STALKER 2 Update 1.7 Rleased on November 17, Brings New Difficulty, Improved A-Life, and More

On November 17, 2025, the creators of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl launched a significant update, version 1.7. This update introduces a new “Master” difficulty setting, an “Expedition” mode that prevents manual saving, several new anomalies, and the addition of light rain as a weather effect.

Okay, so the devs did a big update to how stuff works in the game. They totally changed the stats on all the building tools, and revamped how stamina and sprinting work – it feels much smoother now. They also made it way harder for enemies to see me when I’m hiding in tall grass or reeds, which is awesome! Now, enemies aren’t dumb anymore – if they’re getting beat, they’ll actually try to run away! Plus, they’re smarter about fighting; they’ll try to get around you and pick their battles, choosing a good distance based on what weapons they’re using. It’s a lot more challenging and realistic now.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Major Patch 1.7 Now Live

Update 1.7 includes a trailer showcasing enhancements to the game’s dynamic world system. Now, factions can grow their influence and control more land, and both humans and mutants will battle over important locations.

This update also improves quests, the game’s open world, modding capabilities, and other features. You can find the full list of changes directly from GSC Game World below.

AI and Combat

Fixed some issues with specific NPC inhabitant areas.
Improved AI reaction to player’s hostile actions.
NPC behavior during Emission optimization.
Fixed an issue that caused NPCs to occasionally move to the side after detecting an enemy
Fixed an issue when A-life NPCs didn’t move after loading a save that were made on their way to shelter.
Fixed an issue when the NPCs could get damage from explosions while being behind several walls.
Fixed the issue when some Boar mutants could look like Human NPCs near the Malachite, causing the game to crash.
Fixed the issue when Controller could attack Zombified and Raised NPCs.
Fixed the issue when the NPCs weren’t reacting to the shots from Gauss rifle that were landed near them.
Adjusted Combat behavior of bandits in Prologue mission.
Fixed death animations for mutants in some specific cases.
Fixed the issue when the NPCs weren’t returning to their stay destination point after the sudden combat.
Fixed the issue when the random neutral Stalkers were becoming the enemy to the Player character.
Fixed an issue that caused NPCs to get stuck in a weapon draw animation loop.
Fixed an issue when NPCs were unable to shoot the Player after they get too close to them while crouched.
Fixed an issue where mutants could change their position during jump midair.
Fixed an issue when some NPCs were not hiding from the emission and die from in Zalissya location.

Bug Fixes, Crashes, and Performance

Fixed an issue when player was able to die instantly after fast travel.
Fixed visual issues for Vortex anomaly.
Fixed an issue when Player was unable to install x8 scope to Mark I EMR rifle.
Fixed an issue when magazine adapter for M860 was not displaying.
Fixed an issue with delayed reaction of the mutants when killing them by using shotgun.
Fixed an issue when game could freeze during the emission start.
Fixed an issue when title was becoming unresponsive if Skif was knocked down by mutants while sitting near the campfire.
Fixed an issue where the backup files could be sorted randomly after reopening the backup menu.
Fixed an issue where the cursor could not be controlled after placing a custom marker using gamepad.
Fixed an issue where the notifications about receiving notes could remain on the screen infinitely.
Fixed an issue where, if the Numpad 5 and 2 keys were assigned to move forward/back, rotating the camera up/down would also be triggered.
Fixed an issue where some steel casings lying on the ground could appear totally black.
Fixed an issue where some metal objects could change their color on approaching.
Fixed an issue where the changed input binding for NVG did not work during the dialogs.
Fixed an issue where the aim assist could turn off after opening the pause menu.
Fixed an issue where the player could not activate NVG via mouse wheel while climbing a ladder.
Fixed an issue where the psy effect could remain after leaving the dangerous area for some users.
Fixed an issue where some players could gain unkillable state after some points in the game.
Fixed an issue where a very loud sound effect of a running water could be heard around the Swamp area under SIRCAA and around the Swamps region.
Reduced resources consumption before cutscenes start.
Performance optimization regarding the projectile hitting the surface.
Performance optimization of damage dealt by grenades.
Fixed an issue that caused performance issues with item objects inside anomalies.
Fixed an issue that caused Flashlight to appear above the head of NPC with NVG.
Fixed infinite loading on the save that were made in 100 Rads Bar.
Fixed the impossibility to make two saves in a row after overwriting or deleting the previous save.
Fixed Infinite loading screen on saves made on Noontide base.
Fixed an issue when aim assist was not functional after loading of saved game.
Fixed over 90 crashes.

Optimization

This is only a small glimpse of all the improvements we’ve made. We’ve done a lot of work behind the scenes to boost performance across all devices, configurations, and graphics settings.

Optimized Foliage Meshes (changes in performance may be particularly noticeable in the Red Forest).
Optimized Foliage Materials.
Optimized Rostok buildings (Architecture meshes and collision improvements).
Optimized Duga region buildings (Architecture meshes and collision improvements).
World streaming optimizations on most intense locations (Zalissya, Rostok, Slag Heap).
Optimized Lighting on Slag Heap, Zalissya, SIRCAA, Rostok.
Optimized NPCs skeletal meshes.
Optimized Grooms.
Optimized and adjusted Skeletal Mesh budgeting.
Optimized usage of Morph Targets.
Optimized Tick Rate of simulated Components by prioritizing visible primitives with higher screen size.
Optimized update of items used in Contextual Actions.
Optimized Cloth Simulation.
Optimized animation update of placed in world Skeletal Meshes.

Main & Side Quests, Open World Encounters

Fixed an issue when Squint dead body and becomes inaccessible to the Player if he was killed without starting the dialog during the A Needle in a Haystack mission.
Fixed an issue when Player was able to get to the first floor of the Chemical Plant from the roof and unable to exit during Escape from the Cage mission.
Multiple immersion fixes for A School of Life mission.
Fixed an issue when was missing in X17 Lab during Visions of Truth mission.
Fixed an issue when all dialogues with Varan were excluded if Player lose his reputation after accepting the Deal with the Devil mission.
Fixed an issue when Player was able to get higher reward after completing a job task from Warlock.
Fixed an issue when Kill the bloodsucker objective was still active after killing the bloodsucker during Nightingale’s Hunt mission.
Fixed an issue when Player was unable to proceed through the “Wishful Thinking” mission.
Optimized resources consumption for the cutscene with Dalin and Korshunov inside D2 room during Wishful Thinking mission.
Fixed an issue when objective Discover the location of the cellar was not completing after receiving of cellar coordinates during The Poppy Field mission.
Fixed an issue when Player was unable to get a money reward from Nightingale after giving him the dog collar during the Dogfight mission.
Fixed an issue where the Ward assault squad could die from Emission during the Answers Come at a Price mission.
Fixed an issue where the weather could not change after some point in the game.
Level art and design improvements for multiple locations.
Fixed an issue where Zhuzha and Gonta were unable to start arguing in scene if the last snork was killed close to Gonta.
Fixed an issue that occasionally prevented from starting dialogue during the Down Below mission.
Fixed an issue that caused Agatha to disappear after the dialogue during Wishful Thinking mission.
Fixed an issue that prevented completion of the Get to the Teleportation Hall objective during The Last Step mission.
Fixed an issue that occasionally prevented completion of the Fight off the Monolithians objective during Happiness For Everyone mission.
Fixed an issue that prevented Richter from starting dialogue during the Through The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death mission.
Fixed an issue that prevented Scar from starting dialogue during The Eternal Shining mission.
Fixed an issue that prevented Col. Degtyaryov from starting dialogue during the Down Below mission.
Fixed an issue that prevented Dark from starting dialogue during the Legends Of The Zone mission.
Fixed an issue where Richter didn’t run the Cabin during A Tough Awakening mission
Fixed an issue when the Dalin could be missing during the Law And Order mission.
Fixed an issue when the Scar is missing at Rostok Depot during An Invisible Threat mission.
Fixed the issue when player’s camera could be locked on the Baturin forever after one of the encounters around the Zone.
Fixed the issue when the A sign of Hope mission wasn’t cancelling after the start of Just Like the Good Old Days mission.
Fixed the issue with impossibility to start a journal stage to Kill Shterev during the Dead Frequency mission.
Fixed an issue that prevented the cutscene at Sawmill from starting during Back To The Slag Heap mission.
Fixed an issue that caused a player to stuck in dialogue with Honta.
Fixed an issue that prevented bandits from appearing during A Big Score mission.

Mod Support

Mod conflict detection and notification: in-game popup with the list of conflicting mods
Detailed conflict dump (with information about exact conflicting CFG nodes) in AppData – Mod conflicts.csv
Selective Download (Zone Kit is separated into multiple chunks: The Lesser Zone Kit, Zone Kit Editor, Cutscenes, World Map)

Other Updates

Detector item size in inventory changed to 1×1.
Fixed an issue where the NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency option could disable after the title reboot.
Slightly reworked visuals for artifacts and consumables effect influence.
Fixed 3D audio with Dolby Atmos for headphones and other spatial plugins for Windows.
Added the option to disable headshot sound in option.
Improved the voiceover clarity when talking too close to NPC.
Added icons for partially looted stashes on the map.
Placed a bit more weapon attachments around the Zone.
Improved readability of fonts for Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Korean languages.
Improved some tutorials.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 came out on November 20, 2024, for PC and Xbox Series X|S, and you can play it with a Game Pass subscription. PlayStation 5 owners will be able to get the game on November 20, 2025 – exactly one year after the initial release.

2025-11-17 22:05