A new patch has been released for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2

Despite minor technical issues, GSC Game World has released a significant update 1.3 for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. The developers have significantly improved the gameplay, open game environment and technical aspects, making the shooter more dynamic and the atmosphere of the Zone more intense. The new version has more than 1200 changes, fixes and improvements related to artificial intelligence, balance, plot development, performance, locations and sound - almost all aspects of the game. The patch size on Steam is more than 40 GB, which is almost half the size of the game, emphasizing the scale of the work done.

Major changes:

• AI and combat: Mutants are now better animated when moving in combat, errors have been fixed due to which they did not attack NPCs in safe zones, and their reaction to the sounds of footsteps has been improved. The behavior of mutants during ambushes has also been improved.
• Balance: Artifacts have been rebalanced, their effects and interactions with anomalies have been changed. NPC encounters in the open world have become rarer, and armor protection against anomalies has been revised: combat suits have become less resistant, and scientific suits have become more protected. Damage from explosive objects has been increased, and the durability of unique weapons has been improved.
• Bug fixes and technical improvements: More than 100 critical crashes and errors have been fixed. Lighting, textures and NPC animations have been optimized, the inventory interface has been improved, and memory leaks when navigating the menu have been eliminated. Issues with saving that interfered with completing tasks have also been fixed.
• Sound: Sound effects have been updated, new musical themes have been added, and sound effects for mutants and obstacles have been improved.
• Quests and open world: Fixed errors that could cause tasks to freeze. The logic for the appearance of unique NPCs and enemies has been improved, and animations and interactions with characters in story missions have been fixed.
• Technical updates: Physics, animations and visual effects of anomalies have become more realistic. The game now features new visual anomalies and animals, and light sources at night have been improved.
• In the future, GSC Game World continues to work on improvements and is already preparing the first major addition, which promises to surprise players with new storylines, mechanics and anomalies.