Since this is apparently something that we're doing now, I'll share my build with y'all so you can get on my level.
First off, I am ability point capped, which means Concussive Kicks actually is a concrete higher-DPS build than Ruin. However, I ran CK even when I wasn't capped and I was still our highest-damage Stalker. Obviously it's hard to do apples to apples because of issues like gear, uptime, etc., but the numbers are competitive at the very least. I find even the Tier 4 (you get two charges, essentially, the first of which is free) to be a better use of 15 suit power than Ruin, because you're getting your regen from Shred and Punish anyway.
It's mostly based on what you're comfortable with as far as your rotation goes. I started using CK when I got it and never stopped, so switching to Ruin actually cost me DPS just because the rotation is weird. You do you and I'll do me.
Wait a minute, this is my thread! If you use Ruin, you're wrong and may God have mercy on your soul.
Anyway, here is my base level 50 LAS:
I know a lot of people are fond of switching builds for different situations, but I'll be totally honest here: I have not changed my build in months. I run these eight abilities 100% of the time, and I only even shift the points if a CC break is absolutely necessary. Which, since they're fixing Ondu, is never. Never change your build, is what I'm saying.
If you want to switch to Ruin for trash packs, you can, but frankly it's not that big a damage increase and Stalkers prioritize boss damage over trash damage. Let the cleave classes have their day, we're hunting bigger game.
I know there is some debate over whether Shred or Punish is the better Tier 8, so I'll explain my reasoning here. The actual suit power regen difference between Shred and Punish (assuming you're using Shred any time you're not using Impale or CK) is 2 suit power in favor of Punish. Since you're supposed to be using Shred way more than twice every 8 seconds, we'll assume that's the number we're dealing with.
I find the damage increase to Shred far more impactful on my DPS than the increased damage on Punish, simply because you're using Shred more. That 2 suit power difference isn't going to matter in the long run, whereas the increased damage might. Still, the topic is debated hotly enough even by the best stalkers in the world that you could get away with either and probably make it work.
That said, someone in the raid has to run at least a T4 Punish for the Expose. If you ask me, there's no point running a T8 Shred and a T4 Punish, so you might as well just transfer all those points if that's you.
Here is my capped LAS, which is just a T8 Concussive Kicks.
Since the T8 CK means I run two Punishes per rotation, I have been toying with switching to a T8 Punish for this build. I'll play around with it some next farm night and let everybody know how it goes, but I suspect Shred is still going to win out just because the Punish rotation will be absolutely bonkers.
Now for AMPs!
This is my base level 50 AMP set. There's some wiggle room in here, but for the most part this is everything you need. Some people prefer Unfair Advantage to Stealth Mastery, but since that 8 suit power isn't going to net you another Impale anyway you need to hit about 10 perfect rotations in a row for it to actually work out in your favor.
Once you start getting additional AMP points, your first priority is Cooldown Reduction. After that, you have some options. This is my capped AMP set, but there are several choices you can feel free to make for yourself:
Like I said, this is the part of the build I'm the least rigid about. Stalkers have a lot of good quality-of-life AMPs, so as long as you grab the CD reduction, you can pretty much take whatever else you want. I like Battle Mastery for the Shred/CK damage, but if you can spend those six points somewhere else you go right ahead.
ROTATION
Next to sheer uptime, I think this is the biggest source of my increased damage comparative to other Stalkers. I run a three-guaranteed-crit build, which means my opening burst and my MoO damage are both off the chain and my rotation is very crit-heavy. Using Stealth, Tactical Retreat, and Soldier's Undying Loyalty/Genetic Failsafe on cooldown, you can basically dictate six crit Impales every minute. During MoO-less fights like X-89 or Kuralak, I just throw those as they become available, but on a MoO-heavy fight you can basically frontload your damage to deal something like 60k in your first three attacks.
Open with Impales all the way down to 10 Suit power, Punish, Impale again, and then throw your Concussive Kicks. By the time the first CK (the free one ends), you'll be at 15 SP to use the second. If you're running T8 Kicks, this will also come close to resetting your Punish cooldown. You may have to Shred once or twice in the interim, but then Punish again and Impale your way back down to empty.
That's the burst part of the rotation, then you'll alternate Shreds and Impales as they become available until your Punish and CK are reset, and take it from the top.
Generally, I find the easiest way to sneak in the guaranteed crits is after a Punish or a CK. Using them during Shred spam makes it far too easy to crit a Shred instead, which is the biggest source of lost DPS for this rotation.
If it's a fight that doesn't require interrupts, I also throw Shred and Collapse on cooldown while waiting for suit power to recharge. Collapse, especially, is free damage off the GCD. So throw those as you please if you're not holding onto them for anything. Be careful with Collapse, though, on fights like Genetic Monstrosity where there are hazards you might clip.
RUNES
I run 4/12 Assassin, 11/15 Unfair Advantage, and 12/12 Weapon Specialist.
Weapon Specialist is the most important runeset, as it is a flat percentage increase to your physical damage (all your damage). Whatever you have to do, make sure you keep this bonus at 12/12.
Assassin is only worthwhile for the AP bonus, but that bonus does not increase enough at the higher tiers to bother going farther than 4/12 in it. The Execute is not reliable enough damage to be considered for any fight shorter than a longer-than-average raid boss, where you spend enough time below the threshold to actually take advantage of it.
Unfair Advantage grants you an Empower every time you come out of stealth, which is twice every 20 seconds or so in this build. I'd love to get it up to 15/15, but the Fire slots overlap with my Weapon Specialist, so I can't quite get it there yet.
A lot of people like Fusion Blast, but personally I think it's too big an investment both in money and in slots required to get even the basic bonus when Unfair Advantage is so readily available. Come drop 3, it might be easier to work it in; but as it stands, giving up 8 slots for a tier 1 bonus that is not all that much better than Assassin is just too rich for my blood.
So there you have it. That's what I do, and it seems to work out okay for me. I don't do any week-to-week research to keep up with what the top guys are doing, but last time I checked this was pretty close to what they run. Let me know if you have any questions!
First off, I am ability point capped, which means Concussive Kicks actually is a concrete higher-DPS build than Ruin. However, I ran CK even when I wasn't capped and I was still our highest-damage Stalker. Obviously it's hard to do apples to apples because of issues like gear, uptime, etc., but the numbers are competitive at the very least. I find even the Tier 4 (you get two charges, essentially, the first of which is free) to be a better use of 15 suit power than Ruin, because you're getting your regen from Shred and Punish anyway.
It's mostly based on what you're comfortable with as far as your rotation goes. I started using CK when I got it and never stopped, so switching to Ruin actually cost me DPS just because the rotation is weird. You do you and I'll do me.
Wait a minute, this is my thread! If you use Ruin, you're wrong and may God have mercy on your soul.
Anyway, here is my base level 50 LAS:
I know a lot of people are fond of switching builds for different situations, but I'll be totally honest here: I have not changed my build in months. I run these eight abilities 100% of the time, and I only even shift the points if a CC break is absolutely necessary. Which, since they're fixing Ondu, is never. Never change your build, is what I'm saying.
If you want to switch to Ruin for trash packs, you can, but frankly it's not that big a damage increase and Stalkers prioritize boss damage over trash damage. Let the cleave classes have their day, we're hunting bigger game.
I know there is some debate over whether Shred or Punish is the better Tier 8, so I'll explain my reasoning here. The actual suit power regen difference between Shred and Punish (assuming you're using Shred any time you're not using Impale or CK) is 2 suit power in favor of Punish. Since you're supposed to be using Shred way more than twice every 8 seconds, we'll assume that's the number we're dealing with.
I find the damage increase to Shred far more impactful on my DPS than the increased damage on Punish, simply because you're using Shred more. That 2 suit power difference isn't going to matter in the long run, whereas the increased damage might. Still, the topic is debated hotly enough even by the best stalkers in the world that you could get away with either and probably make it work.
That said, someone in the raid has to run at least a T4 Punish for the Expose. If you ask me, there's no point running a T8 Shred and a T4 Punish, so you might as well just transfer all those points if that's you.
Here is my capped LAS, which is just a T8 Concussive Kicks.
Since the T8 CK means I run two Punishes per rotation, I have been toying with switching to a T8 Punish for this build. I'll play around with it some next farm night and let everybody know how it goes, but I suspect Shred is still going to win out just because the Punish rotation will be absolutely bonkers.
Now for AMPs!
This is my base level 50 AMP set. There's some wiggle room in here, but for the most part this is everything you need. Some people prefer Unfair Advantage to Stealth Mastery, but since that 8 suit power isn't going to net you another Impale anyway you need to hit about 10 perfect rotations in a row for it to actually work out in your favor.
Once you start getting additional AMP points, your first priority is Cooldown Reduction. After that, you have some options. This is my capped AMP set, but there are several choices you can feel free to make for yourself:
Like I said, this is the part of the build I'm the least rigid about. Stalkers have a lot of good quality-of-life AMPs, so as long as you grab the CD reduction, you can pretty much take whatever else you want. I like Battle Mastery for the Shred/CK damage, but if you can spend those six points somewhere else you go right ahead.
ROTATION
Next to sheer uptime, I think this is the biggest source of my increased damage comparative to other Stalkers. I run a three-guaranteed-crit build, which means my opening burst and my MoO damage are both off the chain and my rotation is very crit-heavy. Using Stealth, Tactical Retreat, and Soldier's Undying Loyalty/Genetic Failsafe on cooldown, you can basically dictate six crit Impales every minute. During MoO-less fights like X-89 or Kuralak, I just throw those as they become available, but on a MoO-heavy fight you can basically frontload your damage to deal something like 60k in your first three attacks.
Open with Impales all the way down to 10 Suit power, Punish, Impale again, and then throw your Concussive Kicks. By the time the first CK (the free one ends), you'll be at 15 SP to use the second. If you're running T8 Kicks, this will also come close to resetting your Punish cooldown. You may have to Shred once or twice in the interim, but then Punish again and Impale your way back down to empty.
That's the burst part of the rotation, then you'll alternate Shreds and Impales as they become available until your Punish and CK are reset, and take it from the top.
Generally, I find the easiest way to sneak in the guaranteed crits is after a Punish or a CK. Using them during Shred spam makes it far too easy to crit a Shred instead, which is the biggest source of lost DPS for this rotation.
If it's a fight that doesn't require interrupts, I also throw Shred and Collapse on cooldown while waiting for suit power to recharge. Collapse, especially, is free damage off the GCD. So throw those as you please if you're not holding onto them for anything. Be careful with Collapse, though, on fights like Genetic Monstrosity where there are hazards you might clip.
RUNES
I run 4/12 Assassin, 11/15 Unfair Advantage, and 12/12 Weapon Specialist.
Weapon Specialist is the most important runeset, as it is a flat percentage increase to your physical damage (all your damage). Whatever you have to do, make sure you keep this bonus at 12/12.
Assassin is only worthwhile for the AP bonus, but that bonus does not increase enough at the higher tiers to bother going farther than 4/12 in it. The Execute is not reliable enough damage to be considered for any fight shorter than a longer-than-average raid boss, where you spend enough time below the threshold to actually take advantage of it.
Unfair Advantage grants you an Empower every time you come out of stealth, which is twice every 20 seconds or so in this build. I'd love to get it up to 15/15, but the Fire slots overlap with my Weapon Specialist, so I can't quite get it there yet.
A lot of people like Fusion Blast, but personally I think it's too big an investment both in money and in slots required to get even the basic bonus when Unfair Advantage is so readily available. Come drop 3, it might be easier to work it in; but as it stands, giving up 8 slots for a tier 1 bonus that is not all that much better than Assassin is just too rich for my blood.
So there you have it. That's what I do, and it seems to work out okay for me. I don't do any week-to-week research to keep up with what the top guys are doing, but last time I checked this was pretty close to what they run. Let me know if you have any questions!