Whoa! What happened to Dual Blades Assassin Strike by level 38?

[Omega9]

At level 20 this Stalker was playable. Could do high damage to +1 bosses. At 38 it does only minor damage to -1 bosses. Hidden with Build-Up running.

 

Dark Armor doing squat. Soul Transfer working on overtime. Good thing it does not take too long to recharge Soul Transfer.

[Without_Pause]

Might depend on the mob. DB is lethal damage so it can be resisted quite often. Not sure on /dark. It is a resist based set which is lesser valued on a lower HP AT. It would help to post your build.

[StrikerFox]

There was an update to DB with the i27 patch, maybe it messed it up somehow. Also check if you out-leveled the IOs and they're all red.

[Omega9]

Well, level 38, not all the enhancement slots are available yet, but they are all level 40 recipe enhancements. The basic ones so no buffs from them.

 

All attacks are at 97.5 percent damage with one accuracy and one or two recharges. Dark Embrace and Murky Cloud have 2 Resistance enhancements slotted. Not taking Psionic or Toxic so Obsidian just has one Resistance slotted. Hasten and Experimentation with Adrenal Booster slotted and used.

 

I am not going to count the level 42 Nemesis, but on level 37 Rikti Bosses Assassin's Blades/Strike is doing nothing. Like 25% damage when buffed with Hidden, Build-Up, and Adrenal Booster all up. That seems weird.

[arcane]

The problem is with your build and/or playstyle and/or difficulty/challenge settings, not the set. No powerset/combo in the game necessitates a rez doing overtime if you have those 3 things down.

[Omega9]

I am supposing that Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom are going to negate Hidden status from Hide since they are attacks and not a confuse or sleep power. If you could use them without breaking Hidden that would change things. It never worked that way on my DA Scrapper and brute though.

Edited January 5, 2022 by Omega9

[Omega9]

2 hours ago, arcane said:

The problem is with your build and/or playstyle and/or difficulty/challenge settings, not the set. No powerset/combo in the game necessitates a rez doing overtime if you have those 3 things down.

Leveling a toon is not so smooth or without bumps along the way as you suggest. In the end with IO's and their buffs to resistances I am sure my DB/DA Stalker will become quite resilient. However, at level 20-ish Assassin's Blades buffed by Build-up was almost a one-shot on most bosses. It just seems like the power should be getting better, not fading away.

 

2004-2012 subber and beta tester

[ZorkNemesis]

2 hours ago, Omega9 said:

I am not going to count the level 42 Nemesis, but on level 37 Rikti Bosses Assassin's Blades/Strike is doing nothing. Like 25% damage when buffed with Hidden, Build-Up, and Adrenal Booster all up. That seems weird.

 

Armored Rikti mobs have something like 50% resistance to lethal.  Combined with boss-tier HP attacking them with swords or guns will amonut to tickling them most of the time and no amount of Build Up or Assassain's Strike will change that.

[Without_Pause]

4 hours ago, Omega9 said:

Well, level 38, not all the enhancement slots are available yet, but they are all level 40 recipe enhancements. The basic ones so no buffs from them.

 

All attacks are at 97.5 percent damage with one accuracy and one or two recharges. Dark Embrace and Murky Cloud have 2 Resistance enhancements slotted. Not taking Psionic or Toxic so Obsidian just has one Resistance slotted. Hasten and Experimentation with Adrenal Booster slotted and used.

 

I am not going to count the level 42 Nemesis, but on level 37 Rikti Bosses Assassin's Blades/Strike is doing nothing. Like 25% damage when buffed with Hidden, Build-Up, and Adrenal Booster all up. That seems weird.

Attacks which have 2 recharges in them are taking away from end or damage slotting. On a basic level, ST attacks I 6-slot with 1 acc, 3 damage, 1 end, 1 recharge. AoEs, are 2 acc, 3 damage, and an end. DE and MC should be three slotted for Res. Did you even add in the fighting pool?

[Omega9]

No, I won't be using Tough. I'll get Smashing and Lethal from Titanium Coating and Aegis as well as Stalker's Guile, but that is all a way off. My theory on Stalkers is they are not Scrappers, but can scrap for a while. They come with the tools to hit and fade and strike wherever needed.

 

I am going to dream a bit here and respec into Cloak of Fear on the notion that it won't break Hidden just because the minions become feared. If it does break Hidden then it would also block you from becoming Hidden and of course be useless to a Stalker.

 

Also, I would rather have a buffed Typhoon's Edge than 1000 Cuts. Typhoon's Edge has the best blade attack animation. I miss it.

[ZorkNemesis]

My understanding with most of the offensive auras for Stalker is that when you're in the Hidden state, their effects are supressed so you won't drop out of Hidden  by getting too close to things.  Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom should only start working once you're not Hidden but if you're standing there while Hidden they won't do anything.

 

Whirlwind from the Speed Pool is an exception, as that will work while Hidden and break your stealth.

[Omega9]

Yes, the Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom do nothing while Hidden. Once you hit with your Assassin's Strike they fear or stun all the minions around you and block Hidden from restarting. However, if you use Placate it drops you back into Hidden to repeat your Assassin's Strike. If the placate doesn't affect all the minions nearby it can block Hidden from restarting. It's a little twitchy and once the placate wears off they know where you are and will attack, and get Feared or Stunned again. Like I say a bit twitchy as to what will happen, but amusing. Good as armor I suppose.

[Shred Monkey]

Assassin's strike is the biggest hit in the game.  This is true no matter what level you are or what powerset you chose.  You're hitting for 25% of a Rikti boss's health?  Sounds about right.  The game gets harder at your level.  IMHO, It actually gets easier at level 45+ because you get more enhancement slots and can really shore up your defenses and powers.  Plus you have a better income to buy IO sets if you're not getting influence from other toons.  But right now you're nearing that peak of the difficulty curve. 

[Without_Pause]

Plus at 50 you get purples and superior versions of IOs.

[carroto]

Without Tough you're going to have a hard time bringing your S/L resistance to a high enough level to really have good survivability.  If you're going that route I'd push for +def instead of trying to get a ton of +res from IOs.  Of course Weave would help there as well, but I think you'll have an easier time shoring up your defenses than resistances without the Fighting Pool.