Ice / Ice Stalker Is Fun!

[Mythical Creature]

I rarely ever see ice/ice stalker mentioned in this forum, but this is a great combo that has quickly become one of my favorite ones. I attached my current build that I am pretty happy with. I can solo trapdoor on most difficult settings with ease.

 

I think a big reason this combo is so effective isn't very obvious, it's Ice Patch (from Ice Melee) causes the enemies to keep getting knocked down. This solves a huge problem for stalkers in high level content, keeping the enemies from running away.

 

Other reasons this is a winning combo are Icy Bastion and Shadow Meld. Ice armor always made me hesitate because it only easily caps S/L/E/NE defense and Cold Resistance. This is an illusion because the t9 Icy Bastion will give you 75% resistance to all but psi with no crash and some juicy regeneration and a faster recharge than most t9. If you also get Shadow Meld, you can cycle between them for when things start hurting. I am up to vet level 25 and don't recall ever dying on the character. 

 

The existence of Icy Bastion/Shadow Meld makes it so capping survivability is a cake walk. This is probably one of the more proc'd up stalkers in my arsenal because of all the extra slots. 

 

I highly recommend this combo, especially if you are playing it with a good build. 

[MoonSheep]

no chilling embrace? sad ice armour noises

 

it’s the pinnacle of the powerset

[Heatstroke]

 

 

 Vanguard has provided information on Dongzi (Winter's Son in his native tongue) aka "Frostbite". Subject is an earth born Edenian and believed to be a descendant of Kuai Liang. Like others in his clan he has the ability to control and manipulate Cold and Ice. Frostbite can sheath his body in layers of ice to deflect damage, create ice swords for attacks, and encase foes in ice paralyzing them.  Dongzi however has two unique abilities or "kekkei genkai" among his clan. He can make his body crystalline in nature which allows him to become completely transparent, invisible to the naked eye. He can also manipulate the density of this structure making himself highly resistance to damage for a short period of time. Frostbite is a very formidable foe in one on one combat. Our data suggests that attacks with multiple agent groups may be the best way to neutralize him.

 

Very very fun

[ZemX]

Hmm.. does look fun.  I have an Ice/Shield stalker that looks neat because the shield can be made to look like a block of ice too.  Ice Patch is indeed amazing... except against stuff that can't fall down which unfortunately includes all of the ITF's Cimerorans once they start doing their shouting. But most of the time it's gold.

 

I should probably try a variant of this toon with Ice/Ice to see how it compares.

[Mythical Creature]

On 8/6/2023 at 3:49 AM, MoonSheep said:

no chilling embrace? sad ice armour noises

 

it’s the pinnacle of the powerset

I opted against it mostly due to it potentially interfering with the hidden mechanic. I likely could remove combat jumping for it as it isn't needed to achieve soft caps.

 

Survivability hardly seems like an issue though, whenever a team lacks a brute/tank I am able to handle alpha strikes without problems by cycling icy bastion and shadow meld. 
 

I am considering making an ice tanker after experiencing being on teams like that and I would definitely grab chilling embrace on a tanker.  

[Mythical Creature]

4 hours ago, ZemX said:

Hmm.. does look fun.  I have an Ice/Shield stalker that looks neat because the shield can be made to look like a block of ice too.  Ice Patch is indeed amazing... except against stuff that can't fall down which unfortunately includes all of the ITF's Cimerorans once they start doing their shouting. But most of the time it's gold.

 

I should probably try a variant of this toon with Ice/Ice to see how it compares.

 

I enjoy shield and could totally see it being a feasible combo with ice melee. I like to think about Ice Patch like a bonus, it either works or doesn't but usually it's minions it works on which is perfect because it keeps them close by so that aoes can knock em out.

Edited August 11, 2023 by Mythical Creature

[MoonSheep]

33 minutes ago, Mythical Creature said:

I opted against it mostly due to it potentially interfering with the hidden mechanic. I likely could remove combat jumping for it as it isn't needed to achieve soft caps.

 

Survivability hardly seems like an issue though, whenever a team lacks a brute/tank I am able to handle alpha strikes without problems by cycling icy bastion and shadow meld. 
 

I am considering making an ice tanker after experiencing being on teams like that and I would definitely grab chilling embrace on a tanker.  

 

i like that it ticks so frequently, every 0.5s i believe - makes it a great power to herd things up and unleash those lovely AoEs

[Heatstroke]

18 hours ago, Mythical Creature said:

 

I enjoy shield and could totally see it being a feasible combo with ice melee. I like to think about Ice Patch like a bonus, it either works or doesn't but usually it's minions it works on which is perfect because it keeps them close by so that aoes can knock em out.

 

 

Ice/Spines Tank....  do it....

[Saiyajinzoningen]

I had a bud who played an ice/ice stalker and basically went around one shotting entire mobs with ease.

It was amazing to behold and kinda scary tbh. He doesnt play anymore but i learned a valuable lesson

dont underestimate any powerset combination when built and played properly

[Kaika]

Nothing really to underestimate here, Ice melee is one of the best power sets stalker has available, arguably the best. As for chilling embrace it's suppressed when hidden, so it shouldn't interfere with the hide mechanic. Even if it did, Stalkers are very scrappy these days so it really wouldn't be a huge issue, but that shouldn't be the case.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Riot Siren

[pawstruck]

I'm a bit of a noob, but: I'm conflicted about stalker primaries that have lots of AoE's. To me, the flavor of a stalker is the beat-em-up style of killing things one by one, but very rapidly (1-2 attacks). Makes you feel like a real ninja/secret agent/action hero. I'm sure having AoE's is objectively better, though.

[Without_Pause]

3 hours ago, pawstruck said:

I'm a bit of a noob, but: I'm conflicted about stalker primaries that have lots of AoE's. To me, the flavor of a stalker is the beat-em-up style of killing things one by one, but very rapidly (1-2 attacks). Makes you feel like a real ninja/secret agent/action hero. I'm sure having AoE's is objectively better, though.

More AoEs means bigger mobs which in turn means more drops. If on a team, it means faster clear times. I'm pretty much at the point of skipping on any attack set which has a single AoE. No set needs that many ST attacks. End game attack chains can be 3-4 ST attacks. You sure as hell don't need 6-7. Case in point, non-Stalker Claws can use all of 5 powers to have a ST attack chain and one for AoE. I'm not 100% sure for a Stalker as I refuse to play Claws without Spin, but I still assume the first two attacks won't factor into an end game build in terms of usage so in theory it should still work, but again, I haven't even looked up the numbers. 

 

For those scoring at home, FU, Slash, Focus, Spin, and Shockwave. Even Brutes and Tankers with the longer recharge on Spin can still pull it off. My Scrapper got SBed, and my attack chain was FU and Spin. Mu ha ha ha.

[pawstruck]

5 hours ago, Without_Pause said:

More AoEs means bigger mobs which in turn means more drops. If on a team, it means faster clear times. I'm pretty much at the point of skipping on any attack set which has a single AoE. No set needs that many ST attacks. End game attack chains can be 3-4 ST attacks. You sure as hell don't need 6-7. Case in point, non-Stalker Claws can use all of 5 powers to have a ST attack chain and one for AoE. I'm not 100% sure for a Stalker as I refuse to play Claws without Spin, but I still assume the first two attacks won't factor into an end game build in terms of usage so in theory it should still work, but again, I haven't even looked up the numbers. 

 

For those scoring at home, FU, Slash, Focus, Spin, and Shockwave. Even Brutes and Tankers with the longer recharge on Spin can still pull it off. My Scrapper got SBed, and my attack chain was FU and Spin. Mu ha ha ha.

 

I completely understand where you're coming from, and I understand that for some people, pushing the absolute limits of their character (and the game) is fun for them.

 

I don't enjoy having so much recharge that most of my own primary is useless, although again I am sure it's the objectively most efficient way to play. 🙂

[Lhanis]

Ice Melee with either Ice or Stone armor are my favorite combinations to use on Stalker. Such a fantastic set all around. Just wish I didn't have to mute my game when playing it to avoid the migraine-inducing whistling sound that drowns everything else out while the sword is in your hand...

[TinyJuggs]

I love ice/ice, but ice armors skins make me feel like a tanker.

[Heatstroke]

On 1/10/2024 at 7:15 AM, TinyJuggs said:

I love ice/ice, but ice armors skins make me feel like a tanker.

 

 

Change the effects to minimal.. 

[wyldone]

I  saw this thread and decided to make this build and try a melee ice character - I used to play in the original days and played a range fire character.

 

What enhancement did you slot the power with?

 

thanks!

 

[arcane]

On 8/6/2023 at 5:49 AM, MoonSheep said:

no chilling embrace? sad ice armour noises

 

it’s the pinnacle of the powerset

Can you explain how Chilling Embrace works with Hide? Does being hidden suppress Chilling Embrace?