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Author: b-rad-ical
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PvE Stalker Guide:
So, you're considering making a new CoV character, and don't want to be one of the millions of Brutes or Corruptors. Well good for you. Though important, the CoV world needs more Dominators and Stalkers. Let me recommend a Stalker. Though soft and squishy, effectively playing your stalker can counteract this disadvantage, and you will find that they are an ideal solo class, for when your friends are all at school and work, and you've got your priorities exactly where they should be: CoV. They are also among the funnest characters to play (especially in PvP), and I contend the EASIEST to level, especially if you like to solo, as I do. Below is a very long but very thorough explanation of my ideal stalker builds. I would recommend taking the time to read through this before locking in with your power sets.
So, which power sets should you choose? Let's begin by reviewing them:
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Primary Power Set:
--Claws first 3 attacks are fast and cheap. The damage is entirely lethal, which is commonly resisted, and the damages are not as high as the other sets. The final attacks have some cone damage and knockback/knockdown chances. However, they are slow and relatively expensive in terms of energy cost. Highest damages are Evis at 4.722 (with a crit chance*) and Focus is 4.555.
--Martial Arts is a great power set. The attacks are relatively cheap and fast, and almost all of them have a disorient, immobilize or knockback effect. Thunderkick has a huge action time which really can kill an attack chain, especially for only minor damage. They are entirely smashing damage which is commonly resisted. Highest damages are EC at 6.333 (with a crit chance*) and CK is 5.444.
--The Ninja Blade attacks are fairly cheap and fast, and it does average damage (all lethal). All of the attacks have a -Def De-Buff, making the targets easier to hit. Not really anything to write home about, since as a high dmg Stalker you'll be killing mobs faster than a De-Buff really becomes noticeable, but nice for bosses and heroes. However, SD and GD have a knockup and knockback. DA is totally useless (minor dmg and a LONG action time for a minimal +Def that only affects ONE mob?!?), and the cone dmg of FS is pointless (it doesn't do enough dmg to make a cone worthwhile, and aggroes adjacent mobs when in a group). Nonetheless, It is my primary Stalker's set, and I have had great success with it. I have a complete attack chain with GD, SD, GC and SoW, and can do fast, consistent dmg with only 4 attacks (giving me more pool powers to choose from). So don't bother with FS and DA (or get them early on and respec out of them later). Highest damages are GD at 6.333 (with a crit chance*) and SD at 5.
--Energy Melee is the highest damage dealing set, though also the costliest (So, great for high burst dmg, not so great for a long, sustained fight). The advantages of this set are that is has a number of stuns and deals Energy damage, which is less commonly resisted than lethal and smashing. However, only a small portion of the AS damage is energy (and the first 3 attacks), so against a tanker class it will still only be minimally better than the other power
sets AS. However, ET and TF are mostly Energy dmg. However, ET costs a small portion of your health, and TF leaves you stunned for a few seconds. Nonethless, I have seen this set used effectively in PvP and PvE. The other sets simply cannot compete in total damage: ET is 12.666 and TF is 9.888.
--Dark Melee is an interesting choice. There aren't too many attacks, though they aren't too expensive, and the damage is dark energy, which is less commonly resisted. The downside is that most of them are DoT's, and not instant damage. This can be frustrating in PvP where high burst damage is nice, and the majority of PvE where mobs tend to drop so fast a DoT is not entirely effective. However, this can be great against tough mobs with high health. It has a built in Fear and a To-Hit heal. Fear is great for PvP, since less characters resist it than disorients, holds and knockbacks, and very effective in PvE. The heal is a great bonus, though to-hit heals are a double-edged sword. Murphy's Law says you're gonna miss when you most need it. highest damages are MG at 6.605, SL is 2.777 dmg and 10% heal, and SM is 5.984.
--Spines are a great set, though very slow and very expensive. A portion of the damage is toxic, which is less commonly resisted. Every attack has a -recharge -spd De-Buff, which is huge. Slows down runners and foe attacks, and the final attacks have immobilize and knockback/knockdown. This set can be used very effectively. Highest damages are Ripper at 6.389, Impale at 5.389 and TS at 4.055. That is 3 attacks with great damage, though no chance of crit on any of them.
*As a general note, the additional crit chance is a mixed bag. You cannot count on the crit -- at best only 1 in 10 will crit. However, when it does it is a huge bonus. Consider this scenario: You hit BU + AS and drop one mob, turn to the next and hit the attack with a crit chance while BU's still active, and with a crit you will likely drop that mob as well. That means two hits killed two mobs. Of course, ET in the Energy set does the same damage as most other set's attacks with a crit, and it does it every time. Of course, you also take damage in the process..
The primary power set is a matter of personal preference and game play style -- no one build is essentially better than another. They all have their benefits and limitations. All AS's are the same damage and action times, the only differences are the damage types. However, the Energy and Toxic damage is only minor in those power sets. The majority of the damage in an AS is always smashing or lethal, the two most highly resisted damages in the game. I have seen all types used effectively in PvP and PvE. I have also seen all types used poorly. The key is not which power set you pick, but using the advantages and disadvantages of each set effectively.
So why doesn't everyone just pick the Energy set, since it's high damage and has built-in stuns? Because an energy stalker will have a harder time sustaining this damage over a long mish and fight. It is great for short bursts of high, quick damage. If you intend to primarily play PvP, using a short, brief high dmg hit-and-run tactic, I recommend this line.
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My Recommended Build:
I have many Stalkers, but why did I choose the Ninja Blade / Regen stalker as my primary? Because I found it the single most effective PvE combination, for group, duo and solo play. Martial Arts, Claws and Ninja Blade are fast and cheap, and I found I could sustain long, constant battles best with these very comparable sets. I recommend taking one of these 3 power sets, which ever best fits your character. The PvE in this game is fast-paced. When you are grouped with other players and moving as fast as possible, you need to be able to keep up (and not constantly out of health and energy). Energy Melee is too slow and expensive, Dark Energy's DoT's are not ideal since most mobs drop too fast for a DoT to be effective, and Spines are cool, but I don't like AoE's personally --I have found that they just grab aggro when grouped, which can mean bad things--and too slow and expensive for the majority of PvE play.
So, in short, I recommend Ninja Blade/Martial Arts/Claws for the primary, and Regen as the secondary. All 3 of these primaries can be slotted with 2 acc, 2 dmg and 2 end cost red, meaning you can do sustained dmg long-term, and with Regen you can take the sustained dmg as well. NOTE: I really don't think it matters which primary you take, so long as you pick Regen as your secondary and slot for endurance reduction costs. It works much better for PvE because you are a hybrid-class capable of working in various environments, and not limited to only one type of play. If there is a Malta Sapper, you're still gonna do that burst damage and drop him in one hit, before he drains anyone of energy. With a red insp. you can still drop purple Lieutenants in one hit. If the brute forgets his Unstoppable is crashing and dies (cause Brutes are mindless thugs), you can grab aggro, throw mobs on the ground, and tank long enough for the moron to hit a wakie, rest and rejoin the battle. When the corruptor gets bored and starts nuking large groups with his AoE and draws aggro, you can start throwing them all on the ground until the brute can run over and get aggro. Or just let him die and consider it a life lesson learned. You can scrap with the best of them, do high burst damage when you need to, and if played well, stay alive when the rest of the team wipes.
Some of you may be wondering, isn't slow-high dmg the same as fast-low dmg? Yes, this is true. My brother argues this to the end (he's an Energy Brute, which has the same attack primary as the Energy Melee stalker). I love that power set, and his damage is sick. But consider two things before jumping into your slow-high dmg stalker:
1) With slow-high dmg attacks, a miss hurts a lot more. With fast-low dmg attacks it doesn't matter so much if you miss;
2) It will pay off over a long fight, especially when multiple groups of mobs get aggroed. If there are only a few mobs, the high dmg capability for one-hit kills is great. After fighting 20 mobs with your team, however, and your idiot friend Leroy Jenkins goes and aggroes the elite boss and dies, you'll be really glad to still have over half of your energy;
3) It is important that you always have one attack available. When a near-dead runner goes by, or a mob charges towards the squishy players behind you, you can target and attack them quickly, hopefully pulling aggro or dropping them. Yes, you could take 5 or 6 attacks in one of the slower power sets, but I can accomplish this with only 4 attacks in Ninja Blade, save two powers for the pools (like my two fears), and save my endurance for heals. Besides, it pisses me off when a mob only has a sliver of life and I have to wait for my attacks to come back to kill him.
Here is my main character's build:
Primary Set:
1) SoW (2 acc, 2 dmg and 2 end cost red)
2) GC (2 acc, 2 dmg and 2 end cost red)
3) AS (2 acc, 3 dmg and 1 end cost red)
4) BU (3 recharge 1 end cost red)
5) Placate (3 recharge)
6) SD (2 acc, 2 dmg and 2 end cost red)
7) GD (2 acc, 2 dmg and 2 end cost red)
You will notice a trend: I used a lot of end cost reductions. Following My BU+AS, my four attacks are so fast that they form a complete attack chain with no pause. Since I am constantly hitting one of those 4 attacks, there is no need for recharges, but they do add up endurance cost, especially when I use Hasten and hit GD & SD more often. Running out of endurance is a bad bad thing. With Stamina and the end cost red slots, I can fight for hours without running out. So whether soloing, in a group or fighting a Hero, I am constantly doing damage, and with Regen I can constantly take the damage. Not as high as Energy Melee, but sustainable over a longer period of time. The key to sustained fighting is fast and cheap, like a good woman.
Secondary Set:
1) Hide (1 Dmg Def, just to help avoid AoE's when stealthed)
2) FH (3 heal)
3) Recon (3 recharge 3 heal)
4) DP (3 recharge 3 heal)
5) Integ (3 heal)
6) Resil (3 Dmg Res)
7) IH (3 recharge 3 heal)
8) Revive (1 recharge)
Power Pools:
1) Hurdle (1 Jump)
2) Health (3 heal)
3) Stamina (3 End Enh)
4) Hasten (3 recharge)
5) SS (1 run spd)
6) Provoke (1 acc)
7) Intimidate (3 acc 2 fear dur 1 end cost red)
8) Invoke Panic (3 acc 2 fear dur 1 end cost red)
9) Whirlwind (1 end cost red)
The Slotting shoud be modified for your game play:
--If you find you're dying a lot, throw three slots in Revive, and it comes back FAST, which means when you're in a disorganized group and dying, you can pop back battle-ready and keep killing. I had it 3-slotted until my final respec at lvl 47.
--I have my attacks over-slotted for endurance reduction. I typically end a battle with tons of endurance. You could get away with using more dmg, acc and recharge enhancements (if you have another power set). However, when you find yourself in a large team fighting battle after battle, and swinging for 5 minutes straight against a tough hero, I promise you will notice the endurance problem then.
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Secondary Power Sets:
Regarding Secondary Power Sets, I personally feel that there is no debate: Regen is the line to get if you want to PvE. I have read good arguments for the other secondary power sets, but I disagree with them all. Here is why:
1) Together, Fast Healing + Integration + Health (all three slotted with 3 heals) is simply a sick base healing rate. This means less down time, faster playing and thus faster leveling.
2) Two no-hit heals. DP is the best heal in the game, and Reconstruction is fast and cheap. Each of mine are 6 slotted, 3 heals and 3 recharges. This means DP heals you for 78% AND adds an additional 78% health for a couple minutes, and comes back in 3 minutes. Reconstruction does 50% health every 30 seconds! Personally, I hit Haste every time I use DP or IH, just so they come back faster. Who says a stalker can't tank?! Both heals are fast action times, and do not require you to hit a mob. Guaranteed health when you need it. For this reason alone you must get Regen. But there are more reasons why...
3) Instant Healing is phat, dank and heady (and these are all good things). Again, 6 slotted (3 health and 3 recharge) and you have over 800% regeneration (Character Builder claims 1000%). Your mother will be proud as you take ungodly amounts of damage and keep dishing it out. It does have its weakness: two quick alpha strikes by a boss and you're dead. But get one of your heals off in between the two alpha strikes and that boss is your b#$ch. With 3 recharges it comes back in 5 1/2 minutes, and only 4 minutes if you hit Haste. That's right folks. 4 freaking minutes. I've used it 3 or 4 times on long contact mish's, and can solo purple bosses mishion after mishion when ghosting alone.
4) Resilience + Integration means no holds or immobilizes. As squishies, a hold or immobilize = death. And Resilience costs no energy at higher lvls. Both are musts imho.
5) Revive. Self-Rez's are debateable. Many guides recommend getting something else instead. For me, this is a must. I admit I don't use it often, but it is worth it when I need it. My main reason for getting it is that you can jump right back into battle, with health, energy and no stun. Sometimes you're in a group, fighting a tough boss or hero with a wicked AoE, or pull two groups of mobs, and you die. As a high damage dealing class, being able to jump right back into the battle can make the difference between a few players dying and a complete team wipe. Have your friend TP you to safety and pop up, or rez while the mobs are all chasing your friend down the hall and hit Hide. Then go find the named boss while the other players run back to the mish from the hospital. You don't need any enemies nearby for this Rez to work. Don't bother slot it, just put one recharge and you're good to go. Then you can give your wakies to your fallen squishy comrades and be their personal hero...errr, villian.
6) Moment of Glory. MoG is a very strange and dangerous power. It drops you to 25% of your health, and stops ALL health regen. ALL. It even prevents you from healing for a while after it runs out. With 3 Dmg Res and 1 dmg Def Enh's it gives you 63% Dam Res to all damages except for Psionic and over 100% Dmg Def. From lvl's 30-42 I found this power very effective, even against tough bosses and elite bosses, as long as you can do enough damage to drop them before it wears off, and as long as I wasn't fighting Arachnos or Carnies that deal Psionic. However, by the mid-40's I found that I died at least half the time I used it -- mobs and bosses just deal too much damage at the higher levels. Without being able to heal at all, it is kind of like dying in slow motion. Your still dead nonetheless. I loved it for a while, but eventually respec'd and dropped it. IH is almost as godly and it works against all damage types.
Other power sets offer their own perks and benefits, including some great resistances, caltrops and some pretty fancy powers (some of which leave you drained of all endurance afterwards...no t/y). However, with the 3 constant increases to heal rate, two great heals, IH for those "Oh Sh#t!" moments and bosses, and the Revive for when it all fails, I contend that you can play harder, faster wth the regen line. I have not hit rest once, since lvl 35 or so, since I also have Stamina. No need to. Everything is full by the time you get to the next group of mobs. This also means that when you are in a group full of brutes you aren't constantly needing to stop, and can quickly charge from group to group as they do. You don't need to rely on anyone else, and no one gets pissed at you for constantly dying and slowing the whole group down. Best for soloing, best for grouping. Hands down.
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Pool Powers:
So why did I choose the pool powers that I did?
1) Fitness: I find that Health and Stamina are simply must haves for PvE. Again, my philosophy is sustained fast play. This is not possible for me without Stamina.
2) Speed: while the travel powers are personal preference, Haste is a must. IH, DP and Recon are pointless if they aren't back yet. Get Haste, and get in the habit of hitting it every time you use DP or IH, and hit it before every boss. This means heals come back faster, BU and Placate come back faster, and thus you can AS more times against a boss. Since I already had one in the Speed pool, I went ahead and choose SS. It's a mixed blessing. Really sucks in the maze otherwise known as GV, and can suck in certain pvp zones. However, its nice when you get a -fly -jump, and it makes ghosting mish's very fast. Definately the best travel power for blowing through news mish's fast. And Whirlwind can be VERY effective in certain instances. It is an endurance drain, but not that bad. The knockbacks stack up, so even a mob resistant to kb will eventually go flying. Pin a boss against a wall while your buddy kills em, kb a second group of mobs your idiot friend aggroes, or go to a pvp zone and just toy with people. It's a hoot! And btw, I can get off an AS with it running, and have kept a purple boss on the ground and still had enough energy to kill him. Just not efficient since I was out of energy at the end of the battle. But man was it hysterical.
3) Presence: Intimidate and Invoke Panic rule. Fear is not commonly resisted. Even if it is, you have two fears. If at first you don't success, try try again. Fear can make or break a tough battle. The AoE Fear (IP) can stall multiple mobs while you do your killing. The single Mob fear has a decent range, and when placate or knockbacks fail, it is something else to hold the mob while you stealth, BU+AS. Huge. Or when you have to save that wimpy corruptor that always over-aggroes, or the brute that loves to charge into a room swinging rather than scout it out and pull.
4) Patron Powers: In short, they suck. Sorry to all of you that are actually fooled into liking them. The joke's on you. The patron powers simply do not work with my primary set and game play style. I do not want ranged attacks. I am a melee class, and need to get in close to do my dmg. Ranged attacks are occasionally nice for a runner, but so is SS. With Ninja Blade, you put the sword away if you use non-bladed attacks, such as the Patron powers or Air Superiority. This means you have a pause when you hit an attack because you have to take the sword back out. This disrupts my chain, and my entire theory of sustained fast damage. The patron power holds are nice, but I played around with them and fear for hours and found that Fear was more effective (less commonly resisted) and I could get two Fears by choosing that set versus just one hold in Patron powers. It just made sense. Sniper attacks do not. Unless you have them 6-slotted in order to make them actually effective, and if you have 6 leftover slots you are doing something terribly wrong.
5) Flight: This line is really nice, but it just didn't work with my power choices. Fly is by far the simplest, less stressful travel power and Air Superiority rocks, if you don't have a sword. It's knockback is huge for soloing bosses. I had it for a long time, and with the knockbacks for SD & GD I really enjoyed my 3 knockbacks. Knockback+minor attack, knockback+minor attack, knockback+minor attack. It is a successful formula for dealing damage and taking very little. I miss Air Sup, and really miss fly when I get a mish at the top of a tower in GV. Just didn't have room.
6) Teleport: This line is also great, but it just didn't fit with my respec. It can be tricky to use, but beastly when used effectively. Teleport is too expensive for your standard travel power, and I just didn't have the slots to spend on 3 end cost red and range increases. However, it is hands down the best power for getting out of a bad situation (at least in large spaces). Remember: -Fly -Jump -Speed are meaningless De-Buffs when you teleport! TP friend and TP foe are both amazing powers, especially for PvP. Get a friend out of trouble, and bring a foe into trouble. Just because I didn't take them doesn't mean you shouldn't. If nothing else go to the test server and try them out once. I promise you will like them. I just wish I had 3 more powers...
7) Leadership: I played around with this line, and got very frustrated. Assault and Tactics were too expensive. I didn't notice at first, but found that they took a major drain on me after a long fight. Assault's resist to Placate and confuse was useless: it never worked. I repeat: NEVER. At least not in PvE. The additional 10% dmg was noticeable, but so was the end cost. So, I eventually opted out. And seeing stealthed enemies wasn't that useful. Tactic's resist to fear was as useful as the resist to placate and confuse...
8) Jumping: Sorry, but this line is not all that. You will read many a forum posting and guide saying it rulz, but it just drulz. With the Regen secondary you already have two resist's to immobilize, so it is unnecessary. Spend your powers elsewhere. With that said, if you really just want to have the maximum fun with CoV, then take it and get Super Jump. Funnest power in the game. When you get bored and want to quit CoV, respec and get SJ. You will find a rejuvinated love for playing.
9) Stealth: This line frustrates me to no end, and I cannot morally support it. That's right -- morally. Evil, it is. First off, what bulls%#t that heroes can see through our hide. That's half the d$mn point of a stalker. You can waste additional powers on improving your stealth, or just accept the fact that Heroes are going to see through your Hide, and take other powers. After watching the Visible Stalkers video (a must see!) I have concluded that it doesn't matter. Even if you are seen, use fear/knockback/hold, placate wisely and you will still get your AS off. Just maybe in the middle of the fight, and not upfront. You've got Regen so you can last that long. And btw, grant invisibility is the single most useless power in the game. Won't help for ghosting mish's at all -- even with SS your friends will still aggro every mob in the mish.
10) Medicine: Simply pointless with Regen (though some instances Aid Other is nice, especially if you have to keep an NPC alive through a mish!), and the Fighting isn't worth it (at least with a weapon, since you put it away).
Finally, I highly recommend lvl'ing to 41 as fast as possible, and not worrying too much about your powers until then. After completing the Patron arc you get a free respec. Keep copying your character to the test server and play around with various combinations. Every pool has something different to offer, and each pool set will be great or suck depending on how *YOU* play your character. Try them all out and see what works and what doesn't. My build is specific to
me, and your build should be specific to you and the friends you group with most often. Fight friends and SG mates in the Arena and see how effective certain powers are against players. Test out new chains and strategies. But always utilize the test server before locking into new powers.
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General Notes about Playing A Stalker in PvE:
1) The knockbacks/knockups, immobilizes, stuns, and fears are the key to fighting long battles in PvE. If the enemy is stunned, afraid or on their back they cannot be dealing dmg. Since we are soft and squishy, this is key to surviving a solo battle with a boss. For example, using Ninja Blade I will BU+AS the additional mob, killing him then GD the boss, which hopefully knocks him on the ground. Then I hit my two minor attacks, and SD as the boss gets up, knocking him back to the ground. Hit the two minor attacks again, and GD, sending him back to the ground. I have had this chain work so effectively that bosses will only get one or two hits on me the entire fight. The other main advantage is for Placate's and additional AS's mid-battle. The timing of placate is tricky -- if the mob or player is already attacked, the animation just hasn't activated yet, you will hit placate and they will still get off their attack, which means you're unstealthed and wasted the placate. Using knockback/ups I will send the mob on the ground and THEN placate+BU+AS once they return, without ever wasting the placate. Fear and Stun accomplish the same thing, and give you even more time to do it.
2) I have tried every kind of leveling, and have found that ghosting newspaper mish's is the best total minute-for-minute xp. Grouping just slows me down, unless my teammates also have stealth, or if you can TP them to the final room. Herding (essentially the brute runs and grabs whole groups and brings em back for the kill) is effective for brutes with AoE attacks and teammates, but dangerous for stalker's. If the brute doesn't hold aggro or the mobs have AoE this can be instant death. It is also slow and sloppy. I can solo news mish's, run right to the end, clear the room and solo the boss, in under 5 minutes. Then on to the next. The Mish xp is higher than mob xp, and much faster. I usually solo, though bringing another stalker can be fun.
3) Having great powers is pointless if you cannot quickly and easily hit them. I highly recommend using the Keymapping option. For example, I have ~ set to BU, 1 set for AS, and 2-5 set to my remaining 4 attacks. I can easily moved from ~12345 for fighting. I have Q&E set to DP and Recon so I can quickly drop down to hit a quick heal, and R&T set for IH and Demon Aura (a MUST have accolade power which provides HUGE Res and Def). F&G are set for my two fears (from the power pool) and C&V are set for my SS and Sprint. Left Shift is set to Haste, and my middle mouse button is set for Autorun, in case I want to quickly charge down a runner while keeping my fingers on the attack chain keys. 6 is Placate and keys 7-0 are set for things I don't need to hit often, such as toggles, Rez, rest, Whirlwind, etc. It doesn't matter which powers you have and how they are keymapped -- you just need to be able to quickly hit the powers you need most. My brother hates me for this, and insists 1-0 and CTRL+1-0 is just as easy. You see why mama always loved me the best?
4) Remember there are peaks and valleys in the game, so don't get frustrated. 25-35 was really tough for me, and I found it impossible to solo at Relentless. I did most of it at medium difficulty. Bosses were too tough, hit too hard and I didn't have the powers to take mucho dmg yet. I really had to resort to Hit and Run tactics a lot. 35-41 was a joke for me -- I solo'd Relentless mish's and took catnaps mid-fight. Then around 42 or 43 it got tough again, until I got my accolade powers (which meant Demon Aura, increased health, increased stamina -- noticeable increases. Suddenly a boss could no longer kill me with two alpha strikes, giving me time to heal, placate, whatever. Huge). It suddenly became real easy by the time I got the fears at 44 and especially at 47. If you find it getting tough, drop the difficulty and grind on through. You get less XP at lower difficulty, but you get less xp with debt, too. Less frustration = less hemorrhoids = less pain while sitting on your @ss for twelve hrs a day playing CoV, just as God intended.
5) Don't over-rely on the AS. It is a great power, but not your only value to a team. Even without it you are still gonna provide a noticeable difference to the teams overall damage output. And BU and Placate can be just as effective without ever hitting the AS in battle. If you are with a large group, inevitably you will run up to a mob, hitting BU as you charge in. Just as you get there, stop, and begin your AS animation, the corruptor and brute have turned on him and already half killed him. Then your AS goes off as he ws dying anyways. Had you run by and hit another attack, you would have gotten your crit and still killed him, and spent a lot less energy and time in the process. Or when I duo with a brute, it can be tough for him or her to hold 6 or 7 mobs for long (espcially if they are a couple lvls lower than you or lackeyed). The brute may be half dead by the time you get your AS off. It's not bad to charge in and swing, getting your crit and drawing the aggro of a few mobs to lighten the brute's load. You've got two heals, so use them. When you're down to two, then placate, BU+AS and finish them off. The brute will likely name his first born son and/or daughter after your character.
6) Large groups can be a challenge for a stalker. With massive groups of mobs it is frenetic, and easy to aggro too many mobs to handle, and often killer AoE wreaks havok on us. Yes, you can always placate and run away, like the brave warriors in Monty Python's Holy Grail. Run Away! Run Away! However, this is partly why we get a bad rap, and many players don't want to invite Stalkers to teams and SF's. Modify your game play for that specific team. If they have plenty of brutes who are holding their own, stay back by the corruptors, dominators and MM's. When a stray mob turns and runs towards them, they will be very glad to have a stalker, and your contribution to the team suddenly became *very* noticeable. If you have too many corruptors and not enough brutes, tell the corruptors to keep the heals coming and charge in. You've got two heals of your own, and hopefully a constant stream of health from the corr's. You can tank with the brute, so long as you don't try and tank the boss or elite boss (especially with multiple other mobs still hitting you). Placate him when he swings at you so he stays on the brute, and keep killing minions and lieutenants.
7) Remember placate will send the mob after your squishy, weak little friend. Use placates wisely! You may not want to placate and AS a boss if you are with your low lvl or squishy friend. In the time it takes to hit BU and get off the AS, you'd be surprised how much dmg he can do to your friend. Just hit BU, Placate and hit a moderate damage attack before he gets to your friend. You'll still get sick damage from the BU+Crit, and your friend's underwear will remain white. Or pink, depending on your friend.
8) Ignore most posting regarding highly specialized Stalker game play -- we need to be versatile. This build is not the *best* for PvP, but still highly dangerous: Fear, AS, Placate, Whirlwind. Knockbacks can knock down toggles, and scrappers and tankers become squishy real fast when their toggles are down. At the same time, if I get ganked by a tank class player, it can be difficult to kill them by myself. However, good luck killing me. Hit IH and watch them squirm as they try to drop you below half health for long. When IH runs out after two minutes, I hit Demon Aura (again, a must have Accolade power with godly resist and defense) and smile as he can no longer touch me. When that runs off, I only need to fear, placate and whirlwind for a minute before IH comes back. By then a) he wisely gives up and looks for easier targets; b) my friends and SG mates have joined me and we overwhelm the scrapper, who is quite frustrated by the fact that a little 'ol Stalker wasn't as squishy as he thought.
I apologize for my pedantic verbosity, but sincerely hope that this guide helps with your Stalker build and game play.
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