Help me settle on some things with a new character

[Photon]

1. The outfit: I got the outfit mostly down, the only things I'm stuck on are the color of the hat, and whether to keep the horns or not.

 

dark yellow with horns:

 

Dark yellow without horns:

 

Dark red with horns:

 

Dark Red without horns:

 

2. secondary powerset: 

Making a stalker. I have settled on dual blades for my primary (obviously), but I have not settled on the secondary. I am torn between ninjutsu and willpower. Considering ninjutsu because I was going for a ninja theme, but I am also considering willpower since for backstory I was thinking of her being some sort of angry/vengeful spirt that willed itself back from the dead.

[Major_Decoy]

Ninjitsu is better for Scrappers than for Stalkers, but then, so is Willpower (which lost Quick Recovery for Hide). Of the two, Ninjitsu is more of a defense set and if you want a revive you can go into the Presence Pool for Unrelenting (Invoke Panic would also be pretty thematic for a ghost).

[Photon]

  

44 minutes ago, Major_Decoy said:

Ninjitsu is better for Scrappers than for Stalkers, but then, so is Willpower (which lost Quick Recovery for Hide). Of the two, Ninjitsu is more of a defense set and if you want a revive you can go into the Presence Pool for Unrelenting (Invoke Panic would also be pretty thematic for a ghost).

That sounds cool! I also had no idea that unrelenting was a rez, despite having it on one of my mains... Thanks for the info!

[Outrider_01]

The tight option is kind of bland, try the leather or leather body suit for texture under the color palete.  Alternate is the robe or sleevless robe (which can do the arm pattern you have), but use the bottom half which kind of flair out which would add volume to the costume which would look good with the horns pointing down under the hat (personally I can't stand the hat, it has that 2003 in development mode graphic)

[Lusiphur Malache]

I personally like the yellow with the horns, so much that I'm probably gonna bite it next time a blade needs a new costume.  Ninjitsu and Willpower are both good set, used them both, but for look I think Dark Armor needs some consideration.

[ZemX]

20 hours ago, Photon said:

ninjutsu because I was going for a ninja theme, but I am also considering willpower since for backstory I was thinking of her being some sort of angry/vengeful spirt that willed itself back from the dead.

 

Despite it not being considered top tier on Stalkers, I quite like Ninjitsu because it is decent positional defense, which is easy to enhance with IOs AND has a nicely available self heal for saving your bacon when a large hit gets past your defenses.

 

But for theme, don't feel beholden to Ninjitsu, especially on a magic-themed / supernatural character.  Just back from a cold grave?  Dark Armor and Ice Armor would both work quite well with that concept as well.  Ice Armor is probably more effective on Stalkers but both are worth a look through.

[Greycat]

14 hours ago, Outrider_01 said:

The tight option is kind of bland, try the leather or leather body suit for texture under the color palete. 

 

Or if you really want tights, try the Olympian Guard for some texture... it's kind of a go-to for me most of the time I want tights, unless I really want the flatter look.

 

(personally not a fan of the horns, but ... not my character, so I don't know if there's a reason for them.)

[DougGraves]

12 hours ago, Lusiphur Malache said:

I personally like the yellow with the horns,

 

I agree.  It makes the hat look like a real hat.  And the horns add character

[Haijinx]

You can just get a prestige power self rez. 

[Photon]

  

14 hours ago, Outrider_01 said:

The tight option is kind of bland, try the leather or leather body suit for texture under the color palete.  Alternate is the robe or sleevless robe (which can do the arm pattern you have), but use the bottom half which kind of flair out which would add volume to the costume which would look good with the horns pointing down under the hat (personally I can't stand the hat, it has that 2003 in development mode graphic)

Tried out the leather (and Olympian guard) options, don't like how they make the color seam between the sleeves and the arms more obvious (since you cant put textures on sleeves). Did start experimenting with the sleeveless robe options though, may use them for an alternate costume on this character.

 

11 hours ago, Lusiphur Malache said:

I personally like the yellow with the horns, so much that I'm probably gonna bite it next time a blade needs a new costume.  Ninjitsu and Willpower are both good set, used them both, but for look I think Dark Armor needs some consideration.

Glad you liked it :). I think I have settled on keeping the horns.

 

As for Dark armor, yeah it would fit the concept, but my last character already used dark armor so I wanted to try something else, and I was disappointed when I saw that there's no option for stalkers to use the cloak of darkness visual effect for their hide. Really wish they gave stalkers the option to look completely invisible for their hide, that way you can just pop in when you land your assassins strike on an enemy.

34 minutes ago, ZemX said:

 

Despite it not being considered top tier on Stalkers, I quite like Ninjitsu because it is decent positional defense, which is easy to enhance with IOs AND has a nicely available self heal for saving your bacon when a large hit gets past your defenses.

 

But for theme, don't feel beholden to Ninjitsu, especially on a magic-themed / supernatural character.  Just back from a cold grave?  Dark Armor and Ice Armor would both work quite well with that concept as well.  Ice Armor is probably more effective on Stalkers but both are worth a look through.

Ooh I didnt think about ice! The slow aura from that and the fear effects form the presence pool for a sort of ghostly presence thing, and ill nab the Rez from the presence pool. I'm using ice!

 

Thanks everyone!

[ZekeStenzland]

No comments on the outfit. I am aesthetically challenged. 
 

Some practical thoughts about ninjitsu vs willpower…

 

Ninjitsu is mostly positional defenses and is relatively easy to softcap. Everything else is a click power, including its status protection. You may find some click powers more skippable than others. 
 

Willpower is more mixed mitigation — some defense, resistance, healing and a self rez. Most of it is toggles, but has a couple clicks. It’s a lot harder to softcap, but on the other hand if your defenses go away you still have the other forms of mitigation. 
 

Because I usually want ninjitsu’s status protection on auto, I try to avoid pairing it with attack sets that have gimmicks related to chaining attacks within a short window, such as water blast, dual blades, street justice, or titan weapons. YMMV on this. 
 

Otherwise I think both sets are fine on a stalker. 
 

[Frozen Burn]

On 3/20/2024 at 10:15 PM, Photon said:

1. The outfit: I got the outfit mostly down, the only things I'm stuck on are the color of the hat, and whether to keep the horns or not.

 

dark yellow with horns:

 

 

Dark yellow without horns:

 

 

Dark red with horns:

 

 

Dark Red without horns:

 

 

2. secondary powerset: 

Making a stalker. I have settled on dual blades for my primary (obviously), but I have not settled on the secondary. I am torn between ninjutsu and willpower. Considering ninjutsu because I was going for a ninja theme, but I am also considering willpower since for backstory I was thinking of her being some sort of angry/vengeful spirt that willed itself back from the dead.

 

1.  Personally, I vote for no horns.  Hard to tell they come from your head and they look like part of the hat.  And then I like the red hat better.  But I wonder if a black hat would look even better than that?  Maybe not with the black hair.  🙂  

 

2.  I don't have a Willpower Stalker, but I do have a Ninja Stalker - it's a great set and love the theme and playing it.  

 

 

 

[Lusiphur Malache]

On 3/21/2024 at 9:21 PM, Photon said:

Really wish they gave stalkers the option to look completely invisible for their hide,

Be careful what you wish for.  Gotta a stalker that in a certain costume, on a particular map I can't see.  Makes doing my job difficult.

[twozerofoxtrot]

On 3/21/2024 at 11:15 AM, Photon said:

but I am also considering willpower

 

Don't.

 

Stop, drop that thought and never return to it.

 

Willpower is easily, without hyperbole, the worst version of itself on a Stalker and the worst Stalker secondary you could possibly pick.

 

Stalker Willpower trades:

1) Quick Recovery for Hide

2) Rise to the Challenge for Reconstruction

 

The first might be a necessary evil but the second is an affront. It takes the keystone ability that allows Willpower to work and replaces it with a pithy self heal. 

 

It no longer scales survivability with the amount of enemies in melee, and no longer debuffs the ToHit of those enemies around you.

 

Oh and of course, you lose time in your attack chain to click that heal. Not the absolute worst thing in the world but it does hurt more on Dual Blades.

 

Take Ninjitsu and feel the love. Slot LotG +Recharges in the Def powers. Throw Caltrops when things get hairy. Have a click heal but also soft capped defenses.

 

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.