WildStar Wrap-up, Volume 2

This week’s WildStar news centers around another Class Drop.  The reveal this week, was a re-reveal (the last re-reveal) of Nexus’ space ninja… The Stalker!

Screen Shot 2013-11-30 at 1.54.12 PM

 

Stalker week started out on WildStar Wednesday… err.. Tuesday (that just doesn’t have the same ring to it).  We got our Stalker DevSpeak to get the ball rolling:

This week’s Disclaimer Entertainment, provided us the same panel of the Disclaimer…translated to another language, and then back into English..

Highlights from the DevSpeak:

  • Batman-Wolverine-Predator
  • DPS/Tank
  • Main weapon is the dual retractable claws
  • Stealth ability is provided by the high tech nano-skin
  • Medium armor
  • Nanites aren’t just for stealth, they can be used to absorb damage, siphon health, create clones.  They can do a lot, but, probably still won’t help Stephan Frost win his PvP battle against Pappy.  (#teampappy).

Post Stalker info in the DevSpeak… we get a revisit to the BroFessional, who is still quite dead, and surrounded by some very, very, angry Rowsdower ghosts.  Including the angry black Rowsdower.  The BroFessional is saved from whatever the Rowsdower have planned, by a timely resurrection by one of the yet to be revealed new classes.  So, make sure you watch the end of the DevSpeak video to see the tease.

 

Stalker reveal continued with the normally on Thursday, but now on Tuesday because Thursday is a Holiday….reddit AMA!

Here are a few of the Q & As from the AMA:

Q: hi do stalkers have to use stelth will there be viable dps options for the class for people like me who love fist weps but hate stelth

A: Stealth is the innate ability so you do not have to sacrifice an Action Set slot to use it. There are viable builds that use abilities that do not interact with stealth so you are not forced to use it if you don’t want to. Though you would be losing a massive advantage in many situations in terms of opening fights and in PvP.

 

Q: Will the stalker rely heavily on strike through and other stats to damage past shields or get through damage reduction or will there be abilities available in the limited action set that drop shields, negate armor or otherwise lower defensive capabilities of your target? Will stalker be the only class that has these abilities? Does stalker have a nonphysical damaged based load out available through skill and action selection?

A: One of the Stalker’s abilities Overload deals damage that completely ignores shields and when tiered up disables them for a short period of time.
Q: How will the Stalker compare to the Spellslinger in mobility?
Will they need to invest a lot in mobility in order to stay on-par with the Spellslinger? Or could I have a really speedy Stalker, that maybe even sacrifices stealthy stuff?
What are the Stalker’s mobility skills like? Short or long CDs, short or long ranges, etc.
Will the Stalker have any movement speed buffs for himself or his party?
Can any of the mobility skills be used to negate falling damage or jump over gaps that double jump can’t traverse?

A: The Stalker has no abilities that require them to be stationary, whereas the Spellslinger does. Additionally the Stalker can move about freely to engage encounters (including vulnerable ‘slingers). In terms of actual abilities that move them around the battlefield I would say they are about even.
There are many options to spec into movement enhancement from A.M.P.s. If you as a player value that higher than pure DPS than it’s your choice, in a similar way it’s an Esper’s or Spellslingers choice to forego mobility for powerful nukes.
Pounce leaps to the nearest target. False Retreat as mentioned earlier leaps the Stalker backwards and then can be used to leap to their original position. An Emergency Stealth which can be used to gain full stealth in combat. All of these are between 25 and 45 seconds.
Through Tiers you can empower your abilities that grant yourself movement speed.
Pounce is similar to the Warrior’s Leap and the Spellslingers Gate in that it can be used to avoid fall damage if used with good timing and can also be used to jump gaps.
Q: It says the stalker dps is bursty, but some of the abilities sounded like dots. Are there dot rotations for a stalker?
Are attacks more single target oriented or aoe swipe fests?
Besides the cc mentioned in the Devspeak do stalkers apply any other debuffs?
It was mentioned stealthing in combat would be a way to power attacks. Do you gain access to your stealth abilities when this happens?

A: The Stalker does have access to DoT abilities and allow for him to have better sustained damage in a raid situation while providing great utility in PVP. Overload is a prime example of this; it is a single stacking dot that applies an initial burst damage and over time damage. It is unique because the damage dealt ignores shields and if tiered up it will actually disable shields for a period of time.
The Stalker has a wide variety of abilities that are both single target and aoe. The way you slot your limited action set will weigh heavily on the type of single target or aoe damage you deal.
The Stalker has an array of debuffs available to him. He can Snare, Knockdown, Root, Stun, reduce Armor, reduce Deflect Chance and reduce Strikethrough chance. Of course building a limited action set around using all those debuffs may not be the most efficient but it certainly gives you a lot of things to mix and match to optimize your output how you like.
The nice thing about the Stalker’s abilities is they are all available to be used out of stealth but when the Stalker activates stealth it will enable a “Stealth Perk” on a select few of abilities that will empower that attack when it is used from Stealth granting it a bonus.

No Stalker Livestream this week, due to the Thanksgiving Holiday, so that one will be rescheduled for a later date.

Jeremy Gaffney did take some time to write a quick ‘Beta Progress Report‘ to highlight how Beta is currently going.

Couple of highlights from that article:

  • There’s about 16,000 people currently in the Beta.
  • Some of the testers are brand new to the Beta, and did also get a few invites to give to friends.
  • 80% (ish) of the current testers have played multiple sessions, of multiple hours per session.

It sounds like Beta is going well, hopefully those of us still waiting to get in, will get a crack at it soon!

Kind of a light week news wise for WildStar, but the Class drops are always fun.  Make sure you swing by the revised Stalker page, for all the details!

stalker_classdrop_04

 

Standard reminder:  The only place to get a Beta key is from Carbine directly, make sure you head over to the WildStar page and sign up!  If you are in Beta.. remember the NDA!  Don’t go posting leaks, screenshots, videos, etc..