Patch 1.5 Guns & Looting is now live for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, bringing a fresh batch of weapons, new mutant loot, AI and A-life improvements, balance tweaks, and plenty of bug fixes. If you’ve been hunting through the Zone, this update shakes things up quite a bit, so grab your gear and prepare for some new challenges and rewards.
The developers have also released a trailer for this update called Guns & Looting Showcase, which you can check out here:
Key Highlights
- A-Life Changes: The Zone feels more alive now since all characters simulate life continuously, not just those near you. Stalkers and mutants keep doing their thing, resting or interacting, and you might even run into the same characters again after some time. Respawns won’t happen right in front of you anymore, reducing that annoying pop-in effect.
- New Anomaly: Meet the Water Electric Tornado — a wild and dangerous new hazard to watch out for!
- New Weapons: The update adds the Three-Line Rifle and the Kora handgun, expanding your firepower options.
- Looting Mutant Parts: You can now loot mutant parts, adding a new layer to gathering resources.
- Quality of Life: The stash window got bigger, there’s a new “Fix all” button to repair all gear at the technician, and available artifact slots are shown in the armor upgrade tab.
AI and Combat Fixes
- Fixed issues where Snorks couldn’t jump off some spots and Controllers could damage from out of sight through walls.
- Pseudogiant stuck issues fixed, and Rodents no longer make sounds after death.
- NPCs now have ballistic falloff on long distances, so they won’t hit you from too far away.
- Mutants attack better when you stand still, and some attack bugs with Chimera and Burer were resolved.
- NPCs behave more realistically in combat and peaceful hubs, no more walking in place or taking exposed cover.
Balance Tweaks
- Mission NPCs no longer have overpowered gear.
- Ammo reworked for machine guns and sniper rifles, including replacing 7.62×39 MM with 7.62×54 MM, and changes to ammo types used by specific weapons.
- Increased armor penetration and damage for some weapons like Grom S15 and AS Lavina.
- Artifact effects rebalanced, including changes to Horn, Rosin, and Shell effects.
- New artifact effect added: Durability, which boosts gear durability.
- Updated stash locations in Rostok and Yaniv.
Bug Fixes and Performance
- Fixed performance drops when entering Generators region and when colliding with psy phantoms.
- Resolved inventory bugs, sound and input loss on Xbox quick resume, and crashes related to save loading and drinking vodka.
- Fixed ammo counter and “Take all” button issues during looting.
- Fixed visual glitches like trees and bushes appearing in front of players, and improved NPC animations.
- Optimized meshes and fixed severe FPS drops near interactive objects and NPCs.
- Addressed various crashes and stability issues on Xbox Series S and PC.
Quests and Open World Fixes
- Multiple mission bugs fixed, including stuck NPCs, missing quest items, and progression blockers in missions like The Last Step, Dawn of a New Day, Assault on the Duga, and Dangerous Liaisons.
- Adjusted NPC relations and voiceovers to improve story flow.
- Fixed issues with elevator doors and stuck locations that could block progress.
- Addressed problems where players could get stuck in dialogues or locked inside buildings.
Mod Support
The Zone Kit is now officially out! You can create or use mods for animations, weapons, mechanics, and more. Access mods on Steam Workshop and mod.io. If you want to start modding yourself, download the Zone Kit here:
https://store.epicgames.com/uk/p/stalker-2-zone-kit
Other Updates
- NPC pathing and cigarette animations improved.
- Added ability to speed up credits scrolling on PC and Xbox.
- Gunshot sounds improved for distance and indoors.
- HUD better shows ammo changes.
- Inventory sorting and weapon attachment descriptions enhanced.
- Sound volume for medkit usage adjusted.
- Added support for ultra-wide aspect ratios (21:9 and 32:9).
- Graphics settings now have an “Auto Detect” button to match hardware.
- Ukrainian lip-sync reworked.
The Zone keeps evolving, and this patch definitely adds new layers to surviving and thriving in its dangerous world. Have you tried out the new weapons or encountered the Water Electric Tornado yet? What’s your favorite fix or addition?
