Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl has released Patch 1.3, which includes over 1,200 changes that include both improvements and fixes across nearly all aspects of the game.
Combat changes are among some of the most anticipated, and Patch 1.3 updates several things here.
For example, mutants now move more smoothly, and NPCs react better to footstep sounds. Mutants also ambush players who are hiding around props better, and an issue was addressed where mutants wouldn’t attack any NPCs when players were in safe zones.
Several balance adjustments were also made, including quite a few Archiartifacts:
- Weird Water: radiation production decreased
- Weird Nut: bleeding degeneration speed increased
- Weird Flower: smell masking effect increased
- Weird Ball: stamina grain and maximum weight increased
- Weird Kettle: consuming food debuffs correspond with the type of food consumed
- Non-Stop Limited Edition Energy Drinks: additional effect when used with the Weird Kettle
Several other balance adjustments were made, which players can see a full breakdown of here on the Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl Patch 1.3 notes.
There were also a plethora of bug fixes that helped the game’s performance and crashing problems that some encountered.
Some are more exploitive in nature, such as the bug that let players permanently stack effects of artifacts that weren’t equipped. Others could easily get players killed, such as a bug that stopped players from sprinting after chaotic movement. Both of these bugs have been fixed, along with over 100 crash fixes and other improvements.
Another large chunk of the Patch 1.3 notes was dedicated to mission-specific problems. These include not being able to loot specific bosses or even progressing past other missions.
There were quite a few technical updates as well, including new death screens that depend on how the player died and improved facial animations.
Developer GSC Game World thanked players for their feedback, which is what drives major patches like this. The more bugs players encounter and report, the more that the developers can address.
This isn’t the first time that Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl has released a beefy update. Patch 1.1 worked on over 1,800 issues, while Patch 1.01 tackled over 650.