I'm almost a unicorn!

[Call Me Awesome]

I just saw the new breakdown of powerset combinations at level 50... my Fire/Regen Stalker clocks in as one of only two in the game at level 50 and I'm not really sure why.  Yes, we all know Regen isn't the most powerful secondary by any means but it's still capable and the Fire primary has really nice damage.  I built for soft capped S/L defense and I find the character to be quite effective and survivable in most situations.  True, it isn't up with Elec/Shield, the number one combo of which I also have one at 50.

 

Hmm, I've leveled the MOST popular Stalker combo along with one of the LEAST popular.  Where do you guys fall in the popularity contest?😁

[Machariel]

My stalkers so far from oldest to newest:

 

Powers	Freq	Rank (1-215)	Comments
Broad Sword / Shield	1/142	#3	i fell for the meme 🤕😅
Dual Blades / Ninjitsu	1/60	#13
Dual Blades / Energy	1/15	#93	much prefer this to DB/Nin
Kinetic Melee / Energy	1/49	#22	my current favorite
Street Justice / Radiation	1/20	#69 (nice)	recently slotted into IOs, seems very strong
Ice Melee / Radiation	1/6	#165	needs a concept, haven't played yet

 

KM/EA is the most popular one that I actually play and I can see why.  Stalker KM is both good and intuitive (outside of CS), and EA is great, low maintenance, and fixes your endurance for free.

I foresee myself making more Rad Armor stalkers in the future.  KM/Rad sounds very exciting and there are currently only 10 so it's pretty rare.

Dark/Fire (only 2 in the game) actually sounds fun too.

[Midnight Blue Mage]

Nice 😄 

 

My main (Claws/Ice) also ended up being a duo-corn (1 of 2), and admittedly I was inspired to try the combo based on the previous Stats thread (there were zero 50s at the time); super fun to play ❤️

 

There were previously 4 level 50 Savage/Invuln Stalkers, now there are 27! (including mine since the Stats update) It is awesome to see that combination grow, it feels very potent (and Savage Leap is oh so fun).

 

Strange that Stalkers are still so rare (rarer than all but the Epics), but nice to see that our sneaky devotees are still holding strong :]

Edited March 5, 2020 by Midnight Blue Mage
clarity

[Redlynne]

4 hours ago, Midnight Blue Mage said:

Strange that Stalkers are still so rare (rarer than all but the Epics), but nice to see that our sneaky devotees are still holding strong :]

That's because when the survey people call their phones, the Stalkers let the answering machine take the call (cuz they're Hidden).

[Erydanus]

I actually only have 1 level 50 and it's my Psi/Willpower stalker, clocking in at 12th most popular combo to reach 50. (So many alts in the 40s tho…)

 

I've got a werewolf character with Savage Melee but I can't recall his secondary at the moment - I rolled him and got his costumes right (each one is a stage in the man -> wolfman transformation including a different size) and then parked him till later.

 

Honestly the stalker felt so OP I decided to focus on a more challenging character. I played a scrapper next. 

[Generator]

The Stalker type I intend on taking to 50 (but is currently only 26 after having created him last night) is Elec/Elec, which was about 14th or so on the list.

 

OP, one theory as to why you stand so relatively alone is, Fire Melee maybe isn't viewed as a "Stalkerish" set?  Just a thought.

[Microcosm]

At 50 right now I've got a staff/ice, db/elec, svg/nin, svg/bio, and ice/ice. Those first two are pretty rare.. On test server I've had a ton of other combos at 50 for testing, but that doesn't count 🙂

[Charistoph]

On 3/5/2020 at 3:14 PM, Generator said:

OP, one theory as to why you stand so relatively alone is, Fire Melee maybe isn't viewed as a "Stalkerish" set?  Just a thought.

Hehe, Here, let me hide in the shadows with my BRIGHT FLAMING HANDS OF DEATH!

 

I never did like Stalkers seriously when they first came out.  Terribly squishy and I hated waiting for the Hidden to start.  I recently got in to a kick making Protoss (sort of) and just HAD to make a Dark Templar, and Stalkers fit that the best.  Haven't gotten very far, yet, but he's being a little interesting and WAY easier to run around as than certain noisy Tanker or Brute types.  His Primary should be somewhat obvious and is terribly popular, but his Secondary is on the less played types, counting down to #35, with apparently 33 others similar to him if I can stop squirreling around and actually get a character to 50...

[Call Me Awesome]

On 3/5/2020 at 5:14 PM, Generator said:

The Stalker type I intend on taking to 50 (but is currently only 26 after having created him last night) is Elec/Elec, which was about 14th or so on the list.

 

OP, one theory as to why you stand so relatively alone is, Fire Melee maybe isn't viewed as a "Stalkerish" set?  Just a thought.

Dunno, it's always been a high damage set though.  I tend to think more of the blame rests on the current state of Regeneration; it was repeatedly nerfed into oblivion in the early days of the game and hasn't recovered yet.  It does take a lot of work to make it survivable, and it's much more demanding on your attention while playing it than other secondaries.

 

Ah well, quite a few of my favorites are relatively rare; my namesake Inv/Stone tanker is a combination I've only run into a few times in all the years I've played.  Then again I'm not immune to the FOTM, back on Live I had Fire/Rad & Ill/Rad controllers among others and my other Stalker now is Elec/Shield.

[Generator]

I know all about the Regen Wars, I lived through the whole thing. 🙂 It just struck me that, numbers aside, people might not think of Fire Melee as a choice that aligns thematically with Stalkers.

[FourSpeed]

I went with a "standard" Nin/Nin, who's level capped for use in Bloody Bay (ya, I know -- PvP Lite 😉 ).  Amusingly enough, he's yet to make a single kill in HC-- there's never anyone in there...  😉

 

That's ok though -- that build did quite well in the old, Live servers (in BB & Siren's), and I've enough altitis, and minimal desire for PvP anyway, that I don't mind just spinning him around the zone killing PvE Shivans, Freaks, and CoT Mages once in awhile...  

 

 

Cheers,

4 

Edited March 13, 2020 by FourSpeed

[Call Me Awesome]

On 3/13/2020 at 2:04 PM, FourSpeed said:

I went with a "standard" Nin/Nin, who's level capped for use in Bloody Bay (ya, I know -- PvP Lite 😉 ).  Amusingly enough, he's yet to make a single kill in HC-- there's never anyone in there...  😉

 

That's ok though -- that build did quite well in the old, Live servers (in BB & Siren's), and I've enough altitis, and minimal desire for PvP anyway, that I don't mind just spinning him around the zone killing PvE Shivans, Freaks, and CoT Mages once in awhile...  

 

 

Cheers,

4 

The PvP population of this game has always been almost nonexistent, most of us dislike it and actively avoid it.  If I'm ever in BB it's for Shivans and I'll avoid PvP completely or leave and come back later if given no choice.

 

Sorry you're not finding PvP enthusiasts, you're likely going to have to set it up ahead of time in order to find others who are interested.  In fact, it would probably be good to set up some specific PvP events like the Tanker Tuesday events.  Those of you who enjoy it can get together and have fun.

[FourSpeed]

On 3/14/2020 at 12:11 PM, Call Me Awesome said:

Sorry you're not finding PvP enthusiasts, you're likely going to have to set it up ahead of time in order to find others who are interested.  In fact, it would probably be good to set up some specific PvP events like the Tanker Tuesday events.  Those of you who enjoy it can get together and have fun.

Not to worry. I was always a bit "meh" about it myself, even back on live, although I was fairly active at it, but I know this guy was quite capable back in the day. Still, as I mentioned earlier, I don't particularly mind that toon doing mostly PvE stuff anyway these days, and he's the only PvP-centric build I have (or am likely to) on HC.

 

Regards,

4

Edited March 16, 2020 by FourSpeed