Stalker

A Stalker attacking the player in Darkmere.

A Stalker under swamp water in Darkmere.

For information about the enemy from Strife, see Stalker (Strife).

The stalker is a serpentine, water-dwelling green monster from Hexen. It mainly inhabits swampy waters but has sometimes been known to inhabit clean water as well. It normally moves beneath the water's surface, but players can tell where they are by the occasional surfacing of their coils and the tell-tale rippling sounds in the water. They have 90 Hit Points but cannot be hit while underwater.

"Stalkers are aquatic reptiles with huge talons designed to rend their prey into bite-sized morsels. They can't leave the water, so once you're on dry land you might feel safe. But beware, some Stalkers can fire slime projectiles."

― Hexen instruction manual

Combat characteristics

Stalkers block the player's movement even when submerged, and this fact can be used to locate them. Their attack consists of jumping out of the water, slashing the player, and submerging again, sometimes remaining exposed for a little while after their attack. The stalker's melee attack is powerful and a pack of them surrounding a player is often deadly. Shots from the Mage's Sapphire Wand stun stalkers momentarily, and continuous fire from this weapon can prevent them from submerging until they die. Other classes are usually better served by well-timed strikes when the stalker emerges.

There is also a second variant of the Stalker, refered to as a Stalker Boss by some. It looks identical to the normal Stalker but possesses the abilty to throw globs of corrosive acid at the player.

Sufficient damage, or any use of a player's fourth weapon, will cause the stalker to gib.

Notes

• The first appearance of stalkers is in Bright Crucible, the secret level found in the Seven Portals hub, and the first normal level in which they are highly prevalent is in Darkmere.
• Code-wise, stalkers are simply bound to stay in sectors whose floor has the same flat as that which the stalker started on. While only water flats produce a logical effect, other flats are not barred from having a stalker placed on them in custom maps.