Stalkers

Stalkers are compact and lithe, mottled with scales. Their wing-like forelimbs and their tails combine to give them serpentine movement on the ground, with a low profile—these things aren’t tall, so aiming waist-high as against a humanoid will whizz clean over the heads of stalkers.

Any stalker can attack up close with a tail whip, and many also leap or grapple with their forelimbs. Some stalkers have a ranged attack, flinging spines from the tail with surprisingly accurate aim.

But, most interestingly, stalkers have an evolved adaptive mechanism that behaves alarmingly like the cloaking abilities of certain other human enemies, and Zero. It’s worth noting any other cloaker is using extra-body tech—only stalkers have it as a consequence of their biology. While a stalker is cloaked, you can just barely see their location by a faint blue mirage that is a mild giveaway; if you can manage to hit their actual location, you can still damage them, but you cannot use homing abilities to hit them automatically or lock onto them with Maya’s Phaselock.

The Sachs organ found within stalkers enables their cloaking; it also grants them nature’s only biologically-powered shield. A stalker’s ability to cloak is dependent on its shield energy. Deplete their shields and they cannot cloak. Naturally, it follows that shock weapons are the best tools for hunting stalkers. Shock ammo knocks their shields off at least twice as fast as any other weapon type, rendering them much more vulnerable (and far less annoying) faster.

Spring Stalker

TVHM name: Poison Stalker

The Spring Stalker spends most of its time basking and scavenging idly, but startling one causes it to cloak and look for a good angle from which to attack. They uncloak again somewhere nearby, seeking an opening to pounce. With bladed forelimbs and tail, it’s easy to see how a pounce from one of these is unappealing.

If you have trouble tracking stalkers as they move around while cloaked, try using an electric shotgun, or precise Shock grenades. These don’t require perfect target acquisition, and if you hit anywhere near the target’s location, they won’t be able to cloak for long.

Health Multiplier	Shield Level	DMG. Multiplier	XP Value	Crit. Areas	Weak./Res.
1	1	2	Normal	Head	/ —

Location: The Highlands, The Fridge, Wildlife Exploitation Preserve

Needle Stalker

TVHM name: Nitro Stalker

These stalkers are less eager to bound ahead to slash, and prefer to hang back and fling spikes from their tails. They cloak to relocate to a new sniping perch. If you approach them aggressively, they swipe with a harmful tail attack.

Since Needle Stalkers actually sit still sometimes (basically, when they’re flinging their needles), they’re the best stalker candidates to snipe in the head, if you don’t have anything closer bearing down on you to stop you. Just be sure to strafe after your headshots to avoid the spikes they’re tossing.

Health Multiplier	Shield Level	DMG. Multiplier	XP Value	Crit. Areas	Weak./Res.
1.5	1.5	1	Normal+	Head	/ —

Location: The Highlands, The Fridge, Wildlife Exploitation Preserve

Ambush Stalker

TVHM name: Flash Stalker

The Ambush Stalker is imbued with flame properties, so it can burn at a touch. It also deals more damage against flesh (translation: you) than Spring Stalkers, who are just as strong but aren’t naturally on fire. The Ambush Stalker’s shield is also a little bit stronger.

Health Multiplier	Shield Level	DMG. Multiplier	XP Value	Crit. Areas	Weak./Res.
1	1.5	2	Tough	Head	/

Location: The Highlands, The Fridge, Wildlife Exploitation Preserve

Cyclone Stalker

TVHM name: Zing Stalker

Ambush Stalkers are to fire as Cyclone Stalkers are to electricity. Cyclone Stalkers can be particularly problematic because they can be so good at taking out your defenses, since their attacks are all shocking, thus dealing double damage to shields. They also have considerable health, for being stalkers. Although their bodies are Shock resistant when it comes to damage, you should still use a Shock weapon to take down their shield quickly, before switching to something else for the finish.

Health Multiplier	Shield Level	DMG. Multiplier	XP Value	Crit. Areas	Weak./Res.
2.5	2	1.25	Tough+	Head	/

Location: The Highlands, The Fridge, Wildlife Exploitation Preserve

Slagged Stalker

These mutated stalkers have been exposed to too much Eridium, warping their features. Getting too close to a Slagged enemy can cause Slag on you, so back off when Slagged Stalkers pounce.

Health Multiplier	Shield Level	DMG. Multiplier	XP Value	Crit. Areas	Weak./Res.
1.7	1.7	1.35	Normal+	Head	/

Location: Wildlife Exploitation Preserve

Rabid Stalker

(TVHM ONLY}

The Rabid Stalker shows up only during True Vault Hunter Mode, but that’s hardly a relief, since the Rabid Stalker still shows up. This is one of the fastest, most unrelenting creatures on Pandora. When it has a target in mind, it will bound recklessly forward, swiping repeatedly and with mad abandon when it’s close enough. A single Rabid Stalker is plenty to overwhelm an unsuspecting Vault Hunter, let alone a single Rapid Stalker in the midst of other stalkers, or even other Rabids…

Keep these things at arm’s length. And by arm’s length, we mean an arm that is as long as Sanctuary is wide.

Health Multiplier	Shield Level	DMG. Multiplier	XP Value	Crit. Areas	Weak./Res.
5	5	1	Badass	Head	/ —

Location: The Highlands, The Fridge, Wildlife Exploitation Preserve

Badass Stalker

TVHM name: Super Badass Stalker

Badass Stalkers are much tougher than regular ones, so this should probably be your focus if there’s one in the neighborhood since it will almost certainly be focused on you. As against Rabid Stalkers, there are several tactics useful for waylaying an overly-eager melee attacker. You can toss a Singularity grenade, use Maya’s Phaselock, deploy Axton’s Sabre Turret, or Zero’s use Deception hologram. And those are just the most obvious and reliable.

Health Multiplier	Shield Level	DMG. Multiplier	XP Value	Crit. Areas	Weak./Res.
4	4	2	Badass	Head	/ —

Location: The Highlands, The Fridge, Wildlife Exploitation Preserve

Chubby Stalker

This portly stalker can hardly engage in the floor gymnastics of its more nimble relatives, and will instead drag its bulk on grudgingly, with limbs not really suited to the task. Still, Chubby Stalkers can hit hard if you let them, and manage to absorb a lot of damage before dying. When they finally DO die, expect a veritable loot shower. Perhaps chubby enemies just suffer from constipation after consuming all that human detritus and money?

Health Multiplier	Shield Level	DMG. Multiplier	XP Value	Crit. Areas	Weak./Res.
7	7	4	Super Badass	Head	/ —

Location: The Highlands, The Fridge, Wildlife Exploitation Preserve

Pimon

Pimon is the friend to the end of Tumbaa, and together they patrol the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve. This is beautiful proof that different animals with no obvious, hardwired vested interest can still become great companions. However, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t kill them. Just appreciate the beauty for a second or two before riddling them with ammo. If you can kill both creatures within 10 seconds of one another (whittling them both down to a near-death life bar, then killing them both in quick succession works), you’ll score a difficult Challenge for the area.

Health Multiplier	Shield Level	DMG. Multiplier	XP Value	Crit. Areas	Weak./Res.
7	8	3	Super Badass	Head	/

Location: Wildlife Exploitation Preserve

Sinkhole

You are sent to get the psycho, Shorty, on the mission “Swallowed Whole.” So, “Silence of the Lambs” this is not—the mission is named that for reasons that become immediately evident. In order to get Shorty, you must first get Shorty out of Sinkhole! Sinkhole ate Shorty, but you’ll see Shorty in Sinkhole’s stomach when it cloaks.

Health Multiplier	Shield Level	DMG. Multiplier	XP Value	Crit. Areas	Weak./Res.
3	3	4	Super Badass	Head	/ —

Location: The Fridge, mission: “Swallowed Whole”

Henry

A man named Taggart, an old Hammerlock (shall we say) acquaintance, was looking deeply into stalker behavior in the wild. His exploits led him to discover much about these beasts, which you learn during the “Stalker of Stalkers” mission. During THIS mission, you’ll find out more about Taggart’s mom. And his pal, Henry, who happens to be this Badass stalker.

Health Multiplier	Shield Level	DMG. Multiplier	XP Value	Crit. Areas	Weak./Res.
12	10	2	Super Badass	Head	/ —

Location: The Highlands, mission: “Best Mother’s Day Ever”