User blog:AlbinoRhino2/Stalker Guide

This will be an ongoing thing so I plan to add more and revise.

What you should know about the Stalker:  Setups for the Stalker  Things to watch out for:
 * Main purpose is harassing enemies and beacon capture
 * The stealh DOES have a 1 second delay
 * Good at capturing beacons and not dying for at least 7 seconds while in the process
 * Killing is only done through guerilla warfare.
 * Has good survivalability compared to most light bots.
 * Magnums - This is the classic or "recommended" weapon in the description and is the most common setup. Its not the best setup and the turning speed improvement of robots has made it not as effective since one can't play ring around the heavy anymore. The advantage is that it delivers constant damage but the enemy has to be exposed in order to deal damage.
 * Pinatas - I find this to be the best setup for the stalker. It is currently dethroning the magnum as the ideal setup for the stalker for the same reason why people perfer orkans over tarans. Reload time syncs well with stealth cooldown. The burst damage takes only 2 seconds to unleash so that the other 5 seconds can be used to run for cover or get in extra missiles or both. The disadvantage is that it can't hit jumping robots very well but the reality with jumping robots and missiles is you still can to an extent but you have to know how to aim.
 * Aphid - This setup about playing it safe and staying away while still trying to run for beacons.  The huge advantage is being able to hit robots over while taking cover over low buildings.  Aphids are situational so it is a really good setup while other cases not so much. Low accuracy, shield/fast bots, and tunnels are its down sides. Its ideal against heavies and you can take advantage of dealing full damage when a jumping robot is about to land.
 * Punisher - I never actually used a punisher stalker but I know how punishers work. Its almost works the same way with thunders as its max range is 500m and its optimal range is within 200m but it has a 10 second reload time. Good for taking down anciles. If you plan to go in and shoot someone, I would first shoot for 3 seconds to get to accelerated state before you go into stealth mode to maximize damage.
 * Ecu - This is mainly for beacon capturing and its not very common to see. It might be seen during an event for running beacon tasks.
 * Molot - I wouldn't use molots or you should use something with more firepower if you plan to camp.
 * Spirals - Not enough firepower. Don't use.
 * Pin - Not enough firepower. No one ever uses pins on a stalker anyway.
 * Gekkos - Whether or not this is a good setup is questionable. Its main purpose is really to piss people off but a gekko gepard might be a better alternative setup if the use of gekkos and mobility is desired.
 * Noricums - Don't use.

Thunders can still hit you even on a flat surface and I would pay special attention to elevation if you are elevated and then are running/standing to your position. This could happen on the side beacons of moon maps or near the center of dead city.

Stealth saves you most of the time however some robots, especially the fujin can still hit you while in stealth mode. Gareths and galahads can hit you somewhat to an extent and patton can sometimes hit you.

Be aware of where your teammates are if they are close since they can ruin your stealth if the enemies shoot at them and they hit you. People also can use the vertical auto-aim of nearby robots to hit you but I don't find it to be much of a problem.

When it comes to stalker fights, the magnum stalker is superior with constant damage and no reload. At this point, stealth isn't very useful unless elevation comes into play and if the other stalker setups don't retreat or utilize cover, they will die.

If missiles are involved, especially tulumbas or pins, be aware of walls. The stalker is too low for griffins to hit stalkers but they always try anyway and if you are near a wall or up against it, you will be hit.

The one second delay can mess up your timing so you need to act fast against ambushes or jumps because the 1 second difference is all it takes to losing a lot of health or dying. 

General Advice

Stealth:

When you enter into stealth mode, not only should you be shooting but you should be running to another spot for cover. If you are in an offensive position and the enemy is either stationary or moving slowly, it is generally safe to attack if there are around 300/350 m or your max range. If there is lots of cover and teammates are present, you can keep doing this unless there are big gaps or little cover. When they start approaching, save the stealth for a retreat rather than a suicide. The thing you don't want to do is stealh but have no where to run.

 Before you stealth, you should think where you should run to next and whether you can make there in time. Often times you can start running before they turn around the corner to your next spot. The other thing to consider if you can't reach back to safety, is the spot safe enough to hide long enough for the cooldown. When finding cover, its best to watch where you are going so you run up against a wall backpedaling and waste precious time that can cost you your life. You will make mistakes but you will learn the maps really well next time you backpedal to cover.

Beacons

<p style="font-weight:normal;">When capturing beacons, it is common to find other enemy robots doing the same. This is where pinatas does a better job than magnums since if a gareth comes and you don't have pinatas or pins then you're in trouble. Enemy light robots aren't as difficult to kill as heavy robots. Unless they're robots is low level, you still would have to find cover or cornershoot to kill them. In higher leagues, gareths will get replaced with rogatkas and rhinos and occasionally kumihos.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Before you take a beacon, especially the middle beacon, you need to consider if there are enemy robots already going after it and if there is cover to determine if its a good idea to run for it anyway. What happens a lot is a stalker will go for the center beacon on Shenzken map for example, and while the stalker is taking the beacon, a taran griffin walks towards it and waits for its stealth to end. When it does, the griffin kills the stalker and then the griffin recaptures afterwards. The stalker ends up wasted so if they are watching the center and are waiting for you to fall in this trap then maybe you should choose another time. You can't be the main attraction.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Sometimes you have enough time to neutralize it without getting hurt. On Dead City, you just have enough time to turn it white and then run away. Same with Yamantau. But if the situation demands that you need die to take the beacon or to hold the beacon for as long as you can to win then stay with the beacon. Its generally good to die taking the beacon if its on Yamantau, Shenzken, and to some extent Dead City where taking the center is normally a suicide mission or people are too afraid to. Its also a good idea to stay with the beacon if your team has four beacons to hold four as long as you can such as the enemy's second beacon on Springfield or Yamantau.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Upgrades for Stalker and weapons

<p style="font-weight:normal;">For using the stalker, I recommend at least level 8 for decent durability and at max level 10. I like to upgrade robots to level 9 to get its max speed. Beyond level 10 and the upgrade times drastically increases to 4+ days so I keep it at 10. For weapon level, the general rule is to have your weapons slightly higher than the robot level but for the stalker or other light robots, I recommend upgrading it as high as you are willing to. I would recommend one or two level higher than your average level weapons because the upgrade times and costs on light weapons are lower than medium and heavy hardpoints. The level 12 silver costs for the pinata and magnum is roughly the same as a level 11 medium weapon upgrade with upgrades time being less than 2 and a half days.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Attacking Strategies

<p style="font-weight:normal;">This depends on what map you're playing and weapons you are using. Springfield

<p style="font-weight:normal;">This map is an okay map for the stalker. While the city side provides cover, there is still a no man's land between the sides and the other half of the map is a bad area for snipers. In domination mode, the map shows the ultimate beacon capturing goals for both spawn points for capturing beacons. There tends to be snipers so I drawn the best routes to avoiding snipers as much as possible. If you're not taking these routes or you're help with the center beacon offensive/defensive then there are spots depending on your weapons.

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<p style="font-weight:normal;">Random advice:

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Sometimes the most dangerous spot can work if there are no other places to go. Your teammates can play a role in moving their attention from you to them or if they kill them for you.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Don't stealth too early. Sometimes they're not paying attention to you and you have a few more seconds than you expected.