Event: Stalker's Acolytes

This is the first time Stalker's Acolytes have appeared while I've been blogging, so I thought it worth putting up a post on how to find them, and also notable drops they have.

The Acolytes originated in the Shadow Debt event back in 2016, but now reappear irregularly on the Star Chart. There are six of them, though Misery has not been seen since the original event. In their current implementation, they appear in turn on the Star Chart, one new one a day, lasting for 3 days each. They inhabit a random unknown mission, which is kept secret until a player plays that mission, which will reveal their location to all players (it could also be just a timed automatic reveal).

Once in mission, the Acolyte will inhabit a random room, and you must enter that room to trigger their spawn, at which point they will spawn like Stalker, with a couple of voice lines and smoke. Dealing sufficient damage to them will cause them to retreat, dropping an unknown mod.

There are a number of notably powerful Acolyte mods that can be worth farming. Note that Acolyte mods cannot be equipped on Exalted weapons. Note that Rivens and newer mods have made many of these drops less valuable or obsolete. Anything still especially useful/powerful has been marked with an exclamation mark.

Notable Drops

Angst

• Body Count (common) - increased combo counter duration for melee. Allows you to maintain your combo for much longer without hitting enemies, especially useful for endurance runs. Largely outclassed by Drifting Contact, which is easier to acquire.

Mania

• Nano-Applicator (rare) - increased Status Chance on ability cast for shotguns. Allows some shotguns to reach 100% Status Chance (e.g. Kohm).
• (!) Weeping Wounds (uncommon) - increased Status Chance with combo counter for melee. Drastically increases melee status chance after building up combo counter, great for builds where you don't want to add in more 60/60s for Status Chance (primarily pure Slash builds).

Torment

• Argon Scope (rare) - increased Crit Chance for rifles, on getting a headshot and while aiming. A nice Crit Chance boost for weapons that like the extra consistency, that you don't have a Riven for. A lot less relevant now that Rivens are a thing, Vigilante Armaments is far more convenient, and Bladed Rounds is a strictly larger damage boost.
• (!) Blood Rush (uncommon) - increased Crit Chance with combo counter for melee. Singlehandedly makes crit melee weapons absurdly powerful. A basic 1.5x combo counter makes this mod give +247.5% Crit Chance, far beyond any other mod. This escalates further the higher your combo counter increases. Notably, it multiplies other +Crit Chance mods like True Steel and Maiming Strike (see Violence).
• Laser Sight (uncommon) - increased Crit Chance for shotguns, on getting a headshot and while aiming. Same as Argon Scope, a nice boost for shotguns that want crit, but less relevant now that Rivens and Vigilante Armaments exist. Notably beats out Blunderbuss for +Crit Chance.
• Hydraulic Crosshairs (common) - increased Crit Chance for pistols, on getting a headshot and while aiming. Same as the others, a nice boost but less relevant now.

Violence

• (!) Maiming Strike (rare) - additively increased Crit Chance for melee on slide attack. Is multiplied with Blood Rush, so just a 1.5x combo counter can result in excess of 222.75% Crit Chance, depending on the weapon's base Crit Chance. Absurdly powerful for weapons with good slide attacks, like polearms and whips. Can be obtained as a Riven stat.
• Bladed Rounds (uncommon) - increased Crit Damage upon getting kill, while aiming. Nice boost to damage, notably will always beat Argon Scope in terms of average damage output due to the base values of Point Strike and Vital Sense. Still has the same problems with Rivens and Vigilante Armaments existing.
• Shrapnel Shot (common) - increased Crit Damage upon getting kill, while aiming. Beats out regular Ravage, but does not beat Primed Ravage, and has the same problems as the others.

Malice

• None.

Misery

•  Drops all of the Acolyte mods, but has not been seen since the original event.