Hi! I am Zaden. I have been top stalker on two different weeks ( The first weeks that we ever had stalker being one of them ) and have put in thousands of hours into The Blackout Club. My name on discord is STALKS-WITH-FEAR. Stalking makes me extremely anxious. So much so that my hands usually shake with fear when im playing. The intention of this guide is to point out some advanced mechanics stalker has. This guide will assume you already have a basic understanding of the gameplay mechanics

A stalker is a misfit kid of The Blackout Club who is attempting to stop the club single-handedly. They posses no extraordinary powers, and in a way are weaker than the kid themselves. Playing as a stalker requires the player to be patient and watch, plan their entrance, and rack up points by playing in the rim of the boundaries.
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here are all of these mechanics put into play.


and here is another too

• 1- Be still and watch. For THEY may judge. - The longer the kids are up the more time you will have for points. It is okay to down a kid but try not to wipe out the whole time. Downing kids is important because it can create tempo. Which can lead to more mistake and maybe some more kids sinning or the famous, panic tranq. ( Panic tranq! Panic Tranq!). Be careful as this can easily lead to a snowball of wipes if the kids are right next to each other. (or if they're all inexperienced.) Sometimes it is better to let one of the kids get the revive so the hunt can go longer. I've had games where the only way kids got wiped was when they went into their third down. This is ideally what you want to go for. But if you *know* a kid is recognized. ( recognize model, Stalker jacket/ Catcher jacket) If you *know* they're an indom player. You might want to not let them back up. Regardless. Try not to mess too much with the last players if theyre really hurt and beaten. Even recording them can end their game most times. At the same time though..
  
  
• 2- Give their voice to the song- We no longer have a win leaderboard. But, we still get a refunded dossier. If I'm high in points and if the opportunity where I can wipe the team arises. I will go for the wipe. 600 points + my dossier refund? Oh yes.
  
  
• 3- The eye that dares behold itself, strike blind - In the first 30 seconds of the game. Most people just drop out and start gathering. I do too. mostly. Sometimes I drop out and start recording. Why? because the kettle is screaming right now. We don't know when we're going to be invading their missions. Sometimes things are happening as soon as I invade. Someone is getting chased by the shape. Someone is tranqing people non stop. Take 10-15 seconds to peep everyone before diving to gather. It also helps to try to figure out how far they're along on their mission to gauge how much time you might have left before they contemplate being gargoyles or ditching you.
  
  Moreover, please look with the third person camera granted to us by speak as one before exiting your door. If you lose the kids and they stop sinning; these become excellent surveillance points. Use those 55 seconds. If you have to use 2 minutes. go hide and dive back in. Being patient is key.
  
  
• 4- Actually stalk them. Use those doors as surveillance points. Spawn back all the way to the beginning of their mission. Walk through their steps. Look through the houses they used to get downstairs. Follow the same path they took. Loot from the same chests. Count how many flashbangs/traps/candy/bandages you got. Multiply that by whatever number of players they have. Thats how many you have to make them burn / have to see get used before you can get really comfortable.
  
  
• 5- Use your tag Tag A chest that has a flashbang but you couldnt get it because you had 4. Tag a closeby lucid that you like. Tag a far away lucid in a popular place they run though like instrument supply. see if he drops, check on him later, etc. Tag a kid that you might not be able to get on camera but can see far away.
  
  
• 6- Have full stamina. These kids have supernatural powers. Some of them can run for ten whole seconds. Nonestop. and not one thing you do, not one flashbang, not one trap will stop that child from running 200 meters. Except a lucid. Or a Sleeper. but even then that wont last long. You have to be ready. Always. Use your stamina to move between your chests, sure. But dont forget that if your bar isnt full. Theirs is. And they have *amazing* recover abilities when grouped up.
  
  
• 7- Time yourself As soon as you start an encounter. Start a timer in your head. The more time you have there. The less time you have to leave. How long do you have till you cant leave? I can't say. But if you play like this you will be able to guess-ti-mate how much time you have until the kids start to collapse on you. With this said, knowing where every single kid is at every time is extremely important. And how far. And how strong. and etc etc.
  
  
• 8- You're never safe They can't hear you. And you can barely hear them. It is very easy to get snuck up on by a kid. Be very aware of your surrondings and if you feel unsure, move.
  

When you first load into a game you will start in the sleeper lockers.
My first choice is always to see where the kids are at and view them from my doors. I look at them to see how far along they are on their quest, and who the shape is on. if it's on someone. etc.
Depending on what's happening i will either reveal myself and record orrrrr farm chests like everyone else.

Two schools of thought about revealing:
If I reveal myself early ( like before they even get to their first obj) the kids and the kids have just started their quest they will be paranoid throughout the experience. They might already be in a bad position. Most of the time they are grouped together as 2-3 when I decide to do this because of the multiplayer. It's a good way to get like 30 points then ditch out to go farm chests. The kids will definitely start to collapse when they get the photos. But it's always fun to see them freak out tbh. However, doing this might make the kids change the nature of their game. Instead of dealing with the objective they might just focus on chasing you. Which is really in your benefit because the game will be prolonged. But also not because now their gaze has been turned to you.

if i wait till the end to reveal myself they might be comfortable enough to have tranq'd people. maybe I'll get items then attack them, etc etc. To me this does work sometimes but I've had to wait till the hyper end of the game. If you get into a party with some name fragment finders (you'll know) you might have some luck doing this because sometimes people get trigger happy towards their exit. At the same time you wont be pressuring them / getting a dossier/ and most likely you'll just end up with like 300 pts cause they tranq spammed like 6 people but everyone wittnessed it.

In any case. Revealing yourself will startle the kids and they will try to find ways to capture you from that point on. Be ready when revealing yourself. it is important to make sure that your cooldown of your door will be ready by the time you need to escape. Escape items are not always neccessary. Do not forget that the photos will be delivered at a delayed timer. ( usually like 7 seconds? I actually dont know this value. I just feel for it. ) If you already Bolt *before* they get the photo. they will not find you. Hello houdini! Alternatively. You could do a mixup and take a photo outside, climb up, ( they will go outside because ohmergerd the angle of the foto!!!) record them as they jump out. Hide again, etc. This is VERY easy to do in the beginning of the game because surprise no one has items. It is very hard to do things like this later because the kids will most likely have broken into anything that doesnt have... well I'd say invisible wall or a red gate but that'd be a lie..

regardless if youre above them ok! Dont be below them unless they're gonna take fall damage because youll just get yourself caught lmao xd.

If you're revealing yourself around the mid- late game the same thought applies.
Know where the all the kids are at. and sort of like, make up a time in your head as towards how long you have before the kids are *almost* to where you are. ( dont forget you want to start leaving before they show up. Unless you got some sick flashbangage going on. Then go ahead. proceed. )
Come up with some sort of escape plan. It is fun to wing things but be aware of your potential routes and jooks. and please, use your doors as surveillance points.

Gathering chests is arguably the most frustrating part because of the potential bad RNG. But, and i say this to lots of new stalkers, it's a double edged sword. If you just pulled like 6 lockpicks. Well the kids have 6 lockpicks. Back to using primative strategy! In all honesty though, Gathering is an important part of stalking. You have to be fast. Like sonic fast.
Okay so this is like a sacred path that i've come up with and this is what i do dont @ me

Film - Maybe 3
Subliminal - maybe 2
White room - Maybe 2
Teleport to New growth -maybe 4
Teleport to Dream by airway -almost always 5-7
>>Check for kids. If kids are not downstairs then:
Teleport to Host - i usually ignore that one lone chest int he back unless what i have sucks
walk to observation
Usually I'm done by then and I spawn all the back to where the kids spawned to follow through the chests they looted from and count their items / look for hidden bodies. Dont be afraiud to scout ahead of the area you will be running through using your doors if you can't find the kids.

>> If kids are already approaching downstairs I will spawn where they spawn. ^^^ Look above

Other notable places that are good to restock
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Every single house; Seriously, Bunker house + Bunker + treehouse + treehouse house = 4-5 chests
String Relay - 2 Chest
Instruments + Ingestion + front of plexus =4 sometimes
Crypto = 3 mostly. never seen 4 but.
plexus - too ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ large but it has chests. dont really ♥♥♥♥ around here unless im like * in dire need *

I can't teach you mechanics. But I can tell you about some techniques.

• Always record in max range.
  
• Watch their hands. If they throw a flashbang be ready to throw one back and eat a chocolate bar.
• If you've been counting their bangs nows the time to start crossing them out.
  
• Jump backwards a lot. Throw foams/firecrackers at kids to stagger them. Combine these two and you will piss people off a lot.
  
• Place your traps. Stand ontop of them. It will interrupt their frame when they try to grab you. They can jump over them.
  
• Gather lots of traps. Pick a house with 2-3 entrances. trap the crap out of it. Bait the kid sinto the house. laugh a lot.
  
• Break line of sight. Go behind them. Take another photo. Leave one last time.
  
• Record a kid. Wait a bit for people to freak out. Take a door. record another kid. watch them do a 360.
  
• Use the maze entrances to ♥♥♥♥ with their minds. They lead to multiple houses. Take a photo from one house then go to another and watch them run to it
  
• You can jump cancel a grab if.......... but it only works sometimes and in the right places.
  
• Learn the risky route. That yellow pipe has been the end all of many confident people that try to chase me on it. Those fences? learn to run on them without having to stop and re-orientate yourself. Your momentum is imperative to your success.
  
• If you are running at full speed you can jump onto the hood of the trucks with no climbing animation.
  
• Vaulting is always faster than climbing so aim for the vault cancel.
  
• Jump off high elevations and cancel your falll damage with a vault. >>>always<<< This is imperative to your movement. you need to be canceling all damage and maintaining a higher elevation/ more stamina than the kids. It is VERY easy to juke them while they are in climbing animation and it is VERY easy to grab you when you are in yours.
  
• Mixup your movement. if you're upstairs it is easy to have the kids running in a circle around the houses but. Enter the house. Go into the maze. Exit from the other house. Take a photo from that house. Go back inside. Go to the other house. Take another. Climb up on that house now. Wait for them to chase you. Jump on the roof of the other house. They will climb up. Record. Jump back down toward the fence. Cancel with a vault. Vault into the house. Break Line of sight. Etc. Etc.
  
• If you are are recording a kid who is being dragged be wary of them picking up a flashbang from the garbage and throwing it out. Also when a kid is struggling this might happen.
  
• Turn corners often and try to stay at max range so the kids will have a harder time pinning a flashbang on you.
  
• The more unfathomable your movement, the more successful your juke is. sometimes the crazy is the best option. I've hidden under the litttle roofy things infront of the house and have had kids drop right infront of me and keep running straight.
  
• Use your chocolate bars to eat up the kids' flashbangs
  
• Fire crackers also reveal a kid's location so if you know where someone is but not where they really are you can throw it over by their location and it will reveal exactly where they are.
  ===
  additional tips from other stalkers
  
  Malpheus, " Another trick you could consider adding is abusing the radios that surround the perimeter of the map (the "out of bounds" walls). You can flash kids when standing near these and make them run right into them and immediately get taken. "
  
  if you wanna leave a tip here comment or dm me and ill add it
  
  Mr music man says, "
  1) My favorite method to induce paranoia by throwing noisemakers and flash bangs . Not directly at the kids, but in their general area. A great tactic for getting unaware enemies alerted of the kids' presence in addition to revealing the kids' location, as you mentioned. I'll sometimes repeat this around the surface by jumping in and out of Red Doors.
  2) In the maze, use elevation and enemies to your advantage . If you're up high, it can take time for the kids to get to your location in places like Ingestion, Instrument Supply, Cryptogram Library, and Dream Therapy. Be smart and be mindful of escape routes.
  3) Dream Therapy is good for stocking up at the beginning, but crates can be a bit far apart and stamina-draining / time-consuming. I sometimes circle through New Growth, Subliminal Media, then Film Archives instead."

There isnt much to say here except that your Flashbangs will work on your own allies ( sleepers / lucids/ shape) and that you can cancel the shapes sleeping animation by flashbanging / foaming/ stabbing them/ This will prolong the kids eventual sleep and you can gather more points. Use this on the last kid standing.