Huge Stalker 2 1.5 update launches with mutant loot, massive A-Life improvements, mod kit launch and so much more

GSC Game World has officially released Stalker 2 Update 1.5, a massive major update to the game designed to bring the title closer to fan expectations. After weeks of teases, the new update brings major changes to the game include A-Life improvements, new weapons, mutant loot, new anomalies and much more.

With a Q3 roadmap also in the works for the game, GSC Game World is far from done with the open-world survival game. There’s still a lot of work to be done, and new content is in development in the form of brand-new expansions that offer new perspectives on the zone.

Additionally GSC Game World has released the first major Mod Tools SDK in the form of the game’s new Zone Kit. These new mod tools are available to download here, and will allow players to make major mods for the game across PC and Xbox.

Check out the update below:

Stalker 2 Update 1.5 Patch Notes

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.

More

• 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.

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 762×39 MM ammo with 762×54 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.

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.