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Posted

Hi all!

 

I’m looking to create my FIRST stalker. Savage Melee seems fun, and I’m kind of going for a Vampire type character =P

 

2 defensive sets I had my eyes on were Dark Armor and Shield (with the dark shield of course).

 

I feel like the passive end recover from Savage would help with the Dark Armor end cost. Shield seems like it would be a lot of jumping around once fully built, which could be fun as well.

 

Would anyone have recommendations on either of those 2 sets, or another they would throw in there?

 

Also, how are stalkers survivability once fully built out? Similar to a scrappers?

 

Thanks in advance!

Posted (edited)

Mine is /bio and it's the one I'd recommend you. Besides that, DA will also do fine, note that on stalkers, DA is not as end heavy as in other ATs because it has 2 less toggles. Shield would probably do fine too but I find it less "stalkerish" plus bear in mind that Shield charge is a pseudo-pet so it won't crit, it won't break your "Hidden" status either so your next attack will crit if you are fast (you'll be "Hidden" but mobs will attack you so you need to attack before being hit). And yes, survivability is similar or same as a scrapper.

Edited by Nightmarer
  • Like 1

Being chased by a wasp is the most complete sport practice!

Posted

Stalkers are very survivable at 50.  I used to primarily play Scrappers on Live and mainly play Stalkers here.  Some thoughts:

 

  • Savage/SR
    • Very strong at 50 and can clear +4/8 in DA missions
    • Can easily soft-cap positional defenses
    • Endurance challenges until Incarnates
  • Savage/EA
    • Haven't got to 50 yet, but can easily soft-cap typed defenses (except Psi)
    • Has good endurance and heal mitigation
  • Savage/SD
    • I expect would be good at 50 with the extra AoE damage from Shield Charge and you will also be able to soft-cap positional defense
    • Will have endurance challenges until Incarnates
  • Savage/Invulnerability
    • Very strong at 50 and can clear +4/8 in DA missions
    • I think Invulnerability is under rated:
      • You can soft-cap typed defenses (except Psi)
      • You can reach the S/L resistance cap
      • Other resistances can be brought up to mid range
    • Endurance issues
  • Savage/Bio
    • Extra damage and endurance management make this a strong build
    • I'm only 30, so I do have concerns about how tough he will be at 50.  My build shows that I will have middle of the road defense and resistances, but mitigation will come in the form of Shadow Meld, Ablative Carapace, DNA Siphon, and Parasitic Aura.  This is my first /Bio, so interested to see how it plays out.

 

  • Like 2
Posted
  On 12/19/2020 at 1:07 PM, Lockpick said:

Stalkers are very survivable at 50.  I used to primarily play Scrappers on Live and mainly play Stalkers here.  Some thoughts:

 

  • Savage/SR
    • Very strong at 50 and can clear +4/8 in DA missions
    • Can easily soft-cap positional defenses
    • Endurance challenges until Incarnates
  • Savage/EA
    • Haven't got to 50 yet, but can easily soft-cap typed defenses (except Psi)
    • Has good endurance and heal mitigation
  • Savage/SD
    • I expect would be good at 50 with the extra AoE damage from Shield Charge and you will also be able to soft-cap positional defense
    • Will have endurance challenges until Incarnates
  • Savage/Invulnerability
    • Very strong at 50 and can clear +4/8 in DA missions
    • I think Invulnerability is under rated:
      • You can soft-cap typed defenses (except Psi)
      • You can reach the S/L resistance cap
      • Other resistances can be brought up to mid range
    • Endurance issues
  • Savage/Bio
    • Extra damage and endurance management make this a strong build
    • I'm only 30, so I do have concerns about how tough he will be at 50.  My build shows that I will have middle of the road defense and resistances, but mitigation will come in the form of Shadow Meld, Ablative Carapace, DNA Siphon, and Parasitic Aura.  This is my first /Bio, so interested to see how it plays out.

 

Expand  

I agree with this stuff - Savage has no redraw so should pair with anything.  But it doesn't have a lot of? Any? mitigation.  So it might work best with sets that don't need any. 

 

It gets an endurance discount gimmicky bit.  Which might help some with End heavy sets.  

 

The numbers on Invul are crazy good.  EA is also incredibly good on Stalkers, loses nothing really.  

 

 

  • Like 2
Posted
  On 12/19/2020 at 1:07 PM, Lockpick said:

Stalkers are very survivable at 50.  I used to primarily play Scrappers on Live and mainly play Stalkers here.  Some thoughts:

 

  • Savage/SR
    • Very strong at 50 and can clear +4/8 in DA missions
    • Can easily soft-cap positional defenses
    • Endurance challenges until Incarnates
  • Savage/EA
    • Haven't got to 50 yet, but can easily soft-cap typed defenses (except Psi)
    • Has good endurance and heal mitigation
  • Savage/SD
    • I expect would be good at 50 with the extra AoE damage from Shield Charge and you will also be able to soft-cap positional defense
    • Will have endurance challenges until Incarnates
  • Savage/Invulnerability
    • Very strong at 50 and can clear +4/8 in DA missions
    • I think Invulnerability is under rated:
      • You can soft-cap typed defenses (except Psi)
      • You can reach the S/L resistance cap
      • Other resistances can be brought up to mid range
    • Endurance issues
  • Savage/Bio
    • Extra damage and endurance management make this a strong build
    • I'm only 30, so I do have concerns about how tough he will be at 50.  My build shows that I will have middle of the road defense and resistances, but mitigation will come in the form of Shadow Meld, Ablative Carapace, DNA Siphon, and Parasitic Aura.  This is my first /Bio, so interested to see how it plays out.

 

Expand  

Thanks for this!!! I have a /bio brute, might switch it up. Both Savage/SR and Savage/Energy Aura (or was that Elect Armor?) seem like they could be on theme.

Posted
  On 12/19/2020 at 1:41 PM, Haijinx said:

I agree with this stuff - Savage has no redraw so should pair with anything.  But it doesn't have a lot of? Any? mitigation.  So it might work best with sets that don't need any. 

 

It gets an endurance discount gimmicky bit.  Which might help some with End heavy sets.  

 

The numbers on Invul are crazy good.  EA is also incredibly good on Stalkers, loses nothing really.  

 

 

Expand  

Sorry, I’m pretty new =P is “EA” Energy Aura or Electric Armor?

Posted (edited)
  On 12/19/2020 at 4:23 PM, StriderIV said:

Sorry, I’m pretty new =P is “EA” Energy Aura or Electric Armor?

Expand  

Energy Aura usually

 

Electric is ElA or Elec typically.   I'm not very familiar with Electric.   I do have two EA stalkers well in vet levels, including my most expensive build which is kind of insanely powerful IMO.   I would definitely recommend the set. 

 

It has the added advantage that the Energy Glow variant of powers looks great when you are in hide you become a silhouette, which is much easier to see for us older players than mostly invisible. 

Edited by Haijinx
  • Like 2
Posted (edited)

Energy Aura

 

It seems underrated to me.  A number of my new stalkers are Energy Aura because of the mitigation from Energy Drain and Energize.  You can soft-cap typed defense (S/L/F/C/E/N), but will have a Psi hole.

 

The leveling is a bit smoother because you get Energy Drain at level 28, so most of your endurance issues will be resolved.

 

Savage / EA Build

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Edited by Lockpick
Added Build
  • Like 2
Posted
  On 12/19/2020 at 4:33 PM, Lockpick said:

Energy Aura

 

It seems underrated to me.  A number of my new stalkers are Energy Aura because of the mitigation from Energy Drain and Energize.  You can soft-cap typed defense (S/L/F/C/E/N), but will have a Psi hole.

 

The leveling is a bit smoother because you get Energy Drain at level 28, so most of your endurance issues will be resolved.

Expand  

Thanks a lot man! Can also play into an Energy Vampire them 😈I really appreciate all of this info.

Posted
  On 12/19/2020 at 4:33 PM, Lockpick said:

Energy Aura

 

It seems underrated to me.  A number of my new stalkers are Energy Aura because of the mitigation from Energy Drain and Energize.  You can soft-cap typed defense (S/L/F/C/E/N), but will have a Psi hole.

 

The leveling is a bit smoother because you get Energy Drain at level 28, so most of your endurance issues will be resolved.

Expand  

 

  On 12/19/2020 at 4:31 PM, Haijinx said:

Energy Aura usually

 

Electric is ElA or Elec typically.   I'm not very familiar with Electric.   I do have two EA stalkers well in vet levels, including my most expensive build which is kind of insanely powerful IMO.   I would definitely recommend the set. 

 

It has the added advantage that the Energy Glow variant of powers looks great when you are in hide you become a silhouette, which is much easier to see for us older players than mostly invisible. 

Expand  

As a second question, I hear some people skip Savage Leap on a SM Stalker? Do you 2 know if this is typically the case? It seems like such a fun power to me haha

Posted
  On 12/19/2020 at 4:44 PM, StriderIV said:

 

As a second question, I hear some people skip Savage Leap on a SM Stalker? Do you 2 know if this is typically the case? It seems like such a fun power to me haha

Expand  

Sounds like Savage Leap is actually a great power.  And a good with damage procs.  

 

The only trick is to remember the damage scales with distance.  

 

But this is me repeating what I've read on this forum.  My Savage characters are only in their 20's and haven't tried it yet myself. 

  • Like 1
Posted

Savage Leap is awesome, definitely do not skip.  I think it was @Frosticus who was suggesting Savage/Shield because you get Savage Leap and Shield Charge for massive AoE.  He also had some interesting proc slotting that boosted damage quite a bit.  I usually build for set bonuses, so not sure how well it works with the procs.

 

  On 12/19/2020 at 4:31 PM, Haijinx said:

It has the added advantage that the Energy Glow variant of powers looks great when you are in hide you become a silhouette, which is much easier to see for us older players than mostly invisible. 

Expand  

I have to check this out ASAP!  Thanks for the tip.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Posted
  On 12/19/2020 at 4:56 PM, Lockpick said:

Savage Leap is awesome, definitely do not skip.  I think it was @Frosticus who was suggesting Savage/Shield because you get Savage Leap and Shield Charge for massive AoE.  He also had some interesting proc slotting that boosted damage quite a bit.  I usually build for set bonuses, so not sure how well it works with the procs.

 

I have to check this out ASAP!  Thanks for the tip.

Expand  

Perfect, glad to hear that. Yeah, I’m very torn between SM/EA and SM/Shield 😂 SM/EA I feel fits concept better. SM/Shield seems like it would be fun with the 2 AOE leaps haha

Posted (edited)
  On 12/19/2020 at 4:56 PM, Lockpick said:

Savage Leap is awesome, definitely do not skip.  I think it was @Frosticus who was suggesting Savage/Shield because you get Savage Leap and Shield Charge for massive AoE.  He also had some interesting proc slotting that boosted damage quite a bit.  I usually build for set bonuses, so not sure how well it works with the procs.

 

I have to check this out ASAP!  Thanks for the tip.

Expand  

Since you have a wealth of knowledge on Stalkers, are there any you would say are really fun to play and effective endgame? I obviously like Savage. I heard Elect/Shield is great, as well as SJ/Bio and Psi/EA

Edited by StriderIV
Posted

I have at 50 (in the order I leveled them):

 

StJ/SR

Psi/EA

Savage/SR

StJ/Invuln

Stj/SD

EM/EA

KM/EA

 

You can tell I am partial to StJ.  Both the StJ/SR and StJ/Inv are very strong at end game with Incarnates.  The /Invuln might be the toughest of all my characters.  The StJ/SD adds some AoE damage and between Mighty Judgement and Shield Charge he has pretty good AoE.

 

Currently the hardest hitting (IMO) is the EM/EA.  I think EM is likely OP, but it was fun to level and leveled really quick.

 

I may try to create an EM/SD or EM/Inv, but I've got 5 other Stalkers between 30 and 40 I need to finish.

 

I would avoid KM.  I really liked KM while leveling, but I shelved him at 40 to level the EM/EA when EM went Live.  After leveling and incarnating my EM/EA and going back to the KM/EA it seemed very weak in comparison.

 

My Elc/SD is only in the mid-20s, so not sure how well that would play at end game.  I would suggest StJ, EM, and Savage are all good choices, but it looks like Savage was nerfed in the @Frosticus thread.

 

 

  • Thanks 1
Posted (edited)
  On 12/19/2020 at 10:16 PM, Lockpick said:

I have at 50 (in the order I leveled them):

 

StJ/SR

Psi/EA

Savage/SR

StJ/Invuln

Stj/SD

EM/EA

KM/EA

 

You can tell I am partial to StJ.  Both the StJ/SR and StJ/Inv are very strong at end game with Incarnates.  The /Invuln might be the toughest of all my characters.  The StJ/SD adds some AoE damage and between Mighty Judgement and Shield Charge he has pretty good AoE.

 

Currently the hardest hitting (IMO) is the EM/EA.  I think EM is likely OP, but it was fun to level and leveled really quick.

 

I may try to create an EM/SD or EM/Inv, but I've got 5 other Stalkers between 30 and 40 I need to finish.

 

I would avoid KM.  I really liked KM while leveling, but I shelved him at 40 to level the EM/EA when EM went Live.  After leveling and incarnating my EM/EA and going back to the KM/EA it seemed very weak in comparison.

 

My Elc/SD is only in the mid-20s, so not sure how well that would play at end game.  I would suggest StJ, EM, and Savage are all good choices, but it looks like Savage was nerfed in the @Frosticus thread.

 

 

Expand  

This is awesome man thanks. So much think of with Stalkers. While I have you, do you have any experience with Brutes? Looking at potential combos there as well. Maybe Savage/Bio, Savage/DA, Elec/Shield, TW/Elec or StJ/Bio.

Edited by StriderIV
Posted
  On 12/19/2020 at 10:16 PM, Lockpick said:

I have at 50 (in the order I leveled them):

 

StJ/SR

Psi/EA

Savage/SR

StJ/Invuln

Stj/SD

EM/EA

KM/EA

 

You can tell I am partial to StJ.  Both the StJ/SR and StJ/Inv are very strong at end game with Incarnates.  The /Invuln might be the toughest of all my characters.  The StJ/SD adds some AoE damage and between Mighty Judgement and Shield Charge he has pretty good AoE.

 

Currently the hardest hitting (IMO) is the EM/EA.  I think EM is likely OP, but it was fun to level and leveled really quick.

 

I may try to create an EM/SD or EM/Inv, but I've got 5 other Stalkers between 30 and 40 I need to finish.

 

I would avoid KM.  I really liked KM while leveling, but I shelved him at 40 to level the EM/EA when EM went Live.  After leveling and incarnating my EM/EA and going back to the KM/EA it seemed very weak in comparison.

 

My Elc/SD is only in the mid-20s, so not sure how well that would play at end game.  I would suggest StJ, EM, and Savage are all good choices, but it looks like Savage was nerfed in the @Frosticus thread.

 

 

Expand  

My strongest Stalker is STJ/EA which is 8 purple sets, perma hasten, no expense spared, etc.

 

Can charge into 54x8 missions ahead of teams without a care in the world, etc, etc.  Hit Energy Drain maybe once an hour.  Hit  Energize maybe twice that often. 

 

Savage/EA should be just as strong or stronger in normal play I expect.  

 

  

  • Like 1
Posted

Thanks my man. By chance, do you have any experience with Brutes? Looking at potential combos there as well. Maybe Savage/Bio, Savage/DA, Elec/Shield, TW/Elec or StJ/Bio.

Posted (edited)

You can never go wrong with energy aura with any primary. In my opinion, energy aura is the best secondary for stalkers for just all around strength. Easy to softcap typed defense (except psi). Can get respectable resist numbers. Easy slotting allows you to drop leadership and pick up sorcery pool and get rune of protection. This can boost your resist numbers to very good numbers and cap out s/l with 50% uptime. 
 

Ease of slotting also allows you to use procs in your attacks and chase recharge. Energy aura gives you +20% recharge to boot. Plus, you get a good heal that also gives a great endurance discount that can be made perma. You even get an end recovery tool that doubles as a defense boost. So you never need to worry about endurance. 
 

The only time you’ll have issues is in a mob of pure psi damage. But even then I did fine.  EA is overall my favorite secondary and I can’t recommend it enough. 
 

Bio and shield are also strong secondaries. Shield can softcap positional defense and get great resist totals. It will just have some endurance issues until incarnates and doesn’t have a native heal. Shield is one of the go-to secondaries for boosting damage. Bio is also great for damage and can be built fairly sturdy. In my experience it isn’t as survivable as EA or shield, but it has a lot of good tools and is a go to for focusing on damage. 

Edited by Saikochoro
Posted
  On 12/19/2020 at 4:44 PM, StriderIV said:

 

As a second question, I hear some people skip Savage Leap on a SM Stalker? Do you 2 know if this is typically the case? It seems like such a fun power to me haha

Expand  

Definitely do not skip savage leap. It is one of the defining powers in the set and is a source of much of the fun you will have with savage. Make sure to set aside funds in your budget to proc out savage leap. I usually do one damage enhancement and 5 procs. It is awesome!

  • Like 1
Posted
  On 12/20/2020 at 10:31 PM, Saikochoro said:

Definitely do not skip savage leap. It is one of the defining powers in the set and is a source of much of the fun you will have with savage. Make sure to set aside funds in your budget to proc out savage leap. I usually do one damage enhancement and 5 procs. It is awesome!

Expand  

Great to hear, will def get it!

 

After much thought, I think I’m gonna go with either a Shield/Savage TANKER or Savage/Shield Brute. You really sold me on Savage, and the idea of jumping around with Leap and Shield charge just seems fun.

 

Even if it may be more optimal on a Stalker, I just find myself wanting to fight on the frontlines too much. Now to just decide on either a Tanker or Brute 😂

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

My savage/ea stalker is 46 now and has been very fun to level.  EA is pretty solid, i’ve been soft-capped to all non psi since the early 30s and only time I died was jumping into a pile of mother mayhem  + seers lol

 

i could never get into shield, it seems like a good set i just hated the click mez protection 

Edited by mcdoogss

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