Stalker

STALKER
General
Class	Lesser Husk
Health	3.5
Weight	Medium (Grounded)
Rank	4
Locational Damage
Head (2x)	✗
Limb (1.5x)	✗
Conditional Modifiers
Flammable?
Airshot?
Damage Type Modifiers
	- Standard Revolvers (Head): 200%; - Silver Nails/Saws: 150%; - Revolvers: 150%; - Standard Revolvers (Limbs): 150%; - Whiplash: 0%;
Radiance Multipliers
Health	2x
Damage	1.5x
Speed	2x
Appearances
	4-2, 4-3; 5-2 7-2 P-2; The Cyber Grind
Cyber Grind Data

Stalkers are Lesser Husks introduced in 4:2 GOD DAMN THE SUN, resembling mummified humanoids with backwards legs, wearing black and gold robes and a gas mask, holding a container full of gold dust.

Behavior

Stalkers will chase down the closest, highest ranked, non-flying enemy who is at or above rank 0. If no enemies are found, then it will instead target the player.
After spawning or exploding and surviving, the Stalker's sand canister will first glow green, start blinking yellow after 3 seconds, then turn solid yellow after 5, at which point they are able to attack.
Upon getting within 8 units of their target, the Stalker will perform their Sand Explosion attack.

Stalkers move at a maximum speed of 6 units/s with an acceleration of 64 units/s², and have a turn speed of 1600 degrees/s.

Attacks

Sand Explosion

The Stalker will raise its canister above itself, emit a harsh beeping noise and begin blinking red, then slam the canister down 2 seconds after starting the attack, creating an explosion of sand and killing itself in the process unless the Stalker is Blessed.
The explosion deals 10 Hard Damage to V1 and covers enemies in Sand, making them unable to bleed.

If the stalker explodes on its own, the size of the explosion increases by 50%.
The explosion's size also decreases depending on the amount of Attractor Nailgun magnets stuck to the Stalker: -25% for the first magnet, and -12.5% for every subsequent magnet.

Sandification Area Size
	Self Explode	Killed
0 Magnets	150%	100%
1 Magnet	112.5%	75%
2 Magnets	93.75%	62.5%
3 Magnets	75%	50%

Strategy

Launching a Stalker upwards using non-damaging explosions or ground slams can be an useful way to get them away from enemies before going in for a kill.
Ground slams are especially useful, as Stalkers do not take damage from the Whiplash, meaning they can be quickly approched and neutralized without risk of them dying early.

Attaching magnets from either Attractor Nailgun to the Stalker will also cause their explosion to have a smaller radius depending on the amount of magnets attached to it.
The attached magnets can then be used to attract Rockets or Nails to the stalker for easier kills, further reducing their explosion radius.

Difficulty Changes

Accessible

Sand Explosions deal no damage.

Violent

Sand Explosions replace all soft damage with hard damage before adding additional hard damage.

Brutal

Stalkers cannot die by themselves.

Terminal Entry

TYPE: LESSER HUSK

DATA:
As the Greed layer's punishment, Stalkers have been forced to carry heavy boulders up the monuments of mankind's greed for all eternity.

They have carried out their punishment for so long that their bodies have evolved, warped and grown to better suit it.

Their limbs have twisted to give them better balance while carrying boulders on their backs and their skin and muscles have completely dried up, allowing them to survive direct contact with the dunes of gold dust that Greed's sun has raised to unfathomably high temperatures.

However, an unidentified sentient force has replaced the boulders they would normally carry with high tech bombs that, upon detonation, will transform any nearby blood into the gold dust "sand" that covers the layer's surface.

Research has shown the technology to be very similar to the augmentations of the modified Strays known as Soldiers, so it is likely both modifications come from the same source.

STRATEGY:
- The lights on the canister give information on a Stalker's state. The color shows the state of their explosive and the brightness of the color shows how much health the Stalker has left.

- It's advisable to forcibly detonate a Stalker rather than allowing one to detonate itself, as the latter explosion will have a larger area of effect.

- If a Stalker gets close to its target and can no longer be pushed away, a ground slam wave can launch them out of range so they can be detonated safely in mid-air, since the explosion is mostly horizontal.

- Attaching magnets to a Stalker will reduce the radius of its detonation.