Staff/Stone or Elec/Shield?

[StriderIV]

Good day heroes!

 

@BuiltDifferent5's thread got me interested in running another Stalker. I only have one I play a lot, and I LOVE them (KM/Ice), so I figure I might just really like the rouge like gameplay of the Stalker.

 

Anyways, reading through all the Staff Fighting stuff made me see a potential synergy between Staff and Stone Armor. Stone is the newer Stalker set, but seems really sturdy. Staff picks up a hard hitting attack and could make good use of the Brimstone procs. Staff will also pump up defenses and resists of Stone, which is an added bonus.

On the flip side, Elec/Shield Stalker seems to be a universal favorite out there. My FIRST 50 when I returned to HC was a Shield/Elec Tanker. Some of the most "fun per click" I've had in the game. That being said, I couldn't tell you how many times people told me to re-roll it on a Stalker since LR and SC don't break hide 😂 That being said, if I've played the set on a Tanker, would you say it's worth re-rolling on a Stalker?

Both of these sets seem to do REALLY good AOE for a Stalker, and have good ST as well. 

I'm all ears on suggestions/points I may have missed!

 

Edit: I actually made a little vote thing on Reddit. Nifty!

 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by StriderIV
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[BuiltDifferent5]

Glad to see it inspired someone else to roll a Stalker. I LITERALLY just had the same talk with @Infinitum about this (although I’m leaning Staff/EnA for mine). 
 

Ultimately, I’d probably say give the Staff/Stone a shot! My reasoning:

 

- It’s more original. Sometimes it’s fun to discover new, powerful combos. Seems like there is nice synergy between Staff and Stone.

- You’ve ran Elec/Shield (well, I guess Shield/Elec) on a Tanker. While I know it’s AMAZING on a Stalker, you’re probably going to have a similar experience overall.

[Yomo Kimyata]

I'd think it would be two very different experiences, so run both!

 

Both Staff and Electric in my opinion, are their best selves in Stalker form.  @BuiltDifferent5's post got me to pull out my Staff/Bio and damn that's a good build.

 

Staff/Stone would be interesting, especially if you stayed in full stone costume!  Yes, Brimstone will help with damage.  My only issues with this build might be that Earth's Embrace is more of a +hp power than a heal, and that Geode gets broken down a lot more quickly than I might like when you are going all out.  I do like staff a lot though, and Guarded Spin helps a bit (although Stone is typed and Guarded is mostly useful in positional).  This might be a case though where you might miss Form of Soul or whichever one cuts endurance -- Stone Armor is a harsh endurance mistress until you get your build right.

 

Electric/Shield is a fan favorite, but I think that's mostly due to double telenukes.  Historically, I don't love them, but nowadays I use macros to set up a telenuke on me, a telenuke on my target, or go traditional location.  It speeds things up a lot.  Not breaking Hide feels cheaty to me!  I love Chain Induction (use Kinetic Combat knockdown!)

 

I wish you could pick Staff/Shield!  Although Electric/Stone...

[StriderIV]

52 minutes ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

I'd think it would be two very different experiences, so run both!

 

Both Staff and Electric in my opinion, are their best selves in Stalker form.  @BuiltDifferent5's post got me to pull out my Staff/Bio and damn that's a good build.

 

Staff/Stone would be interesting, especially if you stayed in full stone costume!  Yes, Brimstone will help with damage.  My only issues with this build might be that Earth's Embrace is more of a +hp power than a heal, and that Geode gets broken down a lot more quickly than I might like when you are going all out.  I do like staff a lot though, and Guarded Spin helps a bit (although Stone is typed and Guarded is mostly useful in positional).  This might be a case though where you might miss Form of Soul or whichever one cuts endurance -- Stone Armor is a harsh endurance mistress until you get your build right.

 

Electric/Shield is a fan favorite, but I think that's mostly due to double telenukes.  Historically, I don't love them, but nowadays I use macros to set up a telenuke on me, a telenuke on my target, or go traditional location.  It speeds things up a lot.  Not breaking Hide feels cheaty to me!  I love Chain Induction (use Kinetic Combat knockdown!)

 

I wish you could pick Staff/Shield!  Although Electric/Stone...

Haha a great sell on both 😂 I just need more INF and time in the day 😂

[Croax]

I answered this in tell, but then i figured out people could use this info:

 

I would say it depends on what you  want to play in the long term.

 

The Elec/Shield is a beast but needs a lot of the pieces until it really clicks. The Endurance is a Problem, so Ageless helps. Single Target is a Problem, so a Snipe helps, Having both nukes is the selling part of the set which means a loooong way until you can fully appreciate it which mean lvl 38 or higher. Leveling this combo is not as much fun as others, because Shields survivability kicks in pretty late, it has a click mez what is stupid when you want hasten (which one to put on auto cast?). Also the Single Target of Elec is okish after having Assassin Strike AND a snipe (lvl 41?).

If you want to power level and then fully kit out the build going on every TaskForce or Trial you can find. Elec/Shield is the better of the two.

 

I have not played staff because it was underperforming, when i tested the set a few years ago. But the animations and the Costume/Lore Options are dope.

If you want to level the build over time and like to take your time picking up flowers left and rigth.

If you don't care about peak performance but love to have a good time without thinking much.

If you like to spam Attacks and have a cool concept for the unique staff/stone costume combos.

If you leave a toon after hitting 50.

If you have 3954 different alts all between lvl 1 and 40.

If you can answer one or more of these questions with yes:

->Then you should play Staff/stone.

[tidge]

I also answered in private... and one thing I had forgotten was that I have played a fair bit with a Plant/Electricity Assault Dominator. Based on that character, I came to completely HATE Thunderstrike. According to City of Data, it looks like the Stalker version is a 'true' AoE and not requiring a target. My Dominator experience led me to respec out of it, as it was not at all practical for damage or control of more than one opposing figure... partially because of enemy placement, partially because of the long wind-up.

 

In other threads I have been quick to point out that Hasten only offers marginal improvements to most of my builds. All of my Stalkers have Hasten, and I believe each of them has it 'perma'. It is a combination of completely smoothing out attack chains and making some long-recharge powers viable for each spawn.