STALKER 2 Patch 1.3: 1,200 Fixes But Still No Solution for Trade Economy Woes!

According to the regular monthly schedule set by the studio for the open-world survival shooter STALKER 2, its developer GSC Game World has recently unveiled Update 1.3. This update follows closely behind February’s substantial Update 1.2, and much like that update, it includes more than a thousand adjustments, enhancements, and fine-tunings for the exclusive title available on Xbox and Windows PC.

Patch 1.3 incorporates over 1,200 changes (you can find a complete list at the end of this article), such as enhancing mutant movement animations for smoother and clearer motion, refining their combat behavior for greater consistency, introducing new death screens that change based on context instead of always showing the same ugly vampire face, and more than 400 fixes for both main and side quests. Furthermore, the developers at GSC have fine-tuned the extremely rare artifacts with some minor adjustments, either nerfs or buffs, and have also optimized performance by addressing numerous technical issues.

In summary, while each individual update might not be exceptionally significant or attention-grabbing on its own, collectively they are designed to enhance the overall STALKER 2 gaming experience. One notable change worth highlighting is the incorporation of squirrels into The Zone. Given their appearance, it’s advisable for stalkers to watch their nuts carefully!

In summary, Patch 1.3 appears to be a commendable upgrade; however, as I delve deeper into STALKER 2, I’ve noticed an apparent problem with its in-game trading and repair system. This issue becomes increasingly frustrating because it’s tough to accumulate enough money from tasks and selling items to maintain your gear, let alone purchase new items like armor enhancements, weapon accessories, and similar upgrades.

Since STALKER 2 was launched in November last year, there haven’t been significant changes in its gameplay mechanics. This is why custom mods like hawkidoki’s Reduced Repair Cost have become quite popular among players. I had high hopes that the developers, GSC, would alleviate our financial struggles with this update, but unfortunately, no such change has occurred yet. At present, it’s uncertain whether the studio intends to make adjustments in this area.

Although it’s convenient that you can rectify this issue in the PC version of the game using mods, and this solution will also be applicable on Xbox when developers introduce mod support for consoles (which is imminent), Xbox players will need to manage their funds carefully until such changes are implemented or the economy is adjusted in a future update.

Significantly, GSC Game World has begun developing the next update and welcomes player feedback about their experience with STALKER 2, particularly on social platforms. If you happen to come across any bugs or glitches during gameplay, they kindly ask for your assistance in submitting a report via the STALKER 2 Technical Support Center page, enabling them to initiate troubleshooting and resolution efforts.

In a hypothetical Scenario 1.4, the specifics remain uncertain, but it’s clear that STALKER 2 will include substantial updates such as Player vs Player Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch multiplayer modes, along with two narrative expansions. A timeline for these updates was proposed for Q1 2025, though the details have yet to be disclosed; we eagerly await the reveal to find out more about what GSC is developing.

STALKER 2 can be bought on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC for $59.99, but right now it’s discounted to $38.79 at CDKeys due to a great offer. Another option is to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass, which allows you to play the game on Xbox, PC, and Xbox Cloud Gaming if you have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

STALKER 2 update 1.3: Patch notes

You can find below some key points from this update, which were taken directly from GSC Game World’s Steam post about the patch. Note that the complete patch notes are available on their official website; they’re too extensive to be listed here.

This update highlights some important changes that were mentioned in a post by GSC Game World on Steam, but you can find the comprehensive list of changes on their website because it’s too long for this space.

AI and Combat

Made mutants movements during combat smoother.
Improved the reaction of NPCs to the sound of footsteps.
Polished ambush behavior for mutants, when Player is hiding behind or on top of props.
Fixed an issue where mutants didn’t attack other NPCs once Player was in the safe zone.

Balance

Archiartifacts rebalance:
- Weird Water: decreased radiation protection.
- Weird Nut: increased bleeding degeneration speed, further slowed down healing with equipped artifact.
- Weird Flower: Increased smell masking effect.
- Weird Ball: increased stamina gain, increased maximum weight of the artifact, but slowed down weight gain when being shot.
- Weird Kettle: Debuff received from consuming food is now not random, and corresponds to specific type of food.
- Non-Stop Limited Edition energy drinks now have an additional special effect when used with Weird Kettle.
Made A-life encounters a bit more rare on average.
Nerfed base anomaly damage protections for “combat” armors
Buffed anomaly damage protection for “science” suites
Slightly reworked anomaly damage for different anomalies
Increased damage from destructible explosive props.
Fixed an issue where the Weird Flower artifact was initially in a dried state instead of an active one after being picked up.
Increased overall durability for unique weapons found during missions.

Bug Fixes, Crashes, and Performance

Fixed a bug that could let players permanently stack the effect of unequipped artifacts.
Fixed a bug that could prevent players from being able to use sprint after chaotic movement.
Fixed an issue that caused some psy-phantoms of blind dogs to have misleading trails.
Fixed the crash caused by zombification of NPCs.
Fixed an issue when looting some story NPCs could block the mission.
Fixed an issue when players could be locked inside the Ranger Station.
Fixed an issue that could permanently keep visual effects of sleepiness if the save was made during a Main Quest line.
Fixed issue with light from the flashlights in cutscenes.
Fixed an issue where high ranked NPCs were able to spawn at Rookie Village location.
Phantom stalkers that appear under the influence of Psy-effect no longer can damage other NPCs by throwing grenades.
Fixed an issue where the HUD would sometimes appear transparent after closing the inventory or finishing a cutscene.
Fixed visual bugs on character costumes (texture stretching caused by awkward animation poses).
Fixed memory leaks issues when navigating inventory/looting menus (e.g. opening Player stash at Rostok).
Resolved issues where NPCs got stuck in one place and obstructed player movement.
Fixed the issue when the output device was resetted after restart of the title.
Fixed an issue where a guide NPC was missing at Yaniv hub after unlocking Prypiat region.
UI Update: Fixed localization issues, improved stability, resolved visual bugs in widgets, corrected text corruption, and SFX for a smoother experience.
Also, almost 100 crashes and EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION errors were fixed.

Main and Side Quests, Open World Encounters

Fixed an issue where player could not complete Escape from the Cage mission via the stealth path due to NPCs with high perception level.
Fixed an issue where the player could destroy the Jammer before the start of the In the Name of Science mission.
Fixed an issue where the Escape from the Chemical Plant objective did not complete if the call from the Strelok or Scar was interrupted by a loudspeaker during the Escape from the Cage mission.
Fixed an issue where no new journal objective appeared and Dark Times mission was stuck after killing Jarl NPC.
Fixed an issue with Eye of the Storm mission not progressing after reaching the Generators.
Fixed an issue where side mission A Big Score was not progressing if emission happened while Player was at the Car Park.
Fixed an issue when Player is not able to loot Faust’s body after receiving a call from Scar during Visions of Truth mission.
Fixed an issue where Foma NPC could become invincible during the Chasing Ghosts mission.
Fixed an issue where an encounter mission with Headlight NPC near Bulba Arch anomaly was not starting after completion of Nightingale’s Hunt mission.
Fixed an issue where Yaryk Mongoose was hostile to the player during the For Science! mission.
Fixed an issue when the Snork collar was not counted as collected if snork was killed not by a player character during the “In the Name of Science” mission.
Fixed an issue where Korshunov could disappear at the start of 2nd phase of bossfight during the “Down Below” mission.
Fixed an issue where All That Is Left mission didn’t cancel after Mateus death, resulting in redundant markers on artifact location.
Fixed an issue where Akopyan was non interactable at the car park during A Big Score mission.
Fixed an issue where plank bridges leading to Faust cell were collapsed for Players first arriving at Noontide base during Hot On The Trail mission.
Fixed an issue where a Chemical Plant encounter mission with wardens shooting fleshes was stuck after luring mutants out.
Fixed an issue when Jumper and Bluish sometimes was dead during Hot on the Trail mission.
Fixed an issue when the door to forestry was locked during Extreme Simplicity mission if Player was encountering the emission while leaving the swamps.
Fixed an issue when a quest NPC was able to be distracted by A-life enemies during the Three Captains mission.
Fixed an issue where the bayun in collar was at the Detention Center instead of the Boathouse location during the A Minor Incident mission.
Fixed an issue where the player could not progress through the mission if Heart of Chornobyl artifact was looted directly to the artifact slot from the Strelok’s body.
Fixed an issue where Richter could be non-interactable at the Slag Heap location during the Back to the Slag Heap mission.
Fixed an issue where Doctorant Shcherba could be dead for some players during the In Search of Past Glory mission.
Fixed errors with some mission markers being not displayed correctly.
Fixed an issue that could stop the progression of Escape the Chemical Plant mission.
Fixed an issue that made players able to sell the key from the Northern Checkpoint which makes it unavailable to pass through.
Fixed issues with Help Solder and Talk to Solder mission objectives.
Fixed an issue where interaction prompt for dialogue with Richter could be missing after defending Yaniv during the The Boundary mission.
Fixed an issue when Richter stops at the beginning of the path through the river during the Through the valley of the shadow of death mission.
Fixed an issue where the doors to underground tunnel and Location D could be closed during the Once More unto the Breach mission.
Fixed an issue where the player could stay in a closed location after a cutscene in the Dangerous Liaisons mission.
Fixed an issue where the dialogue with prof. Ozersky was unavailable if the player killed Spark NPCs during the A Minor Incident mission.
Fixed an issue where Dalin could be missing at the infirmary at the Chemical Plant location during the Escape from the Cage mission.

Technical Updates

Added multiple new death screens that vary based on the cause of the death.
Improved facial animations in the mainline.
Improved audio obstruction for mutants’ sounds.
Improved the positioning of various sounds.
Added a new night music theme for Slag Heap.
Added music for the elevator in SIRCAA.
Added missing localizations for tutorials.
Added descriptions that explain what is the difference between armor-piercing and expansive ammo.
Improved some bullet-caused decals.
Improved the visibility of enemies at nighttime by increasing the intensity of the NPC flashlights.
Improved the shadows cast by the player’s flashlight.
Several attachments and upgrades have been moved from “point of no returns” end game sequence to Prypiat stashes.
Updates and fixes of NPC movement and shooting animations.
Added option to change Melee weapon attack button in control settings.
Added additional idle animations for NPCs with weapons drawn.
Added new VFX animals and a new type of a visual anomaly.

2025-03-19 01:11