guaranteed firing, but even there at best it is only going to be available every 12-16s depending on global recharge. Which is still twice as often as it would be in Charge. Interesting doesn't mean ideal though, but I couldn't think of a better place for it, and if you are quick you can fire off VS, (maybe SS), and activate RF before the buff expires. Others have put it elsewhere, but definitely not in Charge. Also, I had to turn off the FF+rech piece in Kick. Having that activated in mids will give you a false read on global recharge, it only triggers when using the power in which it is slotted and it only last 5s. End usage against recovery looks pretty high, but maybe you're building for Ageless? If you're using Moonbeam regularly instead of one of the primary attacks, consider moving slots over from the lesser used power.

Boyz II Men (ft. Stephen Colbert) - I'll Make Love To You (But We Don't Have To)

They're exactly the same, just more expensive from the RM Vendor (vending machine) by at least double.

Just to correct something that has been said in this thread: Never, ever, EVER, use Reward Merits to directly buy an ATO. At 100 merits/per they are a rip-off at that price. 100 Merits can usually be sold for +/- 20 million influence via Boosters, Converters, or (on a good day) Unslotters. And that is without getting into crafting/converting which is a larger return on RMs for more effort. Standard (Not Superior) ATOs on the Market will rarely price above 9-10 million influence. Why pay 20 million influence worth of Reward Merits for something that can generally be purchased on Market for less than half that. The cost of the Catalyst it Superior-ize them when you hit 50 is inconsequential, and those can be had as drops anyway. But don't buy them from the RM Vendor at 100 Merits each, they are only there at that price to prevent rampant inflation of them on market.

I'm not going to say that this is why I usually solo Posi 1, but this is kinda, partially why I usually solo Posi 1. 🤣 Edit: But, in fairness my last two runs of this were one solo (stalker) and the other (defender) a great pug who all knew what they were doing. (which was handy because I know the sum total of 03 about defendering)

Add an anonymous caption with a very low chance of occurring to all indoor mission maps with low lighting.

Looks like Choking Powder from Ninja Training. Also looks like it is doing a lot more damage (53/tic!) than I thought it actually did. Love that attack chain @Signalrunner, Blaze, Snipe, GD, and CP. I would never have thought to use CP like that. Well done.

Stealth's contribution to Defense will show up as a line item to defense bonuses by category. If you are seeing a red -XX% number in Base Defense at the top of that listing in Combat Attributes, then you have most likely been hit by a critter that can debuff defense. Changes to Base Defense that don't come from an external debuff are exceedingly rare. But, no. Losing the extra +def from Stealth upon attacking or getting hit will not send you into negative defense absent any enemy debuffs which can do so.

Just for clarity; Panacea and Power Transfer are calculated on base HP, not max. Panacea is ~65hp and PT is ~60hp each on a Stalker at 50. Max HP does impact +regen though. The way my Fire/Stone/Blaze is currently setup he gets about 11.x hp/s from Rooted outside of EE and 14.x hp/s from it at the HP cap inside of EE. I've been running for a while with only one of my two PT procs slotted as a test to see if I can move that slot elsewhere. When all three (PTx2, Panacea) trigger the 185hp bump is significant, but after a few runs of 4x8 Pantheon, Malta, etc I'm not sure the 60pts from the second proc is more valuable than using that slot elsewhere might be. (like putting Ragnarok %KD into fireball, or adding a 6th slot to a winter set for more f/c def) It is still tempting to keep it; after all I know I can drop the Numina's from the build and it runs fine, so there's one of the two slots I want back, at least. Heh. It is definitely worth running multiples of them if the slots are available.

.... anyway .... Had to look up the reference; apparently this dude can fly, so if you're interested in keeping that aspect I'd rule out /Fire and go /EA. Burn and Flight don't mix. I'm not really a fan of the power, personally, but skipping it on an experimental scrapper still felt weird. Just add fire via Blaze mastery. Fireball isn't the greatest thing ever (I use it a lot anyway because of that sweet, sweet 1s activation), but for a soloing content project it's a solid AoE add for a set like Broadsword. BS/EA/Blaze, and I'd be inclined to Scrapper but that's just because of personal inclinations. That said, BS and Crit Strikes work nicely together just as they do in Katana, which is a plus.

Hmm. Can you be more specific? Just checked on my Kat/Rad with one in RT and it still triggers multiple times.

I occasionally get a missing row of info on the T1 power or thereabouts, but for the most part exporting works depending on what you pick and mids version. Mids discord here: https://discord.com/channels/593336669004890113/595818623063425035 Data Chunk: Export Settings and Mids Version. Clicked "No" to the "Export Full Build?" prompt.

Yup. I can get with this. Between CT and an epic blast (or two sometimes) it's not the lack casual taunt that really matters. Critter runs out to a couple dozen yards to turn and fire? Great. Love it. All about it. Those Resistance Jammers and IDF Bots that stay at range and never close to melee? Totally here for it. Bamf Melee eats these chumps. Incarnate Surgeons rocking Combat Teleport? Bring 'em on. Love fighting these guys. So satisfying. It's when I watch a target run off to gawd knows where for 20-40 seconds - or more - (I've semi-timed this on larger mission maps and in zones) just sort of aimlessly skittering about for no purpose in a seeming panic that is the irritant. Fortunately none of them get more than the range of regular Teleport, so a targeted macro can solve them if I get impatient - but if the map isn't clear that can be ... interesting. 😆 Reasonably sure that taunt doesn't fix those cases anyway. For the record, I like the option of building either with or without a passive taunt. 🍻

Just for context as to how I feel on this: If I was going to bother turning off Brimstone, I'd have just skipped Stone Armor completely. YMMV, but for me, Brimstone is a key component of the armor - especially for a Stalker or a Scrapper. Because it can critical, and when it does - it does so for the full damage of all 3 tics of Brimstone, even if only 1 tic is successful and the second misses which cancels the third. Brimstone's Proc is the only Cancel on Miss DoT in the entire game included in the calculation of critical hit damage. Further, on a Stalker it gets an enhanced chance to Critical from Hidden. I thought I saw somewhere on CoD that it was the same 50% granted to most AoEs, but now I cannot find it again. The point is, coming from Hide at 50 on an even-level target the Critical from Brimstone looked to be adding 100-120pts to an AS, with the proc itself adding either 33%, 66%, or 100% of that number. Besides, it is HI-Larious to fire off a Judgement and see the word CRITICAL! over most of the targets when Brimstone crits. Yes, each tick of Brimstone via Judgement does 1-2 pts of dmg because of Area Factor, and the Crits are only with 6pts, but it is @#%ing hilarious. I wouldn't toggle it off based on incoming damage though. In your case I'd toggle it off ONLY if I really wanted the sleep effect for some reason. IMO Brimstone's damage is of much greater value than the sleep in FA. Personally, I'd just ignore the sleep completely. In sustained DPS over time, Brimstone is better than Firey Embrace, but does less than the combined power of Bio's debuff and damage auras. (which I don't think a stalker gets one of those) The point is that it is good damage. Rolling Stone Armor and not using Brimstone is like rolling one of those other two armors and not using their +dmg or -res powers. YMMV based on playstyle and goals - before someone comes along and tries to "teach" me how powerful it can be to mez with a Stalker, or whatever. Spare me, I know. 😉

This is supposed to be true, but I there is something wrong with the Resist side as it breaks Hidden on a Stalker (notifies enemies) and cancels Hidden when triggered by their ATO. It is correctly written without Taunt, but it still notifies enemies for some reason. Edit: If you really want to see critters scatter and take time measured in minutes to return to their spawn point, pair Stone armor with Fire melee. Ask my stalker about it. 😆

Someone should send this memo to Diabolique.

Yeah, I'm still in. Never seen anything with Regé-Jean Page prior to this, but he's serving up a flawless "straight-man" in these trailers. Not as easy as it appears. It is all about the silent reactions, all facial expression. Not a lot of actors can nail it like that.

Background: Hybrid Melee Core is the side that provides +Res/critter in range and does not have a taunt component. Confirmed this in City of Data. Hybrid Melee Radial is the side that provides +Def/critter in range and does have a taunt component. This can be confirmed in CoD as well and is included in the powers' descriptions. However: Something in the Core side breaks Hidden status on a Stalker, despite the lack of a Taunt. This also means that it negates Hidden a few tics after it is triggered by the ATO with that function. I would expect this to be true of the Radial side due to the Taunt. I was unpleasantly surprised to find Core side behaving in this manner. 😞

Heh, yeah. Sort of rambled/waxed there for a bit. Been trying to think of specific synergies. KB/KU/KD in a primary is good mitigation for anything, but particularly any click-heavy defenses. /Stone isn't really that. On a Scrapper Dark Melee had interesting synergy, but Stalkers lose Soul Drain for BU, combined with lack of DC and a stalker would be spreading less Brimstone and losing the longer damage buff window of SD to keep the fire proc boosted longer. Crystal Armor gives extra recovery, but it is still murderous on the blue bar with all of the toggles. Endo-light sets like Claws might be worth considering ... ... crap, I'm doing it again, lol.

It is also because the untouchable BP "support" pet is the only one of its type with attacks/debuffs that affect targets. Cheating, big time, IMO since no other untouchable support pet can do the same. Helps that Longbow support is basically coded to spam their powers, while half of the other support pets either straight up don't cast their buffs (Carnies Radial) or have powers with recharge in excess of four minutes, so if you are lucky you might get two activations in their 5min lifespan, but don't count on it. Robotic Drones pack -Regen, btw. There are others that also pack -Res. Values on Longbow/BP are outsized by comparison, if memory serves. The thing I like about the Drones is that if you summon them behind the AV, the assault drone stays there, keeping it out of cones. They seem the best behaved for staying close to the player as well. Was testing Demons just for kicks, and the support pet there *seems* active enough, but I cannot for the life of me understand why it only activates its toggle debuff for a few seconds, then shuts it off mid-combat, and maybe turns it on again between mobs.

I think we're On Topic Adjacent enough to indulge a little. 😀 /Stone is a little bit of a kitchen sink. Typed defenses are solid except for the F/C hole which is easy to fill. Base resists in SS are ok, but other than F/C gotta build in some more to truly layer up. Extra Regen, Recovery, Recharge, Damage, HP, etc. It is the kind of armor where anything from going purely for theme to picking a known top-tier primary and it would be a solid fit. Kinda makes picking a definitive pairing difficult in all the good ways. There are a few notes though: While Brimstone's damage is based on activation time, Devs did a very good job of balancing it out so that fast sets like Claws/DB/Nin aren't getting shafted out of their output compared to sets with slow/big hitters. Actually DB/ could be excellent with /Stone if it is as good on a Stalker as it is on a Scrapper. Those being all Lethal sets (see also the smashing in the StJ/Stone referenced above) I think they benefit from the additional damage type (fire) enough to be on the short-list for pairings. Of course I did nothing of the sort and went Fire/Stone/Blaze, so just fire on fire on fire, typical. 😄 Ranged attacks get a much lower base value to work from, so powers like Impale get less out it. On the other hand since Stalker Spines and Radiation don't have the damage auras, there's no worry about the fact that auras (including Mud Pots where applicable in its own set, not relevant to Stalkers, but figured good to know) do not trigger Brimstone's DoT. Savage Leap and Lightning Rod don't trigger Brimstone's DoT for [REASONS]. I've heard excellent things from folks running these combos on various ATs, so if that's not a deal-breaker (the sort of thing that once I know it, it bothers me more than it should, lol) then no worries there. So, I'm not sure that helps narrow it down. 🤣