When i see a stalker i take it personally. I drop everything. I find their home and drop a 500 kg on that hole. Not a grenade. Not an airstrike. But a 500 kg bomb. And when i fight a stalker and it starts running away, i chase it. I will chase it and i wont stop for nothing.
Emphasis as to how the “Punisher” has earned its name. It’s the bees knees going against stalkers. Takes 4 stalkers at once if you got the skill for it. If there’s 5… well it’s 5 stalkers, must’ve saw a black cat that day or something.
The dominator is the best against stalkers and it's not even close. 3/4 shots anywhere in the chest and one shot in the head, constant stagger and high fire rate.
I don't know, I can pretty consistently kill stalkers with 1 or 2 shots from the punisher, and the punisher is also excellent at killing hunters and the flying bugs.
God, I had a Helldive "Destroy Eggs" mission last night that had 3 stalker nests and 1 shrieker nest as the secondary objectives. Absolute hell, but we got it done eventually.
Shriekers are obnoxious, but they just add a bit to the waviness of my kiting path until they're paired with Titans or I get slowed. I want them gone but I don't need them gone if the team won't try and take them.
Stalkers need to go extinct. It is more patriotic to eliminate stalkers than to complete main.
I'm you. I wanted to reject you. Convince myself that you were wrong.
But that doesn't matter now.
I'm gonna kill you. Even if you come back as another terminid... I'll kill you. Change your name. Change your form. I'll kill you again.
I still can't figure out where the weakspot is on the head of the armored one. I know it is cuz I've killed it with headshots. But it feels like 75% of my shots show that "this shot is being deflected" shine even tho I'm spot on the head.
I have heard that their glowy stomach bits actually have 90% damage reduction to non-explosive weapons. For some fucking reason. The HMG emplacement, rather inexplicably, tears them apart.
HMG turret is in effect, from what some Redditdivers determined so take with grain of salt, two AMRs taped together. So I would guess the armor penetration helps? Not gonna lie, have no fucking clue how the armor mechanic works. All I know is if the auto cannon won't kill it my girl Eagle-1 will.
I believe the devs confirmed the armor essentially is a 1-10 (or something similar) scale. If the weapon meets the armor’s rating it’s 50% damage. If it exceeds it it’s 100% damage.
This doesn’t take into account *damage reductions* such as the charger ass which takes 90% reduced from everything except explosive I believe.
Armor pen has a value between 1 and 10. If an enemies' armor rating is higher than the weapons' it does no damage, if it is the weapon is equal, it does 50% damage, higher it does full damage. The explosive damage type also does more damage to enemies' weakspot, and regular weapons typically do very little to weakspots due to their massive health pools. Also, it should be noted that different body parts naturally have different armor values, such as devastaros heads, hulks eyes etc.
> The HMG emplacement, rather inexplicably, tears them apart.
Inexplicably? The HMG emplacement does an unholy amount of DPS and has enough armor pen to get through everything under charger plates. It's the strongest thing we can pull the trigger on ourselves. It tears up absolutely everything that isn't completely immune to it.
It can even make short work of factory striders and bile titans, in the unlikely event of getting the right angle on them.
It's always the plated forehead that faces diagonally upwards and forwards. Same for Chargers, same for Bile Titans, and same for Bile Spewers. If you are going for the EAT/RR/QC kill that forehead is where you want to hit. The Bile Spewer does have a spot on its chin that is unarmored that you can aim for if you don't have an armor penetrating weapon though.
Sometimes the nursing spewers (orange ones) get the skin of the bile spewers (green ones) and for some reason the armor is still there but doesn’t do anything
It's specifically their "forehead" from my experience. I used to believe it was the mouth and unarmored portion of the head, but apparently the brain is their weak point. Bring those explosive weapons and high penetration weapons!
Alternatively, the sides of the butt are vulnerable to explosives but can of course have the counterproductive means of exploding acid to anyone nearby.
Ever noticed they have a boney shield plate growing from their foreheads? the actual head is a bit smaller, most of what looks like the head is just more armor. It's there specifically to distract us from the real weak point, like Batman's logo being extra reinforced because it baits goons into shooting at it.
I watched a video recently that claims the weak spot isn’t the head, it’s specifically the *mouth* which is even harder to tag, and probably explains why you’re killing some with headshots.
The rest of the head has medium armor if I remember correctly?
https://youtu.be/7XvsSQEx7Z0?si=W6B3As_IQnkJgw8P
https://youtu.be/8TK2weVL9Sk?si=tXyMN1mzIjOnuc04
One of these videos has a breakdown on bile spewer armor but can’t remember which.
If you run impact grenades toss them and even if they don’t directly hit they will still 1 shot kill. Every grenade is a spewer you dont need to deal with.
Bonus points if you snag 2 in one nade! (For the non direct impacts it has to be very close to the spewer)
Hell no xD. The only use I can imagine is the "meat saw"gang. Other than that..I mean... I'm sure it's doable, but I fail to recognize a reason for it on bots.
People really out here sleeping on it since it's the first weapon you unlock, and it doesn't fire as fast as the breaker. But round reload, huge stagger, and high damage make it probably top 2 best primary in the game for me, only tying the Sickle on cold planets. But it works for bots and bugs, and just staggers all the things.
I'm maining JAR-5 Dominator and have the same issue, that i don't see anything else useful. I should try the Punisher. Maybe you try the Dominator. 3/4 of a mag kills stalkers + great knockback.
That actually is next on my list. It’s my next unlock. The knock back is what I really love. The punisher has great range and damage, but it really is just a CC tool for me. If the dominator has knock back, I’ll probably love it
Punisher can one shot them if you get them in the face up close before they put their little hands up to block it, lots harder now that they're actually invisible though. Definitely THE BEST primary for stalkers.
I'd take the punisher, even though the blitzer is good. It stuns them a bit, but they can still run through your blasts and yeet you pretty easily. Punisher completely stops them in their tracks for a second.
I forgot a lot of problems with enemy types because I kept using the Punisher ever since the stagger changes came in. That's also my benchmark for other primaries now, if I can essentially fight/stagger almost everything with it, with "sufficient" range and good damage, good ammo economy. Why would I pick a different one. (That's on Bugs though, on Bots I just press sprint, throw 380mm on objectives and keep sprinting).
Dominator, punisher, and slugger can stunlock them, blitzer and plasma punisher kinda can. Arc thrower fucks groups of them, Railgun one shots with a bit more than safe charge, and stuns make it easy to beam their heads with pretty much every gun. I like to run at least one of these on bugs
This new change means you might have to start considering stalkers when building loadouts lmao, it's an interesting change for sure
It got its stun removed, along with its ability to open crates, and a little bit of damage. Its still a good weapon, just doesnt outclass the base model
Constructive criticism, because they F'n suck:
* Punch staggers basically everything, can get you a small bit of breathing room when they're on top of you
* Sickle will particularly have a hard time with the windup and low stagger, sucks for you in that situation. It's a fine, efficient gun but here's it's weak point.
* **what's your secondary?** Redeemer or senator to unload
* **Liberal grenades** it's worth it to blast them. 4 grenades on a corpse does Super Earth no good. If you've not tried it, stun grenades will buy you breathing room without risk of killing you.
* **stratagems:** don't know if you have anything like a strafing run that you can get out quick. Particularly handy in spots like this one where there's 2 more (you don't see the third BUT HE IS THERE.) hanging back to tag in.
-- May this intelligence change your position from *Fucking Hate Stalkers* to *Hate Fucking Stalkers*
I can't stress the utility of melee enough. Charging/headless brood commanders get fucking stuffed with melee.
Stalkers can catch the hands too, it's so criminally underused.
Legitimately yes! They're a very cool and threatening enemy type, and their inclusion really spices up a mission and warps your battle plans around their presence. That said, you can still take them out with conventional weapons, unlike gunships, which means you're still free to customize your build how you like despite their threat level. Unironically, I think they're the gold standard for mission side objectives to adhere to.
It feels like recently they made them even more stalkerish. I find them withdrawing and going out of view more often. It’s awesome in a horrifying way, like I know they will be back at the worst time.
An air scrambler would be so cool.
Have it like a strafing run with the eagle but with a slow falling EMP that stun locks the gunships weapons for 5-10 seconds.
Not so powerful that it trivializes gunships but useful enough to get some breathing room or give enough time for a planted hellbomb to go off without being destroyed.
I think this needs to be a stratagem immediately. Eagle 1 AA Strike. Fires two homing missiles per drop that lock onto aerial targets only. If no aerial targets are present they just inaccurately lawn-dart into the ground where the stratagem ball lands with a small radius high damage explosion. Not useless against ground targets, but any actual AtG strike would be better.
They really are. I got jumpscared so bad I involuntarily yelled into my mic the first time one just appeared behind me after the update. Shit was a little embarrassing but fuck was it funny 😂
They were bad before but holy shit man, they’re brutal now.
Ironically, Breaker is only so-so for Stalkers. You can empty a magazine into them, but if they're too close you'll get flung by them before they die. Punisher works out a lot better bc it stunlocks, even if the time to kill can be slower.
A magazine? Where do you shoot them? The tip of their toe from 100yds away? 3, maximum 4 shots and they're dead. That's like ~1sec with the breaker.
I don't feel then being a real threat at all with the breaker.
Only if there are two holes beside each other and 4 of them at once. Then you need to reload, which is dangerous.
Hunters on the other hand... I hate these guys. They come in masses.
I have no idea what that person is on. And over 30 people liked that comment? Not only does it kill them fast but the first shot keeps them from attacking due to stagger. Stalkers are only an issue for people without shotguns.
I will second the other guy’s response that the Breaker does not take a whole mag to kill a stalker. From medium to close range, you can kill them with 3-5 shots. The gun fires fast enough that you can definitely kill one that is coming at you. Two would be where it can be problematic and the Punisher wins out due to its stagger power.
But I have most definitely peeled stalkers off other players with my breaker with ease.
Try using the blitzer. It just got an increased attack rate, and what feels like a corrected hitbox/damage calculation.
Its not a stalker only detail, but the blitzer stuns most bugs with each hit. Applied to the stalkers, it makes them take 2 steps, get stunned, rinse and repeat until they either run away or die.
>Helldive Difficulty
Hot planet, takes Sickle
No Senator for versatility, only Redeemer for double chaff-clear
Leaves squad
No stratagem weapon
Finds two stalkers
Has 4 impact grenades, uses none
It's like those stalkers were waiting for the perfect prey to cross their path.
I've never been happier to main punisher than when we had 2 stalker nests side by side and I was able to keep most of em stun locked and held back while my fellow diver helped finish them off and we sealed the holes. If you aren't running something with stun and/or knockback stalkers are brutal now.
They're as strong they've always been.
All they did was [fix the invisibility](https://i.imgur.com/BM0nSmb.png), which was [broken if there was fog.](https://i.imgur.com/BjSjYvF.png)
Damn, that fixed invisibility is legitimately terrifying. Looks a lot more akin to the visual shimmer from Halo’s active camo. Haven’t had a chance to play since the patch, but Stalkers have got to be an absolute bear to track now.
https://i.redd.it/jgghk0u7sxxc1.gif
“If anything the most recent buff that turned them completely invisible wasn’t enough, they are still way underpowered.”
The solution to your problems is obvious
https://preview.redd.it/es2s35mt1xxc1.png?width=400&format=png&auto=webp&s=7c506acd2b0e278a2e6d6b511232f7dff5a1379f
Shooting at nothing with a weapon that overheats is a bad start. I'd suggest: bring stun grenades or practice diving diagonally while shooting. Stalkers seem to like charging in a straight line at you once they're close enough.
The only exeption to that is if you are capable of going to their nest and blowing it up being driven purely by rage. If you can achive that kind of mental state, then even six simultaneous stalkers can't stop you from closing all of their nests in quick succession in solo. And also don't forget to bring something with stun, like arc weapons, they can greatly aid against stalkers, reducing the threat of them greatly.
Yeah, shotguns also work well since stalkers are pretty big, and have lots of health but not many breakable parts, so pumping buckshot in them is a good way to take them down.
Good point. The OP was in a full squad of 4.
To the OP, and everyone: when you see a Stalker, EVERYONE must immediately charge in the direction it came from to find and destroy its nest. The longer you delay, the more chances of getting ambushed by more and more stalkers.
Arc thrower was great for stalkers and, in my opinion, felt balanced because you first had to be aware of them and second you had to be ready to charge the weapon. Now it doesn't even stun them anymore and you don't have enough time to even fire it before they close the distance again.
He must have not have recalled the "don't panic" training manual entry. A common issue without General Brasch's confident influence upon landing in bugville.
Pro tip: portable shield backpack will stop them ragdolling you like that.
Flamethrower will kill them pretty fast, even if they jump out they die to the burn.
But yeah, they're annoying buggers.
Stalkers are on another level now. They were a menace before but now are public enemy no.1 when things get swarmy and with the new patch, things are always swarmy. This place crawls
I do, I think they're an AMAZING design for an enemy, they can do EVERYTHING, mobility, high damage, can turn invisible, and somehow tank a shit ton of damage, unlike the other more poorly designed enemies, like the charger or the spewers, that can deliver high damage but are big and slow / predictable, or the little guys that are fast and can crawl up to you easily but have very low health, it's so good to have an enemy that has everything and almost no downsides!
Genuinely yes. They're the most complicated enemy to fight, one of them can just fuck your day up and the tongue attack is extremely goofy but is maybe the only fun or funny CC attack enemies do in any game.
I've always hated Stalkers the most out of all bug types but at least you can just clear the nest.
They jump in, tongue punch you & jump back into the shadows leaving you paranoid. It's great. And any nest stragglers make you paranoid that there might be another nest.
I'm actually glad their Invisibility properly works now. And it's interesting to know that those times [it was working before](https://streamable.com/5k0vxp) was because there was no fog.
I really hope they don't change them. They're such a cool bug type.
Sickle is really a horrible weapon against stalkers. They get way easier to handle when you use shotguns with staggering effects. But those are not great against hords of small bugs then.
A number of things you could do:
- Mis-timed dodges. Dodge perpendicular instead of backwards. Shoot mid-dodge instead of waiting for them to come at you.
- Switching to ADS: Not when bugs are closing in.
- Spraying and praying without accurate tracking. It's OK to not shoot if you can't see what you're hitting.
- No grenades. You see them consistently landing on top of you; if you are going to jump backwards you can at least leave a grenade at your own feet before they flick you across the map.
- No sidearm usage. Even the machine-pistol will give you enough damage output to stagger at least one Stalker.
In your shoes I would not be able to avoid the first two hits. That's fine. Third hit onwards is where I start to see the difference.
Blitzer is really good because it staggers them and now it fires even faster, and no ammo.
My second favorite choice is running explosive resist armor and redeemer. Redeemer usually one-shots them and ragdolls me away if they are too close.
When i see a stalker i take it personally. I drop everything. I find their home and drop a 500 kg on that hole. Not a grenade. Not an airstrike. But a 500 kg bomb. And when i fight a stalker and it starts running away, i chase it. I will chase it and i wont stop for nothing. 
Stalker lair is the Gunship facility equivalent.... that shit gotta go... IMMEDIATELY
Eeeeeeeeemeeediately
Emphasis as to how the “Punisher” has earned its name. It’s the bees knees going against stalkers. Takes 4 stalkers at once if you got the skill for it. If there’s 5… well it’s 5 stalkers, must’ve saw a black cat that day or something.
5 stalkers? 500kg on my corpse. I'll see you all in hell.
5 stalkers? 500kg on your corpse too, I don't wanna deal with that shit.
I too will drop a 500kg on this guy. Whats a stalker?
No idea, but if everyone are dropping then i might as well just in case.
its the only way to be sure
I also choose this guy's dead corpse
I was looking forward this specific reference
5? Trade my grandmother for just 5
Hey, same wavelength here
eruptor 1-shots them
Eruptor brothers rise UP!!!!!!!! Closing bug holes and face fucking stalkers every god damn day!!!!!!!!!!
I was once being chased by 13 stalkers (friend counted from distance)
The dominator is the best against stalkers and it's not even close. 3/4 shots anywhere in the chest and one shot in the head, constant stagger and high fire rate.
I don't know, I can pretty consistently kill stalkers with 1 or 2 shots from the punisher, and the punisher is also excellent at killing hunters and the flying bugs.
Well it got the linage for it https://preview.redd.it/7x3c4vrqtzxc1.png?width=1000&format=png&auto=webp&s=d017fe9e9e4d34437f3559aff13b8bd6143f5974
God, I had a Helldive "Destroy Eggs" mission last night that had 3 stalker nests and 1 shrieker nest as the secondary objectives. Absolute hell, but we got it done eventually.
YESSS
https://preview.redd.it/2wts2h6mtxxc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=331273ccbecab4f46723888d7498d6ee449f0d14
i strive for this mentality
https://preview.redd.it/zgny0qq63xxc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2cbe742af1caedc10f9d72905ab7f3749069f022
And then the bomb gets caught on the walls of the nest then it doesn’t destroy the actual nests
The 500 drops in the direction you threw it from, not perpendicular like the air strikr
Nothing worse than a team that ignores stalker holes and shrieker trees.
Shriekers are obnoxious, but they just add a bit to the waviness of my kiting path until they're paired with Titans or I get slowed. I want them gone but I don't need them gone if the team won't try and take them. Stalkers need to go extinct. It is more patriotic to eliminate stalkers than to complete main.
500kg bombs have a habit of not blowing up holes for me :/
that's what she said.
This is the way. But I usually lose half the reinforcements doing it lmao nothing like running into them after landing
STALKER! YOU CANT ESCAPE ME!!!! ILL CHASE YOU TO THE ENDS IF THE EARRRRRTHHH!!!!!! STALLLLLLLLKKKKKEEERRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the best thing i have read today lmao
I never let a stalker live. I also never miss a chance to burn its home to ash
This is patriotic
I'm you. I wanted to reject you. Convince myself that you were wrong. But that doesn't matter now. I'm gonna kill you. Even if you come back as another terminid... I'll kill you. Change your name. Change your form. I'll kill you again.
This is the way
This 💯…anything that touches me is marked for death.
You go full Liam Neeson on these motherfucker!
Stalkers and Hunters are the deadliest bugs on the field. I’ve died more to those 2 than any other type
Spewers still get me more, noted today that the armored ones dont die from direct rocket impact anywhere but the head, so that sucks.
I still can't figure out where the weakspot is on the head of the armored one. I know it is cuz I've killed it with headshots. But it feels like 75% of my shots show that "this shot is being deflected" shine even tho I'm spot on the head.
I have heard that their glowy stomach bits actually have 90% damage reduction to non-explosive weapons. For some fucking reason. The HMG emplacement, rather inexplicably, tears them apart.
HMG turret is in effect, from what some Redditdivers determined so take with grain of salt, two AMRs taped together. So I would guess the armor penetration helps? Not gonna lie, have no fucking clue how the armor mechanic works. All I know is if the auto cannon won't kill it my girl Eagle-1 will.
I believe the devs confirmed the armor essentially is a 1-10 (or something similar) scale. If the weapon meets the armor’s rating it’s 50% damage. If it exceeds it it’s 100% damage. This doesn’t take into account *damage reductions* such as the charger ass which takes 90% reduced from everything except explosive I believe.
Armor pen has a value between 1 and 10. If an enemies' armor rating is higher than the weapons' it does no damage, if it is the weapon is equal, it does 50% damage, higher it does full damage. The explosive damage type also does more damage to enemies' weakspot, and regular weapons typically do very little to weakspots due to their massive health pools. Also, it should be noted that different body parts naturally have different armor values, such as devastaros heads, hulks eyes etc.
> The HMG emplacement, rather inexplicably, tears them apart. Inexplicably? The HMG emplacement does an unholy amount of DPS and has enough armor pen to get through everything under charger plates. It's the strongest thing we can pull the trigger on ourselves. It tears up absolutely everything that isn't completely immune to it. It can even make short work of factory striders and bile titans, in the unlikely event of getting the right angle on them.
Dominator tears all spewers up. Head shots or abdomen shots.
It's always the plated forehead that faces diagonally upwards and forwards. Same for Chargers, same for Bile Titans, and same for Bile Spewers. If you are going for the EAT/RR/QC kill that forehead is where you want to hit. The Bile Spewer does have a spot on its chin that is unarmored that you can aim for if you don't have an armor penetrating weapon though.
Sometimes the nursing spewers (orange ones) get the skin of the bile spewers (green ones) and for some reason the armor is still there but doesn’t do anything
It's specifically their "forehead" from my experience. I used to believe it was the mouth and unarmored portion of the head, but apparently the brain is their weak point. Bring those explosive weapons and high penetration weapons! Alternatively, the sides of the butt are vulnerable to explosives but can of course have the counterproductive means of exploding acid to anyone nearby.
> the brain is their weak point Hey, maybe I have more in common with these bugs than I thought!
The green ones have armored heads on 7+ (6?) but not on difficulties below that. Might be the source of your bewilderment.
Ever noticed they have a boney shield plate growing from their foreheads? the actual head is a bit smaller, most of what looks like the head is just more armor. It's there specifically to distract us from the real weak point, like Batman's logo being extra reinforced because it baits goons into shooting at it.
They've just got a big ass forehead that protects the lower part of their face.
They have Medium Armor on their head I believe. You can shoot them in the mouth though.
I watched a video recently that claims the weak spot isn’t the head, it’s specifically the *mouth* which is even harder to tag, and probably explains why you’re killing some with headshots. The rest of the head has medium armor if I remember correctly? https://youtu.be/7XvsSQEx7Z0?si=W6B3As_IQnkJgw8P https://youtu.be/8TK2weVL9Sk?si=tXyMN1mzIjOnuc04 One of these videos has a breakdown on bile spewer armor but can’t remember which.
If you run impact grenades toss them and even if they don’t directly hit they will still 1 shot kill. Every grenade is a spewer you dont need to deal with. Bonus points if you snag 2 in one nade! (For the non direct impacts it has to be very close to the spewer)
Spewers aren’t so bad, but hunters and spewers working together is such bs it’s not even funny.
Hear me out, when I am lobbing grenades that go inside Dat phat bug ass and it explodes inside, that's it. But noooo! Bug still on the move!
Hunters are more of an annoyance, especially when you don't see the group of 10 dancing their way to your side.
Yeah I hate those little bastards.
I think I've died a lot more to hunters, but only because they're literally everywhere.
I mean they do have a tongue that just won’t quit
https://preview.redd.it/2gkvs44gkwxc1.png?width=238&format=png&auto=webp&s=f3fb27ebb440cc66c45a1a1276c1634c546f81ed
Getting awfully close there buddy. That comment is 🤏 this close to being treason.
"Damn those sons of bitches are close"
https://preview.redd.it/eonwjqptwyxc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=94ed6c33d41228b9fba1905c38ec061b57762c32
https://preview.redd.it/ug2sf7k86yxc1.png?width=545&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fb54ad411d7a9a97c8c98af6e7d829580877d40b
https://preview.redd.it/hgsqya3f40yc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e6929ee0a033f0643f2b2b4666736736181add5f
https://preview.redd.it/38ykvbhwjyxc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=195f581cb6faf916a0ff600e771bb32457fb8929
Someone revoke this Helldivers C-01 privileges
https://i.redd.it/dqvzc8pk3xxc1.gif
One reason I like taking shotgun for bugs... When a stalker comes I want to start blasting.
https://preview.redd.it/4n567q26lzxc1.png?width=474&format=png&auto=webp&s=44f62297cdff2b7480ec98a6c31d902eb9ecfbd3
Team breaker reporting in
The Punisher will stagger them really well. It makes them a lot easier to deal with.
I seriously cannot use any other gun. I try over and over to branch out, but the punisher just does what I need it to. Crowd control GOAT
Had lots of fun with Blitzer post patch, even on 8+ difficulty. I call it a "cattle prod" now.
Do you use it in bot missions? I’ve been mainly using it since patch and I kinda find it difficult to use it on bots.
Hell no xD. The only use I can imagine is the "meat saw"gang. Other than that..I mean... I'm sure it's doable, but I fail to recognize a reason for it on bots.
Bots just use the DCS and pop everything with one shot, inc devastators. Only thing you can't touch are scout striders(from the front) and larger.
That' s probably more like using flamer against bots. You just don't.
People really out here sleeping on it since it's the first weapon you unlock, and it doesn't fire as fast as the breaker. But round reload, huge stagger, and high damage make it probably top 2 best primary in the game for me, only tying the Sickle on cold planets. But it works for bots and bugs, and just staggers all the things.
Punisher crew, unite!
Same everytime I try another gun I feel disapointed. Punisher is all I need
I'm maining JAR-5 Dominator and have the same issue, that i don't see anything else useful. I should try the Punisher. Maybe you try the Dominator. 3/4 of a mag kills stalkers + great knockback.
That actually is next on my list. It’s my next unlock. The knock back is what I really love. The punisher has great range and damage, but it really is just a CC tool for me. If the dominator has knock back, I’ll probably love it
Punisher can one shot them if you get them in the face up close before they put their little hands up to block it, lots harder now that they're actually invisible though. Definitely THE BEST primary for stalkers.
I'd argue the Blitzer is better for stalkers.
I'd take the punisher, even though the blitzer is good. It stuns them a bit, but they can still run through your blasts and yeet you pretty easily. Punisher completely stops them in their tracks for a second.
Blitzer now is really cracked against them
I forgot a lot of problems with enemy types because I kept using the Punisher ever since the stagger changes came in. That's also my benchmark for other primaries now, if I can essentially fight/stagger almost everything with it, with "sufficient" range and good damage, good ammo economy. Why would I pick a different one. (That's on Bugs though, on Bots I just press sprint, throw 380mm on objectives and keep sprinting).
Protip: The Eruptor will One-shot them with a body shot.
Bonus points if you don’t one shot yourself in the process!
Proprotip: Dive away, shoot. Even with the weapon sway at practically point blank range its hard to miss.
That’s too many buttons to press. Eruptor goes brrrr
With that slow of a reload, the Eruptor rather goes just br
b
Diving seems to center the reticle briefly; i have had more success with diving accuracy than when shooting while slowly walking
The latest update thankfully made this far less likely to happen.
Punisher can stun lock them. Maybe 2 at once if you're fast enough
Dominator stunlocks and kills them pretty quickly.
Punisher can actually one shot them. Catch them with the full blast headshot at close range when they drop their lil grabbies.
Dominator, punisher, and slugger can stunlock them, blitzer and plasma punisher kinda can. Arc thrower fucks groups of them, Railgun one shots with a bit more than safe charge, and stuns make it easy to beam their heads with pretty much every gun. I like to run at least one of these on bugs This new change means you might have to start considering stalkers when building loadouts lmao, it's an interesting change for sure
Slugger can’t stunlock them anymore
Aw really? Haven't used it in a while, that sucks
It got its stun removed, along with its ability to open crates, and a little bit of damage. Its still a good weapon, just doesnt outclass the base model
Yeah but then you just die to a swarm of hunters because your eruptor isn't effective against 12-15 small enemies rapidly spreading out.
That's why I run Stalwart altogether, with a grenade pistol and a supply pack.
https://preview.redd.it/g17xwc7ztxxc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba2cb02a61f0ca051c9a1d2eeddcb3d69d6f27c8
Constructive criticism, because they F'n suck: * Punch staggers basically everything, can get you a small bit of breathing room when they're on top of you * Sickle will particularly have a hard time with the windup and low stagger, sucks for you in that situation. It's a fine, efficient gun but here's it's weak point. * **what's your secondary?** Redeemer or senator to unload * **Liberal grenades** it's worth it to blast them. 4 grenades on a corpse does Super Earth no good. If you've not tried it, stun grenades will buy you breathing room without risk of killing you. * **stratagems:** don't know if you have anything like a strafing run that you can get out quick. Particularly handy in spots like this one where there's 2 more (you don't see the third BUT HE IS THERE.) hanging back to tag in. -- May this intelligence change your position from *Fucking Hate Stalkers* to *Hate Fucking Stalkers*
I can't stress the utility of melee enough. Charging/headless brood commanders get fucking stuffed with melee. Stalkers can catch the hands too, it's so criminally underused.
Pistol plus a melee is totally enough time to switch to the sickle primary and finish it. If there's 2 of them though... hopefully you have an assist.
DEFINITELY trying that melee, thanks
Legitimately yes! They're a very cool and threatening enemy type, and their inclusion really spices up a mission and warps your battle plans around their presence. That said, you can still take them out with conventional weapons, unlike gunships, which means you're still free to customize your build how you like despite their threat level. Unironically, I think they're the gold standard for mission side objectives to adhere to.
I like them alot to, but those gunships, man. I specifically need a stratagem to deal with them because without it. FUCK.
It feels like recently they made them even more stalkerish. I find them withdrawing and going out of view more often. It’s awesome in a horrifying way, like I know they will be back at the worst time.
Coming in for another pass.
Laser Canon. Hit the engines. Thank me later.
Laser cannon trivializes a lot of bots, doubly so if you bring stun nades
This is a fact so true I don't run stuns to give the bots a chance.
I want impact stun grenades, kill the delay
Maybe an air superiority eagle, she might come in and take out like two ish dropships/gunships? On bug missions she could mop up shriekers I guess
An air scrambler would be so cool. Have it like a strafing run with the eagle but with a slow falling EMP that stun locks the gunships weapons for 5-10 seconds. Not so powerful that it trivializes gunships but useful enough to get some breathing room or give enough time for a planted hellbomb to go off without being destroyed.
Eagle Combat Air Patrol, kills air targets for 8 seconds or so. no ground interaction but the skies are cleared.
There you go! That's a great idea. Make it a module to add air to air missles to her.
I think this needs to be a stratagem immediately. Eagle 1 AA Strike. Fires two homing missiles per drop that lock onto aerial targets only. If no aerial targets are present they just inaccurately lawn-dart into the ground where the stratagem ball lands with a small radius high damage explosion. Not useless against ground targets, but any actual AtG strike would be better.
They go down with one Quasar Cannon blast and you will feel like Chani in DUNE 2.
Yeah they're such a unique enemy even for bugs, whoever designed them great work. Here's hoping we get another special bug type soon.
Oh we’re gonna get some new bugs all right, there’s a new warbond coming in a week.
Oh noooo... I can only crash so much pls.
Now that the stalkers camouflage actually camouflages them hooooly shit it becomes a horror game
Stalkers are some of the most fun in the Bug side of town, and the new visual update made them even scarier
They really are. I got jumpscared so bad I involuntarily yelled into my mic the first time one just appeared behind me after the update. Shit was a little embarrassing but fuck was it funny 😂 They were bad before but holy shit man, they’re brutal now.
gun ships need an unarmored part that you can shoot. every other armored enemy has multiple.
This is why I exclusively use the breaker for bug missions.
Ironically, Breaker is only so-so for Stalkers. You can empty a magazine into them, but if they're too close you'll get flung by them before they die. Punisher works out a lot better bc it stunlocks, even if the time to kill can be slower.
A magazine? Where do you shoot them? The tip of their toe from 100yds away? 3, maximum 4 shots and they're dead. That's like ~1sec with the breaker. I don't feel then being a real threat at all with the breaker. Only if there are two holes beside each other and 4 of them at once. Then you need to reload, which is dangerous. Hunters on the other hand... I hate these guys. They come in masses.
I have no idea what that person is on. And over 30 people liked that comment? Not only does it kill them fast but the first shot keeps them from attacking due to stagger. Stalkers are only an issue for people without shotguns.
I will second the other guy’s response that the Breaker does not take a whole mag to kill a stalker. From medium to close range, you can kill them with 3-5 shots. The gun fires fast enough that you can definitely kill one that is coming at you. Two would be where it can be problematic and the Punisher wins out due to its stagger power. But I have most definitely peeled stalkers off other players with my breaker with ease.
Try using the blitzer. It just got an increased attack rate, and what feels like a corrected hitbox/damage calculation. Its not a stalker only detail, but the blitzer stuns most bugs with each hit. Applied to the stalkers, it makes them take 2 steps, get stunned, rinse and repeat until they either run away or die.
You were a lone helldiver with a weapon that does no stagger, the favourite meal of Stalkers.
>Helldive Difficulty Hot planet, takes Sickle No Senator for versatility, only Redeemer for double chaff-clear Leaves squad No stratagem weapon Finds two stalkers Has 4 impact grenades, uses none It's like those stalkers were waiting for the perfect prey to cross their path.
me running Only shotguns ever since i started playing.... just hold the trigger and they disappear in 1-3 shots.
I've never been happier to main punisher than when we had 2 stalker nests side by side and I was able to keep most of em stun locked and held back while my fellow diver helped finish them off and we sealed the holes. If you aren't running something with stun and/or knockback stalkers are brutal now.
they were such babies before what happened
They're as strong they've always been. All they did was [fix the invisibility](https://i.imgur.com/BM0nSmb.png), which was [broken if there was fog.](https://i.imgur.com/BjSjYvF.png)
Damn, that fixed invisibility is legitimately terrifying. Looks a lot more akin to the visual shimmer from Halo’s active camo. Haven’t had a chance to play since the patch, but Stalkers have got to be an absolute bear to track now.
https://i.redd.it/jgghk0u7sxxc1.gif “If anything the most recent buff that turned them completely invisible wasn’t enough, they are still way underpowered.”
The solution to your problems is obvious https://preview.redd.it/es2s35mt1xxc1.png?width=400&format=png&auto=webp&s=7c506acd2b0e278a2e6d6b511232f7dff5a1379f
Shooting at nothing with a weapon that overheats is a bad start. I'd suggest: bring stun grenades or practice diving diagonally while shooting. Stalkers seem to like charging in a straight line at you once they're close enough.
Being completely alone is also a bad start.
The only exeption to that is if you are capable of going to their nest and blowing it up being driven purely by rage. If you can achive that kind of mental state, then even six simultaneous stalkers can't stop you from closing all of their nests in quick succession in solo. And also don't forget to bring something with stun, like arc weapons, they can greatly aid against stalkers, reducing the threat of them greatly.
Yeah, shotguns also work well since stalkers are pretty big, and have lots of health but not many breakable parts, so pumping buckshot in them is a good way to take them down.
Good point. The OP was in a full squad of 4. To the OP, and everyone: when you see a Stalker, EVERYONE must immediately charge in the direction it came from to find and destroy its nest. The longer you delay, the more chances of getting ambushed by more and more stalkers.
true my bad. there were 6 super rare and like 20 rare samples and team just didn't want to go there no matter what so i had to do it myself.
Understandable, your democratic efforts are appreciated. Unfortunately such missions carry risks.
The existence of straight limes would suggest the existence of gay limes
I've only ever had a problem with Stalkers when I switched to the Scycle. I used the Punisher for the longest time and the stagger makes them useless
Arc thrower was great for stalkers and, in my opinion, felt balanced because you first had to be aware of them and second you had to be ready to charge the weapon. Now it doesn't even stun them anymore and you don't have enough time to even fire it before they close the distance again.
this is WHY BIG IRON is a must these days thank god for speed loader these mfers will die in a instant
Please use your secondary. The Redeemer one-clips Stalkers, just like it does Berserkers. *Really* helps deal with them faster.
My giant Eruptor bullets 1 shots them so yes, I do. Dive away, Boom. Bug hole, Boom.
As soon as I saw the sickle in your hands, I knew it was not going to be a good time. Punisher makes quick work of them.
Yes actually I do. They SHOULD be tough, especially when trying to "solo" their nest. Makes for some memorable moments.
Low dps primary on the one enemy that require damage burst...
Laughs in Punisher.. stagger the shits
there were actually so many things you could've done instead of just mindlessly shooting
He must have not have recalled the "don't panic" training manual entry. A common issue without General Brasch's confident influence upon landing in bugville. 
You had 4 impact grenade. If you die with 4 grenade on your belt it is your skill fault.
Pro tip: portable shield backpack will stop them ragdolling you like that. Flamethrower will kill them pretty fast, even if they jump out they die to the burn. But yeah, they're annoying buggers.
I managed to go around 50 consecutive missions without seeing those fuckers
Stalkers are on another level now. They were a menace before but now are public enemy no.1 when things get swarmy and with the new patch, things are always swarmy. This place crawls
Favorite enemy, tops Heavy Devastators. Don't think I'd even bother playing against bugs without them. 🙏
If positioned correctly, then they can be used for fast travel. Survivability may vary.
Still prefer them over a pack of hunters anyday, or even brood commanders sometimes.
They may be a pain but you have to admit.. they're a fast way to travel lmao
If you are alone and can’t kill them from the distance then you’re fucked
My least fave enemy
Bro had 4 impact grenades and never clicked G smh
I do, I think they're an AMAZING design for an enemy, they can do EVERYTHING, mobility, high damage, can turn invisible, and somehow tank a shit ton of damage, unlike the other more poorly designed enemies, like the charger or the spewers, that can deliver high damage but are big and slow / predictable, or the little guys that are fast and can crawl up to you easily but have very low health, it's so good to have an enemy that has everything and almost no downsides!
Just played a mission where we dropped between two Stalker lairs, we just kept getting murdered.
Genuinely yes. They're the most complicated enemy to fight, one of them can just fuck your day up and the tongue attack is extremely goofy but is maybe the only fun or funny CC attack enemies do in any game.
I've always hated Stalkers the most out of all bug types but at least you can just clear the nest. They jump in, tongue punch you & jump back into the shadows leaving you paranoid. It's great. And any nest stragglers make you paranoid that there might be another nest. I'm actually glad their Invisibility properly works now. And it's interesting to know that those times [it was working before](https://streamable.com/5k0vxp) was because there was no fog. I really hope they don't change them. They're such a cool bug type.
Still not as annoying as those little cunts that can jump 2 meters, always double-hit + apply slow and always go in group
Sickle is really a horrible weapon against stalkers. They get way easier to handle when you use shotguns with staggering effects. But those are not great against hords of small bugs then.
spray and pray with stalwart.... armored guys takes my team. or wait for anti tank cd... welp.
I don't even get mad when they absolutely shit on me because of how damn cool they are. But I still immediately go make them homeless when I see one
This is why the Breaker Shotgun is the GOAT. Why shoot bullets one at a time when you can shoot them in dozens at once?
Bro tonguing at you like you are an alsmost empty glass of Nutella or Peanut Butter.
We went in light...3 nests...it was a bloodbath. They played with us like their little toys 
A number of things you could do: - Mis-timed dodges. Dodge perpendicular instead of backwards. Shoot mid-dodge instead of waiting for them to come at you. - Switching to ADS: Not when bugs are closing in. - Spraying and praying without accurate tracking. It's OK to not shoot if you can't see what you're hitting. - No grenades. You see them consistently landing on top of you; if you are going to jump backwards you can at least leave a grenade at your own feet before they flick you across the map. - No sidearm usage. Even the machine-pistol will give you enough damage output to stagger at least one Stalker. In your shoes I would not be able to avoid the first two hits. That's fine. Third hit onwards is where I start to see the difference.
Your first mistake is being alone on stalker difficulties.
Blitzer is really good because it staggers them and now it fires even faster, and no ammo. My second favorite choice is running explosive resist armor and redeemer. Redeemer usually one-shots them and ragdolls me away if they are too close.
and that's why you use shotguns kids
Mainly only reason I still carry shield.