Pretty bread and butter build for stalkers. There are probably multiple ways to go about putting together a non-Concussive Kicks [CK] build, but this build is where I found myself parsing the highest damage consecutively as a fresh 50. There are a few skills that can be swapped out and experimented with. , , and are fairly interchangeable in this build. It really depends on the fight and what's needed.

Rotation is pretty simple, but let's go over a few things first.

Suit Power is everything. As a stalker, your need SP to do just about everything. Everything that isn't Impale is helping you build SP to do another Impale or CC a target. Everything.

Secondly, as a fresh 50 you will not yet have this ... but keep your eyes open for a gadget that grants a guaranteed critical hit as well as an Assault Power [AP] boost for the next 10 seconds such as a Ruby Rage Enhancer or equivalent. This will greatly increase your damage on your opener and sustain a bit better through longer boss encounters.

Third, with Drop 5's new changes, we gain a buff while exiting stealth. This means you want to focus on spacing out your stealth opportunities as well as you can manage as to not stack the additional 20% critical hit chance buff on top of itself. And if you don't need Pounce for mobility, you should be running to re-up that buff whenever possible.

Fourth, is a great skill for Suit Power [SP] regen. It's tempting for most newcomers to want to channel it until they're nearly at 100, this is not the correct way to use this skill. Prep is there to get you from single-digit SP back up to 30 to dump another Impale on the target. However, I alter this 'rule' with the exception that I either have a fresh gadget or a ready to go. If that's the case I will channel it up to around 80 SP then restealth to get the most out of the previously mentioned Drop 5's innate changes.

And finally, . Shred is an incredibly valuable SP regen skill when tiered up to 8 with the idea that you actually use it. It does take some getting used to, but you should be shredding every single time you're not doing something else. One last important thing to note about Shred is that you can 'tuck' it into a cast of . Meaning you can cast Shred and immediately move into a Prep channel while the damage from Shred is still going through. You will probably see this referenced throughout more advanced, higher-tier guides.

So now that we have those 5 "little" things established, let's take a look at the rotation. First thing you want to do is get into stealth, then mark your target with while getting into position behind the boss. It looks something like this...

Stealth > > > Gadget [if you have one] > > > > Stealth > > > [being sure to 'tuck' this] > [to about 80SP as TR is off CD] > > > > > > ...

From here you will go right into your 'sustained' rotation. It takes a little practice, but once you start settling in it becomes quite fun to balance your resources and cooldowns.

A few things to remember ...

- I may have mentioned this a few times, but let's go once more to make sure it's really burned in there ... your entire rotation is based around . This never changes throughout playing a stalker. Get in as many impales as possible. Dump an impale every time you're at 30 SP. If you see your SP reaches into the mid-40s you're waiting too long.

- Constantly dumping SP will keep your Enabler Amp proc'd as often as it's able.

- Use off of cooldown as often as it's up. It's another SP builder and costs nothing to cast.

- Use off of cooldown as much as possible but ONLY when you're coming off of a fresh Impale [rather, when you are in single-digit SP]. Remember you can channel this longer if is off or coming off of CD or if your gadget is coming back off CD.

- Shred, Shred, Shred. This can't be emphasized enough. Get as many shreds in as you can. If you're under 30 SP, you're Shredding.

- Finally, try not to stack your gadget and a stealth together. Both offer a guaranteed crit. If you pop your gadget while you're in stealth, you effectively waste a guaranteed crit.

Hope you enjoyed the guide. I know I got a little into the weeds, but I think it's important to establish a solid base as you go forward into Nexus as a stalker. I always encourage others to play around and find other solutions as well. And if anyone sees anything they disagree with or believe could be better, feel free to drop a comment. I've been maining a stalker since beta and I still run across multiple findings that I can use to improve myself or my LAS/rotation.