So what's the story on claws?

[earthaddy]

I don't see much talk about claws. Is it not good on a stalker? I played a claws scrapper on live as my main, before all the IO stuff came about. Stalker trades spin for assassins strike. I liked spin, I think I was one of the few, but that's a good trade. They trade taunt for placate, I skipped taunt on the scrapper, probably skip placate on stalker. Eviscerate went from a cone to single target. This seems ... excessive. There are plenty of stalker sets with more good aoe than claws.

 

I love shockwave and focus. Ranged attacks are so nice.

 

Anyway, what's the deal. Are claws good on stalkers? Are they just better on other ATs? Yeah, it's lethal damage, but so are a lot of other sets. Thinking about getting serious with a claws stalker, but don't want to be disappointed.

[FUBARczar]

I ran one on live towards the end.  I never wanted to play claws and then I had a concept and had to, hehe.  Anyhow, I found it to be very rewarding.  It's got a different feel that is cool, with two ranged attacks, and shockwave adding good control.  It's just too bad that Eviscerate isn't AoE like Ripper. 

 

Lethal is not the greatest, but it shouldn't prevent you from playing it, just look at everyone playing Ninja Blade, Dual Blades, Spines, Battle Axe, Broad Sword, etc.

[Some Random User]

My Taxi Bot was a Claws Scrapper. The powerset has a good feel. I'm planning to remake the toon at some point.

[Trickshooter]

Eviscerate went from a cone to single target. This seems ... excessive. There are plenty of stalker sets with more good aoe than claws.

 

Late to this, but just wanted to say that Eviscerate becoming a ST attack was not done as a penalty to the set. It was actually a player-requested change. I think it was because Claws for Stalkers didn't have a heavy-hitting attack, besides AS, with a guaranteed crit, and so it lagged behind the other sets in burst damage, which went against the intended focus of the Stalker AT.