Change log

The Changelog Heap contains a list of all the official changes GSC Game World made into STALKER 2 and STALKER 1 for PC in specific.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

Content Update #2 - Sealed Truth / Patch 1.9

14.04.2026

• Explore a new questline that starts when you talk to Diode. The mission is available after completing the story quest "Hot on the Trail" and before starting the quest "A Minor Incident".
• Fixed an issue causing overpopulation of strong mutant types in long campaigns.
• Fixed an issue where the mission 'Dark as a Dungeon' would immediately cancel if the player had already reached the point of no return.
• Added new loading screens.

Content Update #1 - Stories Untold / Patch 1.8

17.12.2025

Fifth major patch of the year

NEW STORIES

Over five hours of gameplay have been added, depending on your pace. Discover the mysterious transmission that gives stalkers headaches, nosebleeds, and even hallucinations. 

As the story unfolds, you can choose to help the stalkers and scientists figure out what’s going on. Make decisions, fight for what you believe in, search for answers, and more.

You can catch a PDA message anywhere on the map, with the biggest chance around the Burnt Forest. How you deal with it will shape the fates of stalkers you meet. This mission will become available after leaving the Zalissya region in the early stages of the game.

This new storyline brings to life 8 new missions, 7 new locations, 6 new characters, 3 new unique items, unique weapon, and more.

NEW LOCATIONS & NEW HUB

Speaking of new locations, if you decide to explore untold stories, you are going to visit and explore new places. They are free to explore for everyone in the Zone, some locations that were previously occupied only by rusty metal or mutants are now used by stalkers. The storyline also might lead you to creating a new hub in the Burnt Forest region. The new place on the map will draw the stalker's attention, so you can expect the whole area to become more populated. But again, this outcome of the quest is not granted. You may choose to play another way.

NEW WEAPON

The GP37V2 is a modified version of the GP37 rifle, crafted for the most tactically proficient players. It features a pre-installed suppressor and a low-magnification scope. The trigger group has been modified to support single and burst fire modes only.

The cost of failure is higher, but in the hands of a skillful operator, the GP37V2 can reward you with its precision and power. This thing you can get during the completion of the questline.

MASTER DIFFICULTY AND EXPEDITION MODE SIMPLIFICATION

This change allows you to simplify the save system if you want to play on “Master” difficulty or any other difficulty with the “Expedition mode” enabled.

After starting the game (if Master difficulty or difficulty with Expedition mode enabled is selected), you can enable the Manual Save system in the settings menu. This option is enabled once and permanently (for the current playthrough) and allows you to save with:

• Quick Save (F5).
• Regular Manual Save via the menu.

If these saves are enabled, the player's progress status, which is displayed in the Pause menu, will change.

ADDITIONAL FIXES

• Fixed an issue where multiple artifacts could spawn in one place.
• Optimized multiple mutant models.
• Fixed an issue where NPC could not find a way to the shelter during an Emission at the Cement Factory location.
• Fixed an issue where NPC could not find a way to the shelter during an Emission in Zalissya.
• Fixed an issue that could cause massive mutant hordes to spawn at the Plant location of the Garbage region.
• Adjusted dead zone settings for DualSense controller on PC.
• Fixed an issue where the player could obtain the Heart of Chornobyl artifact from the regular anomalies.

Patch 1.7.1

08.12.2025

• Introduced fail-safe mechanism for cases where mod incompatibility prevents users from launching title
• Fixed an issue where the power lines could disappear on approach.
• Fixed an issue where the Ward NPC could teleport in the player's field of view after killing noontiders during the Wishful Thinking mission.
• Fixed an issue where the Ward soldiers could not help Skif to hold position during the Assault On The Duga mission.
• Fixed a massive performance drop on opening PDA while the Shadows option is set to Epic.
• Fixed an issue where the player could sprint while overweighted with loot.
• Fixed an issue where the player could observe texture flickering on the staircase after the cutscene during the Back To The Slag Heap mission.
• Fixed an issue where the player could have visual artifacts on Richter during the cinematic in the The Price Goes Up mission.
• Fixed shadows on Skif's hands during the cutscene in the Back To The Slag Heap mission.
• Fixed an issue where the player could use weapon attachments from the trade window.
• Fixed an issue where the settings values could be displayed incorrectly after using the auto-detect or reset settings features.
• Fixed an issue that could cause artifacts to spawn under the ground.
• Fixed several issues with dead zone settings for the DualSense controller.
• Fixed crashes.

Patch 1.7

17.11.2025

Fourth major patch of the year

Highlights

• Fixes and improvements to the A-Life system
• Master Difficulty & Expedition Mode (This difficulty level can only be selected at the beginning of the game)
• NPC Vision & Combat Update
• Inventory & Equipment Stats Update
• Stamina and sprint rework
• New anomalies
• Controller aim improvements
• Immersive Mode
• Light Rainy weather scenario
• SD Cards with coupons

WARNING

The Zone is ever-changing, and a new Update can shift Her structure. If you’ve chosen to walk the path with modifications, know this: they may not withstand the latest shifts. If you have performance or stability issues following the release of Update 1.7, we recommend you to disable your mods. If you continue to experience issues, please visit https://support.stalker2.com/hc for additional troubleshooting steps and assistance.

For more information on how to correctly uninstall modifications, read the dedicated topic: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1643320/partnerevents/edit/525346350588494399

AI and Combat

• Numerous fixes and improvements to the A-Life system, so now factions can expand control over new territories. This means they may also lose control over their lands if they fail to defend them. Various points of interest, checkpoints, locations (but not hubs) are in contest between different NPCs and… mutants! They also want to defend their lairs and territories from their very unfriendly stalker-neighbours.
• With Update 1.7, enemies have real problems detecting you in tall grass or reeds, and are much less accurate when shooting through the bushes. Swamp shootouts will feel fair at last! You can now use the greenery to your full advantage, but be cautious – the closer you are to an enemy, the more likely you are to be spotted.

Mutants and NPCs have also learned to retreat from the fight if they realize that chances for survival are low. They will also try to flank more actively, and choose a distance to fight from that best suits their weapon. 

It’s also worth noting that NPC combat animation timings were slightly tweaked to make their movement more realistic. Oh, and mutants have also received new death animations!

• Fixed some issues with specific NPC inhabitant areas.
• Improved AI reaction to player's hostile actions.
• NPC behavior during Emission optimization.
• Fixed an issue that caused NPCs to occasionally move to the side after detecting an enemy
• Fixed an issue when A-life NPCs didn't move after loading a save that were made on their way to shelter.
• Fixed an issue when the NPCs could get damage from explosions while being behind several walls.
• Fixed the issue when some Boar mutants could look like Human NPCs near the Malachite, causing the game to crash.
• Fixed the issue when Controller could attack Zombified and Raised NPCs.
• Fixed the issue when the NPCs weren't reacting to the shots from Gauss rifle that were landed near them.
• Adjusted Combat behavior of bandits in Prologue mission.
• Fixed death animations for mutants in some specific cases.
• Fixed the issue when the NPCs weren't returning to their stay destination point after the sudden combat.
• Fixed the issue when the random neutral Stalkers were becoming the enemy to the Player character.
• Fixed an issue that caused NPCs to get stuck in a weapon draw animation loop.
• Fixed an issue when NPCs were unable to shoot the Player after they get too close to them while crouched.
• Fixed an issue where mutants could change their position during jump midair.
• Fixed an issue when some NPCs were not hiding from the emission and die from in Zalissya location.

Bug Fixes, Crashes, and Performance

• Fixed an issue when player was able to die instantly after fast travel.
• Fixed visual issues for Vortex anomaly.
• Fixed an issue when Player was unable to install x8 scope to Mark I EMR rifle.
• Fixed an issue when magazine adapter for M860 was not displaying.
• Fixed an issue with delayed reaction of the mutants when killing them by using shotgun.
• Fixed an issue when game could freeze during the emission start.
• Fixed an issue when title was becoming unresponsive if Skif was knocked down by mutants while sitting near the campfire.
• Fixed an issue where the backup files could be sorted randomly after reopening the backup menu.
• Fixed an issue where the cursor could not be controlled after placing a custom marker using gamepad.
• Fixed an issue where the notifications about receiving notes could remain on the screen infinitely.
• Fixed an issue where, if the Numpad 5 and 2 keys were assigned to move forward/back, rotating the camera up/down would also be triggered.
• Fixed an issue where some steel casings lying on the ground could appear totally black.
• Fixed an issue where some metal objects could change their color on approaching.
• Fixed an issue where the changed input binding for NVG did not work during the dialogs.
• Fixed an issue where the aim assist could turn off after opening the pause menu.
• Fixed an issue where the player could not activate NVG via mouse wheel while climbing a ladder.
• Fixed an issue where the psy effect could remain after leaving the dangerous area for some users.
• Fixed an issue where some players could gain unkillable state after some points in the game.
• Fixed an issue where a very loud sound effect of a running water could be heard around the Swamp area under SIRCAA and around the Swamps region.
• Reduced resources consumption before cutscenes start.
• Performance optimization regarding the projectile hitting the surface.
• Performance optimization of damage dealt by grenades.
• Fixed an issue that caused performance issues with item objects inside anomalies.
• Fixed an issue that caused Flashlight to appear above the head of NPC with NVG.
• Fixed infinite loading on the save that were made in 100 Rads Bar.
• Fixed the impossibility to make two saves in a row after overwriting or deleting the previous save.
• Fixed Infinite loading screen on saves made on Noontide base.
• Fixed an issue when aim assist was not functional after loading of saved game.
• Fixed over 90 crashes.

Optimization

The list below is just the tip of the iceberg. A lot of things were done under the hood to increase performance on all platforms, setups, and graphic presets.

• Optimized Foliage Meshes (changes in performance may be particularly noticeable in the Red Forest).
• Optimized Foliage Materials.
• Optimized Rostok buildings (Architecture meshes and collision improvements).
• Optimized Duga region buildings (Architecture meshes and collision improvements).
• World streaming optimizations on most intense locations (Zalissya, Rostok, Slag Heap).
• Optimized Lighting on Slag Heap, Zalissya, SIRCAA, Rostok.
• Optimized NPCs skeletal meshes.
• Optimized Grooms.
• Optimized and adjusted Skeletal Mesh budgeting.
• Optimized usage of Morph Targets.
• Optimized Tick Rate of simulated Components by prioritizing visible primitives with higher screen size.
• Optimized update of items used in Contextual Actions.
• Optimized Cloth Simulation.
• Optimized animation update of placed in world Skeletal Meshes.

Main & Side Quests, Open World Encounters

• Fixed an issue when Squint dead body and becomes inaccessible to the Player if he was killed without starting the dialog during the A Needle in a Haystack mission.
• Fixed an issue when Player was able to get to the first floor of the Chemical Plant from the roof and unable to exit during Escape from the Cage mission.
• Multiple immersion fixes for A School of Life mission. 
• Fixed an issue when was missing in X17 Lab during Visions of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue when all dialogues with Varan were excluded if Player lose his reputation after accepting the Deal with the Devil mission.
• Fixed an issue when Player was able to get higher reward after completing a job task from Warlock.
• Fixed an issue when Kill the bloodsucker objective was still active after killing the bloodsucker during Nightingale’s Hunt mission.
• Fixed an issue when Player was unable to proceed through the "Wishful Thinking" mission.
• Optimized resources consumption for the cutscene with Dalin and Korshunov inside D2 room during Wishful Thinking mission.
• Fixed an issue when objective Discover the location of the cellar was not completing after receiving of cellar coordinates during The Poppy Field mission.
• Fixed an issue when Player was unable to get a money reward from Nightingale after giving him the dog collar during the Dogfight mission.
• Fixed an issue where the Ward assault squad could die from Emission during the Answers Come at a Price mission.
• Fixed an issue where the weather could not change after some point in the game.
• Level art and design improvements for multiple locations.
• Fixed an issue where Zhuzha and Gonta were unable to start arguing in scene if the last snork was killed close to Gonta.
• Fixed an issue that occasionally prevented from starting dialogue during the Down Below mission.
• Fixed an issue that caused to disappear after the dialogue during Wishful Thinking mission.
• Fixed an issue that prevented completion of the Get to the Teleportation Hall objective during The Last Step mission.
• Fixed an issue that occasionally prevented completion of the Fight off the Monolithians objective during Happiness For Everyone mission.
• Fixed an issue that prevented Richter from starting dialogue during the Through The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death mission.
• Fixed an issue that prevented Scar from starting dialogue during The Eternal Shining mission.
• Fixed an issue that prevented Col. from starting dialogue during the Down Below mission.
• Fixed an issue that prevented Dark from starting dialogue during the Legends Of The Zone mission.
• Fixed an issue where Richter didn't run the Cabin during A Tough Awakening mission
• Fixed an issue when the Dalin could be missing during the Law And Order mission.
• Fixed an issue when the Scar is missing at Rostok Depot during An Invisible Threat mission.
• Fixed the issue when player's camera could be locked on the Baturin forever after one of the encounters around the Zone.
• Fixed the issue when the A sign of Hope mission wasn't cancelling after the start of Just Like the Good Old Days mission.
• Fixed the issue with impossibility to start a journal stage to Kill Shterev during the Dead Frequency mission.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the cutscene at Sawmill from starting during Back To The Slag Heap mission.
• Fixed an issue that caused a player to stuck in dialogue with Honta.
• Fixed an issue that prevented bandits from appearing during A Big Score mission.

Mod Support

Mod conflict detection and notification: in-game popup with the list of conflicting mods

Detailed conflict dump (with information about exact conflicting CFG nodes) in AppData - Mod conflicts.csv

Selective Download (Zone Kit is separated into multiple chunks: The Lesser Zone Kit, Zone Kit Editor, Cutscenes, World Map)

Shape the Zone your way with the Zone Kit! Unleash your tinkering nature and modify existing content or create something new — animations, weapons, mechanics, and even wonders of the Zone. Official Mod Support is here, so now is the time to create your own content and use modifications made by your fellow stalkers. You can access modifications at Steam Workshop and Mod.io, and if you want to try making your own, Zone Kit is available for download at: https://store.epicgames.com/uk/p/stalker-2-zone-kit

Other Updates

• Detector item size in inventory changed to 1x1.
• Fixed an issue where the NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency option could disable after the title reboot.
• Slightly reworked visuals for artifacts and consumables effect influence.
• Fixed 3D audio with Dolby Atmos for headphones and other spatial plugins for Windows.
• Added the option to disable headshot sound in option.
• Improved the voiceover clarity when talking too close to NPC.
• Added icons for looted, partially emptied and untouched stashes on the map.
• Placed a bit more weapon attachments around the Zone.
• Improved readability of fonts for Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Korean languages.
• Improved some tutorials.

Patch 1.6

23.09.2025

Third major patch of the year

AI, Combat, and Mutants

• Fixed an issue where A-Life NPCs' actions were interrupted and inconsistent after save/load.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs fell too quickly after a headshot.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs took low cover behind trees.
• Fixed an issue where squad leaders shouted the same phrase simultaneously after combat ended.
• Fixed an issue where zombie NPCs could freeze mid-air after a headshot.
• Improved Chimera combat behavior.
• Fixed prices for restoring reputation with factions.
• Fixed an issue where Chimera got stuck after a jump attack.
• Fixed an issue where Chimera and Snork could jump through objects when the player stood on top.
• Fixed animation issues with Bloodsucker's arms during melee attacks.
• Fixed an issue where Bloodsucker remained invisible when not attacking.
• Fixed an issue where Pseudodog clones got stuck if spawned during retreat.
• Fixed an issue where Pseudodog clones didn’t despawn outside the player’s field of view.
• Polished interruption animation for random A-Life spawnable poses.
• Fixed an issue where Burers and Poltergeists couldn’t use their throw ability.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs looted mutants at the start of There and Back Again.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs could shoot without dispersion.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs didn’t seek shelter after emission started post save/load.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs couldn’t loot mutants.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs didn’t search for enemies in the player’s direction.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs collided with each other.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs chose cover based on the player’s actual position instead of last known position.

Balance

• Fixed an issue where the Mercenary’s Light Suit weighed 0.0 kg after upgrades.
• Fixed an issue where players could trade with Noontiders at Wild Island.
• Updated loot in large stashes throughout the Zone.
• Rebalanced loot in small stashes throughout the Zone.
• Adjusted the weight of the Veteran rifle.
• Added offset aiming feature.
• Increased Predator shotgun damage to match its description.
• Fixed an issue where the Flytrap artifact didn’t reduce weight.
• Increased HP for boar mutants.
• Reduced HP for pseudogiant mutants.
• Polished and rebalanced loot in stashes throughout the Zone.
• Adjusted day/night cycle and improved nighttime audio environment.
• Adjusted upgrade tree for Kora weapon.
• Fixed an issue where Kora’s extended mag was missing in the world.

Audio

• Fixed an issue where music stopped playing after a certain point in the credits.
• Polished sound obstruction.
• Fixed missing sounds for electric particles on generators.
• Fixed missing scanner sound at the 2nd and 3rd points during the Prologue mission.
• Fixed an issue where NPC rapid-fire shooting sounded slower than the player’s.

Open World

• Fixed an issue where phantoms didn’t spawn in the Wandering Lights arch-anomaly.
• Added idle SFX for Heart of Chornobyl artifact inspection animation.
• Fixed an issue where chemical damage from Wandering Lights anomaly didn’t affect armor durability.
• Fixed an issue where negative reputation with Kostyk Drafter NPC wasn’t restored after leaving Rookie Village hub.
• Added crow reactions when throwing bolts at them.
• Fixed an issue where players could fall out of bounds near Friendship Kindergarten, District No. 2.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Shevchenko, Backwater region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Skadovsk, Backwater region.
• Minor polish for environmental props.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Chemical Tanks, Chemical Plant region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Enerhetyk Palace of Culture, City Center region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Hangar, Cement Plant region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Mist, Burnt Forest region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Central Elevator, Chemical Plant region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Hlynka, Garbage region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Red Fortress, Cooling Towers region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Chemical Plant region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Waste Processing Station, Wild Island region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Arl Building, SIRCAA region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Sphere, Lesser Zone region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Dusty Cable Tunnel, Yaniv region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Rostok Factory region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Vpc Mirror, STC Malachite region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Mobile Building Enterprise, Jupiter region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Intercom Tower, Cement Plant region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Ses Polygon, Jupiter region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Svitlyachok Shop, District No. 1 region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Start Shop, District No. 2 region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for SIRCAA region.
• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in level geometry at Wild Island.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Factory Building Site, Rostok Factory region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Helicopter Base, Burnt Forest region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Duga region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Roofed Warehouse, Industrial Zone region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Army Warehouse, Industrial Zone region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for CDIA, Jupiter region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for SKD Assembly Unit, Cooling Towers region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Polissya Hotel, City Center region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Old Mill, Lesser Zone region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Icarus, Backwater region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Swinery, Burnt Forest region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Lisovyi, Yaniv region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for CNPP District Heating, Cooling Towers region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Shelter, Wild Island region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Quiet’s Camp, Wild Island region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Brain Scorcher, STC Malachite region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Mirage, Red Forest region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Scorcher Checkpoint, STC Malachite region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Pontoon Depot, Wild Island region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for X-15, Burnt Forest region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Promin CMD Factory, Industrial Zone region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Wild Checkpoint, Rostok Factory region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Utility Tunnel, Lesser Zone region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Duga Substation, Duga Radar region.
• Fixed freeze during Light Rainy, Rainy, or Thundery weather.
• Added ammo crates to the dungeon area under SIRCAA.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Rostok Depot, Rostok Factory region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Helipad, SIRCAA region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Zalissya, Lesser Zone region.
• Fixed an issue where A-Life NPCs spawned stuck on isolated surfaces (e.g., fallen transmission towers) in Garbage region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Arms Depot, Duga Radar region.
• Fixed an issue where players could interact with Spark Bunker ladder through a closed hatch.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Tech Zone Checkpoint, Duga Radar region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Chystohalivka, Rostok Factory region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Bridge to Lymansk, Red Forest region.
• Fixed terrain holes in Garbage region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Polissya, City Center region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Slag Heap, Garbage region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for STC Malachite region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Faust’s Cell, Wild Island region.
• Fixed an issue where Richter clipped with a tree during The Last Wish near Cooling Towers.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Rozsokha RWD, Yantar region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Plant, Garbage region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Flea Market, Garbage region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Lishchyna Facility, Red Forest region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Old Wall, Lesser Zone region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Cement Factory, Cement Plant region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Yaniv region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Artifact Farm, SIRCAA region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Secondary Clarifiers, Generators region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Malachite Repair Facility, STC Malachite region.
• Fixed missing radio sound at Rostok.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Factory, Garbage region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Detention Center, Garbage region.
• Fixed an issue where Squint was alive at Detention Center after being killed during A Needle in a Haystack.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Lisovyi, Yaniv region.
• Fixed an issue where Birch and Komisarov didn’t sell faction-related SEVA armors.
• Fixed an issue where hub loudspeaker announcements were barely audible.
• Fixed missing documents in Mykolaich’s hands during reading animation.
• Fixed an issue where an entrance door locked after Dangerous Liaisons.
• Adjusted animation pose for Hamster NPC after On the Edge.
• Adjusted animation poses for Sashko Partridge NPC in Zalissya.
• Fixed an issue where Malachite Pass remained a quest item after Visions of Truth.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Cooling Towers region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Crystal SCS, Duga Radar region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Levitating Silo, Lesser Zone region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Sand Mine, Wild Island region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Army Warehouses, Chemical Plant region.
• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in a cave at Reloading Point.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Maze, Garbage region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Old Church, Swamps region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for X17 Lab, STC Malachite region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Yaniv Station, Yaniv region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Old Barge, Backwater region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Generators region.
• Fixed an issue where players could reach Pripyat early at Yaniv by jumping from a fence between wagons.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Agricultural Workshop, Yantar region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Buryakivka, Rostok region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Barge, Lesser Zone region.
• Improved Level Art and Design for Boathouse, Wild Island region.

Cutscenes and Animations

• Polished headgear on multiple NPC presets.
• Fixed erratic animations for Fleshes during encounters at Vehicle Graveyard.
• Adjusted generic animation poses for NPCs at Shevchenko Hub.
• Adjusted generic animation poses for NPCs at Rostok Hub.
• Adjusted generic animation poses for NPCs at Skadovsk Hub.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs played drinking animations without holding vodka.
• Adjusted generic animation poses for NPCs at Rookie Village Hub.
• Polished NPC vodka-drinking animation.
• Added missing animation for hiding Gilka detector.
• Adjusted generic animation poses for NPCs near Yaniv hub.
• Fixed an issue where objects used in generic animations floated after completion.
• Polished Crest’s standing animation during dialogue in The Sound of Music.
• Improved vaulting/climbing animations.
• Fixed blind dog 180-degree turn attack animation.
• Added new NPC death animations from anomalies.
• Fixed leg animation issues after hiding Three-line rifle.
• Fixed NPC bodies jumping high after headshot kills.
• Fixed incomplete anomaly death animations for NPCs.
• Fixed flickering halo effect around NPCs with flashlights.
• Improved facial animation for Zhora Mammoth NPC.
• Polished facial animations for Ragman NPC at Rostok Hub.
• Fixed missing flashlight activation animation after toggling with D12.
• Corrected left-hand position when holding D12 shotgun.
• Polished animations for reloading jammed weapons with under-barrel grenade launchers.
• Fixed Saiga and Magrach shotguns switching to safe mode during reload.
• Fixed shaking scope on Sotnyk unique weapon while aiming.
• Fixed broken reload animation after switching to increased mag via inventory.
• Improved player shadow during reload.
• Fixed missing consumable usage animation after looting menu use.
• Polished vaulting animation with equipped detector.
• Polished teleportation transitions through spatial anomalies.
• Fixed Lure artifact’s separate light source.
• Adjusted ammo change animations for Three-Line rifle with grip.
• Fixed hand intersection when aiming with pistol and Gilka detector.

Game Settings, Menus, and UI

• Fixed redundant "Navigation" buttons in Mod.IO Mode preview with single images.
• Added Auto-Lean Disable option in controls settings.
• Fixed doubled ammo icons after quick weapon/ammo switches.
• Fixed overlapping items in player’s stash on certain cells.
• Removed gap in player equipment block on inventory screen.
• Fixed misplaced equipped detector tooltip during comparison.
• Fixed hidden main quest markers at certain map zoom levels near location markers.
• Updated armor and helmet icons in upgrade and inventory menus.
• Fixed wrong blueprint displayed for APSB handgun upgrade.
• Improved UX for single-item weight display in stacks.
• Improved UX for upgrade purchase interface.
• Updated tutorials for flashlight use and weapon mod installation via technician NPC.
• Added new icon for Dvupalov’s Vodka in quickslots.
• Fixed medkit count not updating in quickslots after reviving NPCs.
• Fixed holo scope displayed behind mounting rail in upgrade menu for SPSA-14 and Sledgehammer shotguns.
• Fixed hidden laser on Zubr weapon under mag in upgrades menu.
• Minor UI improvements in Journal tab of PDA.
• Pressing "J" while hovering over quest markers in Map menu now opens relevant journal entries.
• Fixed inconsistent context menu in Trade menu.
• Fixed hint progress remaining after clearing barter zone in Trade menu with gamepad.
• Fixed detector icon not updating in item selector radial menu.
• Fixed redundant circle slots for Knife, Bolt, and Grenades in item selector radial menu.
• Adjusted side quest HUD notification placement.
• Fixed interrupted quest notification sound on stage updates.
• Fixed truncated mission names in HUD notifications for Arabic localization.
• Enabled sorting for player stash items.
• Polished Player Stats panel widget in HUD.
• Added GP37 to Two-O-Three Underbarrel Grenade Launcher description.
• Fixed inability to apply attachments via drag-and-drop in inventory.
• Added HUD elements visibility settings.
• Fixed Windows Scale Option affecting fullscreen borderless and windowed modes on PC.
• Added "Take" or "Put down" item options for mouse and keyboard in inventory.
• Removed "No upscaler" and "TAA" from upscaling settings.
• Polished UI hints in Inventory menu.
• Fixed highlighting of incompatible attachments/ammo in Trade menu.
• Fixed missing highlights for compatible attachments/ammo when hovering over equipped weapons.
• Fixed missing UI hint for toggling markers via "Hide all custom markers" in PDA Map.
• Fixed ammo icon in ammo counter widget for grenades, PG-7V, VOG-25, and HEDP.
• Fixed items from Looting menu not placed where dragged in inventory.
• Fixed untracked side mission giver icon in hub tooltip widget.
• Polished HUD hint design.
• Polished radial menu for custom markers in PDA Map.
• Fixed overlapping/empty item cells in player stash.
• Fixed patch note message not closing on first attempt when opened via hint.
• Fixed font in Trade menu.

Localization

• Fixed typo in Bloodsucker tentacle item description for Ukrainian localization.
• Fixed incorrect Three-Line Rifle name for Korean localization.
• Fixed voiceover and subtitle inconsistencies in Like a Moth to the Flame.
• Fixed dialogue localization issues in Visions of Truth for Polish localization.
• Fixed subtitle mismatch with voiceover for Lodochka’s dialogue in Shift Change for English localization.
• Fixed voiceover and subtitle discrepancies in Dead Frequency.
• Fixed wrong language in 7.62x54mm ammo description for German localization.
• Fixed wrong language in 7.62x54mm 7N1 ammo description for English localization.
• Fixed wrong language in .308 ammo description for English localization.
• Fixed Ukrainian localization for Strelok’s phrases in Let No One Leave Unsatisfied.
• Fixed typos in display settings screen.
• Fixed voiceover and subtitle discrepancies in Gaffer’s mutant parts dialogue.
• Polished journal entry localization for repeatable Business with Owl.
• Fixed voiceover and subtitle discrepancies in Down Below.
• Fixed typos in Gen. Voronin’s dialogue topics.
• Fixed typos in A Long Overdue Visit dialogues.
• Fixed typo in increased APB magazine description for Ukrainian localization.
• Fixed Xbox rich presence text showing "???" in Fault location during first mission.
• Polished journal entry localization for Visions of Truth.
• Fixed typos in The Freedom Colosseum dialogues.
• Fixed EM-1 gauss cannon description discrepancies across localizations.
• Polished Resolution Scale option text.
• Fixed narrative inconsistencies in Once More Unto the Breach dialogues.
• Fixed typos in Vova Cork’s Stash location description.
• Fixed voiceover and subtitle discrepancies in The Boundary.
• Fixed typos in Hurricane NPC dialogue in A Minor Incident.
• Fixed narrative inconsistencies in Slag Heap hub audiologs.
• Fixed dialogue inconsistencies in encounter missions.
• Fixed narrative inconsistencies in Dawn of a New Day dialogues.
• Polished Sukhin’s initials in An Invisible Threat.
• Fixed voiceover and subtitle discrepancies in The Assault on the Duga.
• Adjusted EULA message scrolling for Japanese localization.
• Rewrote empty storage hint translation for Ukrainian localization.
• Fixed localization in Down Below.
• Changed HUB naming in Polish localization.
• Changed ammo names in German localization.
• Fixed voiceover and subtitle discrepancies in Behind Seven Seals.
• Fixed Weird Pot artifact name for Korean localization.
• Fixed Ukrainian voiceover in Encounter with a Monolithian audiolog when set to English.
• Fixed out-of-sync subtitles in intro cinematic.
• Fixed placeholder text for Cabin location name in Lesser Zone.
• Added missing localizations for upgrade confirmation warning message.
• Fixed voiceover and subtitle discrepancies in Behind Seven Seals.
• Added missing Italian localization for No Honor Among Thieves dialogues.
• Fixed formatting errors in weapon upgrade warning pop-ups.
• Fixed French localization for Dalin and Ozerskiy dialogues in X17 during Visions of Truth.
• Fixed Ukrainian localization for quest item descriptions in PDA tutorial.
• Fixed Spanish localization for Strelok’s dialogue in Let No One Leave Unsatisfied.

Main Line and Side Missions

• Fixed Yaryk Mangoose NPC despawning after device activation in For Science!.
• Fixed Scar NPC flickering during Subtle Matter cutscene.
• Fixed Roadhog NPC not attacking in encounters.
• Fixed Taking Back What’s Mine objective not completing if belongings looted before talking to Zhora Mammoth in Escape from the Cage.
• Fixed Flash monster animations during encounters.
• Fixed voiceover and subtitle mismatch in A Light in the End of the Tunnel.
• Fixed reward issue after killing Rodecky in A Matter of Honor’s Receive the Reward objective.
• Fixed haptic feedback in In Search of a Guide cutscene with Nimble.
• Fixed Sleepness post-process persisting after loading saves in In Search of Past Glory.
• Fixed idle Ward NPCs after killing mutants or Monolithians in Law and Order.
• Moved Zotov’s contextual action in Wishful Thinking.
• Fixed repeatable dialogue phrase with Sidorovich in A Light in the End of the Tunnel.
• Fixed missing Lamp and Emitter after Just Like the Good Old Days cutscene.
• Fixed missing Moroz and bloodsuckers at encounter area post-emission.
• Added secondary weapons for Herz and Dima NPCs in open-world encounters.
• Fixed missing quest-related topics for Shcherba after returning collars in In the Name of Science.
• Fixed missing Duty soldiers and Bayun at Boathouse in A Minor Incident.
• Fixed Partner unique weapon spawn in On the Edge.
• Fixed missing Poltergeist at Orbita station in Subtle Matter.
• Fixed missing Sgt. Metlov in Back to the Slag Heap.
• Fixed inability to receive reward from Akopyan or finish A Big Score if Zakhar killed after escort.
• Fixed negative relation with Senkevych blocking dialogue in The Assault on the Duga.
• Fixed no action after interacting with lever in A Sign of Hope.
• Adjusted Korshunov’s lip sync in Dark Times.
• Fixed Take the electronic collars to Hamster stage remaining active after selling collars in Nightingale’s Hunt.
• Removed Strider teleportation when standing in Hot on the Trail.
• Fixed idle Pvt. Somov and Sgt. Romanyuk during mutant attack in A Minor Incident.
• Fixed missing Powerplug NPC in Dawn of a New Day.
• Added quest item status to Granite Security Squad Key Card in The Last Step.
• Fixed enemies spawning out of reach at Yaniv station in The Boundary.
• Fixed Richter becoming hostile after killing neutral NPCs in Down Below.
• Fixed cut Gonta phrase in School of Life.
• Fixed Kill all bandits stage not completing in Answers Come at a Price.
• Fixed missing Find the Inductor marker in Hot on the Trail if Shift Change completed first.
• Fixed second Max Saturday dead body in The Lost Boys.
• Fixed incorrect quest marker positions in Just Like the Good Old Days.
• Fixed issues from saving in Malachite elevator during Visions of Truth.
• Fixed Seek and You Shall Find stalling after looting Yaniv stash.
• Fixed In the Name of Science not progressing after drinking magic vodka.
• Fixed inability to talk to Strelok in Let No One Leave Unsatisfied.
• Fixed players getting stuck at TCS without key card in Dangerous Liaisons.
• Fixed missing Dalin NPC at Chemical Plant in Just Like the Good Old Days.
• Fixed missing Korshunov NPC at Chemical Plant in Just Like the Good Old Days.
• Fixed Fight off the Monolithians objective not completing in Happiness for Everyone.
• Fixed audible Monolithian device sound from above surface in An Act of Mercy.
• Fixed On the Edge starting despite dead neutral stalkers in Zalissya.
• Fixed hostile bandit squad spawning and leaving Varan’s camp after returning Shah’s PDA in King of the Hill.
• Improved performance in In Search of a Guide cutscene with Nimble.

Optimization and Bug Fixes

• Fixed incorrect player rotation after teleporting via Spatial Bubble anomaly.
• Fixed exoskeleton SFX playing for Korshunov in Warden armor.
• Fixed player leg animation issues in SSP-100M SIRCAA armor.
• Fixed zombies unable to stand during Scar’s boss fight.
• Fixed Burer NPCs constantly turning during combat.
• Added missing combat barks for Bandits, Free Stalkers, and Military factions.
• Fixed hostile NPCs not reacting to PM shots nearby.
• Fixed missing combat barks for Granite NPCs.
• Fixed neutral stalker NPC not reacting to player attacks outside building in Rostok scanner encounter.
• Fixed ability to talk to neutral stalker NPC during Rostok scanner activation.
• Fixed idle neutral stalker NPC after killing bloodsucker in Rostok scanner encounter.
• Fixed hostile merc sniper following player across map from Underpass Exit, Rostok Factory region.
• Fixed safe zone persisting at Quiet’s Camp after it emptied.
• Fixed mutants from Surgery Unit encounter following player across map.
• Fixed Burer NPC from Arms Depot, Duga, following player across map.
• Fixed Poltergeist from scanner encounter quest following player across map.
• Fixed non-hostile mercs at Polissya Collective Farm after killing caged mutants.
• Fixed persistent rope from grenade booby trap after disarming at Scar boss fight arena.
• Fixed hostile IPSF NPCs from Military Checkpoint at Cordon chasing player across map.
• Fixed hostile NPC from Zalissya bridge encounter becoming hostile and following player across map.
• Applied CPU optimization tweaks.
• Optimized projectiles.
• Applied performance optimization tweaks.
• Fixed freeze at 100 Rads Bar exit.
• Fixed freeze in SIRCAA during Wishful Thinking.
• Fixed unresponsive title due to missing update wrapper message.
• Fixed NPCs reverting faction changes after save/load.
• Fixed disappearing weapon scope mount upgrade after game relaunch and scope detachment.
• Changed gained money color in Deuteranopia color correction mode.
• Fixed Kora handgun animation when shooting quest NPCs.
• Fixed ability to attach silencer to Night Stalker pistol with pre-installed silencer.
• Fixed weapon laser dot blurring during camera movement.
• Fixed missing underbarrel grenade launcher model when attaching from inventory.
• Fixed different silencer models for SOFMOD gun in gameplay and PDA upgrade tab.
• Fixed missing rounds in dropped magazines after tactical reload.
• Fixed bolt animation for underbarrel shotgun after interrupting Kharod rifle full reload.
• Fixed animation issues when mounting scope on Lavina rifle.
• Fixed silencer attachment animations for Integral and M701Super.
• Fixed weight reduction after sorting inventory with full item stacks.
• Fixed pitch-black Picatinny rails.
• Fixed ability to install and not remove underbarrel grenade launcher on Drowned AK.
• Fixed incorrect weight calculation when moving items from stash to inventory.
• Fixed overbright night vision from shooting.
• Fixed placeholder ‘blue’ mesh for Phantom Richter at first meeting on river in Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
• Fixed inability to use consumables from ground if one is in inventory.
• Fixed quick slot consumables not updating after using the last one.
• Fixed consumable dragging after use.
• Fixed Cabin location displayed as SID name on map.
• Fixed grey cone flashlight on NPC weapons.
• Fixed guard in Enerhetyk hub getting stuck in door frame.
• Fixed issue causing multiple NPCs to get stuck in one place.

Zone Kit

• Added ModSDK support for autoloaded blueprints.
• Polished ModBrowser UX.
• Fixed non-clickable arrow icons in mod detail window of Mod Browser.
• Fixed placeholder text after mod updates.
• Added visible queue for downloading mods message.
• Fixed no effect after pressing ‘retry’ when continuing mod downloads.
• Removed ability to report mods without accepting EULA.
• Fixed inability to start game after choosing to resolve mod errors.
• Fixed image flickering when mod installation starts from its page.
• Fixed all save slots overwritten after starting new game without mods when all slots had modded saves.
• Fixed incorrect mod version in mods update pop-up.
• Fixed gameplay not loading after loading modded save with corrupted modification.
• Decreased asset discovery time when booting Mod Editor.
• Fixed mod mismatch popup not handling version mismatches after pressing “Resolve” for saves without required mods.
• Fixed mods with external updates not mounting if updates skipped.

Patch 1.5.3

18.08.2025

• Fixed an issue that caused mutants to teleport during the attack.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs could spawn in the air.
• Fixed an issue where bloodsuckers could spawn in large groups and too often.
• Fixed an issue where the door to the Skadovsk hub could be permanently closed.
• Fixed an issue where some A-Life NPCs could spawn in the quest areas.
• Fixed an issue where some NPCs could spawn in the radiation field on the Slag Heap.
• Fixed an issue where the subtitles for the intro cinematic were out of sync.
• Fixed mistakes in the credits.
• Fixed an issue where the interact dots could be missing for some items.
• Fixed an issue where the sound could be corrupted during the credits on Xbox.
• Fixed an issue where some NPCs could spawn in unexpected places.
• Fixed a bug where the left arm of an NPC could be twisted when they were only holding a pistol.
• Fixed an issue where the HUD widgets could be displayed while PDA is open on the ultra-wide monitors.
• 4 crashes fixed.

Patch 1.5.2

24.07.2025

• Fixed an issue when a door to the Shevchenko hub was closed.
• Fixed two crashes that could occur randomly during gameplay.

Patch 1.5.1

09.07.2025

• Fixed an issue when some NPCs didn't go to shelter in offline mode during Emission.
• Fixed an issue when interacting hints could disappear after save/load.
• Fixed issue when NPC could get stuck walking in one place.
• Fixed an issue where two bandits at Varan's camp attacked Player without any reason during the King Of The Hill mission.
• Fixed an issue when Player was able to leave X-17 lab via elevator without any way to return during Visions Of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue when NPC corpses could get misplaced after picking it up for the second time.
• Adjusted position of money and weight indicator icon in Player inventory.
• Fixed an issue when Faust could freeze during his bossfight after his emitter was destroyed during special attack ability.
• Fixed an issue when the context menu was impossible to open twice for the same item in the looting window.
• Fixed an issue when an NPC's corpse could fly away after killing them with a headshot.
• Fixed 2 EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION crashes.
• Fixed an issue when the The Assault On The Duga mission could be stuck if the player had slept before talking to Scar.
• Fixed an issue when the FOV value automatically resets to 110 on ultra wide monitors.
• Fixed an issue when the A-life mutants and NPCs could be found in the restricted areas (such as Hubs, Main Quest locations, etc.).
• Fixed an issue when the NPC's left hand could be in an improper position when the NPC holds a pistol.
• Fixed an issue when NPCs could stuck in each other during patrolling.
• Fixed an issue when the Windows Scale option affected the game in the Fullscreen Borderless and Windowed modes.
• Fixed an issue when Scherba could not have a dialog option to receive collars during the In The Name Of Science mission.
• Zone Kit: New MOD SDK update will support content base from Patch 1.5.1. Please update to get latest content changes and reduce chances of game instability for your Modifications

Patch 1.5

25.06.2025

Second major patch of the year

Highlights

A-Life changes

• Life in the Zone is now simulated for all characters, not just those in the player's view.
• Characters continue to live their lives and pursue their goals in the Zone until they meet their end.
• The player can meet the same stalkers after some time.
• Players may encounter more A-Life characters resting or interacting in various locations, adding to the world’s immersion.
• Characters will no longer respawn directly in front of the player. When the player clears the mutants' lair, for example, those mutants won't simply reappear moments later.
• A-Life Director will no longer respawn characters at the edge of visualization. Instead, respawn moved further away from the player, while maintaining the Zone's population.
• Visualization range is slightly increased. Characters now appear in visualization range with relevant animations and equipped weapons. This reduces the "pop-in" effect and contributes to a more seamless character visualization.
• Added new anomaly: Water Electric Tornado.🌪️
• Added Three-Line Rifle weapon.
• Added new handgun Kora.
• Added the new feature: looting of mutant parts.
• Added displaying of available artifact slots for armors in the Upgrade tab.
• The player stash window is increased in size.
• Fixed an issue when the "Take all" button becomes inactive after putting any item to the loot window.
• Added unlockable "Fix all" button in the technician's upgrade menu, to repair all equipped gear.
• Added reload renewal feature for all of the weapons.

WARNING

The Zone is ever-changing and a new Patch can shift Her structure. If you’ve chosen to walk the path with modifications, know this: they may not withstand the latest shifts. If you have performance or stability issues following the release of Patch 1.5, we recommend you to disable your mods. If you continue to experience issues, please visit https://support.stalker2.com/hc for additional troubleshooting steps and assistance.

AI and Combat

• Fixed an issue when Snork was unable to jump off from some isolated areas.
• Fixed an issue when Controller was able to deal damage by his roar ability out of his line of sight, through the objects and walls.
• Fixed an issue when Pseudogiant was able to stuck at short distances from the player.
• Fixed an issue when Rodents kept making sounds after death.
• Added ballistic falloff on the long distances for NPC`s so they won’t be able to hit players while too far away.
• Improved mutants' attacking behavior when Player is standing still.
• Fixed issue where Сhimera jump attack deals damage before reaching Player.
• Fixed issue where Burer could be killed while its shield was active if you were close.
• Fixed issue when NPCs take exposed cover while fighting with each other.
• Fixed issue where NPCs could walk in place in peaceful hubs.

Balance

• Fixed generic issue where Mission NPC could have overpowered items in inventory.

Reworked ammo for machine guns and sniper rifles:

• replaced 762x39 MM ammo with 762x54 MM ammo;
• Sniper rifles (SVDM-2, SVU-MK S-3 and M701 Super) now don't use light steel core ammo, without weapon upgrade — only super-sonic and armor piercing ammo;
• PKP machine guns, Mark I EMR and Three-Line Rifle can use light steel core ammo by default;
• supersonic ammo now deals way less damage to weapon durability, making it more useful.
• Increased armor penetration for Grom S15 weapon, increased armor penetration and damage modifiers for AS Lavina weapon.
• Reworked damage of Cavalier unique weapon.

Artifacts' effects rebalance:

• Horn: decreased chemical and radio protection;
• Rosin: replaced "weight: weak" effect with "endurance: weak";
• Shell: replaced "radiation: weak" effect with "endurance: weak";
• Updated some stashes and their markers in the Rostok region.
• Updated some stashes locations in Yaniv region.
• Fixed an issue where price for a common artifact was higher than repeatable quest reward for it.
• Implemented new artifact effect: Durability, that will increase durability of equipped gear.
• Reworked and replaced 7.62 ammo across the map.

Bug Fixes, Crashes, and Performance

• Fixed a noticeable performance drop when entering Generators region from Dead Valley location.
• Fixed an issue that caused the inventory menu to remain open after the Controller used Psy Strike on the player.
• Fixed an issue that caused sound and input loss after quick resume on Xbox platform.
• Fixed an  issue when the game becomes unresponsive when loading save, made in certain points of Prypiat, during The Road to the Foundation mission.
• Fixed an issue when Player get permanent and consistent negative effects from uncharged Weird Bolt.
• Fixed an issue which caused the ammo counter to appear when picking up ammo.
• Fixed an issue where the player could get the achievement for clearing a lair without raising an alarm by only performing one kill.
• Fixed incorrect description for 'Overall quality' and 'Mouse aim sensitivity' options in settings menu.
• Fixed an issue where stamina drain effect was stuck after loading save made in shallow water.
• Fixed an issue where Player was able to get permanent effect and damage from anomaly after loading save made inside that anomaly.
• Fixed performance drops on collision with psy phantoms.
• Fixed an issue where Forced Mono audio setting did not affect music.
• Fixed an issue that caused the vertical field of view to appear reduced when using ultrawide aspect ratios.
• Fixed an issue where the Vortex anomaly icon was shown as Poppy Field on the map.
• Fixed an issue which caused the Drop function to not work while looting.
• Fixed an issue when two Main missions could be tracked simultaneously.
• Fixed an issue when trees and bushes could appear right in front of the player.
• Fixed an issue when the sound of weapon reloading is not played from NPCs in cover.
• Fixed a crash when drinking vodka.
• Fixed an issue when enemy quest markers were remaining at the NPCs after they were killed.
• Improved performance at locations with lots of dialogues pending (e.g. large hubs like Rostok).
• Fixed an issue when the Equipment Tab was becoming unresponsive after looting, putting items in stash or corpse.
• Fixed placeholder texts in upgrade tabs. 
• Fixed crash on Xbox Series S that could occur after approaching Chemical Plant location.
• Optimized skeletal meshes for stashes and some interactable objects.
• Fixed an issue with performance degradation when multiple NPCs attempt to open doors simultaneously.
• Fixed severe FPS drops while looking at interactive objects and NPCs at close interact range.
• Fixed different crashes.

Main & Side Quests, Open World Encounters

• Fixed an issue when Korshunov was sliding inside the elevator during \ mission.
• Fixed an issue when Powerplug was missing at Rostok when players needed to get the Control Emitter during the \ mission.
• Fixed an issue when \ and starting to fight with \ if they were not killed during the previous quest objective of \ mission.
• Fixed an issue when \ after the start of the \ mission for the \ side.
• Fixed an issue when the Player was able to get reward for A Matter of Honor mission twice.
• Fixed an issue that allowed Gray's Last Hunt mission to be accepted again after completion.
• Adjusted several minor NPC voiceovers.
• Fixed an issue when the elevator door at the top of X-3 lab was closed and blocking further progression during the Legends of the Zone mission.
• Fixed an issue when elevator door to X-17 was closed and blocking further progress during the Visions of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue when Player was able to stuck behind the \ at the end of the combat.
• Fixed NPC relations inconsistencies between encounter and mainline missions.
• Fixed an issue where the main entrance door to Malachite was locked after the Dangerous Liaisons mission.
• Fixed an issue where objective "Fight off Monolith attack" could remain incomplete during The Road To The Foundation mission.
• Fixed an issue where \ during the Dangerous Liaisons mission.
• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck inside Troposphere Comm Station at the end of Dangerous Liaisons mission.
• Fixed an issue which caused the \ during The Assault On The Duga mission.
• Fixed an issue where several objectives could remain active after failing the The Sound Of Music mission.
• Fixed an issue where the Black Sheep mission could remain active in the journal under certain circumstances.
• Fixed an issue where The Sound Of Music mission could not be completed under certain circumstances.
• Fixed an issue where A Job For \ repeatable mission was able to get stuck uncompleted.
• Fixed an issue where Player was able to get stuck in the dialogue with Sultan during The Mysterious Case mission.
• Fixed an issue where elevator doors to Dalin's apartment were blocked during A Long Overdue Visit mission.
• Fixed an issue when player can be locked inside the Zalissya's Clubhouse during the On The Edge mission.
• Fixed an issue when the door leading to the Granite squad arena could close in front of the player during the The Last Step mission.
• Fixed an issue when the player character could be killed by emission during the Escape From The Cage mission.
• Fixed an issue with missing Sgt. Metlov during the Back To The Slag Heap mission.
• Fixed an issue where the Dark Times mission could not progress after the death of Jarl.

Mod Support

• Shape the Zone your way with the Zone Kit! Unleash your tinkering nature and modify existing content or create something new — animations, weapons, mechanics, and even wonders of the Zone. Official Mod Support is here, so now is the time to create your own content and use modifications made by your fellow stalkers. You can access modifications at Steam Workshop and Mod.io, and if you want to try making your own, Zone Kit is available for download at: https://store.epicgames.com/uk/p/stalker-2-zone-kit

Other Updates

• Improved pathing for NPCs.
• Improved NPC cigarette smoking animation.
• Added possibility to speed up credits scrolling for PC and XBOX.
• Improved distant and indoors gunshots sounds.
• Improved HUD appearance for changing ammo functionality.
• Enhanced inventory sorting and scrolling on loot windows.
• Enhanced weapon attachments descriptions.
• Adjusted sound volume for medkit usage.
• Added support of 21:9 and 32:9 Aspect Ratio.
• Added an "Auto Detect" button to the graphics settings to adjust graphics presets according to our recommendations for players hardware.
• Rework Ukrainian lip-sync. 

Patch 1.4.2

29.05.2025

• Balance changes: lowered armor piercing multiplier for 9x18 ammo.
• Fixed an issue where camera movement sensitivity was too low on low framerate when using gamepads as input devices.
• Fixed an issue where mutants were shaking and twitching erratically when investigating a threat.
• Fixed an issue where consumable items were duplicated in quick slots, and appeared as available, despite not being present in Player's inventory.
• Fixed an issue where radiocall with Strelok was not triggered and next objective didn't trigger if Player hadn't killed all Wardens at TCS location during Dangerous Liaisons mission.
• Fixed an issue where Scar could get stuck playing confused animation after killing him during bossfight in The Last Step mission.
• Fixed an issue where Sanya Ocheret could start a combat with stalkers in his squad during The Boundary mission.
• Fixed an issue where doors to Duga's underground tunnel and Location D could be locked on user saves during Once More Unto The Breach mission.

Patch 1.4.1

19.05.2025

• Fixed a crash on booting the title with Simple Mod Loader mod installed.
• Fixed a crash on loading savefiles on title with installed mods (e.g. UETools).

Patch 1.4

15.05.2025

Highlights

• Persistent A-Life: stalkers are now living their long, happy lives, unless they meet their end in the Zone as a result of their actions outside the player's view.
• Mutants can now use corpse-eating animation if there are dead bodies nearby.
• Mutants now have an “alert” state if something is happening near or approaching them.
• Improvements to human combat:
• Fixed numerous bugs and problems with cover usage for NPC. Now they can properly use available covers, always try to hide before shooting, and don't rush forward when not needed.
• Characters use trees as cover.
• Updated combat and cover animations to look more fluent and fast.
• Improved flanking pathfinding and transition to close combat.
• Close combat has become tougher on Veteran and Stalker difficulties.
• Fixed issues in communication and actions synchronization between characters in the squad.
• Characters now communicate tactical actions and reactions more clearly in combat.
• Human characters throw grenades when they want to flush out the target, not on the cooldown.
• Squads now have a finite number of grenades, depending on their rank and faction (bandits have significantly less than military).
• Human characters are able to attack mutants in melee. They use kick melee attacks against smaller mutants.
• Human characters can kick players who are crouched.
• Human characters look around for a brief moment, searching for enemies after combat ends, then proceed to the post-combat activities like looting and healing wounded.
• Humans are no longer able to snipe with shotguns. Fixed problems with pellet dispersion and non-natural ballistic distances.
• Increased number of generic heads for NPC randomization
• Burer can now use his telekinetic abilities to catch and throw grenades
• Improved Weapon stat displaying in the inventory. Updated weapon stats bars and their calculation logic.
• Added new weapon stat — handling.

AI and Combat

• Fixed erratic behavior of A-Life NPCs after attacking enemy lairs.
• Fixed an issue where A-Life NPC didn't move after transitioning to offline.
• Improved mutant behavior during combat.
• Fixed an issue where a Flesh mutant was hiding to ambush the Player after they avoided a jump attack.
• Fixed an issue where a swarm of rat mutants were ignoring the Player after loading a save made near them.
• Improved path building for NPCs in offline to avoid them getting in restricted areas.
• Fixed an issue where an NPC was able to stay alive after falling in a wounded state underwater.
• Fixed an issue where mutants' bodies were jumping/shaking/stretching after being killed by shotgun or grenade.
• Fixed an issue where patrolling NPCs could clip with each other.
• Blind Dogs are now playing peaceful barks when not in combat with Player.
• Fixed issues where NPCs were clipping or going through doors while in combat.
• Fixed an issue where mutants were able to get stuck searching for enemies after escaping combat during emission.
• Fixed an issue when NPCs could be stuck in ambush pose.
• Adjusted aim for the NPCs that are in low cover.
• Fixed an issue when the NPCs could stay idle after receiving critical damage.
• Adjusted shooting range of NPCs depending on their weapon.
• Adjusted shooting from cover for the NPCs.

Balance

• RPM-74: increased armor piercing value
• Explosions now cause more damage on high-ranking targets
• Increased RPG damage
• Decreased lethal distance for grenades
• Increased concussion distance for RPG
• Added some silencers into stashes.
• Added Khors the possibility to upgrade Zircon Suit.
• Fixed an issue where Player was able to install physical protection upgrades twice for PSZ-9I Falcon armor.
• Rebalanced stashes in Zaton region.
• Improved regeneration and spawn of random anomalies after emission.

Bug Fixes, Crashes, and Performance

• Made performance optimization of light and shadows in multiple regions and locations.
• Improved LODs for grass in multiple regions.
• Performance optimization for light garland at 100 Rads Bar.
• Some other Under the Hood CPU performance and optimizations tweaks were made.
• Fixed an issue where bullet hit decals would not appear on certain parts of Mutant and NPC bodies.
• Fixed an issue where a Vortex arch-anomaly was throwing NPC corpses under terrain.
• Fixed an issue where an anomaly spawned by an Electric Poltergeist was invisible.
• Fixed an issue where stamina was spent even if action wasn't available.
• Fixed generic issues where NPCs were unable to reach a scripted animation pose if it was located too far.
• Fixed an issue where Zombies were able to fall under level geometry.
• Fixed an issue where sounds of raindrops were playing for certain props located underground.
• Fixed an issue where Player was able to stuck behind the door in Sidorovich's bunker.
• Fixed an issue with the HUD opacity option not working.
• Fixed an issue where dynamic shadows cast by flashlight appeared jagged.
• Fixed an issue where some effects could stuck on the player after loading a save.
• Fixed an issue where some effects could not be applied to the player after loading a save.
• Fixed an issue where increment in Psi Protection was displayed on armor stat bar when selecting Radiation Protection upgrade on some exosuits.
• Fixed an issue where Player was able to get to Prypiat ahead of time by jumping over the railroad cistern on Yaniv.
• Fixed an issue where a broken weapon didn't have a red background when equipped.
• Fixed Trader items being sorted after cancelling trade.
• Fixed an issue where no technicians in the game were able to install "Extra Barrel Upgrade" to SVDM-2 and Lynx sniper rifles
• Fixed an issue where mutants with telekinetic abilities were unable to pick up or throw items or corpses directly at Player.
• Fixed an issue where Bayun didn't deal any damage during his Jump Attack.
• Main & Side Quests, Open World Encounters
• Fixed an issue where objective Find Spirit could not end if the player talks to Spirit again right after finishing dialogue during The Boundary mission.
• Fixed an issue where  was not appearing on the roof of Comm Center during bossfight in Once More Unto The Breach mission, if Player distracted him with a grenade.
• Fixed an issue where  didn't approach Visiograph to start dialogue with Player during Visions Of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue where Snork's collar wasn't counted as collected if Snork's corpse is already despawned in In The Name Of Science mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player was able to get stuck closed behind two bunker doors in airlocks during The Last Step mission.
• Fixed an issue where Max Saturday was already dead and despawned for some users during The Lost Boys mission.
• Fixed an issue where a part of the world was missing at the exit from an underground teleportation room near Death Valley in certain conditions during Through The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death mission.
• Fixed an issue with an unresponsive  during the Down Below mission.
• Fixed an issue when A Matter Of Honor mission wasn't completed if the player killed all Duty members after repelling the Monolith attack.
• Fixed an issue when Skif could die from bleeding in cutscene after the  during the Down Below mission.
• Fixed an issue where the door leading out of Noontide base was locked during the Just Like The Good Old Days mission.
• Fixed an issue that prevented re-entering the tunnel after it was opened by a scanner during The Boundary mission.
• Fixed an issue with missing Richter during The Boundary mission.
• Fixed an issue with inability to progress the walkthrough of Just Like The Good Old Days mission if the fuse was thrown out of inventory.
• Fixed an issue where the Ganja mission The Freedom Colosseum was absent if the player character teleported to Rostok via guide.
• Fixed an issue with the inability to talk to Dubniy during the Hot On The Trail mission.
• Fixed an issue with a locked bunker during the The Boundary mission.
• Fixed an issue when it was unable to talk with Roosevelt in the mission Legends of the Zone.
• Fixed an issue where the "Get to the helicopter pad" journal objective was not ending during the Law And Order mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player's Camera could get stuck panning at Darwin's corpse, if Player did save/load during an encounter mission at Ruined Bridge, Backwater region.
• Removed redundant invisible collision in the middle of Ganja's bar at Rostok base.
• Fixed an issue where Richter and Warlock's comments in A Tough Awakening mission could get stuck resulting in permanent Emission weather after Hot on the Trail mission.
• Fixed an issue where friendly NPCs were not interactable during Dawn Of A New Day mission if Player threw grenades inside Rostok Depot.
• Fixed an issue where emission shelter at Noontide base didn't protect Player after save/load during Just Like The Good Old Days mission.
• Fixed an issue where repeatable missions from multiple vendors were stuck on the reward stage.
• Fixed an issue where Player couldn't talk to Squint during A Needle In A Haystack mission if they sold his artifact.
• Fixed an issue where Gray's Last Hunt mission was not finished if the deer mutant was despawned.
• Fixed an issue where Player was unable to give a briefcase to Sultan during The Mysterious Case mission, if they killed ambushing stalkers before talking to them.
• Fixed an issue where the game didn't progress after talking to Senkevych in the Like A Moth To The Flame mission due to the missing radio operator NPC nearby.
• Fixed an issue where a marker was missing on Richter during the Bring the collar to Richter journal stage of A Minor Incident mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player was able to get stuck in a basement near a cemetery during the Eye of the Storm mission.
• Fixed an issue where  was not appearing at the Malachite secret entrance after clearing out X17 in the Visions Of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player could leave  via elevator without a way back during assault in Visions Of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue where Akopyan refused to talk with Player during A Big Score mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player wasn't able to progress the story after reaching Generators during emission in Through The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player was able to break cutscene with the pod and stuck in the room with Richter during The Last Wish mission.
• Fixed an issue where  was not available for some users during the Visions Of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue when the On the Edge mission could start after the death of all stalkers .
• Fixed an issue when the All That Is Left mission could not be finished if the player agreed to throw Wardens body into an anomaly.
• Fixed an issue where  was dashing too often and almost didn't attack Player during .

Technical Updates

• Improved pathing for NPCs.
• Minor polishment and improvement for scripted NPC animations.
• Human characters that turn on flashlights are now slightly more illuminated and visible in the dark.
• Improved sound obstruction for grenades thrown outside from indoors location.
• Added a new emission shelter in Chemical Plant's dining room.
• Added emission shelter to technician room at Ranger Station, Zaton region.
• Improved facial animations and realism.
• Improved impact sounds for the bolt.
• Removed redundant blur effect on Player's vitals stat panel during trade.
• Added Player's vitals stat panel in the trade menu.
• Added new death animations and sound effects for electricity, acid, bullet, and rat bites' damage.

Patch 1.3.2

15.04.2025

Main Story, Side Quests, and Encounters:

• Fixed an issue where the doors and underground tunnel was closed for some users during the mission.
• Fixed an issue where the  NPCs were dead during the  mission for some users and the mission could not progress.
• Fixed an issue where the quest marker for Sgt. Ivaylov could lead to the wrong location during the In  mission.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs in Zalissya could not reach their designated location for the final scene during the mission which blocked the mission from progression.
• Fixed an issue where the dialog with could not be started after  mission.
• Fixed an issue where the  mission could not progress if the player fled from during the attack and then looted Chornozem NPC.
• Fixed an issue where the quest marker on Chornozem NPC could lead to the wrong location during the mission.

Technical Part:

• Fixed an issue when NPCs did not use flashlights and did not notice the player for a long time.
• Fixed an issue when NPCs could not reach their designated place outside the player's field of view which blocked some missions.
• Fixed an issue where the dialog with the Scar NPC could not be started during the mission.
• Fixed an issue where col. Korshunov could disappear after the end of cutscene during the mission.
• Fixed an issue where col. Korshunov could slide to the elevator during the cutscene in the mission.
• Fixed a crash that occurred at the top of Red Fortress during the mission.

Patch 1.3.1

27.03.2025

Main Story, Side Quests, and Encounters:

• Fixed an issue where Scar could be missing at  lab during the Visions of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue where the “Get the Control Emitter from the technician” mission stage of the Dawn of a New Day mission could not be started due to the death of Powerplug.
• Fixed an issue where the mission objective Find Spirit could not end if the player talks to Spirit again right after the first dialog during The Boundary mission.
• Fixed an issue where mission Chasing Ghosts could not progress after activating tower equipment.
• Fixed an issue where the mission objective "Talk to Scar" could not be completed for some users if  is dead during The Road to the Foundation mission.
• Fixed an issue where the player could fall into the elevator shaft without any possibility of getting out during the Let No One Leave Unsatisfied mission.
• Fixed an issue where the “Get inside the underground lab” objective could start without obtaining Emitter from Powerplug during the Dawn of a New Day mission.
• Fixed an issue where Simon Dubny could be missing The Faust's cell during the Hot on the Trail mission.
• Fixed an issue where the doors to the underground tunnel and Location D could be closed for some players during the Once More unto the Breach mission.
• Fixed an issue where the mission Dark Times could be blocked due to the death of Jarl.
• Fixed an issue where the NPC could block the entrance to the watch post during The Assault on the Duga mission.
• Fixed an issue when the dialog with Roosevelt did not start during the Legends of the Zone mission.
• Fixed an issue where the door to the Forestry location could be locked at the Extreme Simplicity mission start.
• Fixed an issue where monolith NPCs could enter safe zone in Prypiat during the The Road to the Foundation mission.
• Fixed an issue where  body could be missing after the 

Technical Part:

• Fixed an issue where NPCs could not return to their designated places after the Emission.
• Fixed an issue where the sound effect for entering Ribs' anomaly could loop and repeat every 10 seconds.
• Fixed an issue when the crosshairs could not be disabled through the settings.
• Fixed an issue where all drag'n'drop actions are done with a delay in any item container at the STC Malachite location.
• Improved voiceover positioning. Fixed issue when the player could only hear the voice through one earbud.
• Fixed an issue where item highlighting did not move to the next item when looting with a gamepad.
• Fixed a dozen of EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION errors, and other crashes.

Patch 1.3

18.03.2025

AI and Combat

• Made mutants movements during combat smoother.
• Improved the reaction of NPCs to the sound of footsteps.
• Polished ambush behavior for mutants, when Player is hiding behind or on top of props.
• Fixed an issue where mutants didn't attack other NPCs once Player was in the safe zone.

Balance

Archiartifacts rebalance:

• Weird Water: decreased radiation protection.
• Weird Nut: increased bleeding degeneration speed, further slowed down healing with equipped artifact.
• Weird Flower: Increased smell masking effect.
• Weird Ball: increased stamina gain, increased maximum weight of the artifact, but slowed down weight gain when being shot.
• Weird Kettle: Debuff received from consuming food is now not random, and corresponds to specific type of food.
• Non-Stop Limited Edition energy drinks now have an additional special effect when used with Weird Kettle.

• Made A-life encounters a bit more rare on average.
• Nerfed base anomaly damage protections for “combat” armors
• Buffed anomaly damage protection for “science” suites
• Slightly reworked anomaly damage for different anomalies
• Increased damage from destructible explosive props.
• Fixed an issue where the Weird Flower artifact was initially in a dried state instead of an active one after being picked up.
• Increased overall durability for unique weapons found during missions.

Bug Fixes, Crashes, and Performance

• Fixed a bug that could let players permanently stack the effect of unequipped artifacts.
• Fixed a bug that could prevent players from being able to use sprint after chaotic movement.
• Fixed an issue that caused some psy-phantoms of blind dogs to have misleading trails.
• Fixed the crash caused by zombification of NPCs.
• Fixed an issue when looting some story NPCs could block the mission.
• Fixed an issue when players could be locked inside the Ranger Station.
• Fixed an issue that could permanently keep visual effects of sleepiness if the save was made during a Main Quest line.
• Fixed issue with light from the flashlights in cutscenes.
• Fixed an issue where high ranked NPCs were able to spawn at Rookie Village location.
• Phantom stalkers that appear under the influence of Psy-effect no longer can damage other NPCs by throwing grenades.
• Fixed an issue where the HUD would sometimes appear transparent after closing the inventory or finishing a cutscene.
• Fixed visual bugs on character costumes (texture stretching caused by awkward animation poses).
• Fixed memory leaks issues when navigating inventory/looting menus (e.g. opening Player stash at Rostok).
• Resolved issues where NPCs got stuck in one place and obstructed player movement.
• Fixed the issue when the output device was resetted after restart of the title.
• Fixed an issue where a guide NPC was missing at Yaniv hub after unlocking Prypiat region.
• UI Update: Fixed localization issues, improved stability, resolved visual bugs in widgets, corrected text corruption, and SFX for a smoother experience.

Also, almost 100 crashes and EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION errors were fixed.

Main and Side Quests, Open World Encounters

• Fixed an issue where player could not complete Escape from the Cage mission via the stealth path due to NPCs with high perception level.
• Fixed an issue where the player could destroy the Jammer before the start of the In the Name of Science mission.
• Fixed an issue where the Escape from the Chemical Plant objective did not complete if the call from the Strelok or Scar was interrupted by a loudspeaker during the Escape from the Cage mission.
• Fixed an issue where no new journal objective appeared and Dark Times mission was stuck after killing Jarl NPC.
• Fixed an issue with Eye of the Storm mission not progressing after reaching the Generators.
• Fixed an issue where side mission A Big Score was not progressing if emission happened while Player was at the Car Park.
• Fixed an issue when Player is not able to loot Faust's body after receiving a call from Scar during Visions of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue where Foma NPC could become invincible during the Chasing Ghosts mission.
• Fixed an issue where an encounter mission with Headlight NPC near Bulba Arch anomaly was not starting after completion of Nightingale’s Hunt mission.
• Fixed an issue where Yaryk Mongoose was hostile to the player during the For Science! mission.
• Fixed an issue when the Snork collar was not counted as collected if snork was killed not by a player character during the "In the Name of Science" mission.
• Fixed an issue where Korshunov could disappear at the start of 2nd phase of bossfight during the "Down Below" mission.
• Fixed an issue where All That Is Left mission didn't cancel after Mateus death, resulting in redundant markers on artifact location.
• Fixed an issue where Akopyan was non interactable at the car park during A Big Score mission.
• Fixed an issue where plank bridges leading to Faust cell were collapsed for Players first arriving at Noontide base during Hot On The Trail mission.
• Fixed an issue where a Chemical Plant encounter mission with wardens shooting fleshes was stuck after luring mutants out.
• Fixed an issue when Jumper and Bluish sometimes was dead during Hot on the Trail mission.
• Fixed an issue when the door to forestry was locked during Extreme Simplicity mission if Player was encountering the emission while leaving the swamps.
• Fixed an issue when a quest NPC was able to be distracted by A-life enemies during the Three Captains mission.
• Fixed an issue where the bayun in collar was at the Detention Center instead of the Boathouse location during the A Minor Incident mission.
• Fixed an issue where the player could not progress through the mission if Heart of Chornobyl artifact was looted directly to the artifact slot from the Strelok's body.
• Fixed an issue where Richter could be non-interactable at the Slag Heap location during the Back to the Slag Heap mission.
• Fixed an issue where Doctorant Shcherba could be dead for some players during the In Search of Past Glory mission.
• Fixed errors with some mission markers being not displayed correctly.
• Fixed an issue that could stop the progression of Escape the Chemical Plant mission.
• Fixed an issue that made players able to sell the key from the Northern Checkpoint which makes it unavailable to pass through.
• Fixed issues with Help Solder and Talk to Solder mission objectives.
• Fixed an issue where interaction prompt for dialogue with Richter could be missing after defending Yaniv during the The Boundary mission.
• Fixed an issue when Richter stops at the beginning of the path through the river during the Through the valley of the shadow of death mission.
• Fixed an issue where the doors to underground tunnel and Location D could be closed during the Once More unto the Breach mission.
• Fixed an issue where the player could stay in a closed location after a cutscene in the Dangerous Liaisons mission.
• Fixed an issue where the dialogue with prof. Ozersky was unavailable if the player killed Spark NPCs during the A Minor Incident mission.
• Fixed an issue where Dalin could be missing at the infirmary at the Chemical Plant location during the Escape from the Cage mission.

Technical Updates

• Added multiple new death screens that vary based on the cause of the death.
• Improved facial animations in the mainline.
• Improved audio obstruction for mutants' sounds.
• Improved the positioning of various sounds.
• Added a new night music theme for Slag Heap.
• Added music for the elevator in SIRCAA.
• Added missing localizations for tutorials.
• Added descriptions that explain what is the difference between armor-piercing and expansive ammo.
• Improved some bullet-caused decals.
• Improved the visibility of enemies at nighttime by increasing the intensity of the NPC flashlights.
• Improved the shadows cast by the player's flashlight.
• Several attachments and upgrades have been moved from “point of no returns” end game sequence to Prypiat stashes.
• Updates and fixes of NPC movement and shooting animations.
• Added option to change Melee weapon attack button in control settings.
• Added additional idle animations for NPCs with weapons drawn.
• Added new VFX animals and a new type of a visual anomaly.

Patch 1.2.1

14.02.2025

• Fixed one of the crashes on loading save files related to AI logic.
• Fixed one of the crashes on loading save files that were recorded when player had effects applied.
• Fixed a few crashes related to lightning ball anomaly interaction with artifacts.
• Fixed crash mostly occurred when moving away from hubs and during the Emission.

Patch 1.2

13.02.2025

First major patch for the new year

Tech Part

AI

• Fixed a bug with A-Life NPCs unable to properly approach corpses. Now they can pick up the best loot and weapons from them, and switch to more powerful weapons.
• Improved corpse looting behavior for NPCs.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs could loot body armor and helmets from corpses.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs could not loot the corpses of NPCs from another faction.
• Fixed NPC shooting accuracy
• Reconfigured bullet dispersion accuracy for all distances for all weapons.
• Added randomization of accurate shots in bullet sprays.
• Reduced wall penetration from certain NPC’s weapon bullets.
• Improved Stealth
• Fixed an issue where after a melee attack, the NPC could end up behind the player.
• Adjusted the time of identification of the player character by NPCs.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs at Malachite location could notice players at a long distance and through the objects.
• Improved mutant behavior in combat
• Fixed an issue where AI wouldn't avoid obstacles and get stuck during scripted combat.
• Fixed an issue where jumping mutants could stuck in the air in certain conditions.
• Fixed that Controller ability does not work through grate doors.
• Fixed that mutants were not able to attack in certain positions.
• Fixed an issue where Chimera could jump through objects.
• Fixed issue where Chimera did not use jump attack.
• Fixed an issue where Deer summons could spawn in the player's field of view. 
• Fixed an issue where Poltergeist could activate an anomaly and receive damage from it.
• Fixed an issue where mutants with ability to jump were running around the Player on elevated, unreachable surface. 
• Fixed an issue where Pseudodog couldn't create summons when retreating.
• Added roar ability for Controller.
• Fixed an issue where A-life NPCs did not heal friendly wounded NPCs.
• Fixed an issue where A-life could spawn corpses near the player.
• Fixed an issue that could cause A-Life NPCs to have access to quest locations.
• Fixed the absence of some characters that could lead to a blocker during walkthrough of the main line.
• Fixed an issue where A-Life militaries could spawn endlessly near Rookie Village.
• Fixed the issue with a stuck guard NPC in the doorway at the Skadovsk location.
• Fixed issue where more rats spawned in the lair than there should have been.
• Fixed an issue where NPC may stuck after loading saves made right after Emission ends.
• Fixed an issue where weapons grabbed by the Burer ability would disappear.
• Fixed an issue with NPC animations when walking upstairs with a gun in hand.
• Improved animations for some mutants.
• Fixed that player takes damage near the NPC that is going through zombification.
• Fixed an issue where NPC may be stuck in the doorway after emission and block player.
• Fixed an issue where shooting at mutant limbs could stretch them.
• Fixed use of NPC rifle stand position when standing with a pistol.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs could spawn in front of the player at the Sphere location.
• Fixed NPC's repeatable cover animations.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs would stop in doorways on Rostok.
• Fixed NPC's walking animation during stand in combat.
• Fixed an issue where enemy NPCs did not react to flying bullets.
• Improved open world combat with Pseudogiant near Abandoned Science Campus at Prypiat.
• Fixed an issue where an NPC with a closed helmet could eat, smoke and drink through the helmet.
• Fixed an issue where animations of death from an anomaly could be missing for some mutants.
• Fixed an issue where Lex Legend and his group could not return to the quest location after the end of Emission.
• Fixed a problem that made it difficult for rats to move in narrow places.
• Fixed an issue where Burer could snatch a quest weapon from the player's hands.
• Fixed an issue where NPC could start searching for an enemy after warning players to hide weapons.
• Reduced spawn rate for Bloodsuckers before the completion of the Behind Seven Seals mission.
• Fixed the issue when NPC can block a doorway in the Quiets camp after the combat.

With additional 70+ issues fixed.

Balance

• Weird Water arch-artifact anti-radiation effect was reduced
• Fixed issue when a grenade could deal damage to Burer when the shield was active.
• Now NPCs need less shots to kill Pseudodog summon.
• Increased frequency of Jump Attack for Blind Dog mutant.
• Rebalanced pistols and silencer attachments.
• Decreased spawn rate for NPCs in exoskeletons.
• Reconfigured the number of armor NPC are wearing. Increased the chance of spawning low and mid-tier armor, while the chance for top-tier armor to spawn was reduced.
• Increased damage from radiation depending on accumulated rad-points
• The chance of spawning NPCs with high tier weaponry in early stages of the game was reduced.
• Added ability to trade with additional NPCs at Hubs.
• Economy tweaks for A Job for the Barkeep repeatable missions on Veteran difficulty.

And a few more minor balance tweaks were made. 

Optimization and crashes

• Fixed FPS drops during boss fight with Faust.
• Fixed an issue with performance drop on closing PDA or Pause Menu.
• Slightly improved performance by disabling navigation mesh rebuild properties for multiple objects.
• Fixed memory leak related to item manipulation.
• Fixed over 100 EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION crashes and other errors, including some other minor memory leaks.
• Fixed input lag after enabling VSync with enabled FidelityFX Frame Interpolation.
• Added Framerate lock during the pause menu, main menu and loading screens.

And some other optimization tweaks.

Under the Hood

• Player's flashlight now casts shadows on objects.
• Fixed the issue where relationships with NPCs didn't change.
• Changed names of some ammo types.
• Fixed the issue where the title could unexpectedly freeze during the dialogues.
• Fixed the issue where some quest logic couldn't start after the NPCs death.
• Improved transitions from cutscene to game.
• Fixed a generic issue where mission logic could break if Player gave an item to a NPC via dialogue option.
• Fixed the issue where the dialogue with NPC was closing after exit from the Trade/Upgrade.
• Fixed an issue where the Player was teleported outside the playable area.
• Added custom Aim Assist logic for invisible targets for all supported controllers. 
• Fixed an issue where save backups could be missing after losing game saves.
• Fixed NPC's broken animations while smoking.
• Fixed an issue where NPC could teleport outside the playable area of the map.
• Fixed achievement to sneakily clear the lair.
• Fixed the issue where In Game saves become corrupted after deleting local saves and unsuccessful cloud saves sync.
• Polished PDA models look in low light areas.

With over 100 other improvements implemented in both sections: Optimization & Crashes, and Under the Hood. 

Story

Main Story Line

• Fixed an issue where Col. Korshunov and/or Cpt. Zotov could not spawn during the Wishful Thinking mission.
• Fixed a bug that caused the reputation with Sultan bandits or Shevchenko stalkers not to increase after completing the Three Captains mission.
• Fixed an issue that caused Scar NPC to be hostile to the player during the Visions of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue that prevented players from a stealth walkthrough during the Shock Therapy mission due to being identified by NPCs instantly.
• Fixed an issue where the final dialogue with Gaffer could not start during the On the Edge mission.
• Fixed an issue where objective Kill Dalin remains active after Korshunov kills Dalin during the Down Below mission.
• Fixed an issue where Inductor could despawn if Skif goes too far from it during the Hot on the Trail mission.
• Fixed a bug that made the stage of killing monolithians not-optional during the The Eternal Shining mission.
• Fixed an issue where the player Character was able to jump down the pod chamber after taking the elevator during stage Find Cartridge with no possibility to take the elevator back up during the Legends of the Zone mission.
• Fixed an issue where the dialogue with Dr. Dalin and Col. Korshunov was looped during the Wishful Thinking mission.
• Fixed an issue where the player could not trade with Wreck during the The Boundary mission.
• Fixed an issue where the doors to STC Malachite could not open during the A Minor Incident mission.
• Fixed multiple issues that could cause NPCs to move during the dialogue with the player.
• Fixed an issue where Spark squad did not attack wardens during the Visions of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue where objective Bring the Shah's PDA to Varan could be marked as completed after trading with Huron during the King of the Hill mission.
• Changed Chimera's behavior during the Ad astra per aspera mission, now it should retreat after losing a certain amount of HP.
• Fixed an issue where Ocheret ignored the battle between the player and Ocheret's squad.
• Fixed an issue where A-life NPCs could spawn in Claw during the Dead Frequency mission.
• Changed positions of Ward guards near the entrance to X18 lab during the Answers Come at a Price mission.
• Fixed an issue where the monolithians were not present outside the Enerhetyk Palace of Culture during the The Road to the Foundation mission.
• Fixed an issue where the stage "Discover the whereabouts of the escaped Wardens" of the Shock Therapy mission remained active after killing Beard.
• Fixed an issue where Player could lure Chimera into a peaceful zone and make it non-hostile during The Road to the Foundation mission.
• Fixed an issue where scientists constantly attack player during Visions of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue where Noontiders would not become hostile if a friendly NPC was killed in front of them near the entrance of Noontide base during the Hot on the Trail mission.
• Fixed an issue where phantoms were spawned in the front of the player during the Eye of the Storm mission.
• Fixed an issue with auto completing Three Captains mission right after taking it from Sonya Kalyna.
• Fixed an issue where Players couldn't finish Shift Change mission, if they didn't talk to Jumper at WPS after killing Hog's squad.
• Fixed an issue where Zakhar Babay and Akopyan could end up dead or missing with no ability to finish Deceive the Deceiver mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player was still able to ask Beard about missing wardens after killing them in Shock Therapy mission.
• Fixed an issue where Just Like the Good Old Days mission would not progress if the Player exited Shelter base via roof route.
• Fixed an issue where Strider disappeared instantly after completing Dark Times mission near Doctor's hut.
• Fixed an issue where Find a way into Prypiat objective would not finish if the Player reached Prypiat via shortcut during The Boundary mission.
• Fixed an issue with a missing encounter mission at a checkpoint near Icarus Camp.
• Fixed an issue where Hosha Mohyla could one-shot Player during Answers Come at a Price mission.
• Reduced amount of rats at Offloading Terminal during The Road to the Foundation mission.
• Fixed an issue where Rainy weather persisted through the rest of the game after completing The Boundary mission.
• Fixed an issue where several stashes, markers, and journal objectives were not completed/removed after completing Budmo! mission.
• Fixed an issue where Pomor could die during The Poppy Field mission. 
• Fixed an issue where aggressive Strider was present near Doctor's house after a cutscene during An Act of Mercy mission.
• Fixed an issue where Warden guards near the fence had no reaction to Player sneaking right in front of them during Answers Come at a Price mission.
• Prevented issues where corpses with important quest items could get despawned during Bullseye and Shift Change missions.
• Fixed an issue where Strider was dead/missing at Ranger Station during the Extreme Simplicity mission.
• Fixed an issue where psi-effect applied on Player would not disappear after completing A Light in the End of the Tunnel mission.
• Fixed an issue where Talk to Chornozem objective failed from the start and picking up PDA from Chornozem's corpse wouldn't progress Answers Come at a Price mission.
• Fixed an issue where Dark would not help Player to fight the Pseudogiant which blocked progression in Legends of the Zone mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player was not able to interact with Shcherba during In the Name of Science mission.
• Fixed an issue where a cutscene with Scar at the Sawmill during Back to the Slag Heap mission would not start properly.
• Fixed an issue where Skif could die from bleeding effect after bossfight cutscene with Korshunov in Down Below mission.
• Fixed an issue where during the Strelok branch of Down Below mission journal entry in PDA would have Ward branch description instead.
• Fixed an issue where Player was unable to give Sultan his briefcase after killing ambushing stalkers too fast in The Mysterious Case mission.
• Fixed an issue where mercenary squads would not spawn on the way back from Faust's cell during Just Like the Good Old Days mission.
• Fixed an issue where optional journal objectives to fight off Ward/Spark remain active if one side dies due to emission during Extreme Simplicity mission.
• Fixed the issue of stuck Dr. Kryvenko during the A Long Overdue Visit mission.
• Removed the ability to use guide during the The Boundary mission while assault is going.
• Fixed the issue where Richter is absent or dead during the To the Last Drop of Blood, A Minor Incident, The Boundary missions.
• Fixed the issue where some phrases were missing during the On the Edge mission in the final dialogue.
• Fixed the issue where Dalin could be stuck at one place during the Visions of Truth mission.
• Fixed the issue where Objective “Return to Gaffer” is impossible to complete during the On the Edge mission.
• Fixed the issue with infinite reward from Gaffer during the On the Edge mission.
• Fixed the issue where NPCs were blocking the doorway during the On the Edge mission.
• Fixed the issue when Gaffer could exit the building and start fighting during the On the Edge mission.
• Fixed the issue where several Warlock NPCs could be present in the clubhouse during the On the Edge mission.
• Fixed the issue where some Monolithian NPCs weren't attacking the player during the An Act of Mercy mission.
• Fixed the issue where Dalin didn't inspect Ozerskiy`s body during the Visions of Truth mission.
• Fixed the logic of radio messages from Scar after the Bossfight with Faust.
• Fixed an issue where infinite psi-effect was applied to Player after completing A Light in the End of the Tunnel mission.
• Fixed an issue where monolith troops didn't spawn after activating substation during the Happiness for Everyone mission.
• Fixed an issue where Sgt. Metlov was missing in a place of Diode during the Back to the Slag Heap mission.
• FIxed an issue where Skipper's mercenaries squad didn't attack Player on returning Emitter to Lodochka during Just Like the Good Old Days mission.
• Fixed an issue where Scherba was missing at Dvupalov's office during emission in In Search of Past Glory mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player was unable to progress during Dangerous Liaisons mission if decoder was sold.
• Fixed an issue where Player was unable to interact with Dvupalov to give suppressor's blueprint during In Search of Past Glory mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player could get softlocked during the Dangerous Liaisons mission.
• Fixed an issue where mercenaries squad near Brain Scorcher spawned right in front of Player after accepting a collar collecting mission from Shcherba.
• Fixed an issue where Player was able to get stuck behind two NPCs in Zalissya's shelter during A Race against Death mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player was unable to start dialogue with Dvupalov or Scherba to return suppressor during In Search of Past Glory mission.
• Fixed an issue where Dr. Kaymanov and Strider could disappear during An Act of Mercy mission.
• Fixed an issue where the objective "Fight off the Monolith assault" was getting stuck during The Boundary mission.
• Fixed an issue where A Big Score and Deceive the Deceiver missions were able to start twice and have contradicting objectives.
• Fixed an issue where Prof. Lodochka was not interactable at toxic waste storage during the Hot on the Trail mission.
• Fixed an issue where Bandits were starting to fight at Slag Heap if Player escorted Zakhar Babay after emission in Deceive the Deceiver mission.
• Fixed an issue where Take the instruments to Mykolayich objective failed after talking to Gaffer in On the Edge mission.
• Fixed an issue where Ricochet died in Zalissya's house after the second monolith wave during On the Edge mission.
• Fixed an issue where the objective to complete the request without killing the Monolithians failed after hitting monolithians during An Act of Mercy mission.
• Fixed an issue where Monolith soldiers were able to spawn in front of Player during Visions of Truth mission.
• Fixed the issue where friendly NPCs could be stuck at one place during the The Assault on the Duga mission.
• Fixed that mercenary NPC were spawned in inaccessible areas during the Legends of the Zone mission.
• Fixed an issue where some zombies were able to get stuck in an idle state during bossfight with Scar.
• Improved AI behaviour of Korshunov during bossfight with him.
• Improved Korshunov's shield during the bossfight with him.
• Increased Korshunov's armor during bossfight.
• Tweaked Col. Korshunov health points during bossfight in Down Below mission.
• Improved Scar's aiming behaviour during bossfight with him.
• Fixed an issue where Strelok was able to dash outside the playable area of the arena, blocking bossfight with him during The Eternal Shining mission.
• Fixed an issue where Faust's clones could be transparent during a bossfight if the Object Details graphic option is set to low.
• Fixed an issue where the stage "Talk to Korshunov" could stuck when player returns to Korshunov via elevator during the Visions of Truth mission.
• Fixed an issue where hunting could not progress after interacting with Borodulin while he is moving to the hunting spot.
• Fixed an issue where Strider could block the entrance to the warehouse during the Hot on the Trail mission.
• Fixed an issue where Scar could be missing at Rostok Depot during the Take the Emitter to Scar stage of Just Like the Good Old Days mission.
• Fixed an issue where the monolithians could not spawn when the player escaped X-5 lab during the In Search of Past Glory mission.
• Fixed an issue where Korshunov could stuck during the bossfight.

Overall, over 300+ quest issues were addressed within the Main Story.

Side Missions and Encounters

• Fixed an issue where the player could use the guide's services for free.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs from car scam encounters turned hostile after the Player ran away and came back to them.
• Fixed an issue when a player was unable to take Just Business mission from Carl Clinch if he was previously healed during the Emission.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs could teleport during dialogue after combat in encounter at Wild Territory.
• Improved Rodents' spawn in open-world encounters near Rostok.
• Fixed an issue where relationships with the Scientists' faction were spoiled after completing Black Sheep side mission.
• Added new notes in the open world and hubs.
• Fixed inconsistencies in rewards for repeatable missions.
• Fixed an issue where no travel options were available in dialogue with the guide at Noon base.
• Fixed narrative inconsistencies for loudspeaker announcements at Skadovsk.
• Fixed narrative inconsistencies with available encounter missions after the Monolith comeback.
• Fixed an issue where Spark branch specific encounter mission was able to start after completing In Search of Past Glory mission on Ward branch.
• Increased loot value for stash near Bloodsucker village in the Industrial Zone region.
• Fixed an issue where repeatable missions could get stuck in the Journal tab, preventing other repeatable quests from appearing in dialogues with vendors.
• Fixed an issue where Malachite Hub could get locked for Players on Spark Branch after completing Visions of Truth mission.
• Level Design improvements in encounters near Rookie Village.
• Fixed an issue where Player was unable to start a dialog with Zhenya Hulk during The Key to Freedom mission near Fish Farm, if the door to captives room was opened during combat.
• Fixed an issue with missing Kostya Dry's dead body after the player runs away and comes back to his observation point during an encounter near Duga.
• Fixed an issue where Pseudodog couldn't spawn its Phantoms during Arena: Round Two mission.
• Fixed an issue when Player could loot armor and helmets from dead NPCs during The Key to Freedom mission.
• Fixed the issue where players could be stuck inside the building after the fast travel to Malachite with a guide.
• Fixed the issue where guides at Yaniv station were missing after the player already got to Pripyat.
• Fixed receiving several shotgun rounds during the The Freedom Colosseum mission.
• Fixed the issue when the NPC was not going to search for the player character during the fight at Arena.
• Fixed an issue where doors to STC Malachite were closed on reaching it during A Minor Incident mission.
• Fixed an issue where peaceful NPCs remained in STC Malachite during the fight in Visions of the Truth mission (Spark branch).
• Fixed an issue where the voiceover line for Skif's phrase didn't play in dialogues with guide NPCs.
• Fixed an issue where two groups of bandits did not start combat in the encounter between Poisonous Hole and Commissary Store locations.

With additional 130+ “anomalies” being discovered and neutralized.

The Zone

Interactable Objects and Zone Experience 

• Level design improvements for interactive doors at Wild Territory, Rostok.
• Level art polish for destructible medical boxes.
• Added missing icon of damaged state for weapon looted from NPCs.
• Fixed an issue where arch-artifacts were able to spawn again, after Player's rank is updated.
• Rebalanced loot for stash near Hydrodynamics Lab.
• Fixed an issue with some artifacts models being overexposed.
• Fixed an issue where Burner anomalies were able to damage a Player in discharged state.
• Fixed an issue where Weird Kettle archartifact applied a permanent PSI effect on the Player instead of temporary.
• Fixed that dead bodies could stay in A-pose for several seconds during Wishful Thinking mission.
• Fixed that the first destructible wood plank always destroys without effects.
• Fixed the issue where the door to the tunnel of the Red Fortress was closing after using a key during Just Business mission.
• Fixed an issue where fake psi artifacts didn't disappear after save/load.
• Improved strafing jump mechanics for artifacts.
• Fixed an issue where the Vortex anomaly could damage the player at the Yaniv Station territory.

Plus an additional 30+ issues were spotted and dealt with.

Player Gear and Player State

• Fixed an issue where character's hands are misplaced after moving the character by expulsion anomaly during examining artifacts.
• Fixed availability to unlock locked doors with grenades.
• Fixed the consumption of grenades when switching to the weapon immediately after throw.
• Fixed grenade disappearing when throwing it at one's feet.
• Added parkour animation from crouch state.
• Fixed receiving of the damage from razor anomaly when already out of it.
• Added NPC's death animations from anomalies.
• Fixed an issue when auto lean and weapon up moves were triggered by small trees and bushes.
• Fixed an issue when the character was not always performing auto lean moves over obstacles.
• Improved NPC footsteps sync.
• Fixed an issue with changed movement keybindings that blocked player from climbing the ladder. 
• Fixed an issue when psy effect was not removed after leaving the psy damage area.
• Fixed an issue where the Player was able to become unkillable during gameplay.
• Fixed an issue where dropped NPC corpses could clip with surrounding objects.
• Fixed availability to skip reload animation.
• Added cancel for reload animation of the weapons with under-barrel launcher attachments.
• Adjusted acceleration of the player after sprinting from a standstill.
• Fixed an issue where phantoms could kill regular NPCs with a grenade.
• Decreased amount of artifact slots available by default for X7 suit.
• Fixed an issue with position of upgrade slots on Bulwark Exosuit being mixed up.
• Fixed inconsistencies in PA-7 Gas Mask upgrade tree.
• Rebalanced available upgrades for PSZ-5D Universal Protection armor suit.

With additional 50+ bugs gotten rid of. 

Player Guidance and Game Settings

• Fixed map tooltips not containing region descriptions.
• Fixed map zoom from gamepad.
• Fixed the presence of a dimming effect in the inventory and item selector.
• Fixed an issue where in some cases technicians did not show already installed upgrades.
• Fixed issues with ammo counter visibility on HUD.
• Fixed that the firing mode of the under barrel grenade launcher is not displayed in the inventory.
• Fixed there was no notification on HUD about finding new stashes locations.
• Fixed an issue where, in certain conditions, players could not drag and drop items into loot or stash windows with a gamepad.
• Fixed that caliber on the HUD does not change after upgrading weapon caliber with a technician.
• Fixed a problem where the player could not skip a cutscene with gamepad with proper key if subtitles were off.
• Fixed that "Track" status is present for completed missions in the Completed tab of Journal.
• Fixed incorrect display of the time and equalizer in audiolog.
• Fixed the missing mouse cursor in the attachment selector when shotgun equipped.
• Fixed an issue with not working controls for MSI Claw A1M.
• Integrated Razer Chroma Illumination effects for supported devices.
• Integrated haptic Razer Sensa effects for supported devices.
• Added key binding options for Journal and Notes. Changed default key bindings for leaning left and right.
• Fixed an issue where the new grenade/bolt throw keybinds were not working.
• Fixed missing flashlight button in key bindings.
• Fixed an issue where the Speaker Name UI size didn't change when changing the size of subtitles.
• Fixed that the mission stage about founding shelter does not finish when the player enters shelter during emission.
• Added fire mode change animation when item selector is open.
• Fixed losing input when enemy shoots player while he is in the inventory.
• Increased the duration of the "Point of no return" message.
• Improved UX in the upgrade menu.
• Fixed an issue where the ammo counter for grenades was not displayed.

And other 120+ fixes were made. 

Regions and Locations

• Fixed multiple issues where the player could get stuck in X-17 Lab.
• Fixed the issue where players could be Soft locked at the Cooling Tower's location.
• Fixed that it was possible for NPCs to reach a burning tank at Sphere location and die in it.
• Teleport anomalies were added in Old Barge and Fishing Hamlet areas.
• Fixed an issue when a shelter mark appeared on an inaccessible building if emission was started in the Red Forest area.
• Removed several invalid artifact spawners and anomalies
• Fixed issues with the weather system after leaving Pripyat region.
• Beautification/visual improvements to multiple locations and regions.
• Level design, and terrain improvements for multiple locations and regions.
• Adjusted the foliage placement in multiple locations
• Lighting improvements for multiple locations.
• Tweaked collision for multiple objects in multiple locations.
• Fixed that foliage appearing was noticeable after loading save.
• Fixed an issue where the player could leave the playable area between Cordon and Zaton region.
• Fixed an issue when Monolithians were spawned in the safe zone in Zalissya.
• Adjusted positions of anomalies at the Waste Processing Station location.
• Fixed the load on distance of some objectives around the map.
• Updated the stashes inventory around the Cordon region.
• Added artifact spawn in electrofield at Datacenter of SIIRCA.
• Fixed an issue where ducks sound effects were missing.
• Polished glass and stucco materials in the open-world.

Overall, over 450+ improvements were made in this section.

Audio, cutscenes, and VO

Cutscenes 

• Fixed an issue when both elevator buttons were interactable during entering the cutscene with Korshunov in The Last Step mission.
• Fixed an issue where Agatha's model disappeared when dialogue options were displayed in a cutscene during Wishful Thinking mission.
• Fixed an issue when no videos were playing at screenwall displays during Dangerous Liaisons mission for PC Microsoft Store players.
• Fixed an issue with missing haptic feedback in multiple cutscenes
• Fixed an issue with disappearing hair with different NPCs in multiple cutscenes

And some other stuff was fixed.

Voiceover and Localization

• Improved facial animations for idle NPCs.
• Updated NPC animations in the multiple dialogs.
• Improved facial animations for several important story NPCs.
• Fixed EN voiceover playing for UA localization during car scam encounter at Buryakivka.
• Fixed voiceover desync issue during dialogue with Richter in The Boundary mission.
• Fixed mismatch in subtitles and VO during first dialogue with Strider in Hot on the Trail mission.
• Minor fix of Serbian localization in dialog phrase.
• Minor fixes to multiple localizations

With over 25+ other issues being addressed.

Sound and Music

• Reworked sound effects of Carousel anomaly.
• Fixed an issue where Clicker Anomaly was inaudible at close distance.
• Changed the sound of receiving damage from some anomalies to better reflect the type of damage received.
• Fixed an issue where Poltergeist sounds would play after loading a save that was made after the player killed him during the There and Back Again mission.
• Reworked sound effects for opening weapon selector menu.
• Fixed an issue where mutants were too loud at long distances.
• Reworked sound effects for opening weapon selector menu.
• Minor audio improvement for weapon sounds occlusion.
• Improved audio environment in 10+ locations and regions.
• Fixed issue when Region/Location music could disappear when Player moved between different Region/Location
• Fixed issue when combat music could end and start immediately during the same fight
• Fixed an issue where Rostok Region Music could disappear after loading a save.
• Created a new night music theme for Zalissya.
• Added missing music to discball visual anomaly.
• Fixed an issue with disappearing ambient sound at The Poppy Field after loading savefile.
• Fixed an issue where lightnings and visual anomalies were missing sound effects.
• Added audio for grenades underwater.
• Fixed an issue when sound of critical damage was not played when the player was dealing critical hits.
• Fixed duplicated footsteps sound when holding the detector.
• Added different sounds for the bolt depending on the surface.
• Improved sound of mutants while the player is affected by psy.
• Added sounds for actions in Upgrades and Journal tabs in PDA. 
• Added sound for exiting to the main menu.
• Fixed the sound of walking over the wooden sleepers.

And some other minor improvements.

Patch 1.1.3

23.12.2024

End of the year patch

• Fixed an issue whencould disappear from the Enerhetyk Palace of Culture during the The Road to the Foundation mission.
• Added temporary solution to avoid crash on shader compilation by skipping shaders warm up.
• Fixed a few ACCESS VIOLATION ERROR crashes.
• Fixed an issue when invert axis options could not be saved after restarting the game.
• Fixed an issue when controls could be lost after shooting, reloading and then examining the artifact.

And a small reminder, that we created a solution to back up user's save files. You can find the back-up saves here:

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Stalker2\Saved\Backup

Patch 1.1.2

20.12.2024

• Fixed some issues with shader compilation being stuck, leading to infinite wait time or crash.
• Fixed some issues with loading saves.
• Fixed a crash, that occurred during exiting the game
• Added the functionality of back-up saves, that will be saved and stored automatically and last for 4 days (For PC only).

You can find the back-up saves here: C:\Users\%username%AppData\Local\Stalker2\Saved\Backup

Patch 1.1.1

19.12.2024

• Fixed a crash on save load that some players were experiencing.
  
• Fixed some of the issues that led to a crash during shader loading for some players.

Patch 1.1

19.12.2024

Second biggest patch, contains "over 1,800 fixes and adjustments, including the first iteration of A-Life fixes."

A-Life fixes

• Fixed the issue with spawning NPCs behind the player's back.
• Players can now encounter roaming NPCs across the Zone more often.
• Greatly extended the distance at which A-Life NPCs are visible to the player.
• Fixed the aggressive optimization issue that prevented A-Life NPCs to exist in Offline (out of player's visualization range).

• In Offline mode, A-Life will continue to advance towards their goals over time.
• Players may now have opportunities to encounter A-Life NPCs they've previously met by following in the same direction as the NPCs.

• Improved A-Life NPCs navigation in Offline using GameGraph (global AI navigation map):

• Fixed multiple issues where NPCs would fail to follow or find a path to their designated goals.
• Fixed several issues with NPC being stuck in Online-Offline transition state,
• Enhanced A-Life NPCs' motivation to expand territory and actively attack enemies and mutants.
• Fixed issues that could result in fewer A-life NPCs encountered than intended.
• Further contextual actions improvement to ensure seamless transitions between Offline and Online states for NPCs engaged in these actions.
• The groups exploring the Zone are now more diverse regarding possible factions and group sizes.
• Fixed issue that while roaming over the Zone, Human NPCs didn't satisfy their communication needs and talks.

And some other development related improvements.

AI improvements

• Reduced the number of summons and increased time between spawns of Pseudodog phantoms.
• Fixed an issue when zombies would have their arms and legs twisted while knocked down.
• Fixed an issue when large mutants would hide behind small cover, such as trees.
• Fixed an issue when mutant limbs stretch sometimes when firing automatic weapons.
• Fixed an issue when bloody visual effects played a few times after Rat's death from grenade.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs quickly detected the player when he was crouching.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs would enter doors without opening them.
• Fixed the issue when the controller could take the main story NPCs under control.
• Fixed an issue when Chimera would try to enter a narrow passage that it couldn't enter instead of hiding in ambush.
• Fixed an issue when NPC was teleporting to the restricted areas such as safe zones and hubs.
• Fixed an issue where mutants that were in cover did not change their cover when receiving damage.
• Fixed visual effects of Burer's telepathic ability.
• Minor combat behavior fixes for NPCs shooting from covers.
• Fixed Burer’s throwing objects animation.
• Fixed some issues with NPC staying idle and refusing to start mission-related dialogs.
• Fixed an issue when mutants kept attacking zombies in knockdown.
• Fixed an issue when NPCs are stuck in aiming animation.
• Fixed an issue when death animation was replayed for an NPC who was resurrected as a zombie.
• Fixed an issue when a neutral NPC stays neutral after a player hits them by melee attack.
• Fixed an issue with some NPCs' broken arms while shooting.
• Generic improvement of combat experience and NPC pathfinding in big fights with lots of corpses.
• Fixed an issue when Player was able to kill the chimera with the help of carousel anomaly.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs would clip through objects and walls when shooting from covers.
• Minor improvements for peaceful behavior of NPCs.
• Fixed issue where NPCs wouldn't stop combat on emission start.
• Fixed an issue when some mutants couldn't jump off an obstacle.
• Fixed issue when NPCs were stuck after the end of emission.
• Fixed bandits' behaviour after emission ends during the mission Bullseye.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs could teleport if the NPC couldn't build a route.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs could stop talking to each other after loading a save.
• Fixed an issue when mutant dead bodies fly to a long distance from the places where they were killed by the shotgun.

And over 50 more minor “anomalies” were fixed.

Balance adjustments

• Increasing rewards for several missions.
• Fixed issue when artifacts with Physical Protection effect give maximum possible effect.
• Changed "Goldfish" artifact value to 14000 coupons.
• Fixed issue when player is able to have infinite coupons via selling and returning back any stackable consumable.
• Fixed infinite money exploit with splitting a stack of weapons from selling windows.
• Fixed issue when A-Life NPC's can be spawned dead with full clips of ammo.
• Increased Snork's abilities cooldown time by 30%.
• Gauss rifle damage was increased.
• Increased difficulty for the fight with .
• Recalculated rewards for the Harpy's missions.
• Fixed instant player death after getting almost full radiation bar.
• Fixed that Poltergeist and Burer do not deal damage with thrown objects in some cases.
• Removed the POS 8x scope from the assortment of several merchants.
• Tweaked damage from PSY fields.

With over 10 more minor fixes delivered.

Crash Fixes, Performance, and Optimization

• Investigated, and applied further improvements to dead zones and curves for gamepad movement, aiming and camera controls for a more smooth and controllable experience using sticks on controller.
• Performance improvements in largely populated areas of the map.
• Fixed performance drops on NVIDIA RTX 3000 series video cards with enabled FSR frame generation.
• Fixed issue with game freezing on exiting a tunnel during A Light in the End of the Tunnel mission.
• Fixed issue with not working Razer Kishi Ultra controller, which connected via Bluetooth or cable connection.
• Fixed issue where MSI Force Pro Wireless Controller didn't work via Bluetooth or dongle connection.
• Fixed issue when Xbox X/S controller didn't work via Bluetooth connection.
• Controller input improvements.
• Fixed issue with visual artifacts in In-Game UI with DLSS enabled.
• Fixed issue when building disappears in player's camera at Factory location.
• Fixed issue with a building near Yantar popping into Player's view while approaching it.
• Fixed fps drops that could be created by large amounts of water particles.
• Fixed fps drops during interaction with corpses in shallow water.
• Fixed multiple EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION crashes.
• Fixed multiple Fatal Errors, Low Level Fatal Errors, and Assertion Failures.

Overall, over 200 crashes were investigated, and further fixes were implemented.

Cutscenes

• Multiple improvements to facial animations and voiceover for both languages in several cutscenes.
• Fixed an issue with missing frames in several cutscenes.
• Fixed an issue with missing NPCs in several cutscenes.
• Fixed issue when main characters and NPCs can have idle behavior or detached parts of the body/equipment in several cutscenes.
• Fixed an issue with missing subtitles in several cutscenes.
• Fixed an issue with missing Haptic feedback in several cutscenes.
• Fixed an issue with the final cutscene not playing in The Eternal Shining mission.
• Fixed the issue where the cutscene at the end of the Back to the Slag Heap mission did not start.
• Fixed an issue with invisible  during the cutscene of In Search of a Guide mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player could die during the cutscene during the The Last Step mission.

Overall, over 80 cutscenes issues were addressed.

Interactable Objects

• Fixed an issue when the  was closed after loading save during Wishful Thinking mission.
• Fixed physics for ammo boxes and broken lamps.
• Fixed some issues where NPCs could get stuck in a doorway at different locations.
• Fixed issue where ladder descends, sound could loop and Players would clip through the ladder after climbing from it.
• Fixed sound on interacting with the dead body.
• Fixed issue where NPC touching the door during movement or combat caused the door shaking.
• Fixed that interaction hints for loot and pick-up bodies appeared at different distances from the body.
• Fixed the interaction prompt for healing being active when the player did not have medkit.
• Fixed the issue when some consumables could have been non-interactable.

And up to 20 other related issues were fixed.

Main Line Missions and Story Progression

• Fixed over 15 bugs related to the On the Edge mission, including issues when  dying after entering the Zalissya clubhouse, bugs that prevented the  from healing, allowed  and mutants to get inside the , and others.
• Fixed multiple issues with A Minor Incident mission, including an issue where journal stage  about the scientists was cancelled instead of completed after dialog with  if Player already had a mutant's collar, and bug with misleading marker in "Acquire the collar from the mutant" objective.
• Fixed multiple issues in the Visions of Truth mission, where  might not spawn if loading a previous old save, “anomaly” where  could become hostile to the Skif, bug where the Player couldn't start the dialogue with the , and other things.
• Fixed an issue when the player was unable to start dialogue with  after beating  squad during The Last Wish mission.
• Fixed an issue when Player could get a softlock by wounding  and making him hostile during The Last Wish mission.
• Fixed an issue when  was leaving his place at the balcony while the player fought with  during The Assault on the Duga mission.
• Fixed an issue with  being stuck during  in The Assault on the Duga mission.
• Fixed an issue when the player was unable to help the soldier, surrounded by  during the Just Like the Good Old Days mission.
• Fixed an issue with  being dead at Quiet's camp during Just Like the Good Old Days mission.
• Fixed an issue when a player was unable to progress through the Subtile Matter mission if he looted mission items before the mission started.
• Fixed an issue with an absent  during An Act of Mercy mission.
• Fixed an issue with the  would remain closed during the mission Wishful Thinking.
• Fixed an issue when Player could get stuck in Ventilation under ARL building during Wishful Thinking mission, if headed there before talking to .
• Fixed an issue with  not giving the mission dialog after killing blind dogs in the Dogfight mission.
• Fixed the blocker where it was impossible to start the dialogue with  after turning off  during Hot on the Trail mission.
• Fixed an issue with A Sign of Hope side mission being not available after completing Hot on the Trail mission.
• Fixed an issue when  was missing from his mission location during or after emission if A Sign of Hope mission was completed.
• Fixed an issue with endless  spawn in Chemical Plant during Escape from the Cage mission.
• Fixed an issue where Player was not able to complete Explore Echo Station journal stage for Dead Frequency mission if  was found before getting intel from team Bravo.
• Fixed the stealth path to  during the King of the Hill mission.
• Fixed the issue where after , controls and horizontal camera movements are disabled after loading a save.
• Fixed the issue with the unskippable black screen after the ending cutscene in There and Back Again mission.
• Fixed the issue with absence of intro cutscene in There and Back Again mission.
• Fixed the blocking issue where the objective Talk to Warlock about Hamster could not be completed if the player killed  before speaking  during the On the Fire mission.
• Fixed an issue with the active Bandit Mayhem mission after Player returns cargo to .
• Fixed an issue when the body of  disappears when he is killed during summoning action.
• Fixed an issue where  would become hostile after attacking  during Shift Change mission.
• Fixed an issue where users were able to access unintended areas at the Red Fortress location.
• Added armors with psi defence for the "Get Psi Armor" objective during Ad astra per aspera mission.
• Fixed issue with  standing idle at the pumping stations in Swamps region during Ad astra per aspera mission.
• Fixed an issue when  were present in the Infirmary during the Happiness for Everyone mission.
• Fixed a softlock issue where Answers Come at a Price mission doesn't progress after  were killed after emission.
• Fixed the bug with  missing after .
• Fixed an issue where the Dark Times mission could not be completed after talking to  during the Emission.
• Fixed an issue where  could spawn in the closed garage during the The Boundary mission.
• Fixed an issue that could cause  to disappear during a .
• Fixed an issue where  would not die after destroying the last monitor during a boss fight.
• Fixed an issue where  could be missing at marker location if Emission starts while player approaches Answers Come at a Price mission location.

Overall, over 250 bugs and blockers were fixed in the Main Missions section.

Side Missions and Open World Encounters

• Fixed an issue when player could kill spectators during Arena fights on Rostok.
• Fixed an issue when enemies could leave the Arena during the emission mid The Freedom Colosseum mission.
• Improved balance for Arena fights on Rostok.
• Fixed an issue when the guide in Enerhetyk Palace of Culture Hub could be used after point of no return during Down Below mission.
• Fixed issue when  missions were uncompletable after the .
• Adjusted when  appears after Vadyk Firecracker starts playing the melody.
• Fixed situations when A-life NPCs killed Seryoga Root, Senya Noose and Haryk Jacket.
• Fixed NPC blocking the passage in some areas of 100 Rads Bar.
• Fixed Ward technician reputation.
• Fixed an issue when encounters with  at Agroprom Underground didn't start after completing In Search of Past Glory by Spark.
• Fixed an issue when the  gun remains as a mission item after killing the NPC that gives the mission to find it.
• Fixed the issue when NPCs from the Rookie Village are missing after the The Legends of the Zone mission.
• Fixed an issue when users can remain locked inside  when they shoot a  before the door closes.
• Disabled spawn of  before activation of  at SIRCAA.
• Fixed issue where encounter with begging Stalker wouldn't start after .
• Fixed some issues in dialogue with NPCs at the Chemical Plant.
• Fixed an issue where  was teleported away from Player after getting reward from him at 100 rads Bar.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the game to freeze during the dialog in the mission A Matter of Honor.
• Fixed an issue where the player was not able to find encounter with  after the end of the All that is left mission.
• Fixed an issue where  could be missing at the The Sound of Music mission location after talking to them during the Emission.
• Fixed an issue where the player was not able to progress the missions from  after the end of the On the Edge Mission.

With over 100 more bugs fixed.

Open World Direction, Exploration, and Zone Experience

• Fixed that Lightning Ball sometimes gets stuck during movement in Opachychi village.
• Fixed that sometimes artifacts did not appear in arch anomalies.
• Improved dead bodies physics.
• Fixed when player's equipment was damaged while player was crouching in Razor.
• Fixed corpses disappearing issue.
• Fixed stretched texture on some trees in the open world.
• Fixed an issue with Toxic Cloud anomaly idle VFX.
• Fixed an issue with rat swarms spawning above the cave in Mist archanomaly.
• Fixed an issue when characters became wet in dry spaces after loading the last save.
• Fixed an issue with sharp weather changes present at 4:30 morning time and 23:59 night time.
• Fixed that Wandering lights anomaly doesn't always spawn its artifact.
• Fixed issue with Bulba arch-anomaly sometimes not appearing.
• Fixed issue with non-lootable corpses spawning at the border between Cordon and Lesser Zone regions.
• Fixed that player was unable to reach the artifact near "Abandoned Hamlet" on Swamps.
• Increase distance for combat barks.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs would get stuck in a doorway during the emission in Zalissya hub.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs could spawn and get stuck on isolated surfaces (cars, boxes etc.).
• Improved bullet penetration visual effects.
• Improved cloth simulation for corpses of NPCs.
• Fixed issue with blood decals.
• Fixed an issue where far distance areas of the environment appeared too bright at night.
• Fixed an issue where Zombies' waking-up animation was restarted every time Player looked away.
• Fixed an issue where sometimes an emission started during a cutscene would not end.
• Fixed an issue where diggers around the Slag Heap did not stop being aggressive to Player after the end of combat.

And some other improvements.

Player Gear and Player State adjustments

• Fixed issue that helmets don't have Psi and Rad protection.
• Fixed issue with armors "SSP-100 Discovery" and "SSP-99 Ecologist" have no PSI protection.
• Fixed issue when players can not install Lead Container upgrade on PSZ-5V Guardian of Freedom Suit.
• Smoke was made less intense at shots from a weapon with silencer.
• Fixed broken arm during magazine attachment to machine gun.
• Fixed bullet visibility in magazine during reload.
• Added splashing sound for bolts hitting the water surface.
• Fixed an issue where empty shells were ejected instead of bullets when unloading after ammo type was changed.
• Improved interruption for animation sequences with weapon reload and consumable items usage.
• Fixed issue with bolt impact sound missing during long distance throws.
• Minor fixes for rifle scopes appearance.
• Fixed issue with items not being consumed when used via quick slot hotkeys.
• Fixed issue where main weapon upgrades were applied to installed underbarrel modules.
• Minor fixes for animations of jammed weapons.
• Fixed an issue when the player was able to equip the detector with the primary weapon simultaneously.
• The cause of death is now correctly displayed on the Death Screen.
• Fixed issue where Player would clip into the wall or other object while performing a melee stealth kill close to it.
• Fixed issue with VFX particles for psy phantoms missing, when shooting close to their models.
• Fixed an issue that could cause losing controls after playing guitar.
• Fixed an issue where player could get unlimited carrying capacity, upgrading unequipped armor.
• Fixed an issue where player could get unlimited stamina after starting dialog while crouched.

And over 50 other issues were addressed.

Player Guidance, Game Setting and Menus

• Updated in-game tutorials to improve first time user experience.
• Fixed an issue where the player would approach a mission location and new weapons would randomly spawn and equip in hand.
• Fixed an issue where the player is unable to swap compared weapons' positions while trading.
• Enabled upgrades for X7 suit.
• Added possibility to revert detachment of pre-installed modules in Upgrade menu.
• Added unique markers for mutants with electro collars.
• Reworked UI of system notifications for received items.
• Updated descriptions of multiple armor upgrades.
• Fixed issues where mission markers on NPC disappeared forever after NPC became hostile towards Player.
• Removed ability to trade with NPCs at Noontide base.
• Reworked a few UI elements in the Upgrades menu of the PDA.
• Reworked design for a few icons in the PDA menu.
• Fixed an issue where the upgrade tree UI changed its direction inconsistently after switching between different weapons.
• Fixed missing animation for ammo type change from gamepad.
• Fixed threat indication appearance after closing the main menu.
• Fixed missing mouse scroll sound in PDA.
• Fixed that output device option resets after restarting the client.
• Fixed issue when after loading a specific save file, a black screen appears.
• Removed redundant pop-up window on resetting settings to default.
• Upscaling quality settings in options were translated.
• Stashes marker color changed to violet.
• Fixed technicians not being able to install certain armor upgrades.
• Fixed that SSP-100 Discovery armor cannot be upgraded by any technician.
• Fixed an issue where consumables could not be applied via quick slots.
• Fixed issue where crosshair doesn't appear after reload if R button was pressed again.
• Fixed scrolling issue inside a note in PDA.
• Fixed an issue where the user would move slowly and was unable to sprint after loading a save file that was created when the user was leaning.
• Fixed issue with "HDR White Point" option.

And almost 100 other “anomalies” were fixed in this section.

Achievements

• Fixed the issue when "The four Winds" achievement cannot be received.
• Fixed issue when "Bingo" achievement cannot be received.
• Fixed issue when players were unable to unlock achievements in the EGS store.

Saves

• Fixed the issue when the player was unable to load existing saves after the title and steam process was terminated unexpectedly.
• Fixed issue with missing save files after PC\Xbox hard reboot.

Other improvements

• Over 15 localization and voiceover updates.
• Over 40 audio adjustments and volume tweaks of various types.
• Over 20 improvements to some character and NPCs visuals appearance.

And over 500 fixes for

• Foliage.
• Texture flickering.
• Bugs in navigation meshes.
• Collisions.
• Errors in object positioning and contextual actions.
• VFX-related fixes.
• Non-destructible objects.
• And more.

Patch 1.0.3

03.12.2024

Crashes and memory leaks:

• Multiple ACCESS_VIOLATION_ERROR fixes.
• Multiple LowLevelFatalError crash fixes.

Controls adjustments:

• According to your feedback, we adjusted following parameters/values to decrease input lag on keyboard+mouse input:
• Mouse Smoothing is disabled by default.
• Mouse Acceleration is disabled by default.
• Additionally, default values of mouse sensitivity were updated to allow a predictable default experience for our players with new values of two parameters mentioned bellow:
• Camera sensitivity: 25%.
• Aim sensitivity: 15%.
• Main and Side missions:
• Fixed issue with  that were able to chase player outside  during the In Search of Past Glory mission.
• Fixed an issue where the NPCs  would die after trying to enter a building during the mission On the Edge.
• Fixed issue with  which could despawn before player loots a collar from it during In the Name of Science mission.
• Fixed issue with player potentially locking oneself during Dangerous Liaisons mission.
• Fixed issue with  becoming hostile upon noticing a player  during King of the Hill mission.
• Fixed an issue when  despawns in front of the player after the dialog in the bunker during A Heavy Burden mission.
• Fixed issue with NPC's despawning when player successfully finishes Legends of the Zone mission.

AI:

• Fixed an issue with mutant bodies stretching after a shot from an automatic weapon.
• Fixed an issue that caused NPCs to block the doors during the Back to the Slag Heap mission.
• Balance:
• Fixed issue with  not selling certain ammo types.
• Saves:
• Fixed issues with missing player saves after a hard reboot of the PC/Xbox.
  

Patch 1.0.2

30.11.2024

• Fixed an issue when the second wave  would not spawn during the “On the Edge” mission, blocking further progression.
• Fixed the issue when  could be found dead during the “A Minor Incident” mission, blocking further progression.
• The fixed issue was a player could get stuck after installing the fuse in the Wild Island area if they got the  first during the “Just Like the Good Old Days” mission, blocking further progression.
• The fixed issue was when a player could not successfully complete the “All That is Left” mission while exploring the Chemical Plant region.
• Fixed issue when quest enemies could spawn in unreachable areas for a player during the “Down Below” mission, blocking further progression.
• Fixed an issue when  could be missing during the “Visions of Truth” mission.
• A few more EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION errors are fixed.

Patch 1.0.1

29.11.2024

First ever patch

First biggest patch, contains "over 650 fixes, including quest blockers, memory leaks, crashes, and minor bugs."

AI fixes:

• Fixed groups of NPCs getting stuck and dying near Shelter during active Emission.
• Fixed issue when Burer could drop any mission items out of the player's hands.
• Added missing sound effects for Burer’s 'Telekinesis' ability.
• Fixed issues with NPCs occasionally getting stuck and not reaching the mission location. This might have caused inability to interact with NPC or progress to the next mission stage due to idle behavior of mission NPC.
• Fixed issues with performance drops/potential out-of-memory crashes in hubs and locations crowded with NPCs during long play sessions.
• Fixed issue when NPCs would move to A-pose or start flying after death.
• Fixed issue when NPCs could not track whether a target in cover was covered from shots, which caused them to shoot into cover.

And other, more than 20 different issues with AI.

Optimization fixes

• Fixed issue with invisible NPC/Mutants appearing in FOV while the Player is scoping.
• Fixed fire visual effects that were not rendering at certain camera angles.

Also, we fixed approximately 100 different crashes, including potential memory leaks and EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION issues.

Audio & Sound fixes:

• Fixed issue when combat music was still playing while combat was finished.

And 7 other minor audio & sound bugs.

Balance adjustments:

• Weapons and armor repair cost is decreased.
• Significantly increased cost of artifacts (more revenue from selling).
• Money reward for most missions is increased from 2 to 3 times.
• Rookie difficulty armor and weapons buffs.
• Damage from mutants is moderately decreased on Rookie difficulty (more mutant health balance changes in Combat Balance section).
• Damage to player's weapon is decreased by 23 percent on Rookie difficulty.
• Armor durability is increased by 12.5 percent.
• Added silencer attachment for PTM to specific stash on Lesser Zone.
• Fixed sell prices for Exoskeletons, they are now more expensive to sell.
• Fixed sell price of upgraded weapons.
• Rebalanced Hercules consumable: player speed debuff removed; increased the effect parameters (now more weight could be carried by player after consuming).

Some additional minor bugfixes.

Combat Balance:

• Reduced some mission items' weight (including weight of scanners)
• Slightly rebalanced Bloodsucker’s damage.
• Decreased Bloodsucker’s strike protection rank (more damage from guns).
• Reduced Boodsucker’s HP regeneration outside the combat.
• Controller HP is moderately reduced.
• Burer HP is moderately reduced.
• Boar HP is moderately reduced.
• Flesh HP is moderately reduced.
• Damage to Boar from headshots changed to 100% of body damage.
• Damage to Boar from shots to the limbs is increased.
• Damage to Flesh from shots to the limbs is increased.
• Significantly increased weapon melee distance.
• Slightly increased knife melee distance.

Gamepad Input:

• Increased gamepad dead zones

Characters:

• Fixed eyes and teeth on NPC models.
• Some minor fixes of NPC models and animations.

Cutscenes:

• Added missing footage to TV displays in the final cutscene.
• Fixed issue with deer animation in the opening cutscene.

And 20 other different bugs in the cutscenes.

Game Settings & Menus:

• Adjusted unreadable text at the bottom of the Shader Compilation screen.
• Fixed issue with the 'Nvidia Reflex Low Latency' option not being saved on subsequent boots of the game.

And 10 more minor issues.

Interactable Objects:

• Fixed physics issues with destructible and movable objects, including those floating in the air.
• Fixed interaction prompt with glass doors in SIRCAA’s inner yard, which caused a walkthrough blocker.
• Fixed missing inner doors in the X-11 laboratory elevator.

And more minor bugs.

Main and Side Missions:

• Resolved numerous mission blockers and bugs encountered under specific conditions. Key fixes include:
• Fixed missing interaction with dead Blind dogs in the Nightingale’s Hunt mission.
• Fixed uncompletable objectives in the Seek, and You Shall Find mission.
• Fixed multiple issues in the There and Back Again mission, including one where the artifact couldn’t be found.
• Resolved dialog loop with Zotov during the A Needle in a Haystack mission.
• Fixed progression blockers in the Answers Come at a Price mission, including issues with bandits after an emission and missing the Heavy Key item.
• Corrected mission markers for NPC locations in Hot on the Trail mission.
• Fixed door-related issues in the In Search of a Guide mission and The Side Hustle mission.
• Fixed issue when cutscene does not start during the Just Like the Good Old Days mission.
• Fixed issue when Lodochka is missing in Quite's Camp during the Just Like the Good Old Days mission.
• Fixed an issue during Just Like the Good Old Days when Lodochka acts aggressively after bringing him the Emitter.
• It is now possible to turn off electricity in the flooded area during the To the Last Drop of Blood mission.
• Fixed multiple issues in the On the Edge mission, including idle NPCs, stuck doors, and the Monolith attack progression.
• Fixed progression blockers in the A Minor Incident mission, including issues with Bayun's collar and locked doors.
• Addressed performance drops and confusing objectives in the In Search of Past Glory mission.
• Fixed issues in the Visions of Truth mission, including stuck NPCs and blocked progression after dialogs.
• Resolved stuck cutscenes and blocked progression in the Dangerous Visitors, Gray’s Last Hunt, and The Eternal Shining missions.
• Corrected spawn behaviors for NPCs and enemies in The Boundary and Escape from the Cage missions.
• Tweaked missions like Down Below, Budmo!, and A Big Score to resolve stuck NPCs, misaligned markers, and missing dialog options.

And approximately 120 other issues within the main line, side missions, and encounters.

Open World Experience:

• Fixed stretched or missing limbs on humanoid corpses.
• Fixed missing fast travel routes, including to the Concrete Plant for Toadstool.
• Resolved issues with loudspeakers, fast travel, and NPC interactions in various locations, such as the Scientists' Bunker, and Chemical Plant.
• Adjusted hostile NPC behavior during the Arena missions, including bandits’ tactics and increased ammo for the Tyrant fight.
• Corrected mission progression in the Black Sheep and The Key to Freedom missions.

And approximately 50 other issues were fixed.

Player Guidance, Gear, and Weapons:

• Fixed a bug that allows to sell items to the trader for more money that they actually cost.
• Fixed input blocking issues with the PDA, inventory, and attachments when interacting with artifacts.
• Corrected flashlight behavior after saving/loading.
• Resolved issues with grenade type selection, compass marker overlaps, and missing mission markers.
• Fixed inconsistencies with weapon and armor upgrade effects, including pricing and upgrade reversals.
• Improved HUD behavior and prolonged the duration of "Point of No Return" hints during Down Below mission.
• Fixed a bug where player could sell mission items using gamepad.

And approximately 50 minor “anomalies”.

Voiceover and Facial Animations:

• Restored missing facial animations for Sava in the Hot on the Trail mission and Mugwort in The Eternal Shining mission.
• Fixed missing voice lines during the Let No One Leave Unsatisfied mission.
• Corrected radio call effects so NPC voices properly reflect distance during communication.
• And a couple more things are fixed.

World:

• Fixed flickering textures in various locations, including the Sphere, Military Base and Chemical Plant.
• Resolved movement issues, including getting stuck in certain locations during missions like Once More Unto the Breach and A Tough Awakening.
• Corrected artifact spawn points in some areas.
• Fixed NPC behavior during encounters.
• Adjusted voice volume during storm weather for improved audio balance.

And approximately 50 more bugs.

Patch 1.0

20.11.2024

Release build

No patch notes

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone

Patch 1.3.1

18.09.2025

• Added Nvidia DLSS upscaling technology to all the titles.
• Fixed the most occurring crashes.
• Corrected quick-save naming issue (no spaces in save summary).
• Temporary Reverted changes to sun coordinates and fixed rotation. [Clear Sky]

Patch 1.3

12.09.2025

What’s New

• QoL Feature: Added quick slots for Shadow of Chornobyl (SoC) and Clear Sky (CS), functioning the same as in Call of Prypiat (CoP).
• Open the settings menu
• Proceed to “Game” tab
• Use “Enable quick slots” checkbox to toggle the quick slots
• Fixed mouse simulation gyroscope support for better experience on Steam Deck
• Added auto-switching between gamepad and keyboard input on consoles

Bug Fixes

• Fonts: Major overhaul to make fonts more familiar to veteran stalkers and increased font size for better readability on Steam Deck.
• Fixed incorrect animations for bolts and knife.
• Fixed sky blurriness issue.
• Updated application icons.
• Adjusted artifact spawn chances.
• Fixed FSR sharpness slider being always active.
• Corrected overlapped textures on energy drinks.
• Fixed hand animations for SEVA suit.
• Resolved issue where stash information was given twice from different corpses, duplicating contents.
• Standardized Control_inertion_factor across all weapons.
• Fixed achievements not triggering without deleting progress_data.ltx.
• Eliminated "NPC doesn't have enough money" error when selling many items to NPCs with infinite money.
• Applied multiple console-related fixes.
• Addressed most frequent crashes.
• Enabled binding for side mouse buttons.
• Fixed optic sights for 16:9 aspect ratio.
• Corrected key binds for PDA [SoC].
• Fixed several HUD visual issues [SoC].
• Restored input functionality after using quick slot attachment with disabled quick slots [SoC].
• Fixed HUD overlaps for health and armor bars [SoC].
• Added missing Wild Territory section to minimap [SoC].
• Ensured unique suit effects function correctly [SoC].
• Enabled ESC key to close inventory context menu [SoC].
• Fixed "START" button on controller closing dialogues [CS].
• Resolved stash info purchase and save/load issues [CS].
• Corrected Exoskeleton upgrade descriptions [CS].
• Fixed Mipmap bias option altering antialiasing when changed via controller [CS].
• Removed persistent stash markers after looting when info was gained twice [CS].
• Fixed UI issues in menus [CoP].
• Prevented picking up quest items multiple times [CoP].
• Corrected localization inconsistencies [CoP].
• Fixed "Intermittent psy-emissions" quest issue where quest controller didn’t spawn if the player had already looted the artifact [CoP].
• Adjusted ammo and fire mode text alignment [CoP].
• Fixed Rookie Village stalkers permanently hiding in ambush after "Protect the Rookie Camp" quest [SoC].
• Enabled custom names for manual saves [SoC/CS/CoP].
• Prevented dropping trader inventory items using the Drop key (G by default) [CS].
• Various stability improvements and minor fixes.

Community

Special thanks to our community for their incredible support in enhancing S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Enhanced Edition Trilogy. Their contributions are acknowledged in the updated credits. Below are the community-provided fixes:

C++ Code

• [SoC/CS] Fixed hunger damage not applying during bleeding due to incorrect check.
• [SoC/CS/CoP] Corrected particle effects for electric and fire poltergeists appearing at world zero coordinates.
• [CS] Fixed incorrect header color in PDA messages and subtitles during fade-out.
• [SoC/CS] Corrected loading screen using CoP font settings and loading bar behavior.
• [CS/CoP] Fixed reversed solar coordinates causing sun movement from west to east.
• [SoC/CS/CoP] Adjusted rank-to-accuracy formula to prevent NPCs near rank 89 from having pinpoint accuracy.
• [SoC/CS] Removed rank-to-accuracy cap at 100, ensuring proper scaling for novice ranks.
• [SoC/CS/CoP] Fixed "out of money" error for NPCs with infinite funds during bulk sales.
• [SoC/CS/CoP] Corrected item placement on incorrect Y coordinates due to AI-grid tying.

SoC Scripts/Configs Fixes

• Fixed doubled PSI emission audio, visual effector, and hit intensity on save/reload.
• Corrected task icons in dialogue and message history due to incorrect ID checks.
• Fixed item spawn chances in boxes and corpses, ensuring proper fractional values.
• Enabled bloodsuckers to occupy Cordon mill after retrieving military documents.
• Allowed pseudogiants to occupy Prypiat stadium.
• Removed bloodsucker respawner causing unintended spawns on Cordon.
• Prevented Duty & Freedom squads from returning to Radar crossroads when player leaves.
• Fixed Skull squad and Nimble returning to initial locations after player departure.
• Ensured "Freedom vs Duty" challenge unlocks correctly based on faction relationships.
• Added psy dog to Marked One’s mutant kill statistics.
• Unlocked weapon hiding tutorial encyclopedia entry after display.
• Updated Martha’s max fire distance value.
• Fixed GP37 grenade launcher animation on holstering.
• Corrected NPC voiceovers for gasmask visuals.
• Removed Sidorovich’s door unlock sound before first quest.
• Adjusted randomized money amounts for NPCs based on rank.
• Ensured traders like Skinflint have appropriate money amounts.
• Fixed conditions for four stashes.
• Corrected Guardian of Freedom armor third-person model.
• Fixed monolithian spawning in X19.
• Adjusted trade lists for correct item availability and pricing.
• Added generic voiceover for Kruglov in Wild Territory.
• Removed Max’s extra Walker pistol.
• Assigned correct ammo for monolithians attacking Barrier.
• Fixed task icons in PDA.
• Corrected ammo spawns for Big Ben NPCs.
• Fixed faction relationship changes in tasks.
• Enabled VOG-25 grenade drops from corpses.
• Added VOG-25 spawns for NPCs with specific weapons.

CS Scripts/Configs Fixes

• Fixed stash state assignments on save/load, preventing duplicate or inaccessible stashes.
• Added "Put to slot" and "Put to backpack" context menu options for artifact detectors.
• Ensured "Decent Start" and "Gun Baron" achievements count Veles/Vintar correctly.
• Prevented guides from leading to the player’s current camp.
• Fixed Strelok’s health bar behavior during CNPP sequence.
• Preserved Strelok shot cooldown on save/load.
• Assigned correct dialogue for Major Khaletsky’s Agent.
• Enabled giving unique/upgraded weapons to specific NPCs after quest completion.
• Added stash purchase dialogue for Mister and Semyon Semyonovich.
• Fixed item spawn chance fractions in boxes and corpses.
• Ensured Flea Market guide services availability at night.
• Corrected subtitle icons and names for various NPCs.
• Fixed Hospital monolithian sniper icon.
• Assigned correct ammo for NPCs’ primary/secondary weapons.
• Added dedicated mercenary voice acting.
• Fixed upgrade icons and descriptions for multiple weapons and armors.
• Corrected Exoskeleton armor upgrade descriptions.
• Fixed Sidorovich’s faction display in messages.
• Adjusted Sakharov’s greetings for quest consistency.
• Fixed Yar’s dialogue progression after PDA quest.
• Ensured correct ammo spawns for upgraded/quest weapons.
• Added RP-74 ammo spawns on NPC death.
• Enabled technicians to upgrade pre-upgraded weapons and armors.

CoP Scripts/Configs Fixes

• Added medicaments to Mirone’s inventory.
• Included context menu options for artifact detectors.
• Corrected NPC voiceovers for gasmask visuals.
• Prevented multiple pickups of Snag’s containers.
• Fixed auto-removal of script-placed dead bodies.
• Corrected Grouse’s looting animations at Krug antenna complex.
• Fixed widescreen sidebar display in menus.
• Corrected weapon and armor condition bar stretching.

Patch 1.2

10.07.2025

• Stability improvements - fixed multiple crashes on all platforms
• Fixed image blurriness issue
• Fixed foliage texture detail and long-distance LOD's
• Added a "mipmap bias" value setting (ranging from 0 to -2) for the greater texture detail while using FSR feature
• Fixed several shading issues with SSGI (Screen Space Global Illumination)
• Implemented quick-save with a limit up to 15 saves (Old quick-saves will remain untouched)
• Implemented several fixes for combat A-life behavior
• Returned the demo_record and demo_play commands
• Fixed several audio corruption and audio sync issues across all titles
• \[COP] Adjusted iron-sights for AKM-74/2 and SA Avalanche weapons
• \[CS] Fixed several item descriptions

Patch 1.1.1

30.06.2025

• Stability improvements - fixed several popular crashes. \[All titles]
• Fixed an issue with incorrect screen scaling on ultra performance preset on PS5 Pro console. \[PlayStation]
• Fixed freeze on loading saved game if user has more than 400-500 save files. \[All titles]
• Fixed crash while using 'Alt+Enter' key combination. \[Shadow of Chornobyl]
• Fixed issue with K&M setup on Xbox platform with inability to pick up items. \[Call of Prypiat]\[XBOX]
• Fixed reloading issues with modified RP-74. \[Clear Sky]
• Fixed several modded configs unpacking issues. \[All titles]

Patch 1.1.0

12.06.2025

• Fixed save-loading issue for the Asian region localizations.
• Stability improvements – fixed multiple crashes on all platforms.
• Fixed issue that caused the game to crash while looking up at the rainy sky.
• Fixed issue that caused the title to crash while eating or using items from the corpse’s inventory.
• Corrected misspelling and naming issues in several localizations in all titles.
• Fixed sound scattering issues that caused incorrect indoor-outdoor transition.
• Fixed misleading description for Crouching options for Ukrainian localization.
• Fixed several incorrect icons in dialogue logs.
• Fixed indistinctive pop-up with information about unsupported hardware.
• Fixed user interface issues that allowed users to turn on FSR and antialiasing simultaneously.

Shadow of Chornobyl:

• Fixed noticeable transition in shadow casting.
• Fixed performance drop issue on Ahroprom.
• Medkit and bandage hotkeys are now set to F1 and F2 accordingly by default, but users are able to change them.

Clear Sky:

• Fixed audio stuttering on Swamps.
• Screen space reflections issue is fixed at the Hospital.
• Fixed issue with inability to save the game on Polish text localization.

Call of Prypiat:

• Fixed “Drop multiple items” user interface issue with incorrect slider size.

Please disable mods and check if the game works before launching it. After that, enable your mods again — if everything works correctly, the mod does not need to be updated. However, if you encounter any issues, the mod needs to be updated to the latest version of the game.

Some mods may not work with the updated version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy — Enhanced Edition. 

Patch 1.0.2

26.05.2025

• Fixed various NPC appearance issues.
• Fixed an issue preventing players from binding custom buttons for the mouse.
• Implemented the first round of fixes for issues that caused image blurriness.
• Fixed several rendering-related issues with SSGI (Screen Space Global Illumination) that caused visual distortion and blurriness.

Changes will take an effect only after following steps:

1. Go to Options
2. Set graphical settings to Medium
3. Set them back to Maximum and press Apply
4. Reboot the game

Patch 1.0.1

23.05.2025

• The games will not crash on start on unsupported PC hardware and will provide a clear message pop-up (ENG only for now) that GPU doesn't meet the minimum system requirements.
• Fixed several popular crashes on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms.
• Fixed save game issue on specific system localizations.
• Fixed problems with saving and storing configuration data.
• Fixed issues with missing geometry on several levels