Ideas to improve the stalker

[TheBlueBomber343]

WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT?

Firstly, I'm going to go over the issues I see with the stalker in it's current state. So firstly, while a lot of people presumably playing on lower hazard levels seem to like this enemy, I think you'll be quick to see just how terribly designed it is when going to hazard levels that are at all challenging. (4, 5, and 5+)

See, the problem is that with so much else to worry about, and so little time to spare, you just don't have the time to devote your entire attention on a single enemy. It's to the point where if I hear a stalker sound on haz5+ I just assume I'm going to get hit by it, because I cannot spend the time to deal with it unless it comes to me. All I can do is just keep moving and hope for the best.

HOW TO FIX IT?

1. Movement

I think the burrowing mechanic is the worst thing in the world. Why does the enemy even have a cloak if it can just burrow to and away from you near instantly? So here's what I'd say. I say remove the burrowing, and replace it's normal movement with the leaping movement of the core spawn.

The leaping movement would feel cool for such an apex predator sort of thing. You could also have a small rustling sound of it's wings when it leaps to give you some sort of an idea of where it might be. This would also resemble the rustling sound of leaves, which again, would be kinda cool for an apex predator enemy.

When shot, it would uncloak, and leap away extremely quickly to get to safety. This would still give you time to kill it, and possibly chase it down.

2. Cloaking

I feel like the cloaking makes it just TOO invisible. It's so insanely hard to see if you're dealing with ANYTHING else at all. So I say make it reflect light along it's surface at certain angles, making it kinda shimmer in lighter areas. That way it's near invisible in the dark, but much more visible in lit areas. That'd boost the 'assassin' feel of the bug, and provide some interesting counters to it.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I'd say the bug has a ton of potential, but basically none of it was properly realized in this version of it. Yeah, it's fine on maybe hazards 1, 2, and 3, but it quickly becomes nothing more than an annoyance on anything beyond those.

Hopefully some of these suggested improvements will be implemented.

[TheBlueBomber343]

Femboy Thighs の投稿を引用：

TheBlueBomber343 の投稿を引用：

Anyway, I do appreciate the reply from a normal human being. XD

"Man, I was expecting everyone to mindlessly agree with me, but now that I've seen that's not the case, I'm going to insult everyone who disagrees with me.

Thank you, one person who agreed with me, I'm now going to Other everyone else by calling you normal!"

Does this seem like a mature way to have a discussion? Regardless of how you think others are behaving, you're no better.

Woah nowww.. Slow down there. Hold your horses. I mean, I've seen you around here for years, so maybe you're just used to the weird, snarky, condescending sort of way people act around here, but it's certainly not normal.

The way people talk on these forums isn't the way people talk in real life.

I don't care if someone doesn't like my idea. That's fine. But if they're going to reply is should at very least be respectful, and at best, constructive.

Now, I will admit, I made the classic mistake on the internet of replying to comments I view as purely annoying and spiteful. I've learned now and will try not to do that so much.

[TheBlueBomber343]

Chibbity の投稿を引用：

TheBlueBomber343 の投稿を引用：

Thanks. However I don't want to mod the game to make it easier. I just want the enemy to have some alterations made to it.

Since the rest of the community doesn't seem to agree with that sentiment, wouldn't it make more sense for you to alter your experience; instead of altering it for everyone?

Oh, I have no idea how the general community feels about the stalker. Maybe they like it. However I'm just voicing my issues and possible fixes.

[vindicar]

To sum up the problem of Stalker in one sentence:
It's an enemy that requires your full and undivided attention that exists in the game where it's necessary to split your attention between many things.

Until this contradiction is solved, it will remain a problem.

[TheBlueBomber343]

Chibbity の投稿を引用：

Keep in mind that Phittte is currently salty that no one liked his latest suggestion (making assignments pre designed static levels essentially), no offense Phittte; I actually generally like you as a poster.

Idk, his take seemed pretty reasonable. It feels like ideas that people don't agree with are treated with hostility and spite around here rather than a real discussion.

Obviously that's probably because so many people like the game as is that they're scared to see it changed into something they don't like anymore, which is very understandable. However that's no reason to be hostile towards a harmless forum post.

[Bookslayer10]

Stalker is basically fine as it is, I would like to see some minor changes but I think it's fun and balanced the way it's currently designed.

Yes, it does take effort to look for and deal with a stalker in a swarm. However, so does any other disruptive enemy, so I really don't think it's an issue. Being able to just ping it and have it go away can often be easier than if it were some other enemy that you need to deal with ASAP. It also announces its general presence with an audio cue, so it's easier to start looking for the stalker compared to, say, and acid spitter. Plenty of other enemies can be stealthy and take you by surprise if you are distracted during a swarm.

The stalker adds in a new challenge to overcome, but that's a good thing - it's the point of new enemies. The challenge they add is roughly on the same difficulty level of the other disruptive enemies, so Stalkers are fine the way they are. It might take some practice for them to be as easy to deal with as other enemies, but that's to be expected for a new challenge.

I do agree with Kestrel, it would be nice if they don't rush you upon being revealed, it feels too aggressive for an enemy designed to take you by surprise. Immediately burrowing away would be a better response.

vindicar の投稿を引用：

To sum up the problem of Stalker in one sentence:
It's an enemy that requires your full and undivided attention that exists in the game where it's necessary to split your attention between many things.

Until this contradiction is solved, it will remain a problem.

It doesn't take your full attention to look for the stalker. First, you basically don't need to worry about it until you hear the sound cue. Then, you just keep your eyes open as you do the task you are working on, while trying to keep away from place where you could be ambushed. You can still fight other enemies and do objectives while looking for the telltale shimmer of a cloaked stalker. It's tough, but not unfair.

[gungadin22000]

I really like the stalker. It adds a huge amount of tension when you hear its characteristic chittering.

My only issue with it is really that it is insufficiently intimidating for how badly it can mess you up. Take the Nemesis, for instance - it flies slowly in an unnatural matter, 1shots you with grabs, digs slowly towards you if you try to escape through the caves and constantly gibbers garbled voicelines.

The stalker is gameplay-wise scarier, but I feel that it could look and sound more horrifying.

[Consoomer#911420]

Let's be real here, this is just a nerf suggestion under the guise of "improvement". Frankly the leaping idea is horrible especially the part where it leaps away from the player. And no I do not play on haz 3, I play 5+ mostly and 5 at a minimum. Most of the randoms I play with do not struggle with stalker on haz 5 nor has it ever caused a mission to fail. It can feel "unfair" on haz5+ sometimes (depending on modifier) but that applies to almost every enemy in the game and the game should not be balanced around haz 5+

[Dunhill]

Tyyne の投稿を引用：

No. Just for once learn to deal with the threats instead of crying about them. Stingtail was a threat until people whined & cried and now it's a joke. You want to same happen again?

yeah, I do

[kestrel]

when discussing enemy balance its important to consider there's a lot of wildly variable scenarios that can influence how an enemy feels to fight against vs how bad they actually are
i think we should start considering an enemy's actual threat level versus its "capacity for bulls♥♥♥" (henceforth referred to as CFBS)

for example:
grunts are no threat at all, and their only attack is running at you. 0/10 for both threat and CFBS
praetorians are a modest 5/10 but their acid spray attack has always been infamously broken so they'd get a 6 or a 7 in CFBS
wardens and bulkdets can be very dangerous if left unchecked but their behaviours are very consistent you can easily counter them if you know how. high threat level, low CFBS
stingtails are easy to burst down and getting grabbed isn't that dangerous, but their grab projectile is still incredibly stupid and they aren't fun to play around. probably a 4/10 threat, but 10/10 CFBS

the stalker is a rare case where it's both a dangerous enemy and it's capable of a lot of unintuitive behaviours. stalkers should be a high level threat so players feel compelled to watch out for them, that's a given. but because of their power level, their CFBS needs to be as low as possible to maintain a fair challenge. right now i'd say they're about a 7 or 8 in terms of CFBS

i imagine stalkers speeding up after getting revealed is a root cause behind a lot of these edge cases where they act in ways they shouldn't, and also why they scale so well on H5+ aggressive since they aren't affected by stuns or slowdowns

[Dunhill]

There's already a mod that makes the visuals more apparent, and I think that should be the default. What I mind the most is the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ sound design. While I have no problem telling it's around, It's very hard to gauge how close it is. Fix that and the enemy is fine. It's important to get this right as the thing has the potential to end the round in one hit. Mactera are loud and apparent. Stingtails make a sound and you need to dodge a little pretty much right away.

[Frisky]

kestrel の投稿を引用：

i imagine stalkers speeding up after getting revealed is a root cause behind a lot of these edge cases where they act in ways they shouldn't, and also why they scale so well on H5+ aggressive since they aren't affected by stuns or slowdowns

I only experienced this a few times but I do agree that revealing the stalker only to have it blitz you at mach 5 while being unable to be slowed down can feel really obnoxious, not sure why they just ignore stuns and slows alltogether if thats intended and it makes pinging it with the laser pointer feel counter-productive

the stalker is a really neat enemy and I think atleast compared to other recent additions is definitely one of the more well executed enemies we've seen, just some smaller tweaks and fixes are mostly what it needs

oh and also definitely fix the stalker's visibility being worse on lower graphic settings, obviously an enemy being harder to spot shouldn't be a case of graphical settings

kestrel の投稿を引用：

stingtails are easy to burst down and getting grabbed isn't that dangerous, but their grab projectile is still incredibly stupid and they aren't fun to play around. probably a 4/10 threat, but 10/10 CFBS

I'm still really annoyed they never did anything regarding stingtail's air control lock and instead opted to just cut down their HP and resistances instead of addressing the parts of the enemy that don't feel good to deal with

[vindicar]

Bookslayer10 の投稿を引用：

It doesn't take your full attention to look for the stalker. First, you basically don't need to worry about it until you hear the sound cue. Then, you just keep your eyes open as you do the task you are working on, while trying to keep away from place where you could be ambushed. You can still fight other enemies and do objectives while looking for the telltale shimmer of a cloaked stalker. It's tough, but not unfair.

1. Stalker sound cues, why distinctive enough compared to other bugs, are too similar to each other. Unless you are going to install that mod that revoices stalker using TF2 Spy lines, it's not something to rely on.

2. "keep your eyes open as you do the task you are working on" sorry, how do you even imagine that? Most tasks in this game require you to either stare at the wall, or stare at the floor. Both cases are okay for a stalker ambush, and both leave you open for attack, especially because of wall-crawling that bugs do.

Plus stalker is only noticeable if you're specifically looking for it, it's just too easy to overlook at a cursory glance. So you either do your task, or you keep your eyes open for stalker, but doing both is only going to happen on rare occasions. This is exactly what I meant in my earlier post.

Sure, if you have a sane teammate nearby it will be easier, since one of you can be a lookout... but getting that luxury's not a given, is it?

[Bookslayer10]

vindicar の投稿を引用：

Bookslayer10 の投稿を引用：

It doesn't take your full attention to look for the stalker. First, you basically don't need to worry about it until you hear the sound cue. Then, you just keep your eyes open as you do the task you are working on, while trying to keep away from place where you could be ambushed. You can still fight other enemies and do objectives while looking for the telltale shimmer of a cloaked stalker. It's tough, but not unfair.

1. Stalker sound cues, why distinctive enough compared to other bugs, are too similar to each other. Unless you are going to install that mod that revoices stalker using TF2 Spy lines, it's not something to rely on.

You hear a stalker, you start playing attention. Perfectly reliable, not sure what you are talking about.

vindicar の投稿を引用：

2. "keep your eyes open as you do the task you are working on" sorry, how do you even imagine that? Most tasks in this game require you to either stare at the wall, or stare at the floor. Both cases are okay for a stalker ambush, and both leave you open for attack, especially because of wall-crawling that bugs do.

Plus stalker is only noticeable if you're specifically looking for it, it's just too easy to overlook at a cursory glance. So you either do your task, or you keep your eyes open for stalker, but doing both is only going to happen on rare occasions. This is exactly what I meant in my earlier post.

Sure, if you have a sane teammate nearby it will be easier, since one of you can be a lookout... but getting that luxury's not a given, is it?

It's easy to maintain awareness, you do a few seconds of work, you look around, repeat until you spot the stalker sneaking up. By sticking to areas out in the open and knowing which directions to check for threats, you can get work done while still maintaining a lookout. If you just stare at a wall for ten seconds as you mine resources, then of course you are going to get ambushed. Heck, you'll probably die to exploders before the stalker even gets you, maintaining situational awareness as you work has always been a part of DRG.

I find it's pretty rare that it's just a single stalker spawning in silent swarms or announced swarms, so you are already dealing with the grunts that spawned with it and can easily spend that time also spotting and killing the stalker. When you are already fighting enemies, stalkers are easy to look out for at the same time once you hear the sound cue.

Imagine a single acid spitter on the ceiling, it's easier to spot than a stalker IF you have good lighting but it doesn't have a sound cue to let you know to look for it. If you fail to check the ceilings enough as you work, you are going to be hit with some serious damage. I'd say a stalker is about as fair as that.

[ShugoTheRipper]

TheBlueBomber343 の投稿を引用：

CONCLUSION

Paragraphs of cope to deal with a skill issue.

[Consoomer#911420]

I just finished H5A solo with elite enemies and encountered 3 stalkers throughout the mission. None of them hit me once and I saw it coming each time. It's easier as scout but it really is a skill issue if you're struggling with it at haz 5 and below.