Stalker

"The lesson will be taught in due time, Aloy. Until then, we wait." This article contains heavy spoilers. Read ahead with caution.

Stalker
Ambusher with light-bending stealth abilities, explosive mines, and a powerful ranged attack.
Size	Medium
Weight	Lightweight
Origin	GAIA (original model) HEPHAESTUS (current model)
Class	Combat (current) Unknown (original)
Override	Cauldron XI (HZD) Cauldron CHI (HFW)
Machine Sites	10 (HZD) 3 (HFW)
Combat
Challenge Level	18 (HZD) 22 (HFW) 23 (Corrupted) 30 (Daemonic) 35 (Apex)
HP	750 (HFW) 800 (HZD) 1125 (Apex) 1200 (Corrupted) 1400 (Daemonic)
Weakness	Shock
Strength	None (HZD) Fire (HFW) Acid (HFW)
Weak Points	Eyes Dart Gun Mine Launcher (x2) Stealth Generator Antenna (HFW)

"A killing machine that disappears into thin air. Just what the world needs."

―Aloy, upon sighting a Stalker

The Stalker is a machine in Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West.

It is a medium-sized Combat Class machine; however it is unique among combat machines in that, while all other known combat machines employ open aggression, the Stalker employs stealth. Its adeptness at ambushing, coupled with its deployment in areas where visibility is challenging, such as jungle environments, makes the Stalker a particularly grave threat to any human in these environments.

History

Stalkers were designed by Zero Dawn's governing artificial intelligence GAIA for an unknown purpose.

Pre-Derangement

At the time, Stalkers had white armor plating instead of black and likely resembled the modern Stalker, as Garokkah, while in the mental mind space of around 10 years before the start of the Derangement, was able to recognize modern Stalkers as such. Before the Derangement, all Zero Dawn machines, including Stalkers, were docile and skittish, fleeing at the sight of humans.

At the time, Stalkers were known to the Nora and the Tenakth, but not the Carja.

The Derangement

At the advent of the Derangement, almost all machines started becoming increasingly aggressive towards humans, including the Stalkers. By the time of Aloy reaching adulthood, Stalkers had been modified by HEPHAESTUS from their original purpose into a Combat Class machine, now aggressive to humans on sight.

Stalkers were first discovered and documented by the Carja during the eighth year of the reign of Sun-King Jiran, about four years into the Derangement, by Hawk Ghalidid of the Hunters Lodge while searching for the "shimmering death" haunting the southern freeholds in the jungles of the Jewel. He survived the encounter, escaping the Jewel to the safety of the Alight, but not before killing one and taking a hunting trophy from its chassis.

In the present day, Stalkers can be found in the Valleymeet, the southern Sundom, the Cut, northeastern Lowland Tenakth territory, the Isle of Spires, and the central Burning Shores, tending to roam in forested areas.

Horizon Zero Dawn

A Stalker depicted in the notebook in Horizon Zero Dawn.

The Spurflints Hunting Grounds use Stalkers in their trials, one of which requiring hunters to kill two in a single trial.

As Aloy was confronting Dirid, who had stolen from the caravan he was part of, he was shot dead by a Stalker. Before it could kill her too, Aloy destroyed the Stalker.

When Aloy infiltrated Cauldron XI and overrode its core, she gained access to the information needed to override Stalkers. While she was escaping, some Stalkers came in investigate the intrusion, killing some Eclipse who were also in the Cauldron. More Stalkers were also found guarding the entrance to Cauldron ZETA, as well as on the Bitter Climb.

Stalker Blood was among the blood Brin requested Aloy to get for him, prompting her to destroy one to get the blood.

With the spreading of corruption in the Spurflints, three Stalkers became corrupted. They were subsequently destroyed by Aloy.

Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds

Burgrend, needing a Stalker Sinew, hired Tatai, Tulemak, and Urkai to retrieve one for him to help pay back their debt to him. They, along with Aloy, destroyed a Stalker to get one.

Sometime between Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West

While the circumstances of how are unknown, Aloy somehow lost the ability to override Stalkers, as well as most other machines.

Horizon Forbidden West

Aloy looting a dead Stalker in Horizon Forbidden West.

A new model of Stalker, the Apex Stalker, was released into the wilds sometime after Apex machines were first released from Repair-Bay TAU.

The Arena at the Memorial Grove use Apex Stalkers in their battles, one of which requiring hunters to kill four Apex Stalkers in a single fight.

(17) Two Stalkers ambushed Lyna on the Promontory as she was trying to hide Kalae's body, killing her. They later encountered Aloy while she was investigating what happened, but were destroyed by her.

(18) A Stalker ambushed Rokko in a blizzard, but he managed to fight it off with Aloy's help.

(20) While he was guiding Aloy to where he believed the Jay Squad was soon to be ambushed by the Sky Clan, Garokkah initially believed Stalkers ambushing him were the Sky Clan, but he quickly realised his mistake. He and Aloy were able to destroy them.

(30) Needing Stalker Mine Launchers to help fortify their base, Danur hired Aloy with a contract to hunt a group of Stalkers and retrieve their mine launchers for him, which Aloy successfully did.

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores

Aloy encountered a group of Stalkers in and around an underground parking garage while searching for a Pangea Figurine.

Appearance

The chassis of a Stalker is distinct from that of the other known combat machines in two respects. Firstly, whereas these machines are heavyset and built for power, Stalkers are slender and streamlined. Secondly, whereas the armor of these machines consists of large, white fitted pieces, a Stalker's armor plating is black, and is composed of relatively small hexagonal plates that fit together in a chainmail pattern.

Four optical sensor arrays are located on each side of their head, with the sensors arranged in a trapezoidal configuration. Each of their four feet is equipped with three claws. A dart gun is located between its shoulders, and on each hip is a proximity mine launcher. A power cell rests atop its lower back, to which four long, antenna-like structures are attached. The machine has a retractable tail that is almost twice as long as its body, equipped with a sharp spike at the tip. Finally, a cloaking device called a Stealth Generator is mounted on the belly.

Behavior

Stalkers can be found on their own or in small packs. Built specifically for ambush attacks, the majority of them are deployed in jungle regions, such as The Jewel or the Raintrace, where the dense foliage limits their visibility to humans. They usually position themselves cloaked with heads downward on vertical surfaces such as trees and cliffsides, in absolute stillness. Alternatively, they also walk about uncloaked, partially obscured by the jungle’s undergrowth. In either case, Stalkers place glowing red alarm flares that, when activated by getting too close, will launch into the sky and emit a loud noise. These alarms are not triggered by anything smaller than a human, or by other machines. Upon the triggering of an alarm, all Stalkers in the site will cloak and converge at the area the flare was launched. However, this can be abused by using Tripcasters to set traps and luring the Stalkers into them.

Abilities

A Stalker’s adeptness at stealth and ambush make it lethal to anyone unfamiliar with its abilities. Foremost among these abilities is its cloaking ability. A Stalker’s stealth generator cloaks the Stalker from plain sight when engaged by bending light around its chassis. In the case of Focus users such as Aloy, it also cloaks the machine from scans. However the cloak is imperfect; through the Stalker cannot be seen, the cloak produces a shimmering refractory effect in the shape of the Stalker’s chassis that is visible to sharp eyes; this is the shimmer that Ghalidid saw. Additionally, it does not cloak the Stalker’s optical sensors, nor mask the distinct whooshing sound of it’s servomotors.

The Stalker’s most lethal weapon is its dart gun, which can kill a human with one shot. Even though the Stalker must momentarily de-cloak to use it, an unsuspecting human never sees the shot coming, since the Stalker fires it from long range. At closer ranges, a Stalker deploys proximity mines that damage and distract an enemy. Unlike the dart gun, a Stalker can deploy these mines while cloaked. It drops these mines as it swiftly changes its position, its cloak preventing it from being tracked. Stalker mines can be detonated by shooting them, and will typically insta-kill Stalkers with 3-4 mines. Though built for stealth and ambush, Stalkers are capable of formidable melee attacks, slashing with their claws and employing a swift bludgeon attack with their tails.

Weaknesses

Stalkers are more vulnerable to Shock attacks than other machines. Repeated attacks with weapons that deal Shock damage will quickly stun a Stalker. This vulnerability is absent in Daemonic and Apex Stalkers; indeed, like all Daemonic Machines, they are highly Shock-resistant. Also, their head is a known weakpoint. A triple-arrow shot from a strong enough power bow into the head can destroy one in a single shot.

In Forbidden West, shooting their mines as they are deployed will detonate them, dealing heavy damage or outright destroying the Stalker.

Attacks

Horizon Zero Dawn

Name	Damage Type	Primary Damage	Trigger Range	Description
Mine Launch	Explosion	100	0m - 1.5m (instant) 1.5m - 8m	Drops proximity mines
Claw Fury	Melee	300	9m - 20.5m	Multiple claw slashes
Claw Swipe	Melee	175	4m - 7m	Single claw slash
Jumping Mandible Stab	Melee	170	12m - 18m	Jumping swipe with jaw
Mandible Stab	Melee	140	5m - 9m	Swipe with jaw after pouncing
Tail Swipe	Melee	275	0m - 4m	360-degree bludgeon attack with tail
Dart Gun Shot	Projectile	120 per bullet	6m - 80m	Up to 3 shots at enemy with dart gun

Horizon Forbidden West

Name	Windup Time	Damage Type	Damage	Trigger Range	Description
Dart Gun Shot	Medium	Ranged	289 per bullet	6m - 86m	Up to 3 shots at enemy with dart gun
Mine Spread	Medium	Ranged	203	0m - 1.5m (instant) 1.5m - 8m	Drops 2 proximity mines from each launcher
Mandible Stab	Short	Melee	203	5m - 14m	Swipe with jaw after pouncing
Jumping Mandible Stab	Short	Melee	338	12m - 30m	Jumping swipe with jaw
Claw Swipe	Short	Melee	203	4m - 11m	Single claw slash
Back Swipe	Short	Melee	203	4m - 11m	Quickly turns to face target while slashing with claws
Claw Fury	Medium	Melee	203	9m - 29.5m	Multiple claw slashes
Tail Swipe/Tail Swipe 360	Medium	Melee	338	0m - 4m	360-degree bludgeon attack with tail

Components

Horizon Zero Dawn

Image	Component	Information	Weakness	Strength
	Body	Vulnerable to shock attacks.	Shock	None
	Dart Gun	Destroying this component disables the ranged dart attack.	Tear	None
	Mine Launcher	Destroying this component disables the explosive mine attack.	Tear	None
	Stealth Generator	Destroying this component disables the cloaking ability.	Tear	None

Horizon Forbidden West

Name	Image	Description	Attributes
Body		Hard outer casing to protect synthetic muscle and operational systems.	None
Dart Gun		A quick-firing precision weapon. Fires concentrated darts of energy across long distances.	Detachable Attack Removal Persists When Killed Useable Weapon
Stealth Generator		A cloaking device that allows the machine to become near invisible. Detach or destroy to disable this ability.	Detachable Ability Removal Destroyed When Killed Key Upgrade Resource
Antenna		Signal transmitter used to call in machine reinforcements.	Detachable Reinforcement Call Removal Contains Valuable Resources Destroyed When Killed
Mine Launcher		A powerful weapon used to launch mines that explode on proximity. Detach or destroy to disable this ability.	Detachable Ability Removal Contains Valuable Resources Destroyed When Killed

Loot

Horizon Zero Dawn

Echo Shell

15

Metal Vessel

4

Metal Shards

1

Sparker

1

Wire

1

Machine Core - Medium

50

Luminous Braiding

30

Stalker Lens

27

Stalker Heart

54

Horizon Forbidden West

• Stalker
• Apex Stalker

Body

• Crystal Braiding (100%)
• Metal Shards (100%)
• Braided Wire (73%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (41%)
• Stalker Circulator (33%)
• Machine Muscle (31%)
• Stalker Primary Nerve (23%)
• Small Machine Core (17%)
• Metal Bone (10%)

Dart Gun

• Dart Gun (100%)

Stealth Generator

• Stalker Stealth Generator (100%)

Antenna

• Braided Wire (67%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (34%)
• Stalker Primary Nerve (10%)

Mine Launcher

• Stalker Mine Launcher (100%)
• Blastpaste (84%)
• Medium Machine Core (59%)
• Braided Wire (40%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (19%)

Body

• Crystal Braiding (100%)
• Metal Shards (100%)
• Braided Wire (73%)
• Apex Stalker Heart (67%)
• Volatile Sludge (50%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (42%)
• Stalker Circulator (33%)
• Machine Muscle (30%)
• Stalker Primary Nerve (22%)
• Small Machine Core (17%)
• Metal Bone (10%)

Dart Gun

• Dart Gun (100%)

Stealth Generator

• Stalker Stealth Generator (100%)

Antenna

• Braided Wire (67%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (34%)
• Stalker Primary Nerve (11%)

Mine Launcher

• Stalker Mine Launcher (100%)
• Blastpaste (84%)
• Medium Machine Core (59%)
• Braided Wire (40%)
• Sturdy Hardplate (20%)

Variants

Variant	Weak Vs.	Strong Vs.
Stalker	Shock	Acid Fire
Apex Stalker	Plasma	Acid Fire Purgewater

Trivia

• According to Special Item descriptions in Acquired Taste, Stalker blood is "bubbly" and "sour-smelling".

Gallery 

Initial concept art by Erik van Helvoirt

Mood art by Erik van Helvoirt

Concept art, based on an image of a hyena

Concept Model of Stalker