Advice for a Night Warrior Unarmed Stalker build

Comments

• keikomyst Posts: 626 Arc User

  October 2013 edited October 2013

  Thundering Kicks is really good, but if you want a good AoE you're going to need to grab 100 Hands. My own pure Martial Arts character can tear through mobs using 100 Hands. Thundering Kicks also boosts Dodge when you finish its combo.
  
  Form of the Master is not good unless you have lots of dodge. I recommend Form of the Tempest instead. It gives you stacks of Focus (free energy + more damage) on crit, and if you're Primary Dex you're going to have at least a passable amount of crit chance.
  
  I'm not experienced with Telepathy at all, but Telepathy doesn't mesh well with Martial Arts. Ego Sleep + Shadow Strike, however, is a great combo to use. Ego Sleep doesn't break stealth, so you can hit a guy with it and Shadow Strike him to death with ease. Ego Sprites isn't much of a help, and Ego Storm got absolutely murdered a while back. Might I recommend picking up another heal (Conviction from Celestial is very nice and will proc MSA nicely if you choose to get that). Also, your lunge will proc MSA too. You only need about 100 Int at level 40 to get it to work well for you.
  
  I also recommend going Str-Con-Int or Dex-Con-Int with statted-in Str.
  Other good SSes:
  Str-Rec-Con w/ Crit Gear
  Dex-Rec-Con + Str
  
  By the way, Shadow Strike is designed to eat your energy when you use it. Keep that in mind.

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• shadowzero66 Posts: 331 Arc User

  October 2013 edited October 2013

  Shadow Strike's base cost is equal to 2/3 of your current energy. Thus you'll always have the energy to use it, but it'll leave you with little energy afterwards. Easiest way around this is to swap out STR for INT as a superstat and use Thunderbolt Lunge afterwards (it costs very little energy, especially due to INT) to fuel Molecular Self Assembly. You can also get creative by using a power with a cooldown beforehand and time it so the cooldown comes off around the time you use Shadow Strike. Evasive Maneuvers, Conviction, Bountiful Chi Resurgence, and the on-next hit powers (Sonic Device, Toxic Nanites, and Miniaturization Drive) are good candidates.

  Grind for the Grind God! Tokens for the Token Throne!

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• jamesbonnell Posts: 170 Arc User

  October 2013 edited October 2013

  Yeah - having played stalkers, you'd think Strength would be an SS... but... Str gets you +melee damage (some, tops out around 70 before starting in on diminishing returns), and knockback resist.
  
  Since you are running Night Warrior, ideally, you should not have tank levels of agro, although an agro dump or two would help (e.g. Evasive Maneuvers with Sleight of Mind).
  
  At 40, you would definitely be better off running INT on a PSS Dex build in my experience.
  
  Dex, Int, Con - maybe a splash of Str from gear/talents. I think ~50 Str has been sufficient to be knocked around somewhat less than Str 10 in playtesting. 70 to high the "magic number" for buffing melee damage before gettinginto DR.
  
  Or as Keiko suggested, Dex/Rec/Con.
  
  I also personally stack enough Rec at 40 to ensure that the highest-level attack that I want to use up-front is covered from starting out of combat.
  
  I think you're on the right track with both Ego Sleep and Ego Placate. Just bear in mind that without any Presence, you're going to have relatively short durations on CC effects. Ego Sleep is fairly good without any buffs, though.
  
  Although the benefit of Ego Sprites is that it doesn't break sleep. I've seen several builds where you just sleep + sprites the bad guys to death. In a team, it's probably irrelevant since almost everyone else will have AOEs - solo - it's very safe.

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• tdits Posts: 666 Arc User

  October 2013 edited October 2013

  Ooh, I had one of these. It was pretty fun, but don't take FotM, you should not be the guy with aggro.
  
  Here are some minor tweaks. Sonic Device + Thunderbolt Lunge is awesome* (it might work well with Shadow Strike too) so you could take R3 for Sonic Device, but if you want to spread it around with Dragon Kick then you could take Deafening Dissolution instead.
  
  You could also go with STR primary and Juggernaut if you wanted; the only one of your super stats that wouldn't work well for you as a primary is CON (and even that would be sort of okayish). Everything else is basically up to preference.
  
  PowerHouse (Link to this build)
  
  Name: Agent Effective
  
  Archetype: Freeform
  
  Super Stats:
  Level 6: Dexterity (Primary)
  Level 10: Constitution (Secondary)
  Level 15: Strength (Secondary)
  
  Talents:
  Level 1: The Master
  Level 6: Acrobat
  Level 9: Martial Focus
  Level 12: Physical Conditioning
  Level 15: Quick Recovery
  Level 18: Impresario
  Level 21: Relentless
  
  Powers:
  Level 1: Vicious Strikes
  Level 1: Thundering Kicks (Rank 2, Rank 3)
  Level 6: Thunderbolt Lunge (Nailed to the Ground)
  Level 8: Night Warrior (Rank 2, Rank 3, Silent Running)
  Level 11: Form of the Tempest
  Level 14: Dragon Kick (Rank 2, Rank 3)
  Level 17: Bountiful Chi Resurgence (Resurgent Reiki)
  Level 20: Parry (The Elusive Monk)
  Level 23: Ego Placate
  Level 26: Sonic Device (Rank 2)
  Level 29: Ego Surge (Nimble Mind)
  Level 32: Masterful Dodge
  Level 35:
  Level 38:
  
  Travel Powers:
  Level 6: Mach Speed (Rank 2, Rank 3)
  Level 35:
  
  Specializations:
  Dexterity: Combat Training (3/3)
  Dexterity: Gear Utilization (2/3)
  Dexterity: Deadly Aim (2/3)
  Dexterity: Quick Reflexes (3/3)
  Warden: Slaughter (3/3)
  Warden: Ruthless (2/2)
  Warden: The Best Defense (1/3)
  
  *Rider Kick!
  
  PS. Don't listen to this 70 STR baloney, the knockback resist is always nice and it still gives you extra damage even if it starts getting less efficient after 70.

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