Slotting Hide

[drgantz]

Does anyone slot Hide?  I've never slotted Hide, but I was thinking that some sets have holes, such as EA's Psi and Toxic hole.  Since Hide protects all, I was thinking that it might be useful, even though the bonus is very small.

[Without_Pause]

Depends on where you put the Shield Wall: 5% Res or Reactive Defense: Scaling Resist Damage IOs. You can always stick a LotG: +Recharge in there if needed. To add, the only other one off Def based IO would be Kismet: +6% Acc.

Edited September 6, 2023 by Without_Pause

[tidge]

The default slot get the Kismet +6% ToHit. I think every one of my Stalkers has (eventually) added a second slot for the LotG global +Recharge piece.

[drgantz]

It appears that Weave also protects All, so it should also be good for plugging the Toxic/Psi hole in EA.

[Without_Pause]

I went and looked. On my StJ/ea I got 23.79% and 24.79% for P/T Def respectively. Resist is 16% and 25.73%. Toxic I found to be the easier one to deal since it is DoT based as where Psy hits harder and its secondary effects of -Recharge.

[drgantz]

Thanks.  Are your P/T Def and Res because of Hide and Weave?

[Panache]

18 hours ago, Without_Pause said:

Depends on where you put the Shield Wall: 5% Res or Reactive Defense: Scaling Resist Damage IOs. You can always stick a LotG: +Recharge in there if needed. To add, the only other one off Def based IO would be Kismet: +6% Acc.

Karma KB Protection too, for the few who need/want it.

[Without_Pause]

34 minutes ago, drgantz said:

Thanks.  Are your P/T Def and Res because of Hide and Weave?

Hide, Weave, Maneuvers, CJ, and the two Resist IOs which give +3% Def each. Resistance is the two Def based IOs giving 8% Resist while at full health, some set bonuses, and Kinetic Dampening and Aegis Psy Resist. 

[drgantz]

That is awesome.  Croax said that if you can plug the T/P holes, EA would be in the "S" Category. 

[Without_Pause]

A good test is to run the Tina badge mission. It is nothing but Hydra. If you can do that at your normal diff setting, whatever that may be, then I think you have Toxic covered. I can't recall my Stalker's performance in it since I did it some time ago. Any other EA I have done has been +#/x8 and never really felt in danger. I can't recall if my level 44 Brute did it at +1 or +2. He's done everything +2 since hitting 45. I tend to solo smaller mobs on my Stalker though. There are missions for Psy, but I don't have the info for where those are at. The best ones are red side. I know there is one with I think nothing but Psy Cops.

[Zect]

The portion of hide that does not suppress and always remains active is only equivalent to CJ, so it is usually not heavily slotted. It can carry the def uniques that require the power to be active to work, such as kismet and reactive defenses. These deactivate if you lose access to the power they are in when exemping so it can help to have them in an early power, and hide is available at level 1.

 

Almost every EA stalker will have 16% def to all since slotted Weave is about 6%, slotted CJ or hover 2-3%, hide 2%, both uniques 6% = 16% minimum.

• Energy drain gives +def all too, but the amount is very small - 1% to 7% depending on slotting and # of enemies hit, I wouldn't count on it giving more than 4% even if you take and slot it heavily which I generally do not recommend.
• You can take CJ or hover, whichever you did not earlier (2-3%).
• You can take maneuvers (close to 4% when ED capped). If you took CJ, hover, maneuvers weave you lose access to hasten which excludes you from the top DPS builds.
• Barrier core epiphany is perma-5% def to all.
• A defense amp (the 8 hour inspiration as I like to call it) is 5% def to all.

These are the boosts I generally consider practical. If we take and unrealistically assume max values for all the above that is +41% def to all. 6x apoc in moonbeam will cap you to psi.

 

A defense alpha may put you closer to the cap. Both melee and support hybrid provide +def all, but they are not permanent. At this point we are taking severe hits to dps by not taking an offensive alpha and offensive hybrid.

 

In practice, all this would be a huge waste since you would be significantly overcapped to other damage, wasting the power of your other defense toggles. A more realistic figure is possibly the low to mid-30's and most high-end stalker builds will only be in the low 20's to high teens.

 

On the more practical side of solutions, Shadowmeld from soul epic does provide +def all, and it comes with access to moonbeam which is never a weak option. It is not permanent but it is up often enough to function as an alpha absorber. This works just long enough for you to apply the real stalker solution to a defense hole, shank the enemies before they shoot you.

Edited September 7, 2023 by Zect

[tidge]

On 9/6/2023 at 11:37 PM, Zect said:

The portion of hide that does not suppress and always remains active is only equivalent to CJ, so it is usually not heavily slotted. It can carry the def uniques that require the power to be active to work, such as kismet and reactive defenses. These deactivate if you lose access to the power they are in when exemping so it can help to have them in an early power, and hide is available at level 1.

 

IIRC The Scaling Damage Resistance unique in the Reactive Defenses set is flagged as a Global. The power doesn't need to be on to get its effect; attuned it should work from levels 17+ when exemplared. Kismet's unique definitely needs to be activated by a power; I've only used in in toggles.

 

The only circumstances I will turn off Hide is for escorts/kidnaps and to show off costumes. I feel like there may have been one mission where I was having trouble finding some enemies so I may have turned Hide off for that reason too.

[Troo]

On 9/5/2023 at 2:54 PM, drgantz said:

Does anyone slot Hide?  I've never slotted Hide, but I was thinking that some sets have holes, such as EA's Psi and Toxic hole.  Since Hide protects all, I was thinking that it might be useful, even though the bonus is very small.

 

Yes, especially earlier in the game.

..but not always, it really depends on the build.

 

Often I have two Luck of the Gamblers and maybe another global. I've done just 3 globals. I have a couple Stalkers with 4 slots. Then some with just a regular Def enhancement.

 

It's endurance free defense if we have the slots. If we are just shy of 45 def or 50, slotting Hide can get a build over the hump.

 

It's better than slotting Brawl (but not always).

[Zect]

On 9/12/2023 at 10:30 AM, tidge said:

 

IIRC The Scaling Damage Resistance unique in the Reactive Defenses set is flagged as a Global. The power doesn't need to be on to get its effect; attuned it should work from levels 17+ when exemplared. Kismet's unique definitely needs to be activated by a power; I've only used in in toggles.

 

What you have posted right here is a great example of how being wrong is very often good news. Excellent point and I stand corrected.

Edited September 16, 2023 by Zect