[Video] The AF-18 Stalker (Oh God, why?)

Hey up fellow...and you've disappeared. Par for the course.

I picked up the NC's AF-18 Stalker for my inf, being as it seemed to match the role I was going for with the class, and suffice to say I formed quite a strong opinion of it; one that persists. The version you don't have to read is as follows:



However, if the sea of hyperbole does your head in and you'd prefer a more concise summation:

There's very little point to using it because the only time it excels you'd be better off trying pistol/knife, or using an entirely different class. It feels like, instead of being an asset you're using to achieve your goal, you are fighting against it in order to enjoy success.

Perhaps I'm missing something here?

Great commentary!

When I started out playing, I didn't buy into the frustrations people had with scout rifles. But now I see after playing to BR10.... If you don't want to snipe, you need more of an SMG, akin to the UMP in CoD.

Cheers

Honestly that was more what I was hoping for. I don't mind the model being another rifle, but I was hoping it would be good for actually infiltrating. Needless to say it actually isn't really. The playstyle I ended up going with was like a wannabe frontline trooper, but with cloak! *sigh*.

Use that rifle all day long 1x scope forward grip and a silencer. I destroy ppl with it at close range, and that's how its done. Didn't watch yer vie u just sound like some pretentious heir trying to sound funny and failing.miserably. cheers

From watching your video, I can tell it's not the gun's fault. It's your lack of skill. Sorry, maybe you should look into a tab-targetting game?

The rant is funny but the auto scout has its niche. That niche is not infiltration though but flanking the backlines during larger battles where enemies are busy enough to not notice the cloak as easily.

Agreed on the automatic decloaking when firing suggestion.

Alright, all the territorial forum douches have made their debut. Thanks for trying to contribute, they'll be back to **** on you in some meaningless way again later.

I agree wholeheartedly on the points you make, but i think the easier point to make is just a simple question- Why? The Rebel for the NC infiltrator downs a target in two headshots, and can make those shots quickly. If you want a rifle, go with one of the semi-autos that can mount a closer range scope.

The Stalker has more recoil than a carbine, less hip fire accuracy, and has a much smaller clip for it's crap damage. This rifle wouldn't pass off as a viable option for ANY OTHER CLASS, and doesn't even really pass as a viable option for infiltrator.

If you're thinking of dumping some station cash into this, and you want to take someone's advice in this thread, consider the opinions of some average or slightly better than average Joe's... Not the super douches who go to every thread they can find and tell people to learn to play because they're so ******* awesome.

[

Lets see your video showing the super skills you must have with the gun plz then you can insult ok ?
But we all know that wont happen , might just insult yourself again.

Umm i think that is the whole point of this post , why is the only automatic weapon for infiltrator not a viable option like this.

I'm baffled... when I used this gun in beta once it was introduced, I was like "rofl the devs clearly made a mistake here"... and not for the reasons you've put forth... but because they removed shotguns, and gave us a weapon with a extremely similar ttk, but a much larger effective range. Unfortunately I tried the vanu variant and found it not to my liking, but I had absolute blast with the nc version you're using. I think your problems stem more from being unwilling to discover and exploit the mechanics of the class, instead drawing off predrawn conceptions of what you "should be able to do", which is a pretty common issue sadly. The small amount of footage provided seem to imply that you dont seem to understand just how ludicrously powerful your cloak actually is, and you seems to be operating on a "uncloak then engage" usage... which is almost always a poor option when compared to the alternatives. Once you're in an area the enemy doesn't expect a hostile to be present in, there's usually little reason to be cloaked, at least not within audible range of the enemy... sigh, and now you've got me wishing i had 1k certs to spare to buy the nyx =/

Topic here:
http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/scout-rifles.64199/

Let's see:

Auto scout 1553 dps

Auto shotgun 4290 dps (headshot = instant death)

I'm about to blow your mind here. These weapons are 100% identical except for (presumably) damage dropoff and bullet drop. And contrary to what most people think, the Vanu damage dropoff actually works in their favor at typical infantry combat ranges.

So the cloak is ridiculously powerful, but there is little reason to stay cloaked behind enemy lines. Interesting contradiction.

Uncloak and fire is how i get most of my kills with the auto scout. Of course uncloaking in front of them and trying to win with sheer dps and hitpoints is stupid and doesn't work.

A simple search and you would find 100 other posts about the stalker that say the same thing.

We dont need another, with a video to tell us this gun sucks. Its fundamentally at a disadvantage versus every gun in terms of time to kill (TTK). <-- What actually matters in PS2 in terms of killing. NOT DPS.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0AuOojvNLMApVdEtIU1NKenEzNzZOSWNaanFqSUVxLWc&type=view&gid=12&f=true&colid0=17&filterstr0=SCOUT RIFLE, AUTO&sortcolid=-1&sortasc=true&rowsperpage=250

Just use that link. Look at the numbers. If you can do math you would shelf the gun ASAP and wait until it receives a buff.

Look at the scout rifles(auto) versus every Carbine/AR in the game. RoF, mag size, bullet speed, you lose.

Look at the Scout rifles auto damage compared to the semi auto scout damage. You lose.

The auto scout rifle kills fast in close and medium range and has magazine to kill 2 people before reload.
I dont see the issue.
You both want the infiltrator to be close range to not be a sniper but you also feel the weapon for clsoe range doesnt fit the role as infiltrator.

The play style is something to get used to, but the "confusion" about wanting to get close or be good at long range is something in your own head.

The rifle cant really be allowed to kill faster than it already does for balance.
Sure cloak could easily be improved and things like that.

20 bullets. 2 people MAX. I seriously doubt that though. 9/10 you mag dump into 1 person for the kill, because its needed.

So you think thats good?

Semi Auto scout rifle has 10 bullets and can kill 5 people.

Also the play style you suggest is what the "Pistol/Knife" combo is for, which btw is 1000x more effective than the Automatic scout rifle.

Your argument just got real bad...

Ah now see you may have a point...except (and of course forgive me being wantonly anecdotal) the footage shown was to demonstrate how far I had to break the role to make the rifle work. Using it for genuine infiltrating i.e. prepping bases for my outfit in advance etc. etc. netted only pain and suffering (not all the time but enough that it wasn't worth the trouble).

I'm beginning to suspect that this damn thing is symptomatic of the classes identity crisis.

Do you mean backlines as in territory, or on the battlefield? If the former then I'd say surely that is still infiltration. If the latter, quite simply why on earth would I? There is another class that easily surpasses what the inf could do for such a job - the light assault has manoeuvrability and firepower far beyond this anaemic thing. I see a few arguments you could go with...but still.

I watched your video review twice. The first time without sound and the second time with sound.

First Watch: "Hmm, is this guy arguing that the weapon is overpowered?"

Second Watch: "This audio is clearly on the wrong video - or this guy is asking to be made a god." ... "Also, he can put the thesaurus down."

I will agree with the above posters in that you are pigeonholing the infiltrator into the role that you want it to fill rather than the role it CAN fill. Allow me to list the things you accomplished while you were "infiltrating" in that 4-minute video:

1. Hacked a Phalanx that would have otherwise posed a threat to an advancing armor column. (Could have potentially hacked many other turrets)
2. Killed at least 6 defenders without significantly alerting the enemy.
3. Prevented those 6 people from manning turrets to defend the outer wall.
4. Made it easier for LAs or other infantry to secure the tower.

The only reason you ended poorly is because you started behaving like a frontlinesman. Uncloaking in the open, firing from the open, looking around corners without cloak - the gun cannot be blamed for that. Your playstyle changed completely in the last minute of the video.

Forget the video , do a try out with the AF-18 stalker for 30 mins and record it and do your best possible...
I'll be here for your feedback and performance with that weapon !

Hmm. I was almost persuaded by your argument.

It CAN indeed fill a role of pseudo-frontliner, and that really is all that video was in its entirety because *spoiler alert* I was on the frontline in that one. *edit, I derped* Point being I could, and have done similar with an LA with at least equal success because pad hopping isn't exactly rocket science.

I fear you may want to pidgeonhole the Infiltrator into a muzzled assault class with a cloak, when it's not plinking away at range. See it CAN have a prepping role, rendering all a bases defences useless, terminals friendly and so on ready for your squad/platoon etc. to arrive, giving the enemy a very nasty surprise. That is to say it can be an Infiltrator, a saboteur, you get the idea, who might want a weapon that can deal with the one person that suddenly rumbles him. In fact that role could be vastly expanded (and I'm given to understand was to some degree in PS1).

Instead, I'm getting advised that essentially, while acting as a pseudo-frontlinesman I stepped too far into pure frontlinesman...Or to put it another way I played too much like the Light Assault trooper I should have been playing.

Incidentally, though I'm minded that people seem to like the verbosity, a thesaurus is not required - too much reading and you too will enjoy living in synonym hell.

I quite like the Artemis, which is basically the same gun. It's significantly easier to play an infiltrator with a silenced Artemis than a sniper IMO, because you don't have to battle with the ridiculous rendering range. Also, most people suffer from severe tunnel vision when fighting, so it's an ideal time to cloak and just run right at them. I will say that the gun desperately needs some sort of upgrade, though: Either more ammo in the magazine, a bit more damage or firing while cloaked would be perfect, since you're screwed if someone makes an unexpected movement.