An Ice Melee/Stone Armor.

[Sovera]

This was something I was building as a Scrapper and then I looked at it and decided if it had no agro aura then why not make it a Stalker instead and enjoy AS (even if it comes at the cost of Mud Pots).

 

The premise: everyone hates runners but we are stuck with the cottage cheese. Ice Patch, in theory, should minimize this. Apply, or re-apply, at around 50% HP and mobs will be flopping at the time they should be running away (will not work on AVs). Stalkers are a bit squish as they level but a corner pull and an Ice Patch allows to solo 99% of the content.

 

 

Stalkers are, IMO, a much better experience than Scrappers be it leveling or end-game. While leveling Scrappers have RNG crits that may happen, or not, but a Stalker always ensures an initial crit when starting a fight from stealth. Then they also get Build-up resets on top of stealth resets on TOP of their RNG crits similar to Scrappers (which are further boosted if playing in a team unlike Scrappers').

 

So a good driver can initiate combat in stealth, use Build-up, use Frost. Keep brawling (Stalkers no longer are ambush backstab rogues, they brawl) and at getting the stealth reset use it with Frost Aura. If BU reset in the meanwhile then use it with Frost Aura too.

 

 

I 'solved' (airquotes) the problem I had with Ice Melee that was not having a good ST chain since Greater Ice Sword did not merit picking and slotting as Frost almost did the same damage, but Frost is an AoE so it does sucky ST damage (tells ya all ya need to know about Greater Ice Sword). So it starts as Assassin's Strike, Ice Sword, Freezing Touch, Ice Sword. Repeat. This has some small gaps, such as Ice Sword recharging in 1.7 seconds and Freezing touch being a 1.2 animation so there is a 0.5 second delay, and Freezing Touch taking 5,3 seconds and Ice Sword x2 + Assassin's Strike only taking 5 seconds.

 

I use airquote because placing both ATO procs in Ice Sword has its own downsides such as having it hit like a wet noddle, but placing the stealth reset in AS would give the crit to Ice Sword (so, wet noddle crits). Same as putting it in Freezing Touch. But having it in Ice Sword has a chance of making the stealth reset happen to AS which will trigger the slow AS (if I've kept up with Stalker mechanics (it's been a while)) which is a nono too. Perhaps a veteran Stalker player can chime in.

 

 

There are some choices to be made as for example whether it is worth to keep Earth's Embrace over Geode. Even removing all HP accolades and the 100 HP unique in Unbreakable Guard EE will still only give 700 HP. Once having accolades and the unique this comes down to a measly 300 HP. Worth it? The player can decide but Geode doubles as an HP AND an endurance clickie and I think that trumps EE since Stalker's low HP pool means they only regen 36 HPS (30 HPS without EE). I left EE in anyway but consider the pros and cons.

 

While leveling there will be huge gaps in the rotation to fill up with Frost.

 

 

 

 

In the end the build boasts of softcaps and about 50% resistances across the board but I'd still take Barrier since it's not enough to fend off defense debuffing on its own.

 

I have Brimstone turned off because it has a bug where it is adding much more damage than it should and I didn't want to lead people on, but the goddevs of Mids are aware of it and its been fixed just not released yet. Hasten at 128 is not the fastest thing around but its okay, I guess. At 2.55 EPS (and if taking Geode) that extra endurance mod in Crystal Armor could become another damage proc in Frost Aura too.

 

 

As always I build tanky and hate being accuracy debuffed so I went with Targetting Drone instead of a snipe and Shadowmeld etc, so this is not the highest damage possible.

 

Stalker (Ice Melee - Stone Armor).mbd

[Uun]

Very timely. Currently leveling one and quite enjoying it, but only 35 at the moment. Still futzing with the slotting. I've got a road map but need to see how it performs. Currently planning on Ice Mastery (largely for theme).

[Sovera]

2 hours ago, Uun said:

Very timely. Currently leveling one and quite enjoying it, but only 35 at the moment. Still futzing with the slotting. I've got a road map but need to see how it performs. Currently planning on Ice Mastery (largely for theme).

 

Lemme know how it goes. Is the Ice-Patch-at-50%-HP helping with runners?

[Groovy_Ghoul]

@Sovera You have a very tanky build indeed.

 

I love Ice Melee, I believe the Stalker version is the best iteration and it is my favorite Stalker primary. Stone Armor is so well rounded, it does a little of everything. I have at level 50:

Ice/Invul, Ice/SR, Ice/Bio, Ice/Ice, Stone/Stone and Fire/Stone. So I have some experience with both sets.

 

Attached is a build I put together. Soft cap on S/L/E/N/P and 50%+ resists on F/C/T. In my experience, ice patch is great at lower levels but I get more utility, and DPS, out of Placate at the higher levels. I don't worry about runners too much as my ice attacks will naturally slow them down. The snipe fits nicely in the single target rotation and does a ton of damage. Shadow Meld is your panic button power every ~27 seconds or so. I get more value out of EE than Rooted, the opposite of Tankers, as it is great to keep you at Max HPs + Heal every ~36 seconds (according to Mids). YMMV.

 

 

 

Stalker (Ice Melee - Stone Armor).mbd

[Sovera]

6 hours ago, Groovy_Ghoul said:

@Sovera You have a very tanky build indeed.

 

I love Ice Melee, I believe the Stalker version is the best iteration and it is my favorite Stalker primary. Stone Armor is so well rounded, it does a little of everything. I have at level 50:

Ice/Invul, Ice/SR, Ice/Bio, Ice/Ice, Stone/Stone and Fire/Stone. So I have some experience with both sets.

 

Attached is a build I put together. Soft cap on S/L/E/N/P and 50%+ resists on F/C/T. In my experience, ice patch is great at lower levels but I get more utility, and DPS, out of Placate at the higher levels. I don't worry about runners too much as my ice attacks will naturally slow them down. The snipe fits nicely in the single target rotation and does a ton of damage. Shadow Meld is your panic button power every ~27 seconds or so. I get more value out of EE than Rooted, the opposite of Tankers, as it is great to keep you at Max HPs + Heal every ~36 seconds (according to Mids). YMMV.

 

 

 

Stalker (Ice Melee - Stone Armor).mbd 41.46 kB · 1 download

 

No Rooted? Dang, it's your protection against knockback, sleep, disorient, hold, immobilize, endurance drain, and gives defense debuffs resistance and regeneration. Do you happen to play with amplifiers? EE's heal is miniscule on a Tanker's HP but on a Stalker I can see it replaces a chunk so valid.

 

Not knocking on it since the proof's in the pudding and if it works then it works.

 

I looked at the build, you meant Geode 😄

 

 

My only problem with the Snipe is that it only fits in every second rotation since at best it's up every 6.7 (or about 8.5 secs in your build) and AS + FT + IS is only 4.5 so it can't replace IS which is the weak link. Even with more recharge so it's at 6.7 and a second IS it's still with a 0.7 delay, which, I mean, acceptable.

 

Looking at it the gap would vanish adding more IS since its recharge is fast enough. Something like AS + IS + Snipe + IS + FT + IS but by then FT and AS are up anyway and using IS is a waste compared to those moves, plus the procs would have to be carefully placed to not go for IS.

 

It replaces one IS every two rotations which is valid, plus Shadow Meld which is always a nice extra for the start of a fight.

Edited September 5 by Sovera

[MoonSheep]

i’ve also been tempted by an ice stalker - i levelled an elec/shield a while ago and enjoyed the AoE, i feel ice on stalkers has an even better combo of AoE and ST damage

 

i agree with you too regarding the controllable crits, it makes for a really involving and strategic melee experience

 

the only thing stopping me is the allure of ice melee on tanks having an even wider cone for frost and the PBAoE

 

[Groovy_Ghoul]

Quote

@Sovera I looked at the build, you meant Geode 😄

I was referring to the slotting of Rooted and EE on a Stalker versus a Tanker. 2:6 on a Stalker, 6:2 on a Tanker. The Stalker gets more value from EE and the Tanker gets more value from Rooted. Geode is a nice power if you can fit it in, but I believe Shadow Meld is a better pick.

[Uun]

4 hours ago, Groovy_Ghoul said:

Geode is a nice power if you can fit it in, but I believe Shadow Meld is a better pick.

Do you really need a panic button every 30s? Geode doesn't need more than 1-2 recharge IOs and can be up every 60-90s. Plus it resets your hidden status.

[Groovy_Ghoul]

2 hours ago, Uun said:

Do you really need a panic button every 30s?

Probably not, but Shadow Meld is a nice LotG mule and unlike Geode, it won’t disrupt my attack chain. I just don’t find myself using Geode enough to justify taking it.

[Worm_Kalpa]

On 9/4/2024 at 1:41 PM, Sovera said:

 

Lemme know how it goes. Is the Ice-Patch-at-50%-HP helping with runners?

I tried this out on a few mobs with my level 50 ice melee stalker, and the preliminary results show that Ice-Patch-at-50%-HP does somewhat help with runners.  The KD and speed debuff from Ice Patch are useful for bosses or anything that won't go down after one hit from a ranged attack from an epic pool.  I noticed that sometimes enemies in the Ice Patch don't run straight out of it but change direction every few seconds and thus stay in the patch even more.  The tactic is limited by the radius of the Ice Patch but it has its uses.  This was while solo so the tactic needs testing in teams and against large mobs.

Edited September 8 by Worm_Kalpa

[Errants]

I've an Ice/Regen that I leveled solely on Goldside... she's a bunch of fun to play.

I didn't go for stacking defenses, tho, just +Recharge spam. Running FoW/Speed/Weapon/Leaping/Leadership for pools.

I'll eventually go back to her, and grind out her incarnates on Gold as well. Just getting to 50 was enough of a trial.

[Worm_Kalpa]

On 9/7/2024 at 10:03 PM, Worm_Kalpa said:

I tried this out on a few mobs with my level 50 ice melee stalker, and the preliminary results show that Ice-Patch-at-50%-HP does somewhat help with runners.  The KD and speed debuff from Ice Patch are useful for bosses or anything that won't go down after one hit from a ranged attack from an epic pool.  I noticed that sometimes enemies in the Ice Patch don't run straight out of it but change direction every few seconds and thus stay in the patch even more.  The tactic is limited by the radius of the Ice Patch but it has its uses.  This was while solo so the tactic needs testing in teams and against large mobs.

 

I did some more testing of Ice Melee tactics against runners and got some more insight.  This was while solo and with larger mobs.  Also on a level 50 incarnate'd out character but the basic advice should still apply for when leveling up an Ice Melee stalker.

 

Frozen Aura is moderately helpful for dealing with minions and LTs that are about to book it because of the autohit sleep component.  It has a slightly larger radius than Ice Patch (10m vs 8m), and the animation time before the sleep effect is slightly slower.  However, sleep is broken by knockdown.  And Frozen Aura doesn't have a speed debuff component while Ice Patch does.  It's a decent substitute for when you don't have a patch down but the enemies are just need one more hit.

 

The Freezing Touch+[most holds from an epic powerset] combo is useful for preventing bosses from getting far away from you.  You can keep them frozen (ha) in place with enough recharge.  This combo is available at level 35 if you take the holds from Darkness Mastery or Fire Mastery.  I found it especially useful for the Malta Zeus titans since they resist cold damage and are prone to fleeing when their health gets low.  I hit them with Freezing Touch and Char at the 50% health mark, and whittle them down without having to chase them into another group.

 

Ice Patch is still great.

 

 

[Uun]

On 9/4/2024 at 1:41 PM, Sovera said:

Lemme know how it goes. Is the Ice-Patch-at-50%-HP helping with runners?

So this is where I ended up at 50. I haven't slotted incarnates or any purples/HOs yet. I'm very happy with how it performs. 

 

I generally keep Ice Slick up any time I'm fighting more than a few foes, so I really haven't noticed an issue with runners. 

Uundercover - Stalker (Ice Melee - Stone Armor).mbd