Important

This build is based on several general characteristics of Stalker tanking - if they change then so does this build.

Stalker Resource intensive - unless you do nothing but in between skill cooldowns, you are going to be starved for Suit Power (SP). You just can't have enough.

Stalkers have Stealth Stances and Stealth Stance Bonuses. Unlike the skill-associated Stealth Bonuses,

Stealth Bonuses on skills kinda suck. Unlike the DPS Stalker, Stalker Tanks don't really make use of Skill Stealth Bonuses. Stance Stealth Bonuses, yes - so just wait 5s until using the next Stealth. The only real exception would be

Stalkers Deflect a lot, but not as much as people think. Engys Tanks can maintain comparable Deflect rates as well. Both Tanks have AMPs as well as Skills that trigger off Deflects. The less said about Warrior Tank Deflect synergy, the better.

Levelling

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Skills

Now let's look at the skills in detail so as to better understand how this build works and just as importantly, how it doesn't.

: People like this skill, but frankly i've never been a fan of it. It uses way too much SP for my liking. Its AoE setup favors tanking packs, against which tanking isn't as much a problem. As mentioned above, the Stealth Bonus is quite strong and can be used in tandem with the Stance Stealth Bonus which lasts the same 5s duration. In fact, this skill is unusual in that its Stealth Bonus is more powerful than its actual effect.

T4 and T8 Bonuses are decent, but since "detonating" your Field is pretty situational, so are these.

Brotip - going into Stealth while this skill is ticking will activate the Stealth bonus as the next tick drops you out of Stealth. Keep in mind that the ticks are every 1s, so incoming damage might break your Stealth prematurely.

Brotip - I use this skill like a lawnmower to harvest Herbs grown in Garden Plots. When you consider the alternatives for a Stalker, wins by a large margin.

: This is a Filler skill, to be used when your SP drops to unacceptable levels. The better you manage your SP, the less you will use it. Still, it's an excellent tanking skill with no weaknesses, with good damage, good Threat Bonus and good Tier Bonuses. In fact, the only real downside to using this skill is that while you're using it you won't be using . At T8 it can be used as an alternative to in other Stalker builds.

T4 isn't bad at all for a Tank since Dashing is fundamental to surviving a game built around Telegraphs. T8 is also great in that two uses of the skill will regenerate an additional 20 SP every 6.25s. It's ironic that the Tier Bonuses favor using the skill periodically, but to get the most out of damage scaling it should be used as much as possible.

: It's gar-...disappointing. High SP cost, weak damage, deceptively weak debuff and poor Stealth synergy. I have no idea what what sort of niche this skill fits; i'm guessing it's supposed to be a Support version of . If so, then it fails. Badly.

It's a ranged skill for a predominately melee class that can be used from stealth yet has a visible effect. It's got embarrassingly weak damage scaling and no bonus Threat so it's clearly not a damage nor pulling skill. Huh? I'm trying to imagine a situation where I can make best use of all its characteristics and I can't.

It's a testament of how bad the Expose debuff is that doubling it at T4 doesn't even make it mediocre. 40 SP for 20% Armor Redcuction? Lol. The T8 bonus is also weak, especially when compared to T4 or T4 . I haven't checked if the debuff is stacks. It had better.

: Tried to like this one, but frankly the Weaken debuff makes little sense. Stalker Tanks are going to stack Insight as much as reasonably possible - getting crit is not really a concern. Damage isn't bad, but it's not that great either for a single target skill. T4 and T8 bonuses are quite good, but they don't make up for what is a subpar base skill.

: This is actually a pretty good skill, particularly as part of an opening rotation. The only problem lies in the high cost, stationary AoE and the "grants to allies" bit. Still, the duration and CD are short, which means Dashing or running out of Telegraphs doesn't mean wasting too much of the skill, unlike a certain Defense Grid.

My verdict on this skill is that with this particular build, i'll skip it, but if you're running a T8 build, go for it.

: This is the cornerstone to ALL Stalker Tank builds and you WILL have it at T8. It's simply that good. The damage doesn't matter - what makes this skill full of Win is everything else.

The Weaken debuff is an incredible 18% damage reduction at T8. You aren't just taking less damage, your entire party is. This debuff alone pretty much means Stalkers can fill the OT role and makes their effective mitigation equivalent to Heavy Armor.

This skill has a 5s CD but a 10s debuff. With the Stalker Tank's Deflect rate, not only does it make it easy to keep Weaken up 100% of the time but gives you a tremendous lead time in preventing the debuff from dropping off.

The T4 Bonus essentially means 10 SP every 5s, a godsend for SP-starved Stalker Tanks. It synergizes incredibly well with such that you can't have one without the other.

The T8 Bonus is equally awesome and well worth the point cost. 25% more Support Power...100% the time. Whoa.

: The foundation and focus of this build. It has everything a Stalker Tank might want except for a few niggles. The first is the really, really poor Stealth Bonus. The Absorb is so weak that if the mob sneezes it's gone. With that in mind, putting the Absorb on a 5s duration is overly optimistic. The other is that this skill sucks down SP like a Granok does beer - pretty much everything else in the build is focused on providing enough SP to keep this skill up.

The T4 bonus is excellent, synergizing very well with , which in turn grants more SP to keep using longer, not to mention the combination of extra mitigation and avoidance. T8 is good, but not so good that you have to have it - I forget how long the debuff lasts, but obviously that is a consideration as well.

Brotip: Like , going into Stealth while Channeling this skill will proc the Skill Stealth Bonus when the next tick drops you out of Stealth. Since the ticks are only 0.5s apart instead of 1.0s it's less likely that your Stealth gets prematurely broken. On the other hand, the Skill Stealth Bonus for is so bad that having that happen isn't really a big deal.

: It's an Intimidate. It also uses a 360 degree Telegraph, making it easy to use. Scaling increases duration of Intimidate, which is as it should be (Warrior devs, take note).

T4 generates more SP and reduces CD which is potentially more SP; very nice. Since this skill uses no SP, that means that passive SP regen during the GCD it's used also has to be considered.

T8 is very good as well, but its utility is dependent on how easily other players get to the Strikethrough cap.

: A no-brainer. This skill is godly, so much so that it should always be kept on CD, even after its recent nerf. It's still a free Deflect and 15 SP every 10s for a Tank class that is dependent on Deflect and SP. It also procs , meaning a guaranteed 100% uptime on Weaken.

: I actually like this skill over ; its single target requirement is appropriate in that single targets are the ones that you need its Healing the most. It hits hard and does a respectable amount of healing. Pretty useful when you have to run out of melee range and have nothing else to do. Still, I passed on this for the added insurance that is . It's a solid choice for soloing where Threat isn't an issue.

: No brainer, but don't bother putting points into it. T4 is tempting, but no. T8 is pretty much PVP-use only.

: A good skill and a viable alternative. The only issue I ever had was the disorientation that came from hopping backwards. The Tier bonuses are pretty good but kind of complicated, which limit its flexibility.

: Taunts are great, but is overall superior. It's duration scaling is better (0.5s vs 0.1) and its Tier bonuses are flat-out better. The only way I would ever use would be if I wanted an Aggro control skill but wanted to put the points in T4 into something else.

: Melee lives and dies by mobility and Stalker Tanks are no exception. Sadly, the scaling and Tier bonuses don't really favor Tanks. The run speed boost is a nice touch, though it sort of collides with the T8 Bonus. It's no Bum Rush, but it works and you need it.

: Tethers, like pretty much all mobility-impairing effects, are useful only in PVP.

: Stealth isn't useful enough for Stalker Tanks to get this skill. Pass.

: Great skill. But like Power Link, i'd rather not have to plow through the Utility AMP tree to get it.

: Messed around with this one. The buffs and SP regen were tempting, but this skill was tricky to use out of combat and too risky to use in combat.

Brotip - The buff duration starts when the Channel stops. So at the end of a full Channel it's not like the first buff only has 1s left before it falls off the stack.

: This is the premier pulling tool a Stalker has. It's a 360 degree Telegraph and targets furthest foes first (Keep taking those notes, Warrior devs) It also Pulls 3 targets, which is the most common size for mob packs. It will break Stealth but since Stalker Tanks don't rely on Stealth Skill Bonuses it's not a problem. Don't bother with the Tier bonuses as they are movement impairing effects which aren't suited for PVE tanking.

: This skill is kind of wierd - some swear by it, others hate it. I could never seem to get the most out of it but I can see how it could be useful. On one hand, the scaling on this skill is downright awful. Its use of charges is also kind of a hassle to use. On the other hand, increasing max HP has always been useful for Tanks as they are the focus for incoming heals and so benefit more from increasimg max HP than simple self-heals. T4 is medicore and T8 is just bad - +12% Armor for 50% uptime is kinda meh.

AMPs

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AMPs

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Gear

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Pulling

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Rotations

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Finale

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