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ENERGY MELEE
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A Comprehensive Stalker Guide
(Issue 6)
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Part 1: Introduction ||
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I started my Energy Melee Stalker about a month after City of Villains went
live. I have a level 50 Tanker who uses Energy Melee as his secondary, so I am
no stranger to the set. I solo mostly, but don't shy away from teaming,
especially with my Super Group. One thing I do often, though I hesitate to
admit it, is to just run newspaper missions over and over again for fast
mission reward bonuses. It's an astonishingly fast way to level. I'm a fan of
min/maxxing my builds, though I’m just as happy playing a more varied
character. I suffered my fair share of deaths with this character on his way to
level 40, but I average only about 1 per level (if not less), as I learn from
my mistakes. My motivation for making my first guide, was that there weren't
many to choose from to help me, but that's not the case with Energy Melee
Stalkers. To that effect, I strive to make this guide as valuable and helpful
as possible. With the success of my Martial Arts guide, I was inspired to write
another one. So this guide is about the primary power set of my main character
in City of Villains, Villainous. A fitting name, if ever there was one.
There's only one real approach to this set: fast, high damage to single
targets. Stalkers put Scrapper 'boss-killers' to shame, and EM Stalkers put
OTHER Stalkers to shame in the 'boss-killing' department. I will emphasize this
point several times in the guide, but I can't stress your single-target
uberness enough. One thing that is different between this guide and my last is
the lack of a section for PvP. While I've played a decent amount, there isn't
really anything worth noting in a separate section that can't be said
elsewhere. Since I focused on my 'boss-killing' capabilities, it kind of went
hand-in-hand with my 'hero-killing' capabilities.
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Part 2: Powers ||
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Energy Melee is a pretty impressive set to choose once you get to the higher
levels. While it has an odd (but true) reputation of being the "pink pom-poms
of death" set, don't be dissuaded by the eye-candy naysayers. They just envy
you. EM is a bit different than the other sets because there are NO
multiple-target attacks in the set. I'm a bit used to this since I play an MA
Scrapper in CoH, but even HE has one AoE attack. What this means is that the
rest of your attacks make up for it by dishing out high levels of pain to the
one target it DOES hit. Another nice feature of EM is that part of the damage
you deal with every attack is Energy-based. Not as many foes resist Energy
attacks, while many resist Lethal and Smashing.
Before I list the powers, I will describe the format they will be presented in.
After the power's name will be a 5-point rank, with 1 being a useless power and
5 being absolutely crucial. Following the name will be a list of statistics.
These can be largely ignored if you're not a number cruncher and just want to
pick fun powers to use; my desriptions should be explanatory enough for casual
gamers to get the jest of them. I also recommend slotting for the powers, but
I'll leave some of the slots empty so you can make your own contributions.
For those who are not familiar with the Brawl Index measurement popularly used
on the CoH forums, it is a way to compare each power's damage output to one
another. It's based on how much damage a power does compared to Brawl, which
has a baseline score of 1. For example, Energy Punch's BI value is 2.7, which
means it does 2.7x more damage than Brawl. Add 3 SO damage enhancements to EP
(for a +95% boost to damage) and the Brawl Index goes up to over 5.
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BARRAGE 1/5 |
Recommended Slots 1x accuracy |
2x damage |
Endurance Cost 3.5 endurance |
Activation Time 1.3 seconds |
Recharge Time 2 seconds |
Brawl Index 1.9 Smash/En damage |
Status Disorient (minor) |
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This is a pretty lousy power. It does low damage and should only be used as a
filler attack in my opinion. If you build your Stalker like I did, though, you
can replace it with Air Superiority, an infinitely more useful attack. Those
recommended slots are only if you bother to take it.
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ENERGY PUNCH 4/5 |
Recommended Slots 1x accuracy |
3x damage |
Endurance Cost 5.2 endurance |
Activation Time 0.6 seconds |
Recharge Time 4 seconds |
Brawl Index 2.7 Smash/En damage |
Status Disorient (minor) |
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Here we go, a more decent attack. This is more useful for finishing off
lieutenants/bosses or dealing with minions. Pick this up as your first attack
over Barrage. You may want a recharge enhancement in it eventually, because
you'll only have a few consistent attacks if you follow my build. Aside from
your big-hitters, you'll have this, Air Superiority, and Bone Smasher for
finishing off enemies.
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BONE SMASHER 5/5 |
Recommended Slots 1x accuracy |
3x damage |
1x recharge |
Endurance Cost 8.5 endurance |
Activation Time 1.5 seconds |
Recharge Time 8 seconds |
Brawl Index 4.6 Smash/En damage |
Status Disorient (moderate)|
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Now we're talking! This is your first of many devastating attacks, and it's
available at level 2! A critical hit with Bone Smasher at level 2 is a
beautiful thing indeed. Often times in the early levels, this can be used as a
follow-up to Assassin's Strike to defeat bosses.
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ASSASSIN'S STRIKE 5/5 |
Recommended Slots 1x accuracy |
3x damage |
Endurance Cost 14.3 endurance |
Activation Time 4 seconds |
Recharge Time 15 seconds |
Brawl Index 19.4 Smash/En damage|
(on critical hit) |
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Here it is, the reason you picked a Stalker over any other archetype. If you're
hidden and you use this attack, you'll do 6x more damage than normal. With this
and Build Up, you can cripple a boss to the brink of defeat. I love it when I
surprise my team in combat with AS. They hardly notice my stealthed form, and
when the boss they are focusing on suddenly drops to 10% health, it takes them
a moment to remember there's a Stalker in their team. Mua ha ha! Take this
power as soon as you reach level 6. It will make getting to level 8 all the
quicker. One tactic that you can use if you've got a recharge rate enhancement
or two in it is to AS a boss, juggle him with Air Superiority and hit him with
another attack while he's on his back, Placate him, then AS him again. I used
to say Scrappers were the 'boss-killer' archetype, but they don't have anything
on Stalkers!
Just like Blaster snipes, however, this power is interruptible. Keep this in
mind, because if you're twitchy, you may move yourself and stop the animation,
wasting endurance. If you're in a team, you have to be wary of cone attacks
hitting you, too. As such, I suggest standing behind an enemy when you use this
power.
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BUILD UP 4/5 |
Recommended Slots 1x recharge rate |
Endurance Cost 5.2 endurance |
Activation Time 0.7 seconds |
Recharge Time 90 seconds |
Duration 10 seconds |
Status +50% accuracy |
+80% damage (self) |
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Build Up is how my groups know when to charge the enemy. I sit in the middle of
a pile of mobs while they stand back. As soon as they see me activate this
power, they know I'm about to assassinate a boss and bring all forms of hell
upon my hidden self. I suggest slotting it with several recharge rate
enhancements so you can use it as soon as Placate becomes available again.
While Scrappers don't rely on Build Up to too much of a degree, it is a really
useful power for Stalkers. Not only for the added damage to take out a boss
quicker, but also to ensure your AS hits, thanks to the +50% accuracy boost it
provides.
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PLACATE 5/5 |
Recommended Slots 1x recharge rate |
Endurance Cost 2.6 endurance |
Activation Time 1.5 seconds |
Recharge Time 60 seconds |
Duration 10 seconds |
Range 40 feet |
Status Special |
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This is another power to take as soon as possible. Placate makes life so much
easier. Did you get the boss' attention despite the Brute on your team's best
efforts? No problem! Placate him and then land a critical hit on his lieutenant
buddy's head! 3 recharge rate enhancements makes the power even more useful in
a team, since you will probably need to use it in combat more than once.
"These are not the droids you are looking for."
If you're new to Stalkers and are confused by this power so far, I'll explain.
This power is ranged and auto-hits your target. It makes the target no longer
aggro you and lasts for 10 seconds. It also makes your next attack a critical
hit, assuming nobody hits you in that time (every enemy can see you like normal
except for the individual you Placated, so the others WILL attack). I emphasize
"HITS you" because misses will not bring you out of your pseudo-hide state.
This makes Energy Aura and Super Reflexes more advantageous than Regeneration
in this respect. The following 10 seconds can be used in 2 ways. One way is to
run from the enemy, assuming he is alone. If you get out of his range before
Placate wears off, he will essentially forget you exist. This is good when
fighting something that is threatening to faceplant you. The second way is to
get a critical hit on one of the enemies near you. The Placated foe will still
not see you right away even if you attack the guy next to him, so keep that in
mind. And if he's alone, that means you'll have time to Assassin's Strike him.
Confused yet? Don't worry, you have plenty of levels to get used to the power.
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STUN 2/5 |
Recommended Slots 1x accuracy |
Endurance Cost 10.2 endurance |
Activation Time 1.8 seconds |
Recharge Time 20 seconds |
Duration 15 seconds |
Status Disorient |
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Stun lands a high-magnitude disorient on enemies, and one application is enough
to drunkify minions and lieutenants. Stun plus Total Focus will make just about
anything dizzy. The damage of this power, though, is laughable. Never slot it
for damage. Heck, never slot it period. I won't deny this is a half decent
power, but I simply don't have the room for it. Placate seems to be good
enough. I made it to 40 without it, so you can too. If you PvP a lot, you'll
probably enjoy Stun more than me. In Aleksander's ENERGY/ENERGY PVP/PVE STALKER
(V.1.0) guide, he attests to as much:
"...this can definitely put the damper on an unwary, toggle-happy
defender or controller. IE, Hurricane-types. Something of a
sticking point between PvP/PvE'rs, it doesn't have nearly as much
use in PvE as it would in PvP, IMHO. If you have the chance to
stick it in your build without putting yourself out from the other
'essentials' (as energy has alot of good powers), then grab it."
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ENERGY TRANSFER 5/5 |
Recommended Slots 1x accuracy |
3x damage |
1x recharge rate |
Endurance Cost 10.2 endurance |
Activation Time 1 second |
Recharge Time 20 seconds |
Brawl Index 12.7 Smash/En damage|
Status minor damage (self) |
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This is one of two reasons why you picked Energy Melee over any other primary
set. Energy Transfer does a huge amount of damage in a very short amount of
time. The endurance cost is decent for the damage it does, too. It takes a
while to recharge, but with an enhancement or two in it, it'll be up quicker,
which may not be a good thing considering its drawback. Said drawback is that
it does a small amount of damage to you when you use it (on the order of about
7-8% of whatever your max life is). You CAN kill yourself with this power! I've
done it before by clicking ET at the same time a boss hit me. The boss' attack
would normally have brought me to a smidgen of life, but then ET sucks the rest
of it away and before I know it, I'm in the Rogue Isles Hospital being
counselled by the in-house psychiatrist. You can counteract the life-draining
aspect of this power if you use it while hidden, but that replaces your extra
critical hit damage. Yes, you heard me, this power does no extra damage when
you use it while hidden. But does it really need to?
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TOTAL FOCUS 5/5 |
Recommended Slots 1x accuracy |
3x damage |
1x endurance cost |
Endurance Cost 18.5 endurance |
Activation Time 3.3 seconds |
Recharge Time 20 seconds |
Brawl Index 9.9 Smash/En damage |
Status Disorient |
Disorient (minor) |
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This is the second reason you picked EM instead of any other primary set. The
damage of this power is on par with Energy Transfer. It takes considerably
longer to activate, however, and costs nearly twice as much endurance. I
suggest an enhancement to take care of that to a degree. It will always land a
high-magnitude disorient effect on anyone you hit with it, plus a very high
chance to land an additional minor disorient effect on top of that. This means
you can stun bosses with just this one power! A critical hit with this will not
yield double damage, unfortunately, but it's still a +30% boost. This means it
has just about the same Brawl Index as ET if you use it while hidden. Imagine
for a moment, if you will, the sheer damage you can do with Assassin's Strike,
Energy Transfer, and Total Focus. Now why on earth would you want to play any
other type of Stalker?
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Fitness |
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Due to the nature of a Stalker's playstyle, you won't be in combat for lengthy
amounts of time. All your endurance will be spent up front, and between
readjusting your position, Placating and moving around, and fleeing to let
yourself get hidden again, you will be given plenty of opportunities to
recover your lost endurance. If you team a lot and find you have to resort to
scrapping, you may find taking and slotting this power to be more useful than a
soloer. As much as I dislike scrapping with my Stalker, I have to in a team
quite a bit, so I slotted Stamina. Fortunately, I had the slots available.
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Flight |
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Air Superiority fits beautifully into my build, as is mentioned above. It's a
great power, doubly so for Stalkers. A common tactic I use on an enemy I don't
want to fight is to hit them with Air Superiority, Placate them, then run. Sure
it's cheap, but isn't that the point of Stalkers?
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Concealment |
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Stealth stacks with Hide, which is great in PvP combat. It's not so useful in
PvE, but there is a small amount of defense bonus from it, which is worth
mentioning if your secondary set is defense-oriented. I won't go into length
about the 2 powers stacking because there are plenty of other guides out there
for PvP Stalkers.
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Teleportation |
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Recall Friend is a very useful power for Stalkers if you plan on teaming up
much. I use this power to assist my team with beelining it to the last room of
a mission. It helps to skip a bunch of baddies if we find we're somewhat over
our heads or such.
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Part 3: Sample Build ||
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This is the exact same build I use for my Stalker. It works incredibly well for
me. I never needed to respec, so take confidence in knowing that as you rise in
levels, the going will never be tough for you if you follow this build. That's
not to say you'll err if you deviate, however.
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Part 4: Closing ||
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I hope this guide can help aspiring Stalkers, if only to give you an idea of
what Energy Melee is like. I had fun playing my Stalker up to level 40, and
wish others to have as much fun as I did. The guide was fun to write, and if I
think of anything else, I'll be sure to add it. If you find any errors with the
numbers I gave, please, please, please let me know! I strive to make this guide
as accurate as possible! You can reach me via private message on either the
forums or in the game. My Global Chat handle is @Tulzar, and you can also drop
me an e-mail in CoH or at fungah@gmail.com.
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Works Cited |
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Energy/Energy PvP/PvE Stalker (v.1.0)
by Aleksander, 11-07-05
http://boards.cityofvillains.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=4048946
CoH/CoV Character Builder
by Sherkhan (Sherk Silver), 01-07-06
http://home.comcast.net/~SherkSilver/index.html
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Legal |
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Copyright 2006 Eric Gross.
The text enclosed herein is the sole ownership of Eric Gross, fungah@gmail.com.
This guide is intended for free use on the internet and may be distributed at
no cost on the condition that the original author is contacted, given
appropriate citation and the guide is in no way altered.
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
