ZemX

Generally all Stalker AoEs, including ones from pool powers, have a 50% chance to crit from Hide. There are a few exceptions like Lightning Rod and Shield Charge which, because of how they are implemented, don't crit at all... but also don't break Hide. Dual Blade combo finishers do not crit. Neither do other sets that feature combo builder/finisher type bonus damage. Each attack in the combo can crit in or out of Hide based on the Stalker AT's normal mechanics, but the finisher itself is not a separate attack. It's just a bonus power effect that does some stuff, like damage or other effects. If you're unsure and want to find out for yourself, City of Data is the best resource. For example, look up Stakler->Dual Blades->Ablating Strike. You can see in the effects list where it checks if you have the right combo level and then executes the sweep bonus if you do. That sweep bonus does damage but does not do additional damage if the Stalker is Hidden. Ablating Strike itself can stealth crit though, as can any of the other powers in the combo chain leading up to it.

I didn't say that but you're welcome anyway, buddy! You say there's no content but this is only because apparently you've decided you want to run only task forces and then only ones that DON'T go up to 50. So yeah, given those parameters, there's nothing for you to do. Can I have your stuff?

Possibly, though I'd expect any SG to have at minimum all the teleporters and NPCs in a base. But there's always one of the publicly available SG base codes one could use, I suppose.

The most common missions teams are PI radios and nobody is getting arc rewards for that. It's not something many people really care about. Contact mission teams are less common, but people do run them. Admittedly, almost never redside and just about literally never goldside. But blueside you will see people run them. Just not as often as radios. For TFs, I don't get the problem. There's a number you can run at max 40 and you get XP for them just fine if you are above that. Nice thing about them is nobody can whine at you about passing the star to a 50. You'll have the best luck with Numina probably since people run it for Task Force Commander. Less so with Sutter, which is a shame. I really like that TF. Kal seems to get run a lot but probably because it's so quick. Ice Mistral less so but has a nice last mission if you can get everyone to agree to a "kill through" instead of speeding to the bottom of the cavern.

Off topic, but often when I see this I try to preach about the virtues of building one's own SG base and putting a trainer inside it. Go to the next mish door, tp to SG base, train, sell, stock up on insps, fix your hair-style, leave. Oh look.. you're right where you were when you base teleported... at the next mission door.

MA and SS both only have the one AoE and both are doing very well in these Trapdoor tests. Partly because they are adding a Patron Pool AoE to that. I would guess it's a case of "good" AoE and more about "enough" AoE for the test since it's the bosses that need to be focused with ST attacks mostly. If you can keep enemies bunched around you, even a couple AoEs mixed into the ST rotation on bosses probably does the job of taking out the trash. There is generally more AoE love in this game's community than is really warranted. Partly that comes from running overpowered Incarnate 54 teams against content that can't compare and does get obliterated by AoEs. But up against an actual challenge, you need good ST damage. So while Stalkers don't get a seat at this table for soloing Trapdoor, they do belong on teams where you've got teammates to AoE while they nail bosses.

I am no longer EVER surprised when someone claims to be angry about something I didn't think was a big deal. Seems to be how the world works now (or perhaps always has).

Maybe? I don't know where you'd find a comprehensive list. If you google about Marvel or Disney trademarking Thor you'll get a dozen articles saying, alternately, the Disney is trying to copyright Loki and another dozen articles debunking the first dozen. Which is to say, good luck finding such a list unless you're more legally adept than I am. The real key would be avoiding Marvel's costume design. If you create a generic looking Viking warrior type dude, avoid the red cape, and call him "(something) Thor" you are probably good.

As long as you don't call him "The Mighty Thor" and/or copy Marvel's costume, you won't be infringing their copyright. They don't own Norse mythology. If you want to walk the line, call your toon "The Might Be Thor" and make the costume just NOT similar enough to avoid being generic'd. 🤪

I was a little surprised how well going after Praetorian Duray first worked. Seems like every other PuG team I've run Sutter with always claims chasing Primal Duray all over the map as he teleports is "The Way", except he's a pain to run down and as his health goes down he spawns massive waves of Skyraiders and Skiffs, which is usually where many PuGs take massive losses. Only thing you have to worry about attacking Praetorian Duray first is the air strikes... ... unless you're there's with a whole group of Tanks! 😀

Also, /chatsave and /chatload commands if you're a command-line warrior. /wdwload to load the window/tray positions and settings (previously saved with /wdwsave) is another thing I do on new characters.

Would that it were so. Just saying that whenever I hear a complaint about political discussion or politics in games, half the time it is something like this it seems.

Depends. On nearly every PuG I am on when I am not on a Stalker, the bosses are always the last ones left standing. When I do play a Stalker, I try to target bosses first, because clearly team AoE is killing everything else. You can do that same with a Scrapper, but the Stalker has that guaranteed BU+crit for whatever their biggest-hitter is next to AS. Then it's not long before you can quick-AS that boss and at that point its probably done. Burst is useful when the fight is short. Ston's pylon compilation shows Stalkers and Scrappers just about dead even against those big bags of HP though. From there it's really just a question what type of situation you'll be in. Soloing, there's little question that Scrappers with taunt auras will easily outperform Stalkers on clear times... when clearing a whole map at x8 is the goal anyway. For most sets, they also have more AoE than the comparable Stalker. I play a Stalker for team boss-killer and speed/stealth soloist. That's about it.

If you can find builds with data chunk or download links in them, load them up in Mid's and you can see the full names. You'll become familiar with them eventually. Another thing you can do though is browse City of Data for the power you're looking at. At the top right of the page is the list of icons representing what enhancements are accepted in that power. You can click on any of the set icons and see the available sets listed, e.g. This might help you match up the abbreviations of the sets you're looking at in a given power if it didn't include a link to the build or a data chunk for import into Mid's.

Not talking about the "machinery" of politics is easy. Campaigns, candidates, votes, etc. But social issues are not so easy to separate. If someone in General is discussing the sexual orientation of a comic book character, for instance, to some that is politics and to others it is just... life.

Yeah, that's what I mean by it affecting how that one mission concludes, but I don't recall it ever getting referenced again down the line. It has been a while though.

Something similar happens to me sometimes if I combat jump into a spawn and don't wait just like half a breath before activating a PBAoE like Foot Stomp, the game server hasn't caught up yet and thinks I activated that PBAoE before arriving at the spawn. So it hits nobody. You don't even get a "Missed" notification. You just stomp and... nothing happens. Another annoying PBAoE thing that happens to me is I sometimes double-hit the key to activate it and it activates.. but then stays queued as well afterwards. If it was the last thing I did in a fight and I don't notice it's queued, it will often activate again halfway to the next spawn. Even worse if it's Eye of the Storm. You just get down and breakdance in the middle of an empty hallway as the team is running past you to the next fight.

Also worth looking at the various commands that save and reload settings. I accidentally fat-fingered alt-enter yesterday and it sent me to windowed mode, moving around some trays and windows. Going back fullscreen didn't move them back. But '/wdwload' worked since I had previously used /wdwsave to save my window settings.

This only works if you ran the tutorial when you created your character. You pick Loyalist or Resistance at the end and can thereafter only work undercover for that faction you originally picked. The message to call Calvin/Marchand is canned text in the description of the mission. Everyone sees it. But only people who, for example, chose Resistance in the tutorial, can call Calvin when they see that message in the description text of a Loyalist mission and have him respond. I wouldn't worry too much though. It does not result in any branching storyline that I can remember. It sometimes has a minor effect on how that mission concludes. Maybe the target defects to the Resistance instead of being killed/captured. That sort of thing. But often enough you're just told to "play along" to avoid suspicion which means nothing is different at all about that mission.

I do this with Ninja Run + Super Jump on my Ninja-themed Stalker. Instead of sailing overhead in full super jump, I bounce/flip across rooftops, run along high-tension power lines in Peregrine, or across the tops of fences to get from one mission to the next. Scrapyarders during Scrapyard GM event in Sharkhead. So so many of them. Take THAT organized labor!

The first one is nice and compact and tells you all the BBCode version does just without colors and formatting. That plus a download link seems like it should suffice.

Fifties from the Farm are not what I call experienced. Incarnate Trials just aren't that exciting for some. I think I've done a handful like... ever. And I never farm. Not like getting to 50+3 and all T4 requires running Incarnate Trials anymore.

Leading with the AoE and following with Shield Charge does the same damage except there's no chance of spoiling Hide. It's less fun, admittedly, not zooming in and knocking em down as an opener. Always liked that part.

This gets mentioned a lot like it's a benefit, but it isn't. They don't break Hide AND they don't crit. Hence there is no reason to use them from Hide and some reason not to. Even though they don't break Hide, they aggro and that means you are risking an enemy breaking Hide for you. Good defense makes it a low risk, but there's no reason to take any risk since there's no benefit to either of these attacks from Hide. You're better off moving into the spawn Hidden and leading with an attack that can crit. Follow it up with LR or SC then at point blank range. Same damage. Less risk.

Any chance I could see that 90/45 build? I'd like to see what the tradeoffs are between that and something I'd build without prioritizing defense. Particularly what it looks like pre-Incarnates. I keep wanting to try MA with something. I started a Shield/MA long time ago but it never caught my interest to stick with it.