Unpopular opinion on combat in Stalker 2

I pretty often see here posts about the combat in the game, like NPCs are laser-precise, stealth being non-existent, grenade spam, etc, etc. Guys, you are absolutely wrong about it, don't take it as an offense, but it's mostly unrealistic expectations and the lack of skill.

Now I'm going to explain why exactly. Just for the context, I'm one of main creators of OGSE mod for STALKER SHoC, I was the one who created a standalone scripted combat schema which made combat in OGSE pretty challenging, so I know what I'm talking about.

TL;DR: Git good. If you think gunfight is too hard, there is no stealth and such - you're not skilled enough.

So first thing: STALKER 2 it's a immersive survival sim. And combat in it is pretty darn close to reality I might say. Most of the players are used to sluggish NPCs who can't hit anything from 30 yards and taking seconds to react. STALKER 2 in this matter is challenging and very close to reality, which is absolutely understandable - remember what part of the development team participated in real combat in an ongoing Russian invasion.

Now some debunking on common issues and tips and tricks on how to handle these:

Enemies are laser-precise. Well, in reality, guns are really pretty precise and if person has at least some basic experience shooting, this person will have no trouble hitting the human-sized target 30 yards away. So, in the first place, consider NPCs as a real persons who has some basic shooting experience and some understanding of gunfight tactics. How to handle this: * Always use covers. Absolutely always, no exceptions. In an open field you'll be dead in seconds no matter what if you're not covered. So as soon as gunfight is about to start first thing you should do is to take cover immediately. Remember - absolutely no full standing frontal assaults, always take cover. * Mind the cover material. Bullet physics in game is pretty good. Like if you're hiding behind the thick tree, remember what while buckshots and small caliber pistols won't be able to pierce it, but carbine and full-sized rifle ammo will pierce these easily. So look for decent cover - concrete slabs, thick metal beams, there are lots of these in the game. Remember what thin metal like vehicle skin is penetrated easily and doesn't offer any protection at all. * Remember you can peek around corners when aiming (it's even engaged automatically when you're close to cover). Hiding in the cover position yourself in such way what your full body would be covered and peak around for shooting. * Always duck behind the cover and prefer to shoot from ducking position, it's way more stable and precise this way. You can't hit anything properly while running, just like in real life.

Grenade spam. There is no such thing as grenade spam in game. Enemies are using grenades in a pretty smart and absolutely proper way: when they know your last location but can't have a direct line of sight to you (you're in cover) and can't hit you. So they're using grenades to force you our of cover, just like in real life. Use covers which hard to land a grenade into, and change covers often. When you hear enemy is about to use the grenade or if you hear a solid metal "blam" of a grenade landed nearby - get moving immediately.

Enemies are bullet sponges. Nope, they are not. With an exception of a few plot-armored NPCs, most of them are pretty adequate in terms on sponginess. You just aiming poorly or using wrong weapons or ammo. Always remember what most of NPCs wears body armor and in some cases it's a pretty darn good one. Body armor easily tanks small projectiles such as shotgun buckshots, small caliber pistol ammo, etc. So when fighting humans in game:

  • Assault rifles, carbines and full sized rifles are preferred. Bullets from these dealing huge damage even to persons in good armor even with stock ammo used. If you have to use SMGs, then use improved AP rounds.
  • When fighting enemies in decent body armor, such as soldiers, mercs, Monolith or Duty/Freedom stalkers - preferably use the improved AP rounds. They exist for a reason in the game.
  • When using automatic weapons, aim to the point between the chest and neck and shoot with short series of 2-3 rounds. Gun bounce when shooting and with such aiming second bullet is going straight in the head. No normal NPC can tank more than even 2 pistol rounds in the head. Head is always the most vulnerable and less armored part. Overall I haven't so far found a single non plot-armored NPC which can't be killed by a single shot in a head.

Stealth is non-existent. Nope, you're wrong. It exists and works but it is as challenging as other parts of the game. Always remember what NPCs can see and can hear pretty realistically:

  • Never use flashlight in the dark areas and at night when fighting, you're getting noticed immediately and a very easy target to aim to.
  • Muzzle flash it is also source of light which is a primary issue uncovering your position for enemies. Use suppressed weapons for fight at night and in dark areas, suppressors not only making guns quieter, but also hiding the muzzle flash.
  • Don't move when in enemy sight at night, movement is noticeable even in the dark.
  • Move crouched, this makes way less sound and makes you less noticeable.
  • Don't engage in stealth when you're overencumbered with the weight in yellow/red zone. Your character is struggling to move all this weight around and making a lot of additional sounds, heavy breathing, things rattling in a backpack and such.
  • Carbine and rifle rounds can't be fully suppressed. To evade detection you need to use suppressed pistols and SMGs.
  • Hide bodies if you have the time. Enemies are getting alerted immediately when they see a dead body.

Overall stealth in game when done properly allows not only stealth kills, in many cases if you're cautious you can get directly behind the back of an enemy for a kill.

And to summarize: from my perspective, combat in game is brilliant at the moment. Any attempts to re-balance it will only made it bland and tasteless.