I started Planetside 2 about 2-3 months ago. I for the most part played a medic and Heavy Assault, and tried Stalker Cloaking as an Infiltrator a few times. I have it upgraded once, have 2 health kits, and the Commissioner. I have not been very good with it though, and it seems I get spotted all the time. Ive been patient, and waited until nothing was around, etc, and it always seems that someone is right there to find me. I have also tried sniping, and haven't been very good at that either. So I am looking for some tips to make it a bit easier.What Items do I need to invest in, is the commissioner the best gun for Stalker Cloak, or are there better options, what implants are best to use, etc. BTW I play VS mostly. Any help is appreciated.
Best tip I can give you is: As far as it goes on this sub-forum, there's not that many people you should listen to. If it's in ****** to stalker, cutebeaver's probably one of the only if not the only reliable information source. yehhh1g/elusive01/mustarde Misterfrost for long-range sniping I'm sure there's a few more, but out of the top of my head, unless it's one of those talking, take it with a huge grain (*boulder) of salt.
I was going to suggest the Blackhand over the Commissioner, but if you don't like sniping, you probably won't like the Blackhand, either. It's a gun that demands high accuracy from the user, since you've only got 4 shots in the cylinder, and it will take 3-4 body shots to kill, or 2 headshots. That said, if you can kill before the reload, it's got the best effective range of any sidearm, and as a stalker, you've got the freedom to wait for the perfect shot without compromising your position. The crossbow is similar in that it demands high accuracy, but it also has the bolt+knife combo (instakill at point blank) and EMP+bolt combo (OHK at medium range after an EMP grenade). The crossbow can also OHK infiltrators with a headshot out to quite a distance, so using it to hunt snipers is a viable and not difficult passtime. It's also quasi-suppressed (noise range of10m), which is of course valuable for sneaking around. It's much harder to hit moving targets with the crossbow than with the Blackhand, though. You can't properly lead your targets, because the bolt is so slow; instead, you have to predict where they intend to go and shoot at that point, which may not be directly in front of them. The crossbow is also a poor defensive weapon, due to long TTK without the aid of the knife. If you prefer a close-range weapon, I'd recommend the Spiker. Unlike the Commissioner or Underboss, you can suppress it, and that's a big deal for a close-range stalker. It's a short-range pistol which is pretty easy to spam. ADS when you can, since the CoF bloom gets pretty intense otherwise. Be wary of heavies, since you might not be able to kill through the overshield. I haven't played much with the charge mode (my experience is mainly with the Desperado, which is just a downgraded Spiker) but it might give you some ranged ambush potential.
Thanks all, really appreciated I am fine with sniping, I just never find the opportunity to really be able to do it, probably because i'm not all familiar with the game and when the best time to snipe is. I will try the Blackhand to see how I like it, so far Ive seen a lot of people say its a nice weapon. Ive got about 1300 certs saved up waiting to be used because I didn't want to spend it on something that would be a waste of the certs. Can you point me to any guides of theirs or maybe some forums pages where they gave tips to others on this topic?
Always an honor to be pointed out, especially in the same category as those other guys. I have a sniping guide linked in my signature, and you're more than welcome to shoot me a PM if you have anything sniping-related that you'd like a word of advice on! -Stay Fr0sty
-blushes- Always nice to be mentioned! (Too bad it still won't save you from the Parsec xD) -Stay Fr0sty, Jawa!
_itg already mentioned the Spiker. For me it is by far the best stalker weapon I used. Put on a laser and a supressor and fire from the hip. The thing is amazing For beginners I would reccomend a silenced weapon.. But that's just me. NS guns are fun, strong but challenging. For stalking I used them in a big fight. If you are behind enemy lines... no silencer, bad times. But that is my view on things and is applicable to my playstyle. Other then that... Stalking is not for every situation. I do a lot of it and I do it mostly on big fights on the outskirts of it. When you get better at it start playing with the Lumine edge, the new knife. I find it one of the easiest weapons to get good killstreaks with but it is dangerous but so thrilling
With stalking, its not so much about the weapon per say. Its all about seizing the moment and making an ambush. When it comes to closer style engagements... your looking at a situation where your going to have less HP, and much lower damage output per second then other classes, ( sometimes even other infils.) Your approach is going to change for each and every sidearm in this game. I would recommend use whatever starting pistol you have. If your Vanu, yes this means the Beamer. The Beamer is the most challenging starter pistol to get the hang of. I know it has a terrible reputation, but try and get used to how fragile you are. Your goal is to understand what a good ambush looks like in order to win with that weapon. I would suggest taking advantage of the Beamers accuracy and fire rate against moving targets. Its a great TAILING weapon. Follow enemies around on the fringes of battles, and when they leave cover and get out into the open, position yourself next to cover they just left (or behind some safe cover), quickly uncloak open fire. As you get better at this go for headshots initially and finish with body shots as they wiggle around. Alternatively the Beamer is great for killing injured enemies from a position where (once again) you have cover. (And more importantly an escape route) The beamer is very spammy but its pretty accurate and does well at extended ranges that most other pistols can't enjoy as easily. This allows you to reach out and touch enemies from locations that provide easy escape routes as well. Know your limits. Do not take the Beamer into CQCombat and expect good things to happen. Unless you have allies nearby you can help out, or cover and escape routes the Beamers going to let you down at point blank ranges. As far as weapons go, I really love the crossbow. My second choice is probably the COMMY for overall goodness for people just starting out. It can take down targets at a variety of close to medium ranges. Followed by the Blackhand for longer ranges. I actually like the Beamer for tailing enemies. Manticore behaved similar to the beamer but I found easier to pump out maximum possible damage with less clicking involved. Personally I prefer the harder hitting alpha strike weapons for cleaner quicker ambushes and less map signatures and tracers to draw attention. Beyond weapon choice, stalking really has three major aspects you need to learn in order to get good with it. 1) Movement and positioning 2) Ambushing and Trapping 3) Escaping and manipulating enemies. Once you can learn to chain ambushes the class will open up, and you will surely have more fun then just going 1 / 1. Unfortunately everyone and their grandmother these days runs Heavy Assault because of their oversheild in infantry fights. This makes your job considerably harder as a stalker infil. Learn to easily identify HA's, because in most cases these targets need a new approach. You must inflict as much damage as possible before the HA can react to your ambush. This doesn't give you a whole lot of time to work with. In most cases your looking at half a second (0.25-0.50 sec) worth of free DPS time. After that time expires expect their shield to come up. I know it sucks, and your going to die over and over and over again. Just try an look at this like a challenge. Ultimately these HA are teaching you to make better cleaner ambushes. You can also use your motion spotter to bait enemies into a trap where you have the advantage. Or use a mine to intercept them. Everything from not hacking a terminal and poping domes trying and pull from it. To hacking a terminal and poping domes who try and destroy / take it back work fine. If your new to this I would start with terminals. As you get better at understanding your enemies intentions you can toss EMP's where they will be, and finish them as the round the corner. Traps can be anything from sitting near an abandoned engineer turret with you knife out waiting for them to shoot it. On top of the corpse of a dead enemy waiting for a medic to revive them. Next to a broken base turret you think an engineer will repair soon as he makes his rounds. Surprises enemies is the best part about stalking. Heck you can even use other players as live bait ;D and farm savior ribbons. Also please do not neglect your knife. It becomes your primary weapon in a sense. Quick Knife is much more forgiving because it slices everything in a frontal cone. The way players move around - sometimes with jitter - means quick knife is going to be superior when it comes to dealing with mobile targets, or for lack of a better term panic / intercept knifing. That video was shot before holding knives in your hand was an option. When you hold the knife in your hands mechanics change, and it becomes just like your pistol... just really short range lol. There is no longer a damage cone involved, and you must be precisely on target for the knife to do any damage. Slashing animations don't matter, and it doesn't care if your right on someones bum running after them. Worse the moment you push the knife key (or M1) you stop running. If your actually chasing after someone you must sprint / jump / midair knife. The range is short and if you do not jump you run the risk of them getting out of your range. Wielding a knife is perfect for creeping up on stationary enemies and executing them with a quick double slash. If you are PLANNING on getting close to someone who is blissfully unaware pull the knife out beforehand. If they are too close and you pull the knife out in your hands behind them, enemies are going to hear the clinking sound and could possibly move around in fear as you decloak. On top of those differences understand If you choose to purchase the new activation knife, understand it is NOT good for quick-knife tactics because it has a delayed reaction on press. Essentially it swings much slower, and will not instantly react with the cone which makes it terrible for panic knife attacks, or intercepting targets moving towards you. Clearly the active knives do have superiority when it comes to wielding and slashing down numerous oblivious, stationary / slow moving enemies. It does so in one glorious single hit. but makes a ton of noise. I just wish it was a little bit better against moving targets who are within snuggle range. Anyway, mini rant aside. The majority of my loadouts I will run AP mines. This will almost always require you to have a regeneration implant going for longevity. Fear not I usually just use a cheap Rank #1 regeneration and pick a time to heal up when its safe. Mines are perfect for dealing with groups of enemies. Making traps, and covering your escape. They are probably the most powerful device a stalker can have other then EMP's. Mines can clear out entire rooms of enemies if you place one and follow up with an EMP. Mines can also be thrown through the air, over short fences onto peoples heads for maximum trollage. They are my top recommendation for stalker loadouts. EMP's are also really great to have. They improve the effectiveness of mines, knives, lower enemy shields and prevent the HA from getting aroused and glowing when you say hello . I really love running with Bando and 4 EMP's because it allows you to get the upper hand and just be more annoyingly helpful. Another interesting idea: For guns like the Mag Scatter, which have a very short range, I will use a medkit so that way if someone does spot me while moving I can eat them and escape. Since the Mag Scatter is a very specialized short range weapon it doesn't allow me to return fire in most cases, running is the only option and it would be suicide to try and return fire beyond my effective range with a shotgun pistol. The concept I am getting at however, is if movement and being killed on route is a problem for you, then do equip medkits until you become more comfortable with bases and know good pathways and hiding spots. Its a good crutch to use while learning layouts or even getting familiar with your weapon. Your suit slot as a stalker is really going to come down to : Do you work from longer ranges without support? Grab the ammo belt. Do you ambush CQC, and enjoy knife play ? Grab Bando and EMP Do you have a slower PC and want to climb things / use new active-knife easier? Grab the Pump. Nanoweave isn't going to help you survive as a stalker who is grossly underpowered when it comes to 1v1s. Thats fine, if we had the advantage there would be no requirement for sneakiness. Honestly if enemies see you, its pretty much over unless your able to BAIL, break line of sight and escape, or manipulate and counter them. Goodluck <3 and have fun shouting SURPRISE behind enemies with a soft squeaky fart.
Oh and one more thing. Sometimes you need patience I'll attach a video I made some time ago when the new knives came out. You'll see a lot of standing still. But it was just sooo much fun.
Thanks once again, really appreciate the help. CuteBeaver: I really liked the video you put up there. Seeing how you moved around and when you came out of stealth really helps. I have problems with knowing when the best time to come out of stealth, and it always ends with me being dead. I took a look at the guide. That was really helpful, I really liked your part on the various types of rifles. Thanks for the video, like I said before Ive been patient, my biggest problem is when to move, and when to uncloak. I seem to always choose the worst times to do so. Once again thanks everyone for the help, really appreciated it.
As you probably know by now, cert income as an infiltrator can be hard to come by. Your only source is from kills, and you are struggling with that (normal for a newbie). If you have played enough infiltrator that you want to make a commitment to it, invest your certs in the motion spotter. Upgrade it as fast as you can. It will earn the certs back very quickly, and keep on making profit for the rest of your infiltrator career. It also generates a bunch of cert gain events, which is better for implant drops. Oh yeah...it is also a huge help to you and your teammates
Do not spot enemies. Ever. Your cloak. You're not that hard to spot. It makes a lot of noise as well. Even when in cloak, move like you're uncloaked. Cloak in PS2 is concealment, not stealth. Hacking. If you have a point with it, ie. spawning a sunderer. Otherwise, you're putting yourself at risk due to the mini-map advertising your presence. Also, as a fellow infiltrator I take an immense delight in killing enemy stalkers, and nothing makes it easier than an overeager stalker going for obvious hacking objectives. Lack of patience will kill you. Way too many infils sprints along open fields or buildings. Think of Metal Gear Solid and the crate. Move a bit, stop, move a bit, stop. You may not cover as much ground in the same amount of time, but if there is a moderately experienced player nearby it will make the difference between living and dying. Also, don't listen to me or anyone. Maybe you know something I do not. Stay curious, do not be afraid to fail. What seperates a great stalker from a mediocre one are those who keep their cool in a generally impossible situation, those who learn to trust their gut. I've even asked for ammo from an enemy engineer, which was friggin' hilarious. He didn't see me, just threw it on the ground, and left. Good luck out there, and have fun.
Thanks! If you're ever on Emerald and want to run with some of the coolest cloakers around, then you're always welcome to learn a couple things from SHADES (the stealth ops division of [GOTR], one of our two 'elite' groups). We enjoy teaching newcomers the ropes, and there's no better group out there to learn from (I might be a bit biased there, though xD). If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask away! Always my pleasure to help a newcoming cloaker! -Stay Fr0sty
My only tip, watch who you take advice from on these forums or reddit. So many just outright terrible players giving advice. A couple of people you can look towards are Mustarde & CuteBeaver off the top of my head.
While I, from good guy standpoint, find these tactics ugly I also find them hilarious. Calling for medics... the often just switch to heal gun and turn just to find you standing there, calling for engies... Once there was this enemy sundy that drove by. I called for transportation and he stopped and waited for a couple of secconds. He started to move and I called again. He stopped again. While I was laughing my *** off the enemy attack on our base had one less sundy to spawn from One of the things I LOVE about this game is the shear amount of freedom you have. So many ways to do things, so many angles... I've been playing for more than a year and it still does not get old, especially for this reason
Give me a link to your stats page or the name of your character and prove me wrong. Or will you just back out because you know I'm right?
http://stats.dasanfall.com/ps2/player/Biddion you could have just found it yourself in 5 secs... and regardless of his admittedly bad stats he makes a fair point.* you do in fact make a blanket generalization and denounce most people. whether that is justified or not it doesn't change the fact that that is what you did. oh and before you ask (this is me): http://stats.dasanfall.com/ps2/player/Chack321 *in fact you are using a logical fallacy. his stats don't give his point any credibility or take it away.
BTW, Khyza, I'm going to give you a single, very important advice: SEEK TO HAVE FUN. The stalker cloak is probably one of the thougest tool to play in PS2... if you looks even at the stat page of someone like CuteBeaver, who is considered as one of the best, you'll notice that even her does not get a kill ratio very high (something like 1.29, meaning she skills 1,29 foes for each of her death...) Stalker cloak is not a tool of power and destruction, but a tool of shenaningans and chaos. Trying to kill a lot of people is only going to bring you frustration and disapointment, but killing a few people in various, interesting, mischievious ways is what makes that tool worthwhile. Be inventive, be playful, be unexpected.
