Concept wise, Stalker vs Tanker (power choices)

[Rikis]

So I'm working on a concept of an evil knight, sort of like a paladin except part Necromancer instead of Cleric.

 

The sets that are definitely in are Shield Defense and either War Mace (Tanker) or Broadsword (Stalker), Soul Mastery (Tanker) or Darkness Mastery (Stalker). I'm not worried about the builds for either AT, I can easily get both to soft capped Melee, Ranged, and AoE.  It's just that I'm torn, a BS/Shield Stalker is glorious, but it fits the concept slightly less. I've never had a Tanker before but after the changes it caught my eye, and the combination of Gloom, Soul Tentacles, and Darkest Night fit the concept much better. Honestly, if Stalkers had access to Darkest Night it'd be a non issue and I'd just go Stalker, but for the fantasy I have in my head, a debuff power is so much better than a hold.

 

Originally, way back when, I was working on such a character but I was torn between Brute or Scrapper. How the tables have turned...

[Redlynne]

8 hours ago, Rikis said:

an evil knight, sort of like a paladin except part Necromancer instead of Cleric.

So ... more of a paladon't ...?

[Redlynne]

Kind of surprised you aren't reaching for Titan Weapons/Willpower (Scrapper) or a Willpower/Titan Weapons (Tanker) and just use a BIG 2-hander as your weapon.  Willpower simply makes you STRONGER the more foes you're surrounded by (and it has the "heartbeat" visual and sound FX, and that heartbeat could be colored something Dark And Sinister™ instead of being golden).

 

After that, it's a matter of making a Dark Knight costume ...

 

 

... no no, not like that!

 

More like ...

 

[Rikis]

28 minutes ago, Redlynne said:

So ... more of a paladon't ...?

No, more like EQ's Shadow Knight, WoW's Death Knight, GW2 Revenant (sort of), Rift's Reaver, etc.

 

And as I typed out that list and realized most don't use shields in their respective games... I still kinda want to stick to Shield. I never got into Titan Weapons despite trying it a few times.

 

 

 

[Vea]

WM > BS.

Soul (Tanker) > Darkness (Stalker). (I'd say Soul is better than Darkness for stalkers also).

 

War mace doesn't really benefit too much from the tanker changes (except from the damage scale increase). Whirling mace is bad and shatters arc is small. Crowd control isn't affected. 

 

From my understanding the SD/WM tank has a better theme, it will be easier to slot overall meaning you will be able to invest in your Soul powers to make them more useful as I'm assuming you want to use these powers more often than not. 

 

Stalkers are a little bit stronger now but I wouldn't say Paladin-level of survivability. 

[oldskool]

On 3/15/2020 at 9:02 PM, Rikis said:

No, more like EQ's Shadow Knight, WoW's Death Knight, GW2 Revenant (sort of), Rift's Reaver, etc.

 

And as I typed out that list and realized most don't use shields in their respective games... I still kinda want to stick to Shield. I never got into Titan Weapons despite trying it a few times.

Those kinds of classes were the inspiration for playing Dark Armor/Titan Weapons as a Tanker.

 

I wouldn't consider Stalkers much of a "knight".  Even if you're going the route of an Anti-Paladin they still are heavy armor wearing warrior types and not shadow skulking rogues.  

I'd suggest SD/WM Tanker for being the in-your-face brawler type that this kind of archetype suggests.  

[Zeraphia]

I'd +1 to SD/WM Tanker. Great AoE, better than BS Stalker, the Tanker changes make it completely manageable, there is always lore + envenomed blades to fill in your ST damage against high targets.

 

I think that the Tanker will bring you greater pleasure in terms of live gameplay overall for a lot of content especially with its AoE components to where it will make the Stalker seem lackluster beyond high damage, also as a general rule, Smashing damage is less resisted than Lethal damage, WM is Smashing damage, BS is Lethal (although it gives -def so there are Achilles procs, but still).

 

I think for terms of theme it will just work strictly better as WM/Shield, the "paladin" theme is pretty in your face, always there, dealing decent damage, the center of the battlefield. Stalker is striking your foes from behind and swamping them evilly. Paladins typically don't do those types of things. Sorry if my post is a little bit of an echo of @oldskool.

[Dazl]

Maybe a brute would work better for your concept. You would do more damage than a tank. Stalkers are really a stealth type class, that really doesn't seem to fit with you theme.