Stalker
Stalkers are stage two infected that hide, circle you and strike from cover. They keep a runner's sight and speed but fight harder, and in Part I they are rare: two main encounters for Joel and one in Left Behind for Ellie.
- Threat
- Medium
- Type
- Infected
Found in
- PittsburghPittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a former quarantine zone now run by hunters who ambush anyone passing through. Joel and Ellie spend two chapters here, Pittsburgh and The Suburbs, and meet the brothers Henry and Sam. Expect heavy human combat and the largest pile of collectibles in the game.
- The Hotel GrandThe Hotel Grand is a ruined luxury hotel in Pittsburgh that gives the Hotel Lobby section its name. Hunters hold the upper floors and infected lurk in the basement, and the lobby hides a safe worth opening.
Good to know
- They reach this stage somewhere between a couple of weeks and a year after infection.
- Fungus starts growing over the face, often leaving one eye, and they make a croaking sound.
- Joel meets them in the flooded basement of the hotel in Pittsburgh, alongside a bloater, and in the Pittsburgh sewers with clickers.
- Ellie fights them on her own for the first time in Left Behind.
- Every stalker area in the game is flooded or close to water.
- Their grab can be shaken off, but a bite that lands still kills you.
How to deal with them
Stealth rarely works, because a moving stalker is almost impossible to grab and they run for cover when they see you coming. Let them come to you and answer with the shotgun or flamethrower. One shotgun blast or a rifle headshot drops one. Stalkers can override Joel's punches, so stun them with a thrown brick or bottle, or use a melee weapon.
As Ellie
Ellie only has her pistol and switchblade against them. Throw bricks straight at a stalker to stun it, then stab it before it recovers.
Related enemies
- Human
Hunters
Hunters are the armed civilians who took Pittsburgh from FEDRA and now ambush anyone passing through to strip them of supplies. You fight them through the Pittsburgh and The Suburbs chapters.
Image: Naughty Dog / PlayStationInfectedBloater
Bloaters are stage four infected covered in armor-like fungus. They are slow and blind but kill you instantly if they grab you, and they throw bursting sacks of mycotoxin from range. Fire is the way to beat them.
- Infected
Clicker
Clickers are blind stage three infected that find you by the clicking sound they make. Their grab kills instantly unless you carry a shiv and have the Shiv Master upgrade, so most players deal with them quietly or with fire.
- Human
FEDRA
FEDRA, the Federal Disaster Response Agency, is the military government that runs the Boston quarantine zone. Its soldiers are the best-equipped enemies in the first chapters, and you fight them while smuggling Ellie out of Boston.