Stalker (Helldivers 2)

The Stalker is a medium-sized Terminid that comes from a Stalker Lair. They appear to be mutated Hunters with camouflage capabilities and enhanced strength. There are reports that this strain of Terminid appeared during the First Galactic War, but there is no evidence that they had camouflage capabilities before.
Theories claim that this camouflage ability was the result of Super Earth tampering with Terminid DNA to make them produce more E-710 or Super Earth had some kind of secret Terminid weaponization program in an attempt to create an army of controllable Terminid Stalkers to stealthily get rid of or assassinate separatists or rebel cells on planets within the Galactic Frontier. Ministry of Truth addendum: While gene splicing is common to produce higher-yielding E-710 specimens, the Ministry of Science would never create a strain of Terminid to police its own citizens. Such talk is dissident speak and the implication that rebels exist is tantamount to treason. 
== Notes ==
*Stalkers will only appear if the current mission contains a Stalker Lair. Lairs can be quite hard to find as unlike normal nests they are hidden on the map until discovered by a player or by activating a Radar Station. It's possible for multiple Stalker Lairs to spawn during a mission and once they're all destroyed, Stalkers will cease to spawn.
*Stalkers behave much like Hunters but with far greater health and the added threat of camouflage.
*A stalker's camouflage is (as of 1.000.300) almost entirely transparent, unless you're actively watching for them you'll likely not notice them at all while they approach, and even then you may still miss them, they'll decloak around 5-8 meters away from you, giving you VERY little time to react, if there's more than one (likely on higher difficulty), you're likely screwed unless you have good stagger power to alternate and keep them off with how close they'll be upon decloaking.
**A good way to keep track of camouflaged Stalkers is using any weapon with the Incendiary trait, as burning Stalkers will have their position revealed by the fire covering them. Any visible damage a stalker takes will also show up over their camouflage, making them much easier to spot if they manage to get away.
*Stalkers are lightly armored, but have high health pools and a head that is hard to hit. Coupled with their camouflage and fast movement speed, stalkers will likely reach and harm their target before fleeing or being put down, though with adequate warning and/or concentrated fire a team can dispatch a group of stalkers before they do any serious damage.
*Weapons that cause stagger like the SG-8 Punisher or JAR-5 Dominator are particularly useful against stalkers as the constant barrage of high-powered stuns can prevent them from attacking and retreating at the same time.
**The ARC-12 Blitzer is a great choice for this tactic because of its ability to lock onto them while cloaked, especially useful when trying to finish them off before they flee. Its infinite ammo paired with a decent fire rate and potential to stun multiple Stalkers with every shot make it viable in both defensive and offensive reactions to a stalker ambush.
**Alternatively, the SG-22 Bushwacker is the best single-shot defense against them, as one or two triple-shot salvos to their upper torso is typically enough to put them down, and will also briefly stagger them. A headshot is a near-guaranteed kill given how Stalkers need to put themselves well into its lethal range in order to attack. 
*The Stalker's tongue attacks can knock down and ragdoll the player from a greater distance than its other attacks. This is particularly dangerous in certain areas, as while the tongue lash itself does relatively low damage, the real danger comes from its knockback that can fling helldivers off lethal drops, into environmental hazards such as mines or into groups of other Terminids
*Stalkers engage in hit-and-run tactics, often ambushing Helldivers from outside of their field of view, then retreating once taking enough damage, or their target is killed.
*When disengaging, Stalkers will leap high into the air and re-cloak themselves mid-flight. They will then retreat in a random direction for a time, only to attempt an ambush once more when their target has lost track of them.
**If the Stalker is attacked while fleeing, it may jump back and forth between where it originally jumped from and where it landed in a frantic attempt to break off. Stop shooting but keep your finger on the trigger while it does this, especially if you're wielding a weapon such as an ARC-12 Blitzer or SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary, as stray shots can further mask it or harm teammates.
**The time a Stalker will spend retreating is randomized, as they sometimes attack again mere seconds later, and other times after minutes have passed. They however, will seem to step up their attacks if a Helldiver is operating an objective near them.
*Encountering Stalkers usually means their den is near, though some can travel considerable distances, particularly on higher difficulties. A Lair can be tracked by paying attention to where the Stalkers are coming from, as they will always come straight to the player from their nest, even if the Helldiver is prone and wearing scout armor.
*A little-known tactic is to use the helldiver's radar to detect stalkers. If you see several large red dots rapidly approaching you from your flanks, 2/3 of the time they are stalkers.
**Similarily, a way to detect Lairs from afar is to compare the map while choosing an initial drop location to the minimap; Stalker Lairs will show up as enemy presence on the former, but not on the latter, and can as such be sussed out early.
**Another method for finding Stalker Nests is by spotting the spores they give off from a distance. These are often indistinguishable from those given off by smaller nests, but can be confidently identified as Stalker nests if there isn't any enemy presence on the minimap where there should be.
==Trivia==
* Stalkers derive their name from a similar enemy in the first game. Like their namesake, they are agile ambush predators, who cloak themselves in order to approach unaware Helldivers. However, they are much deadlier than their ancestors, capable of both dealing and enduring far more damage.
File:More-helldivers-2-characters-concepts-arts-stalker.webp|Stalker concept art
Category:Terminids
Category:Enemies (Helldivers 2)