This is a gun that I can’t figure out. On paper, it’s basically a light rifle from H5, but it feels so much weaker and punishing. Is it hit-scan or not? There are times when it really seems like I should be leading my shots, specifically when sniping.
Teach me the ways of the Halo 2 Jackal.
I had to tweak my aim sensitivity with it before I started getting better with it. To me it feels like a cross between a battle rifle and the beam rifle. I know it sounds obvious, but this weapon shines if you can consistently land head shots. It will kill in 3 shots to the head.
Light rifle but much much less aim assist.
im by no means an expert but i do love the Stalker. in my experience i will be absolutely outgunned in a duel with most other rifles - unless i can maintain headshot accuracy. low weight means it can make surprisingly quick work of someone if you need to quickly start no-scoping in close range
I’m trying to get the shot on it. Recently I got a few perfects with it. I just feel like it’s a good weapon to learn since it can out TTK the BR if all the shots hit right. Plus it has sniper level zoom.
I too could use some pointers. It seems like if it’s not a perfect then you are promptly punished with death.
In my opinion alot of long range guns arent very good even in BTB where they are supposed to shine. The stalker rifle isnt a bad weapon but it isnt good either.
*Takes too many shots to kill unless its a head shot when their shield drops.
*Has a low ammo capacity at least from when I use it. I can shoot a few times and then suddenly I am so low on ammo.
Now i think one of the bigger reasons it doesnt see much use is because of the map designs. Along with its low damage, when I use it i feel like all i can do is support teammates and get assists with it. Because at the range its intended to be used at, someone will just see your shots fire and then immediately find cover. Or the enemy player will see the huge red light on you as soon as you zoom in, and then find cover. It only really works if you can catch a player out in the open which is almost non existent in the current btb maps. Also, with its low damage using suppressive fire you can simply deny him his zooming ability which then you likely wont land any shots.
Just, the weapon tries to be a more easily accessible sniper but does too little damage to justify its usage. The btb map layouts heavily discourage its use with so many different places to hide as soon as someone aims at you.
In a nutshell, it’s amazing if you have good aim and can get consistent headshots without the help of a lot of aim assist. If not you’re probably better off with a BR with the extra aim assist.
Thanks to everyone that replied.
@Griff1821 3 to the head, 4 to the body right? I’ve been using it to finish fights since I’m struggling on the aiming part. The hardest part is sniping. They just run or strafe like a mfer after 1 or 2 shots and I can’t finish them. Evidently, I’ve been better with the BR, but I wanna use this one since it’s undeniably good and I need my dose of Covenant Carbine 
@XEQoot Yeah, that’s par for the course with everything it seems. Not a bad thing though.
@irGoodman Yeah no-scoping seems to be the path right now. I know it’s ttk is the fastest in the game (not including 1-shot weapons) so, outgunning other weapons shouldn’t be too bad assuming I hit every headshot. The margin of error just seems so narrow.
@yeskezspanem Yep, same reason I want to learn 
@BlueDevistator I’ve had some success using it to clean up kills, but finishing whole fights is where it struggles for me.
@WaanSanShoe That’s because of that sniper glint. The second you scope in, everyone starts strafing and chipping you with AR damage. It’s worse for the Stalker Rifle because it’s a 3-shot kill, so you can’t really ambush someone like you can with the other 3 snipers (despite the name). I think the SR is just over shadowed by easy-to-use weapons.
On a side note: I kinda wish it did increased damage when zoomed like the LightRifle. Maybe int combine the Plasma to get a stronger shot, but it builds heat faster. Idk, just a thought.
Yeah the overheat cap is a bit of a problem when you compare it to other precision weapons. The BR can kill 3 spartans before needing to reload (12/36), but the SR can only kill 2 (3/7). But if you use the 7th shot you have the long overheat instead of the quick vent. Do you think it would be better if it were a 2-shot headshot kill (3 to the body)?
The BR killing 3 spartans with one clip is assuming you get 3 perfects in a row which is very unlikely to happy often against players that strafe or use cover. I think the stalker rifle is in a great place personally.
It rewards skilled shots that don’t rely on a lot of aim assist and I like that. One of the best things I did was set the specific stalker rifle zoom sensitivity lower than what mine defaulted at. I would recommend tweaking that to help with aiming.
As far as overheating, I don’t notice it that much. If you’re halfway with the heat and haven’t landed a headshot on someone yet, I’d probably disengage and reload. I very rarely ever let it overheat all the way. The manual reload seems to be pretty quick IMO.
I’ve only had success with it using it like the shock rifle. Basically dead on headshots. Everything else is just damage and requires many shots
I cant seem to get into a rhythm with this game when it comes to the gunplay. Desync is ruining this game for me.
Example a BR is 5 or less shots for a kill. With me and Desync its 7 to 8 shots for a kill but my enemy can kill me in 3 shots.
I honestly dont know how many shots each weapon in this game takes for kills because of desync making it so inconsistent.
Could smack someone with a hammer and they dont die. Can shoot someone with the AR and they die with 3 bullets. Can shoot a random bullet with the sidekick and get a kill from across the map. Can blast a rocket at 4 enemys grouped up together and not get a single kill!
I think because of this inconsistently is the reason why so many people melee because bullets don’t work as there supposed to thanks to desync and melee works better.
It’s both hitscan and projectile it seems.
All I can say is, practice with it.
I am assuming perfect shots since it’s the guns peak capability. Is it likely? No. But it can happen in theory. All I’m really saying is that the BR gives you more opportunities to miss in a 1v1 fight.
I’ve been tweaking the zoom aiming a bit as well, but I haven’t really found a sweet spot yet. As for heat, the SR’s vent time increases with the amount of shot’s you’ve fired (1-3 = short, 4-6 = medium, 7 = overheat/long). I think those are the numbers. But like you said, you shouldn’t need to get to the 7th shot anyways.
So what’s your advice for distant, moving targets? Those are the one I struggle to hit consistently.
Yeah, desync definitely might be a factor here, but I can’t say for sure.
Can you elaborate on that? I understand what you’re saying, sort of, given my experiences with the gun, but I don’t really know how it can be both. At longer ranges it feels like projectile gun. Is that why?
Basically Halo 3 but a bit faster.
And @l_HyperLethal_l
Figuring out how the guns work as projectile vs hitscan on this game is so weird. Like I see people saying the BR is hitscan, and yet when I play I can watch the bullets travel across the map, and sometimes feel like I have to lead my shots like in H3.
It’s kinda the same with the stalker rifle. Sometimes i think I think I need to lead shots, and sometimes it’s like they hit instantly…
You should lead your shots. It has zero bloom. It has an insanely fast TTK. Out of all the Tier 2 weapons, it is nearly the absolute best. It’s a Three Shot kill for a perfect - which you should strictly be aiming for. You can get two perfects out of the weapon before you should vent it - always vent it manually, never fire seven shots with it unless that last shot is safe and a guaranteed kill.
Two shots to the body and one to the head works perfectly. The last shot will bleed through the shields and kill your target with a headshot - but only on a headshot. Otherwise, it has a much higher TTK.
Drill with it. The Stalker Rifle is absolutely one of the best tools you can pick up and almost strictly better than The Battle Rifle - which has the advantage of faster projectiles being nigh hitscan, allowing some room for error, and having 12 trigger pulls before reloading, to which The Stalker Rifle has only a little more than half of.
With a Stalker Rifle, you can become the deadliest force on the field at long range, short of carrying a Sniper Rifle or Skewer.
Yeah. Exactly. I think the change to the way bullets work in this game is so subtle we end up overcorrecting for it.
The BR for instance. It’s basically the BR55HB(Halo 3 BR) with faster bullet travel time. Yet, not so fast that it’s a point and shoot sort of weapon.