Let's Talk About the Stalker Cloak

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by Alexanor, Feb 6, 2015.

  1. Alexanor

    Nothing is more thrilling to me in this game than a hard-earned, well-placed kill. The Stalker Cloak, in my opinion, represents a culmination of patience, accuracy, timing, and utmost skill in a game environment that FEELS like it belongs, and yet doesn't quite feel like it's where it should be yet. I would trade thirty minutes of 100 farm kills for thirty minutes of 10 rewarding kills any day.

    Remember, I am ONLY talking about the Stalker Cloak, not the Hunter or the Nanoweave, and all of this is relative to my own opinion. Stalkers are restricted to pistols. Yes, there are powerful pistols, but they have very small ammo clips and it's pretty tough to get more than 1-2 kills with 1 clip and still maintain the element of surprise, not to mention they are very loud and require a good aim. Yes, I have seen the killing sprees that some people have done with a pistol, but those are typically in hectic environments and you are still handicapping yourself by not using an SMG. That said, let's discuss a few things:

    1. Cloaking Activation Speed
    Quite possibly my biggest gripe about this cloak is the length of time that it takes to activate/deactivate your cloak. For a Hunter, I feel that the length of time is totally legit and I have had my runs of excellent killing sprees sporting various SMGs; however, I do not feel that should be the case for the Stalker. Everything comes down to that moment and even a split second will mean the difference between your life and theirs. Given the fact that the cloak already produces a disgustingly loud audio effect when activated, I feel that this adds even more penalty to the gameplay style that I have NEVER seen abused and rarely die by. Being able to pop in/out of stealth quick enough to pop a kill before his buddy runs up the stairs one second later would be a major improvement. Suggestion: Cut the cloak activation/deactivation time in half for the Stalker.

    2: Recharge/Energy Bar
    Why does this even exist? With the effectiveness of the overall cloak as abysmal as it is when you're running/walking/standing, you have to wait EVEN LONGER so that you don't decloak. If you're trying to be stealthy, you're already crawling like a snail around a base. To have to wait for the cloak to recharge adds insult to injury. Suggestion: I would have less of an issue with this if: the cloak drained the same while running, drained less while walking, and drained hardly at all while crawling.

    3. Cloak Strength
    Crouching cloak strength is pretty good. You need a really great trained eye to see someone who's not moving and crouched while cloaked. A skilled player should be rewarded for the spot by the kill and I have no issues with that. My concern is with the walking/running that distorts you so much it's pretty easy to spot cloakers from quite a distance. Suggestion: I can't really say that much is needed in this area, particularly if other areas are addressed, but it would be nice to see a 10-20% increase in cloaking effectiveness for running/walking/crawling.

    4. Other Possibilities
    In my opinion, everything should be useable while cloaked EXCEPT your pistol. That means grenades (except maybe Frag grenades, but definitely decoy and EMPs), medkits, and sensor items should all be deployable/useable while cloaked.

    Anybody else feel the same way? I know there are dedicated Stalkers out there. Not to say that I am yet, but I certainly would like to be, and Infiltration was probably the most enjoyable thing for me in PS1. I decided not to bring up the lack of Hacking in this game... that's a sore subject that has been debated time-and-time again.
    • Up x 2
  2. HadesR


    And the Knife ofc .. Especially the New OHK ones .
  3. Alexanor

    You're right, not the knives. I forgot about those. Those you'd need to uncloak for also.
  4. Ballto21

    maybe this would go a bit far but maybe you can shoot to exit cloak? The first bullet out of the pistol decloaks you, and maybe knifeings on the non OHK knives.

    stalker only of course.
    • Up x 1
  5. Reclaimer77

    Exactly how hard is it to gank unaware people behind the cheese of invisibility??
  6. MarkAntony

    "invisibility"? You have got to be kidding me. Cloaked infils are stupidly easy to see. you have to be blind to miss them unless they are still and crouched.
  7. Reclaimer77

    At times they are, yes. But to say you can easily see every cloaker in all situations is nonsense. Nobody would ever play infil if that was the case, they would be fodder.

    Or do you want me to post all 10,000 SMG infil video's of infils wrecking everyone? Their cloak works just fine!

    Come on the OP seriously wants to throw grenades WHILE cloaked? That's just stupid OP and you all know it.
  8. Alexanor

    Clearly you show lack of any credibility in this argument because you didn't even read my post. Why don't you try again. STALKER cloak, not HUNTER cloak. And again, I said EMP and Decoy grenades, not frag grenades.
  9. Reclaimer77

    There's not a big difference between the two dude, aside from what weps you can use.

    You need to chill. And no, you aren't gonna get to be able to hurl grenades from stealth. Just...come on.
  10. Ballto21




    >EMP and decoy grenades
    >Non lethal
    >Still need to decloak to make use out of them unless clearing mines
    Not seeing how this would be game breaking especially on only stalker cloak, the least used cloak.
    also stalker and hunter not different?
    U wot m8?
    • Up x 1
  11. Mahaut

    Someone got knifed from the darkness one time too much, huh? :rolleyes:

    I do play quite a bit of stalker, and frankly, the only thing that really irks me is that even crouched and immobile, you are not perfectly invisible. There is always that small, random chance that the sun is refracting strangely through you or that the background gets curiously distorted or stuff, and that someone will spot it. Considering just how dependant a stalker is of that one mechanic, this kind of randomness shouldn't be acceptable: give us real invisibility already.

    I mean, just, yesterday, I was at the top of an enemy tech plant farming oblivious snipers when some engineer ran past me. I had been cloaked and immobile for a good minute, and he didn't see me. At first. Then, ten meters or so from me, he started fiddling around while trying, I assume, to put down his turret. And suddenly, he stopped, looked in my direction, and opened fire. Must have caught a glimmer or a distortion or something.

    I mean, sure, I get killed a lot more often by flashlights or because an enemy saw me move or he was out for revenge and I didn't relocate... So, either because the other guy was skilled, or because I made a mistake. And that's fair. But my tools randomly failing me when I did everything right? Always makes me feel somewhat betrayed.
  12. Xind

    Crouched Stalkers need to be totally invisible. There should be no faint signal to look for. It's already too easy to find them with darklights and body checking.

    A small increase in the overall cloaked level of walking/crouch walking I would be fine with, however not while sprinting.

    Using recon tools and medikits while cloaked also would be acceptable.

    One that's important to me is the implant issue. Stalkers don't really have the best SPM potential and I find when I play Stalker I end up using way more energy than getting chargers even using just tier 1 implants. I feel like when crouched/stationary/cloaked, your implants should NOT drain energy.

    Also, can we have some sort of fix so we don't carry around a sniper rifle or SMG that we can't use?
  13. Reclaimer77

    I love you guys who think cloaking is broken because you were in a really obvious place, or did something stupid and got killed.

    I've killed cloakers just from randomly firing behind crates, just because I thought it would be a good spot for one.
  14. CipherNine

    There's not a big difference aside from big difference?

    Did you forget to pay your brain bill?
  15. Reclaimer77

    I'm talking about the visual difference in the cloaks, NOT game mechanics.

    Seriously take a chill pill.

    Look I know you guys want to be Predator and go around totally invisible and kill everyone, but that doesn't sound very fun to fight against.
  16. Alexanor

    Just ignore Reclaimer77. TROLLOLOLOLOL.
  17. Flamberge

    Or, we could just not talk at all about it, and quietly sit on top of tower bases, killing engineers and infils left and right with the Crossbow and ammo belt...

    Got a really nice kill streak going on yesterday, 17 kills straight with nary a shot fired in my general vicinity. 4 of those kills were 100 + meter kills. With the crossbow. I felt so good...

    However, I would LOVE to see a decrease in the time necessary to re cloak.
  18. EscobarJP

    I'm not an infil at heart, because I enjoy LA above all of the other classes. However wanting to get my exceptional directive, I was forced to play as a Stalker for the FB Repeater, the Commissioner P, and lastly the Icikill, ultimately getting my auraxium for all three. I personally enjoyed mechanics of the stalker cloak. It was a difficult learning curve, but once learned, I was able to get kill streaks easily.

    The main point I want to touch on is the invisibility while crouched. Adapt and overcome. If you're aware that you're not 100% invisible while crouched then you have to utilize your surroundings. Never skyline yourself for starters. Also never position yourself against flat surfaces. I always made it a habit to crouch in bushes, because of how they naturally sway and further break up your silhouette thus making you that much harder to see. Stick to surfaces that already look distorted so your silhouette is again naturally distorted.

    Have I had those moments where I was randomly seen, yes, and that's always because they were lucky, or were hunting specifically for me to end my streak. But, if you play your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses, the stalker can be deadlier than most.