Stalker

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"We go unseen."

―Protoss stalker^src

Stalker
Unit
Race	Protoss
Role	High Mobility Scout / Ambusher
Properties
Hit points	100[1]
Shields	80[1]
Type	Ground, mechanical[2]
Armor type	Armored[2]
Production
Minerals	125[2]
Gas	50[2]
Psi	2[3]
Build time	42[2]
Produced at	Gateway[2][4]
Requires	Cybernetics Core[2][4]
Hot key	S[2]
Combat
Ground attack	11[1]
Air attack	11[1]
Armor	1[2]
Attack range	6[2]

The stalker is a Dark Templar cybernetic war machine unit in StarCraft II.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Game Unit 2.1 Abilities 2.2 Upgrades 2.3 Quotations 3 Development 4 Trivia 5 References

[edit] Overview

The Dark Templar are masters of stealth and guile, though the fall of Aiur to the zerg demonstrated that guile alone cannot defeat a foe as relentless as the Swarm. Inspired by the ancient and honored dragoon walkers the Dark Templar have begun to build war machines of their own. The stalker is a machine controlled by the shadow-essence of a Dark Templar warrior fused into a metal body.^[5]

Swift and deadly, stalkers have been credited with many fantastic powers in recent conflicts. Nevertheless the only one that has been witnessed consistently is the ability to instantly teleport or "blink" from one spot to another. This ability enables stalkers to strike from unexpected quarters, catch a fleeing foe, or escape an unfavorable encounter. In addition, the deadly particle disruptors mounted on the stalker's carapace are adept at crippling both ground and air targets. Ambushes by groups of stalkers have brought fiery doom upon many attack wings that thought themselves safe from retribution.^[5]

[edit] Game Unit

In-game, stalkers function like fragile, but more agile dragoons. They serve as excellent economy raiders.^[6]

Stalkers can dance like a dragoon,^[7] moving injured stalkers away from opponents when they are being attacked by melee attackers or targeted by focus fire. Blinking can also be used as an alternative form of dancing.

In large groups, stalkers can use Blink to instantly teleport to an important enemy unit's position – such as a queen, and destroy it with focus fire.^[8]

Stalkers gained a reputation for being overpowered at BlizzCon 2008 due to the widely viewed Sonkie vs Yellow match. Karune responded that stalkers are weak vs zerglings even with Blink micro, but are strong against armored units such as roaches. Stalkers do well against units with low damage per second (such as roaches) but weakly against more offensive units (such as zerglings).^[9]

They are particularly vulnerable against the heavy weaponry of marauders.^[10]

[edit] Abilities

Blink
Acquisition Minerals 150[11] Gas 150[11] Research time 110[11] Researched at Twilight council[12] Hotkey B[11]	Usage Cooldown 10[13] Hotkey B[11]
Notes
Stalkers possess the ability to instantly teleport over short distances.[14] This ability enables stalkers to strike from unexpected quarters, catch a fleeing foe, or escape an unfavorable encounter. Blinking does not cost energy, but has a cooldown of fifteen seconds.[15] Blink requires line of sight to use.[16]
Edit

[edit] Upgrades

Ground Weapons Researched at Forge[11] Properties Level Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Minerals 100[11] 150[11] 200[11] Gas 100[11] 150[11] 200[11] Research time 140[11] 170[11] 200[11] Notes Applies to zealots, dark templar, archons, stalkers, immortals, disruptors and the colossus. Edit	Ground Armor Researched at Forge[11] Hotkey A Properties Level Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Minerals 100[11] 175[11] 250[11] Gas 100[11] 175[11] 250[11] Research time 140[11] 170[11] 200[11] Edit
Plasma shields Researched at Forge[11] Hotkey S[11] Properties Level Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Minerals 200[11] 300[11] 400[11] Gas 200[11] 300[11] 400[11] Research time 140[11] 170[11] 200[11] Notes +1 to shields per level. Edit

[edit] Quotations

Main article: StarCraft II Quotations

[edit] Development

The stalker was re-designed to more closely look like the concept art, and the new model was revealed at Blizzcon 2008.^[17]

[edit] Trivia

• The stalker resembles the Mastermind from Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Both have a teleport ability.

[edit] References

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Protoss Stalker. StarCraft Source. Accessed 2009-09-12. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 StarCraft Legacy staff. 2009-04-04. Protoss Unit Information. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-05-10. ↑ StarCraft Legacy staff. 2009-04-04. WWI 08 Coverage - Protoss Units. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-06-22. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Shoemaker, Brad. 2007-08-03. BlizzCon 07: Starcraft II Hands-On -- The Protoss. Gamespot. Accessed 2007-09-22. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Blizzard Entertainment (2007-05-19). Stalker. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-09-06. ↑ Zetaras Xal'Kurat. 2008-03-16. StarCraft 2 Korean and Chinese Build Summary. SC2 Blog. Accessed 2008-03-18. ↑ Karune. 2008-07-16. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 41. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-07-16. ↑ Blizzcon Video Archive (Sonkie vs Yellow). Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-10-19. ↑ Stalkers still fall to large groups of Zerglings in terms of cost, even with Blink micro. Although, with the additional micro, especially while also using terrain to your advantage, a Protoss player will definitely be able to at least fight a group of Zerglings, rather than being forced to retreat. In the Sonkie/Yellow game 1, the Blinking micro definitely kept his Stalkers alive longer, though force firing would have ended that battle in the Protoss favor as well, since the Stalker has bonus damage towards armored units like the Roach. Zerglings are still definitely the best counter against Stalkers from the Zerg side, especially since the improved pathing system allows them to get to their ordered locations faster and are able to surround more efficiently. The cooldown for Blink is perfect in saving Stalkers from death against Roaches which have a much lower rate of dps than Zerglings. Against Zerglings, the cooldown is not fast enough, similar to the announcement video of the Protoss race when the Stalkers were first introduced. Karune. 2008-10-14. Re: Stalkers seem imba (page 3). Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-10-14. ↑ Dustin Browder, Robert Simpson, Matt Cooper, David Kim. 2008-12-19. Battle Report (1). Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-12-19. ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 11.13 11.14 11.15 11.16 11.17 11.18 11.19 11.20 11.21 11.22 11.23 11.24 11.25 11.26 11.27 11.28 11.29 11.30 11.31 11.32 11.33 11.34 11.35 StarCraft Legacy staff. 2009-04-04. Zerg & Protoss Upgrades. SCLegacy. Accessed 2009-06-18 ↑ Source: Shacknews. Artist: Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed: 2007-09-15. ↑ Dustin Browder, Robert Simpson, Yeon-Ho Lee, David Kim. 2009-06-22. Battle Report (3). Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2009-06-22. ↑ 2007-05-19. Gameplay Trailer. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-08-12. ↑ Karune. 2008-02-04. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 28. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-02-04. ↑ Blink cannot be used without LOS in the area to where you are blinking to, thus many maps especially with hills, you cannot Blink up there without a spotter. Karune. 2008-09-05. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 44. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-09-05. ↑ Karune. 2008-07-16. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 43. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-07-16.

Protoss Units and Structures of StarCraft II
Infantry	Probe · Zealot · High templar · Dark templar · Archon
Land mechanized	Stalker · Immortal · Disruptor · Colossus
Air vehicles	Warp prism · Observer · Phoenix · Void ray · Carrier (Interceptor) · Mothership
Basic buildings	Nexus · Assimilator · Pylon · Gateway (Warp gate) · Forge · Cybernetics core · Obelisk
Combat buildings	Photon cannon
Advanced buildings	Twilight council · Dark shrine · Templar archives · Robotics facility · Robotics support bay · Stargate · Fleet beacon
Campaign-Exclusive Protoss Units and Structures of StarCraft II	Special Protoss Units	Stone zealot
Scrapped	Removed units	Escort · Reaver · Soul hunter/purifier · Star relic · Stasis orb · Tempest (Shuriken) · Twilight archon
	Removed buildings	Observatory · Phase cannon · War beacon · War shrine