The Night Stalker is a suppressed silver pistol and a badge reward added to Examination in a recent update. Two routes lead to it. One is the intended survival run set up by an NPC named Yuri, and the other is a restricted-server trick that lets you grab the weapon straight off the map. Both finish with the same pistol in your loadout and an on-screen badge pop-up.
Quick answer: Talk to Yuri and kill 250 infected in one run without dying, with D-Zero as the final boss, to earn the Night Stalker. On a restricted server, you can instead beat the game up to Sin, trigger a reset in Sector 3’s Lift Maintenance room, and walk over the pistol in the spawn stairwell to claim the badge.
What the Night Stalker is and the golden variant
On the map, the Night Stalker appears as a modified silver pistol lying on the floor. Picking it up ties it to your account and triggers a badge. After you own it, you can re-equip it from a table at spawn whenever you rejoin the server.
There is a cosmetic version tied to how you clear the Yuri challenge. Finishing the run without picking a class rewards a golden Night Stalker instead of the standard silver one. The gold model looks different but performs identically, so it gives no stat advantage.
| Run type | Reward | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| With a class | Night Stalker | Standard silver weapon |
| Classless | Golden Night Stalker | Cosmetic only, same stats |
Yuri’s 250-kill challenge (intended route)
The designed way to earn the Night Stalker starts by speaking to Yuri, the NPC introduced with the update. Accepting his challenge tasks you with eliminating 250 infected in a single run. Several bosses appear along the way, and D-Zero is the final enemy you must defeat to close it out.
The one hard rule is that you cannot die. A single death ends the attempt and resets the count to zero. You can run with one of four classes for the standard pistol, or go classless for the golden cosmetic. Read through the NPC dialogue before you commit, since Yuri and the others explain the remaining specifics as you play.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Start point | Consult the NPC Yuri to begin |
| Kills needed | 250 infected in one run |
| Bosses | Several during the run, D-Zero last |
| Fail condition | Dying at any point resets the count |
| Class choice | 4 classes, or classless for the golden variant |
Restricted-server route (fast pickup)
The faster route skips the challenge and ends with the Night Stalker sitting on the floor for you to collect. It only completes on a restricted server, so setting up the correct server first is the most important part. Timing matters near the end, so follow the sequence exactly.
Note: After you claim it, rejoin the server and pick the weapon up again from the table at spawn. The upstairs door in the stairwell stays locked, so do not waste time on it.
Other reported ways to get the Night Stalker
A few extra routes circulate among players. They vary in reliability, and some depend on server-wide events rather than anything you can start on your own.
| Method | What it involves |
|---|---|
| Electrocution kill | Killing another player with electricity in the sector chamber |
| Spawn and kill D-Zero | D-Zero can appear in a public server for players to take down together |
| Developer gift | Receiving the weapon directly from a developer |
Trying to force D-Zero to spawn through a keycard door can instead disconnect you with the moderation message “You get to live another day.” (Error Code: 267). Treat that outcome as a dead end rather than a step.
How to confirm you got it
The pickup worked when a badge pop-up appears in the bottom-right corner reading “Badge Awarded” for the HEART-OF-MENLO award. After that, the Night Stalker shows up as an item you can equip from your hotbar, listed simply as Night Stalker. The spawn table then lets you re-equip it after any rejoin.
Common reasons it fails
- Running the restricted-server route on a public or VIP server, which forces a full restart. Only a restricted server completes it.
- Moving too slowly after the respawn, since the window to reach the door and stairwell is short. Expect a few tries.
- Not standing still for the full 10 seconds, which leaves the Respawn button greyed out.
- Dying during the Yuri challenge, which resets the 250-kill count to zero.
The restricted-server pickup is the fastest reliable outcome, while Yuri’s 250-kill run is the intended long-form path and the only one that hands you the golden variant. Pick the method that matches the effort you want to spend, and keep your movement tight during the reset sequence so you reach the pistol before the window closes.
