As some people told me it could fit my playstyle, I've been trying the whole week to use the stalker cloak. ... and I'm terribly disppointed. When you are using the hunter cloak, having your cloak spotted is not a big deal: You have only to run such has you can have a nice CQC situation, and shoot your SMG at the opponent to kill it. All a matter of skill, but a goof hunter infiltrator can be seen 10 times and survive it. But if you are using the stalker cloak, it becomes a whole new problem. You don't have a primary weapon, so if an opponent see your cloak effect, you're dead meat: the time it takes to notice it, turn the cloak off, and shoot with your pityful pistol, the ennemy will just have shred you into piece with his primary weapon. However, the number of cases where people will spot you, even if you're very careful and don't move a finger when they are looking in your direction, is just stupidly high: - You get hit by lost bullets and it reveal you - You get hit by explosion nearby and it reveal you - You get hit by an EMP grenade that was not even targetting you - You get revealed by random darklight users who where not even seeking you - You get litteraly walked on by an ennemy, which notices there is something wrong there because it hinder his momentum and turn back to blast you - You get rolled on by your own allies' vehicles - Another infiltrator was here before, and the ennemies shoot randomly in the room to find him and uncover you - And many other things... I spend minutes, hours to "infiltrate" in a good position where I could ambush some people, just to be caught by things that are not even my fault ! Which makes me killed each time.. Sigh... tell me, is there some people who get a good K/D ration while using this damn cloak, and how do you do that?
See now we end up in the whole is k/d a good thing debate but I shall ignore that! And I shall say actually depends on your weapon, I've gone on 20+ streaks with stalker cloak but it requires a very careful style. The crossbow despite people thinking it is terrible is fantastic for stalker cloaking! You can any non-max (non over shield heavy doesn't work) with a body shot and knife combo. This means you do not ever need to engage the enemy they die before they even know you are there. Stick to the fringes of a battle, pick off engineers in turrets and snipers (infis die with one Hs from the xbow). Another amazingly fun way to use stalker cloak is to get a group of you, the more you have the more hilarious it becomes, find an objective people will go to, but only one or two at a time! A point in a small fight a generator in a small fight or a destroyed generator in a large fight, space yourselves out in to odd places (not corners!) they walk in and all of you decloak and fire - they die. If you are tr the t4 amp is fantastic for stalkering! You can treat it a bit more like smg infi play but you know if you miss a single shot you die, but it is just funny to jump people this is not going to get you a 10:1 k/d but hey it is fun! If you are nc the mag-scatter can be used like the xbow with the shoot and knife combo If you are vs idk I've not had a chance to play with the spiker Hope that helps!
Stalker cloak can be tricky, since (as you have discovered) you're probably going to lose if you engage the enemy on equal footing. The trick is figuring out how to never do that. Here are a few things that have worked for me: --Camp shield generators. This is a pretty easy way to get a few kills (and points for the generator overload). People tend to show up to stabilize it one or two at a time and stop moving while they stabilize it. Hide anywhere but the corners, since that's where people will shoot hoping to get lucky and hit a stalker. Eventually they might catch on and send a squad to stabilize the generator, in which case you can either stay crouched and hope they don't shoot you, or you can make a run for it. Camping broken shield generators also works. --Camping vehicle terminals can work well. The trick is being at the right place at the right time. I'm not an expert on doing that, but heading one base over from the real fight can work. --In a large firefight, you can get just behind the enemy lines and then run around pistol+knifing people. Obviously you'll be worse at killing than with an SMG, but the unlimited cloak gives you more flexibility in your approach, and you can crouch+cloak to hide nearby, while everyone thinks you've run off. --If you can find a good spot near the front of the enemy lines, you can pick off people who are firing down range. Chances are, no one will come looking for you unless they actually notice you in the act of shooting. And even then, they won't look hard, since they'll assume you've moved on.
Stopped reading right here I told everyone it was a huge mistake ever giving this class SMGs. Here it is, even more proof of it.
It takes me some time, to get used to the stalker, since it is a completely different playstyle. You have to get a good feeling for your opponent. As you recognized before, you are easyly outgunned. So sometimes it's better to leave the playground for a while, and stak somewehere else. The stalker cloak is now ingame for a while, and a lot of the great places are well known by the playerbase. So you have to be creative. Many cloakers try to hide on Boxes or in corners. so the ennemy will check them first. To sit in the fireline is also a bad idea. Most of the time it works, if you just sit in front of a wall, or somewhere in the middle of the room. It's also important to have your escape planned before you engage your ennemy. So you may want to place yourself in the near of a door or a corner
I'm aware of all those thing you advice me. I know how to position, which ambush points are interesting... But it doesn't change the fact I spend my time being caught by random events and killed stupidly. IF I can reach an ambush point, I'm fine for 1-2 kills (after that, people bring the darklights), but moving between those points, or just from spawn point to the first ambush point, I just get killed again and again and again by people that discover me by pure blind luck Also, the weapon doesn't bear any importance to my eyes. There is only two situations with the stalker: you ambush someone, or you get caught. In the first case, you kill whatever your weapon is... in the second, you get killed whatever your weapon is. Hell, I've seen a bunch of people just using the knife and doins very well with it.
if you can't manage to move around undetected, it's verry likely, that the ennemy has some recon devices around. If this is the case, you can try to use the sensorshield implant, or try to destroy their equipment. Also it's a good idea to run the adrenalin pump, by doing so, it's getting much harder for the ennemy to follow your steps. If this don't work, you get beaten by the soft-counter (recon device) and the hard-counter (darklight). At this point, it's often a good idea, to redeploy or switch to classes better suited for face to face comabt. PS: In my opinion the stalker is not about killing the ennemy. it's about drawing his attention away from the real fight. If you wan't to aktually kill targets, your better bring a primary weapon to the game. PPS: if you need further help, i would like to send you to someone who "marryied" her crossbow Cute Beaver Uploads
No, really, it's not like people seems to seek me or find me easily. They spot me randomly due to a lot too much of stupid events, like taking a lost bullet. Last one in date: An ally brings a darklight, get killed... his corpse fall on the ground, the flashlight directed toward me... I try to move out... too late, headshot.
The Stalker Cloak is a fine tool. It's a challenging play style and one that rewards those that invest the time and energy in learning to play it. There's not much more to say really.
Playing as Stalker is an entirely different ball game than playing as Hunter. Hunting is amazing as a sniper's tool, or a skilled SMG user's method of swift strikes. But when it comes to Stalking, hiding and ambushing is the key. If you get stuck in just about any of the situations mentioned in the OP, then try some of these helpful Stalker tips: If you're close enough to the fray for stray shrapnel and bullets to clip you, try backing off a bit. If allied flashlights are giving you away, take a more roundabout path to your destination. Zerg moments aren't what Stalking was made for, try leapfrogging a base and wreaking some havoc on an adjacent lattice, by doing things like prepping the base for capture, or stunting the flow of enemy armor. Crouching makes a huge difference. Remaining still and crouched for a while (in a good hiding spot) turns the tables against Hunter cloakers. When crouched and still, the shimmer is almost non-existent, and coupled with a nice hiding spot, you should be nothing more than a shadow. Try picking up the CQX, it's quiet, nigh impossible to trace, and doesn't show on the map. It also has a nice damage output once you get used to using it. If you see an enemy flashlight, make yourself scarce. If they have a LMG and you have a sidearm and a sponge-like body, you're simply done. The majority of the time, you see the light before they find you. Pick your battles, you have control of when and when not to show yourself. Sometimes it's best to let that heavy walk and let both of you live, rather than having just the heavy live. Your hiding place is super important. Hide somewhere that the average Joe Blow (or even the veteran Joe Blow) isn't going to think to look. Positioning is your best friend. If the jig is up, then don't press your luck. Reposition yourself and let the heat die down. Just a handful of things that may help you in the long run. (Just a bit of personal advice. Not implying in any way that you lack skill of your own). Enjoy the Hunt -MisterSlim
When I stalker cloak, I have no allies around. I am dead center of an enemy base with the goal of hacking their AV turrets to take out as many rear facing tanks as I possibly can. Its a pain in the *** to do on NC though. I get two shots off on their back, They pop the Iwin shield and just turn around and kill the turret. Its a bunch of crap.
@MasterSlim: I've more or less came to the same conclusions than you about how to play the stalker infiltrator. Well except for the weapon, which, for me, doesn't bear much importance for the stalker... CQX, Beamer, Manticore or even Spiker, everything works as long you open the fight in advantageous situation, which is, idealy, the only way you will fight as an infiltrator, and even more with a stalker. Stalkers always plan things for unfair fights, and thus, make kills with any weapon they want. The point the more important about what you said is... yes, stalkers are not in their place in zerg moments. I could make it almost a golden rule. A mass fight just multiply exponentialy the way you can stupidly discorvered: crossfire, explosions, people running through you with or without flashlight... and thus screw your overall efficiency. Better leapfrog to the next base, as you said. If needed to fight into a zerg fight neverless, the best bet for a stalker IMHO is to find an outdoor spot on higher ground and little aside of the fight, where very few people will look, shoot toward, and run by. Some people will still look up because of LAs, but never closely enough to notice the blur of your cloak. Also, flashlights have harder time to reach elevated places by accident that things at the same level than them. Once in such spots, the stalker can spot everything that move, try to kill the few people climb there as well, and try to figure when allies are about to rush in a building to place an EMP just before (through walls if needed), which will help those allies marvelously. It still a bit frustrating as you keep being spotted by accident, but it reduce the overall "oh ****... not again..."
Just because people can't immediately see you doesn't mean you can cloak out in the open. You probably know this, but you should still crouch in bushes as much as you can. The most fun I have is actually during zergs. You say it doesn't work there, but it does. You can very easily get behind the zerg where the infiltrators are sniping, and pick them off with a pistol and knife.
Well I would be curious to see how you manage to avoid all the bullets flying everywhere, explosions from tanks rounds, random detection while moving, and so on... I don't say it's impossible. I did it. But from my experience, you have more chance to be killed stupidly during your move to the back of the zerg, and to suceeed to make there alive.
Hide behind enemy lines instead of sticking next to team mates. Hide next to enemy sundies and kill anyone who tries to re-supply. Go for headshots only, and never stay in one place for too long.
Mechwolf, the problem is not "what" to do. I know what to do. I, as well, ambush sundry, terminals, generators, snipers, guys to busy shooting at the other side, and so on. The problem is "how" to avoid to fail at it miserably due to "accidents". There is so many things that can make stalkers spotted, when they don't have what it gets to survive to being spotted, that any large-scale battle, with all the people running everywhere, bullets flying, explosions happening everywhere, descrease drasticaly the chances for me to do anything before just being killed. This is why I say that zerg battle are not good fields for stalkers. Not saying that we can't do anything in it. Just saying we have a lot more chance to being killed stupidly before we even get into position to do something.
Just keep at it. Sometimes you'll just have one of those days. Today I had friendly harrassers flying out of nowhere to run me over, a fury flash blew me up with no enemies in sight, and I even got sniped by a friendly sniper. A lot of times it's out of your control. There are some things you can do to get TK'd less, but it's all pretty obvious, really. Stay out of the firing lanes as much as possible, and especially don't stand in front of allies, since enemies will hit you trying to hit them. Your teammates are stupid and will run up behind you to use you as an invisible meat shield, but chances are you won't be able to get them to move, so just get out of their way. You should be able to tell in advance where the friendly tanks are shooting, and try to avoid going to those places. Indoor stalking may be safer, if it's really bad.
I love stalker cloaking. I'm a new player (about 4 months in the game,with this being my first PFS PVP ever, so yeah), but I took to stalker cloaking right away. Btw I love huge zergs - just yesterday I killed about 40+ enemies doing nothing but sitting in a window and throwing bouncing betties down to the gathering crowd who wanted to enter the building - they were too busy fighting the enemy ahead than to look up. Run to resupply and come back. Yeah I know, cheesy, but it kept them out from entering the building, which was quite important in the base. I just love doing cheesy stuff like that, that's why I'm a stalker cloaker. I'm not good in a 1-1 fight, so I take advantage of what I can do best and help the team as much as I can. The other thing I did yesterday was killing off one by one VS and TR infis coming up to the tech plant turrets, as the fight was advancing towards the tech plant. Someone above mentioned that the stalker can outwait a hunter cloaker - and yes, I can 100% confirm this. They always thought they were alone busy hacking those turrents. Ahem...
if you have trouble to run between the frontlines, use avehilce, to get where you want. esf with ejektion seat, or the mighty wraithflash. you can either drop right at your target location, or you drop in a calm area between the ennemy spawn and the frontline
