City of Villains Coldfront (CoH, CoV)

THE TABLE OF CONTENTS:
(Since this guide have slowly grown to be so huge.)

IDEOLOGY
STALKER PRIMARIES
ENERGY MELEE
STALKER SECONDARIES
NINJITSU
STALKER PATRON POWERS
BLACK SCORPION
TIPS AND TRICKS
MY BUILD:
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
PVP VIDEOS

IDEOLOGY
First, some general mind-set background...

PvP as a Stalker differs from that as any other avatar since they are specifically designed as stealthy hit-and-run assasination characters. In my opinion, this is exactly how one should play them. Get in, attack, get out. No, this does not just aply to AS, and by no means suggests only landing one-two hits or over-relying on the AS itself, but after the initial attack and a few follow-up moves, you should be out of there. I believe that a Stalker should focus on a brief, deadly, all-out assault. If the target is still alive and you think you can manage to finish them off fast enough, do it. If you have doubts, get out. Just come back in a minute and try again. This is especially true for an EM Stalker, who sports high front-loaded single-target damage with horrific recharges and endurance costs.

As far as running goes, some people will whine about you running and try to provoke you into staying instead. Just laugh it off. The bottom line is, there are many very good reasons why you can and should run when necessary. First, its a valid strategy that works wonders in a lot of situations regardless of what the whiners say about it. Second, everyone plays the game how they want to play it, and a simple "I felt like it" is a perfect explanation anyway. Third, think about it this way... As a Stalker - especially a Stalker that follows this type of guide - you invest heavily into your mobility. You spend power-choices, slots, and such on it. You do so to be able to escape from people and to catch people with ease whenever necessary. Meanwhile, you sacrafice the "alternative cost" of taking up a few additional combat-related powers or slots instead. Your opponents, on the other hand, often have not made the same choice. They invested more in combat and less in mobility. And thats fine and dandy - but not a reason for them to whine when they can not compete with you in either catching you or running away from you. Its the price they paid. Simply put - "If you can not catch me or run away from me, that's your problem."

Now, certainly, one can scrap with a stalker - and even do so very successfully - but only in limited situations. Most of the time in buzy PvP zones you will be ganged up upon if you try to fight it out with someone. Even in one on one duel-style fighting, the best way for Stalker to fight is to kite and rehide whenever possible (and well-timed Placate is the key).

Anyway, in light of all this, I believe that one should maximize Stalker's offensive capabilities and not worry about defense as much. I understand that many people try to build defense up a lot - especially those used to Scrapper-like combat, but for assassination-focused Stalkers it comes down to this:
- Often, if you have stuck around long enough for your defensive bonuses to matter, you have stuck around too long in the first place. ***

Note: I know that there are many players - good players - who would disagree with all of the above. That is perfectly fine. Please understand that this guide is geared towards those who do agree, and that you are more then welcome to simply continue onto some other guide that suits your views better.

STALKER PRIMARIES
This is MY PERSONAL BIASED VIEW on how the Stalker Primaries currently compare against each other. Please, do not be offended by it if you disagree. Also, please remember that any of the stalker Primaries can be made very deadly and effective in PvP as long as you build your character well and play them right.

If you do not think this section is correct, if you do not agree with anything I say in here - great! Can we now agree to disagree and move on? I do not see why people react so harshly to this section, given that it specifically says that its my personal and biased view. Please, can you just skip it if you don't like it and not start arguments about it - trust me, you would be very far from the first person to do so. Thank you.

As things stand right now, I believe (again, my opinion) there are 3 Stalker primaries which are most successful in PvP.

Energy Melee:
+ Energy Melee (EM) is the highest straight up front-loaded single-target damage set. It hits the hardest. It also disorients (and thus detoggles) the target, which is extremely useful. EM also does Energy/Smashing damage which is pretty nice, since it is not as resisted as some of the other types (pure Lethal or Smashing damage for example).
- The main downside of EM is its total lack of range of any kind. Also, it has very slow recharge rates - limiting EM's effectiveness in any sort of prolonged encounter. It has heavy endurance costs. It has less attacks then some of the alternatives - having Stun instead of one. Finally, it lacks any AoE.

Spines:
+ Spines is *the* ranged choice of Stalker Primaries. It does pretty good damage, has pretty good speed, and it has a Toxic damage component, which is the least resisted of all Stalker damage types. But the best part is that Spines has very nice range capabilities. It is easilly the best over-all Primary from pure ranged Stalker perspective. Spines has Immobilize and -Fly which are both neat.
- Spines is a very well-rounded set and does not have any striking down-falls. That said, DoT components in attacks is one sometimes. But basically, its the tradeoffs - the exact opposites of its upsides. Its not as damaging as EM but not as fast as Claws, etc.

Claws:
+ I am a big fan of Claws, despite the popular outlook. The way I see it, Claws is sort of half-way between Spines and EM. It is the hybrid melee-range choice. Claws is a very fast attack set, both in terms of move animations and recharge times - and will be even more so once I7 is live. Thus it can be very dangerous. Claws has very nice endurance costs, and thus is also a neat scrapping set, allowing one to duke it out more with border-line targets. Finally, Claws has Focus - arguabely the single best PvP attack for which I personally have a weak spot. It easilly brings a squishy to half life if it crits with build-up - that is, from range. It also knocks targets down, has incredibly fast recharge rate, and is very dangerous used properly. Focus + Hasten + Quickness + 3DMG/3ACC/1RCH is a thing of terror in many a situation.
- The main downside of Claws is its Lethal damage type - which is highly-resisted. Also - save for AS and Focus - its single attacks are not as heavilly-damaging, as a trade of to their speed.

Out of these three choices, EM is probably the most effective Primary versus Tanks, Scrappers, Brutes, certain MasterMinds, and other Stalkers - due to its burst damage output. Spines is probably overall best versus squishy targets - if just because its that much easier not having to chase good kiting squishies all over the place. For example, if the target is moving, it is very easy to follow up your initial AS with a ranged attack from Placate for a finisher - without having to catch up again as with EM. (And if the target is standing still and is a squishy, any Stalker of any AT will pretty much take them out provided he knows what he is doing.) Again, Claws is sort of in between IMO.

Martial Arts and Ninja Blade:
Well, to be honest I do not think these two are on par with the other three at least for the time being. They do decent damage and have nice perks and all that, but they just don't have anything special about them and do highly-resisted types of damage. Basically, I could say that as all-melee sets they are simply not quite on par with EM - while lacking great ranged capabilities of Spines or Claws to make up for it. Currently, there are 3 melee-only sets, one ranged set, and one hybrid-melee-range set. There are many trade-offs to consider when choosing which way to go - but if one does end up selecting the melee-only route, EM is the obvious choice of the 3. I like both MA and NB and I have definately seen people do great in PvP with them, but all things considered I would not advice them from a pure PvP perspective.

Dark Melee:
Dark Melee is somewhat of a strange Primary, unlike all others. It has Fear built-in, and it has an attack-heal among other things. There are both very nice additions to the set. However, I personally am not a big fan of the set. Its neat, but it does not sport anything spectacular. Shadow Maul - one of the set's strongest attacks - suffers greately from a very long rooting animation, as well as from being a DoT attack. Overall, the damage the primary sports is not too spectacular. It seems to lack a wide array of heavy-hitters a'la EM on one hand and to lack a very fast attack chain a'la Claws or MA on the other. The damage type is a plus, but overall the primary just does not seem to be quite on the desired level. I would also advice to stay away from DM from a PvP-only standpoint.

ENERGY MELEE
I use Energy Melee, so this is what I will go over. I rate each power out of 5, as well as provide insight on its uses and effectiveness. Also, I will offer some advice on slotting.

Barrage - 1 - This is a decent power at the beginning levels, yet as you level up, it fades away due to its negligable damage and disorient. I would not take this power for one simple reason - at any point in level-up process, there is always a better thing to add to you character then a very week attack like this. In fact, Air Superiority and even Kick might be better easilly-accessible alternatives. If you still decide to take it, I would not waste too many slots on it - unless you have no better options and really don't know what to do with them.

Energy Punch - 3 - (EP) Decent damage, very fast activation, slight disorient. This attack is not that great overall either. However, given that you have to take one of Barrage or Energy Punch anyway, this is definately the way to go. It does more damage, has better disorient, and can actually be used in your attack chain at high levels with some success - although mostly as last resort. This is what you should pick at level 1 without question. Now, as far as slotting EP goes, there is a sligh catch. Normally, I would suggest 4-5 slotting EP. 2-3 ACC, 2-3 DMG, and then of course 6-slotting it if you have the slots to spare. However, remember - it will not be one of your main moves later on. If you lack the slots or need them somewhere else, it is a feasible solution to leave EP completely un-slotted. This is the route I went in this build - essentially leaving EP as a beefed-up Brawl of last resort of sorts. Now, before you jump on the idea there are couple of things you have to keep in mind. First, you do not get that many attacks overall as EM - so you want to think twice about your attack chain before doing this. Second, you have to realize that this will make it harder to level at the beginning - so it is more of a Respec solution. If you do end up only having the one base slot, or just a couple of slots on it, I would go with ACC. Its damage is not significant enough to make a whole lot of difference in late-game anyway, and its better to ensure it hits when it matters as much as possible.

Bone Smasher - 4 - (BS) This is your next offensive move. Just like Energy Punch, it is very fast (although a bit slower then EP itself) and it deals more damage with better disorient. Again, nothing too spectacular, but I would strongly suggest taking it. You see, since later on EM has a Stun option instead of an offensive move, it does not have as many damage moves as some of the other primaries. So, taking this move can be very important for an attack chain, and it is EM's 4th attack in terms of damage after all. Also, it is fairly formidable when it crits from Hide - even in the later game. Also, sometimes its good to open witht this attack since it is your most 100%-crit-from-Hide move other then AS. basically, to get the most damage out of the critical you get two options - BS and TF. TF is more powerful of course, but TF only has a partial critical and has a much slower animation time then BS does. (Note: However, if you play other ATs with Bone Smasher, don't be fooled by the name - the Stalker's version is not the same. Just get used to it.) I 6 slot BS - again, since EM does not have too many attacks overall, I believe it a good investment to slot well the few ones we do get. 3 DMG + 3 ACC or 3 DMG + 2 ACC + whatever.

Assassin's Strike - 5 - (AS) I don't really need to say anything. If you don't know what this is, look it up. If you don't take this and slot this, don't play a Stalker. That is all. However, I would like to note that this is still not a be-all end-all make-a-stalker move. In fact, it is very far from it. Fist of all, thats a myth in principle. No single move makes a Stalker, and if you disagree with this, I advice you to not play one - you will likely not do well. Second, Placate is actually much closer to that role. But anyway, the point is that you should try to avoid over-relying on AS if you want to really do well. At least, don't rely on it as an opener. Its great for taking out mediocre opponents, but in a good match-up it is often more useful mid-fight after Placate then at the start. Oh, its definately an amazing move if used right - by all means - but don't get too obsessed with it. Absolutely, 6 slots. Again, 3 DMG + 3 ACC or 3 DMG + 2 ACC + whatever. Note that AS does have inherent accuracy bonus of 20%. Whether that means it does not need 3 ACC, since its already accurate - or that it definately needs 3 ACC, to capitalize on it and really maximize your chance to hit versus certain targets... well, thats up to you. I went with the 3 ACC route.

Build-Up - 5 - (BU) Again, a must have power. Build Up greately increases your damage and accuracy for 10 seconds - though more so the damage then the accuracy. Build up has many uses, ranging from standard pre-AS setup (or pre-whatever-opener setup) to helping any of your lower-accuracy moves hit in a critical situation. As an example, Build-Up + Energy Transfer followed by Bone Smasher and maybe one other attack will roughly kill a Defender or Controller in Siren's Call (depending a bit on zone and personal buffs, and given 3 lvl 43 DMG SOs on powers). Build-Up, TF, and ET will do the same in Warburg. I suggest either 1 or 3 or 6 slots on BU. If you leave BU be it is pretty decent as is, but putting 3 recharges in it lets you use it that much more often, which can be nice as you will often Build-Up just to see the situation change or target move and waste it. You could also slot it with up to 3 ToHit Buffs if you have the spare slots. This will help a lot versus heavy-defense targets, and may also vary a little on how you slotted the rest of your attacks. Basically, just put as many slots as you can into BU and fill them up with RCH and THB as you prefer.

Placate - 5 - Ah, Placate. IMO, this is your single best power. Placate prevents a single target from being able to target and attack you for a few seconds, as well as puts you in a pseudo-hide (you can be seen by anyone with any perception, but you still crit as if hidden). This is an extremely versatile and useful power. It can be used mid-fight to get a critical on next attack (this is where we EM's envy Focus), or to perhaps set-up for an AS (this is hard if enemy is good, but effective and helps vs high-perception targets), or to run away from a loosing fight or a sketchy situation, or to simply exclude one enemy from attacking you and proceed to kill another (I have won scraps 1 on 2 with this - without even an initial jump, combined with Stun and chance disorients). The icing on the cake - Placate is ranged. This is especially crucial to an EM Stalker who is all-melee. Furthermore, Placate has no accuracy check, meaning 100% reliability. (Very nice vs bubblers and tier-9 defenses, BTW) Absolutely, a must have power. You do not really need to slot Placate with anything. It does wonders already. You could slot is with RCH, but if you are using 2 Placates in a single fight, chances are you should not be in that fight to begin with - see ***. If you have spare slots, you could also slot it with Range, which is actually pretty neat if you can spare the slots - since that allows you to fire it off that much earlier as you approach someone or as they approach you.

Stun - 3 - Stun does exactly that - it puts a high magnitude disorient on the target. Technically, Stun does damage, but it is laughable. This can be extremely effective as it essentially gives the target to you to play with for about 7 seconds. Also, you can enchance stun, making it last for up to 14 seconds or so. However, there are two catches. First, Stun is slow - very slow. It has a baseball bat animation and takes a couple of seconds to activate. Second, a single Break Free inspiration (BF) or sufficient disorient protection - whether personal or from external buffs - will render Stun useless and a waste of valuable time that could have been spent laying on the hurt. On the positive note, Stun can be used as an alternative to Air Superiority - no, it does not apply -Fly, but it applies disorient instead, so if disorient goes through the target will have to react very fast to avoid hitting the ground. I think Stun is very much a matter of taste. I used to have it (see the I6 guide) for quite a while, and I like it. Now, I respecced out of it. It has single-handedly won me many a fight - however, it has also been completely useless in many others. Rating of 3 is not very reflective - its more like 1 or 5 depending on the situation. If you do take Stun, you pretty much want to 6 slot it - 3 ACC (since it has such slow activation and is usually crucial to land) and 3 Disorient Duration (since 14 seconds are way better then 7 and its an all-or-nothing type of deal in most cases anyway).

Energy Transfer - 5 - This is your 2nd most damaging attack after AS. In fact, it does very comparable damage. It is also lightning fast to activate. Again, there are two catches. First, it eats up a small portion of your life to execute. (No, it does not do that on a miss.) Second, it does not crit from hide. Instead, it doesn't eat up your HP if executed while hidden. However, its damage is very impressive as it is. As mentioned above, I have killed countless squishies without using AS at all - largely thanks to this move. This is one of the best attack moves in the game, and I very strongly recommend you take this power. 6 slot - again, 3 DMG + 3 ACC or 3 DMG + 2 ACC + whatever.

Total Focus - 4 - This is another very high damage attack, your 3rd highest damage move, just below ET. And yet again, two catches. Extremely slow activation time is one - you jump in the air and slowly land and smack the target with your hands - couple seconds wasted. Partial critical from hide is another - about 30% damage increase. Crit on TF is roughly the same damage as ET. Regardless, I strongly advice picking this power up of course. And of course, again, 6 slots is the name of the game. Just like the rest of attack moves, I recommend 3 DMG + 3 ACC or 3 DMG + 2 ACC + whatever.

STALKER SECONDARIES
I think that Stalker Secondaries are actually pretty well-balanced against each other, and all of the options are very nice. Just pick whichever you prefer. I picked Ninjitsu for its most offensive nature (Blinding Powder) and for its versatility (a heal, +perception power, decent defense, offence again - all in one). Also, I like Kuji-In Retsu / Elude better then MoG or Overload. Finally, I dislike defense - see ***, and I dislike toggles (since they are dropped so easilly by many people, at least until I7) - therefore, I really dislike defensive toggles. However, this is a matter of opinion and if you favor a different secondary - the power to you.

NINJITSU
I am going to run down the list of all the Ninjitsu powers in the same fashion as I did for Energy Melee.

Hide - 5 - You have this by default. Case closed. Slot-wise, I do not slot Hide - see ***, but its up to you really.

Ninja Reflexes - 3 - Melee defense, Sleep, Confuse, Disorient protection. A good power to take if you like to scrap. I don't - see *** - so I did not pick it. However, without it I do sometimes miss the status protection. The reason for still not picking it is simple - why spend a power on something I can eat a 50 infamy inspiration for? If you PvP well, half a tray of BFs will last you for many long hours. (Yes, it takes time to learn not to chug them all away in first 5 minutes and to avoid needing them in many cases, but once you get it down its not bad at all.) Slots are totally up to you.

Danger Sense - 5 - Danger Sense is a great power in the spirit of Ninjitsu's versatility. You get ranged defense - very useful as after you get a kill, you often have angry teammates of the victim shooting all sorts of things at you as you escape. You get AoE defense - which is double useful both for not getting hurt and for having better chances to AS anyone with AoE aura (Spines Scrappers, etc.) and for perhaps landing that de-toggling Stun on that Hurricaner on a fly-by. Finally, you get +perception, and a darn good one at that, which is of course great for seeing Stealthed heroes, as well as some Stalkers in Warburg. You can combine this with Leadership perception to see Hide+Stealth ones too. So, I favor this power a lot. However, I do not slot it - again, see *** - but also again, is really up to you.

Caltrops - 3 - You throw caltrops on the ground that slow enemies down. No, these do not have -Fly or -Jump for all practical purposes. So, they are very situational. I used to have them - long ago, before the I6 build even - but re-specced out of them. They are very effecient vs SuperSpeeders, not much vs anyone else - and a lot of people have more then one travel power anyway. However, they do help you in certain situations. Caltrops also gain some effeciency from the surprise factor - for example, many people instinctively run after an AS. They don't consider other means of escape and don't think about the caltrops. If you have a power to spare I would pick them up, but I would not rate them a high-priority power - I did not have space for them in my build after all. If you take them, you likely want to 3 slot them with SpeedReduction. If you really have lots of slots to spare, you could add Recharge.

Kuji-In Rin - 4 - Confuse, Sleep, Disorient, Hold, Immobilization, and Fear protection - and Psionic damage resistance. Everything at once and then some on top. This is a very nice power to have, as it saves you from a lot of status effects. However, note the same question as with Ninja Reflexes - excepting Psionic damage resistance, a BreakFree will do just as well, and can be used while under the effects unline Kuji-In Rin. Thus, after much consideration and indecision I did not pick this power for the I6 build. However, now, I switched into it - mainly for the sole reason of being able to field more of different kinds of inspirations in Arena matches. Also, note that this is not a toggle - it is a couple minute activated buff. This means it can not be toggle-dropped, which is great - but, you have to pre-emptively time its usage right. Slot however you wish. A lot of people slot this with Recharge rates, allowing them to pretty much keep the power on permanently. (NOTE: Two Recharges will allow you to run this permanently at level 50, with a tiny overlap. However, if you slot it with 3 RCH, the power will self-stack. This is very neat for those rare ocasions when you know you are going into a real tough situation - for instance if you plan to attempt a solo gank on a 8-man controller-heavy team. You can time this power right to have 2 instances of it on you as you go in - really beefing out your mez-protection for a bit. Also, having 3 recharges in this power instead of 2 can help in certain situations when you have -recharge on you, where otherwise you might have come short of keeping it on without a gap.)

Kuji-In Sha - 5 - This is a heal. A good heal. Enchanced, it heals me for about half my HP at lvl 40. Also, it adds resistance to Toxic damage, which is neat because it helps vs say Spine Scrappers. They hurt you, you heal and you get resistance to further hurt for a short bit. I definately suggest taking Kuji-In Sha - it has saved my life countless times and tipped the scales to win a fight countless times more. You probably want to 3 slot this with Healing. Again, if you have the slots, add in some Recharge.

Smoke Flash - 2 - PBAoE kind-of-Placate. Sounds good at first, yet has a lot of issues. First of all, this does not pseudo-hide you - meaning it can only be used as an escape means and not offensively. Second, it is an AoE attack which means it is not as accurate - and yes, this one does have an accuracy check unlike the real Placate. Third, it has long activation time. All that considered, I think an additional travel power choice or Phase Shift or even a simple defensive power might be a better investment in terms of escape and survivability. If you do decide to take this, you want to 3 slot is with ACC most likely.

Blinding Powder - 4 - An arc AoE attack that is essentially a confuse and a sleep in one. The confuse on it is a bit flaky. Regardless, Sleep is what makes the power nice in first place anyway. This is a good power to have - especially considering that it is ranged and EM is melee-only set, so it compliments us extremely well. Furthermore, it is very nice to have an offensive capability from a Stalker secondary - a ranged sleep, no less, at that. Sleep is very useful because on one hand few people resist it and on the other it completely de-toggles the target. As far as breaking-on-damage goes - that should not be a big issue for Stalkers given our heavily burst-oriented damage. I suggest taking BP if you can. However, due to its AoE nature, it is not too accurate, so it needs to be slotted with 3 ACC to be effective in PvP. If you have lots of slots to throw around, Recharges are always a plus.

Kuji-In Retsu - 5 - This power gives you huge defense bonuses of all kinds, gives you a very notable speed boost, a not-as-notable but still nice jump boost, and a very nice endurance recovery boost. You can often go into a group of enemies with stacked perception, AS one of them with follow ups, and get out all while being shot/hit at. The downside is that once it wears off, which takes 3 minutes, you have 0 endurance with 0 endurance recovery for 20 seconds - so you have to time when to use this right. Regardless, this is definately a great power to have. I used to not slot it at all for I6 build - as it was great already and I didn't have the slots. However, now I have it 6-slotted. In fact, it is the only thing in my whole build slotted for defense. Versus Aim + Build Up Blasters and Focused Accuracy Scrappers in RV, its worth it. Standard slotting for Retsu is 3 DefenseBuffs and 3 Recharges.

STALKER PATRON POWERS
Stalker patron powers are fairly straightforward. The rough break down is something like this:

Black Scorpion - Mace Mastery is good for Web Cocoon - a Patron Hold that also has built in -Fly, -Jump, 50% speed decrease, and 50% recharge decrease - all for 15 seconds. Black Scorpion deals Energy/Smashing damage - similar to EM. Black Scorpion powers also have inherently longer animations due to weapon draw - which is a minus; and an inherent accuracy boost of 5% as a trade-off - which is a plus. The set also has some KnockDowns.

Ghost Widow - Soul Mastery is good for Negative Energy damage type and target ToHit debuffs it offers.

Scirocco - Mu Mastery is good for Endurance Drains across the powers in the set, as well as for all-Energy damage type.

Captain Mako - Leviathan Mastery - is a different set, much unlike other patrons. First, it does not offer a snipe. Which is arguabely not a bad thing. Instead, the set offers Water Sprout which is a powerful mez-pet of sorts. Mako's set has a fairly nice hold as well, sporting -Fly on it. Mako's set suffers from being Lethal damage type. It is also very DoT heavy.

Decide which of these effects are most important for you and stick with that. I personally suggest Black Scorpion simply because Web Cocoon is such a powerful PvP tool, combining so many useful qualities.

NOTE: Remember, you do NOT have to pick a patron. It is a perfectly viable option to skip the patron sets all-together and opt for adding in 4 more abilities from Primary/Secondary/PowerPools to flesh out your arsenal. There are a lot of good choices there. Remember though, you have a hard limit of 4 Power Pools - so don't get carried away.

BLACK SCORPION
I am going to run down the list of all the Black Scorpion powers in the same fashion as I did for Energy Melee and Ninjitsu.

Mace Blast - 3 - This is a ranged blast. One one hand, it is especially nice for an all-melee Primary Stalker to have a ranged attack like this. On the other, the attack itself is rather mediocre. Sporting 2 second execution and standard range, it is a little above Energy Punch on the damage level. There is also a weapon-draw animation, which of course is an annoyance. Its not a horrible power, but its nothing spectacular either. I picked Mace Blast and 6-slotted it, but I had my reasons for that. First, if you want Web Cocoon you have to pick either Mace Blast or Mace Snipe. Lets just say that both choices are rather sub-par, and if you are forced to pick between then, Blast can be considered the lesser of two evils. This is hightly subjective - many people will opt for Snipe instead - again, its a tough call between two poor choices. However, the final argument that made the decision for me was the general lack of attacks in the non-opener attack chain for EM. I simply decided to take Mace Blast and slot it out like I would Energy Punch - leaving EP completely unslotted instead. A small upgrade if you will - slightly more damage and range as a trade-off for RV-only-usability and slower animation. Its a decent trade in my opinion. If you do slot it, its the standard deal - 3 DMG + 3 ACC or 3 DMG + 2 ACC + whatever.

Mace Snipe - 2 - This is a snipe. But don't be fooled, this is nowhere near the snipe you might be used to from your Blaster or even Corruptor. This is a rather weak snipe - in fact, even with a critical from Hide it does less damage then its Blaster counterpart. Here is the main catch though - 8 seconds of activaton time, 6 out of which are interruptable. Yes, this will fail on the line-of-sight (LoS) break. Which means that if your target jumps around the corner or behind anything at all during an 8-second interval (also know as near-eternity in PvP) - you are screwed on the Snipe. Furthermore, 8 second activation significantly limits its use as an opener with Build Up - you pretty much waste all of BU (10 seconds) on this one attack, which is not all that powerful in the first place. It is much more reasonable to simply open up with something else - or if you open with Snipe to at least hold off on BU until after it fires, just so that you can have more of your powerful moves built up instead. So, its not very useful as an opener, and nearly unusable mid-fight. You might get it going after a Placate, but chances are that your opponent - if they are any good - will hide behind something within the 8-second span, leaving you with nothing but a wasted Placate. So, overall, I hate to say this but the Snipe is simply not that great at all. It is more of a theoretical trinket then a power with any practical application. Rating of 2 is well-deserved. The only reason it does not get 1 is the feasible utility of Snipe on a large Stalker-heavy team - when you essentially coordinate among multiple Stalkers to Snipe the same target simultaneously as a long-distance ambush. It also has some uses as a general annoyance in team PvP. If you do decide to get it - you pretty much have two choices. You might decide to forget about it as an attack and resign to the choice being largely a wasted pick on the way to Web Cocoon - in which case you do not slot it at all. Or you might choose to treat it as another potential attack - slotting it accordingly. Up to you.

Web Cocoon - 5 - From PvP viewpoint, this is the reason you went with Black Scorpion. Period. Unslotted, this is a ranged 8-second Hold with 15-second -Fly, 15-second -Jump, 15-second 50% speed decrease, and 15-second 50% recharge decrease. This power is all-around amazing. It is especially amazing for a melee AT like EM Stalker, since all the effects help immensly to catch up to your target. It completely counters Fly and Super Jump. It notably hinders SuperSpeed - if not even so much through the Slow as through the complete inability of the target to jump at all, which forces them to run around every tiniest terrain lump that they would have normally simply jumped over. And then there is the 50% recharge penalty, which of course is great. If you went Black Scorpion and do not take this power, I don't even know what to tell you. Now, as far as slotting goes - this is where it gets tricky. Web Cocoon is so awesome, with so many neat aspects, that there are many different combinations of possible slotting for it. I use 3 ACC + 3 Recharge - just to get that out of the way. Why? Well, I am a huge fan of 3 ACC on anything as you might have noticed - I really like maximizing my chances to hit, even versus defensive builds. As for recharge - coupled with Hasten, which I picked up, this lets me to essentially keep a target Web-Cocooned permanently. No, not the Hold part - all the rest. There is a tiny gap, but its negligable for all practical purposes - as long as I remember to keep shooting it when the time comes. However, there are plenty of other good slotting solutions. 3 ACC + 3 Range to extend your reach. 3 ACC + 3 Slow to capitalize on the Slow effects of the power. 2 ACC + 2 Slow + 2 RCH, 2 ACC + 2 RNG + 2 RCH, 2ACC + 2 RNG + 2 Slow... etc. etc. - I think you get the point. Sit down, think very carefully which of these effects are most crucial for your playstyle, and enhance those. You could even throw in some Hold enhancements if you are feeling original - though remember, those only enhance duration, not magnituge. Web Cocoon's Hold magniture is not all that high to begin with, so even people will mere Acrobatics resist the Hold. Anyway, have a go at slotting it and have fun.

Summon Archanobot Spiderlings - 2 - You summon some Archanobot Spiderlings that attack the enemies for you. This is a "stupid-pet" summon, where "stupid-pet" means that you can't control these guys very well. They are akin Controller or Dominator pets, just running around doing their thing. Now, as a Stalker that can be a major issue for you for multiple reasons. First, you are Hidden and they are not. "Hey look some Spiderlings, must be a Black Scorpion Stalker nearby, huh!" Second, they might decide to do one of the things stupid-pets enjoy doing - such as run off and attack some random zone NPCs while you fight the Heroes, bringing you additional aggro. Third, they are not exactly mobile - well, at least not relative to you with your travel powers. Fourth, the summon duration to recharge time ratio is horrible. Basically, I can see some uses for these guys in an Arena match - maybe - and even that rather limited. But thats about it. If you have a power choice and really don't know what to do with it - at all - and you are feeling adventurous, then maybe you can consider this power. As a general rule though, stay away from it. If you do get them, I would not slot them. If you do slot them, slot them with Recharges.

TIPS AND TRICKS
A few other notes..

Slotting powers - I slots all attack powers with 3 DMG and 3 ACC since I am very hit-and-run or hit-and-run-scrap oriented and those are the two things that matter the most there. One ACC can easilly be substituted for whatever else you like without too big a difference. Some people choose to go with 4 DMG and 2 ACC instead - the argument being that having that 5% extra damage just might make the difference between a near-dead and dead-for-real target in certain cases. Others do 3DMG + 2ACC + EndRed or 3DMG + 2ACC + Recharge - depending on what areas they feel they are lacking in.

Travel Powers - Travel powers are very much a matter of personal preference. However, I suggest Teleport. Teleport is the best escape means of all the travel powers, although it is hard to use - especially in confined spaces. Correctly-timed Teleport is also a counter to enemy TPFoe and a minor situational mez-protection of sorts. Also, you can get Teleport Foe as a pre-requisite, which is very useful for Stalkers in general and for EM in particular - since we lack ranged attacks, it is nice to just TPFoe a near-dead enemy to you to finish them off. Also,
TPFoe + Stun + Placate + BU + AS + whatever, or
BU + TPFoe + ET + whatever (to get right into damage and possibly - 50% - pick up a nice Disorient on ET as well)
are both great combos that work wonders on many targets. Also, TP in + take out a target + TP out is fast, hard to stop, and - even if enemies have perception - very hard to see coming. Finally, TP has an inherent Hover just after each teleport built-in, which is just enough to get an AS off. So BU + TP + AS will often let you AS people standing on say Caltrops or similar things.

Other good power to pick up is Intimidate. Not many people resist Fear and if enchanced it lasts for about 8 seconds which can be a nice substitute to Stun. It also has notably faster activation and is ranged - and once again, anything ranged is terrific for EM. So, having a ranged mez is to compliment our melee-oriented damage is a good choice. However, it has the same downfall with Stun - BreakFrees - and it also requires you taking another pre-requisite power (Challenge likely) which you will almost never use in your life as a Stalker. Again, nice things you can do:
Mid Air: Intimidate + Fly up + Placate + BU + AS + follow ups
Mid Air: Intimidate + Fly up + BU + ET + follow ups
TPFoe + Intimidate + Placate + BU + AS + follow ups

In I6 build, my main travel power used to be Fly, which is totally a matter of preference. I like the vertical element, and it lets me escape from many people who dont have it after kills. It also allows me to get a lot of mid-air kills and to get to some people whom I would never be able to touch otherwise (nice to detoggle Hurricaners for instance) Another important note for Ninjitsu Stalkers - correctly-used Fly counters KD/KB/KU, which is a big factor in PvP. Also, if you choose Fly, get Air Superiority as your first power in that set. (Hover is not that useful for a Stalker anyway, as you can learn to insta-stop Fly by tapping "move backwards") AirSup does decent damage, applies -Fly, and (last but not the least) does a KnockDown. How to kill a Tank (or a Dull Pained Scrapper) without giving them much chance to heal?
BU + [optional travel in Fast] + AS + ET + AirSup (target falls fown) + Placate (target is still getting up) + BS + EP
This is interruptable of course, but one has to react and think incredibly fast to get out of it. If the knockdown goes through, this works pretty nicely. It works on other ATs too of course, but it is usually better to just procede with straigh-up damage after ET with most.
Another neat trick, works wonders on anyone withot KD protection:
BU + TPFoe + ET + AirSup (target falls fown) + Placate (target is still getting up) + AS + whatever

NOTE: All of the above examples are Siren's Call level for ease of explanation. Remember however, that TF can be inserted or substituted at various points if you are in Warburg or RV to make for yet more neat combinations. In RV, you also have Web Cocoon (and Blast or maybe Snipe, but thats not as important)! The opportunities are limitless!!

Concealment Power Pool - This is something I recommend for Stalkers to take. There is an alternative route of simply giving up the notion of not being seen, but I think this is a much better approach for hit-and-run assassination or hit-and-run-scrap style of play. Now, as to what to take from Concealment... Well, Stealth is always a good pick. You stack it with Hide to increace your overall stealth. However, in RV you will be seen with Hide+Stealth by a lot of people anyway. So, you can alleviate that by taking Invisibility. Note that Invisibility is more powerful then Stealth - in fact, even a Hero at perception cap can not see you more then about 30ft away while you are running Stealth + Invisibility. Of course, then there is the issue of Invisibility not allowing you to attack - but no worries, with a little practice you can get around that problem with ease. Just turn Invisibility off just before you attack (or turn Stealth on, it will turn Invisibility off automatically). Remember, a Hero with high perception will see you point-blank no matter what, period - so you should never count on landing an AS while being completely unseen anyway. In other words, having to drop Invisibility just moments before you stop next to someone for an AS is not any worse then fighting a CM-ed out team. Furthermore, if you are traveling in at full speed and you are simply going for initial critical and not AS, dropping Invisibility last second is even easier!

Now, here is where the catch is though - if you plan to get Invisibility anyway, it might sometimes be reasonable to pick up Grant Invisibility instead of Stealh - if you plan to team a lot. That way you and your teammates can just GI each other, which is neat. With Grant Invisibility, a Hero at perception cap will not see you at more then 10 ft! Yes, again, they will always see you point-blank if they are at the cap - just get used to the idea. But 10ft is not very far at all, and it still gives you a huge strategic advantage. So, to conclude, I suggest either Stealth and Invisibility for more solo-oriented players or Grant Invisibility and Invisibility for more team-oriented ones.

But thats not all. There is another power in Concealment pool - a power very much worth mentioning. Phase Shift. This makes you completely intangible for up to 30 seconds - though you can't attack as well of couse, and you can not Rest either. However, it is still a very powerful tool if used right. I emphasize "used right" here - don't count on it to save your life when you are near dead, because it won't. It has a fairly long animation time, and you have to use it somewhat pre-emptively for it to work. But if you do use it right, you may find yourself escaping predicaments you only dreamt about surviving. Also, it can be used offensively in a neat manner. When you are fighting someone 1 on 1 and you have a hole in your attack chain - or when you get one of the nastier debuffs on you - you can always turn this on, just to drop the debuffs and re-gain Hidden status. Moments later, you can drop it, and get right back to business with a nice critical to greet your opponent with. Another neat trick is to simply stand in the middle of the enemy team in a team fight - making them waste their attacks (Aim, BU, etc.) on you if they are silly enough to do that and patiently biding your time. Then, when they give up on you or get distracted by your teammates, drop it at the worst possible moment and greet that Defender with a nice critical from Total Focus follower by a finishing ET. At the very least, you will always annoy the opposition by having them constantly worry about you doing that.

NOTE:If you are interested in Phase Shift you should know that there is a temporaty power called HyperPhase, that you can get in Warburg. It has a 30 minute duration and is an exact twin of the real Phase. So, if you only plan to do zone PvP, it might be worth it to simply rely on that for some time. Yes, eventually you will run out, but it will take a bit. The biggest difference is that you can not use HyperPhase in Arena matches, while Phase Shift you of course can.

My current main travel power is Super Jump, which is a very nice combination of vertical movement element, high mobility, and speed. This is a very popular PvP travel power - and it is so for a reason. Not many things in the game counter Super Jump (this is where we remember Web Cocoon with a smile again) - and its very effective both offensively and defensively. Of course, you have some issues reaching great heights with it - but if you couple it with Teleport like I did, that solves that problem. On the way to Super Jump, you can get Combat Jumping, which allows vertical mobility without suppression, as well as provides extra Immobilization protection. Finally, if you get Super Jump, you are just one pick away from Acrobatics, which is another very nice and popular PvP skill. Its biggest upside for a Ninjitsu Stalker is the KnockDown protection that it offers - complimenting nicely to Kuji-In-Rin. It also offers additional Hold protection and resistance - always a plus.

From the Speeding pool, I suggest considering Hasten. This is a very nice power for any Stalker to have, but especially so for an EM Stalker. I used to have this long time ago, even before I6 build. Then I did not have the space to keep it - well, I hit the 4 pool cap to be exact. But in this build I was able to fit it back in. Slotted, this power allows you to speed up the recharge rates on everything you use by almost a factor of two - not quite that much, and the math is a bit too long to write out the details, so think of it as 40% if you wish. Either way, it helps a lot, especially considering EM's inherent lack of recharge speed. It also greately helps by allowing many key skills such as Placate, Build Up, Kuji-in-Sha, Kuji-in-Retsu, and even AS be up so much more often, which can win you many a fight - not even mentioning the regular attacks. As a small example, in a 10-minute Arena match, I can have Retsu up for roughly 5 or even 6 out of 10 total minutes - with 3 Recharge slots in Retsu and using slotted-out Hasten. It also lets me to really stack Kuji-In-Rin for quite an inverval if I so desire. I personaly think that Hasten is the best power that the Speeding pool offers, but if you have spare power-choice you might also consider Super Speed for a nice addition to your ground travel speed and survivability versus things that hinder your other travel powers. As a Teleport user, this is somewhat a mute point for me personally, but if you aren't one, then SS is often the only thing that can save you when you have -Fly and -Jump on you. Also, SuperSpeed allows you to easier catch up to certain people on the ground to land the finishing blow or start off the AS animation.

MY BUILD:
Please note that the order in which I put things into slots may be off. (If you want DMG first and ACC later go for it. If you want ACC first and DMG later - also go for it. Whatever makes leveling up easier for you.)
---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: Elernet
Level: 50
Archetype: Stalker
Primary: Energy Melee
Secondary: Ninjitsu
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Energy Punch==> Acc(1)
01) --> Hide==> EndRdx(1)
02) --> Bone Smasher==> Dmg(2) Dmg(3) Dmg(3) Acc(5) Acc(5) Acc(11)
04) --> Danger Sense==> EndRdx(4)
06) --> Assassin's Strike==> Dmg(6) Dmg(7) Dmg(7) Acc(9) Acc(9) Acc(11)
08) --> Build Up==> Rechg(8) Rechg(13) Rechg(13) TH_Buf(17) TH_Buf(17) TH_Buf(19)
10) --> Combat Jumping==> Jump(10)
12) --> Placate==> Rechg(12) Rechg(36) Rechg(37)
14) --> Super Jump==> Jump(14) Jump(15) Jump(15) EndRdx(25) EndRdx(25) EndRdx(34)
16) --> Stealth==> EndRdx(16)
18) --> Kuji-In Rin==> Rechg(18) Rechg(19) Rechg(43)
20) --> Kuji-In Sha==> Heal(20) Heal(21) Heal(21) Rechg(46) Rechg(48)
22) --> Teleport Foe==> Acc(22) Acc(23) Acc(23) Range(37) Range(37) Range(40)
24) --> Teleport==> EndRdx(24)
26) --> Energy Transfer==> Dmg(26) Dmg(27) Dmg(27) Acc(29) Acc(29) Acc(31)
28) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(28)
30) --> Hasten==> Rechg(30) Rechg(31) Rechg(31)
32) --> Total Focus==> Dmg(32) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Acc(33) Acc(34) Acc(34)
35) --> Blinding Powder==> Acc(35) Acc(36) Acc(36)
38) --> Kuji-In Retsu==> Rechg(38) Rechg(39) Rechg(39) DefBuf(39) DefBuf(40) DefBuf(40)
41) --> Mace Blast==> Dmg(41) Dmg(42) Dmg(42) Acc(42) Acc(43) Acc(43)
44) --> Web Cocoon==> Acc(44) Acc(45) Acc(45) Rechg(45) Rechg(46) Rechg(46)
47) --> Invisibility==> EndRdx(47) EndRdx(48) EndRdx(48)
49) --> Phase Shift==> EndRdx(49) EndRdx(50) EndRdx(50) Rechg(50)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> EndRdx(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Acc(1)
01) --> Assassination==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)
---------------------------------------------

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
A lot of people contact me asking the same things - not just here but via PMs and in-game. So here goes..
The Frequently Asked Questions about the I6 build are not included here! Follow the link and read there!!

(Yes, this is a blatant copy/paste from the top of the guide.)
1) I see you use a different build in this guide then in the Issue 6 one. Do you think that the old build from the I6 guide is obsolete? Does this mean you think the new build is better?
NO, IT DOES NOT. Stop making me repeat it. I want to shoot the next person who asks me that question! It does not mean that I think the build in the original guide is obsolete. Nor do I think that this build is strictly better then the old one. The two builds are very different in some aspects. Where one shines, the other lacks. Where the first lacks, the other shines. They sport a different approach to the game. So "why did I change my build?" then. Its pretty simple, really. I got bored. I PvP a lot, and playing the same build for a few months just got old. So now its a new build and a slightly different playstyle. I strongly encourage anyone interested to read both versions of the guides and decide which fits closer to your desired playstyle!

2) Do you find the lack of Stamina a hinderance?
No, I do not find the lack of stamina Stamina a problem. Neither in the I6 build nor in the current one. I do not run very many toggles - and as you may see, even the ones I have are slotted for endurance. The heaviest ones, such as Invisibility, Phase Shift, and Super Jump - are all 3-slotted, the rest are 1-slotted. All of my SOs are +3. That allows me to run around with everything on while only gaining Endurance. Also, here is the thing to remember - even if you have a few more toggles then me, you don't necessarily want to run all your toggles all the time in PvP. Not at all. Turn them on and off as needed. Heck, I jump around without anything on - not even Hide or Stealth - just to recover endurance when the zones are not too busy sometimes. My fights are short, hit-and-run or hit-and-run-scrap style - so I don't run out during the actual encounters. However, if you take more toggles then I did (and - again - plan to run them all at once), you might want to consider taking Stamina indeed. It is a very nice power, I just did not have 3 power choices to spare for it.

3) What do you think about the "Perception Arms Race"? Is it worth it?
I advice people to take Stealth + Invisibility or Stealth + Grant Invisibility. It makes a big difference in PvP. Can you PvP effeciently without Stealth? Yes, you definately can - and yes, before you start pointing it out, I even made a video just to prove exactly that point. You can still get plenty of kills, using the landscape and whatnot - and overall its still very playable. However, does being unseen help you? Incredibly so. You get way more kills, way faster, and you escape much more reliably. It is very useful, and it just makes your life easier.

4) Is this a respec build? It seems very tough to play in PvE..
Yes, unlike the I6 build, this is a Respec build. However, the only thing thats really "Respec-like" about it in my opinion is the lack of slots on Energy Punch. Everything else you can get by with.

5) How come you 3-slot Super Jump for endurance?
Since I do not scrap a lot - I either hit-and-run or scrap in hit-and-run style, which I call hit-and-run-scrap - I do not worry very much about endurance running out during the actual fights. It just does not happen to me much. Maybe its the experience of months of playing without Stamina with an even heavier build endurance-wise (Fly). Maybe its my playstyle. The point is, I don't have that issue. So, when I want to slot for enduranca I slot the toggles. I know that many PvPers will tell you that slotting attacks gives you better overall return - but again, thats when you are scrappy-oriented. It may be true for all other ATs except the hit-and-run-Stalker. I could say that "if you are there long enough for your endurance to run out during the actual fight, you are there too long in the first place - see ***" Super Jump happens to be my heaviest toggle by a good margin - other then Invisibility and Phase Shift, which are also both 3-slotted. So, I 3-slot it for endurance. I had the slots to spare. But remember - if you disagree with this, just slot however you prefer!

PVP VIDEOS
As a graphical tutorials of sorts..
(Yes, these are old I6 videos. I will post any new ones if I make some more - no promises though... its a hassle, hehe.)

NOTE: Please don't stream these. If you get an error, thats likely because your computer is trying to stream them instead of downloading the files. You want to download the files to your Hard Drive. If you don't know how to do it, go to http://www.thatslyfe.com/~elernet and choose the files directly. (Copy/Paste that into your browser if the link does not work for you either) Once you see the directory listing, download the files manuall. (Right click + Save As in Internet Explorer)

This was the 1st video in the series - and the most straight-forward one. Just a bunch of good fight clips and fun PvP moments.
Elernet's PvP Video 1 - Death Lurks in The Shadows - High Quality
Elernet's PvP Video 1 - Death Lurks in The Shadows - Medium Quality
Elernet's PvP Video 1 - Death Lurks in The Shadows - Low Quality

The 2nd video was made as an encouragement of sorts to all the Stalkers dismayed by the upcoming RV zone and the alleged incapability of Stalkers to perform well in it due to Hero-side perception. Basically, it is a video done without using Hide or Stealth at all.
Elernet's PvP Video 2 - The Invasion of The Visible Stalker Horde - High Quality
Elernet's PvP Video 2 - The Invasion of The Visible Stalker Horde - Medium Quality
Elernet's PvP Video 2 - The Invasion of The Visible Stalker Horde - Low Quality
Elernet's PvP Video 2 - The Invasion of The Visible Stalker Horde - Very Low Quality

The 3rd video mainly focuses on editing, timing, and overall movie-making detail - so rather then picking the best clips PvP-wise, I was going with the best-fit ones editing and music wise. If you are looking for pure funness of fight-scenes, watch the 1st one instead. This one was a new approach as an alternative to simply stringing together the best-looking clips I have.
Elernet's PvP Video 3 - Good Morning, Sunshine - High Quality
Elernet's PvP Video 3 - Good Morning, Sunshine - Medium Quality
Elernet's PvP Video 3 - Good Morning, Sunshine - Low Quality

Hopefully you guys like them. For all 3 videos, I very strongly recommend getting the High Quality versions - or at least the best possible versions that you can afford downloading. In some of them, the difference is rather drastic.

The sound starts after the titles in 1rst and 3rd video and a few seconds into the game-play in the 2nd. That is intentional.

You will need the latest version of Microsoft MPEG4 V2 and XVID codecs to play all the files.

Thank you to everyone appearing in the videos. No clips were selected on purpose and the only character consideration used was to ensure that no single character appears more then once as a target in the videos. Thanks to Carnal Shadow for the soundtrack idea for Video 3. Finally, many thanks to Slyfe for graciously providing the web-hosting for all this. An alternative route to download all the videos is through his website, which contains all his and mine clips.