Trying to get what some people refer to as a "naked" stun can be tough to do when directly encountering a pursuer. there are a few abilities that I use for defense that work wonders. When I play wanted, I usually play very defensively and win matches regularly with 1 or 2 kills and a dozen or more stuns. I'll break a few tactics down for you.
Knife -- This is my preferred stunning ability. It has a relatively short cool down time, but It requires you to be able to spot your pursuer a little early and lock onto them, so it may take some time getting used to. Once you throw the knife at your pursuer, they will go into an animation where they pull the knife out. during this brief period, their kill radius shrinks a bit which gives you the advantage. You want to approach them carefully, and not run directly at them. Walk towards them staying outside of the imaginary radius around them while mashing X and you will score a stun quite easily. Again, if you run at them, they will probably kill you. You can run a little to close the distance if necessary, but try to walk/fastwalk when getting closer
Decoy -- This works on most people at this point in the game, but as people become more experienced, I believe they will fall for it less. I would recommend using this ability while in a blend group with a copy of your character. If you use decoy without a copy nearby, an NPC will change to your persona and it is pretty obvious to your pursuer most of the time. Generally speaking, the decoy will run towards your pursuer if you have them locked. If you lock an NPC, they don't seem to run that in their direction as much (This may be my imagination, but it is what I observed). If you pursuer kills the decoy, you will get a lure bonus and they will be unable to attack you. this allows you an opening to get a stun. Run up on them and stun them before they lose their contract. If you look at the pursuer icon, you will notice it turn from a red triangle to a white triangle. As long as it is white, they cannot kill or stun. This period lasts approximately 10 seconds.
Bodyguard -- I don't like this quite as much as decoy, but it will get the job done. Again, you will want to use this with a copy of your character nearby and probably use it in a blend group. Once you activate bodyguard, it will approach a pursuer if they come in range and attempt to stun them for you. Alternatively, after you use this ability, if you target your pursuer, he will begin approaching them even if they are outside of normal range. Be careful with this though. If you target and NPC, the decoy will sometimes attack that NPC. If the pursuer kills the decoy, you can run up for a follow-up stun in most cases.
Smoke Bomb -- The smoke bomb is very powerful both defensively and offensively. They increased the default cool down time to 100 seconds this time around, so I don't tend to use it as much. It's it pretty self explanatory You will want to drop the smoke bomb as your pursuer gets within range. Once they are trapped in it, they lose their lock on you and cannot move for a few seconds. I find using the smoke bomb most handy when there are multiple pursuers, or if I am lucky enough to have my target and purser very close to each other. You can also throw the smoke bomb if you hold the ability button. If you have your target locked, it will automatically put the targeting reticle at their feet. You may want to pull the reticle slightly closer to you if they are approaching directly or might sprint at the last minute.
These are just a few suggestions, and they may not work for your play-style but hopefully it gives you an idea on how to be defensive. You might be successful in using disguise or glimmer to fool your opponent and get a surprise stun, but I am usually unlucky with those.
One last suggestion for getting a stun without using an ability. There is a technique some call a "corner stun", where you can hide at the corner of a building or behind a high obstacle and while your pursuer rounds the corner, you can get a stun if you have them locked and hammer on your stun button. There are a lot of helpful videos on youtube that will show you how to do this, if my description didn't make sense. Hope this helps!
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