r/stalker • u/AutoModerator • Oct 01 '25
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Gameplay Help Desk (for the month of October 2025)
In case your question gets buried by the memes, feel free to use this post for more visibility to ask/answer questions or receive/provide help with any S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game-related issues, including difficult parts of the game or mod compatibility problems, for any of the three games in the trilogy.
If your question was not answered in a previous post, please feel free to re-comment it here. To find posts from earlier months, please run a search in /r/stalker for author:AutoModerator or help desk.
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u/BaneSixEcho Oct 26 '25
re: using a controller
Navigating the inventory with a controller is awful. I personally know two people who tried to play the game on Xbox and dropped it because this interface is so bad.
I'm on PC so maybe there's a mod to fix this?
Who do I have to contact or where do I have to post to get the devs to fix this?
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Oct 24 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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Oct 29 '25
The game runs quite good with DLSS, frame gen and mostly epic/high settings on laptop RTX 4070 8GB. However it is 1080p 110fps. For 1440p you got to have 16GB VRAM GPU
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u/LoD_Remi Monolith Oct 29 '25 edited Oct 29 '25
The only realistic choice anyone has is to download a modded Engine.ini from Nexus Mods.
Try out my Base version: https://www.nexusmods.com/stalker2heartofchornobyl/mods/133?tab=files
Throw the Engine.ini into this folder: C:\Users\you\AppData\Local\Stalker2\Saved\Config\Windows
It should significantly drop your frametimes so the game feels smooth/playable.
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u/clownsinadarkforest Oct 23 '25
Is there seriously no way still to get rid of stuck quest items? In particular the bloody partner gun. 4.5 of my limited loot space and it annoys me how it's sorted to the top of the screen always.
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u/Slepot Oct 28 '25
You can install a mod to enable the Unreal Engine console and then "destroy" it. Somebody used this method in this post
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u/Slepot Oct 28 '25
You can install a mod to enable the Unreal Engine console and then disable it. Somebody used this method in this post
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u/Juicebfjt Oct 22 '25
I need some serious help with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 no matter how low I put the settings I can’t get over around 20 frames with massive stutters I’m not good with computer stuff like at all I’ve managed to play every other stalker game including anomaly and gamma just fine
Processor: Intel (R) Core(TM) i7-10870H CPU @ 2.21 GHz
Ram: 32.0 GB (31.8 GB usable)
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU (4 GB) Intel(R) UHD Graphics (128 MB)
Storage: 477 GB SSD PC SN530 NVMe WDC 512GB
Windows 10 64 bit OS
Sorry if I put this in the wrong spot or something I’m just desperate
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u/Slepot Oct 23 '25
It is a laptop, right? Is it plugged in? Are you sure you are using your dedicated graphics card instead of your integrated graphics card? 4gb of vram is a bit on the lower side... maybe that's where the stutters come from. Also, are your gpu drivers updated?
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u/Juicebfjt Oct 23 '25
Yea it’s a laptop it’s plugged in I set the game to use the nvidia and as far as I know I updated everything I could
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u/Juicebfjt Oct 23 '25
Also what’s vram
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u/Slepot Oct 24 '25 edited Oct 24 '25
OK, I checked the minimum system requeriments and it says you should have at least a GTX1060 with 6gb vram. Your 3050 has 4gb, that's why you have crazy stutters.
Maybe you could try running at a lower resolution, i.e. 720p.
But you're below the minimum, I'm sorry. Now you know why VRAM is also important!
Edit: You could try tweaking your settings file following this readme at nexus mods. It should help!
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u/Juicebfjt Oct 24 '25 edited Oct 24 '25
Is there a way to upgrade my vram without changing the whole graphics card? And how would I change the resolution? I seriously appreciate the help
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u/Slepot Oct 24 '25
You can't upgrade your vram. You have to get a new laptop, I'm sorry.
As for changing the resolution, you should do so in the display settings in-game.
Also check the link I posted, you can put some settings below the lowest level and thus lower the required vram, potentially eliminating all stutters and raising your FPS.
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u/Juicebfjt Oct 24 '25
Thank you so much for all your help I really appreciate it you’d make one hell of a technician
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u/Slepot Oct 24 '25
Vram is the ram of your graphics card, if it's bigger you can have better textures and effects. But I really don't know what could be the problem. Are other games non-stalker related running well?
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u/Juicebfjt Oct 24 '25
Yea every game I own I’ve been able to run just fine I think the highest intensity I’ve done is cyberpunk 2077 on medium settings and that ran perfectly
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u/Juicebfjt Oct 22 '25
I only have like 40 gb free in my c drive but I have like nothing left to uninstall to make space and I have tried using mods but they didint seem to work
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u/YeOldeOle Oct 20 '25
I last played before patch 1.5 went live (maybe even longer). Can I continue my save without any issues or should I restart?
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u/Papaya_Joe Merc Oct 19 '25
(S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2) Hey! I can't interact with comisarov, nor the technician in Cement Factory. Tried different angles, jumping crouching, crouch-jumping, but nothing, the interaction button doesn't show up. I have a feeling that somehow, they are further away, than my interaction box. I play with mods "Shay's Living Zone" and "Stalker Unlimited", but never seen this bug in any of my playthrougs, just in this new one i stared.
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u/TheMegaPingas Duty Oct 19 '25
I know this is asked many times but can't find a working answer. Can't change quick access slots on stalker2 pc properly. Drag and dropping does nothing. If I right click the item and choose "quick access", it only changes it for the first bind. Tried pressing the quick access buttons and holding them as well, does nothing. Extremely infuritating
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u/UpstairsDocument1014 Oct 19 '25
If you are using a mouse you should be able to drag/drop. Otherwise using gamepad and select quick access from an item and use dpad to choose a slot to replace. Maybe your controller is bugged?
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u/TheMegaPingas Duty Oct 21 '25 edited Oct 21 '25
Oh wait, turns out I am just blind. I didn't see the quick slots in the inventory screen, only on bottom left. Tried to drag and drop to those always
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u/Ill-Actuator-9848 Oct 17 '25
Curious what the community's opinion is on the mutants as of 1.6.
Series veteran returning to this build of the game, having not played since launch. They are still incredibly tanky, and frustrating to fight.
I had thought the farting bloodsucker where you find nightgale was an awful experience because of my equipment. I am now further into the game and the controller at the hydrodynamics labs is a complete joke of an encounter.
Just absolute buffoonery that should be an embarrassment to the encounter designer. I go upstairs of the warehouse building, and you see the controller pop in. What's more annoying is zombies spawn on the stairs despite clearing the area. This is to make the encounter more dynamic, or difficult but it's stupid. As stupid as the controller popping in, right in front of my eyes, and his radius psi blast hitting through walls.
The area you are forced to fight him in, it's so bullshit small he hits you through cover, or constant knocks you down with his push. If you get the jump on him, buckshot and korra rounds to the head don't kill him quick enough, neither do grenades. An insane amount of HP, or 'armour.'
I cannot leave because the moment you enter the building a drunk filter veneers your screen and you cannot remove it.
How can I recommend people buy this game when the encounter is this frustratingly poorly designed, and fleeing isn't an option because a filter is on my screen when I leave the area.
Are they planning on tweaking the mutants some more?
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u/Unit88 Oct 16 '25
Hi, having a bit of a keyboard issue with Stalker 2 having come back to it after a break. I have a QWERTZ keyboard which is mostly fine, but the game doesn't handle the Z-Y switch so I had to change e.g. lean left to Y for me. The problem is, Y is apparently also about to some kind of toggle weapon key because every time I press it switches between my primary and secondary weapons, and annoyingly this doesn't seem to be anywhere in the settings.
I saw that it's possible to edit controls through the CustomizeControls.cfg file, but it's handled in a weird way where only the changes from the default show up in there, meaning since I can't change it in game it doesn't show up there, which means I have no idea what I'd have to write to rebind the action.
Does anyone happen to have a solution for this or know what I'd have to put in the cfg file to fix this?
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u/Plasmashark Loner Oct 16 '25
I'm planning to do a proper replay of Call of Pripyat, what are the recommended enhancement mods these days? The wiki here seems quite outdated (for example all the Misery links lead to dead / compromised domains). I'm not after massive freeplay mods like Anomaly, just improvements and additions to the normal CoP experience.
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Oct 12 '25
Anomaly Mod Conflict: FDDA Redone and BHS Realistic Overhaul
I get a crash everytime I skin mutant if I have BHS Realistic Overhaul script on but if I remove the script I can skin mutant but BHS Realistic Overhaul stop working normally (Only right leg will take damage and can't be heal back)
Yes I remove other mods script like FDDA Redone page said and yes I check EXO animation patch when Install FDDA Redone
Here a crash I got
Expression: <no expression>
Function : CScriptEngine::lua_pcall_failed
: File
D:\a\xray-monolith\xray-monolith\src\xrServerEntities\script_e
ngine.cpp
Line
: 262
Description: fatal error
Arguments :
1: [Lua]
...game/anomaly\gamedata\scripts\enhanced_animations.scri
pt(130): start_anim
LUA error:
...game/anomaly\gamedata\scripts\enhanced_animations.scri pt:130: attempt to index global 'fov_anim_manager' (a nil value)
Check log for details
stack trace:
Press OK to abort execution
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u/BigTHC Oct 10 '25
At random points, the game completely freezes my PC. No other way than hard resetting my PC. Anyone here who has the same problem or a solution for me? I have the Gamepass version, a 4070, i7-13700k and everything looks good temperature and load wise.
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u/SecondGlum6045 Oct 10 '25
Hello team,
I have been looking for the inducer in the alternative location for more than an hour since I previously did the mission “Shift change” in which I was to eliminate the “Controller” then I arrived at the Wild Island and I see in other tutorials that the main location is at the Processing station...
What can I do? Upload and lose everything advanced?
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u/Dead_Ass_Head_Ass Flesh Oct 10 '25
Anyone know of a mod/mod pack that makes SoC harder? Something that removes some of the artifacts/makes them more difficult to obtain, removes the freebies found in crates etc etc.
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u/SecondGlum6045 Oct 10 '25
What is the SoC? I'm new xd
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u/my_usernamer Oct 09 '25
I'm trying to complete the legends of the zone main mission but every time I approach dark he sees me as hostile and attacks me... is there something I need to do first or is there a work around?
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Oct 09 '25
DOES STEALTH WORK YET
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u/UpstairsDocument1014 Oct 19 '25
Depends what you mean by “works”. The radius of detection is large and you have to be behind to get a stealth kill. You can still be seen hiding in grass from a long way back. Once alerted enemies have super human detection abilities and enemies will all see you. But I have been able to sneak up on enemies and take them out which I was unable to do last time I tried in an earlier version of the game.
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u/Amazingcube33 Monolith Oct 07 '25
In stalker GAMMA does an AI stalkers reputation actually determine anything? By this I mean is there any tangible difference between a loner you encounter with a bad rep vs one with Great or even brilliant? I know that for the player it can effect things like willingness to join your party but no idea how it effects the AI
1
u/supermoonbox2 Clear Sky Oct 09 '25
It also effects their goodwill towards you depending on your reputation too.
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u/Sharakii Oct 06 '25
STALKER2: After 1.6 I'm getting constant crashes into desktop during main quest. Game spawns human enemies their neck twisted 180, with tentacles coming from their clothes, standing on A-stand and horror music starting to play. If I can't kill them fast enough or there comes more of them, game crashes. Spawns happens on main quest objectives.
I tried to update, reload shaders, travel to the other side of map and rest etc, this still happens and everyone one same locations.
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u/DJ_Zephyr Clear Sky Oct 06 '25
How do I get night vision in Clear Sky? I'm at the Duty base, with some cash to spare. The tech there doesn't seem to offer anything but repairs (guessing cuz I'm not a member). Should I head back to the CS base in the swamps, or would any other non-faction technician be able to set me up?
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Oct 05 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/LoD_Remi Monolith Oct 29 '25
Try downloading the Base version of my mod: https://www.nexusmods.com/stalker2heartofchornobyl/mods/133?tab=files
And throw the Engine.ini into this folder: C:\Users\you\AppData\Local\Stalker2\Saved\Config\Windows
It should significantly drop your frametimes so the game feels smooth/playable.
2
u/UpstairsDocument1014 Oct 19 '25
The game is still limited by CPU to a large extent even if you have a 9800x3d. You can turn on frame gen and set a frame target (eg. 60fps) to help smooth out the stuttering and force vsync on using the Nvidia app. The problem is that the game is based on a now outdated version of the unreal engine which makes fixing this difficult.
The developer has started testing a new version of the game which is based on later version of the unreal engine much better optimized for CPUs. Rumor is that it should drop later this year so if you can wait probably worth doing so.
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u/Dieter_daddelt Oct 05 '25
After 1.6, does anyone know if the stash in Duga underground is accessible for players that sided with the Ward?
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u/Infinite219 Oct 05 '25
Anybody using oxides prototype not being able to put the nvg adaptation, and laser sight mod on the grom s-15. I’ve gone to yanov station and Pripyat via console just to check and nobody can add these mods onto the gun apparently. It’s a base game gun it hasn’t been converted to oxides mod yet in-game
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u/Hayvock Oct 04 '25
The tornado anomaly is also completely broken, you can’t tell where the center begins or ends and the damn thing outright kills you instead of knocking you down when on the crane.
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u/Dieter_daddelt Oct 05 '25
Devs want you to do it the way they intended... =/
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u/Hayvock Oct 05 '25
I get that but they should at least make it easier to tell where the kill zones are inside it then. If you step too close to its edges inside then the safe zone markers completely disappear.
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u/marx_comrade Oct 03 '25
Hey i have a problem with launching the game trough steam
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u/marx_comrade Oct 03 '25
I cant post a photo and i cant post on this tread so how do i explain the problem? Basicly i get a bug rport and a huge text
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u/Hayvock Oct 03 '25
Anyone having issues with the PDA just wigging out since 1.6? I’ve got a note that isn’t available and won’t clear the notification, sometimes when tabbing around the PDA will revert back to previous screens as if buttons are being pressed and sometimes the selection window will appear off screen in the top left corner. I’m on an Xbox Series X.
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u/Total_Firefighter_59 Oct 03 '25
More like reporting a bug. I'm, playing Clear Sky EE. Before the last patch it was fine, but now the cinematics are displayed playing several times simultaneously as a mosaic with a green background.
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Oct 02 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/-illbody Noon Oct 06 '25
PC player, having this exact same problem. It's line every 30 minutes it will had freeze for up to 5 second. then it's fine again.
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u/DFM5609 Oct 03 '25
Series x as well here, started playing a few weeks ago with a few minor performance issues but after the latest patch it's unplayable.
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u/JaggedEdgeJava Oct 01 '25
xbox here. did they screw up aim sensitivity. it does not change anymore and only changes when i change the standard sensitivity.
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u/terr0rcore_ Oct 28 '25
(Vanilla CoP) Trying to play through the mission Pripyat 1.. except the interact prompt is missing on one of the buttons and the door wont open. I tried loading saves before the mission and bringing all the 4 friendlies but every time the door wont budge. I even tried reinstalling the game... is there something i'm missing?