Stalker armour

[Raffik]

According to @Chris and changes between X1 and X2: There’s some new armour, including the Stalker Stealth Suit which provides active camouflage.

I am wondering if the armour works as it should, as my snipers use the stalker and get shot at and hit very often on long distances (15+ tiles) although the armour should reduce the accuracy of the shots for each tile of distance... It seems to work for the wraiths quite well, but not so much for the player.... May be its just me or has anyone else here the same feeling as well?

[doubleskulls]

I noticed the same thing, and now just go straight to exo-suits. I think its because the insane accuracy of the aliens means it doesn't make enough of a difference. 

[Raffik]

11 minutes ago, doubleskulls said:

I noticed the same thing, and now just go straight to exo-suits. I think its because the insane accuracy of the aliens means it doesn't make enough of a difference. 

Hi Doubleskulls, thank you for confirming.

I think the Stalker armour's camouflage effect should work better, so it can be used for scouting for example or for avoidance of hits, as it trades off protection for camouflage.

Hi devs ( @Chris) could the stalker armour be looked at perhaps, so it is more effective? Currently I believe, that more players (me including) tend to skip it, as the effect of it is not very palpable. 

Edited August 11, 2023 by Raffik

[woollycow]

Just tried the Stalker Suit in the Alpha, and it seems utterly useless.
Aliens can both spot and hit me halfway across the map.

This must be a bug or an oversight.

[st3fan21]

On 8/11/2023 at 6:59 PM, Raffik said:

Hi Doubleskulls, thank you for confirming.

I think the Stalker armour's camouflage effect should work better, so it can be used for scouting for example or for avoidance of hits, as it trades off protection for camouflage.

Hi devs ( @Chris) could the stalker armour be looked at perhaps, so it is more effective? Currently I believe, that more players (me including) tend to skip it, as the effect of it is not very palpable. 

I second this, i have tryed this armor in 2 playthroughs and it s just not that good, maybe it could give some boost to aiming or something, or at least make the stealth take 2.5% or 3.0% -aiming per tile against aliens

[st3fan21]

this effect should also be the same for the wraith alien, which in the first game was able to teleport, and it was harder to kill. maybe make it 3% per tile for the wraith and the stalker stealth armor

[gG-Unknown]

Active Camo should reduce  spot range by 10 tiles.

Once you shoot or throw, spot range bufff  is removed until next round AND your movement.

[st3fan21]

20 hours ago, gG-Unknown said:

Active Camo should reduce  spot range by 10 tiles.

Once you shoot or throw, spot range bufff  is removed until next round AND your movement.

This could be an excelent way for the stalker to be actually good

[Chris]

Yes, that's a nice idea. It's probably quite a complex new mechanic though (because right now the game works on the assumption a unit can see everything in their vision range) but maybe it's something we could consider post-release. 

Part of the issue with Stalker armour is that aliens won't take a shot unless they have a 30%+ chance of hitting. Which means if they're shooting at that soldier then they already have a good chance of hitting it. There's probably plenty of times the Stalker has prevented an alien actually firing a shot in the first place - but there's no indication that that has happened, so people don't notice. Does make we wonder if we can put the stalker check outside the normal AI calculation so it's more obvious what it's doing.

[gG-Unknown]

3 hours ago, Chris said:

Yes, that's a nice idea. 

Yes, that's a nice idea.  // Yes  it is. Thank you

It's probably quite a complex new mechanic though (because right now the game works on the assumption a unit can see everything in their vision range) but maybe it's something we could consider post-release. // spot range should be variable. It offers several interesting tricks, like small  units (Simbiont, Servitor) have spot range  reduced (so they can  sneak on oponents), OR Sniper_rifle add spot range, and so on. Whole new world how to  make opponents different. : - ]

Wright with  variable spot  range could finally be spooky, when he  actually pop-in  or out of visibility.

Part of the issue with Stalker armour is that aliens won't take a shot unless they have a 30%+ chance of hitting. Which means if they're shooting at that soldier then they already have a good chance of hitting it. There's probably plenty of times the Stalker has prevented an alien actually firing a shot in the first place - but there's no indication that that has happened, so people don't notice. Does make we wonder if we can put the stalker check outside the normal AI calculation so it's more obvious what it's doing.  // any doable improvement that add "my_armor_works" feeling is good.Perhaps you could add to the loop  :

IF (Alien have a less than 30% chance of hitting)

    THEN                                                          // check Camo status

      IF (cammo is ON )

         THEN

             Remove_solidier_from_further _AI thinking_for_this_turn  // basicaly, AI do not see the player.

Edited December 3, 2025 by gG-Unknown

[berk]

I believe the accuracy reduction applies after most other modifiers(at least that's how it works for wraiths). So if you are crouching behind 60% cover at 15 range, the alien will first take the 60% reduction from cover, then the crouching reduction (I think 10%, not sure), and finally the flat 30 reduction from cloaking. If it's a sebillian, then that's another flat -30 from his bad eyesight, which should reduce his hit chance to 0 (especially if he has a machinegun). You can even combine stalker armor with a shield for maximum cheese(this strategy should probably get nerfed).

[gG-Unknown]

2 hours ago, berk said:

I believe the accuracy reduction applies after

You described a process of chance to hit (probably ), but you assume that alien see  you, so it will plan his next move based on the inormation of your presence.

• The core idea is, that Stalker-Wright camo would remove opponent from sight in certain range.
• Behaviour of not seeing opponent vs opponent can not be hit is different.

Edited December 8, 2025 by gG-Unknown