Riverdusk

And sadly makes ice controllers brokenly underpowered in comparison now as a better version of one of their signature control powers is on a set that also does loads more damage than they can do. One of the things I wish would be looked at, ice control needs some love.

2nd build is a great idea, but kiting out two complete builds can be pricey for a lot of people. Good long term goal though. Main issue I always had actually wasn't the knockback it was the lack of consistency that happens when only 60% of things get knocked back. Energy Torrent's 60% chance for knockback should be 100%. Dark blast's umbral torrent is actually better at knocking things back/down because umbral is 100% (and a higher mag kb as well!), why not energy torrent? Explosive blast should probably be 100% as well, but definitely Energy torrent not being 100% is sad on the supposed knockback blast set. I think even the single target attacks should be maybe not 100%, but higher as well. Energy is the king of knocking things around (well, except for storm), it should act like it!

Noticed this as well going from a tank dark armor user to brute. Hopefully it's just an oversight and an easy fix.

Agreed it seems weird. It is literally the only tanker pbaoe click sphere attack in the game now that is stuck at a 10 target cap limit, every other similar tanker pbaoe secondary attack is now at 16.

Actually the power description doesn't say anywhere in game that you can't use Shinobi with combat jumping. Only place I've ever seen that description is in 3rd party hero planners (where it is obviously wrong, as you indicated).

That is definitely a part to it. To me, it is also the added insult of how some blasters with their nukes and secondary reworks now have similar AoE hold/control powers that controllers do, but with much shorter recharge times. Tempted to try something like a rad/plant, rad/atomic, or rad/arrow blaster if I want a "controller" now. Two AoE holds, both with around half or less the recharge time and one is also a nuke! Less duration sure, but you are also a blaster, things will tend to be dead by the time it wears off, unlike on a lot of controllers. All controller AoE holds need a serious "un-nerfing" imo.

Sounds like you are going for more a concept character and in that case I'd just pick whatever fits your concept the best. None of the secondaries are unplayable, far from it. It is a stalker, you will kill things dead, and fast, at least for single target. You will be at least fairly survivable while doing it, especially with broadsword's parry. I think for stalkers it is more just a case of are you also trying to squeeze more AoE out of your picks, and it sounds like that isn't a huge concern for you. Energy aura would be a fine pick if you are leaning that way. It is a well balanced set. If you are going for an armored warrior feel, I'd also consider invulnerability, the port of that set to stalkers is actually very good.

Aren't all heals (which acts very different from regen) based on base HP? I know things like siphon life don't go up when I get +hp bonuses. Not sure that isn't working as intended and more likely a description text oversight imo. Would be happy to be wrong (and have siphon life buffed to be based on current max HP to be consistent then) 😀 Edit: Actually, unless I'm somehow missing it, I don't see anywhere in the IO description where it says "max life", it only says "heal the target of the power for a small bonus amount" That one I find more weird. I noticed this the other day when I saw a tank with the healing # of 65 floating over his head and realized it was the same 65 my stalker was getting. May also be working as intended, but seems like it'd make more sense to be AT scaled/based on base hps as other heals are.

Yeah, the post you quoted was from almost a year ago, I seem to remember they were fiddling with the tip rewards back then before settling on the 40 it is now.

Shadow maul is quite nice now though. Basically the set is just as good as Ninja blade and broadsword now when it comes to AoE (one big cone, I don't really count golden dragonfly/headsplitters absolute tiny cone). Mine is SR though, so much more important in my build naturally. Agreed as to the feel of it which I've always found the most satisfying personally of any melee set. Then you add to it that it consists mostly of the least resisted damage type in the game as an often overlooked bonus, as well as the extra survivability it offers. I think a lot pass on stalker version just because it doesn't have soul drain but I find fast recharging BU's more fun (and more effective when either you get tohit debuffed or going one vs. one against an AV or such.)

Almost as sneaky as huge flaming swords.

Not surprised about some of the negative feedback, forum goers tend to be the most "hard-core" players, so would tend to see less of a need to streamline/reduce the slog of some of the early game. Hopefully that is kept in mind. I'm actually all for making the end game harder, where it is actually needed. I see nothing wrong with making the "non-DFB" early game less of a slog and maybe get some more people out of constant DFB. DFB being nuked is really what the "this will make the early game too easy" crowd should be arguing for. That ship has long since sailed. These changes will still be nothing compared to how fast and easy DFB is, but maybe it'll help a little. Oh, and I'm all for keeping TO's and DO's available for those that want to use them in fear of the early game being made too easy. Those that don't want to use the new system can simply not use it. Same way those that don't want to use the P2W vendor double xp and other toys are free not to use those.

Literally said it doesn't take much at all in the way of resources and some of us very much appreciate the changes.

Yes, I get this bug all the time as well.

And poor Martial Arts. Would love to see stone melee on stalkers though. I'd say combine fault and tremor into one, basically a damage power with some control. Definitely keep the fault animation.

As someone who always plays the early game on every character by running through story arcs/missions and never DFB or farming, these changes seems wonderful to me. I'm one that'd often even buy a few level 10 accuracy TO's to get me through. When you aren't zooming through levels, they can help a lot. This will be very nice for the pre-level 22 game. After that point, I still can't imagine not using IO's. SO's and the auto upgrade would need to be made very cheap to even hope to compete. I guess still a nice feature for those that just want to completely avoid the market and IO's for whatever reason though. Edit: A little thing, but I also always thought the tutorial drops should be accuracy instead of damage. I always slot accuracy first, so never understood the rationale for only getting damage as your first drops.

Can confirm my SR stalker is surviving great, so it isn't about positional vs. typed in my experience. Only time I was in danger recently was participating in one of the Nemesis raids a short while ago. I'm assuming that is because of the stacking vengeance (so a ton of +tohit) the mobs get during one of those.

Nope, that is what it should be. 1.2 x 1.69 = 2.028 rounded up to 2.03 in display. Enhancements multiply to base, not add.

I'd think you could literally just look at the combat tab and see the rolls. It'll say the enemies chance to hit you. They should be the same if they are both soft capped. If not you can try and dig into the why.

Claws and Martial Arts leap to mind. Pretty much for the reason @Without_Pause says. Losing spin from claws is a crime and MA just loses all its aoe entirely.

Yep, on AH. IIRC bought mine for around 7 or 8 million each. And actually looking at them in game looks like minimum level might be 10 (I guess maybe they don't let you use them at -3 to their lowest level like other IO's do), but still not bad.

Well, you can have them by level 7....if you have the influence of course.

That is somewhat subjective of course and depending what you are looking for. A couple that I think are better on stalker than on brute or scrapper are: Electric/Shield - massive AoE + still good single target that isn't gimped. Ice Melee - If you ever wanted to try it, it is the best on stalker (the assassin strike is much better than the greater ice sword it replaces). I'm enjoying DM/SR right now, but probably nothing extra special about that one on stalker. I actually kind of enjoy not having to constantly cast soul drain with it like my scrapper does, but that's more a personal preference. Also don't judge stalkers too much until you get the two stalker ATO procs, they are game changers. Edit: Also forgot about street justice, not tried it myself but another set I've heard is best on stalkers compared to other AT's.

Might look at a stalker. Plays very different than a brute and is very strong pretty early on. I didn't use to like stalkers at all, but with the changes made to them they are pretty amazing now.

Exactly. However, you might end up slightly lower theoretical dps in some sets by using lower dpa attacks in the set instead of being able to use higher dpa ones more often. But a lot of times the difference isn't going to be hugely noticeable. Personally I usually go for having more attacks just to make things less boring. Using the same 3 attacks over and over again gets real old to me. Also like being able to skip hasten on sets with click mez protection since you can't put them both on auto.