Lots of people love it for its dark, radioactive aesthetic. Others get engrossed in its hardcore survival elements. Sharpshooters get hooked on its realistic gunplay. But one thing that everyone appreciates in Stalker 2 is how its vast open world and the NPCs within it are constantly evolving and reacting to your decisions. The A-Life system powers this dynamic world, and it’s been the one area that fans have been requesting improvements for the most. Well, Stalker 2’s latest update makes some new A-Life related changes, alongside dozens of other tweaks and fixes, but GSC Game World says some of its biggest bugs will be fixed in a future patch instead.
Stalker 2’s 1.2 update follows on from the great work 1.1 did to smooth some of the FPS game’s roughest edges. The community’s prayers for more A-Life improvements have been answered once again here. While the patch notes don’t detail every single change arriving in 1.2, it does include fixes for “NPC behavior during encounters,” adjustments to “hostile NPC behavior during the Arena missions,” and general improvements to NPCs’ movement and logic.
However, GSC acknowledges that more work needs to be done and not every issue has been tackled in this patch. “We are working on fixing the A-Life bugs, which will be addressed in future patches,” the studio says.
Away from that particular talking point, patch 1.2 also tackles loads of other areas of Stalker 2 that were in need of some TLC. A few notable highlights include fixes for missing fast travel routes, combat audio playing even after a combat encounter has ended, and an issue where “NPCs would move to A-pose or start flying after death.” Shame, I quite enjoyed that last one.
GSC also says over 120 individual issues related to specific missions, side quests, and encounters have also been addressed.
A balancing pass is also included in this patch. A large portion of this is tied to making things even easier for those playing on Rookie difficulty – some enemy damage values have been decreased at this difficulty level, and overall armor durability has been upped. Across all difficulties, the weights of some important mission items have been reduced, allowing you to carry more vital supplies while completing them. GSC has also “moderately reduced” the HP to several enemy types, including the Boar, Flesh, and Burer.
If you want to look over even more changes in Stalker 2’s 1.2 update, check out the official patch notes here. Alternatively, dive into our list of the best Stalker 2 mods or find some more challenging experiences in our best survival games guide.
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