The first Stalker 2 patch notes have arrived as developer GSC Game World unleashes “over 650 fixes” upon its recently launched post-apocalyptic FPS game. The Stalker 2 launch has largely been a success, with the shooter rocketing up the Steam charts and more than 121,000 players exploring the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone at its peak. The early days however have been plagued by bugs, technical troubles, and awkward enemy AI issues, although that hasn’t stopped the game from securing an impressive 81% user rating on the Valve platform from almost 50,000 reviews so far.
Our own Stalker 2 review praises it as “a brutal and rewarding FPS game,” although Paul notes that he faced quite a few technical issues. These range from amusing glitches hurtling NPCs into the sky or character animations not playing out correctly, to more frustrating gripes such as frame rate crawls during certain sections. Now, however, GSC has launched its first, comprehensive Stalker 2 update into the world, with a lot of very welcome changes. “Thanks for your passion and support since the release, it is really important to us,” the studio writes.
Top of the list here is a range of AI fixes for NPCs. These vary from specific instances to more general woes, such as characters getting stuck on their way to certain locations, which could in some cases lead to situations where you were unable to speak to them or progress to the next stage of certain Stalker 2 missions. Problems where hub zones and areas with numerous NPCs could lead to performance drops or out-of-memory crashes should now be largely resolved.
During combat, NPCs should also now correctly recognize when their targets are in cover and adjust their behavior appropriately, rather than just blasting at the cover repeatedly. As for your character, the range of the knife and other melee weapons has been increased, while shooting enemy limbs will now do more damage. In addition to this, the health of enemies such as the Controller, Burer, Boar, and Flesh has been reduced somewhat. You should also no longer run into instances where combat music continues after an encounter ends.
The cost to repair weapons and armor has been brought down, and armor durability increased overall. The monetary reward from most missions has been increased to double or triple its value, and the revenue from selling Stalker 2 artifacts has been “significantly increased.” That should give you a lot more leeway with your finances, although you’ll no longer be able to exploit a bug allowing you to sell certain items to the trader for more money than they cost to buy.
The Hercules consumable has been improved, allowing you to carry even more weight after consuming it with no debuff to your speed. Rookie difficulty has been made a little easier, with buffs to weapons and armor alongside lowered damage from enemy mutants.
Stalker 2 patch 1.0.1 is out now on Steam, the Epic Games Store, and the Xbox app. While that rounds out the most notable upgrades, there are many more smaller tweaks, upgrades, fixes, and improvements to be found among the full patch notes courtesy of GSC Game World. It’s already sounding like a big step in the right direction, and GSC promises that more is on the way, including its previously teased Stalker 2 A-life system changes.
If you’re heading out into the Exclusion Zone, make sure to take the best Stalker 2 weapons with you. Alternatively, you might want to spruce up your experience with the best Stalker 2 mods to further customize your playthrough.
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